(written in the style of the Brighton Source)
NEW FOLK FOURSOME ON QUIRKY GIGS AND OPERA SINGERS
Curious facts, strange body contortions and a tap dancing drummer are just some of the charms that Stornoway promise to offer at their 'good value for money' performances. With their debut album released May 24th, will we witness such magic at this year's Great Escape?
Having founded in December 2005, Stornoway have spent the past five years working on their sound, describing themselves as 'faux-pop-soul with a hint of South African turf'. With their inspiration spanning from acts such as Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Ry Cooder, their influences form a broad palette of ideas. A spot on BBC's Sounds of 2010 list suggests that Brian Briggs (Vox, guitar), Jon Ouin (keys/strings), Ollie Steadman (bass) and Rob Steadman (drums) are tipped to be the next big names in folk-pop.
New single 'I saw you blink' captures the brave and magical aesthetic of the Wild Beasts and combines it with the dreamy nostalgia of the Drums. Add a dash of light summertime folk and infectious songwriting and you have Stornoway – ironically named after one of the coldest places in Britain.
Their colourful coming-together makes for interesting reading. Vocalist and guitarist Brian met Jon whilst studying ducks – yes ducks - at Oxford University. As if that doesn't sound exotic enough, Jon spent his degree attempting to decipher poems in 'cyrillic' – a Bulgarian language from the 9th century. “The qualifications aren't so useful for us these days”, confirms Brian.
Brian and Jon met the rest of the band through auditions. Bassist Ollie was still at school when he replied to their ad, and remains to be. “I'm currently busy carrying out harzardous chemical experiments and doing my final exams”, explains Ollie. But he's not the only nipper in the group. “After I joined the band I forced my younger brother Rob to play the drums [for Stornoway], so he hasn't really had the chance to learn to read yet...”. Rob was only fifteen when he joined the band, and had to be sneaked into their pub gigs in the bass drum.
But don't let the mischief fool you, they are certainly a cultured bunch. “If we could add another member to the band for a day it would be Farinelli (an 18th Century Italian contralto) so I could have a creepy sing-off”, Brian states enthusiastically. They come tumbling back down to modest Earth though when Ollie tells us that Lord of the Ring's Bilboe Baggins would be his dinner party invitation of choice.
The band have recently signed with label 4AD, so what's their next venture? Jon answers: “next week we set sail on our Highlands and Ireland tour, which will include our first visit to Stornoway!”.
Do not panic boys and girls, Stornoway will hit Brighton's shores on May 14th for the Great Escape Festival. We can't wait.
