Interview - Hold Fast @ Southsea Fest 2009

Right, here we go... Southsea Fest is a wristbanded event which lets you into multiple gigs all round Albert Road. I missed the majority of it because I was sat in the Kings Theatre interviewing bands. 13 bands in under five hours... I never want to do that much transcription ever again! Anyway, Hold Fast are a top band.

Previously published on mINtSOUTH.com in September 2009
Words - Suzy Sims
Editor - Rob Ball
(c) mINtSOUTH.com

HOLD FAST

mINtSOUTH: Tell me a bit about yourselves.
Hold Fast: “We’ve been going a couple of years. Had a few change arounds and Adam is the newest member, came in just about a year ago. Used to play reggae fusion, kind of reggae-dance… actually, that wasn’t entirely serious.”

mINtSOUTH: Can you describe your music?
Hold Fast: “It’s post-punk really. Lots of influences thrown in - too long to list. Atmospheric, quite driven, synths, female vocals; call it death pop.”

mINtSOUTH: Southsea Fest – have you played yet today?
Hold Fast: “Yep, we literally just came off stage.”
Mintsouth: How did that go?
Hold Fast: “Really great atmosphere generally today in there, it’s great. Hot and sticky, the way it should be – Little Johnny Sauna!”
Ben Hold Fast: “Amazing. Massive crowd and everyone went nuts.”
Roberta Hold Fast: “A massive thank you to any one who came in and just packed that place out for twenty minutes. It was insane.”

mINtSOUTH: Any onstage antics to get everyone going?
Hold Fast: “We played a bit of Scrabble to warm up. We’re a granddad band.” “We’ve laid off the drinking so far, but now we’re going to get on it.”

mINtSOUTH: Any bands you’re looking forward to seeing?
Hold Fast: “Munroe Effect, we played with them yesterday. Strange Death Of Liberal England are playing in a minute. Fresh Legs, Official Secrets Act, Love Like Fire, B Of The Bang in a sec as well, Kill Em Dead Cowboy. It’s an amazing line up this year. It’s just frustrating having to choose between two bands who are on at the same time. Just run around trying to catch whoever you can.”

mINtSOUTH: Which band member would you eat first on a desert island?
Hold Fast: “Well it’s always got to be the biggest person hasn’t it? Toby, you’ve got the most muscles so you’re it mate. All that drumming… You know Bowling For Soup? They’ve got quite a big guy on guitar. He would be the first. We’d get Bowling For Soup’s guitarist shipped in on a plane.”

mINtSOUTH: What do you like your listeners to be doing while they’re listening to you?
Hold Fast: “Having sex. Ironing – not hoovering, because you can’t hear the music properly. Dancing about, just enjoying it and getting involved.”

mINtSOUTH: Gorilla versus bear – who would win in a fight?
Hold Fast: “Gorillas are probably good at punching but the bear has those big claws and big gnashers. Bear definitely, it would tear your face off. It depends what sort of bear really. If it’s a teddy bear…The panda on the advert, the Knorr Panda might [win], but that’s not real.”

Shoutbox - Hold Fast: “We are playing in 93 Feet East on 26th September. That’s going to be cool, it’s got burlesque, loads of bands, DJs, VJs, trapeze artists, so it’s a crazy event.”

http://www.myspace.com/holdfast

Live Review - Little Fish + LoLo

I quite enjoyed this gig. I was out by myself but managed to bump into a bunch of lovely people from the Hong Kong Gardeners' Club and new DJs with old Native.tv shipmates Express FM. Also my sister made me a cup of tea beforehand. Decent evening. Juju? Superb.

Previously published on mintsouth.com in May 2009
Words - Suzy Sims
Editor - Rob Ball
(c) mintsouth

LITTLE FISH + LOLO @ LITTLE JOHNNY RUSSELL'S 30/04/2009

Tonight is one of the warm up events for Southsea Fest. We’re a band down tonight as Fresh Legs were sadly forced to pull out over illness. Little Johnny Russell’s is still chocka with music lovers, and Little Fish are about to unleash their power on the unsuspecting South.

The opening act is LoLo, aka petite singer Lora Kirk on guitar with another band member lurking on the floor out of sight. Lora has a gentle, haunting voice which weaves its magic over the noisy crowd. Looking everywhere around the venue but at her audience, the acoustic pixie plays pleasant laidback music.

Unfortunately the full effect is lost as the tracks are delicate and not ideally suited to a pub crowd, and LoLo don’t look entirely at home in their surroundings. The songs are charming but the tempo is the same and the tunes blend into one, although it is still thoughtful and sweet to listen to.

Oxford rockers Little Fish headlined the event. They recently signed to Custard/Universal, and there are already people in the crowd tonight who have seen them several times and are very much looking forward to this performance.

Vocalist Juju gleefully fixes various crowd members with a wild-eyed stare and asks plenty of questions about the local area, wondering what the traditional Pompey greeting for ‘Hello and thanks’ is, and how one gets about offshore. “What happens if you want to put a piano on your boat?” she muses at one point, prompting the answer “You don’t.”

Little Fish have a more classic punk rock sound with drums and guitar only; reminding me slightly of The Kills but with elements of the Rolling Stones to their loops and hooks. Juju is a fantastic frontwoman with a pure rock voice, occasionally launching into a fiendish scream. She’s very animated, energetic and grinning. No offence to drummer Nez who is doing a sterling job, but it’s all about Juju and all eyes are focusing on her kohl-rimmed ones.

Little Fish won’t be playing small venues for long – this isn’t speculation, it’s definitely the case as they will soon be warming up the crowds for Placebo. They might be called Little Fish, but they’re bigger than they make out.

http://www.myspace.com/littlefishmusic
http://www.myspace.com/lolosouthsea