10000 Hours of Indie

Formed in London back in 2007, Electric Litany are a London based 4-piece consisting of Alexandros Miaris (Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Synths), Richard Simic (Drums, Pads, Samples), Jason Tsontilis (Synths, percussion) & George Alevizakis (Bass). The band like to challenge themselves musically, mixing up musical genres with elements of post rock, synthpop, neoclassical, electronica and experimenta...

Emily Popli is a Chicago based singer/songwriter who has been writing for over 2 decades. Starting out as a poet during her school years, she also took piano lessons and eventually grew into a singer/songwriter. Having released two albums previously under her maiden name, Henderson, she views the release of her latest album, “Lilith Fair Kid”, released at the end of August, as her debut, due to a...

The Easter Parade is Matt Steven. Based in Northamptonshire, England, he is a singer/songwriter who in his own words creates nostalgic and cinematic atmospheres with a reflective and contemplative mood. His latest EP, ‘Raindrops on the Lens’ was released through Indigo Scala Records on the 22nd of August and I instantly fell in love with the layered simplicity and string arrangements so I tracked...

Alpha Male Tea Party are a math rock trio from Liverpool, England consisting of Tom Peters (vocals, guitar), Ben Griffiths (bass, vocals), and Greg Chapman (drums). I first became aware of them when I heard their 3rd album Health in 2017 and my now 16 year old son still recognises the riffs it was played so often that year! The band is due to release album number 5 “Reptilian Brain” on October 3rd...

Gregory Pepper first came to my attention in 2010 when he released “The Great Depression”, an album with Factor Chandelier under the name Common Grackle released on Fake Four Music. The album was on constant rotation in my house for over a year and is still an album I return to on a regular basis. Based in one of the hottest musical cities in the world, Guelph, Canada, he is known as a genre cross...

Mappe Of is Tom Meikkle, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, and avant-folk artist based in Ontario, Canada. Signed to Paper Bag Records, a great indie label I’ve followed for several years. His third album “Afterglades” is due for release on September 19th. After hearing just the first single I was intrigued and wanted to chat with Tom about his music, the upcoming album which I’ve bee...

Formed in the 1990’s, VIBRAVOID are a German psychedelic and acid rock band from Dusseldorf. Influential in the neo-psychedelic and neo-krautrock scenes, the band have released upwards of 20 studio albums, a handful of EP’s and many, many live albums. September 26th sees the release of more new material, with the latest album, 8 track “Remove The Ties”, due for release. After hearing a promo of th...

Tamar Berk is a prolific indie rock musician now based in San Diego. Her 5th album in 5 years, “OCD” is due for release on 5th September and having had a good listen through it’s a great modern-retro album. In her own words “Sonically, it’s a fuzzed-out, reverb-heavy swirl—somewhere between indie pop-rock and a fever dream.” I’d agree with that and that there’s so many layers to this album you’ll...

For this episode we have a return visitor to the podcast, in the form of Danielle Sum . We first spoke when I interviewed her as a member of Toronto based Tiger Balme for the Being Independent series (which is available wherever you listen to this). Today we speak as Danielle prepares for a new chapter in her life. Turning 30 this week and with the release of an amazing single “Becoming (This Is L...

Blessings are Swedish 4-piece who chop and change across genres but I would personally define them as somewhere between post-rock and post-metal, two of my favourite genres to relax to, yeah I know, I’m a bit weird! Signed to Pelagic Records, the band consists of Fredrik Karlsson, Johan G. Winther, Erik Skytt and Mattias Rasmusson and have just released their 3rd album “Blodsträngen” - “The Bloodl...

The Book of Moons is this episodes’ featured artist. A debut album by the duo of Tim Lane and Leighton Melville entitled “Strange & Wylde Majick” was released at the end of May. It has that proper 70’s prog vibe while maintaining a freshness and modern touch with a hint of folk to boot. Maybe Canterbury scene prog would have been a suitable outlet for this had it been released 50 years ago! Th...

SEIMS are a cinematic math rock band from Sydney, Australia. Started by Simeon Bartholomew, the concept began as a solo project and has grown into one of the most recognised bands in its genre since their first release back in 2012. The band have just released the first single “Flowing Upstream” from their upcoming fifth album, so I thought it was a good time to have a chat about that and other SE...

Light Beams are a 5-piece formed in 2017 in Washington D.C. playing a genre of music which it seems the media find hard to define. Block Rock, zap-tone and a few other weird genre suggestions have been made, but whatever they actually are it makes people want to move their feet and dance. The band released their latest single “Emulate” in July so I thought it was a good time to chat to them about...

Alec Danger is Finnish born, Cologne based Santteri Palkivaara. A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who takes influence in part from 70’s prog, psychedelic, krautrock, jazz, 80’s pop and ambient electronica. With the launch of debut album ”mortui vivos docent”, I reached out to have a chat for the 10000 Hours of Indie podcast and we got into themes such as death, the merits of Bandcamp and much...

North Sea Radio Orchestra are a English contemporary music ensemble and cross-disciplinary chamber orchestra formed in 2002. Put together by Craig Fortnam - who also writes most of their compositions - the ensemble performs what could be described as contemporary classical music, British folk music, London art rock, poetry and my own personal observation, a melding of progressive rock/classical. I...

Divers Green are a relatively new rock band from Barrow in the UK. Already playing festivals alongside some pretty big names in their local area, they talk about their ambitions, how they got their name, upcoming releases and their lofty ambitions. And follow the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out...

Norwegian synth rock trio Bingo Crowd have taken 17 years to make their second album Manners. I chatted with their singer Andreas Elvenes to ask what took so long, why Manners are so important and why they have changed their name twice. And follow the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out! Picture: Gei...

After reading Zoe Hayter 's biography you might be left wondering if there's anything she hasn't tried! A street performer since the age of 13, Zoe was bought her first guitar by Glen Hansard and she hasn't looked back since. She's currently readying herself for a touring theatre show having recently toured her last EP, "RAW" and releasing new single "Je te veux&...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more... For the 9th and final episode in this series, I spoke to Jukio Kallio , formerly Kozilek and Kuabee, a Finnish composer wh...

I first "discovered" Carla Aakre when I visited Oddfest a few weeks ago. Her soothing folk style had hints of Nick Drake so I was intrigued to find out a little more about her music and vegetable patch ( check her instagram to see what I'm talking about)! And follow the ⁠⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠⁠⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more... Episode 8 is a dive into the mind of an independent musician who took things to the next level when he started his own lab...

I heard rock and roll band Silveroller 's latest single "Black Crow" and instantly wanted to have a chat with the band! Singer Jonnie Hodson and I delved into the life of the band, line-up changes, creative idea stealing and had a bit of a rant about social media (of which I included about 25% of the whole rant...maybe the rest for a separate episode later!). And follow the ⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more... Episode 7 is probably the deepest music hole I travelled down while chatting with a guest. I met up for a rare face-to-fac...

In this episode I delve into the world of classical music with Hub New Music and more specifically Michael Avitabile, their Executive Director and flautist. The day of release for this podcast is also the day of their 6th album release "What If We're Beautiful", a five-movement celebration of queer joy composed by Daniel Thomas Davis. We talk about the release, upcoming projects, and...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more... In episode 6, I spoke with Estyr and Danielle from Canadian chamber pop/alt-folk band (or collective as they prefer) Tiger...