Get In Her Ears Live @ The Shacklewell Arms w/ ARXX, 22.07.22

For our second gig of the month, following our emotional farewell to DIY pioneers Charmpit a few weeks ago, we returned to The Shacklewell Arms to host long-term faves ARXX! Support came from incredible up-and-coming duo Fräulein and fierce new band Lusa Morena. It was truly an honour to host three such exciting bands – it was such a beautiful night filled with not only immense music blasting from the stage, but all the nicest vibes and loveliest people. And to sell out the night was a dream come true – we’ve raised another £300 for vital organisation Abortion Support Network, so huge thanks to all who came along!

I’m struggling to put into words just how wonderful the night was, but I’ve written a few sentences to accompany some fab photos, courtesy of Harry Levin…

Opening the night is Portuguese, London-based band Lusa Morena. Blasting out an immense, swirling energy as impressive relentless riffs roll out alongside front woman Bárbara’s immersive charisma, they cement themselves as definite ones to watch.

Next up, one of the most exciting bands around – duo Joni and Karsten, aka Fräulein – deliver an utterly impressive set. Having headlined for us at The Victoria back in January, it’s wonderful to have them play for us again delivering their gritty grunge-fuelled anthems. I’ve seen Fräulein live a few times now, and each time is even more incredible than the last – as Karsten’s frenzied pummelling beats accompany Joni’s raw, impassioned vocals and swirling hooks, they really are a truly unique, captivating force to be reckoned with. It’s also particularly lovely to have them on the same bill as ARXX, as I first fell in love with them a couple of years back at an online festival that Hanni curated.

To top off the dreamiest of line-ups, total long-term faves ARXX take to the stage to Shania Twain’s ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’. And then Hanni and Clara blast into our eyes and ears with that perfect balance of raucous energy and joyous charm that we’ve come to know and love over the years. As they treat us to an eclectic set, offering some of their more poppy recent releases alongside the grungey edge of some of their older songs, they fill The Shacklewell Arms with a euphoric sea of admiring fans – smiling and singing along in blissful unity. New or old, each track is delivered with the duo’s trademark colossal anthemic musicality as the sassy allure of Hanni’s vocals soar over immense catchy hooks and Clara’s buoyant beats and witty between-song chat. With all the colourful, empowering vivacity that you could ever hope for, ARXX once again prove themselves to be a band consistently honing and developing their sound to create the freshest, most addictive of tunes. Impossible to pigeonhole into one genre, they continue to impress with everything they do (including the surprise ‘Sk8r Boi’ cover with special guest vocalist Beth White!), and remain truly one of the most exciting – and completely lovely – bands I’ve ever come across. It’s such an honour to host them at one of our nights again that I notice silly little tears (of joy and pride) trickling down my cheeks as the set draws to a close.

Massive thanks again to the three AMAZING bands who played for us on Friday, to all at The Shacklewell Arms and to everyone who came along and sold out the night, raising £300 for Abortion Support Network. A really special night!
Next month we have another two gigs in store for you: 12th August at The Victoria with Manchester band Nikki & The Waves, First Frontier and Panic Pocket – tickets here, and 20th August at The Cavendish Arms with Australian duo Mannequin Death Squad, Maya Lakhani and Dogviolet – tickets here!

Words: Mari Lane / @marimindles
Photos: Harry Levin / @harrywlevin

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Preview & Playlist: Truck Festival

Like the first day of summer, the proper start of festival season is an intangible moment, a shift in the weather, an unspoken collective agreement that the time has come. In the melting heat of mid-July, turning my mind to Truck Festival, it is clear that, whenever exactly it started, the high festival season has arrived. With reserves of sun cream packed and liquor decanted into plastic bottles (no glass on site remember!), there now remains only the trains and buses via Didcot Parkway between me and my entry into the high festival season.

Truck festival is one of our original big-little festivals, started in 1998, a veritable elder in a market where more and more new festivals are born like generations of flying ants each year. In its age and wisdom, the festival has cemented a reputation as the go-to for noisy indie rock with a little more cred and fewer legless GCSE graduates than Reading and Leeds. The headliners tend to come from artists previously featured in NME, but further down the bill you are reliably able to find some gems.

This year is true to this form, with the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Sam Fender, Kasabian, The Kooks and Blossoms leading the bill. The main acts I’m looking forward to seeing, however, are in somewhat smaller print. I’m hoping to catch Loose Articles, whose new single ‘Kick Like a Girl’ should go off especially well in the wake of England’s dramatic Euros quarter-final win last night. Sorry are always a great live experience, with shows that never fail to remind me why I love them, capturing the slick pop greatness of their Domino output and the uncanny interludes collaging found audio taken from their Home Demo/ns series. 

The So Young-curated Market Stage looks to be another treasure trove, with a solid run on Saturday including Lime Garden and Deep Tan. And while I’m there, primarily looking to catch some interesting up-and-comers, I’m sure that the heart of my 14-year-old self will enjoy singing along to Bombay Bicycle Club on the Friday night.

Other bands that, although sadly not featuring as main headliners, I’m particularly looking forward to seeing include: Sigrid, The Big Moon, The Subways, Jade Bird, Just Mustard, and GIHE faves Peaness… (and will definitely try to catch the legend that is Kelis!)

Have a listen to our playlist of Ones To Watch at Truck Festival, and keep your eyes peeled for our review of the festival over the next couple of weeks! 

Lloyd Bolton
@lloyd_bolton

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Introducing Interview: Annie Elise

Having recently released her evocative debut EP, Breathe In, Breathe Out, Boston based artist and producer Annie Elise strives to elevate women in music production through the celestial soundscapes she creates. Born with Synesthesia, she is a “conductor for colour” – creating music that produces the colours she likes to see. The result are blissful, electro-driven, R’n’B infused pop anthems showcasing both her rich, sweeping vocals and innovative production capabilities.

We caught up with Annie to find out more about the EP, how she got into creating music and what inspires her… Have a read, and make sure you check check out Breathe In, Breathe Out, which was released in partnership with non-profit organisation Someone To Tell It To, which is dedicated to the power of compassionate listening in today’s society.

Hi Annie Elise, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hey there, thanks so much for having me! My name is Annie Elise, and I’m a producer/artist/A&R currently living in Boston. I really love the colour purple, and I have a kitten named Juno, short for Roland Juno-106 Polyphonic Synthesizer. 

How did you start creating music?
It was a bit of a perfect storm. I was born with a neurological condition called Synesthesia that causes me to physically see sound and hear colour, so naturally I gravitated towards music. I was also born into a musical family – my dad is an amazing music educator. When I was nine, his middle school program was gifted an iMac lab to learn Garage Band, and I became the guinea pig for the new curriculum. I was instantly hooked and would sneak downstairs at night to go play around with some sounds, and that was my first experience with production. Around that time, I started studying classical violin, and later was accepted into Berklee College of Music to study violin performance. But I guess my hands had other plans – about halfway through my first semester, my fingers stopped working as they should and I was eventually diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, which meant a career in violin performance was out of the question. Heartbroken, I had to decide what to do next, and I decided to pivot towards production, and never looked back. Thankfully, it allows me to still be creative without needing all ten fingers working perfectly! And now I’m here, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Your latest EP Breathe In, Breathe Out is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the EP?
To sum it up the best I can, it’s the honest, genuine story of my worst year. It’s filled with grief, loss, doubt, stress, surgeries, hospital visits, and sexism – but also perseverance, finding inner strength, identity and recognition. I think optimism in the face of uncertainty is a big theme for me – starting around the time I lost the use of my finger – and I like to think of this as a personal journey of the healing process. I recorded all the strings on the EP myself, and it was a long and frustrating process to deal with the Dystonia, but it was so special for me to be the one playing my violin. The EP kind of starts in this incredibly dark and overwhelming place with ‘Breathe In’, and then over the course of the record slowly gets lighter and more optimistic until the end, when you end with ‘Breathe Out’, which is all about welcoming peace and letting things be.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Shura and Robyn, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
I’m super inspired by other gender minorities in production who are absolutely killing it – Bad Snacks, Rachel K Collier, and SoWylie to name a few – as well as songwriters who are able to just be 1000% honest and genuine. Matthew Thiessen of Relient K has been a huge influence for me, as well as Devon Again and Lila Drew.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
I end up seeing a lot of live music thanks to my A&R work! Going to support and scout artists is all part of the job, and I’ve really enjoyed watching all sorts of acts just be their best selves on stage. It’s really inspiring.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
Last month, we finished up our first ever Northeast Tour! It was soooo much fun. When I’m performing solo, you can expect a solo beat set. I hook up a vocal mic, my SP404sx, my viola and we have a ball. When I’m performing with my band, the set sounds way more neo-soul than electronic, and it’s way less for me to worry about since there’s no looping, no sampling, no playing while singing… Just me and the band. There’s things I love about both setups, but sometimes it’s just logistically easier to do it one way over another. I love having the flexibility and also the unpredictability of having every show be something different.

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
I mentioned Bad Snacks earlier – def check her out! She’s one of the reasons I decided to make the leap into production, and I can’t wait to watch her music continue to do amazing things.

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
Speaking as an A&R, I would definitely say that it can be harder to cut through the noise since making and releasing music is far more accessible these days. Surrounding yourself with the right team and being true to yourself as an artist is the absolute best thing you can do.

Finally, what does the rest of 2022 have in store for Annie Elise?
Lots of new music – both for my artist project, and music that I’ve produced for other people. I’m really excited for it all to be out into the world.

Massive thanks to Annie for answering our questions!

Breathe In, Breathe Out, the debut EP from Annie Elise, is out now.

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Five Favourites: Sir Jude

Having had previous singles featured in popular TV shows such as ‘Catfish’ and ‘The A List’, Australian artist Sir Jude has now announced the release of her upcoming debut album, Revelations, and shared a sweeping new single with the world. Propelled by a stirring, glitchy energy ‘Madonna‘ reflects on the dichotomy of the Madonna concept – the virgin and the whore. As her rich vocals soar over a gritty electro-infused soundscape, an instantly catchy cinematic alt-pop anthem is created.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of ‘Madonna’ and the upcoming debut album, we caught up with Sir Jude to ask about the music that has inspired her the most. See below for her choices of her five favourite songs.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Wet Sand’ 
Growing up, I was such a big Chili Peppers fan. Still am of course. It was the soundtrack to many defining moments, particularly my first love. My journey to discovering them as a band was led by pure intrigue – none of my friends listened to them and I was mesmerised by the sound of psychedelic rock. The lyric in this track – “you don’t form in the wet sand” – I thought was so delicate and beautiful. Despite it feeling like a song about lightness, there is this sense of tragedy and vulnerability. I think Anthony Kiedis mastered that; most of their songs have this wonderful element of dichotomy. Later I watched an interview of Flea talking about how the song for him is a special love song, about the darkness of love, and I deeply resonate with that.  

Imogen Heap – ‘Hide and Seek’
This song was a staple for my teen years! I had first heard this on my favourite show at the time – which I’m admitting was The OC. I think for most people, it was unlike anything else they’d heard before. For me, I wanted to know more. I think Imogen Heap is one of the most talented composers and is an absolute force for women in music. I’m so grateful to her for being so authentic and bold in everything she does. This song inspired a whole era of songs I set to write at 13 or 14 (most of which were terrible). But one song it inspired, titled ‘Sailor Ships’, was the very song that brought me to Abbey Road Studios in London, with my friend and collaborator Bryce Jacobs, and that moment was so special.  

Arctic Monkeys – ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ 
This song gets most of its lyrics from the John Cooper Clark poem of the same name. I first heard this and gasped. I’m not the most romantic person, but for the first time I felt like these words were ones I could understand. It’s honestly a little creepy when you read it aloud, but I think at the heart of the song it’s about loving someone so deep that you want to know and be with every single part of them, and that’s pretty beautiful. I feel like such a sap admitting that, but it’s just lovely.  

Kavinsky ft. Lovefoxxx – ‘Nightcall’
I had heard this song before seeing it in Drive. The movie and the scorpion jacket only added to the iconic etch it made in my mind. The way the album, Out Run, opens is so epic; it paints this glorious mental movie soundtrack that is otherworldly and genius and just so cool. It’s the best nighttime driving song there is. Again, there is this sense of love and tragedy that I resonated with because the concept of the album itself felt so tangible.  

The Naked and Famous – ‘The Sun’
I lean very heavily towards songs that make me feel as though I can cut a quick movie montage of my life in my head. Every time this song plays, I feel so empowered and capable – like something is about to happen. It’s dramatic and aggressive and the lyrics bring about a feeling of frustration, like this person is about to explode; like they’re finally at a turning point. The line “and what the hell have I done” inspired my own song – ‘What the Hell Have You Done’. I just remember feeling so heard in that line. It does something to me every time I hear it. And the whole album is a classic; I think there are a lot of people that can listen to a song from that album and have it take them back somewhere years ago.  

Massive thanks to Sir Jude for sharing her Five Favourites with us!

‘Madonna’ is out now, and Revelations, the upcoming debut album from Sir Jude, is set for release soon!

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