BLUSHES

I absolutely love having friends who are incredibly talented and doing super cool things- and one of my friends, Tiffany, is part of the amazing four piece band, Blushes. This weekend saw them releasing their debut EP, 'Private Viewing', and I was absolutely thrilled to be asked along to cover the event. Not only did I get to see Blushes perfom live, but I got to see a whole host of other talented musicians too (who will receive their own blog posts in due course...).

Blushes have such a unique sound to them, and from the moment I first heard their music I fell in love with them! More recently, when they released a track from their EP, 'Skin', I was shocked at how much the group had progressed and improved. They were good before, but now I felt like they were amazing! I relayed this feedback to Tiff who told me that if I enjoyed 'Skin' that much (I did), then I'd love the rest of the EP...

Guess what?

I adore it. From start to finish I was absolutely captivated. For a girl who usually listens to the likes of Beyonce, Stormzy and Rihanna, listening to Blushes made a refreshing change, and I actually listened to the EP back to back three times... for real. 

Because I love the band and their music so much, I thought I'd use my little corner of the internet to share their talent with you! Not only did I get to attend their EP launch but I also got to interview the band prior to the event too, so you guys can all get a bit more of an insight into the members of the band, the process of writing their brilliant songs and where they get their inspiration from. 

Enjoy! 

How did Blushes begin?

Tiff: Bradley, Jacob and myself all went to the same secondary school and we were all in the same music classes together. When I left school in year 11, I went on to Amersham College to study Fine Art and ended up making friends with George, who was studying music at the college. Bradley had already started off as a solo artist, writing his own material and doing acoustic sets- which is funny, because me and one of my friends at school spent so long persuading him to sing to us in music and he never would because he hated his voice so much...now he's a front man! 

Jacob had previously been in bands and I had already been singing for years and had worked on a few different projects with other friends. Bradley approached me about forming a band and asked if I knew a potential guitarist to complete the group, and instantly I thought of George! George actually had to go to university so we were left without a lead guitarist but fortunately we had played with a band called Rawset at the Crauford Arms before and their guitarist, Sonny, wa sa fan. When we needed to fill George's rather large boots, Sonny was the one person we thought had a chance of rising to the challenge with his 'plinky plonky' riffs! 

'Skin' has already been pretty popular- can we expect more tracks like this from your EP or are all of the tracks unique?

Tiff: 'Skin' was, to me, one of our strongest tracks, considering we wrote it together further down the line and after gigging and practising often, which meant we could write something stylised to the direction we felt we were actually heading in. There's a nice handful of variety in the EP however.

Jacob: The other songs are a mix of stuff that was already fully written by Brad before the band started, and songs that we've all built. We've all had a hand in tweaking and adding to every song however. We feel that all of the tracks stand on their own, they all have different meanings and styles. The record is very much an indication of what we have come from and where we are going.

Its such a gorgeous song, and I have listened to it over and over and over again since it was released! Where did the inspiration for the song come from?

Jacob: Simply put, lyrically 'Skin' is about sex and everything that surrounds it. More specifically, sex with someone that you love, or you know you will love. But it's not like a pure R&B song (even though a lot of influence comes from that), the bassline or groove isn't really trying to be 'sexy' or have that kind of sound. It's more about telling a definite story and how each instrument can emphasise that. The structure of the song in a way reflect the structure of a night or an evening with someone, and the struggle to make it work, with the nerves and that. 

In general, where do you get the inspiration for your songs?

Jacob: I think naturally we have gravitated towards love and romance as big themes. In no way is it an unexplored subject but we are always interested in what it sounds like when we're jamming new songs and how it all mixes together with those themes. We're changing sounds and styles constantly so it's quite fun when Brad and Tiff are singing about a very melancholic experience and there's a very upbeat thing behind it. Stuff like that! Of course, sometimes it can be ncie to just go straigh up and do what the song wants, and try and strengthen that as much as possible, but it really comes down to if its something we all like, and we can imagine playing it all together and laying it out between us, then we'll do it.

Which bands and artists do you source inspiration from?

Tiff: Individually, we have quite a varied taste in music. One genre we all appreciate is R&B. Personally, I love artists like Matt Corby, James Vincent McMorrow and James Arthur, and I adore the tone that Amy Winehouse had in her vocals. Currently, I'm always taking inspiration from Marina and the Diamonds, London Grammar and Half Moon Run when it comes to our sound. 

How long does it usually take to put one song together? What comes first, the lyrics or the music?

Jacob: It totally varies; many songs Brad has just come up with the basic guitar and lyrics on the spot, and then we just gradually figure out our parts over the top until they mix nicely. Sometimes it takes one evening, sometimes it takes months. We do demo stuff too, we send eachother everything from 10 second melodies to fully mixed instrumental tracks that we then jam on, so again its sort of an 'anything goes' thing.

Your debut EP 'Private Viewing' was released on the 22nd April. Where can people listen to it? 

Jacob: It's available on all online streaming services, and we had some physical copies at our launch show too!

I have already had numerous listens on Spotify (readers, you can listen right here) and I honestly can't get enough of it! How long did it take to put the EP together?

Jacob: It has taken just about six months now, from the start of recording to finishing production and mastering. It has been on and off however, not every single day, just using windows of time where we were all available. 

We loved watching you guys at your EP launch- you sounded amazing and all looked like you were having the time of your life! Where can we see your performing next?

Jacob: Our next gig is supporting Shanghai Blues at Luna Lounge on 6th May followed by a show at the Islington O2 Academy on the 8th July- plus many more to be announced soon!

Can you tell that Blushes are crazy talented? Coming up with music and lyrics on the spot, putting together an EP in six months and selling out a gig for 300 people to launch their debut EP. This lot are putting in allllll the work and I am absolutely certain they're going to be reaping the rewards for a long time to come. If you don't do anything else on this quiet Monday evening, make sure you go and listen to 'Private Viewing' right now, and make sure to give the band a follow on social media too. You can find them on Facebook here, on Twitter here and on Instagram as @dontmakemeblushes.

I love Blushes, I have loved finding out more about the band and their music and I absolutely can't wait to see them perform again! Have a listen to their EP and let me know what you think of their music in the comments below!

Love from,

Florence Grace 

Images provided by Blushes.