SGP - Blondage

SGP

Having suffered last year with pouring rain and mud baths, Secret Garden Party got to show off their full potential this summer with beautiful weather and glitter covered gardeners, despite the fact they didn't sell out this year. For this year's theme Head Gardeners planned a weekend of intergalactic transportation, taking inspo from the cult classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and amply naming it The Gardeners Guide to the Galaxy.

Blondage

As a festival there stands to be no kind of set structure, rather it is truly just one big party, although having said this the festival doesn't shy away from providing many a stage, which many a great artist performed on throughout the four days. In this four-post-mini-series, there will be a taster of the bands who stood out as the 'best in show' of each day, starting obviously with Thursday.

Although the festival does officially start on Thursday, The Great Stage remains redundant until Friday, which means that it is left to the mini stages to fill the ears of wandering gardeners. New to 2016, The Urban Forest, was merely one of the stages located around the three fields. Built entirely out of old shutters, window frames, and mirrors, the Urban Forest was an home from home in the strange galaxy that was SGP '16. Headlining the Urban Forest on Thursday evening was the Danish electro-duo Blondage. 

Blondage @ Secret Garden Party

Formerly known as Ragleklods, Blondage is made up of the talented Pernille Smith-Sivertsen and Essen Andersen. With only two singles to their name, Blondage aren't easy to hear, so seemingly the best way to listen to them is live. If you were lucky enough to stumble upon their performance on Thursday, you would have found these strobe-a-holics drenched in all black and producing the juiciest synths since Kraftwerk's The Man Machine. Whilst the crowd was small, their performance was not. Whipping out instruments that didn't seem real, and managing to sing (yes both of them) whilst mixing their own music live, Blonadge's pop-electro performance created bubblegum sweet sounds that made your ears happy, whilst your feet hurt. Hidden by cutely coloured back lighting this duo were merely silhouettes on stage that, even without being able to see their faces, performed with ice cool eclat. 

Described by one in the crowd as 'like Grimes but trying less hard' they are clearly a duo to keep your eyes on. Serve yourself an aesthetically pleasing slice of whatever their having here (because you'll sure want a taste):

Blondage/Soundcloud

Blondage/Facebook
Blondage/Instagram

sealand - Holy Head

sealand

Finding ourselves back in what seems to be the birthing pool of musical talent, the North, we find yet another little musical gem: sealand. Manchester students Rory Calland and Lucio Gray are the ambitious minds behind this post-punk-dream-pop-shoe-gazer combo that some would say is impossible to pull off. With two songs under their belt, this duo show off their musical diversity through a limited playlist.

Releasing said songs on their soundcloud in the same month, it's hard to tell that they were curated together. Their first track Vehicle is one of which is like Stone Roses spin off (somewhat like an indie equivalent of S Club 7's S club Juniors). But don't get it twisted, whilst the song has it's roots deep with the soil of their predecessors, it has a back bone that is completely their own. And even though the song may not sound as enticing as the idea of a fresh Mancunian newcomer, their second song Holy Head definitely changes this.

Holy Head

The song is slow but intense, and sounds as though Joy Division has had an anarcho-punk child, born holding a sitar. Creating a stream of consciousness that's just about audible, mixed with the overlapping drone of guitars and synths, sealand have made a song that makes you feel as though you're wandering round the unconsciousness of our generation. This hybrid of dream-pop and spoken word makes for an interesting listen to say the least, that could be controversial and meaningful but you might need to squint your ears to hear it. However, one thing that is for certain is that it's alluring and hypnotic, and once you've heard it it's as if you've bathed in the holy water of sealand.

Holy Head will also be featured on the band's independent DIY record label Sea of Skin Records (co-owned by their plan Jellyskin no less) first compilation album, which comes out on the 15th of this month. Keep your ears to the ground, as it won't be long until we're soaked through by the splash of sealand.

Swim with them in their serene pool:
sealand/souncloud
sealand/facebook
sealand/twitter

Jellyskin - Grey Glass Hat

Jellyskin

It must be something they put in the water because, like many indie music pioneers, Jellyskin hail from 'up North'. However, this is not their leading feature, instead what stands out about this trio is their ability to make a song whilst balancing the life of a student. According to the band lead singer, and synther, Zia and guitarist, Will have always wanted to make music together, and with friend Olly being a drummer, they one day came together to work with some ideas. And with this the band birthed their first song Grey Glass Hat, and it's a corker.

The song starts off slow, with ominous syths, that are deeper than the voice of Johnny Cash, and elegant vocal's from lead singer Zia. It doesn't take long for the guitar and drums to make their entrance, really showing off the band's late 80s-early 90s influence creating a sound that's almost a grunge-shoegaze combo. With heavy synths running throughout, and mellow drums to compliment them, it's hard to believe that it's only three of them making so much sound.

Grey Glass Hat 

Whilst the song repeatedly asks you why you don't go, us as the listener asks the band why would we leave this dark and mystical place Jellyskin have managed to engulf us in; even if no one truly knows who the man in the grey glass hat is. The song is progressive, dipping right in the middle to finish on a crescendo that ends in a melancholic climax.

With a name like Jellyskin it's surprising that they can make something that is so structured and ethereal compared to the vision of wobbly flesh. Given that this is their first song, they have made their mark as musicians who can create music that is hauntingly beautiful and heavy at the same time. Sounding as if Smashing Pumpkins have had a love child with London Grammar, or as if a grunge band has taken choir practice, I'd watch this space because, as their name suggests, I have no doubt they're gonna make you as wet as pre-mixed jelly.

Wet your ears: Jelly Skin

Warmduscher at the Windmill

The Windmill

If like me you landed in an other dimension and spent a night in Brixton's The Windmill (again) you would have been witness to the carnage of both bands Good Sad Happy Bad and Warmduscher, as well as being disappointed that the real Lady Gaga wasn't there (and neither was band Goat Girl). Hosting the night were the illustrious Warmduscher celebrating the return of Saul Adamczewski from the the land of the free and the home of the brave, and oh boy do they know how to throw a welcome home party.

Good Sad Happy Bad

Before Warmduscher took the stage, threesome Good Sad Happy bad performed their version of music. Formerly known as Micachu and the Shapes (after lead singer Mica Levi's stage name Micachu), this trio create music that seems to regurgitate a distorted version of the sounds of an angsty teen after a night out, and appear to represent what it is to be good, sad, happy, and bad all at the same time. After composing the soundtrack of major motion picture 'Under the Skin' as Micachu and the Shapes, it seems that their re-branding as Good Sad Happy Bad is the trio's attempt at getting back to basics, and their performance makes this assumption believable. Going back to their make-shift music roots, Good Sad Happy Bad perform as raw as their newest single sounds. In fact they were so back-to-basics that lead sing Mica apologised when something went wrong. Although their music may not be to everyone's taste, and they sound a little like they just rolled out of bed with a hangover, their performance was both amicable and popular and spurred a unified crowd jig and the consumption of a pint.

Warmduscher

Following the trio came the sordid liberators Warmduscher. Welcoming home their beloved band member Saul, the foursome performed a setlist that encouraged the secretion bodily fluids and the throwing of punches. For Warmduscher it would appear that during every performance they manage to catalyse some kind of social butchery, where every moral and social norm is blocked out by the drone of guitar riffs and pounding drums. Wearing a jacket coated in gold, which suggested that guns, bling, and ganja are integral to satisfaction, lead singer Clams Baker and the guys performed classics Uncle Sleepover and The Salamander, as well as new track The Sweet Smell of California, displaying that despite what their name suggests they are anything but wimps. Before finishing the show Clams once again left the mic to the audience during the final song (clearly a signature move), expressing that for Warmduscher the revolution is a collective effort and it all started in the windmill. 

The night was rounded off with a DJ set by 'Lady Gaga', however, if you believed it was the real one you were sadly mistaken. However, giving a four hour set isn't easy so hats off to you DJ Lady Gaga, it's just unfortunate that most were too busy gurinin' to notice. 

Warmduscher X Meatraffle at The Windmill

The Windmill

If you were in the whimsical watering hole that is The Windmill on the 3rd of June you may have found a band who comes with a trumpet and a postpunk attitude, and another who's name needs to be typed into google translate in order to correctly pronounce it. With their roots planted deeply within the dirt of the weird and wonderful, Meatraffle and Warmduscher have come together to create a double-sided single that's so degenerately unorthodox that it deserved a party that embodied that very notion.

If you arrived fashionably late, you may have missed the first three acts of the night: NoFriendz, Fake Fur, and Suitman Jungle. However, that does not mean that you couldn't see them, on the contrary. In fact you were most likely to be moshing next to the singer of NoFriendz, who was unmissable given that he had pegs in his hair, and no doubt you also saw the singer from Fake Fur, as she was later on invited back on stage to give a second display of her lungs (and boy does she have a good pair).

Warmduscher

The first band, out of the pair of headliners, to greet the stage was Warmduscher. The band is made up of trio  Jack Everett and Saul Adamczewski (although he wasn't there on the night) from the Fat White Family, Ben Romans-Hopcraft of Childhood, and Clams Baker. It didn't take long for the mottly crew to prepare their set, nor did it take any time for the crowd to emerge from every crevasse to form an audience just as equipped for mayhem as the band was. With neon lights clouding their vision and anarchy coursing through their veins, it came as no surprise that the crowd became engulfed into the trippy dystopia that is the world Warmduscher.  And whilst it may take a certain kind of person to find solace in the sounds of Warmduscher, what they create is undeniably something special. Why, not just any band can successfully embody the dysfunctions of our morally diseased society and still make digestible music; however this trio can. They say you have to see it to believe it, and The Windmill definitely saw.

Meatraffle

Following Warmduscher were the mutinous Meatraffle, made up of a bunch of uncanny aliases, such as Zsa Zsa Sapien, Tingle Lungfish, and Fats McCourt, and whilst their names may be comical, their message is not and neither is their following. As almost a band in residence, Meatraffle are a beloved name around the South London area. Musically, the band refuse to be categorised, so they sit on the outside able to replicate the collapse of civility and morality as we know it. Their overtly political stand point and music, made for a performance that encouraged riotous behaviour whilst reminding you how important the dentist is. Their setlist was an entrancing amalgamation of sounds copy and pasted straight from their album to the stage. They are a band like no other and put on a show that everyone should see in their life time- APART from the Yuppies of course, you fuckers stay out.

The single launch was nothing less than success: the bands saw, came, conquered, and left everyone drenched in the expulsion of the socialist orgasm that the musicians created.

Buy the single here and reach the same climax from the comfort of your own home: Meatduscher.

Yak at The Joiners

The Joiners

Yak are a trio made of London based nuttahs, from Wolverhampton and New-Zealand, who find solace in dripping with sweat and making others do the same. With talent oozing from their pores, and front man Oliver Burslem's Mick Jagger crica '65 good looks, the band put on a show that leaves crowds with bruises on their knees. Although the trio has only been circulating around the indie rock scene since 2014, their notoriety is formed off the back of their ability to recreate a sound that is reminiscent of a scuzzy garage band from the '60s. The band have only this month released their debut album 'Alas Salvation' and are embarking on a tour which is proving their worth as musicians who aim to bring to crowds what their album title suggests.

The V2's (taken  by Rhona Murphy)

If you were looking for a Friday night full of sweat and beer fuelled civil disobedience than Southampton's The Joiners welcomed you with open arms. Kicking the night off were Bournemouth based boys The V2's. As somewhat local performers at The Joiners, they quickly filled up the floor with fans presumably the same age as quartet of sixth formers (I don't I think I've ever felt so old even when I wasn't holding a beer can). However, age seems to be irrelevant to The V2's, and given their performance history it evidently isn't a hindrance.  Their music is so full of catchy lyrics and fuzzy riffs that it's even caused Mac Demarco's mum to join their fanclub (supposedly). Covered in glitter and wearing coats with fringe The V2's performed a setlist to which the crowd shamelessly moshed to. Watch out 'cause for these southerners the only way is up.

Palm Honey

Following regulars The V2's were Palm Honey, the super psychedelic synthers from reading. This indie foursome greet the crowd with sugary-sweet sounds made up of poppy hooks and chill outed synths. The band's musical style seems to exist in the realms of psychedelia but with a darker twist, given that their lyrics are "super deep". However, it's unfortunate that some of this was lost in their performance given that lead singer Joesph Mumford's voice was distorted so much that it was hard to make out the band name let alone the lyrics, which contrasts their recorded stuff that you can find on the internet. Although in saying this the overall experience of their performance was submerging and indulgent, even if you struggled to sing along.

Yak

Last but not least, given that everyone had paid to see them, were Yak. Although a little late starting, the unruly threesome began their performance with no intention of lulling. From start to finish they performed a setlist that was made to be performed live and the crowd knew it. The push and shove of the crowd began as soon as they did, with Harbour the Feeling, moshing so much that front man Burslem was able to crowd surf within the first five minutes. Dripping with sweat and spitting for days, the band put on such a victorious show that bassist Andy Jones broke a bass string. Lapping up every tune with hungry eyes and hanging off of every hook the crowd were just as relentless as the band. When the trio ended the set with Plastic People followed by Jam, the audience sighed with relief as they realised, alas, Yak brought salvation.

Black Honey at The Joiners

The Joiners

It's hard work making an entire venue wish that they were you, however front woman of Black Honey, Izzy Bee, oozes with so much cool she makes it look as if it's her day job. Yet a kick ass lead singer is not all this fierce band have to offer. Armed with an attitude that could turn you to stone in one second and then melt your heart the next, the band's music is addictive like something sweet but storms into your ears like a lighting strike. For one night, and one night only, this tenacious foursome took over Southampton's The Joiners, however their smell and sound is probably still lingering around the venue after whipping up such a moshing storm.

Fever

The Joiners as a music venue is pretty cool: it's outside is a shell of your average pub yet its insides are made of your typical gig venue organs and is plastered in music posters- past and present. A suitable place for Black Honey's first support act to take the stage, cue the southern quartet Fever, who evidently have some notoriety within the venue anyway! Whilst they only have two songs on SoundCloud, Fever emptied out an handful of tunes that seemingly can't be found on the internet and therefore can only be heard live. Their sound is little more than garage fuzz,  however that's not to say that they are average, on the contrary their songs are hot like fever yet on stage they are as chilled as the cold beer in your hands. What the band lack in stage, and internet, presence they make up for in music, kick starting the cold sweats of evening.

Johnny Lloyd

Following the South Coast's answer to grunge, Fever, comes a south London soloist Johnny Lloyd (solo despite the fact he comes with a band and a good looking sound crew). As former front man of Camden's Tribes, Johnny Lloyd is a natural born performer who comes equipped with a voice that warms your heart and sweet, ceaseless, hip thrusting action. His performance is also aided with the help of a setlist that is armed with so much talent you could sink you teeth into it and take a chunk out. Each song him and the band performed was something a little different ranging from sounds similar to Bob Dylan, 'John Wesley Harding' circa, to sounding not too dissimilar to Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' era. On the night he performed his recent release 'Hello Death', produced by Jamie T, as well as singles 'Pilgrims', produced by Mystery Jets, and 'Happy Humans'; much to the middle aged women behind us' delight. After supporting Black Honey, Johnny Lloyd, and co, are embarking on a solo tour as well as touring with Band of Skulls, so see them there or forever live in the unknown where your ears are never graced with Johnny Lloyd's smouldering sounds.

Black Honey

Black Honey shortly emerge upon the stage that is already full of their instruments and infamous flamingo ornament, and the crowd, needless to say, embrace the band with welcoming arms. The band began their setlist with no intention of lulling, starting as they mean to go on with the throwing off of a beret and their tune 'Spinning Wheel' (that makes you feel as though you're in a Tarantino movie). With a crowd that worships the ground the band walk on, who not only want to be lead singer Izzy Bee but also drool over her, the atmosphere was rife for some angsty carnage. Black Honey continued to pound relentlessly through a setlist made up of both their EPs and new song 'Mothership', which required the audience to crouch to listen to Izzy Bee as if she was so kind of cult preacher before bursting up into a frenzy of shear glorious chaos. The night ended in what seems to be a theme of a Black Honey gig and that is a full blown stage invasion with no fucks given. Having already been told to 'behave' and 'get down' when the first few attempts were made it was the final song, 'YSIA', that called for the sweaty bunch of adolescences to storm the stage and succeed. Once Black Honey finished, and the crowd had wet their pants, they could be found in the lobby selling merch and baptising pre-pubescences with temporary tats.

Black Honey in some respects remain a secret band that apparently people in the local pub hadn't heard of, however, it goes without saying that their performance is a 60s esk creation of the grooviest kind of pandemonium that can't be missed.

All photos were taken at the gig, by one Jamie Wrapson (thanks pal)