Epic45

About the Artists

Epic45

Anyone who has followed our activity over the past few years will know that Epic45 are a mainstay in our programme and with good reason – they are without doubt one of the most exciting bands in the region, dedicated to the obsessive progression of their sound, which deals with the psychology of nostalgia and the impact our surroundings have on our outlook.


Their acclaimed 2007 album May Your Heart Be The Map was a vivid exploration of the British countryside, tinted by childhood memories and the metamorphosis of the seasons, influenced by dramatic post-rock structures and warm acoustic folk. Last year’s mini album In All The Empty Houses explore the resonances of abandoned buildings; the ghosts of past lives and memories that inhabit them as they fall into dilapidation.

“Tracing emotional reactions to shifting seasons, May Your Heart Be the Map did something new with old materials and gave the Black Country its very own Boards of Canada.” – Word Magazine, Best of the Noughties


July Skies

July Skies is a West Midlands based recording project commenced by Antony Harding in 1997, who has released four albums and two EPs since 2000. Sonic resonances of a lost England, faded memories of youth and the grain of Super8 all colour Harding’s evocative soundscapes. The project is driven by a need to capture the innocence of youth, where “everything seemed possible and there was a need to capture feelings and a growing interest in exploring towns, villages, ruins, abandoned places and the countryside through sound”.

July Skies has received support from the late John Peel and Rob Da Bank of BBC Radio1 and Stuart Maconie on BBC 6 Music. Harding is currently working on the fifth Skies full length, A Day In The Country.

“The whole mood suggests nostalgia for an age that might never have been.” – The Guardian


Avrocar

One of the most elusive acts in the Midlands, experimental three-piece Avrocar have been recording since the late ’90s, honing a sound shrouded by the ghosts of the future that never was. Recorded in isolation in a small loft in near darkness, 2008’s Against The Dying of the Light featured the spectral guitar of Antony Harding of July Skies, disembodied humanoid voices lost in the ether and creeping electronics that bring to mind Vangelis’ Blade Runner soundtrack, shimmering in the neon light of dystopia.

Rumoured to have been an influence on Radiohead’s Kid A, Avrocar have previously appeared in session for John Peel.

“Lush bedroom electronics which will stir up things inside you that you never knew you had.” – Norman Records

Epic45

July Skies

Avrocar

http://www.last.fm/music/Epic45/+videos/+1-PrCivzWx76A