Meet Sanskara

Sanskara are no strangers to the Exeter music scene. Having played together for a little while, these boys are well rehearsed, have a good backlog of material and are a nice little heavier addition to our line up. Their headline set at The Lemmy on the 5th Feb is definitely one to watch.

You guys have been playing in Exeter for a little while now! How did Sanskara first get together? What are you all studying?

Yeah for over a year now! I (Viv) had come back from my exchange year in 2011, and asked our old singer (who’s on our Soundcloud demos) and Jeff if they were interested in starting a new project, before we brought in our old bassist and Maroo on drums. All of us were long-time friends and it felt natural working together after years of being in different bands. Viv and Jeff are studying masters in International Management now after having both done their bachelors here and Maroo's finishing in his final year studying Management, so we had a great opportunity to continue the band despite our old singer and bassist having graduated last year. We auditioned a load of bassists and singers until we found Chris, another ex-exchange student and finalist studying Modern Languages and Will, a fresher studying drama, who are have both slotted right in. We changed our name slightly and here we are now!

How do you find playing gigs in Exeter? How does the music scene here compare to where you are all from originally?

Exeter has an amazing scene if you look carefully enough, especially around The Cavern and all the underground bands that gig in town, but it's obviously nothing in comparison to London or places like that. It's totally different to where we are all from seeing as Jeff and I both grew up in Hong Kong, Maroo in Bombay, India, Will in Swansea, Wales and our only Englishman is Chris who's grew up just outside London. We're all from different cultural/musical backgrounds but work great together and that's what's great about this band.

What’s the best gig you have been to or played since you started uni here?

It might have to be late last term when we played at the Cavern because the sound was unbelievable. It was just one of those special nights because we all love the Cavern more than any other venue in Exeter! However, we had great nights like at Timepiece end of last year or last semester when we got to the finals of four competitions.

How do you think your influences can be heard in the music you are making now? Do you work hard to combine all your different influences?

Our music is sort-of heavier Post-Rock crossed with Alt-Rock and Post-Hardcore with influences from Prog and a bit of everything else – check our Soundcloud so you can see what we’re on about because it’s hard to describe! Our sound starts with mine and Jeff’s guitars and how we play off each other and the others play off that and try and get the dynamics right. Despite our different influences, they’ve combined well up ‘til now.

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

We can't wait to play! Being the headliner on the bill is pretty amazing but pretty bad for our egos so we just hope we can live up to it! The other bands are a great pool of talent from the uni and it’s always important to support the uni scene. It’s a good scene, but not many people realise that.

What can people expect from your set?

We tend to stick to our own original songs these days and we’ll be playing a selection of older stuff we wrote last year as well as stuff we’ve written as a new band this year. Playing live is the entire point of this band and we love playing for crowds no matter who they are. The stuff is fairly complex to play but we try to be as energetic as possible on stage. We’re probably a touch heavier than other bands on the bill but you’d still get away with playing it on daytime radio.

If you could choose anyone past or present to become a new member of Sanskara especially for Vote Fest who would you pick and why?

Matt Bellamy from Muse because he does everything! He sings, plays guitars, keyboards, piano and keytar. His voice is insane and the amount of things you could do with it musically is pretty amazing. Plus, he’s a local boy and he’d bring his crowd with him.

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why? 

Of course! It's always important to support stuff like this no matter how small or invalid you might feel about your single votes – each one adds up and can make the smallest of differences! With anything in life, it's always important to have a voice in something and using this voice is important to the university life of future students and we're all quite passionate about the uni.

www.facebook.com/sanskaramusic
www.soundcloud.com/sanskara

Meet Jack Rennie

We could not be more thrilled to announce that Jack Rennie will be joining our Unplugged line up at The Forum on the 1st Feb. Conversations with Jack have involved Corey Taylor, Foo Fighters and Sonisphere 2011...this boy knows music.

What are you studying and where do you call home outside Exeter?

I'm studying History here at Exeter, and back home I'm from Newbury, just outside Reading.

How have you found the music scene in Exeter so far? Any stand out gigs?

So far the music scene in Exeter has been better than expected, and coming up this term there is a few shows

I'm really excited for (King Charles, Funeral, Little Comets.... the list goes on). So far, stand out show has been Brother and Bones at Mamma Stones, with support from Mark Nichols. Brother and Bones put on a fantastic show, were note perfect all night, and stayed to chat at the end!

Which is the best gig/ festival you have been to and why was it so awesome?

That would be a toss up between Enter Shikari's 2010 Reading set, and Foo Fighters at Milton Keynes in 2011 (Biffy Clyro support, then joined by Seasick Steve and John Paul Jones?!)

If you had to face the rest of your life only listening to three albums, which would you choose?

This is such a tough question! Ask me again in a few weeks and I'm sure I'll have changed my mind, however provisionally...... Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Gangs - ....And So I Watch You From Afar (yes that is their band name but its so so worth the mouthful) and maybe A Matter of Life and Death - Iron Maiden.

If you could pick any artist past or present to cover one of your songs, which song would you choose and who would cover it?

A few years back I used to play in a hard rock band, so I'd really like to see what someone like Jeff Beck would do with any of the tracks I wrote with them.

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

I'm buzzing! It's a cracking line up and going towards a nice cause, so a win win really!

What can people expect from your set? 

Crazy covers (singalongs are compulsory) and far more noise than 1 acoustic player should be able to make!

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why?

I will be voting for the candidates who best convince me they are committed to the bettering of the University and its students. I see very few reasons why I wouldn't to be honest!

Meet To The Woods

To The Woods are set to play our Lemmy show on 5th Feb. If any band on our line up is going to get you having a sing-a-long and a bit of a boogie, it might just be these guys!

Let’s start with a little introduction. Who makes up To The Woods and what are you all studying?

To The Woods is made up of five members – our lead singer Frankie Gough, who studies law, our lead guitarist Chris Mitchell, who studies English Lit, our bassist Ben Reeves, who studies Biology (but still has time to dapple in three bands at once!), our rhythm guitarist Theres Lessing studying Economics, and last but not least our drummer Chris Bergius who studies International Relations and Spanish.

How did you all find each other?

Theres emailed a load of people on campus bands last year and met up; of those initial six only Theres, Chris and Christian remain. Ben joined us after we played a gig in Polsloe Park that our bassist couldn’t attend, he just walked right up and said we seemed to be missing a bassist! We “found” Frankie at the Firehouse at the start of this year when we needed a new singer.

Which musicians inspire you the most and have had an influence on your music?

Frankie says we sound most like City and Colour, and I guess we also have a bit of a Mumford & Sons thing going on. Apart from that, we all listen to pretty different music, so it’s hard to pin down one influence. Some are bands like Muse, Woodkid and Lucy Rose.

Where did your name come from?

Our band name is from a quote by H. Thoreau: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”.

Where is your favourite place to go for live music in Exeter? What is your most memorable moment there?

The Firehouse! It was amazing headlining there this year

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

Well up for it! We’re particularly excited to be playing the main Lemmy!

What can people expect from your set?

Umm… deeply philosophical lyrics hand-in-hand with upbeat tunes…? ;)

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why?

Yes – because it matters.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/To-The-Woods

Meet Tom Elliot

Introducing our lovely Cornish lad Tom Elliott. Tom is set to play our Unplugged gig in The Forum on Feb 1st so you can start looking forward to his laid back melodies and exciting original material. Any guy who loves music, pizza, beer and The Beatles is OK by us!

What made you want to start playing music?

I've always been a fan of honest, chilled out melodies and I think I just tried it out on a rainy day. I wrote my first song and then I was hooked. It's all about the original music for me.

Which year are you in and what are you studying?

I'm in my first year and I'm studying English Literature.

How have you found gigging in Exeter so far? Where are your favourite venues? What has been your highlight?

Gigging in Exeter has been awesome. I really enjoyed playing at the Firehouse, great musicians, good company, pizza and beer is always a brilliant combination! The highlight was definitely supporting Jazz Morley at the Phoenix. It was a sell-out night and the audience were really kind.

If you could support any act past or present who would you pick and why?

Hmm... supporting The Beatles would have been wicked. Maybe in their early era when they were just breaking through because the buzz would have been crazy. Although, it would have also been amazing to play before them on the rooftop of the Apple building.

Today, I'd love to support Ben Howard or Chris Martin from Coldplay.

How does the music scene in Exeter compare to where you’ve lived before?

There are lot more places to play in Exeter and they are a lot busier. I'm from Cornwall so the scene is pretty chilled out down there but full of talented bands/singers. A couple of friends from home came up and gigged in Exeter the other day and they loved it.

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

I really can't wait. It's a great concept and it's going to be very cool playing in the Forum. The lineup also looks fantastic so I'm looking forward to enjoying the music.

What can people expect from your set?

A mix of mostly original acoustic songs and a few covers. The songs are pretty new, I'm quite excited at the moment as I'm releasing my first single at the end of the month (just in time for Vote Fest). 

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why? 

Definitely. The winners will represent us as students so I think it's important to make the most of having the opportunity to choose.

https://soundcloud.com/tomemusic

Meet The Banana Equivalent

Having sat in on some recording sessions with The Banana Equivalent recently, we can definitely say that we are chuffed to have them on board with Vote Fest and can't wait to see what they pull out of the bag for their set. Read on for their views on music, elections and radioactive fruit...

The Banana Equivalent will be playing on the 5th February at our Lemmy gig.

From what I gather you are pretty newly formed. How are you finding playing together? How did you get together?

Yes, you’re absolutely right - we’ve only been playing together for a few months. We’ve all played in bands before but it’s really great to have been able to find such like-minded people to play with here at Exeter. We have to thank Campus Bands for providing such a great platform for people like us to meet up and do all this as it would have been much more difficult without them. We are all really enjoying it, and have high hopes for this gig!

What years are you in and what subjects are you all studying?

Well we have Owen on guitar: he’s a first year studying English. Jack and Ben are both in second year studying Mathematics and Biological Sciences respectively; Jack plays keyboard and Ben does the bass/vocals. Andy, our drummer, is in his third year studying Geography.

How would you describe your sound?

A very difficult question. We all agree that we are somewhere between indie, funk and rock but that is a very broad spectrum to cover! We have an EP coming out soon and we will be promoting this across Exeter over the coming months, so the best thing to do is to hear it for yourselves!

You are going to have to explain the name...what’s the story there?

Another big question! Well, it has its route in nuclear physics (believe it or not) as a ‘banana equivalent dose’ is a non-standard measurement of gamma radiation exposure equivalent to 0.1 microsieverts. This roughly equates to the exposure gained from the consumption of one banana, a fruit high in a radioactive isotope of the mineral potassium. The radiation from one banana is negligible, but truckloads of bananas have allegedly set off alarms at security checks! We kind of like the geeky ridiculousness of it.

Who are the artists you most admire and who are your biggest guilty pleasures?

As four individuals we all have our own tastes so it is difficult to throw specific band names out there. But there is a level at which we all can contribute and communicate musically, and that is the key thing for us as a band. Again, listen for yourselves and you will probably come up with a list of influences we have never even heard of!

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

Excited and nervous in equal measure probably! The Lemmy is a great venue for gigs, so we know the sound and crowd will be awesome. We have a great line-up of bands as well so it’s just up to us now to do our bit!

What can people expect from your set?

As a band we find it much more liberating to go mostly for original material, which we are probably better at anyway! Look out for a lively and hopefully engaging performance with maybe one or two crowd pleasers thrown in for good measure...

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why?

We certainly will be voting! The sabbatical elections are our chance to have a say in how we are represented to the University in the same way as we vote at a national level. We live in a democratic society, so no matter what your views are it is important to have them represented appropriately, and we would encourage everyone reading this to do just that!

http://www.facebook.com/thebananaequivalent
https://soundcloud.com/thebananaequivalent

Meet Alex Hall- Chaos Over Order

And so we begin the task of introducing you to our line-up!

As soon as we heard the demos that Alex Hall sent over, we knew she would be a big part of Vote Fest. We have crossed paths at many a sweaty night down in the Cavern, but had no idea that she had such a phenomenal voice. Think Hayley Williams, but with less orange hair and more bow tie.

Alex Hall will be playing material from her solo project Chaos Over Order at our unplugged night in The Forum on 1st Feb. Find out more about Alex and her music below...

Tell us a bit about yourself. What are you studying and what kinds of things are you involved with here in Exeter?

I’m 18 years old and a 1st year studying FCH Politics and Leadership. I’m a music fanatic so spend the majority of my time here helping people out with music tech or learning new instruments, writing songs etc. I’m also the co-founder of the new Doctor Who Society! Nerd cred!

What is your musical background? Did you play in any bands before uni?

At school I started up an acoustic Indie band called Waves Underneath and we still gig when I’m home from Uni. I first trained as a classical musician in Clarinet and Piano and then discovered I could sing so I taught myself guitar to try and write songs. I also write reviews for local bands and gigs in my scene back home. My solo acoustic project is called Chaos Over Order and I’m in the process of recording an EP.

Who are your biggest influences and how do you think they come across in your music? Have you heard any new music recently that you would recommend?

I grew up listening to pop-punk and hardcore punk so my biggest influences come from there. I think I was influenced most by the emotion and the lyrics that you hear in that sort of music more than anything else so that’s what I try and get across in my acoustic songs. In terms of new music I would recommend, probably Heights or Swim Good.

What’s the best gig you have been to in Exeter? How do you find the range of live music here?

The best gig I’ve been to here was Lower Than Atlantis with Don Broco supporting at The Phoenix, the crowd was epic. Also Pure Love or We Are The Ocean, both seen at The Cavern. I’m looking forward to Your Demise and Heights playing there next in February. People keep telling me the music scene here is terrible but I’ve seen some amazing bands here already!

If you could duet with anyone past or present who would you choose and why?

The person I would love to meet, let alone duet with would be Jesse Lacey, the frontman of the band Brand New. His lyrics basically inspired me to write lyrics the way I do and Brand New are probably the sole reason I got into heavier and darker music later on.

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

I’m really excited about playing Vote Fest, I think it’ll be awesome playing in the Forum, and the line-up is great!

What can people expect from your set?

My set is mostly downbeat and down to earth, singing happy songs is somewhat out of my comfort zone, but expect a few. Sometimes I’ll cover a heavy song on acoustic just to see how I can make it my own, so expect a few of those as well!

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why?


I will definitely vote in this year’s Sabb elections, as a Politics student I advocate voting of any kind, especially as the running of the Guild impacts everyone. Use your power kids!

http://www.facebook.com/chaosoverorder
https://soundcloud.com/alirose

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