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Gigs Strider: Cavern Club - 26/03/25 Read More View more

Skills Wales Competition Coleg Menai students participate in annual Battle of the Bands By Roman Parry Skills Wales is an annual event where colleges across the country compete to see who is best in each field, this year the Skills Wales competition was held in Cardiff. The competition for the music students is commonly and justifiably called the “battle of the bands” and Coleg Menai’s young participants were all ecstatic to perform. Nearing the end of 2023 Coleg Menai students were presented with the opportunity to audition to become part of a band that would compete in Skills Wales 2024. According to one of the staff at the Skills Wales competition, “The work that Grwp Llandrillo Menai does in the competitions has developed greatly over the last 5-6 years”. The college students chosen for the competition were first-year student Osian Griffith and second-year students Owen Williams, Alex Roberts, and Morgan Evans and together, they called themselves “Onslaught”, later renamed “Immortum”. According to Immortum’s bassist, Alex, the second they got together till they performed on stage, they practised nonstop. Band guitarist Owen mentioned how he looked forward to performing in Cardiff and seeing how other bands do, he thought that it ended much better than he expected. He jokingly added how the best part for him was that he got a new guitar while he was there. As for their drummer Morgan, he expressed that he genuinely enjoyed performing on stage in Cardiff. He also mentioned how it was his first time performing in a metal band since he usually performs in brass bands so he found it to be a cool experience. Finally, Immortum’s singer and lead guitarist Osian commented how other bands in the competition had a better stage presence and how it could be something that could be improved on. Even though Immortum didn’t win the competition they stayed together and released their debut single “Hell Raiser” and have performed live in venues such as Pontio in North Wales.

Strider Last minute gig invite turns into killer night of entertainment and laughter By Roman Parry Finding bands and artists to interview can be such a gruelling and daunting task, especially when you don’t know where to start looking. For me, I was stuck for weeks. Had a band who said they would be willing, and the next thing I know they flake out. Thank the Gods I had someone to help point me in the right direction and get me in contact with someone, that someone being bass player Archie Jackson from the band Strider. Imagine getting in contact with someone from a band and asking them when their next show is, only for them to say it was the next day. That was the exact situation I was in. That meant 24 hours worth of time to research and prepare a few points for questions. Also imagine being put on the guestlist for their gig, not just any gig but one organised by BBC Introducing. As a kid, I would have considered that a once-in-a-lifetime experience, now that is just a part of the job. So there I was on March 26, finalising my notes while travelling on the train to Liverpool in order to watch Strider live in the Cavern Club. When writing up my notes I got curious as to what the origin was for the bands name. After looking through social media and not finding an answer, I took to the web. That’s when I came across another band sharing the same name. This version of Strider was around in the 70s and featured Gary Grainger (known for working with Rod Stewart). Even though both bands were unrelated, the discovery was quite interesting. The gig in the Cavern Club went excellently, all three bands did such a great job. Each put in their all and provided a high-energy night for everyone in attendance. After Strider finished their set and packed up their equipment, clearing the stage for the next band, I met up with Archie and had a brief discussion as to how we wanted this interview to go. We made the decision that we would conduct it outside and have the drummer, Ethan Elliott, join us as part of the Q&A. The street outside the Cavern Club had a lot of hustle and bustle. People were walking by quickly, as well as entering and exiting surrounding buildings. There was so much I wanted to discuss when it came to the band and what I found. One thing I discovered which I didn’t have much information about was the Jacaranda Baltic; Battle of the Bands. “We've been playing a gig in the Jacaranda basement in town, which is like a really historic venue. And we were stood outside after the gig and we saw a poster for this competition and we thought ‘fuck it, we might as well enter. It'll be a few gigs that we can play’.” When questioned more about the topic, specifically about them winning the event, Archie responded with “Yeah, we got crowned champions, which was amazing for us really cause we've only been going as a band for less than a year” Archie said that winning the competition allowed them to worth with a music producer who worked on some of Coldplay's stuff. “We also got handed £2000 in cash which for any starting off band was just like a God send. It just meant we can invest in stuff that we needed like in-ear monitors and studio time and recording.” When asked if they believed that another band deserved the win they answered with “I'm not gonna name names, but there were other bands in that final that we really don't like. So, we're happy that we beat them in it.”

Royal Blood: Figure It Out By Roman Parry Royal Blood was formed in 2011 and performs rock music. At the moment Royal Blood still consists of two of the duo, Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher, however there were also two other members Matt Swan and Joe Dennis who left years ago and never returned. Royal Blood released their self-titled album in 2014. This album included songs such as ‘Careless’, ‘Better Strangers’, ‘Out of the Black’ and ‘Figure It Out’. Figure It Out has the typical vibes of a rock song such as a lot of distorted electric guitar, high energy and deep lyrical meaning. Figure It Out is definitely a recommended song to listen to for those who are fans for bands like Black Sabbath and Metallica or solo artists such as Marilyn Manson. Royal Blood have been a supporting act for Foo Fighters, Played in Coachella as well as Reading and Leeds festivals

Eädyth: Shots By Roman Parry Shots released in 2019 and was Eädyth’s first single. Shots is an R&B/ Soul song and its use of synths gives a space-like feel.

Cowbois Rhos Botwwnog: Mynd â'r Tŷ am Dro By Roman Parry On the first of March 2024, Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog released their album “Mynd a’r Tŷ am Dro”. The song sharing its name is a folk more than rock song and gives a kind of calming vibe with its vocals and instrumental.

Baby Brave: Bombatomic By Roman Parry In 2022 Baby Brave released their third EP “Sunny Days in Dark Rooms” and Bombatomic is the first song to appear on this EP. Bombatomic is an indie song that people seem to like considering it is one of their most popular songs on Spotify.

ADJUA: Fool's Game By Roman Parry Fool’s Game is a hip-hop song produced by ADJUA in February 2023 as a part of her EP “Self”. It is a Fool’s Game is the first song to appear in the EP and sets the mood for the rest of the EP. Fool’s Game is an ode to an old lover, accepting mistakes that were made and understanding that you could learn from those mistakes.

Kidsmoke: Rising Sun By Roman Parry In 2018 Kidsmoke released their single “Rising Sun” which was then included in their 2020 album “A Vision In The Dark”. Rising Sun is an upbeat rock/ alternative song which is about going against people's expectations even when they come from people you’re closest to.

Singles Strider: Say Your Prayers Why does this all sound like religious metaphors? Read More Half Happy: Say This Twice 2023 Triskel Award winners single about dysfunctional a relationship is actually based real a situation? Read More Cara Hammond: Green Vase Covering up mental health. Is Cara Hammond writing about herself? Read More Campfire Social: Wherever You Rest Your Head Underrated band finally starting to get recognition and it’s well deserved Read More Mati Simcox: Shimmering Uncover the thoughts of emerging Welsh musician Mati Simcox. Read More The Vamps: Wake Up Read More View more

Campfire Social: Wherever You Rest Your Head Underrated band finally starting to get recognition and it’s well deserved By Roman Parry Campfire Social, a band of 5, has been releasing music for almost a decade. The band doesn't get much notice, although they have been playing for a while and have an assortment of songs for their fans to enjoy. Their lack of a sizable following, given their years of experience, seemed almost baffling. Despite their rather modest fan base they have secured a spot at the renowned Focus Wales festival. We wanted to be the first on the scene, so we delved into their music and recommend listening to some of it. One song in particular, ‘Wherever You Rest Your Head’ which released March 19 2021, drew our attention. The song begins with an instrumental which gives a sense of nostalgia and a slightly sad atmosphere. When the vocals start we realise the vocalist is reminiscing about old memories. It starts by talking about how someone is moving out of the house and leaving an empty room “We’re clearing the house where I once lived and there’s an uppity room”, the empty room may be referring to how the vocalist feels their heart is empty after the other person left them. It then goes on about how our dear vocalist is thinking back on old memories as well as regretting the things they weren’t able to do together “All the things we’d say we’d do but never did, I’ve been thinking back to places that we’ve never been”. I’m sure we can all relate to that in some way or another. With both of those assumptions regarding the lyrics, it’s safe to presume that the song is about the vocalist negatively dealing with a breakup. After the first chorus, we once again hear from the vocalist and how he is surrounded by and trying to preserve memories. “I wish I could be the photograph you kept inside the frame” helps us see insight into how he wants to be remembered. Like a photograph, he wants to be permanent and he wants to be preserved in her memory like a photo is preserved in a frame. We also get the line “With all these paintings that you’ve left behind you to never see again” which perfectly accompanies the part about photographs. It shows that what he wanted isn’t what he got, how he wanted to remain in her memory but she chose to forget him and the moments they shared. The final main things we hear from the vocalist are “I’ll think thoughts of feeling well, I’ll follow form and find myself” and “Let’s stop and start again” perfectly and simply display how he has come to terms that he won’t get her back and he has been trying to get overhear as well as learn how to live without her in his life. We wait eagerly to hear about their performance at the Focus Wales festival and see what direction their music goes next.

Half Happy: Say This Twice 2023 Triskel Award winners single about dysfunctional a relationship is actually based real a situation? By Roman Parry The members of Half Happy met in university due to their shared obsessions with Tame Impala, Foals and Radiohead, and followed bands like Superfood and Wolf Alice. In 2022 they made their way into the Cardiff music scene and immediately got attention from BBC Introducing after they released their single “Runaway Girl” in 2023. Also in 2023, they were awarded the Triskel Award at the Welsh Music Prize. The Triskel Award is an award given to the most promising emerging artists of the year. Their music has soft vocals, tight indie drums, and guitar riffs that border heavy and heavenly. When initially listening to Half Happy’s single Say This Twice it seemed like it was mostly talking about a bunch of nonsense however the closer I listened to it the more I started to see the full picture or what I believe to be the full picture. It seems as though it's talking about possibly a one-sided love or maybe a dysfunctional relationship. The song starts with two people driving on a deserted road and is from a man's perspective. One line in the first verse “no conversation stops the killer in its tracks” gives the impression that there's tension between the two people and that a conversation may spark up an argument. Another line “You want her to care the same way as you” seems self-explanatory, this man feels as though the girl doesn’t care about the relationship as much as he does. The second verse switches to the girl's perspective in a setting we assume is their home. One of the first lines from the second verse is “You’re the dancing queen of come on now what’s wrong”. It seems as though this girl avoids the question where she is asked if something is wrong. The line after that “He left the lights on but there's no one home, one more altercation” indicates that even though the man is physically there he may not be there mentally or emotionally which leads to arguments between the two. This is somewhat backed up by the lines “You take the bins out, look up at the sky. His mind is up there and you wonder why” since it seems his mind is somewhere else in the present moment. The final part of the song is from the perspective of the singer. She says ”I've been where you are, your love's up and down. You do everything and it tastes just as sour”. The singer may be pulling from personal experience and is describing how they do everything they can to fix the relationship but nothing they try is working.