 Listen to 'Dark Matter' by The Idle Silence here.
Its like Nirvana and The Ramones had a baby! Within the first 10 seconds, I get an immediate 90s rock vibe. So many bands and artists try to emulate that early nineties ‘in your face’ sound and style, but so many fail. This song however, definitely does NOT disappoint! The song starts slow with a crunchy guitar lick to kick off the song that keeps repeating throughout, before this huge fuzzy bass kicks in with the drums to add another layer. It’s almost reminiscent to the smash hit ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries, slow to start but instantly demands your attention. You can almost feel the power and the energy from the drummer as they’re pounding away at the kit. The vocal effect throughout is really crisp, yet sounds as if they’re being pushed to the brink of becoming distorted. It makes it feel like the singer is inches away from your ear. The style of the vocals really give me that Nirvana feel that so many bands try to emulate. The difference though, between them, and ‘The Idle Silence’, is TIS understand that not everything has to be on 10 for a song to give you that in your face feel. A singer doesn’t have to emulate the raspy nature of Kurt Cobain to give you the next great Grunge/Punk smash hit. Which, by the way, this could easily be! After about a minute into the track, it takes this unexpected and exciting turn! The slow tempo guitar stops for a second and turns into this fast descending riff, that makes way for the chorus where things take another gear. The drums start getting faster and louder as you can feel something building. Suddenly the chorus is being almost chanted at you in a style very similar to The Ramones. Really energetic, fast and a chorus that would definitely create a huge mosh pit at a live gig. The band have also done a brilliant job of taking us, the listener, on a journey with them. The highs and lows keep you on your feet and wondering what’s going to happen next. A bit like a rollercoaster; It’s fun, free and unpredictable, and above all, thrilling. I’ll leave you with these thoughts. The Nineties was the pinnacle for music like this! So many artists these days try to replicate that feeling, that sound which has the ability to make you feel like you’ve been teleported back to that magical decade. But in the end, it just sounds a bit fake. ‘Dark Matter’ doesn’t fool you into thinking you’re back in the fields of Reading & Leeds festival waiting for that hot up and coming band to come on stage and play the songs that you can go crazy for. However for 5 minutes of Idle Silence’s latest release, they genuinely made me feel like I was in 1993 rather than 2023. It felt fresh, fun and full of attitude! Great work guys. We can’t wait to hear what you have coming next! 4/5 Jack Saunders - 27th February 2023
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Shorti: Professional hair and make up. A confident, theatrical, animated and expressive performance. Passionate and emotive, your love of your art shines through your act. A natural entertainer with a great sense of humour. Patrick: An exceptional pianist with a great personality. We loved our introduction to the Boogie Woogie, you schooled us. A feel good, confident performance with fun audience participation. Felt like a Jools Holland set. We would love to hear an uninterrupted instrumental from you. Ben and Freya: A confident and emotive performance. Gorgeous personalities that shine through. We loved your blended harmonies and ability to switch up genres as well as impressive instrumentals. We really enjoyed your animated and upbeat version of “Last Night” and your original song was full of feeling. Charlene: A beautiful lyricist, you are able to set a scene and tell a story that is relatable and emotive. A gorgeous pure and tuneful tone that was well controlled throughout. Original sound and fantastic guitar accompaniment. We would love to watch you at a Summer festival. Kayleigh: Gorgeous husky soulful tone. You have the ability to engage and draw the audience in with your first note. A confident and expressive performer, who is comfortable on the stage. You brought your own style to familiar songs and connected well with the lyrics. Emotive and moving. You surprised us with the rap element and totally nailed it. Asha: Beautiful piano playing and fantastic control over your rich tone and great range. A confident performance with the ability to create mood and atmosphere both with your voice and instrumental. Your rendition of “Skyfall” lived up to what you expect from a Bond ballad. Your love for singing shines through your performance. Corey: A moving performance from the very first note. Fantastic range and projection. You silenced the crowd and drew everyone in. Captivating. You are able to convey so much emotion through your voice and created a lovely connection with the audience. Loved your switch up in styles, you really came alive in your second song. We felt like we were at a theatre performance in the West End. Fun and feeling simultaneously. Great song choices. Louise: You belted it out from the off. A powerful well controlled voice, with rich country tones. Fabulous projection and confident stage presence. You sang with feeling and really came into your own on your second song. You were able to inject emotion into the lyrics and connected well with the audience. A lovely personality when talking to the crowd. The audience really engaged with you. Fantastic song choices for your voice. Luca: A powerful voice and overall performance. Fantastic projection and control. Gorgeous soulful tone. You have a raw talent and sang with real feeling. Very emotive and moving, you put your all in to it. You made a song your own. The audience really connected with you and warmed to you. Brilliant song choices. Photo Credit - Max Neilson-Howes Solly: You brought it again with the hair, makeup and fabulous outfit. We loved the shake up with the axe and the heart, so creative, animated and expressive. Interesting choreography, even better than your first audition. Clearly passionate and well prepared. So professional. Born to be a Queen. Olivia Sebis: You silenced the audience with your emotive performance. You have fantastic control over an incredible vocal range. You make a powerful voice look effortless. Captivating and moving. Lovely interaction with the crowd. Nailed it. Karl Vogts: You brought the sass to The Closet again, filling the stage with your fabulous energy. A big powerful voice with a rich tone. We particularly enjoyed your second song, could really feel the emotions coming through. Fantastic vocal range. Weymouth Park Community Choir: So uplifting. You made us feel happy. Your first song was beautiful with the emotional harmonies, you really set a mood. Heart warming. The crowd really livened up immediately when your rendition of YMCA kicked in. Animated and fun. A great way to start the evening. Joe Southcott: An interesting and confident introduction and narrative throughout. You made people feel comfortable to come up on stage with you. We loved the elements of fun and humour you injected into your act. Yet again, we had no idea how you did any of it. Mesmerising. Catnip: You surprised us with the stand up and you did not disappoint. The whole act flowed so well. There was clearly a huge amount of effort put in to every part of your unique performance and it paid off. Clever, creative and laugh out loud funny. Finlay Leslie: Unique sound and style. Gorgeous tone. We absolutely loved your original song. Beautiful and delicate guitar playing paired with tender and thoughtful lyrics. We could feel the raw emotions. We’d buy the single tomorrow. Ghost: Unique and moving. You drew the crowd in with your absolute commitment to your other worldly character. The prerecorded backing vocals really added to the spooky atmosphere. Great song choices and vocals that suited your ethereal performance. Maelei: Gorgeous from the very first note. Amazing control over a soulful voice. Fantastic range and beautiful tone. An emotional performance. Your passion for your art shines through. Such a mature sound for someone so young.  2023 has seen a huge rush in original music from a lot of local acts; so far we’ve had new releases from Finn Lesley, Hamish Jeffcott, Paul Owen, and we know Ben Reidy has a new single ready to go too. This week, we shine a light on The Cosmin Project; a 4 piece band from Glastonbury who have just released their new single “Knife”. We caught up with The Cosmin Project to chat about their new release, and plans for 2023. Frazer Mitchell; Hi guys, it’s great to see you’re releasing new music again! This isn’t your first release is it? Tell us a bit more about what you’ve been up to as part of The Cosmin Project. The Cosmin Project; Hi Frazer, We are a four piece band but we started off as a two and then a three so the development of the band has been massive. No this absolutely isn’t our first release. We have been releasing songs slowly over the last two years. This is our 5th release from our upcoming studio album “Sekhmet” FM; So, you’ve released quite a few singles since 2021, and now you’re starting a new year with a new song called “Knife”. Tell us a bit more about this. Who influenced you to make it? How was it recorded? CP; This was recorded in Barn studio’s, Polsham with the help of our executive producer Guy Joyner. It is a really great addition to our album and was inspired by one of our favourite Bands Shinedown who we were lucky enough to see live twice in 2022. FM; You guys have always seemed to keep quite busy with the gig side of being a musical act, what’s your most memorable gigs you’ve been involved with? CP; We get about yeah, we have been lucky enough to play The Fleece in Bristol a few times and supported the UK’s best Deep purple tribute band Blackmore’s blood on their tour. We have played up and down the country and abroad. We are fortunate so it’s hard to pick a favourite. If we had to pick one it would be in the south of France in August 2022. The sun was shining and everyone was having a great time. FM; Moving forward onto 2023 and beyond, what’s your plans? Is it similar to last year, a bit of a mixture between gigging and releasing music? Or are you going to focus on one more than the other this year? CP; We have lots in the pipeline including our album launch in April so at the moment we are gearing up for that. In the summer we have festival gigs booked across Europe including in France, Italy and Romania. FM; Just to close things off nicely, you obviously follow Antix Music Network, and have done for a while. You’ve attended a few open mics and a few gigs here and there for us. Who on the local scene would you like to collaborate with in the studio? Upon hearing “Knife” I could definitely get excited about hearing a collaboration with another local act. CP; We really like the female artist “Lizzy” who we have seen live a few times in the local area. She is one to watch. A bright talented girl with a very unique and powerful sound. FM; Thanks a lot for chatting today, hope to see you over the summer! CP; Thank you, it’s been lovely chatting to you. You can check out Cosmin Project's new single on Spotify here.   February is now upon us, and we are now more than 10% of our way through 2023 (where is the time going?!).
As we roll into our second month, more and more new original music is being released from artists on our roster. This week, we turn our attention to Glastonbury based DJ Paul Owen, who is releasing new music called “Be Yourself”. Paul has played for Antix at a number of events, including Home Farm Fest, and Hewishstock. We caught up with Paul to see what he’s been up to in recent months. Frazer Mitchell; Hi Paul, nice to speak to you again, I hope you’re keeping well! First off, let’s start by asking what you’ve been up to recently. It looks like you’ve been very, very busy! Paul Owen; Hi Fraze, All is going well! 2022 was a busy year, at the start of the year I moved to Chichester, settled in quick and soon was able to play out again. I had some great gigs in the Summer, warming up for Annie Mac and Carl Cox, then off to Glastonbury to play some sets there! I have played at local bars and clubs and now play a regular slot at The Vestry in Chichester, I'm there this Saturday night, 9-2! FM; So when we were gigging quite frequently, it was before COVID was even a thing. How are you finding performing in a post COVID world? Paul; That was a mad time looking back! I feel its back to normal now but I can clearly remember playing sets where dancing was not allowed, volume was limited and I had to pop a mask on to go to the toilet! Post COVID I've found the crowds to be more up for it and demand a good night out, that is brilliant for me because I just want people to dance and enjoy the music, that's where my happiness and fulfilment come from and what djaying is all about! FM; So let’s discuss your original music. You’re releasing “Be Yourself” soon, but this isn’t the first track you’ve put out there? Paul; That's right, I have self released a few songs over the last two years and have always remembered your advice to keep on practicing, producing, finishing every track and that's how you will improve! I love crate digging and the sample for Be Yourself is a taken from a 90's classic that I have massive respect for, matched up with a disco sample it really just sounded great from the start. This might sound a bit deep but I am sure you will understand being an experienced musician and lyricist! But I didn't realise that as I wrote the song it would mean so much to me when it was released and the message that it conveyed to me and what was going on in my own life! FM; So when is “Be Yourself” out? Where will it be available to listen to? Paul; Its released on the 27th Jan on all the usual platforms, Spotify, Beatport, Amazon and Apple Music. FM; And I guess the big question is; will there be more original music, or remixes from you? What can we expect? Paul; Definetly! I've been crate digging again! I've got a banging gospel sample that I am working into a house track at the moment and I would be well up for some remixing as well! FM; Well I hope to see you at a gig over the summer, and keep up the good work! Paul; I'm up for that! Lets hope we can do some B2B again this Summer! Check out Paul's new track 'Be Yourself' on Spotify here. |
