This weekend was Mutations Festival, and Saturday night’s headliner was local heroes Lambrini Girls. Overall though Brighton felt a bit under represented, with less than 10% given over to local bands. On Friday, you couldn’t have watched both Fickle Friends and Ditz because they were in clashing slots (although they are very different bands). On Saturday Ladylike opened up proceedings at Chalk. Lemonsuckr proved to be so popular that I spent half their set stuck in the queue outside Dust and when I did get in they were struck down with technical difficulties. Because both of the timings of both of those sets, I didn’t manage to get to Alphabet for My Precious Bunny, although I heard good things afterwards, and Opus Kink were on way past my bedtime. Overall though, it was a great festival – they probably needed a few more small stages open in the afternoon before the bigger venues opened up, and the weather was very forgiving, the bill overall was diverse enough to not get boring. Here’s to next year (with hopefully a few more Brighton bands on the bill)
Today Archie Sagars releases his new solo album Dreams Along The Shore. As well his solo work, you may have seen him onstage as a quarter of Ladylike, or know him as the face behind Crafting Room Recordings, releasing music from the likes of ELLiS·D and Maximilian. We caught up to chat about the album, and how his solo work slots alongside his other activities.
The album has been preceded by a clutch of singles – Silver Lake, Tolcarne and Fistral on 20th August. Those of you with a detailed knowledge of Cornwall might recognise the latter two singles as beaches on the north coast of the county. AS: The whole of the second half is named after places around Newquay. it literally follows the coastline from Tolcarne, Great Western, Towan, Fistral, Crantock. I’m originally from Wiltshire, not Cornwall, but went to Newquay a lot as a kid. It’s a place that I’ve gone back to most summers and pretty much whenever I can. It’s following the memories made on each of the beaches. And then the first half is more themed around the sea and the coast around Brighton – but like a love letter to the sea in a way and to the places that I’ve grown up in.
The songs were mostly written over the last five years, spanning Archie’s time since he relocated to Brighton. While memories of beaches from his childhood provide the backdrop, the album also explores relationships with people that have come and gone over that period through dream pop, ambient and dark post punk.
Alongside the development of Dreams Along The Shore, Archie has also been a member of Brighton band Ladylike. I asked him how he decided whether his songs would end up being brought to Ladylike or saved for himself AS: The only track on the album where there has been crossover was Fistral – I was just messing around while other people who were setting up and I really liked the riff and I took it home and made it something different. And there’s been some times where at their root the riffs might be quite similar, but I feel that they’re disguised enough to not notice. But I think in terms of writing songs, Ladylike and my own stuff is quite different. There’s not really a lot of overlap where I’ll be taking something to my own stuff instead of taking it to Ladylike . It’s kind of, you know, they feel really quite separate.
Archie’s other big project – Crafting Room Recordings dates back even further. It started in 2019 as a vehicle to launch his own music, and his friends bands. Over lockdown he started working with other bands to put out their music, including a number of EPS from Hualan, a band from Wuhan in China, where Covid was first identified. Their releases all sold out quickly, while behind the scenes Archie was hearing about how the lockdowns were affecting things for them. The success of these releases was a turning point for the label, elevating it things way beyond their roots. The next big landmark came after seeing ELLiS·D at Green Door Store’s 234 Festival: AS: I went to see Hutch and then saw Ellis afterwards and then just thought he was amazing, just sent him an email, then met up and figured things out about a cassette to release. Then we did another cassette, then released his debut EP about two years ago now, on vinyl, and it’s been like a long process of us both learning the ropes together at the same time, figuring out how to make this a properly professional thing and really technical next level. He’s always been very DIY-spirited, running his own gig nights, in Hove and then in the Rossi Bar. He’s always been pushing the local scene every step he can. And it’s been really fun to watch him. When I saw him I just thought he was one the best things I’ve ever seen. And I still think that now.
At the end of last year Crafting Room Put out “Brighton Compilation 2024” which firmly put them at the centre of the local scene, featuring releases from Ellis D, Ladylike, Ideal Living, Eva Lunny, Maximilian, Soft Top, Attic-O-Matic, Opal Mag, Sad Dads, and more. Around the same time, Lambrini Girls announced their album and featured on the cover of NME. The world had their eyes on the Brighton Music scene, and at the centre of it seemed to be Crafting Room, who appeared in a Bandcamp feature on the city as well as being interviewed on 6Music. AS: I wouldn’t say that I’m responsible for the way that the Brighton Music scene has exploded over the last few years, but I’ve been very happy to play a small part in whatever way I can. Helping out by releasing Ideal Living’s EP and Ellis’s EP on vinyl. But I think there’s just been so much great stuff going on Brighton for quite a while now, so it’s really exciting to see things kick off. And hearing people talk about the Brighton scene from other places is fantastic.
Dreams Along The Shore by Archie Sagars is out today on Crafting Room Recordings
Happy Birthday Hope & Ruin! The venue in it’s current form opened it’s doors for the first time ten years ago this week, and the birthday celebrations kicked off last night with a free gig fronted by the mysteriously named Four Horsemen. A few crumbs had been dished out on social media that the previously unheard of band was actually local heroes Lime Garden, who’ve had their heads down recently working on new material. Their set was a first airing for some of these tracks as well as some old favourites, and – since it was valentines day – a cover of Careless Whisper where they were joined by Alfie Beer (from goodbye, formerly in Fliptop Head) on trombone. They were ably supported by Ladylike and Harper for a packed out show at the venue which has more than established itself as a corner of the local scene. The fun continues tonight with another free gig featuring How Long You Been Driving, Wimp, Francis Pig and That Band Called Susan.
There’s been a bit of an anomaly since the introduction of streaming that while you can get your recordings online the moment you’ve finished recording and mixing them, there’s always going to be a bit of a lag to get a physical product out in the world. Ladylike released their latest single Horse’s Mouth back in July, but the physical option – on flexidisc – is just coming out now and was available as part of the ticket bundle for last friday’s show or at the Merch stand. If you didn’t make it to the show you can pick it up on their bandcamp page. Support at the gig came from newcomers with familiar faces Goodbye, who we’ll be keeping an eye out for, as well as a Mandrake Handshake DJ Set, who aren’t a Brighton band but Elvis’s support for the local scene is unsurpassed, so warrants a mention. Here’s our photo gallery:
Unless this is your first visit to this site, it’s probably no surprise that we’re big supporters of Brighton’s thriving music scene. So when a one day festival announced showcasing some of the best local talent we jumped straight in and bought an early bird ticket quicker than it would take to count all the members of Fliptop Head. When Saturday came we had an ambitious plan to try and see a dozen bands. What the day did highlight is just what a blind spot we have when it comes to Brighton’s rock scene – It’s nothing personal, and the fact that the day had sold out indicates that there’s definitely a lot of support for music all across the spectrum.
Anyway, we kicked off early with Trip Westerns at Pipeline, who we’d seen at Green Door Store just over a week before where the ticket price for that gig was the same price as the early bird ticket. Minutes in and we’d broken even already. When they finished it was a sprint up to the Hope & Ruin, to catch the last five minutes of Soft Top‘s set and then enough time for a trip to the bar and to secure a prime viewing spot for the ridiculously good Van Zon. Being only a few doors up we thought we’d be lucky enough to get into Opal Mag’s performance, but we were beaten to it by dozens of other people. Technically I was in – it went to one in / one out straight after me – but we didn’t even make it down the spiral staircase. Reports from others were that they were fantastic and are going from strength to strength. No matter – it was off to Green Door next just in time for Moon Idle, and then Brighton Music Blog faves Hutch who peppered their set with new songs and old favourites. Then it was back down to Pipeline to catch a little bit of Georgie Moon, although we couldn’t stay for long because Woody Green at Folklore Rooms was next on our list. With a mere 60 capacity it was unsurprisingly packed out, so you can’t tell from the photos that Nina Winder-Lind from the New Eves was on cello, making a beautiful set even more so.
After a little break for food and warmer clothes we found ourselves back at Pipeline, and made it to the front for Ladylike‘s performance, which felt more assured and intimate than when we saw them supporting Lime Garden last month. Folklore Rooms next – learning our lesson from earlier in the day and getting in a whole set ahead of Ellis D, and catching Glasshouse Red Spider Mite in the process. As with their single launch at Green Door Store a couple of weeks back, they were bathed in red light which fitted their dreampop shoegaze perfectly. Of all the acts of the day, we were most looking forward to Ellis D, who first featured here in a New Music post back in 2019, but who we’d never managed to catch live. These days he’s the cool big brother of the Brighton bands, making it all look so easy, and playing a sweaty, electrifying set despite a few technical issues. I did have in my plan to see Ideal Living and Fliptop Head – easily two of Brighton’s best bands right now – playing later at Rossi Bar, but by that point I was ready to hit the hay. What a day. What a festival. What a town. Cheers Homegrown – here’s to next year (hopefuly)!
Hot on the heels of the release of their top twenty debut album One More Thing, Lime Garden closed their UK tour on Friday night with a sold out gig at Chalk. Support came from Ladylike (who are locals so also feature in the gallery below) and Ugly.
There was a shoutout to Chloe’s mum up in the balcony when they played Mother, quips about seeing the four coolest women on International Women’s Day, one of the friendliest mosh pits I’ve seen in a while, and, by all accounts, massive queues at the Green Door Store after they announced that’s where the afterparty would be.
At the end of last year Crafting Room Put out “
Brighton Music Blog 