Brighton Rocks #39 : Eva Lunny

Posted on 05/06/2023 by brightonmusicblog

If you’ve caught BMB favourites Hutch over the last year or so, you might have seen them joined by Eva Lunny on harp and electronics. This Friday she steps forward and releases her own solo album Sonics & Meditations which is coming out on Bella Union’s Private Pressing imprint, and plays a launch party at the Rose Hill on Thursday. We caught up with her for our first Brighton Rocks of 2023:

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
I think it’s the people and their attitude around just giving things a go, especially in the music scene. It’s the perfect place to start off a new band or project and play live for the first time as there’s a lot of lovely venues that draw in a very supportive crowd who just want to see what you’re up to.

Who are your favourite local bands?
Plantoid are incredible, I think they’re definitely on the path to something very exciting. They’re all absolutely incredible musicians and their music takes you on a real journey.

What’s the best venue?
The Rose Hill always puts on more experimental artists, I feel like Brighton lacks spaces for these kinds of shows. I also love the Folklore Rooms, it’s so beautiful there and always showcases a lot of great artists who are on the more folky side of things.

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
I love Under The Bridge as they’re very focused on the community and the space is kept affordable as well. The staff are super nice!

What’s the best club?
Green Door Store. They put on really silly nights sometimes. Me and my band hosted a Shrek 2 screening there which was definitely one of the funniest things I’ve ever been to at a nightclub and I think the team behind the venue want to make sure that everyone has an event they can enjoy there!

What’s the best record shop?
Bella Union!

Where’s the best place to eat?
I love We Heart Falafel, it’s definitely me and my friends’ go-to.

What’s the best pub?
I’ve always loved The Prince Albert as my older sister used to work there and since then it’s always had a homely feel to me.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Probably Fatboy Slim, he’s a real icon!

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Maybe when I was about 5 years old

The album is available to pre-order from bandcamp and the Bella Union online shop, and will no doubt be available to buy at the new Bella Union shop on Church Street.

Brighton Rocks #38 : Anzahlung

Posted on 01/09/2022 by brightonmusicblog

Anzahlung initially formed as a side project to legendary band The Cravats, the duo made up of The Shend and Joe 91 today released their second album What You Think is All You’ve Got, and are on the bill for ex-Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flur’s gig at the Concorde in October. We caught up with them on a sunny day in Saltdean to quiz them about their Brighton

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
Joe : Brighton is the only place I’ve lived apart from Welwyn Garden City, which is a big C and small c conservative commuter town. Brighton is the complete antithesis to Welwyn; it’s still the only place in the world (that I’ve visited, at least) where I’d feel safe holding my boyfriend’s hand. It also has the most pubs per square mile than any other place in the UK, apparently. Convenient.
The Shend : Anything goes

Who are your favourite local bands?
Joe : Lambrini Girls. One of the most chaotic, energetic and occasionally absurd live bands I’ve seen in ages. Slum of Legs, sadly almost defunct but they’ll always have a special place in my heart. I’ve just discovered R. Dyer’s music, magical stuff.
The Shend : Human Leather, Arxx, Red Deer People

What’s the best venue?
Joe : We’re not short of decent venues in Brighton but the bulk of my favourite gigs have been at Green Door Store. Me and The Shend have played some exceptionally fun gigs there with our other band The Cravats.
The Shend : Concorde 2

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Joe : Brighton Electric. Staff are super lovely, the facilities are second-to-none and they serve decent beer. Under The Bridge deserves a mention too, Anzahlung have rehearsed there a couple of times, it’s friendly and affordable and they do lots of great community work too.
The Shend : Brighton Electric

What’s the best club?
Joe : I don’t frequent a particular club that often but there are plenty of great club nights in Brighton right now – Mi Piaci, Farmageddon, Traumfrau, Polyglam to name a few.
The Shend : Stay Sick

What’s the best record shop?
Joe : Resident is my go-to for records and has been since I moved here in 2013. Lovely place and glad to see that it’s still thriving.
The Shend : Across The Tracks

Where’s the best places to eat?
Joe : Too many to choose from! Recent highlights have been Adelfia, Khambis, Planet India and Alushi.
The Shend : Grubbs Burgers

What’s the best pub?
Joe : Prince Albert. Usually frequented by an assortment of types but never any hassle, decent venue upstairs and a giant Dot Cotton mural out the back.
The Shend : Prince Albert

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Joe : I feel obliged to say The Shend… but I’m going with Ben Wheatley. Sightseers is one of my favourite films.
The Shend : David Thomas

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Joe : I don’t eat rock, my teeth are knackered enough as it is! I do have a Throbbing Gristle stick of rock under my bed, purchased at their 2006 reunion gig in London. I wonder what state it’s in now.
The Shend : Never

Brighton Rocks #37 : Hanya

Posted on 26/05/2022 by brightonmusicblog

We’ve been fans of Hanya for a while at Brighton Music Blog, and our love for them was vindicated by last year’s mini album 100 Metre Sprint, which at less than half an hour left you itching for more. Ove this year’s Great Escape weekend they played at least three gigs, but managed to find a bit of time to catch up with us for our first Brighton Rocks feature in far too long

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
When I first moved here from a small town I would have said it’s the freedom to be yourself and not feel ostracised. Growing up in a small community, listening to exclusively music from the 70s and wearing a ripped Pavement t-shirt, I was definitely a weirdo to my peers – but here I’ve found so many like-minded people, in music or otherwise. Nowadays though I would say the best thing is the fact you can never get lost because the sea is always visible, we’re close to some damn impressive countryside, and there’s a strong music community here that’s unlike anywhere else. That and there’s some amazing pizza always accessible…

Who are your favourite local bands?
Ooft there’s a lot! We’re spoilt for choice and every year there’s more amazing stuff. At the moment we’re digging Penelope Isles, Helen Ganya, Ciel, Laundromat, Holiday Ghosts, Bess Atwell, Ralph TV…(I could go on for hours here)

What’s the best venue?
Hope & Ruin holds a very dear place in my heart. The sound is amazing, Leo and his team make sure of that, and they do some insanely good vegan chicken popper things that are pure evil heaven!!

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
We’ve now got our own space so it’s been a while since we used anywhere else, but we have always loved going to Brighton Electric and bumping into everyone there. It’s its own hub of creativity for all types of musicians, plus they put on some killer shows once in a while

What’s the best club?
The only place I’ve ever been even close to clubbing in Brighton is Patterns. They have some great DJ’s and live acts pass through, but otherwise the closest we’ve ever been to clubbing in Brighton is playing a gig at Przym once over Great Escape.

What’s the best record shop?
Resident! Always & forever. The Bella Union shop is also a lovely hangout and you usually get coffee there so that’s a win.

Where’s the best places to eat?
Ok, maybe one of the best things about Brighton is how much amazing food there is here. In no particular order…. Bincho Yakitori for dinner, Iydea for lunch, Tlaloc for brunch, a slice of Toby’s pizza at Bison Beer or VIP (Pizza) for anytime you bloody like, Manju’s or Chilli Pickle for indian food, Plateau for an insane natural wine infused lunch/dinner, Happy Maki for sushi wraps, Helmston for insane salads, god damn I can’t do this anymore I’m literally salivating. There are so many others…. every month my bank tells me I’ve spent most of my money on eating out because I just love me a good dish. BRB just gonna go grab a snack.

What’s the best pub?
I love The Black Dove as their music taste is killer, and so are the cocktails. Also Hand In Hand is forever in my heart.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
I used to serve Matt King (Superhans) coffee and he was a real nice dude.

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Never!

Brighton Rocks #35 : Insides

Posted on 14/07/2021 by brightonmusicblog

Back in the early nineties, Insides made waves with their alternative take on pop music, with their debut album Euphoria (which came out on 4AD) now considered a classic. In 2000 the band called it a day but a few years ago after a long stretch of producing, mastering, mixing and everything else that might go on at their own studio they started record again themselves. In 2016 they released the single Ghost Music, which would go on to form one of the tracks on the album Soft Bonds which finally came out earlier this year. They also have the honour of being the first band to have a release on Graham Duff’s new vinyl only Heaven’s Lathe label, selling out the Crumb Dropper in under three hours.

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
The two columns you drive through on the A23 when you get back. Plus both Duke of York cinemas which we hope to get back in to before long. The sea in front & the Downs behind.

Who are the your favourite local bands?
Map 71, Fujiya & Miyagi

What’s the best venue?
The Rose Hill and Green Door Store

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Of course our recording studio (Church Road Studio in Hove) is the best place to record, and Ooosh is lovely for rehearsals, although we favour our spare room.

What’s the best club?
The Pétanque Club on Hove seafront, by the Peace Statue is great for Arabic pop music, competitive heavy ball games & emergency toilets.

What’s the best record shop?
Resident, & used to love Wax Factor too, when second hand records were cheap.

Where’s the best places to eat?
Kitgum Kitchen for East African food, Manju’s for Gujarati home cooking & Bardsleys for fish & chips.

What’s the best pub?
The Colonnade Bar in town and the Watchmakers Arms closer to home.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Boy: Chrissy Boy from Madness
Girl: Stacy Dooley.
(But enjoyed the rumours about Macca shopping in Furniture Village when he lived in Millionaire’s Row).

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Reckon 1990. They used to make it in the old Maynards factory by us. Horrible.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sps2EJl19vQ

Brighton Rocks # 34 : Jacko Hooper

Posted on 30/06/2021 by brightonmusicblog

After being away for so long, I feared that we may be writing about venues closing. Instead however, our first proper post back is about a brand new venue for Brighton. It’s location is somewhere familiar for most Brightonians, and it’s being run by a familiar face on the local scene too. The Folklore Rooms is the new name for the upstairs space at The Quadrant, and the man behind it all is Jacko Hooper, who’s been running the Folklore Sessions, which had a residency at the White Rabbit before the pandemic, but has been held at various locations in Brighton since 2014.

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
Might sound a bit cliché but for me it’s the people. There’s so many creative people in this city and so many exciting projects it just encourages you and makes you want to soak it up and be involved. There’s no reason to not get in the thick of it because there’s so many likeminded people. That and the summer…I don’t think there’s a better city than Brighton in the summertime.

Who are your favourite local bands?
Crikey…That’s a hard question. My best pal has a project called Luo which is brilliant. I’m a big fan of a lot of the Folklore community that I work with, my friends Bess Atwell, Oktoba, Route 500, Edie Bens, Son, Arthur to name a few. I’ve been fairly consistently obsessed with all of Nancy’s releases as well.

What’s the best venue?
The Folklore Rooms of course! I’m also the Live Events Manager at The Brunswick, a venue very close to my heart where I gigged extensively in the early days in particular. Two venues across two floors and so much eclectic music, from grassroots shows to touring international acts. – Totally independent too. That’s the good stuff.

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Well I’ve worked at Brighton Electric so I should probably say them. I’ve rehearsed there since I was 14 and walking through the corridors and hearing The Xcerts and Architects and The Cure rehearsing and recording was a pretty inspiring way to go through your teen years.

What’s the best club?
Those days are probably best left firmly in my past. I don’t even know half the names of them. I thought LIFE was still there after it being gone for about two years. I think i’m old now.

What’s the best record shop?
I used to love Rounder Records, such a cool place and I bought so many records and gig tickets there in my teen years. Such a shame when it went…Luckily Resident is also awesome and I’ve seen some great in-stores there as well. It has quite an authentic ‘old record store’ feel to it which is harder to find these days.

Where’s the best places to eat?
Ooo…Well, I’m a couple of years into being vegetarian so my pallet has changed somewhat. Before it would have been wherever had the best burger but now not so…I ate at Easy Tiger recently on Upper North Street and it was amazing. Indian street food to die for, I HIGHLY recommend. Also the veggie roast at Hop Poles was a joy.

What’s the best pub?
My usual watering holes are The Foundry, The Prince George, Basketmakers or The Great Eastern. I like them small and cosy. I’m that guy that whinges to his mates that the music’s too loud when having a pint somewhere. Yeah, I am old.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Gotta be Nick Cave hasn’t it. Painfully cool.

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Not since I was a kid and to be honest I didn’t really like it then either. I’m the sorta person that eats ice creams by biting into them. I’m mental like that. Rock sort of frustrated me. I want to eat it, I don’t want to earn it.

The first gigs announced for the Folklore Rooms are:

2nd August – Liberty Matisse
14th August – Josh O’keefe
17th August – The Folklore Monthly Showcase (Tickets on sale July 2nd)
28th August – Jack Cade
4th September – The Sweet Ordeal

Jacko Hooper’s latest release is entitled This Was The Earth, which can be bough over at bandcamp as well as the usual digital download sites:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/g-CpwYc0dtw

Brighton Rocks # 33 : Nick Hudson / The Academy of Sun

Posted on 18/06/2020 by brightonmusicblog

Who are your favourite local bands?
Hmmm. Spleen, Fragile Creatures, Collect Call, Twenty One Crows.

What’s the best venue?
Damn I miss The Hanbury Ballroom. I’d say The Hope, with a stentorian shout-out to Leon,
who’s engineering is peerless. Otherwise, The Old Market, for the diversity of its programming.

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
We’ve started using Botega to rehearse in, and they’re awesome. I just really hope they survive the economic devastation of the pandemic. As for recording studios, we lived in Church Road Studio for two years while we were making The Quiet Earth, and it’s fair to say Julian and Paul are truly excellent humans and engineers. Adaptable, ingenious and inventive. Also Audiobeach, where I made a collaborative record with Oli Spleen. Forbes, Rocco and Old Clunky are a triumvirate to be reckoned with.

What’s the best club?
I don’t really go clubbing, Though we did play The Volks last November, which was beautiful
chaos. Sad to see Legends close, not because it was a great club per se, but because of the late night potential for preposterous hijinks. And for their insane lasers in the basement club.

What’s the best record shop?
I love, and have always loved Wax Factor. It’s browse-to-revelation ratio is particularly strong
and I frequently spend time in there just ranting with proprietor Mark. Will always miss
Rounder. And Monkey Music. Sigh.

Where’s the best places to eat?
Mange Tout and its sister restaurant Plateau are consistently excellent. Bincho Yakitori and
Ephesus on Preston Street are to die for. Riddle And Fins are still great and I’m still in pursuit
of lockdown lobster. The Setting Sun offers an incredible menu, and I’d say the same even if
my brother weren’t the head chef. Famous Szechuan on Queens Road is my favourite oriental restaurant in town. With an unassuming exterior, their menu and service are at once world-beating and homely.

What’s the best pub?
The Hand In Hand, Kemptown. It’s been my living room for over ten years. It functions as a
rustic bar, a psych ward, a hedonist’s miniature playground, a storyteller’s lounge, a tiny venue, a brewery, a community, a Fellini-esque speakeasy and a last refuge of the hangdog and esoteric. Jen is a local legend and deserves colossal applause. Their beer hatch during the lockdown is a wonderful thing.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Well, it’s always nice to know Nick Cave is in our realm, scratching out his red hand files from deepest Kemptown. We once had a natter about songwriting at a parking metre and he was a true gentleman.

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
It’s a weirdly malleable place. You can kinda forge your own version of it, within reason. It’s
small enough to be walkable and easily-escaped (and the downs, and the rock pools beyond the marina have proven cherished boltholes during lockdown) and big enough to sustain a degree of momentum and identity of its own. I also have a kinda authorial fascination with the way various disparate demographics intersect to form its strange socio-cultural ecosystem. Like, the gangsters, the lunatic chefs, the musicians, the queer community, the old level-heads in their KLF threads, the curious paradox that is Tory queens, the bar poets, the Soho exiles, the sprinklings of Crowleyana.

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
I’ve never had it! Though a friend was telling me about Sellafield rock actually. Which reminds me of the time an old friend walked into The Hand In Hand using an unirradiated nuclear cooling rod as a didgeridoo.

The Quiet Earth by The Academy of Sun is out on Friday 19th June and can be ordered from Bandcamp

Brighton Rocks #32 : Projector

Posted on 05/05/2020 by brightonmusicblog

Some Brighton Rocks take a bit longer to come to fruition than others. I first approached Projector last September about getting them involved but with touring, holidays, and line up changes throwing spanners in the works we didn’t end up meeting until March. It felt like one last twist of fate that on the day the weather was awful, but it turned out that Coronavirus would the last laugh. So finally, we’re happy to present Brighton Rocks number 32:

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Who are the your favourite local bands?
E: We’re both big fans Laundromat.
L: Some of my favourite bands ever operate out of Brighton – Tigercub and Demob in particular, but also Sick Joy, Murmur and Zooni.

What’s the best venue?
L: Hard one…depends on the kind of evening you’re anticipating. I love the Hope, I’ve played many happy shows there. Controversially I’d also say Brighton Electric, for the many fine parties they’ve put on over the years. And the Bee’s Mouth for a rare evening of jazz.
E: Green Door Store, my place of work and play.

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
E: We are long term punters at Brighton Electric. But we also love the Small Pond.

What’s the best club?
E: Hove chess club

What’s the best record shop?
L: Sadly I have little money for records at the moment, but obviously Resident is a place I like to go and pretend. The last record I bought there was Oscar Peterson’s Night Train.
E: I listen exclusively to mini-disks.

Where’s the best places to eat?
L: I cannot possibly recommend Hove Tandoori enough. I will not eat any other curry. Nothing compares. If readers were going there tonight I would recommend to them the Vegetable Balti or Massala, with added paneer, complimented by a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc and finished off with the garlic naan.
E: Pom Poko.

What’s the best pub?
E: Rossi Bar for cocktails, Caxton Arms for macaroni cheese burgers
L: I am also a devotee of Rossi and their charming bar staff. But I love the Neptune, near fourth avenue in Hove. It is very small and warm, like someone’s living room, the drinks are reasonably priced and sometimes there will be someone playing some sort of old folk stuff. Sort of place I’d have imagined bumping into Billy Connolly.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
L: I’m a big fan of Steve Coogan. I *thought* I saw him on the beach the other day but no dice. I’m told he’s always accompanied by extremely attractive young women. I’m not really one for meeting my heroes though, I imagine they’d disappoint me, or in this case I’d get nervous and shout AHA etc.

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
L: I’m going to say Brighton Electric if we’re quantifying this with happy Brighton memories. I first visited in 2012 when they just had a hatch, no bar etc, and I was in tiny old room 4 (now absorbed by the live room). Since then I must have spent hundreds.

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
L: I have very sensitive teeth and avoid that shit like the plague.

Projector were finalising work on EP2 before lockdown started and are posting snippets of recordings on their Instagram and Facebook pages.

Brighton Rocks #31 : Lau Ro from Wax Machine

Posted on 17/03/2020 by brightonmusicblog

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What’s the best thing about Brighton?
Brighton seems to attract very interesting characters. I’ve met all sorts of crazy people here, that’s the best part for me.

Who are the your favourite local bands?
Off the top of my head I’d say Rokurokubi, Hill, Woody Green, Codex Serafini, Count Kujo, Strange Cages, Oh Mama, Jouis…
There’s also a great new upcoming project called ‘Anona’ to keep an eye out for.

What’s the best venue?
The Rialto Theatre is quite an interesting space and we’ve had some great nights there. The Hope and Ruin has good sound too. I reckon anywhere Acid Box or Melting Vinyl go for 🙂

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Brighton Electric is cool and they got good gear. But we don’t have much money so we usually jam/rehearse in a mysterious dark and damp cave under a bridge.

What’s the best club?
Mmm I don’t really go to clubs. Been to some good Eight Miles High club nights and I’d definitely recommend the Sidereal Ziggurat if you wanna have a boogie or freakout.

What’s the best record shop?
Resident seems to have its finger on the pulse of local music and more.. One day I hope to have the necessary funds to buy more records.

Where’s the best places to eat?
Izzi and I treated ourselves to breakfast at Brewed this morning. But basically anywhere in the Lanes or around the Open Market.

What’s the best pub?
I don’t go to pubs very often but I’d say The Great Eastern or White Rabbit.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Apparently Aleister Crowley had his funeral here, I like to think that I can feel his presence when walking around Woodvale.

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Never!

Earthsong of Silence by Wax Machine is out on Friday 20th March. It’s available to order through the bandcamp link below, or via Resident.

At the time of writing, there’s a launch party at the Hope & Ruin on 21st March, but keep an eye on the Facebook event for updates.

Brighton Rocks #30 : Paul Pascoe from Beat Hotel

Posted on 12/02/2020 by brightonmusicblog

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What’s the best thing about Brighton?
The best thing about living in Brighton and Hove has to be the sea. I’m from Plymouth originally and although that city definitely doesn’t have any kind of cheery seaside vibe, it is close to all the amazing beaches of South Devon and Cornwall. When I reached my early 20s and decided to make good my escape, I couldn’t imagine living very far from the sea. That may be the only reason I’m here, now I think about it?! Peace Statue to the Lagoon is my happy place. The uncool Hove bit. Continue reading →

Brighton Rocks #28 : Penelope Isles

Posted on 16/09/2019 by brightonmusicblog

We first approached Penelope Isles about doing a Brighton Rocks with us back in June but as we’ve been told my multiple people, they’re the hardest working band in town, so the post is only finally going up now. Their album Until The Tide Creeps In came out on Bella Union back in July and the band have been on tour pretty much all this year, most recently supporting the Flaming Lips and playing at British Sea Power’s Krankenhaus festival. Next week they kick off a headline worldwide tour, starting with Europe, then North America, then Europe again and back to the UK culminating in a headline gig at the Haunt on 11th December

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