Tag: decolonise fest

We’ve already shared our Albums & EPs Of 2025, Tracks Of 2025 and our final Soho Radio show of the year, but now the GIHE team have put together a round up of some of their music related highlights from the past twelve months.

From celebrating a decade of GIHE in various ways, to attending Cro Cro Land and Decolonise Fest, plus our first time hosting a stage at The Great Escape Festival; the GIHE team were grateful to feel connected to our friends and followers throughout 2025.

Huge love to everyone who has listened in to our radio shows, read our reviews & features on our website, or attended one of our gigs this year. Take care of yourselves and we’ll see you all in 2026!

Read below for a recap of some of our best bits of the year…

10 years of Get In Her Ears!

Kate: Although Get In Her Ears officially kicked off in 2015, I found the GIHE radio show a year later in 2016. I used to listen in every Thursday evening when Mari and Tash hosted their slot on Hoxton Radio, enjoying the new music tunes and smiling when they gave me a shout out on air. When Mari asked me to cover her when she was unable to make the show one week, I was chuffed. Tash and I met for the first time 20 minutes before we shared mics, but it felt like we’d known each other for ages. The show went really well and I had a blast, so I was overwhelmed with happiness when they invited me to be a permanent co-host with them. We’ve continued on as a three piece for nine whole years and in that time we’ve co-launched our website and monthly gig night, moved to Soho Radio, we’ve been featured in Clash, interviewed for The Guardian and The Independent, spoken on panel events at Southbank Centre and even been on Craig Charles’ Trunk Of Punk on BBC Radio 6!

I’m deeply proud of these accomplishments, but what I’m most proud of is nurturing my friendship with Mari and Tash over the past decade. Teenage me – an anxious girl from Essex – would be so happy to know that I’d meet two people who would not only teach me so much about new music and the importance of community, but also just two really decent, funny, open-minded friends who would support me in all my endeavours. That is the foundation of Get In Her Ears and that is why it’s been such a joy and a privilege to grow this platform together and meet so many wonderfully like-minded people who either make music, or feel as passionate a connection to it as we do. We gathered up some kind words in the form of voicenotes from some of our favourite artists for our special anniversary show on Soho Radio, which reflect all of these things and more.
(Kate Crudgington – Features Editor)

Mari: Hosting GIHE gigs really is my most favourite thing to do. As well as being able to platform fantastic new musicians of marginalised genders, being able to bring together like-minded people in a safe space where everyone feels free to be themselves, part of a chosen family, and able to unite in joy and rage feels like something that is needed now more than ever. Huge thanks to everyone – musicians and supporters alike – who’ve been a part of our little community over the last ten years. And biggest thanks of course to dream team, fellow parents of our precious baby, and the best friends a dweeb like me could ever need – Kate, Tash and Paul. Here’s to the next ten years!
(Mari Lane – Managing Editor)

GIHE 10th Birthday All-Dayer at The Cavendish Arms

Mari: I could gush for pages about how much it means to me that Get In Her Ears turned 10 this year. Being able to celebrate something that myself, Kate and Tash (and Paul!) have put so much love and work into over the last decade felt really important, and I wanted to ensure that any event organised represented the community we are so honoured to have been a part of. So, it felt fitting to host our all-dayer in September at The Cavendish Arms – a venue which, over the last couple of years, has done so much for us and whose gorgeous vibe and ethos aligns perfectly with the safe, inclusive space that is consistently my priority to provide, and whose staff are always the most helpful and welcoming.

It felt fitting, too, to be able to put together a line-up of bands and artists who have been a big part of the Get In Her Ears journey in some way over the years – the fact that Problem Patterns came all the way over from Belfast to headline, along with other favourites like Fightmilk, The Baby Seals, Jenny Moore, Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something, Schande, Dogviolet, and last minute recruits The Oozes, plus pillar of the scene Estella (Big Joanie) on the decks, really was the stuff that dreams are made of. Being able to fill the space with so many familiar faces, people who’ve supported us and who we couldn’t do all this without, was something that felt incredibly special, and will stay with me for many more decades. I now have a taste for organising all-dayers, keep your eyes peeled for more special events!

Kate: Get In Her Ears has enriched my life on so many levels and I felt that profoundly at our 10th Anniversary gig at The Cavendish Arms. The line-up that Mari put together was stacked with artists who we have followed since their early days of releasing music, so it felt like a real full circle moment for all of us. It was a joy to catch up with friends old and new throughout the day and share plenty of pints and plenty of memories. It all went by in a flash. I handmade 100+ friendship bracelets for the occasion, we had our very own GIHE tote bags on sale designed by our Art Director & Photographer Paul, plus, Paul’s Mum even made cupcakes. I wish we could do it all again.

Ella from Dogviolet: It was an honour to play at the Get In Her Ears anniversary show at The Cav. One of my favourite pubs (and where GIHE gave us our first ever gig!) and an opportunity to play alongside legends of the scene. Highlights included Jemma Freeman, who, as ever, delivered a high-octane set, ending up on the floor in the middle of the crowd with guitars screaming and wailing. A perfect contrast followed with an intimate set from Jenny Moore on piano and vocals; the room fell completely silent, you could hear a pin drop. She combined tongue-in-cheek humour with spine-tingling intimacy, even getting the whole room singing acappella at the end. The venue was packed throughout the day, and truthfully, the event could have filled a much bigger space, but the intimacy gave it a great buzz and atmosphere. The warmth, solidarity and joy in the room were a testament to the community spirit Get In Her Ears have built over the past ten years. Here’s to many more!

GIHE first showcase at The Great Escape

Kate: I’ve been attending The Great Escape Festival as a fan and then as a journalist since 2011, so I was over the moon when Get In Her Ears were given the opportunity to host a showcase on Brighton beach on the Soundwaves Stage in May this year. We booked South London post-punk duo Scrounge to headline our eclectic showcase, with Comic Sans, Rubie, Maria Uzor and afromerm as our supporting artists. We were blessed all weekend with sunny weather, which meant the turnout for or beach stage was beyond what we expected. We loved watching each artist perform their unique sets and appreciated every shout out that they gave us from the stage. It was a proper milestone moment for us all and I hope we can return to The Great Escape in the near future to share more of the vital and exciting music from new artists in our GIHE community. Our unofficial GIHE after-party at our favourite Brighton bar, The Bee’s Mouth, was also a blast.

Mari: Another fitting celebration of our 10th birthday this year was to have the honour of hosting a stage at The Great Escape. An event known for platforming upcoming new artists, it felt really special to be able to showcase an eclectic mix of some of our favourites over the weekend in Brighton – from the dreamy soundscapes of afromerm, the frenzied danceable allure of Maria Uzor and the poignant, empowering grace of Rubie, to the immense swirling energy of Comic Sans and fierce seething power of headliners Scrounge; our evening at the Beach Stage really did feel like a perfect representation of the exciting and talented new artists that we consistently support. As well as our showcase, the weekend as a whole was really special – the four of us being able to spend the whole weekend together, celebrating the last ten years with new music, tattoos, fun and sunshine.

GIHE tattoos at The Dollhouse

Kate: It may not have been my first tattoo (it’s my ninth!) but having the GIHE logo permanently etched on to my skin is definitely the most significant piece of ink I have on my body. The Dollhouse in Brighton was the perfect environment for the GIHE team to get our celebratory shared tattoos whilst we were in town for The Great Escape. Run by a team of ultra friendly female, non-binary and LGBTQ+ artists and staff, we were impressed by everything from the pink decor, to the kindness and curiosity of the folks who inked these important lines into our excited flesh. I chose to have my GIHE tattoo on the inside of my wrist, so that it looks like the entry stamp you receive at the door to one of our gigs. For me, it’s a wonderful visual reminder of all that the GIHE team have achieved so far and of our bond with each other.

Mari: At the age of 39, I got my first tattoo after years after debating whether I should, and it felt only right that this first permanent addition to my body should mark something so personal to me (and be designed by my partner in everything, Paul!); a beautiful, lifelong reminder of all the hard work and joy we’ve shared together over the last decade. I guess we’ll just have to keep doing this forever now! Huge thanks and love to Evie for taking such good care of me and making it such a nice experience, and to all the staff at The Dollhouse for being the loveliest; a tattoo place fully staffed by queer people (and with cute pink walls) it felt like the perfect place for us to do this together. I’ll definitely be back soon!

Decolonise Fest

Mari: A vital event promoting punks of colour and their community, Decolonise Fest is a non-profit DIY festival made up of activists, militant community organisers, musicians and artists that have been coming together to organise the weekend since 2017. This year, I was lucky enough to be be able to attend the Saturday, which started off with an incredibly inspiring and informative panel from YWMP, Good Night Out Campaign, Spark The Noise and Off Shoot Tours about creating safer spaces for marginalised groups to enjoy live music – an incredibly relevant and poignant topic for someone who organises gigs. The day and evening continued to be filled with so much incredible live music – including the playful, jazz-tinged energy of Coventry’s The Genes, post-punk legends Bona Rays and the driving frenzied indie anthems of Liverpool’s ones to watch, steel.

Comic Sans on Soho Radio 

Kate: We enjoyed the company of London-based queer punks Comic Sans so much that we invited them to be guests on our Soho Radio show twice this year. We interviewed vocalist Rachel and guitarist Lauren in March about their personal and political single ‘Mr President’ and the band’s origin story, and Rachel also joined us again in May to chat with us on our Great Escape special. What comes across in both interviews is Comic Sans’ collective wit and humour and like team GIHE, there is also a solid friendship underscoring all that they do. It was a joy to host them as part of our showcase at The Great Escape and I look forward to seeing them live again in 2026!

Cro Cro Land

Mari: Ten years ago, if you’d have asked me what I’d be doing on my 39th birthday, I don’t think DJing at awesome local festival Cro Cro Land alongside a line-up of incredible bands would have even occurred to me. But, a decade on, that’s what happened, and I can honestly say it was one of the most fun birthdays of my nearly 40 years. Spending the day providing tunes for so many familiar faces, as well as 100s of lovely local Croydon folk out to enjoy some fantastic live music felt like the perfect way to celebrate, and being able enjoy bands like Billy Nomates, Goat Girl, Benefits, Berries, Grandmas House, Phwoar, Bugeye and A Void throughout the day was the only present I needed. Huge thanks to organisers Angela and Julia for inviting me to be involved, and massive credit to them for creating such a brilliant and diverse showcase of new music within a community that so needs a bit of a boost right now.

Deer Shed Festival

Mari: My fourth time at the North Yorkshire festival, this year at Deer Shed felt as special as ever. Having fallen in love with its warm, family-focused energy and exciting, eclectic line-ups when first attending in 2022, it has not disappointed since. They manage to consistently create a space that feels comfortingly intimate; an inclusive safe haven for artists and fans of all genres, genders and ages. Amongst those performing, a fantastic amount of female, non binary and queer performers were represented this year, and I was lucky enough to catch lots of these over the weekend, with highlights including Kae Tempest, Moonchild Sanelly, Cowboy Hunters, The None and Jacob Alon. I also felt privileged to be asked to DJ a silent disco for the second year in a row; playing tunes to a huge tent that ended up being full of people provided a much-needed hit of dopamine. And watching the people of all ages, families and friends alike, enjoying the music – making up dances, and getting excited by certain songs (particularly Chappell Roan and Le Tigre!) – was a pretty euphoric experience. I’m mega grateful to have had the opportunity to do it; huge thanks and love to Deer Shed for letting me unleash my danceable queer tunes onto the crowd once again! I strongly suggest you investigate getting tickets for this year – the line-up’s looking pretty lovely, with the likes of Jasmine.4.t, Say She She, The New Eves and Sorry already announced.

Working with Trapped Animal Records

Mari: I just wanted to give a little shout out to perhaps the most positive thing that’s happened for me personally over the last year. Over the last decade of Get In Her Ears, there’s been certain independent record labels who we’ve worked with closely and whose values have consistently seemed to align with what we do. Trapped Animal Records has been one of these, with favourites like The Baby Seals, Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something, Grrrl Gang, Gabi Garbutt and Dear Pariah on their roster, and having continued to use their platform to support what we do. So, in Spring this year, when they asked if I’d like to help them out with press for some of their artists, it seemed like the stars had aligned and I jumped at the chance.

It’s been so lovely to be able to be part of a team of such like-minded folk, promoting hardworking DIY artists spread the word about their wonderful new music, and I’m super excited for what 2026 has in store, both with the main label and with their new, artist-focused sub-label We Go To 11, which was created to support independent artists in releasing their music without giving up control or rights. Working with a diverse range of bands and artists, such as Black Water County, Neev, Peter Cat, Jeremy Tuplin, Cormorant Tree Oh, That Old Quiet Lighthouse, Read The Room and Crying Loser has been such a pleasure – huge thanks to Joel, Kerry and the team for having me on board!

Keep your eyes peeled for our Ones To Watch in 2026 feature, which we’ll be publishing on our website very soon…