LISTEN: GIHE on Soho Radio (10.06.26)

Tash hosted the GIHE show on Soho Radio solo this month, bringing listeners another eclectic mix of new music tunes from some of their favourite female, non-binary & LGBTQ+ artists. They also focused on the theme of water throughout the show, exploring what the element represents and means to them and indulging in the fluid, soothing vibes of the tracks they specially selected.

Matthew Herbert, Mykki Blanco, james k, Kloyd, Dogviolet, Planningtorock, ALT BLK ERA, Feeo, Trash Kit, Milkweed and many, many more artists are featured on the genre-spanning playlist!

Listen back below:

 

We’ll be back on Soho Radio on Wednesday 8th July from 20:00-22:00
Listen via DAB, the Soho Radio app or www.sohoradio.com

Tracklist
Matthew Herbert, Momoko Gill Herbert – Calm Water
Jessica Pratt – Mother Big River
Milkweed – Tête Brec, The Twinkling Hoard
Aldous Harding – I Ate The Most
Angie McMahon – Exploding
Snail Mail – Let’s Find an Out
Ellie O’Neill – Silent Water
Dogviolet – Daughter
Trash Kit – Horizon
Kat Five – Emergency Start
Smerz – Spring Summer
Vera Ellen – Gayfever
Kloyd – New Love
Planningtorock, Romy – The One
Hercules and Love Affair – I Get High
Vistoso Bosses – Delirious
Mykki Blanco – Little Feet
james k – Doom Bikini
ALT BLK ERA – Our World
Feeo – The Hammer Strikes the Bell
Fred again… ft. Soak – Just Stand There
HNNY – I Let Go

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Guest Blog: Neev

Having been steadily carving out her place in the UK indie-folk scene, known for her intricate storytelling and evocative vocals, Scottish songwriter Neev first charmed our ears with her 2023 debut album, Katherine, before going on to cast her captivating spell once more with last year’s sophomore offering, How Things Tie In Knots.

Now, having called London home for a number of years – grateful for the sense of community and creativity it has allowed her – Neev will be relocating up north later in the year, and, as a farewell to her beloved city, she will be playing a special intimate gig next Wednesday 27th May at SJQ in Dalston. Ahead of the gig, we caught up with Neev to reflect on her mixed feelings about London, its supportive DIY music scene, what it’s offered her and the reasons why it’s time to leave. Have a read and nab tickets to next Wednesday’s gig here.

Being a musician in London in my mid-20s shaped me, but now I’m leaving.

Moving to London wasn’t a dream of mine. I didn’t get the hype. I moved there to study a masters and living in the city was a slow burn. It was too big, I got lost a lot, it was expensive. But, when it hit summer, I started to understand what pulled people there, and once I got curious about the live music scene, I started to understand why people stayed.

In 2019, an ill-suited 9-5 job spurred me to pick up my guitar. I started writing songs I didn’t hate and went to open mics every night. Since that decision, I’ve had the privilege of making life-long friends, attending awe-inspiring gigs, making music, playing with my band and darting around the city most days from studios, to venues, to rehearsal rooms. Being a musician in London in my 20s shaped me, but now I’m leaving.

My decision to leave isn’t ground-breaking. It’s all the reasons you’ve heard before: cost, space, access to nature, the things that every Londoner tolerates until they can’t. But I don’t regret a moment spent in the city cutting my teeth in the music scene. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.

It was through the music scene that I met my incredible band. I met musician and singer-songwriter, Alex Cambridge, at my first gig, playing to a handful of friends. My soon-to-be musical right-hand woman, Frankie Morrow – aka Maz McMillian – was also in the crowd that evening. I’ve had the joy of playing with her and Alex in their bands over the years where I’ve learned so much. I’ve managed to convince the busiest musician in London, Greg Sheffield, to still play with me after all these years, which has been a joy, and I met Alex Reed as a newcomer to London – his brilliant bass playing and friendship have been a steady presence throughout my time in the city.

Something I respect about the scene is how democratized it is, there’s something for everyone. The pub corners that pull crowds, the church halls, the quirky book shops that double as venues. This scene is held up by hard working promoters that care about getting good music heard; the Get in Her Ears team being a brilliant example, as is Bark Noise and the Soundsniffer. I feel very lucky to have seen incredible shows. I’ll never forget seeing Bojockey and Glowworms at the Shacklewell Arms, wedged into a spellbound crowd yelling the words. I’ve seen acoustic sets at the Gladstone Arms from Laura Reznek, Frankie Morrow and Ann Lui Cannon. Shows at the Lexington and The Finsbury have felt so special, where people like Cordelia Gartside and Alex Cambridge have played.

But right now in the capital, rent prices continue to soar, the cost of living is at an all time high, and sustaining a music career gets harder. In the current context, watching the musicians around me make it work to keep creating their art is more of an impressive feat than ever. So, what is it about London? You may be reading this thinking of other amazing creative hubs dotted around the UK and beyond. I think Glasgow, my hometown, is one of them, and it’s a cheaper city to live in. I was recently listening to a conversation between the comics Mike Birbiglia and Nish Kumar, who got onto the topic of living as a creative in London. Nish said:

“London will always continue to throw up interesting people and exciting people… Because if you pack a load of creative people into a space where they don’t really have enough room to manoeuvre without bumping into each other, that’s where the cool shit really happens.”

Mike Burbiglia agrees and replies:

“That’s the point, yeah” but adds “it’s basically impossible to live there. Good luck.”

Which sums up my love for London: it’s absolutely packed to the brim with talent, life and creativity. And everybody makes it work, even if it’s basically impossible to live there.


Huge thanks to Neev for sharing her thoughts on being a musician in London with us – catch her at SJQ next Wednesday. Otherwise, she’ll be in Nottingham on 28th May and up in her hometown of Glasgow on 29th May.

Photo Credit: @framesbyfrances

mariangelicalaneLeave a comment

LISTEN: GIHE on Soho Radio x The Great Escape Special & WIDGET (13.05.26)

Tash, Kate and Mari were back on Soho Radio this month with a special playlist celebrating the female, non-binary & LGBTQ+ artists who are playing The Great Escape this year! They dedicated an entire section of the show to the artists who are performing as part of the GIHE showcase at the festival on The Soundwaves Stage on Brighton Beach on Saturday 16th May – so listen out for tracks from Problem Patterns, The Baby Seals, YAKKIE, steel. and Jessie Mac…

The team were also joined in the studio by Ky & Estella from East London queer disco-punk band WIDGET. They spoke about the joys of being in a DIY band, the amazing people they’ve met through their various DIY communities and shared stories about the tracks on their self-released debut album, CLASSY HITS VOL.2. If you can’t make our GIHE showcase at The Great Escape this Saturday 16th May, you should head to The Pie House in Deptford to watch WIDGET play a special fundraiser gig instead! Grab a ticket here.

Listen back below:

 

We’ll be back on Soho Radio on Wednesday 10th June from 20:00-22:00
Listen via the Soho Radio app or www.sohoradio.com

Tracklist
Peaches – Boys Wanna Be Her
Lauren Auder, Celeste – Unseen
Jessie Mac – Trans Is Beautiful
The Baby Seals – Tamoo Trance
YAKKIE – Kill The Cop Inside Your Head
Problem Patterns – I’m Fine and I’m Doing Great
steel. – DFTTM
Ngaiire ft. Nai Palm – Dirty Hercules
Lumi – Once In A Blue Moon
Tanzana – Pulse, Pose, Position
Roomer – Written By
SISTRA – Things I really Mean
ARXX – We Don’t Talk About It Enough
Cowboy Hunters – Money For Drugs
congratulations – This Life
WIDGET – WHAT IF PHONES BUT TOO MUCH
**Interview with Ky & Estella from WIDGET**
Track chosen by WIDGET: Mia Musa – Knew You Before
Not Richard & Her Majesty – A Song About Being A Parasite
Twat Union – Tiny Shorts
Bonnie Trash – Hellmouth
Fraulein (Jonique) – Wait and See
Afternoon Bike Ride – Sunday Sketch
Neve Cariad – Burdens
Yaz – Father Nature
Jamaica Moana – CYA
Meduulla – Vibe Nice
Kimmortal – This Dyke
Tom Rasmussen – There’s A Lot To Be Happy About

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Five Favourites: Tenderness

As someone who had Deep Throat Choir soundtrack me walking down the aisle, hearing the voice of anyone from that incredible collective always feels pretty special. And so the debut solo album from Katy Beth Young (also of Peggy Sue) – aka Tenderness – has been an extremely welcome treat for my ears since its release last month. Showcasing Young’s gorgeously rich vocals as twinkling Americana-tinged hooks ripple throughout, True offers stirring reflections on relationships, grief and the fleeting nature of joy. As a gentle melancholy flows alongside a twinkling uplifting grace, it’s an exquisite testament to Young’s resonant songwriting and the beautiful raw emotion that shimmers through every song. I was lucky enough to hear the album live at St Pancras Old Church a few weeks back; a perfect setting for the moving celestial splendour of Tenderness.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them the most. So, we caught up with Katy to ask about her “Five Favourites” and she’s picked five albums that she feels most influenced the writing and recording of True. Check out her choices below, scroll to down to watch the beautiful video for ‘Day Of Atonement‘, which features Deep Throat Choir singing alongside Katy, and make sure you set aside time to immerse yourself in the full album.

Kim Deal – The 2013-2014 Singles 
This is not exactly an album (sorry!) but I love Kim Deal a lot and she/The Breeders have been a huge influence. She put out these ten singles in 2013-14 without much fuss and I listened to them constantly when I discovered them about a year later – ‘Are You Mine?’ and ‘Beautiful Moon’ are pretty much perfect. There’s surfy guitars and lo-fi drums and Kim Deal’s perfect voice and also absolutely killer lyrics like – “I’m happy for you / but I feel crying”. I’m always aiming for that kind of conciseness and contradiction with my own lyrics. The arrangements are very sparse and simple and satisfying and they sound very alive. It’s like each song has been condensed into its absolute essence, which is something I’ve aspired to do with Tenderness – just letting the song be itself musically and lyrically. They also all sound like they belong together – from the heaviest to the gentlest. True was made over quite a long time, so Euan and I worked really hard to pull some sonic threads through them and make sure they belonged, and this set of songs was a really good touch point for that. 

Big Thief – Masterpiece
The first Big Thief song I heard was ‘Real Love’. In the space of a week about six different friends sent it to me saying “I think you’ll like this” and obviously I did. I love every Big Thief album & their solo stuff too – they are each perfect for a slightly different day, time, mood  – but Masterpiece is still the one I listen to the most. It makes me want to sing along in a way that probably only Mariah Carey ever did before. The song ‘Masterpiece’ makes me want to write loud songs and ‘Lorraine’ makes me want to write quiet sexy songs and ‘Vegas’ makes me want to practice the guitar. 

Allegra Krieger – I Keep My Feet on The Fragile Plane
A lot of my writing influences happen quite slowly without me really noticing, but recording influences are much more conscious. Allegra Krieger was a big one for this album. The sounds and the mood and the space she leaves around things is so captivating. We used it as a reference for vocal sounds and mood a lot. And the songs are brilliant and clever – there’s a real sense of place and time and Krieger can create a whole world or a whole relationship in a couple of lines. This is one of my favourites from the song ‘Lingering’ – “I wanted to tell you something small and stupid / but I couldn’t remember when I saw your face.” I’ll listen to any album that Double Double Whammy puts out now. 

Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
For better or worse Bright Eyes will probably always be my hand-on-heart ‘favourite band’. I discovered them at my most tender and suggestible age (I was trying to download ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ on Limewire but I’d forgotten what the title was). Oberst’s lyrics have had a profound effect on how I write and what I aim for – they are honest and wise and naive and heartbreaking and hopeful at once. When I was younger, I loved Lifted, or the story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground the best because it’s noisy and emo and kind of mean, but now that I’ve fully accepted that my soul is part-country I’ve come back around to I’m Wide Awake… It’s a bit of a time capsule for me now, plus it has Emmylou Harris on two songs.

Laura Marling – Song for our Daughter 
This album came out at the very start of the pandemic and I listened to it a lot walking around my local area that summer – which is also when I was writing the songs that would become True. Laura has been an influence forever, but I think at that moment there was something particularly inspiring about the clarity of her voice and her storytelling and the musicality of the arrangement. It helped me give myself permission to make these quieter songs with my voice right in the middle.


Huge thanks to Katy for telling us about her Five Favourites! Watch the beautiful video ‘Day Of Atonement’ below, and make sure you check out True, the debut album from Tenderness, which is out now via Amorphous Sounds.

mariangelicalaneLeave a comment