Steve Bland
Phil Beans
Duncan Evans
Iain Farnsworth
Alastair Wheeler
Ben Wright
Honorary members...
Nikki Clark - artwork
Abby Stables - sewing
Nicholas Jones - myspaz
Past re-members:
Pete Berry
Amy Grain
Barny Pearce
Gemma Harvey
Steve Gilsenan
Ed Perridge
Influences
Sounds Like
crossrhythms.co.uk
"We may not understand where they are coming from, but you will want to go there!"
"Slightly off kilter acoustic pop songs which are a joy to listen to"
www.rockbeatstone.com
Steve Bland Assembly – 'Luxembourg' (EP, 2007)
Poppy, jazz-tinged tunes are the order of the day with the Steve Bland Assembly. Namesake track on this self-released EP has a decidedly Jamie Cullum vibe to it, although this is far less smug and all together closer to Ben Folds than anything else. Piano drives the song as Bland muses on the modern day eutopia that is Luxemburg – a world full of rainbows, where John Peel and Bob Dylan are both still ‘alive’ and where we don’t need rock and roll because everyone is strong. A lovely melodic catchy pop song which must be filed alongside the pop-trendies Jack Penate and Kate Nash, although this has a lot more soul and substance to it. Expect label interest and appearances in Q magazine sometime soon.
Steve has been writing songs for a long time. For a while noone really knew about it. From home in South Yorkshire he moved to Milton Keynes then the Northamptonshire wilderness. In 2006 he took a few days off work and invited his talented friend, Pete, to help him record some songs with his new computer. Some friends heard it and said it was good.
Steve and Pete (and old school friend, Ben) played a gig in Brighton at their friend, Kevin's, acoustic night. It worked out ok so when Steve moved to London a short time later he decided to do a few more.
Over the following months, from seemingly nowhere, and with little effort from Steve, a talented band of nice people formed around him. Iain replaced Pete as bassist and soundboard, then came Amy on sax who brought along flatmate Gemma. Ben enthusiastically trekked up from Worthing with bagfuls of instruments and Barny was thrown in front of someone else's drum kit with only a pair of borrowed sticks for protection. Steve's songs had started to sound a bit like they had always done in his head, but even better.
There have been many a full band gig in 2007 including a special night at the Buffalo Bar with band friends Horsebox. Here we are:
Following the night of the Buffalo, Steve, Iain, Barny and Ben were invited to the Kinks' studio in North London by Magic Numbers producer Richard Wilkinson to spend a day recording. Nikki produced some stunning artwork and after a session with Alastair and Gemma, and some expert tweaking by Iain there was born an orange E.P. which we called "Luxembourg" and released in November 2007.
Meanwhile in the spring of 2007 Barny fled to Norfolk to start a new life and likewise Amy to Cardiff. But at the same exact moment that Barny stepped off the stage, Stevie G arrived with his cheeky Irish grin and his own drum kit, and Amy left us with a parting gift of Horn-master Alastair. A clever chap called Mark came up with the name 'Assembly' and at the end of 2007 Steve realised he had a lot more friends than he did the year before.
In 2008 we lost Gemma but gained Ed on trumpet. We had gigs in some very cool places around town such as Bush Hall (thanks David Goo :-). There were some gigs up north and a support slot for James Skelly of The Coral (kind of) whilst the EP received some glowing reviews including: www.rockbeatstone.com/january-2008.
By the height of summer Stevie G had decided to leave the gang to focus on the rather marvelous Empire of Lights and Ed retired from brass duties and went to Alaska.
So here were are in Jan 09. Gigs are being lined up, new songs formulated and new members sourced. Phil has already been rocking out on drums. He's the new band heartthrob (he's married mind, so hands off). There's also a wedding appearance to plan for in the summer so expect some sweet covers making their way into the set. Any requests?...
Hey sexy badger it's Jimmy The Fingers! If you haven't seen this video please take a peek... This is me singing my song "Grace." If you buy one mp3 this year make it a jimmy! BUY NOW – CLICK HERE!!!!!
sorry for the blatant plug but if i don't plug it, no one else will innit!
see STEVE BLAND play solo - with a little help from Ben plus 3 more great acts this THURS 31st JULY venue - Bull and Gate, 389 Kentish Town Road NW5 2TJ doors - 8pm entry - £5 with this flyer
Backstreets is back with the usual mix of shit-hot bands, beer and cool tunes. At the legendary Windmill, Brixton on Friday 25th July at 8pm. Tickets are £4 on the door or available here
In case that's disappeared by the time you see this ...
"The Coral's James Skelly celebrated Liverpool's 1-1 draw in the Champions League by playing a spontaneous solo gig near Arsenal's ground on Wednesday.
Skelly walked from the stadium to the nearby Buffalo Bar to play four songs at 11pm to a crowd of just 20 people.
He borrowed an acoustic guitar from Steve Bland Assembly to sing Dreaming Of You, Pass It On and covers of Bye Bye Love and Everybody's Talking. "
Over half of tickets gone for MONDAY 10 MARCH at THE FLY with STEVE BLAND ASSEMBLY ! Get a ticket £6 plus 70p booking fee and make sure you get in NOW from www. ticketweb. co. uk ( pick up on door ) £10 door price !!! Save £s by booking in advance. STEVE BLAND onstage at 10.15p.m. Full supporting line up fom 7.45p.m.
