Browsing Tag

music

A&R Factory Present: PLEXXAGLASS

Posted on 9 January 2017

PLEXXAGLASS is a unique singer-songwriter and keyboardist based in LA. Her writing style is influenced by powerful female musician/songwriters of the alternative singer-songwriter genre.

Her recent studio achievements include, writing/composing/releasing  two demos ‘catching up’ and ‘who I am’ to critical acclaim, releasing a haunting cover of Elle King’s ‘ex’s & oh’s’ under her legal name (Alexa Joan Rae), and completed a collaboratively written song called ‘aloft’ from across the country with the band ‘hours north’ at halo studios in Portland, Maine. She will be continuing recording with Kevin Billingslea of Halo Studios for her upcoming 2017 releases.

In the past two years, PLEXXAGLASS has been seen live in venues such as The Mint, The House Of Blues (Hollywood), Cake Shop (Nick), Knitting Factory (Brooklyn), and the famous Troubadour.

PLEXXAGLASS did a two week run of the east coast and mid-west as a piano-violin duo with collaborators, ‘Hours North’. They expanded their reach in Ohio, NYC, Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Indiana with goals to hit the west coast and Canada in this upcoming year.

A&R Factory Present: WYLAND

Posted on 28 November 2016

Sometimes inevitability dictates the roads we take, leading us to fateful coincidences, Craigslist ads, and a little bit of blind luck. That’s exactly how four-piece Wyland came to be.

Marrying atmospheric rock with a modern pop sensibility and traditional strings and piano, Wyland skillfully crafts tunes that show appreciation for both the present and the past. The band has appeared alongside quite an impressive roster thus far, including Mumford & Sons, Alabama Shakes, and the Vaccines, to name a few.

The up-and-coming quartet has received much praise from publications like The Jersey Journal, PopMatters, The Deli and All Things Go. CMJ stated, “Wyland has an instantly digestible sound. The band blends suburban angst with city kid confidence.”

https://www.facebook.com/pg/wearewyland/

A&r Factory Present: Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles

Posted on 21 November 2016

Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles is the superb new musical endeavor of Billy Bibby, former and founding lead guitarist of Catfish and the Bottlemen. No newcomer to the British music scene, it was in 2007, at age 17, that Bibby became the elder statesman of this working class quartet formed in Llandudno, North Wales. Catfish and the Bottlemen relentlessly gigged their way across the UK, and occasionally abroad, building a fiercely loyal fan base, selling out increasingly larger venues, and ultimately securing a recording deal in 2013 that would lead to the release of a Top 10 debut album Certified Gold in the UK. And Billy Bibby and his band are ready to do it all again.

Billy Bibby’s current musical journey began in the summer of 2014 in the same, grass roots, DIY style that served him well in the past. Penning new tunes and trialling them in front of live audiences, as well as via demos posted to SoundCloud, garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback. The time was right to transition to a full band experience and, with the help of Simon Jones, bassist for The Verve, auditions were held and a new four-piece ensemble of talented musicians rapidly took shape. Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles are: Billy Bibby – lead vocals / guitar, Rob Jones – lead guitar / vocals, Matt Thomas – bass / vocals, Mike Pearce – drums.

Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles released their first single, ‘Waitin’ for You’, and played their first live show in November of 2015 and it’s been nonstop ever since: a debut EP Bide Your Time, a follow-up single ‘Are You Ready?’, over 60 gigs across the UK including numerous festival appearances, radio play on Radio X, BBC Introducing, Virgin Radio, Amazing Radio, and over 100 stations in the UK and abroad. Billy Bibby & The Wry Smiles are out to win over new fans one by one with their energetic, tuneful, and optimistic rock.

A&R Factory Present: Tom Speight

Posted on 17 October 2016

Love’ – the title track and lead single from Tom Speight’s new EP, is an uplifting, joyous affair. Welding spirited guitar turns with spellbinding vocal melodies – the new single is stunning new offering. Joining forces with London based singer Lydia Clowes, their voices partner up majestically in the harmonies, with Lydia adding a glistening new layer of intrigue to the track.

Speaking on the track, Tom says: ‘Love’ was inspired after watching Paul McCartney live. I wanted to write something people could really sing along with, something that was universal and instant. I liked the idea of song starting off small and building to something huge! I lived in Liverpool at the time of writing this song with my flatmate Mike from Clean Cut Kid we would stay up late listening to everything from the Beatles to Youth Lagoon. When it came to writing the song it pretty much wrote itself in a hour the tricky part was figuring how to turn a 6 minute live song onto record. I feel like Chris Bond (producer) found the perfect balance from our live performances to translating that to record.

Having previously landed support slots for the likes of Fleet Foxes, Jake Bugg, Mumford & Sons, Ed Sheeran, Fionn Regan andBastille. Thomas will return to perform extensively throughout the UK this Autumn

A&R Factory Present: Aaron Taylor

Posted on 14 October 2016

Earlier this year, London-based singer-songwriter Aaron Taylor quietly and somewhat mysteriously, without too much fanfare, released his debut EP Still Life. The three songs contained on the EP caught the attention of a host of music bloggers, and one song, ” Lesson Learnt “, appeared on a major TV ad for Apple Watch.

Aaron has since been working on new material, and “Be Alright” is the first song to be taken from a brand-new EP titled Better Days, due for release this autumn.

On “Be Alright” Aaron develops further the intoxicating fusion of soul, funk, gospel and R&B he revealed on his debut. He wrote the song as a statement of support, “Sometimes you need to encourage and remind yourself things will be OK” he says. “’Be Alright’ is exactly that: an encouragement to ourselves and a reminder of a simple truth that we will all be fine in time. We may need to rebel, we may need to struggle, but we’ll be good.”

The song forms part of a wider story behind the full EP – more details to be revealed in due course.

A&R Factory Present: Sparrows

Posted on 6 October 2016

Following on from the release of her stellar new single ‘Get To Know You’, Sydney-based songstress Sparrows has just revealed the accompanying music video and news that she will be launching the new cut live at Oxford Art Factory.

Shot in the picturesque NSW Blue Mountains and directed by Nick McKinlay, the clip stars Sparrows herself and a group of actors sporting hand-made animal masks. The ensemble prowl the streets with their instruments exploring the town, jamming and dancing along their journey.

Sparrows explains the motivation behind the clip –

“I found myself in a magical festival setting, letting loose with a bunch of partygoers decked out in crazy costumes. Whilst we were all strangers, we were having the time of our lives and I think the costumes certainly played a role in us being able to express ourselves freely. The video is a fun extension of this experience, whereby the masks and styling creates an other-wordly feel. It’s funny, all the people wearing the masks in the clip, were complete strangers to me but as the day went on I got to know them and they really are an interesting, talented bunch of people. I often find myself eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations and daydream about who they are. What was their last meal? Are they in love? When did they last cry? We are all strangers but could easily get to know each other if we wanted too, but we often don’t and I wish we would more.” 

Since the track’s release, ‘Get To Know You’ has been embraced by tastemakers far and wide including support from triple j, FBi, 4ZZZ, SYN, worldwide blogs and Spotify via their New Music Friday and Indie Pop playlists.

To coincide with the release of the song and music video, Sparrows will play a free entry show at the Oxford Art Factory as part of their ninth birthday celebrations, which will also feature Skegss, Dorsal Fins, ADKOB and Good Boy.

A&R Factory Present: Snails

Posted on 18 July 2016

‘Jennifer Jones’ is the lead single from ‘Safe in Silence’, the debut LP from Bristol (UK) based experimental pop band Snails.

It follows a brace of 7” singles on cult label The Great Pop Supplement, praised by Jarvis Cocker on his BBC 6 Music show and hailed by Stephen Pastel as “Eerie, beautiful, modestly majestic.”

The 10-track album is released on 5th September 2016, again via GPS on 12″ vinyl LP and DL. It was produced with Ali Chant (Gruff Rhys, PJ Harvey) in Bristol.

Snails generate moments of suburban guitar pop reverie for lonely people walking to the shops. Formed after a friend’s request to soundtrack a budget slasher involving a homicidal nun, their sound bears the influence of chamber pop mavericks such as Basil Kirchin, Syd Barrett and Nico. The 5-piece band were hand-picked to support Teenage Fanclub at their Bristol show in September, where the album will be launched.

A&R Factory Present: Yemimah

Posted on 9 July 2016

Yemimah is an Urban R&B/Pop singer/songwriter who resides in Canada. She is Equatorian, which is East African Sudanese & Arabic decent; the main languages Yemimah speaks are English, Kakwa tribal language and Arabic, which she incorporates into her music.

When Yemimah turned 10 years old she started to write music and learned to play hand bells, electric guitar, and the flute thru her after-school music class. After she had written all of her music her father had brought her to Calgary to record her music at Alchemy Studios. She was discouraged after hearing the recordings because she had never had any experience recording in a studio before. Taking that experience she kept on writing and recording music and coming back to the city every so often to record more music.

Yemimah’s main influences are Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Rihanna, and cultural influences such as East African & Sudanese artists, watching her Uncles and aunts perform music, play tribal instruments in church back when she lived in Africa. Mixing these influences had led to her singing in English, Arabic and Kakwa, but using a pop, r&b twist to it. These influences are noticed in Yemimahs songs today.

Yemimah released her first r&b/pop songs “It’s Over Now” and “Cycle onto Reverbnation in Sept of 2012, which helped her draw attention from her management team headed by Thomas Williams. Her top single “Make Me Feel” was such a hit that it landed her radio interviews with LCF-RADIO around North America, Brazil, and UK from Carlito Truelife Radio Host and music opportunities from HIP VIDEO opening doors to all types of fans .

Yemimah released her first music video to her hit song “Make Me Feel” following her success with the song she released another hit track “Tell Me Something” Ft/ Jaynova which was released as a music video in June of 2014. The song “Tell Me Something” is a unique blend of pop/ethnic and rap sounds which helped her grow a buzz and recognition for the unique Urban music Yemimah creates today.

A&R Factory Present: V Empress

Posted on 4 July 2016

NYC based singer, V Empress, kicks of the summer with her immensely sexy and catchy new track, Guilty. Inspired by Kid Ink and Dj Mustard’s production of Summer in the Winter, V Empress set out to achieve her own [female] fusion of hot club oriented hip hop beats paired with very catchy, sexy and complex lyrics in her four track EP; Can’t Tame a Savage. Reminiscent of Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl, V Empress’ track Guilty describes her desire to partake in a three-some, and ultimately encourages listeners to take pride in their sexuality and urges.

V Empress states “I want to be as raw, honest, and transparent as possible when writing my lyrics and creating my art,” and aims to “promote female empowerment and expression in a very male dominated industry.” The music video is set to be released late July.

A&R Factory Present: The Beach

Posted on 21 June 2016

Introducing the new single from The Beach, entitled ‘Geronimo’. Watch its glorious accompanying video here (which was filmed in Acapulco!)

An uplifting, powerful track – combining a foot-stomping, epic melody and anthemic chorus, The Beach’s unique tone showcases what is set to be the new distinctive voice in British music.

The Beach (known to his friends as George Morgan) said of the track: “Geronimo is a feel good song about being in a bad situation, and then someone or something comes along and helps you rise above it. The song stands for taking a leap of faith.”