LIVE: Deer Shed Festival 2022 (Day 1: 29.07.22)

It’s been a while since I attended a festival… Obviously, there were so many cancellations throughout the last couple of years due the pandemic, and I missed out on 2019 as I was busy hosting my own (well, my wedding which I aimed to be as festival-like as possible). So, this year I was desperate to find one that was as lovely as possible and suited my needs of being perhaps a little older than the average festival-goer without missing out on any of the best new music. Sadly, the last festival I went to in 2018, and my favourite ever festival experience – Indie Tracks – did not survive Covid, and so I was looking for a replacement; something equally as inclusive, chilled-out, family friendly, and of course hosting plenty of amazing female and non-binary bands and artists. And then I came across Deer Shed… And it was just what I was after! Highlighting a real family-friendly focus, whilst hosting an incredible range of exciting new artists, the North Yorkshire based Deer Shed perfectly filled the festival-shaped-void I’d been feeling for the last few years.

Having settled into our pre-pitched tent (a revelation saving so much time and energy that I will be doing at every festival going forwards!), our first taste of live music of the weekend comes from Scottish artist Brooke Combe, oozing a soul-drenched groove and danceable energy.

Although sadly Lime Garden weren’t able to make their initial slot due to van troubles, we wander to the In The Dock stage to see what’s happening, and I couldn’t be happier to have happened upon an impromptu set from Leeds-based composer and producer Remy Enceladus, aka Straight Girl (“but I’m not straight and I’m not a girl!“). Delivering an incredible performance, oozing a fierce charisma and immense, vibrant energy, their unique electro-punk soundscapes and sparkling stage presence offer the perfect start to the weekend. And I’m evidently not the only one who thinks so; a child called George who can’t be more than twelve is head-banging in the front row – grasping the barriers and losing themselves in the throbbing beats, it’s really wonderful to see the positive, inspiring impact that role models like Straight Girl can have on young ones (this heartwarming sentiment is to become an ongoing theme throughout the weekend…).

After enjoying some delicious vegan delights from ‘Big Mouth Gyoza’, we head back to the main stage to enjoy the satirical indie-rock of the first of North Yorkshire’s Mercury nominees of the weekend, Yard Act. Despite not being in-keeping with the usual bands we’d feature on this site, I love their raw energy and witty social commentary; my admiration of them growing when James explains to the crowd that despite their “lad-like persona“, they’re not always cynical and can be quite nice, and that sometimes “people are alright” – an endearing introduction to their slower anthem ‘100% Endurance’.

And then back to the In The Dock Stage for the driving force of total faves The Lovely Eggs. Despite my view being somewhat obstructed by someone wearing some kind of Lowkey-inspired headpiece for the entirety of the set, it’s wonderful to see the packed tent dance along to the band’s colourful, buoyant energy and the brash, inspiring charisma and no-frills-yet-empowering presence of vocalist Holly Ross. As she takes a swig of her Thatchers (Strongbow is too weak these days), she challenges the youngsters to become the “youngest ever crowd surfer” and it strikes me that had this been anywhere else other than Deer Shed, I may have felt a bit uneasy with this suggestion – but the incredibly warm and child-friendly atmosphere just feels like one big happy family, and I have no fear that the willing participant is in safe hands (literally) as they’re propelled through the top of the crowd. However, whilst welcoming kids at gigs, Ross takes a moment in-between frenzied offerings to make her pro-abortion stance clear at a time when reproductive rights are being terrifyingly restricted across the world, stating that “it’s a woman’s choice“.

For our penultimate performance of the day, we return to the Main Stage for Bristol-based artist and someone I’ve been keen to see live for some time now – Billy Nomates. As she bounds across the stage with nothing but a laptop for company, I find myself completely immersed in her poignant spot-on lyricism and fierce, gritty energy. Delivering her stark social commentary to the backdrop of propulsive beats, she’s able to create an immense, stirring sense of urgency with a swirling, danceable allure, and I’m utterly captivated. My excitement about this set was most certainly justified.

Completing our first day at Deer Shed festival, it’s wonderful to see the return of Nadine Shah. Looking sharp in a tiger print suit, she exudes all the spellbinding charisma that I remember from seeing her at the last gig I attended before lockdown in 2019 (BBC 6Music’s International Women’s Day event at The Roundhouse). With an endearing modesty and gratitude for finally being able to headline the festival (after ten years), Shah and her band treat us to a stunningly majestic set; a sweeping orchestral musicality accompanied by her distinctive rich vocals. A truly enchanting performance creating a beautifully unified atmosphere (of “young ones and drunk parents“) to close Friday’s events in a blissfully joyous fashion.

Stay tuned for our review of Days 2 and 3 of Deer Shed festival!

Words: Mari Lane / @marimindles

Photo Credit: Paul Dawes / @paullikesrobots

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LIVE: Truck Festival 2022

After a painful double-cancellation during the pandemic years, 2022 marked a triumphant, sold-out return for Truck Festival. The sun shone the weekend through, football shirts reigned supreme (personal favourites being SOFY’s vintage Leicester away strip and an anonymous festival-goer’s Watford away shirt with ‘ACID, 7’ on the back), and of course, a cross-section of the nation’s favourite indie acts shared stages with some exciting up-and-comers and a few unexpected additions to the bill.

One of the first things that became apparent upon arrival, as raised by a number of performers, was Truck’s reputation as the home of the improbable mosh pit. The festival is defined by that particular brand of indie rock that lends itself to such a response – and it occurred to me as people hopped about to Loose Articles and then Oscar Lang, Siggy Brew cans flinging across the air – that this is really the perfect music for the British festival, itself defined by the beautiful dirtiness and community epitomised by the mosh. I was witness to some genuinely baffling pits over the course of the weekend; the award for the most inappropriate going to the Oxford Symphony Orchestra during their rendition of the Back To The Future suite.

Though the headline slots were dominated by male performers, it was mainly female-driven sets that provided my highlights for the weekend. Deep Tan played perhaps the best set I have seen from them – their usual no-chords-and-the-truth sound possessing a greater urgency and vivacity, sharpened by a year’s hard gigging and the sound at the So Young curated Market Stage. On the main stage, Kelis lived up to her legendary status, with a set front-loaded with the classic ‘Milkshake’ that progressed through an unpredictable 40-minute party that also included versions of ‘Bounce’ and ‘I Feel Love’, as well as a crowd singalong of ‘Happy Birthday’ for her son, who she brought on stage before the last song. 

Elsewhere, Lime Garden got the crowd moving from Saturday morning; lead singer Chloe Howard noting it had to be ‘the earliest I’ve ever played’. ‘Clockwork’ in particular smacked into a palpably strutting groove that would have been impossible to resist at any hour. On the same stage, Just Mustard groaned with apocalyptic intensity, the paired guitars bending a cavernous twisting pulse that blasted away at us. 

The pick of the headliners had to be Bombay Bicycle Club, who offer – alongside stomping, mosh-worthy riffs – a wonderful expansion on the format of indie four-piece complete with horn section and the vocal contributions of Saint Clair. Though their appeal was rooted in the indulgence of the tastes of my fourteen year old self, it was genuinely nice to see them playing live again. The sudden creation of a crowd of giants as Jack Steadman invited the audience to get on each others’ shoulders during ‘Carry Me’ was particularly atmospheric, if slightly offset by the slapstick failure of two people stood in front of me to achieve this pose.

After hours at Truck also saw a good time being had. Running until 2am with a choice of a silent disco and not one, but two, ‘indie bangers’ parties each night at different stages up against more traditionally dancey DJs in the Market Stage tent. Many of the weekend’s memorable moments came at this hour, the pick being the simultaneity of the sight of an individual staggering around in his own world (or at least not of this one), Newcastle shirt aloft, presumably babbling his love for Sam Fender, while we were regaled by a pair of young women explaining how they had spent their weekend ‘reverse catcalling’ men from their pathside tent. Saturday night at one of the indie rock dance tents was good fun, though I troublingly cannot recall any women artists included on the playlist, and found myself, in a brief wave of sobriety, wondering exactly which wave of feminism ‘Fit But You Know It’ spoke to.

If you are looking for a beery indie rock party, Truck is surely the festival for you. Less sprawling and destructive than Reading – and with an easily navigable site – you can catch some old favourites among a selection of the next batch of guitar hit-makers before partying into the not-excessively-small hours. And if that were not enough, there is even the prospect of moshing to a 30-piece orchestra…

If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, make sure you nab tickets for next year’s 2023 festival! Super Early Bird tickets will be available from this Friday, 29th July, at 12pm.

Lloyd Bolton
@lloyd_bolton

Photo Credit: Caitlin Mogridge

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Track Of The Day: KIN – ‘L.O.V.E’

After a compelling and emotional debut single, ‘Sharing Light’, London trio KIN follow up with a spunky second track titled ‘L.O.V.E.’ Inspired by the great British festival, KIN celebrate the euphoric feeling of being in a loving and freeing environment with good people and open spaces.

In conjunction with their previous work, ‘L.O.V.E.’ seems to set the mood of a boosting “bounce back” that follows a trying time or hardship. This song’s energy almost reflects the first night out after a break-up (or worldwide pandemic), where seeing your favourite people is equally as therapeutic as it is surreal. 

With a simple dance-infused beat and laid back sophisticated vocals, KIN’s jangly guitar parts seem to spin across the track with a unique funk-fuelled energy that is catchy and encouraging. Sun-strewn indie-pop riffs and quirky rhythms pull listeners in for musical fling, for a glistening cathartic couple of minutes. 

It is hard not to bop along to ‘L.O.V.E’ as it truly inhabits its lightweight and restorative “walking on a cloud” essence, both sonically and lyrically. Its twinkling uplifting energy an invite for some well deserved solace that we all should accept. 

Watch the homemade, festival-inspired, video for ‘L.O.V.E’ here:

‘L.O.V.E’ is out now. Listen on Spotify or buy on Bandcamp.

Jill Goyeau
@jillybxxn

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Interview: Cro Cro Land Founders, Angela and Julia

We’re currently getting extremely excited about Croydon’s brand new multi-stage festival, Cro Cro Land!

Organised by Croydon residents Angela Martin and Julia Woollams, the festival aims to promote gender equality in both its line-up and staff, is championing a number of local bands and artists, and is working in conjunction with a number of grassroots organisations and charities, including Lives Not Knives.

Paying host to some of our current favourites, including Nova Twins, Chorusgirl, Fightmilk, ARXX, Berries, Jetstream Pony, Bugeye and many more, we’re proud to be involved in helping out at the festival, and will even be spinning a few tunes on the day!

So, prior to everything kicking off on 6th April, we caught up with organisers Angela and Julia to find out more…

Hi Angela and Julia, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
Angela: I’m a member of the band Bugeye, music activist and co-founder of the Croydonist and Cro Cro Land Festival.
Julia: I’m a graphic designer mainly working in the charity and arts sector. I’m also the other founder of the Croydonist, which is a Croydon cultural blog, as well as co-founder of Cro Cro Land.
Angela: We’re also married, so partners in crime in every sense!

You’re currently organising Cro Cro Land –  Croydon’s brand new multi stage indie music festival – which is super exciting! What inspired the idea to do this?
A: Lots of things really. We’ve always been inspired by the fact that Croydon has such a rich musical history. It’s the birthplace of punk for one thing, and so many other great musical happenings such as Dubstep and Grime.
J: It used to be a place on every band’s tour schedule, but with venue closures, Croydon has sort of fallen off the map. We want to change that.
A: In recent years, we’ve seen so many people come together and form collectives for the greater good of music. DIY zines, podcasts, new promoters, dedicating their own time at no financial gain to try to impact change. There has been a real fight to improve the gender balance at festivals and ensure that women are fairly represented. This is an area that we feel very strongly about, and so we decided we wanted to get involved and create an event that took all of these things into consideration, paid artists fairly, as well as bringing together a number of grassroots collectives together under one roof.

How did you go about picking the fantastic line-up for the festival?
J: The line-up was a mixture of recommendations from grassroots collectives such as yourselves, The Zine UK, Benumu and Kick out the Jams – to name but a few – plus our own wishlist and artists applying via the festival submission page.

And what would you say has been the hardest part about organising a festival?
A: Where to start! I guess it was difficult not knowing whether we would be successful in our funding applications or not. Festivals aren’t cheap to put on after-all. However, the Arts Council National Lottery Grant was approved, and Croydon Council have also confirmed financial support, so we feel pretty blessed right now.

The line-up is filled with some of our favourites such as Nova Twins, The Lovely Eggs, ARXX, Bugeye and Chorusgirl! And what strikes me about the festival and makes it stand out at the moment is the great gender balance of the line up – was there an intentional and specific decision to do this, or did it just naturally pan out that way?
J: It came quite naturally to be honest. We did go back and look at our list of potential bookings to make sure we met this pledge, and found that we were pretty spot on from the word go.

And how do you feel about the general lack of female headliners at a lot of big festivals at the moment?
A: I think it’s quite disappointing. I totally get that if someone wants to put on a festival and pay for it, they should be able to book whoever they want, but there is still a level of responsibility that falls to promoters to address gender issues. On a positive note, the PRS Keychange initiative is making a dent in there, with a number of festivals pledging a gender balanced bill. I know there’s still a way to go on this, but the more festivals that treat this as the norm, then ultimately it pressures others to also follow suit.

It’s great that you’re hosting a festival in Croydon, somewhere that doesn’t yet have many music events, in comparison to areas in North and East London – will there be a focus on local bands at the festival?
J: There certainly is. We are supporting local talent as well as running a mentoring programme with our charity partner Lives Not Knives. The mentoring programme will be offered to those who have experienced social exclusion and/or victims of crime with a special focus on women in the community.

And for any upcoming bands/artists looking to apply for the festival next year, do you have any tips?
A: Get in early. We plan on launching the new application process a couple of months after this year’s event, so keep an eye on our socials. I guess what we look for are bands that are supportive of the scene in general, and not just focused on their own agenda. If you like other bands’ content, retweet, comment and share, then we want to hear from you. To make a difference in this industry, it’s about working together. We don’t believe in popularity contests of who has the most followers on Twitter. Because that’s kind of bullshit at the end of the day. What counts is how active you are, if we like your music, and think you have potential.

What are you most looking forward to about Cro Cro Land?
J: When it’s finished. Just kidding. I guess once the festival is in full swing we might be able to relax – hopefully!
A: I’m looking forward to the moment before the doors open and everything is in place. It’ll be a real emotional feeling, as I think everything we’ve been through to get here will really hit home.

How do you feel the music industry is for new bands and artists at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
A: The UK is a hard market. There’s many pros and cons. The biggest con is trying to get the big labels to listen. They want bands to have already made it to a certain level before getting involved. The pros are that a huge number of people are saying ‘fuck that’ and creating their own industry. There’s a great network of bands that all support each other, promoters who work their arses off to make shows a success and create noise about the bands. It’s working too and we’re starting to see bands breaking through at long last.

Finally, as we’re a new music focused site, are there any particular new bands or artists from Croydon that you’d recommend we check out?
A: Hmmm, let me see! There’s Jetstream Pony, The Weird Things, Bears in Trees, who are all good fun. As for other bands that we are playing non-stop, check out Tiger Mimic, Kath & The Kicks and Feral Five. We’re a bit in love with all the bands on our bill though.

Thanks so much to Angela and Julie for answering our questions, we can’t wait to see you on 6th April!

Cro Cro Land takes place at Urban Xchange, Croydon (a minute’s walk from East Croydon station) on 6th April. For tickets and line-up details, check out their website.

Listen to our Cro Cro Land favourites playlist here:

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