interview – Page 2 – Bread Records

Knead To Know: Luna Marble 🎸

25th Aug 202225th Aug 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music, reviewLeave a Comment

we’ve got our next Knead To Know interview for you all with the amazing up-and-coming Manchester rock outfit Luna Marble! ⚡️

over the past year or so, they’ve been making waves performing across the city and dazzling audiences with their huge sound, belting riffs and incredible stage presence – we love their debut single “Running” and their latest tune “All of My Love” only shows off their talent and prowess even more!

you can find our full interview below! ⬇️

Hey guys! Thanks for doing this interview for us. Tell us a bit about yourselves!

We are Luna Marble, a 4 piece hard rock 70s-inspired band from Manchester! We have often been described to have anthemic, stadium-ready songs with big choruses, relentless riffs and hard-hitting grooves, although that is for you to decide!

How did you start the band?

Believe it or not Maria, our lead singer, had many of our songs already written and she was always in the hunt of the perfect band to bring them to life. David (bass) and Sean (Drums) went to the same university as Maria, and they had previously participated in different sessions recording/ performing ensembles together prior to our band. However it wasn’t until we met Dragos, our guitarist, that this formation happened to be. Maria and Dragos started hanging out at the beginning of the first lockdown and their shared passion for music led them to start jamming out and writing songs together. Eventually we asked David and Sean to have a jam with us and the rest is history….

We’ve seen you performing all across Manchester, what have been your favourite gigs?

We have to say that every time we have performed at Gullivers or Castle Hotel, it has been great! We are lucky as well to have very supportive friends and fan base that always bring a good party to our shows and it’s great to see how little by little our following keeps on growing making each gig very special for us!

What do you enjoy most about performing live? Is it the atmosphere, the crowd, getting to play some tunes?

Many things! It’s a combination of the excitement of finally sharing what we have been working on and the feedback from the crowd making us play harder and louder! It’s such a unique atmosphere, unique to the moment, and we are out there living out our dreams, we wouldn’t want to do anything else.

You’ve just released your second single “All Of My Love” – we love it, and your first one was also an absolute banger. Tell us a bit more about the tune!

As previously mentioned Maria had some of our songs written prior to the band. The riff came to her back when she was 17 and has been through so many arrangements and bands until our current formation. Dragos definitely took the riff and made it his own, combined with Sean and David’s solid grooves gave the song the right energy it needed.

The song is supposed to be empowering, with raging vocals and a playful instrumental releasing into big choruses, giving the perfect supercharged rock and roll anthem.

What are your main inspirations for your songs?

70s music from bands like Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac or Pink Floyd definitely play a big influence on us, especially in Maria’s approach to melodies, songwriting and arrangement. However, we all come from different backgrounds. Dragos coming from a more Prog-rock background makes his solos and rhythm playing up to virtuoso standards. Davids brings a lot of solid groovy bass lines and fills from bands like Royal Blood or Muse. And finally Sean’s hard-hitting drumming approach, from bands like Metallica.

…

How do you write? Do you take a group approach to it, or is it mostly one person who writes the songs?

Our writing dynamic has changed a lot during the time we have been a band. Maria had many unfinished ideas which she developed with Dragos, or Maria would pick on riff idea from Dragos and we would both sit and make a rough demo on Cubase, that we would later workshop in our band rehearsals. However as time has gone by we definitely jam together more and try to build a song from scratch all together, which makes the process more enjoyable and makes us closer as a band!

Where do you record? Have you got a home studio?

We were lucky that Maria was in the recording and production degree in uni, so we made most of our recording at uni, engineered by herself. However we are branching out to try different things and recently started working with Alex Miller who helps us in the process!

What do you think is the main thing that each of the band members bring to the table?

Each member brings their own unique qualities to the band. Maria is a very creative person, she comes up with all sorts of ideas for songs, arrangements, decorations for gigs, recording techniques and many more. More often than not the dynamic in the band is the boys putting together the ‘crazy frenzy’ of Maria’s ideas.

Where does the name “Luna Marble” come from?

Funnily enough it took us a good half a year to settle on a name… Dragos had in mind something to do with ‘marble’ because of it being a white rock he thought it would be appropriate for our rock style. Also its white colour suited a female fronted band he thought as well. Maria wanted to have some sort of cosmic reference in there as well and it was David who came up with the idea of using ‘luna’ (moon) as part of the name. We finally settled on Luna Marble after a long process of trial and error.

There’s a lot of classic rock within your tracks, but what kinds of other music inspire you?

Many more, as we said above Dragos grew up listening to a lot of prog and metal so there’s that influence (even if more subtle) and Sean loves his metal as well especially Metallica. There’s certainly a more modern influence as well coming from the big 4 grunge bands up until modern-day Muse and Royal Blood.

How was the single launch on the 17th August?

It was great, thank you! It was nice to put our own event at Gullivers again, and bring everyone together to celebrate a night full of great music! The support bands were incredible, we had a new set and a surprise guest on the organ. We couldn’t have asked for a better night and we got a bit creative with the stage, which looked amazing!

Is there anything else in the works?

There is always something else in the works! We have many songs already written and we are working on releasing as much of them as we can. However we have been toying with the idea of an Ep for a while… All I can stay is stay tuned into what we are up to because we are always pushing our creativity further and further….

it was brilliant to chat to the band here, we’ve been huge fans of their music since we heard their debut single, and their set for us over at The Grafton Arms during the summer for our Toasted night was absolutely breathtaking. ☀️ we’re sure that they’ll be making huge movements with the release of new music and more gigs – if you’re able to catch them live, it’s well worth it. a big thank you to them for partaking in this interview, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! 🍞

ICYMI: Our Knead To Know interview with The Distance! ☀️

20th Aug 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music, reviewLeave a Comment

in case you missed it, we had a real lovely time chatting to The Distance for our Knead To Know feature last week!

the lads are a force to be reckoned with on the Manchester scene, having gone from strength to strength and really making a name for themselves – they’ve got some proper bangers under their belt.

check it out on our website at https://breadrecords.co.uk/…/knead-to-know-the-distance/ – let us know what you think!

Knead To Know: The Distance ⚡️

Knead To Know: The Distance ⚡️

12th Aug 202212th Aug 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music, review1 Comment

we’re back with our next Knead To Know interview, this time with the fantastic Manchester-based band The Distance! 🤘

we’ve known these lads for a while now, they’ve been making waves on the music scene, performing and coming down to gigs each week – real lovely chaps with a proper determination to get involved and play their tunes. they’ve got some proper bangers under their belt as well, we can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store and this interview has been lovely way to find out more about their plans! 😊

you can find the full interview below! ⬇️

You’ve been all over the Manchester music scene for the past year or so – how have you found it? What have you been up to?

Everything started from playing Manchester open mics. We’ve seen so many great musicians and bands who’ve pushed and inspired us to write more music for our band. Many of these open mics have given us further gig opportunities, allowing us to play at venues such as Lions Den, Aatma, and The Empire in Rochdale, as well as multiple independent festivals.

We’ve seen you go from predominantly a two-piece to a full band, how different is it performing with a band and what’s the best thing about it?

The Distance originally existed as a three piece, before Sam joined as the lead guitarist. It was then when we started playing local open mics to help promote our band’s music. Having a lead guitarist in the band gave us more options to include guitar parts, melodies and guitar solos in our songs. We prefer playing as a full band whenever possible, because the energy a full band creates can never fully be replicated as an acoustic duo.

What are your main inspirations for your songs?

We’ve all got different personal influences as musicians, but when these influences are combined as a band, we feel it helps to create a unique sound for our songs. If we were to give one band that has influenced us the most it would be The Stereophonics – who have really helped to shape our sound as a band.

How do you write? Do you take a group approach to it, or is it mostly one person who writes the songs?

We have tried multiple different methods of song writing, which we feel helps to really keep us inspired creatively. Most recently, Jack and Sam have found a song idea, recorded a demo, and brought it into a band rehearsal for Rhys and Aaron to help complete the song.

Over the past few years, how have you been spending your time musically? (recording, writing etc)

The band originally started when Jack met Rhys at college. When they moved to University in Manchester, Jack asked Rhys to dep for a gig and Rhys joined The Distance full time shortly after. Jack and Sam then met at an open mic night in Manchester, and Sam completed the line-up in 2021. Regarding music outside of the band, Rhys releases his own music under the name ‘Serene’ and Sam released an album during Lockdown followed by a number of singles. As a full band we have been writing new songs together, as well as working on new covers to add to our setlist. We have recently recorded a new single which will be released in the near future.

We’ve seen you popping up on bills all across Manchester and beyond now – whereabouts have you been gigging?

We have played many venues in Manchester over the past 6 months, and have started to venture outside of the city to venues in places such as Leeds and North Wales. More recently, we have been talking to promoters in London and Liverpool in order to expand our fanbase around the UK.

When you’re performing live, what do you each find best about it?

Sam – The thing I like the most about performing live is the adrenaline rush you get from seeing the audience’s reaction.

Jack – The thing I like most about performing on stage is being able to bring to life songs that both I and the band have written. We thrive off the positive feedback but also the constructive criticism helps to push us further.

Aaron – I get to play my drums.

Rhys – The best thing about performing live is getting to play gigs at new venues and getting out with the rest of the band in new places. (Also having a drummer deafen me every weekend before we’ve even started playing).

Where do you record? Have you got a home studio?

We record demos at each others houses and sometimes send files or record our parts remotely. We just recorded our upcoming single at Through The Roof Recording Studio.

You guys have got some real bangers, we’ve heard your tunes so many times now and they never get old. What kinds of music inspire you?

The thing about writing your own music is that it’s difficult to imagine people actually wanting to hear your band’s songs again and again (no pun intended). It’s hard to believe that so many people like yourself back our music and what we do as a band – and we appreciate everyone who comes down to our gigs (we never forget a face or a name). We’ve worked so hard to constantly be present in the music scene so it’s no surprise why people have heard our songs so many times. As far as influences go, we all have our own different inspirations such as Punk, Indie and Rock, which as mentioned before, we aim to merge these to create our own unique sound as a band.

Have you got any plans for new music at any point soon?

We have just finished recording our new single ‘Falling’, which we are in the final process of announcing. Our plans after this are to release another single, which will hopefully be followed by an EP.

Have you got anything else planned for 2022?

We have several gigs already booked for the rest of 2022, including The Royal George in Todmorden (20th August), Gulliver’s (27th August), Off The Square (8th October) and of course at Lion’s Den with Bread Records on the 12th of November. Any new gig dates will be announced on our Facebook or Instagram, along with the release of our new single ‘Falling’.

it’s fantastic to be able to chat with these guys here, learn more about their influences and what they’ve got planned – we can’t wait to see what’s in store for them! it’s been fantastic to see them grow over the past year, performing at bigger and more places across the country. well worth catching them live! a big thank you to Jack, Sam, Rhys and Aaron for this interview – let us know what you think! 🍞

All of our features! 👊

27th Jul 2022artist, bread, fresh batch, grain radio, just the crust, knead to know, local loaf, local scene, new music, playlist, review, The WrapLeave a Comment

just a quick reminder that you can find all of our features, reviews, music and more over on our website!

there’s a whole bunch of features, including our weekly Just The Crust reviews and our end-of-month The Wrap – plus plenty more! lots to sink your teeth into.

find it all on our website here at www.breadrecords.co.uk to find it all, we’ve got over 2 years’ worth of music covered now which is insane to think!

We put out our latest Knead To Know interview last week! 🥪

21st Jul 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new musicLeave a Comment

in case you missed it, we put out our latest Knead To Know interview last week, this time with the amazing Emily Mercer Music!

we chatted about a whole bunch, including her latest single “Maybe Then”, her inspirations for creativity, the work she does with Manchester Women Songwriters and even old school emo and rock genres of music

head on over to our website at https://breadrecords.co.uk/…/knead-to-know-emily-mercer/ to find it in full – give it a read and let us know what you think!

Knead To Know: Emily Mercer 💥

Knead To Know: Emily Mercer 💥

14th Jul 202214th Jul 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music1 Comment

after a short break we’re back with our next Knead To Know feature with the fantastic Emily Mercer! ⚡️

we love writing up these interviews, it’s a super special way to connect with an artist and find out a bit more about them, their influences, and what they’ve got coming up. Emily’s a singer-songwriter here in Manchester whose been on the scene for a good while now – we’ve caught her performing a bunch of times now and every single time she only gets better and better!

She’s recently released her single “Maybe Then” – another single in a great discography of music for her, sounding fantastic with intricate melodies, huge production and her band only give the song even more strength to its sound. We’ve been big fans of Emily’s music for a while now and this only solidifies her songwriting ability – find our interview below! ⬇️

Emily, it’s brilliant to get you here for our Knead to Know interview – let’s start by talking a little about your music, and what you’ve been doing lately!

I’m a singer-songwriter and pianist on the Manchester scene. My music fuses indie, jazz, soul and folk so I usually just say ‘alternative/indie’ to save on characters. Lately I have been recording new music and working on building a new full band sound with my amazing band members!

When did you start doing music and what was the main reason for it?

I started playing music when I was around 12 or 13, playing guitar in an emo band believe it or not! As a painfully shy kid I enjoyed the outlet that allowed me to be as dramatic as I felt. I was absolutely obsessed with bands like Green Day and My Chemical Romance and I just wanted to be like them. My reasons are slightly different now haha!

What inspires your sound? Who are some of your favourite artists?

After the emo era my absolute favourite band was The Dresden Dolls, and they are what made me switch to piano and were hugely influential on my writing. I also love Jazz and would listen to singers like Billie Holiday as a teenager. I became obsessed with Fiona Apple’s music while I was at uni and she remains a huge influence along with other fairly experimental songwriters like Weyes Blood and Cate Le Bon. More recently I’m into a lot of R&B and Soul. There’s an artist called Baby Rose who I can’t get enough of and she has really inspired some of my recent writing.

You’ve recently released your single “Maybe Then” – tell us a little bit about it, inspirations and how it came to be about 🙂

Maybe Then started as a really simple, 3 chord demo. I usually go really full on with my chord structures so it was kind of a stripping back, it’s a really simple song. I was then approached by producer Andy Raphael who was up for producing the track and it became the cinematic track it is now! The song is about letting go of perfectionism as an artist, the main hook is ‘I’ve been waiting on a work of art but there’s no such thing’, and I actually ended up finding this to be a really helpful mantra. It’s about how we wait around for things to be perfect but nothing ever will be, the timing will never be ideal so just get out and do what you want to do! My friend Philippa Oliver filmed an amazing music video for the track too. It’s very dramatic!

What would you say are your main inspirations for creating and writing?

Lots of my songs are about the quirks of human behaviour. Whether this is something I’ve observed in someone else or myself. A lot of it is quite self-exploratory at the moment, questioning why I do certain things and think in certain ways.

What’s your process for creating or writing music?

All of my songs start as a little phrase or melody at the piano. It usually takes a long time between an idea appearing and finishing the song, it can be months. I don’t have a set approach other than building on a tiny snippet of an idea over time. I’ll record my ideas in logic and build harmonies over them. Then I send them to my band members and they add their ideas. Since I’ve been working with a band I’ve left a lot more space in my songs. They used to be very dense with piano melodies but now I leave some breathing room for the others. I am loving working with a band, they elevate the music so much and add things I never would have thought of! It’s much more collaborative now.

How did the lockdowns impact you as a musician, or even in general? It’s been nearly two years but they still have a lasting impression on everyone, we find!

The lockdowns are kind of a blur. It did give a lot of writing time and I think I wrote some of my favourite songs to date! What it has done is to make me appreciate everything much more. I hadn’t done loads of collaboration before and now it’s my favourite thing. I feel more a part of the Manchester scene now than I did before actually, and some of the remote collaborations I did have turned into lovely friendships!

We’ve seen you’ve been doing regular nights over at the Art of Tea, and working much more frequently with Manchester Women Songwriters’ Collective – how have you found all of these?

I love running these nights. Above all it’s been a great way to connect with loads of new musicians, and hosting a night where people come especially to listen to great music has been really rewarding. With Manchester Women Songwriters Heidi and I are trying to do a showcase every quarter or so and we’ve been loving it. The reception has been amazing, we sold out our last show and we have another in the pipeline at the end of July so watch this space!

You’ve been performing a whole load with other musicians as well – we’ve seen a lot on the socials! How has this come about?

A lot of this started out as remote lockdown collaborations. That was the case with Canter Semper, Tom Welsh, Tom Poggi (all amazing artists) who have since become regular collaborators and friends. It’s always the case that one thing leads to another so it all started with those and has snowballed into playing with lots of lovely people.

How have your releases been going lately – what response have you got from audiences and fans?

I released Maybe Then back in March and the reception was lovely. It’s always really hard trying to self-market everything, it’s a full-time job in itself really! But everyone has been lovely about it. I learn so much from every release so on to the next!

Do you record in a studio or do you have a personal home studio?

A bit of both. I have recorded in professional studios and friends’ home studios in the past but I was lucky enough to get a grant from the Arts Council last year to build my own home studio. I am loving having the space and equipment to experiment and I am working on improving my production skills.

Have you got anything coming up in 2022 we should know about?

I’m currently working on a couple of singles and a new EP with the band, which is coming along really nicely. I hope to start releasing tracks from it in the Autumn! There will be a full band EP launch show too, date TBC! Aside from that we have filmed some exciting live sessions that will be released soon and I just want to play more shows with the band and keep putting on local nights. It can be easy to get disheartened being an independent musician so I am just trying to appreciate what is in front of me and enjoy the ride!

it’s great to be able to chat with Emily here, talking about her unique experiences and influences that help her to create music – we love finding out about the backstory of songs, their journey and how they came to be. I think we’ve all had the emo phase at some point too, it seems that a lot of musicians came to be through a love of that genre of music – personally I think that the acceptance that the genre gave people actually helped a lot of people figure out where they wanted to be and who they were! We can’t wait to hear more from her and her band, and we’ll definitely have to get down to one of their gigs soon. 😊

a big thank you to Emily for answering these questions for us – you can find all of her music on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/6hFZOemdEu434rD35fYjPG, it’s well worth checking out her tunes! 🌛 we hope that you enjoyed this feature as much as we did – let us know what you think! 🥪

So much stuff here on the website now! 🤘

22nd Jun 2022artist, bread, fresh batch, grain radio, just the crust, knead to know, local loaf, local scene, new music, review, The WrapLeave a Comment

Grain Radio

just a lil post today to remind you all about all of the features and reviews over on our website – it’s not all just gigs (even though looking through our calendar it looks like it!)

we’ve got so many lovely regular features, we’re planning to update a few of them over the new few weeks and make them even cooler. there’s over TWO YEARS of posts on our website now, today marks our 784th day of posting in a row.. madness but so much so have a gander at.

you can find it all over on our website at www.breadrecords.co.uk – there’s a whole bunch of stuff to sink your teeth into. so many incredible releases from up North, we love writing about them all!

Knead to Know: Scott Magnus 🌛

28th Apr 202228th Apr 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music, videoLeave a Comment

we’re back with our next Knead To Know interview today, with the amazing Scott Magnus! 🤘

it’s fantastic to be able to speak with Scott here, he’s a super talented artist based here in Manchester and over the past year or two he’s been releasing banger after banger, getting some amazing recognition for his work and doing super well. we love his unique blend of genres, mixing together rapping, indie rock and even elements of metal in his music to create something truly his own style! 👊

he’s just released his debut EP “COMEBACK STRONGER” which sounds absolutely brilliant, a fantastic collection of songs that really give you a true insight into his life and experiences – we really loved the singles prior to the release of the album and this only exceeds our expectations! find our full interview with him below! 👇

Hey Scott, we’re delighted to be able to have a chat with you about your music here. You’ve released a few singles in the past – tell us a little bit about them and what they mean to you!

A lot of my singles have been about personal development whether that be embracing being an introvert but recognising the need to stay connected on ‘Lone Wolf’ or trying to learn and come back stronger back from failure and a fall from grace with ‘The Phoenix’. These two singles were written quite a while ago and were singer-songwriter pop with elements of trap and electro.

My latest single ‘Don’t Take Away My Purpose’ was the least introspective, it was assertive and fierce as it explored challenging a naysayer trying to make me stop doing what I love and be someone i’m not. This was my most eclectic song yet it built and built starting with indie/ neo soul/ chill rap then going into electro pop, hiphop then into grunge/ pop rock.

Your new EP is out now! How was it releasing a full-length EP?

It was really satisfying to tell a story through music in a way that my previously singles haven’t allowed me to. The story is one that is very personal to me and tackles the challenges I face as someone with learning difficulties. This is a topic which is rarely looked at and a voice that we rarely hear from so it was great to have the chance to express this point of view so candidly and authentically. I wanted people to see how challenging life with learning difficulties can be and despite that you can prevail if you focus on what you can do, learn from your mistakes and work hard. I hope this can inspire and comfort those struggling with the challenges I face or any of the challenges they face in their lives.

The response from people who listen to the whole EP was great. Many reported feeling inspired and uplifted which is exactly what I had hoped.

Where did you record the album? What was involved in the creation of it?

I recorded the album/ EP at Tngey’s studios in Blackpool. The process of creating it involved me composing a demo at home. Sometimes I would write the song solo on guitar first and sometimes I would write the song initially on a logic project. I’d make use of the instrument packs like Omnisphere and also the sample database Splice. I’d then take the demo to the studio, record guitars, vocals and then my good freind Tngey would take things to another level with his mind blowing production!

What inspires you to write songs? Have you got a creative process when you’re writing / creating?

I’m often inspired to write song when something poignant, dramatic and interesting happens to me and I have something I really want to say! My process will frequently involve me coming up with an instrumental or beat on logic then improvising to it, I will keep the best melodies and then make sense/ refine my lyrics in a notepad.

Who produces your music? (If yourself, just talk about the production elements and inspirations)

Tngey produced my Ep. He is incredibly skilled, talented but also really receptive and adaptable to the directions I would like to take things sonically. The imprint of where I want to take things will be in the demo I make at home but he can bring something really fresh to the table!

Tell us a bit about your musical journey – where did you start and what has made you evolve to where you are now?

I started playing guitar at 11 and I started writing songs at 15. I had a hiatus for a few years while pursuing acting blinkeredly but I decided to pursue music more seriously two years ago. To get back into it I started by learning covers and making songs on logic. I was on Contact theatres online music course which really challenged me to push my music skills in different directions such as writing a score to a short film. I have been working on my guitar, singing and production skills trying to learn more challenging covers each time. I have been searching for better and more interesting musical influences and trying to bring them together in a powerful and unique way – I’m trying to innovate!

How did the lockdowns impact you as a musician? What did you do throughout them? Did it get in the way of any projects?

The lockdowns were a positive impact on me as a musician. I was a key worker for a lot of it but for the first few months I was able to have more time to work on my music than before. I wrote songs did covers and also started making sketch comedy which has become a key part of the content that I make.

When you’re performing live, do you have any rituals to get into the mindset of it all? What do you enjoy most about it all?

I like to do yoga and exercise the day of a performance if I can. This keeps me alert and energised. I love the freedom on stage to express myself and to entertain the audience!

We’ve seen a great deal of interest in your singles – what kinds of responses have you had from fans or press?

The response has been really positive. People seem to respond really well to the fact I merge many genres and my songs have positive motivational messages! I have been lucky enough to receive press from publications such as Earmilk and Rolling Stone India.

Have you got anything coming up in 2022 we should know about?

My biggest single ‘Smirked’ will be coming out later this year and with a badass music video for it. It is a real culmination of the sound I have been trying to hone, a sound which combines, rock, melodic rap and trap and pop!

it’s been super lovely to chat with Scott here and see his perspective and journey – it’s so inspiring to hear about everyone’s different challenges and how they overcame hurdles to get to where they want to be. ☀️ brilliant to see, and he’s very deserving of the success he’s got, the EP sounds brilliant and well worth checking out!

a big thank you to Scott for answering these questions for us – you can find his new EP “COMEBACK STRONGER” at https://open.spotify.com/album/7lb7KQ2fluWidY7mNZaiGM 🌛 we hope that you enjoyed this feature as much as we did – let us know what you think! 🥪

Knead To Know: Katie O’Malley ☀️

31st Mar 202231st Mar 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music1 Comment

We’ve got our next Knead To Know interview for you today, this time with the amazing Katie O’Malley! 👊

we’ve known Katie for a long time now, she’s been performing on the North West scene for ages and her unique and gritty sound has always stood her out as one to watch, with some incredible songs, top performances and a lovely personality it’s always great to catch her play and hear her music! 😎 she’s now performing with a band for her solo music and we absolutely love these new tunes, so much energy and power to her sets now which is fantastic to see.

She’s just released her brand new EP “Dirt On My Knees” so we decided it’d be lovely to get an interview with her about it – read it all below! 🤘

Hey Katie, it’s fantastic to be able to get you on this and have a little chat about your music! You’ve just released your brand new EP “Dirt On My Knees” – tell us a little bit about it.

So most of the songs are familiar sounding as they’re my latest singles I’ve released over the past year: Taste the Dirt, Devil’s Got a Hold and Traveller with one extra song Feeling It. I wanted to make a record where people could physically own the songs and a place where I could own them too. I’m proud of these songs and felt they deserved to be on a record.

How long have you been doing music, and what drove you to start?

I’ve been singing since I was 14 which is probably later than most. I wasn’t one of these that have been singing since they could talk. I was brought up with a lot of music around me but never believed I could do it. My dad is a massive music fan and gave me my love for soul & blues music but he listens to anything and everything and so do I. But to answer your question I’ve been writing songs for about 10 years now. I loved hearing Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Elkie Brooks and my fave film is The Commitments people singing with guts and soul and that’s what I wanted to do but I have so many inspirations and my writing style was inspired more from folk music, Bob Dylan and Laura Marling just to name a few!

When we first met you, you were an acoustic country/Americana solo artist – how has your music evolved since then?

The sound is definitely heavier than how I first started out on my own but I love that. I feel I’ve been able to encompass so many of my inspirations into one sound and take people on a journey of high energy and also the more mellow folkier sound I started out with. People change and grow and so it makes sense the music will too.

You’ve now got a band, who we must say sound fantastic – how did this come about and what do you enjoy most about playing with a band?

The lads are great aren’t they. The band have evolved the sound so much. I loved writing these melodic quite airy folky songs but my voice just wanted to belt it out and I struggled with the balance of that for a while but when I got the band behind me it opened up the way I could write and also what they bring to it. We’ve had quite a few line up changes along the way but all the players I’ve had have been great. They’re not just people that play their instruments well they know how to serve the song and bring out it’s best it’s what I look for and it’s so important. I love playing live with them too. I can honestly say it’s the best feeling!

When it comes to your music, what would you say are your main inspirations for creating and writing?

I don’t tend to sit down knowing what I’m going to write about most of the time. I kind of write subconsciously and after a few lyrics I analyse what it means and what I’m trying to tell someone or even myself. We’re constantly affected by what’s going on around us even if we don’t realise it at the time. It’s quite a cathartic experience and sometimes a little scary. It’s like my own personal therapy session sometimes haha.

When you’re writing songs, do you have any processes or ways of getting into the right mindset for it?

Sometimes I’ll just put some music on and listen for a few hours and then later on in the day a song starts to form, if I do straight after listening I’ll probably just end up rewriting a song I was listening to haha, but if I give some space in between it comes quite naturally. I know I need a clearer mind space to do it which can be hard because I know naturally I’m quite an erratic person.

How did the lockdowns impact you as a musician? What did you do throughout them? Did it get in the way of any project?

I felt I was still able to achieve some things. I was lucky I had just recorded Wild West before lockdown happened and I wasn’t letting lockdown get in the way of the music video but I was just like go with it you have these restrictions but instead of thinking of them like that think of them more as guidelines. So my sister was in the video as she was staying with me, we filmed outside and that worked out. Looking back I wish I had wrote more than what I did but I released some live vids which I might not have done if it wasn’t for lockdown.

We’ve seen you perform a whole bunch now, but what do you enjoy most about it?

I just love singing my heart out. Especially when you’re singing songs you’ve wrote and the band are playing their souls out too. I’m such a nostalgic person and I feel we could be on stage in the 70s somewhere haha it’s a nice image.

How has your EP and singles been going lately – what response have you got from audiences and fans?

Both Taste the Dirt and Devil’s Got a Hold have been quite popular. They’re definitely crowd pleasers live and I think this has transcended to the online streams too. It’s so nice to hear when people say ‘oh I had your song stuck in my head today’ love that!

Where do you record your songs?

I record with Adam at Pinhole Sound I always go back to him as I feel he really captures my voice and the sound of the band. We also recorded some live sessions at Green Velvet Studios with Johnny which was a great experience! I always feel we’re at our best live and wanted to capture this.

Have you got anything coming up in 2022 we should know about?

Yes, I’ve steadily been releasing our live sessions from Green Velvet we have more to come and we’re releasing a record of them too. We also have some great gig dates in the diary we’re headlining at Deaf Institute 30th June which I’m so excited for and for anyone wanting tickets they’re available from my website www.katieomalley.co.uk – We’ve also got some great festivals coming up throughout Summer too including Buckle and Boots and The British Country Festival where Tom Oddell is playing so can’t wait to see him play too!

It’s great to be able to chat with Katie here about her music, and her journey and experiences – it’s super inspiring to see such great progress and just getting on with putting out and playing music that you enjoy with people! ☀️ you can really tell Katie’s passion for her music and we absolutely love the EP – a really strong collection of songs that are a must listen here in the North West. seeing her grow as a musician over the past few years has been fantastic and we really love her new sound – it’s definitely worth catching her at any gigs she’s playing at! 😎

a big thank you to Katie for answering these questions for us – you can find her new EP “Dirt On My Knees” at https://open.spotify.com/album/6jybbKOOevbA26uaeAwzBm and her headline gig sounds fantastic (tickets!) 🌛 we hope that you enjoyed this feature as much as we did – let us know what you think! 🥪

Knead To Know: Jacob Reddy 🥪

10th Mar 202210th Mar 2022artist, bread, knead to know, local scene, new music, videoLeave a Comment

we’ve got our next Knead To Know interview for you all, this time with the fantastic singer-songwriter Jacob Reddy! 🌾

Jacob’s a singer-songwriter based in Blackburn, whose been performing across the North West over the past few years playing to crowds at pubs, bars and even bigger venues – he performs a lovely range of covers and has been releasing his own music for a few years now, produced and recorded over at Esche Haus Audio who have been continuously putting out fantastic releases, a real cornerstone of the music scene 🤘

His music is a range of indie and singer-songwriter influenced music, being inspired by artists like Frank Turner and other singer-songwriters and he’s got a real ear for writing fantastic choruses and melodies, some real lovely tunes under his belt now! We’ll pop a link to them down at the bottom of the post. He’s even gone on a busking tour of every English city over 22 days last summer in aid of Derian House over in Chorley who provide a really special service, giving children and young people quality end-of-life care which absolutely blew us away for us to know he’s done that – what a star! 👊

We’re really glad to be able to chat with Jacob about his music his journey, a real inspiration – check out the interview below! 🥪

Hey mate, fantastic to be able to get you on this and have a little chat about your music! Tell us a bit about yourself, your music and that!

Hi! I’m Jacob Reddy and I’m a 17 year old indie pop artist. I’m currently studying songwriting and the music industry at BIMM in Manchester, and am gigging all over the North West whenever I get the chance! I’m full of energy and love being on stage. I always try to get the crowd on their feet and joining in. I’ve released 5 singles so far, and I always try to make them as catchy and anthemic as possible so that people go away with the song still playing in their head!

How long have you been doing music, and what drove you to start?

I had my first electric guitar lesson on my 7th birthday! The previous year I’d been at my Uncle & Auntie’s wedding and there was an amazing covers band playing called The Indie Killers. I stayed up all night listening to them and at the end of the evening they came over to talk to me. The lead singer, Damian Keyes (who now runs his own massive social media business – DKMBA), told me I should get myself a guitar and start playing as soon as I can… so I did! I got the guitar for Christmas, had my first lesson in January, and I’ve been playing ever since

We saw you did the busking marathon throughout last Summer – how was it? Are there any highlight moments from it for you?

The busking tour, where I played in all 51 English Cities in 22 Consecutive Days, was such an incredible (and very tiring!) experience! There are so many highlights it’s hard to pick out one or two but I’ll do my best.

Firstly, I’ve got to mention the amount raised. Both the general public in each of the cities, and the followers online, were so generous that we made just over £10,000 for Derian House Children’s Hospice, which was 4 times more than we’d originally set as a target!
On tour itself it was great when some of my friends (Miles Berry – Preston & Liverpool, Ray Morris – Hull, and Charlotte Bettson – Derby) turned up to busk with me in different cities.
I had a massive stag party join me for ‘Wonderwall’ in Liverpool and another fancy dress wedding party (Thor, Woody from Toy Story, Leatherface etc) in Portsmouth for ‘Sweet Caroline’
Finally, I’ve got to mention the last day of the tour, where I finished in Manchester & Salford then went to watch my music hero Frank Turner in Concert at the O2 Apollo. During the encore he gave the busking tour a massive shout out and I then had the very surreal experience of 3500 people chanting my name! That was just unbelievable!
Oh – nearly forgot! 2 days after the tour finished I was interviewed by ITV News which was definitely a first. The interview was played on Granada Reports and I got to play one of my own songs, ‘Outside The Box’, live on air!

What inspired you to do the marathon?

2 things really. The idea behind the tour came from my favourite YouTuber Jaackmaate. In June last year he did a feature where he hid a golden ticket in every city in England, each of which would lead to a prize of up to £5000. I turned up in Preston with loads of other Jaackmaate fans to search around the Deepdale stadium. I didn’t find the ticket but it did give me the idea for the busking tour. What made it even better was that Jack himself, along with co-host Stevie White, actually turned up to see me in Norwich! That was just amazing! We chatted for about half an hour then they filmed me busking and put it onto their social media channels!

The other inspiration for the tour was the fundraising. Derian House looked after my brother Joseph many years ago, and gave both Joseph and my family such wonderful care and support. He would have turned 21 this year so it seemed like the perfect reason not only to do the tour in his memory, but also to help Derian House, whose fundraising had been so badly affected by Lockdown.

When it comes to your music, what would you say are your main inspirations for creating and writing?

Well… I think that at the moment there are a lot of songs out there, understandably, with fairly downbeat lyrics and messages. I generally try to write songs, instead, that are uplifting and optimistic. I aim to write instantly accessible melodies, with lyrics that encourage people to find their inner strength and to work together. Mental health is such a big issue at the moment, especially after Lockdown, and I hope that my songs can give people a feeling of belonging and positivity.

When you’re writing songs, do you have any processes or ways of getting into the right mindset for it?

Not particularly. Most of my songs begin in different ways. Sometimes it’s just a simple guitar melody, which I then develop and build up. Other times a certain phrase or conversation sparks a lyric or a tune. More often than not, once I’ve started on a song the first verse and chorus follow relatively quickly, and I then have the structure for working on the rest of the song. I’ve even done a few social media challenges where I’ve written a song in 15 minutes or half an hour based on random words sent in by followers or chosen from a dictionary!

How did the lockdowns impact you as a musician? What did you do throughout them?

Lockdown was both a good and bad time for me as a musician. At the start of Lockdown, I had my first ever single, ‘Kings’, ready to be released on 26th March 2020. I had gigs lined up to promote it and loads of ideas for follow-up activities etc. That was the week that we actually went into Lockdown so I had to just release the single without being able to promote it via any of my normal means! It still did fairly well, but I always wished I’d been able to really get it out there so… two years to the week that it came out I’ve now re-recorded a completely new version of the song, ‘Kings (Reloaded)’. It’s shorter, more uptempo, rockier, catchier, and hopefully people will really liked the new version. It’s a song that I’m really proud of and this time I’ll be able to launch it properly!

There were two fairly positive aspects of Lockdown for me. Firstly, it was great having so much more time to write songs. I think I had about 8 songs written before Lockdown and 28 afterwards!

Secondly, I got lots of practice in Livestreaming. I began by joining in with Open Mic Livestream sessions, hosted by local promoters, and by the end of Lockdown was hosting my own. I performed for 2 promoters in Scotland, one in Manchester, and a ‘Rockdown’ session for GMC Management in Clitheroe. Then, with help from my sister Lydia and my mate Miles, I put together a 2 hour Livestream to raise money for Derian House. I arranged for lots of my musician friends to perform on the night, and I hosted the whole event, which raised £1500 in 24 hours. It was really good fun and one of the highlights of Lockdown.

When you’re performing live, what’s your favourite part about it?

I pretty much love everything about performing live! That’s why I do so much busking as there’s always different people listening to me playing. When I’m doing gigs the best bit is definitely the audience participation. I have one song, in particular, called ‘Happy’, where I usually get everyone joining in with the chorus, waving their phones if possible!

How have your releases been going lately – what response have you got from audiences and fans?

My releases have been going really well. My latest single, ‘Nothing is Impossible’, has been streamed over 8k times on Spotify, which I’m really happy about. People seem to enjoy the music video too (based around the busking tour), which is great! My most popular single, ‘Outside the Box’, has had 11.5k streams so far, and featured on Frank Turners official playlist (I still can’t believe that happened)!!

Where do you record your songs and videos? Do you think that studio choices play a big part in how you record and the final masters of the tracks?

I record all my songs and videos at Esche Haus Audio in Blackburn. I honestly can’t thank Imogen and James (the producers / engineers) enough for all the time and effort that they spend on my tracks. They pretty much know exactly what I’m looking for every time! They do refer to me as ‘The Studio Pest’ as I can sometimes be a bit annoying (I call it being funny!) but they’re honestly the perfect production team and I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else! The final masters of my tracks are all done by Jasper Ward at Air Studios, who again knows exactly how I’d like the song to sound, and manages to give every track that extra polish before it’s released!

Have you got anything coming up in 2022 we should know about?

Absolutely! ‘Kings (Reloaded)’ comes out on 1^st April and then I’ve got my first physical EP of all 6 singles (+ a bonus track!) landing mid April. I’ve also got 3 or 4 more singles coming out later in the year, which I’m so excited about!

I’m even more chuffed that the brilliant punk band ‘Pet Needs’ (who are about to join Frank Turner on his European & US Tour) have asked me to open for them at their gig in Manchester on 31^st March. Bread Records are very welcome to come along!!! It’ll be a fantastic night.

Two other quick things to tell you about. ‘Nothing Is Impossible’ has been chosen as one of the theme songs for National Careers Week on 7^th – 11^th March. It’s happening online and will hopefully be accessed by hundreds of secondary schools. I’ve also been asked to put together a selection of short videos with my ‘5 Top Tips’ to succeed in your chosen career. They’ll be part of a virtual Fair and also will be shared nationally on Twitter.

Finally, in June, on the longest day of the year, Chatbox Productions, an award winning online business show, are hosting a 24 hour ‘Stream Aid’ to raise global awareness of how business can be more sustainable. They’ve asked me to write them a theme song which they’ll then play throughout the whole 24 hours of streaming. I’ve not written it yet but I’ve got loads of ideas and am really looking forward to it!

Thanks so much for the interview and I hope to speak to you many more times in the future!

it’s such an honour to be able to sort these interviews with up-and-coming talented creatives here in the North West – it can be so interesting to see everyone’s different journeys and takes on music, showing that such a range of experiences can induce creativity and passion for their work. Jacob’s story here is superb in that he’s obviously so passionate about his music, and his love for it also reflects in his own actions of compassion, and raising £10,000 for charity is no small feat. as we said before, what an inspiration – we expect huge things for this lad in the future and can’t wait to see what he’s up to next! 🤘

it was so fantastic to chat with Jacob here, a big shout out to him for letting us sort this interview. it’s well worth heading over and checking out his music, he’s a real talented chap with some incredible tunes under his belt and we can’t wait to hear more songs from him in the future! ☀️ we hope that you all enjoyed this interview as much as we did, and we’ll keep you posted on our next features! 🍞