The British Blues

The British Blues story starts with frontman Matt Gollan backpacking through South East Asia, Europe and South America, where he played and sang in remarkable locations, often for a meal or board, and occasionally in trying and isolated circumstances. After returning to Sydney in 2012, Gollan set a goal - to hone the twin disciplines of songwriting and home recording. Since then, his solo project has morphed into The British Blues – a band based around his songwriting. Forming in early 2013, the band's debut single '2001' is the first step in the ongoing process of recording an album of original material. Heavy on acoustic guitars and vocal harmony, it's easy to pick influences. Gollan's early demos nodded to modern folk acts like Fleet Foxes, The Middle East, and Bon Iver. But while he writes predominantly on acoustic guitar, Gollan is also huge fan of electronic and ambient music, and found it hard to put away the synthesiser when writing music for the band. In that spirit, the band bought a modern touch to recording, and recent tracks steer The British Blues towards Grizzly Bear, Arcade Fire and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Never really feeling totally comfortable under the umbrella of pure 'folk', The British Blues have developed a unique style. It’s not exactly pure folk, it’s not rock, it’s not alternative, it’s not ambient. It's kind of retro, and kind of modern. The British Blues sit somewhere in the middle of all of that, with a lot of added reverb. Still, when asked, it’s easiest just to say “alt-folk”. THE BAND MEMBERS While the band is a relatively new outfit, Gollan’s strong writing and vocal abilities have attracted some of Sydney’s most capable musicians. Seeing great potential in The British Blues, Nick Hogan of successful Sydney band Sparkadia joined the The British Blues in 2013 as a bassist, backing vocalist and general wise cracker. Additionally, Matt's early demos were able to attract guitarist and vocalist Matt Dewar, whose musicality and ear have developed into an essential lead guitar role/musical director role in the band. The combined vocal strengths and finespun harmonies of Gollan, Rabone, and Dewar have become one of the hallmark characteristics of The British Blues’ sound. But perhaps the person to invest most attention and guidance into the young band is Bluejuice frontman Jacob Stone, who not only plays keys and organs in the band, but also has produced the bands debut single '2001'. BAND ACHIEVEMENTS After a successful year in 2013 sharing the stage with the likes of Dustin Tebbut, Bluejuice, Yukon Blonde, OXBLVD, The Owls, Tim Hart (Boy & Bear) and The Falls, THE BRITISH BLUES have hit the ground running in 2014 with the release of their much anticipated debut single '2001'. THE SINGLE Soaked in strings and sparkling glockenspiels, '2001' is an charming arrangement that showcases the musicality the band has developed since their formation early last year. The track moves along with calm momentum, recalling the open-air arrangements of 1970's, west coast Americana, punctuated by gutsy French horn stabs and a howling lead guitar line. Download their music at http://www.triplejunearthed.com/TheBritishBlues Listen to their music on SoundCloud at http://soundcloud.com/thebritishblues Follow them on Facebook here at https://www.facebook.com/thebritishblues