ME: How did the band name form and come together?
BRAMWELL BAND: It really is an amalgamation of many different things in our brains. We think the word ‘Bramwell’ came from the name Branwell Bronte, the brother of the Bronte sisters, expect we changed the ‘n’ to an ‘m’ because we think it sounded better. However, this is probably half true because we don’t remember how we really came up with it, it just appeared!
M: You’ve performed live not so long ago - what was that experience like?
BB: We were really happy we had the opportunity to play that. Our good friend Saff Juno asked us to support her and her amazing band – it was our debut gig as a trio and it allowed us to transform the songs that we’d otherwise play acoustically into an electric live setting. We got to showcase our newly written original songs and it was useful to see how the audience reacted to them. We all got a good buzz off it.
M: What was the response from those watching/listening to you guys and your music?
BB: The responses that we got were very positive. It’s always nice to hear a crowd that you’re attempting to entertain actually comment on how much they’re enjoying what you’re playing and the way we’re going about things. In particular, when we swapped our instruments (bass and guitar) with each other mid set, the crowd seemed to enjoy that. We want to play to entertain, and people reacted in a way to show that we did just that, and so, we felt very motivated from this last gig.
M: How did you all meet and become a band?
BB: The band started out with me (Avalon) and Tom playing songs and appreciating music together. We had been performing as a duo over the summer of 2021 playing acoustically, however, we’ve always wanted to play in more of a ‘rock’ setting. Tom knew Sol (our drummer) already through school and asked him to join since he had the same music taste as us and a drumming style that we liked.
M: If you were to introduce yourself to someone that doesn’t know you or your music, how would you do it?
BB: We try and avoid labels as much as possible as our music style is influenced by such a wide variety of genres and things, however we’d say that ‘Alternative’ probably suits us the best. For people who had never heard us before, we’ve had comments saying our writing style is similar to Jeff Buckley, Neil Young and The Beatles, so we suppose that that’s somewhat of a suitable connection for now! As for line-up, we are a trio with guitar, bass and drums. Tom and Avalon sing equally. Avalon is the main bass player, and Tom the main guitarist, but we both swap around with each other depending on the song.
M: What are your next goals as a band?
BB: Probably to record a selection of singles within the next couple of months and release them and play as many gigs as possible!
M: Have you all always wanted to be in a band?
BB: Definitely! We’ve always been surrounded by music our whole lives and have such a strong passion for song writing and performing. For both me and Tom, The Beatles have always been the main influence on us. Growing up around their music has instilled this image of what playing in a group should look like, and their story is amazing. We would place Paul McCartney’s composing in the same bracket as people place Beethoven and Mozart. Of course, we know that in this age it’s very hard to make a living or ‘make it’ in the new music industry, so second option careers are always enforced and encouraged by teachers etc, but to play in a group for the rest of our lives is the dream.
M: What did the pandemic do in terms of effecting the making of music and live performances etc?
BB: The first lockdown was a very long period of time where we didn’t actually have to do anything, so this turned into an opportunity to spend long nights sat at a desk listening to music we’d never heard before, going down very deep rabbit holes. This was an intense period of creative development for all of us. The annoying thing of course is that with all this new motivation to write and jam new ideas with our new scope on what music should represent, we couldn’t actually play live, or even rehearse! So that’s been the most frustrating part of the pandemic in terms of music. We know how fortunate we are though, since we still live at home with our parents and don’t have to rely on playing live to make a living, so our thoughts go out to all the groups and musicians who have been struggling amidst all the cancellations and uncertainty!
M: Are there any more upcoming live performances people can look forward to?
BB: At the moment, we’re still in the process of booking as many gigs as possible as we’re still in the early stages of being a band. However, we are playing our first headlining gig on January 13th in Bristol at a venue called The Thunderbolt, which is very exciting. Hopefully it goes ahead if that new variant of the C-Word doesn’t get in the way! Just make sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook (@bramwellband for both) for updates about any new gigs we have. M: I like to end on a fun one - if you could add any other musician, well known or not, to the band, who would you each choose and why?
BB: Good question. Sol is a massive Charlatans fan so he wants Rob Collins (RIP) on keyboards and organ, since it would match our sound pretty well. Tom would want Jonny Greenwood to join for his genius musical versatility, and an Ondes Martenot wouldn’t sound too bad on some of our tracks either! Avalon would like Elliott Smith (RIP also) because he would further the emotional element of our songwriting, and his wonderful guitar and piano playing would be a bonus for us.
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