Five Favourites: Bugeye

Having just released their explosive debut album, Ready Steady Bang, GIHE faves Bugeye have fast been building a reputation for their wonderfully unique colourful pizazz, with recent acclaim from the likes of John Kennedy, Amazing Radio and God Is In The TV Zine. And rightly so, the album is like nothing you’ve heard before; a vibrant fusion of disco, punk and everything in-between, all fused together with magnificent energy into a relentlessly riotous and utterly uplifting collection.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspires them or influences their writing. So, we caught up with Angela from Bugeye to find out her “Five Favourites” – five albums that have influenced her writing and Bugeye’s current sound. Check out her choices below, and make sure you listen to the new album asap!

Altered Images – Happy Birthday
I can’t quite remember when I discovered the Scottish band Altered Images. It may have been on one of those punk comp albums, but it was a band that would be one of my main influences for Bugeye’s music. I love the way they blend new wave punk tones with disco, cover dark themes but with upbeat musical accompaniments. It’s certainly what we try to do with Bugeye and although we don’t sound like Altered Images, their album Happy Birthday has been a big influence on my writing style.

Blondie – Parallel Lines
Another incredible band that merges disco and new wave punk in such a
seamless way. I have always been a huge Blondie fan from an early age, and this was one of my dads’ favourite albums. It’s spiky pop in its finest moments and is one of those albums that made me want to pick up a guitar and play. Whenever I need inspiration to write, I listen to Blondie.

Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish
Probably an unexpected choice but I was rediscovering the beginnings of Brit-Pop before it all went south and this was an album I played a lot. It’s lyrically witty, wise, catchy, dark, light and everything in between. The music is simplistic but smart, and I think it was a great album that perfectly captured a mood, social change and the political climate. We wanted to write something that looked at the world today so surrounding ourselves with important records to inspire us to take a long hard look at the world was key. This was one of those albums.

Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine
Exciting synths and exploring the impact of technology upon humanity,
this album was the perfect atmospheric inspiration for our own writing on this subject. Synths have become such an important part of Bugeye’s sound and what better place to explore possibilities than with the work of Kraftwerk?!

Donna Summer – Best Of
Queen of the dance floor and a big influencer on dance music, Donna Summers’ music is pop, disco, soul and funk. It has a brutal futurism to it with icy electronics pulsing in a dark but fun way. We loved the way she mixed styles and sounds and we wanted to capture some of this with our album. You’ll hear arpeggiators and big disco sounds across our album as a salute to Donna Summer.

Massive thanks to Angela for sharing her Five Favourites!

Ready, Steady, Bang, the new album from Bugeye, is out now via Reckless Yes. Download or buy the CD on Bandcamp, or find one of the few remaining vinyl copies at selected independent record shops.

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Re-Covered: Sally Anne’s Illustrated Favourite Albums

If you’re anything like us, throughout Lockdown you may have been seeking refuge in some of your favourite records, perhaps rediscovering some old classics along the way. So, for this new feature, illustrator Sally-Anne Hickman re-imagines her favourite ten albums of all time by painting their covers in her own unique style, using watercolours.

Check out the penultimate of Sally-Anne’s choices below, and keep your eyes peeled for the grand finale next week! 

Tori Amos – Boys for Pele
A child prodigy, an adult goddess. The profound female power of Amos seeps out in every bang and thrust on to her keys. Amos creates a dark magic with the punching sounds of the harpsichord and banshee-like wailing about devils and bleeding. Pele is a Hawaiian fire goddess who likes to eat men but it’s not just the patriarchy that gets smashed in this album. In her personal lyrics, Amos criticises almost all world religions, making this an album of spiritual rock and roll.

Sally-Anne Hickman
@sallyshinystars

 

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Interview: Duchess

With acclaim from the likes of BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, South London artist Duchess writes from the heart; creating rich soulful ballads reflecting on her childhood of frequently moving from place to place, her experiences in London, and love and life in general.

Having released her debut EP Early Days back in March, she has now shared a special acoustic version of the collection. With her distinctive impassioned vocals at the forefront, oozing a raw heartfelt emotion, it showcases all there is to love about this upcoming artist.

We caught up with Duchess to find out more…

Hi Duchess, welcome to Get In Her Ears! How are you doing?
I’m good thanks – wish it was a bit more sunny though!

What initially inspired you to start creating music?
I’ve always been around music growing up. My mother would always have the stereo on in the morning with her all-time favourite CDs, from Tracy Chapman to Lauryn Hill, and my dad always played Bob Marley and Gregory Isaacs.

What made you decide to release an acoustic version of your EP?
I’m in love with live music and instrumentation, so it was really important to me to have an acoustic version of the EP. I feel it allows you to focus on the voice of the artist and gives you a whole different vibe to dive into. It reminds me of small or intimate shows and concerts with stripped back production.

What other acoustic albums or versions do you love?
I’m a big fan of Amy Winehouse’s acoustic version of Back To Black and ‘I Gotta Find Peace Of Mind’ from Lauryn Hill’s Unplugged album. I really enjoyed Summer Walker’s cover of ‘Fake Love’ too! 

What was behind the choice to use guitar for ‘Elephant’, ‘When it All Falls Down’ and ‘Blame’ vs piano for ‘Why Can’t We’?
When I’m in the studio, I love to freestyle and see where the energy takes me, so we will always start with live instruments – I’m just so in love with the bass guitar. It was a bit of a no-brainer to get Fred Cox involved, as he really understands me, and the vibe I wanted to create with this project. He instantly got how we could strip everything back, but still keep it fresh, and it just felt natural that ‘Why Can’t We?’ was just piano.

How has growing up in a big family and moving around so much affected your music and artistic expression? Were you the sole musician/artist, or was music and art a big part of your family life?
I mean moving around a lot isn’t good for anyone, especially if you want to focus on something, so it was unsettling. But, wherever I lived, music was always there with me. I admit, it was hard to really focus on music when there were family priorities that came first, but I’m also happy I’m pursuing music, at this stage in my life – It feels right and I feel ready!! In the family, I’m the main one involved in music, along with my younger sister who often writes with me, but we are all connected to music in our own way. 

People compare you a lot to Minnie Riperton. Is she an influence and, if so, how? What other artists influence your music, and how?
Wow, I’m flattered. She is an amazing woman and I’m a big fan of her material – one of my favourites is ‘Inside My Love’ – it’s so beautiful. My main inspirations come from all kinds of places – Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Gregory Isaacs, Lady Gaga – the list goes on, but they main thing is they have all showed me to always be me and believe in my message musically.

What music scenes are you into – offline and online?
Shoreditch is cool! There are some really good live and open mic nights if you want to discover something new and fresh. Online-wise, I love to watch other artists livestreams and special projects. I don’t have a particular genre or focus – as long as it’s good, I’ll tune in!

How are you connecting with your audience and other musicians during the pandemic?
I’ve been doing a few livestreams during lockdown which have been fun. But with social media in general, it’s been really good to connect with the listeners and other musicians. It’s defo sparked off a new wave of creativity in everyone.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any other upcoming artists that you’d recommend we check out?
Yes of course! Check out Ray Vela (@rayrayvela) – she’s such a great bubbly character and has such a beautiful tone to her voice which is so soothing. And also Nia Wyn (@niawynmusic) – she’s got such a unique voice and I really enjoyed watching her live. We were on the same bill for a show at the beginning of this year, and she just blew me away.

And what else does the rest of 2020 have in store for Duchess?
Definitely new music which I’m very excited about! I also want to work with other artists more and create together – I’m interested to see what could come from it. And I know it’s probably a while from now, but I can’t wait to start performing live again.

Huge thanks to Duchess for answering our questions! 

The acoustic Early Days EP is out now via Lost Ones Recordings.

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Bryony Williams

Wolverhampton based artist Bryony Williams has been busy building self-confidence and exploring new territories on her upcoming EP, State I’m In. Set for release via Beth Shalom Records on 18th September, the songwriter has crafted a collection of her boldest sounds to date, and latest single ‘I Can Be’ is a shining example of this.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Bryony to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five songs that have inspired her new EP. Check out her choices below, and scroll down to listen to her single ‘I Can Be’ at the end of this post.

 

1. Julia Jacklin – ‘Pressure to Party’
After seeing Julia perform live at the Castle & Falcon in Birmingham last year or so, she absolutely floored me. I was only aware of this single of hers, yet I was so transfixed with her presence. Julia was herself, she didn’t feel the need to excite the crowd through body movement or any stage tactics. Her songs were simply enough. That was a pivotal point for me when reflecting on how I approach my own music. ‘Pressure to Party’ will always be a reminder of that, and when you trace back the lyrics through the dry production, she’s telling you a story that we all know too well. But we don’t mind being told again, because she tells it so forgivingly.

2. Jen Cloher – ‘Forgot Myself’
To choose one song from Jen’s self-titled album is hard, but this particular track just goes that extra little bit further for me. It’s self-deprecating and whiney, yet so poetic and raw. It’s a direct reflection of how she was feeling towards herself at the time and she’s brutally honest about that, yet the guitars almost give Jen an opportunity to show her inner-strength and that this negative spout she’s going through is only temporary. It shows guts and I like that. I actually interviewed Jen a couple years ago for the Grrrl Groannn publication when she was touring this album, and let me tell you, it has been my favourite interview since. We spoke all things music for a good hour while drinking Guinness (okay, it was only me drinking Guinness). But the things she said were just so honest and true, to take a quote from our interview, “When you’re younger you do worry about what people think. It’s just human. But as you evolve as a person you care less and less and with this album, I’m not worried about what people will think.” And so with this record of mine coming out, that’s exactly the energy that I have adopted.

3. Chastity Belt – ‘Different Now’
This SONG. It humbles me. My personal memory of this song was when I was being driven to the New Orleans airport in a beach buggy?? After just being broken up with half way across the world, and this song came on as we were all wistfully and awkwardly watching the Louisianan landscape pass us by in our final moments together. That was a hard time. But this song to me represents change, and yeah that can suck, but you have to make light of whatever you’ve got and grow from that. Just like Chastity Belt say: “You’re hard on yourself / Well you can’t always be right / All those little things that keep you up at night / You should take some time to figure out your life”.

4. Clairo – ‘Bags’
Taking it down a little for a moment now… The storytelling here just blows me away. On a surface level it can seem quite easy, yet with every line there is meaning behind it whether that’s hidden or not. You can tell it comes from a place of deep emotion and that really grabs you. I always find it interesting when an artist can write something so open and heart on their sleeve and have it listened to anyone and everyone, yet it could be a situation from their personal life that showcases them being the opposite of that. So these juxtapositions really compel me and I’ve not been afraid to lyrically story tell my inner-demons through song in the past, but if you unpick this track, it’s just genius. Plus my mum really digs this track too so, thanks Clairo!

5. Anna Burch – ‘Tea-Soaked Letter’
Okay, so Anna Burch is my current no.1 inspiration. All these tracks have all contributed to the making of my upcoming EP, from drum rhythms to the lyrical storytelling, but this track takes the cake! I am just so jealous that I didn’t think to write this song! The lyrics really make me think about how I want to move forward with my self-portrayal and I’m kind of sick of writing sad songs. I’m just not that person anymore. So Anna has really drawn out a different lyrical direction for me in order to express myself in perhaps more of a nonchalant way.

Thanks to Bryony for sharing her favourites with us. Follow her on Facebook & Spotify for more updates.

State I’m In by Bryony Williams

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