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Dusk and Blackdown
Dubstep fans get the chance to see Dusk and Blackdown bring their Margins Music album to the live arena, with a specially created band featuring vocals from MC Durrty Goodz and singer Farrah, with guest musicians, DJs and visuals. It’s gonna be deep, dark and dance friendly…
Tuesday 8 June, Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome Read the rest of this article »
Named after a fish spotted at, er, Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium, Two Spot Gobi are one of Brighton’s best kept secrets, regularly selling out the likes of Komedia and becoming a band on the cusp of major success.
“Rob Lewis and I met at Sussex University,” says frontman James Robinson, “and we recruited the others from there.”
For the last five years the band have been developing their audience through constant gigging here in the UK, Europe and many forays to the USA. “We met Jason Mraz [not a particularly well known name here in the UK, but a big success in his home continent of America] who came to one of our shows – he invited us on tour, and we’ve kept a close relationship with him ever since.
“As a result we were invited to his studio in San Diego to make an album, which we did with Niko Bolas [who has nine Neil Young albums to his credit!].”
Mraz contributed his vocal to ‘Tomorrow’, a track on their forthcoming album. In the meantime, there’s the first single ‘You Make It Easy’, a tune that sums up the Two Spot Gobi philosophy of upbeat positivism. “Mraz’s studio is right in the middle of farmland – full of orange and lemon groves, and avocado fields,” continues James, “and it was close to the beach. Those vibes translated onto the album… the creative process was stress free!”
Musically, the band strike a balance between soulful, alternative pop and quality musicianship. There’s even a classically-trained cellist and trumpet player within their ranks: Rob Lewis. “Most of us actually teach music when we’re not gigging,” says James. “Rob and I often come up with the core basis of a song, and then we take it to the band and work on it organically.”
With the band signed to independent label IRL, a management company behind them and Chris Moyles’ brother helping out on the radio-plugging side of things, it’s all looking sunny side up for a band who have worked hard in developing a large and loyal audience here in the UK, particularly on the south coast.
“We’re all over it,” says James, referring to the hard work and hands-on approach that they have, including getting stuck in on the increasingly important social networking side of things. “We like to give new stuff to our fans… show them what new things we’re doing… I try and convey some truth or experience with the lyrics that people can relate to. If you’re not saying something that’s real to you, there’s no point in saying it!”
With action on both sides of the Atlantic, any thoughts on relocating to the States? “There’re so many similarities between California and Brighton,” he says. “It would be great to go out there more and expand our fanbase and still have a really good base here.” The best of both worlds? Positive thinking indeed…
Wednesday 2 June, Komedia
Unbelievably successful UK band who continue to strive for new heights. This week they’ll be the opening act for the new Cardiff City football stadium (capacity 32,000). Before that they’ll be playing the humble Brighton Centre (4,500). Interestingly, though, this hasn’t sold out… Has live music reached its peak?
Wednesday 2 June, Concorde 2
Julian Cope is a singer, poet, occultist and photographer. A maverick and classic English eccentric, he still knows which side his bread is buttered on and, after 20 solo albums, countless collaborative projects and six books, this ‘anarchist’ has recently paraded a darker, folkier sound – generally accessible stuff compared to much of the wilfully experimental fringe stuff he often cheerleads for. A great entertainer.
Wednesday 2 June, Komedia
Interesting collaborative night where it is hoped that the barriers between audience and artist will be eradicated. Featuring Cosmo, the one-man-and-loop-pedal extraordinaire, the Vocal Explosion Quartet (where the audience will be invited to provide text), the highly experimental bicycle drummer Puncture Kit, and much more…
Wednesday 2 June, Latest Musicbar
One of the world’s most celebrated and legendary Motown artists returns to Brighton after last year’s sold out gig. Expect all of the hits including ‘Dancing In The Street’, ‘Heat Wave’, ‘Nowhere To Run’, ‘Jimmy Mack’ and ‘I’m Ready For Love’. They may be getting on but they can still get down… There’s an after party, too, with Soul Survivors DJ Paddy Shevlin.
Friday 4 June, Concorde 2
Does Brighton know no bounds when it comes to interesting new music? Witness Bitter Ruin, as idiosyncratic an act as you could expect from just two people. 
The duo met at BIMM. “We don’t like using the B word,” says singer Georgia Train, half-joking, “but if it wasn’t for them we wouldnt be here today.”
“I asked Georgia to sing a Queen Adreena song, and it went from there,” says guitarist and singer Ben Richards. “We then started messing around with our own music; we didn’t think it would go anywhere.”
Loosely described as noir indie-folk, the duo are renowned for their dramatic live performances, which predominantly feature the vocal interplay between Ben and Georgia, along with Ben’s flamenco-tinged guitar work. “Flamenco is an inspiration for me, and it fits our style,” he says. “There’s a passion and a delicacy to flamenco. But there’s also a bit of rock, blues and folk in there.”
“A lot of people compared us to The Dresden Dolls who we hadn’t heard of, nor of a lot of this cabaret scene that we are often compared to,” says Georgia. “We’ve got Jake Shillingford (ex-My Life Story) to thank – when we got a few songs organised we took them to Jake and he said, ‘Oh! God, I can really see this!’ He came up with a big vision, and how we should do movement to it and bring the songs to life. This got us to think about the theatre side of it and how to make the onstage performance more interesting.”
These are certainly interesting times for the duo: recently they went to America to record with music producer Jason Rubal, whom they met via the wonders of the web.
“I was scared to trust this random guy and it was a bit of a gamble,” says Georgia of her trepidation at committing themselves to an 18-day trip to the States. “We started work straight away in this amazing studio, really done up and warm. We found out he produces for a living – lots of well known acts – but that every now and then he likes to work on a project that really interests him. We were very lucky!”
The result of their trip is the album Hung, Drawn And Quartered, an exquisitely produced LP that showcases their ability to the full, and which they’ll be launching at the Hanbury Club. Not only that but only last month they were asked by The Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer to join her for three dates in the UK. An experience they will never forget…
Like all good bands, the secret lies in the chemistry. Both personally and musically, they bring out the best in each other. “Ben is quite orthodox and I hate anything that sounds normal,” laughs Georgia.
“I pull Georgia back from the edge and she pushes me towards the edge!” replies Ben. Bitter Ruin by name, but this is just the beginning…
Wednesday 26 May, Hanbury Club
Our new programme for thelatest.tv sees Juice FM presenter Guy Lloyd investigate all manner of things. He starts off with chart-topping band The Hoosiers who were mega-successful a couple of years ago, were dropped by their major label and have become fashionably independent. Their chart-topping album cost £1 million to record, their new album £100 and we reckon it's just as good. We have exclusive footage of this new record. Guy does crazy-golfing with them, checks out their sound-check and witnesses the fans' adoration of the band at Audio in Brighton. In future shows Guy will be doing waxing, Dot Cotton, air guitar and needs your suggestions for more crazy things (or people) to do. Send to bill@thelatest.co.uk
AOH Special: It’s Festival time in Brighton & Hove, which means the Artists Open Houses have opened their doors for another year! Maps of all the trails can be picked up across the city. We love nothing better than browsing and buying arts and crafts, and there is so much going on throughout May that we’ve made it easier by bringing the Artists Open Houses to you! We have 11 special programmes, featuring artists in their own houses. So here’s your chance to go ‘through the keyhole’ so to speak as we visit the artists in their own environment.
© 2011 Latest Homes Ltd. Latest 7 is a Latest magazine published by Latest Homes Ltd.
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