Tag: Rock

Wow, this song is amazing. I love the lyrics for this song, it’s dark but very relatable. The vocalist was able to connect with the story so well, you can hear it in his voice with every word. The message that you’re not alone is one I think everyone needs to hear from time to time. I used to think that was an age thing but fall on some hard times and a positive message is something you need in your world. The music is brilliantly composed and arranged. The drums, bass and guitar work in perfect harmony with no one pulling all the focus. I hear a lot of music but this one a perfect storm of vocals and music.

I know I sound pretty fan girl already and I’ll take that. This song was a gut punch from the first note for me.  Maybe I needed a moment of rocking positivity but this song will be on my server and my phone by days end. I’m also hoping that I’ll be able to hook up with these guys at some time to watch them rock an arena.

 

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/163173260″ params=”color=b5db40&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Who They Are:
‘More Than Most’ began life following the disbandment of Leandro Leonardi (guitar) and Mokhtar Saib’s (bass guitar) previous project ‘Outsiders’ in early 2013. The vision was simple – Create meaningful, relatable music, with the energy and power to excite live audiences, but also the subtle detail and atmosphere to enjoy at home.

A few bedroom demo tracks later – they started hunting for members to complete the lineup of the project and take it forward to the next stage.

The first port of call in this department was Daniel Allan (guitar), who had worked with both Leandro and Mokhtar in a project a couple of years earlier. They knew Daniel would share the same vision for the project, and having known each other for several years, together they would form the core of ‘More Than Most’.

It was soon after this that Izzy Stylez (vocals) came along. He laid down some vocals for one of the demos and the first complete More Than Most song was born! With intelligent, thought provoking lyrics and a general theme of positivity through adversity, his vocal and lyrical style counter-balanced the dark atmospheric energy that the songs convey – complimenting and even improving on the original vision for the project. It’s safe to say Izzy fit right in with the dynamic of the band on both a musical and personal level.

By this point, it was summer 2013. Over the coming months, the band had continued to write, with lyrics for two other demos finished, and rehearsals with a new drummer underway. A recording studio session was also booked for January 2014 to record two of the demo tracks. It seemed a no brainer to work with Justin Hill. His portfolio within the genre speaks for itself, whilst Izzy had worked with him before in his previous project ‘Gold Skies Ahead’.

At this point, the project hit a minor snag. Unfortunately, the drummer could not commit long-term, and had to leave in October 2013 due to personal reasons. While this was a stumbling block, auditions continued to find a new drummer, and the band were as motivated as ever to prepare for the recording session and beyond.

With January fast approaching, and the permanent drummer position still not filled, Leandro called upon a long-time drummer contact – Kirk Brandham – to help out. One (very long) rehearsal later – More Than Most were ready to hit the studio and following a fantastic week in the studio with Justin Hill at the helm, the band came away with their first two songs!
More Than Most continued to work with Kirk Brandham on their debut music video for “Remember Who You Are” and in February 2014 published this on Youtube.

The next step was to continue the hunt for a permanent drummer and after a spate of auditions, they were approached by a very enthusiastic and highly talented Cole Solem from Duluth, Minnesota who had seen the video and loved it. After a drum cover of the track, the band’s interest were peaked and Cole showed his dedication by travelling all the way from the USA just to audition! The audition was very successful and the lineup of More Than Most was complete.

The Band is:
Izzy Stylez
Leandro Leonardi
Daniel Allan
Mokhtar Saib
Cole Solem

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Where You Can Get It:

It starts off with a nice slow burn guitar line, that builds on itself while the drums come in. The solid bass line brings the tune together. It’s a live track so it’s harder than I would like for it to be to hear the vocals. From what I can hear though this is a really tight band with some stellar vocals. I like the rough quality to the lead singers vocals, it’s almost Springsteenish with it’s gruff every man quality. I wish I had a title for this song, but there wasn’t one listed on Youtube.

Sadly according to their Facebook page the band is disbanding. Despite the fact that I’ve only heard this one song a handful of times during my review process I’m saddened that they aren’t going to be putting out any more music. They are a great band and the players sound like they worked well together. I understand that some times things don’t work out in a band, much like a marriage. I hope that the members are able to move forward and continue to make music.

 

[vsw id=”c1hlhkTR9VY” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

Who They Are:

8 Minutes Later are four paramedics who after years of playing on differing local scenes from Brighton to Swindon have come together to start a new project.
From the humble beginnings of playing in a garage to now practising and recording in their own purpose built studio, 8 Minutes Later don’t do things by half. With crunching guitar riffs punctuating each song and melodies that will have you singing for hours after the band have finished, this is a band that is going places and is taking you with them. From the anthemic rasping choruses of “Hesitate” and “Breaking Down Tomorrow” to the simple melodies of “Without Nirvana”, 8 Minutes Later has something for everyone. With their debut album out in late 2013, now is the perfect time to catch this band.

The Band is:

Steve
Richie
Rich
Matt

Website: 8 Minutes Later

Twitter: @8_Minutes_Later

Youtube: thevicswindon