Interview + Live Review
Communion New Faces: Amber Run + Fyfe + Kimberly Anne + Pixel Fix
The Louisiana, Bristol
November 4 2014
Words/Photos: Pollyanna Sheehan
Amber Run have steadily been increasing their fan base and presence across the UK since they appeared in 2013 with their first EP ‘Noah’. They’ve followed up with winning festival appearances including Reading and Leeds in 2013, and this year at Isle of Wight; they have also racked up a few incredibly successful support slots on tour with Lewis Watson and Andreas Moe. Currently on the Communion New Faces tour with Pixel Fix, Kimberly Anne and Fyfe, they stop off with a live show at one of Bristol’s legendary venues, The Louisiana. Prior to what was to be a stunning set from the five guys from Nottingham, I managed to chat to them all about how things have been progressing.
Amber Run are: Joe Keogh (vocals, guitar), Will Jones (lead guitar), Tom Sperring (bass), Felix Archer (drums), Henry Wyeth (keys).
First things first, how did you guys meet?
Felix: Joe, Will and Tom met at school and had formed bands during their teenage years. Later they met Henry whilst studying at university, and I met Joe at a festival.
Joe: We all just really like music. We’d talked about starting a band and enjoyed hanging out together, and so towards the end of 2012/early 2013, we got around to forming the band. From there, a lot of hard graft went into recording demos and putting those out and after we did the cover of Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide and Seek’ and released it, the ball started rolling pretty quickly from there. During the initial recordings we only managed to play about four shows as the efforts were concentrated to perfecting things in the studio, ensuring we were as prepared as possible before sharing our music with people and building our fan base.
Do you have any bands you consider to be the most influential when writing new material?
Tom: I don’t necessarily feel that any specific artists that I listen to influence my bass playing or what I’ll decide to play...
Joe: I feel that in some way, whatever I listen to will be replicated, if not on purpose, it’ll subconsciously find its way into the way I go about writing songs or creating ideas. You just can’t help it.
Will: We have a huge range of bands we look to, I guess, including Kings of Leon, U2, Elbow etc., there’s so many, but we don’t really go for anything in particular… Joe, who writes a lot of the material, listens to a lot of Coldplay and Arcade Fire, so that could be seen as quite a big influence.
Felix: Yeah, we’re all into a wide range of genres, so we all bring something a little different.
What’s the craziest thing that has happened on tour?
Tom: Some fans brought us individual presents - it was really thoughtful and sweet. It’s just crazy to think that we’ve made this music and people have gone to the lengths to get us presents, and responded in this way. They were based on our personalities and things that we post on our Twitter account.
Joe: We love making music and we never expected anyone to actually listen, so it’s incredible that so many people are supporting us. Apart from that, we just enjoy hanging out on tour; we have a few drinks and that’s it really, nothing wild, but it’s fun. We just really enjoy the fact that we get to do what we love and people appreciate it!
Felix: I had a girl cry on me…
What has been your favourite moment so far as a band?
Tom: We enjoying interacting with our fans on social media - they can be really enthusiastic, which is quite cool. I’m still surprised that this happens, that people respond to our music in this way, it's crazy.
Joe: Yeah, we love the way people react to our music. I guess our favourite moment was playing Reading and Leeds. We were really scared, but even if it went tits-up - at least we could say we'd played there! There were label and industry people in the audience; it was so terrifying none of us can really remember what happened…
Felix: It was my first time at Reading, as well. From there things really started to get busy. This year we played to probably our biggest crowd at the Isle of Wight festival. We had a mid-afternoon slot on Sunday and we thought barely anyone would show up, but there were thousands of people there watching us! It was amazing.
You have released three EPs so far, any plans for an album?
Joe: We finished the album in February and we’re releasing it early next year. I’m so excited for it, we really can’t wait. It’s not right to release it now - we just need to build the fan base and push a bit harder. When it comes out we want it to come out to as many people as possible. Hopefully, when it’s out we can then do some intense touring afterwards. But we want to make sure that in no way once we’ve released the album, that’s it. We’re always writing together and we’ll be releasing a few singles before the album is released and there will be more music to come once it’s released too!
Tom: I’d like to get over to the States and Canada, maybe once the album is out.
Joe: Yeah, we just have to put in the hard work, but it’ll be worth it!
What are you looking forward to and aiming for as a band?
Felix: I’d love to hit the festivals next summer, doing as many as possible. It’d be a dream to play Glastonbury, or Coachella even! T in The Park would be fun - we’ve never done that one before.
Joe: Either way, we’re just really grateful for all of the support that we’ve had from Communion for this tour and to XFM for playing us relentlessly from the beginning and getting behind us.
Live Review
Amber Run were excited to be performing a sold-out show on the second night of their tour with Communion New Faces at Bristol’s Louisiana, which has hosted some legendary acts over the years including The White Stripes, The Stokes, Kings of Leon, The Libertines and many, many more.
The evening featured incredible performances from Pixel Fix, an alternative four-piece from Oxford, which was followed by a mesmerizing and soulful performance from London-based singer/songwriter Kimberly Anne, who managed to get the crowd chanting and singing along with her, creating an incredible atmosphere in the intimate venue. Fyfe’s smooth vocal and amazing downbeat electronic set followed, which maintained an incredible atmosphere before Amber Run took to the stage.
Opening with their phenomenally emotive track ‘I Found’, they stunned the crowd with the distinctive vocal from frontman Joe, and the incredible harmonies provided by bassist Tom, lead guitarist Will and Henry on keys. It was a beautiful start to what was an incredible set, showcasing their individual talents and the connection that these five have together when performing.
Following on from ‘I Found’, the 40-minute set included a notable performance of ‘Pilot’, the title track of their latest EP released in April. This heavily featured Felix’s upbeat inventive drumming; Will’s visceral guitar-playing; and of course, Joe’s ability to write relatable lyrics - all of which give this band their unique appeal.
A new track from the forthcoming album showing the more deep, sincere side to the band, was received well before the tempo was brought back up with two lively performances of ‘Heaven’ and ‘Spark’, both of which saw the entire room join in clapping and singing along - it was impossible not to. During ‘Spark’, Joe’s flawless and powerful vocal coupled with incredible harmonies provided by the other members was one of those moments that can be called truly incredible. It proved that this is exactly where they need to be: enjoying themselves on tour, playing to sold-out crowds and winning over new fans.
The announcement of the last song ‘Noah’ was met with huge cheers from the crowd, who made sure to make the most of it. It did not disappoint either, providing the perfect end for what was overall an uplifting and wonderful set from the immensely talented Amber Run.
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