10000 Hours of Indie

London based Black Orchid Empire have released 4 albums since forming in 2015. The second single "Blood God" from their upcoming 5th album (unknown release date - as you'll hear in the interview!) is due out on 12th July, so I caught up with guitarist and singer Paul Visser to chat about it and many other aspects of the bands' music. Find out more about Black Orchid Empire here ....

I took my first festival visit of 2025 to a new central Helsinki event called Oddfest. This was 2 days of oddness with music, tech and media talks, films, presentations and more. Here's some highlights and my overall observations of what will hopefully become a regular event in the city. Join the journey as trawl the wonderful world of independent music on 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 5 enters the world of the psychedelic rock band Sendelica and more specifically guitarist Pete Bingham. The band h...

Swedish post-rock band Barrens was formed by 3 members of the already established Scraps of Tape wanting to make music without vocals. I was lucky enough to hear an advanced copy of the album and had a chat with guitarist Johan G Winther about it, how they approach making music and their struggles with keeping on top of social media. More information about the band can be found on their record lab...

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 4 of the series I chatted with Tomi Andersson , a Finnish singer, guitarist and saxophonist I've known for...

Zoé Basha's debut album was named folk album of the month in The Independent back in April and she's thrilled to be acknowledged. Playing what she would call Americana, Zoé has just toured Western Europe and we had a chat about that, being an independent artist and how her album came together after many years of writing. Find out more about Zoé through her website and instagram . And come...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it mean 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... The third episode focuses on American singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Tamar Berk . After many years of playing in bands...

Hailing from France, Mauvais Sang have just released their second album 'La Faune' and it's fast become one of my favourite albums of 2025. I talked to guitarist Mathis and singer/violinist Anastasia about the album, working together and much more... Give their new album a listen here on Spotify and you can find Mauvais Sang on ⁠Instagram ⁠ and ⁠Facebook ⁠. And come and give 10000 Hour...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it mean 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... The second episode focuses on Finnish guitarist Ben Granfelt⁠ . Ben has played in many bands, toured the world several time...

Nobody is the musical alias of Tuomas Kauppinen, an instrumentalist based in Helsinki. A solo black metal project that started as a bit of a joke has progressed over the years and we chatted about that, his latest EP release 'Saint Devil in the Field' and his interest in African music too. Find out more about Nobody you can find him on Instagram and Facebook . And come and give 10000 Hours...

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it mean 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... This first episode features Irish duo Bicurious . Known originally for their instrumental math-rock style, they added vocal...

Hannah Rose Platt has just released her 4th solo album "Fragile Creatures", so I had a chat with her about the new album, her amazing storytelling lyric style and working with producer Ed Harcourt. Find out more about Hannah and her music on her website . And come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a follow via your favourite social tools . There's some great interviews coming over the ne...

In this weeks' new release episode I chatted with They Owe Us AKA Kristoffer Ragnstam about the latest album 'All On Red'. Kristoffer talks about his musical past, the trials and tribulations of working with others and supporting Mumford & Sons while playing drums live for only the second time! Check out more information on They Owe Us over on Instagram . Please give the podcast a follow on he...

For the first new release interview I had a chat with Jesse and Craig from folk quartet EZRA about their 3rd album 'Froggy's Demise' due for release on 9th May (yes, I gave the wrong date at the end of the interview despite it being right in my notes!). I've been really enjoying this album since I was sent a promo and the guys had some really interesting insights into how they make...

Tallinn Music Week is a showcase festival, this year comprised of more than 200 artists. I went armed with a (slightly crappy) microphone and spoke to 5 of the bands playing to ask about the festival experience and much more. This episode features interview snippets with City Dog (UK), Oyama (Iceland), Dania O. Tausen (Faroe Islands), Abuses (Latvia) and US (Finland). Some of the sound is a little...

Just a little introduction about what I'm doing here and who I am. Episodes to follow soon...