Guillemots – Live at An Brog

Posted on 24th Feb 06 by Contributor | 0

Artist: Guillemots
Author: Jason Golden

One of the UK's most unique and promising new acts" Guillemots" made the trip to Cork last Saturday night as part of the Bud Rising festival and proceeded to show us just why so much hype has surrounded the band. The band performed a free gig at An Brog so there were no excuses for missing out and if you weren"t there then" yes" you did miss out.

For those who haven"t heard of the band let me fill ye in. Guillemots are a four"piece band formed in 2003 and based in London. They are polished musicians and have an experimental jazz/electronica feel. The band is made up of singer/keyboardist Fyfe Hutchins Dangerfield" percussionist Rican Caol" double bassist Aristazabal Hawkes "yes she is very hot" and guitarist MC Lord Magrao. To date they have released two eps" "I saw such things in my sleep" and the latest being "Trains to Brazil". The band are currently working on their first album which is being hotly tipped by Zane Lowe" NME and many others to make a big impact on the music scene this year.

The Brog starts to fill up early tonight. As is normal for the Brog most people are here only to get pissed but there are many who have heard the rumours and are waiting patiently" anticipation heavy in the air. The place is packed out by the time the band hit the stage at half ten to the sound of a drum like a heartbeat. The Cork crowd give the band a great welcome" "fair play to ye" acknowledges Dangerfield before starting into the first song of the night" "Through my windowpane"" a dark" haunting and slow burner of a song which kicks up a gear half way through. By the time the drums kick in the crowd are hooked" heads start to nod" feet start to tap and people start to smile. This could be a good night.

On stage the band look like a quirky bunch" Brazilian guitarist" Magrao" seemed unaware anyone was watching as he grappled intensely with his guitar like New Order's Peter Hook. Drummer Caol was energetic and inventive throughout while Bassist Hawkes was hypnotic as she caressed her way through the set. In Dangerfield lies the bands" beating heart. Dangerfield has a remarkable versatility to his voice" reminiscent of Jeff Buckley" sounding rough one minute and delicate the next" always with a hint of the blues. Dangerfield"s voice soars in the second song of the night" "Sea Out". The song is played a little bit up"tempo which isn"t as good as the stripped down demo version doing the rounds on the net. That being said" Dangerfield"s performance is passionate and the crowd react well to this. The band up the anti with the next track" "We"re Here"" a foot stomping upbeat number. The abstract inventiveness of these musicians becomes more apparent as the night progresses.

In "Who left the lights on baby" Magrao uses an electric drill to produce one of the most unusual sounds ever to come from a guitar and it somehow suits the song perfectly. The band then get to their biggest songs" "Made up love song "43" and "Trains to Brazil". The former being one of the best songs of last year" loved up and blissed out" a real feel good number" the later 'Trains To Brazil' is full of inventiveness and raw energy with an uplifting edge" which refuses to be beaten down.

The most talked about part of a Guillemots show is usually Dangerfield"s solo performance of "Blue is still blue"" which is usually performed on his own with a hand held Casio type keyboard and no mike" tonight though the drone of the Cube next door is too much. Dangerfield jokes about the noise before performing the track sitting at his keyboard delivering the songs fantastic lyrics with a breathtaking vocal display. The night ends on a real highlight with "Sao Paolo"" a song with a euphoric outro in the vain of "Summers Coming" by Fred and "There goes the fear" by Doves. The song has an epic feel to it and was a monumental end to a special night. Looking back to the start of the gig it seems fitting that the band came on stage to the sound of a heartbeat" they performed with their hearts and found their way in to the hearts of those who bore witness. Lets just hope that this is just a taster of the delights that are to come from this band in the future. Long live the Guillemots.

Interview with Fyfe from Guillemots

By Jason Golden.

Ye come across as a quirky band with a very original sound. Does everyone in the band have similar influences or do ye each bring your own thing to the bands sounds"

No" we all like really different stuff and there are only a few people " Bjork" John Coltrane" the Beatles" Nirvana" Stevie Wonder" White Noise etc… that we all agree on. That"s what makes it interesting I think. If we all liked the same music we'd just end up sounding like a rip"off band. I think trying to squeeze in all our different influences and still making something that sounds a bit new is a really fun challenge and we like challenges"

How does it feel being one of the bands tipped for good things this year" There must be alot of pressure that goes with that kinda talk…

Yeah" flattering as talk like that is" we know its nonsense really. I think our first album is going to be really good " we're finishing it off as I write " it's everything I hoped it would be and I think people will like it but I"m not going to talk it up or anything " it'll just be there for people. I also suspect that it might take people a while to really get into our stuff. I don't know. I"d be surprised if we ended up just being accepted straight away. I don't know. All I know is that the more hyped you get" the more slagged off you get too" so whatever happens it will all balance out….

The band sounds amazing live yet ye don't tie in to any particular scene or revert to the guitar heavy sound pursued by most British bands. Was it a conscious decision not to pursue that kind of sound and show how different the band is to everything else around at the moment…

It wasn't really a conscious decision " it was just a natural way to be. We"re the sorts of people that would be really unhappy if we did something that seemed to go hand in hand with all the other bands around at the moment. I"ve always wanted" as have the others" to do something that sort of stands by itself but I think it's quite interesting how a lot of other bands at the moment are also sort of doing stuff which seems to draw on loads of influences and try to make something new. Bands like the Arcade Fire" The Mystery Jets" the Noisettes " I don't think we sound anything like any of them" but I think maybe in attitude there's something in the air at the moment " a desire to move away from this kind of retro post"punky guitar scene into something a bit looser and harder to describe. I think if we'd have come along 2 years ago "and it was only because the band took so long to get together that we didn't " all our singles so far were written about 4 years ago"" We would have probably been ignored by a lot of people.

So first time in cork… were ye looking forward to it. What did ya think of the cork crowd… did ye think the gig went well"

Cork was fun. It was quite a challenging gig because there were a lot of people there who just seemed to be there for a drink and it"s always harder when a lot of people are talking but we had a good time.

Looking to the future…. how is the album coming along" " I for one can"t wait to get my hands on it.