10000 Hours of Indie

The Zaxons are a Canadian post-punk and indie rock duo based in Vancouver, British Columbia. With elements of British post-punk, jangle pop, shoegaze and new wave combined with minimal vocals. Their second album “Videopticons” came out at the beginning of June and displays just how disciplined this band is at developing their sound so I wanted to find out more… Follow to discover more amazing inde...

Darren Hayman is a songwriter who first came to public attention as the frontman of Hefner back at the end of the 90’s. I tried to count up his releases, but they are numerous in number and genre so I’ll just say he’s prolific! On 12th June he re-released the 2012 album ‘The Violence', a folk album about the 17th-century English Civil Wars and the East Anglian Witch Trials and after a few fals...

After 20+ years in Finland I finally visited the country's legendary metal festival Tuska! Not only was it a great event, but I also managed to see and speak to 4 more bands for the 80 Bands Around the World project... The 4 bands and where the interviews are: 27 - Loudness - Japan (5m 16s) 28 - Slope - Germany (12m) 29 - Lunarsea - Italy (19m 24s) 30 - Paleface Swiss - Switzerland (27m 07s) L...

Zanders are a 4-piece chamber-pop band from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2014, they have just released their 3rd album “Sweetie”, ten songs which delve into themes of lost friendships and insecurities while still sounding fresh and not overly sentimental. Follow to discover more amazing independent music and give a follow via your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social media of choice⁠⁠⁠⁠...

US are a Finnish band whose genre is challenging to pin down. Somewhere between garage rock, 60’s rock and roll, punk and blues rock, their live shows are full of energy and you can’t help but smile when they’re on stage. They have shared the stage with Electric Six and The Libertines as well as using the private studio of the latter to record their debut album. They release their 2nd album - “Eve...

Doss are a Scottish band playing electronic post punk. Sorley Mackay started the project during Covid as an outlet for his angry, honest lyrics and has since been joined by Chilton Fawcett on drums, touring as 4-piece. Doss released their debut self-titled EP last month and at the time of this podcast being released will have just finished an 8 date Scottish tour. Photo: Mark Anthony Gilles Follow...

I attended the second ODDfest (so 2026) in the heart of Helsinki to see how many more bands I could add to the 80 Bands project. I saw 4 bands during the festival: 24 - Valerie June - USA 25- NAZVA - Ukraine 26 - Heith - Italy 27 - Banjo Copilot - Brazil (interview at 7:40) Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠follow via your⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social media of choice⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Alongside the 80 Band...

Alum Alu are a nomad folk rock/gypsy punk band from Riga, Latvia. I first saw them play at Tallinn Music Week and they brought a live energy to a cold outdoor show which was exactly what was needed. Starting as a lockdown project, they have spent time in the Latvian charts and are definitely a band worth checking out live too. They just released their latest single, the upbeat tune “Heijā Heijā” i...

The Magic City are a Boston based 4-piece rock band who released their debut self-titled album last month. Heavily influenced by early Britpop bands (especially Suede), this is a band of veteran musicians making music akin to what they grew up with and it sounds great! Photo: Ken Marcou Follow to discover more amazing independent music and give a follow via your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Essex 4-piece Bloodwoolf are a brand new band who released their debut self-titled EP in March. Playing something between modern metal and nostalgic 90’s rock, they’ve hit their groove quickly and are already well on the way to their second EP release. I have also known the singer Ben for 30 years, so a challenging edit for this one due to many nostalgic moments creeping in while chatting! Follow...

Cologne based TAIHR sit somewhere in the field of progressive rock/alternative rock but with a latin twist. Signed to Tonzonen Records, the band have just released their 2nd album “Allicanto”, which has a track to represent each of the 7 members of the band. Photo: Marvin Alexander Laszlo Follow to discover more amazing independent music and give a follow via your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Ghosts on TV are a six-piece post-rock band from Helsinki. With three guitars they create a sonic wall of sound while remaining minimalistic and allowing the subtle nuances of the music to shine through. Founded when the members were still at school, they have just released their 3rd studio album “Iridescent” on May 15th, which is fantastic. Photo: Aapo Soulanto Follow to discover more amazing ind...

Madre Vaca is the brainchild of Benjamin Shorstein, a Florida-based composer who works with a long-standing collective of collaborators to create something between prog rock, jazz and classical compositions. The latest Madre Vaca release is the 69 minute “Tunnel to the Moon”, inspired by and based on poems written by Charlie Shuck almost 2 decades ago. This is an epic album filled with huge tunes...

Pastel Blank is the brainchild of Angus Watt and features a revolving door of members from the Vancouver area in which he is based. The debut album “Unmade In Minutes” was released on April 24th and dips its musical toes into pop, funk, disco and way more, somewhere it says this is art rock, I guess that works too! It certainly doesn’t sound like a debut album and I’m loving it. I spoke with Angus...

August Gladstone is a singer/songwriter from California who takes influence from the folk revival of the 60’s and 70’s. A little bit country, a little Bob Dylan etc., August released his debut album “The Golden West” on 16th of May and it’s certainly an interesting journey of an album. Photo: Clare Larsen Follow to discover more amazing independent music and give a follow via your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

The World Village Fair in Helsinki is my destination for this episode, a festival celebrating cultural diversity and music from around the globe. I saw 5 bands over the weekend: 19 - Aizhan Sultan - Kazakhstan 20 - Ëda Diaz - Columbia 21 - Kizaba - Democratic Republic of Congo (interview at 6:29) 22 - Vodou Fusion - Benin 23 - Jamila & The Other Heroes - Palestine Apologies for the sound quali...

Trio Civil Villains hail from Oxford and play alt-rock/post-hardcore. Forming in 2015 they released their debut EP “Snake Oil” in 2019 and their debut album ‘Motion Sick’ in 2023. A band with a strong DIY ethic, they have shared the stage with bands like Mould and Sparta, while making appearances at festivals such as Portals and The Alternative Escape, also touring in the US and Canada. The bands’...

In this 80 Bands special I visited April Jazz, a renowned festival held in Espoo and Helsinki featuring both domestic and international artists. In this episode I have added 2 more bands to my total, Tigran Hamasyan from Armenia and the French guitarist Wilfried Wilde from Quite Vivian. Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a ⁠⁠⁠⁠follow via your⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social media of choice⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Alongside th...

Dez Dare is Darren Smallman, label owner, music marketing guru, audio visual artist, booking agent and for this interview indie rock musician. Darren grew up in Australia and being heavily influenced by the 90’s punk scene during which time he was heavily involved in bands. He found his way to Brighton in the early 2020’s, setting up a studio and producing music and videos. He has just released hi...

Another 5 bands in the second part of the Tallinn Music Week special. In this episode I briefly review and speak with the following artists: 12. ⁠ Hajda Banda (Belarus) - 1:47 13. ⁠ Kanazoé Orkestra (Burkina Faso) - 10:27 14. ⁠ Alum Alu (Latvia) - 22:51 15. ⁠ Sketchbook Quartet ⁠ (Austria) - 29:13 16. Worm Man (Serbia) - 35:11 Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a ⁠⁠⁠follow via your⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social m...

Tilly Vickers Willis is a Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter with haunting, smoky vocals and beautiful melodies who has just released her debut “Silver Halide Film”. I can hear a blend of folk, trip-hop, some jazz trumpets and much more in the album and wanted to delve a little deeper into the world of the artist… Photo: Steph Reid Click follow to discover more amazing independent music and g...

A whopping 4 more bands in this first part of my Tallinn Music Week special. In this episode I briefly review and speak with the following artists: 08. Merry (Denmark) - 3:05 09. JATHB (Tunisia) - 7:54 10. Sheebaba (Luxembourg) - 14:01 11. Olev Muska (Australia) - 19:43 Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a ⁠⁠follow via your⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social media of choice⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Alongside the 80 Bands Around the...

The Last Vinci are a Cork-based alternative rock/stoner trio led by Alex Vinci, who have just released their amazing 3rd album “15 Minutes at a Time” on Narrow Door Records. This album is slightly different to their previous work as it has a more personal theme for Alex. After my first listen I thought the album was a beautiful dark master-piece and I had to talk about it further… Click follow to...

Atsuko Chiba are a Montréal 5-piece creating exciting layers of what has been defined as experimental rock. The band have said that keeping things simple has been their focus and that much of the upcoming self-titled 4th album started as free jams. Whatever it is they’ve done, this album is amazing… Photo: Anthony Piazza Click follow to discover more amazing independent music and give a follow via...

Picky Livers are a slow electro duo comprising Richard E and Shane Talada. They describe themselves as “A subterranean duo of sorts, bred within despicable poetry brothels and sordid dives, from the dark alcoves of leathery booths and within the sweetness of truffling hives”. I’m really enjoying the debut EP “Doppelgang” and it seemed like a good time to find out more about the duo… Click follow t...