It was ‘She’s a Witch’ that did it…there’s just something in that grove and the mesmerising melody that gets us every time. It’s pretty magical right? Their debut album ‘A Dream Outside’ is due to be released on 15th June via Transgressive Records and it’s bound to be a summer hit. Our Band of the Month for May is GENGAHR, we talk to Guitarist John Victor about how it all started and where its all going…
Tell us how Gengahr were born?
Genga is a clefairy that becomes haunted. You get it by trading Haunter…Oh you meant my band, not pokemon. Felix, Danny and hugh have known each other from school, I met them in a pub. We’ve been playing music together for about 5 years but only been Gengahr for a little over a year now.
What are influences that make up your sound?
We all listen to a lot of different types of music. I guess indie, hip hop and older pop make up the biggest parts of our sound. I’ve never been able to play keys (I need to address this) but love synth sounds so I’ve tried to work out ways of forcing the guitar to creat synth textures. Was really into aphex twin growing up and after loads of trial and error and studying how old school synths worked I’ve kind of figured a way of playing that hints at his sound, sort of wonky synths bending slightly out of tune. I’ve always been into people who treat guitar as a tool for new sounds, usually aggressive sounds. Sonic youth and Neil’s cline. I really like Metz, I love how the whole band works as a unit to create this super heavy noise, the way everyone shifts together from section so it always feels intense. With a completely different feel I aspire to the same thing.
We’re about to roll into Festival season, whats the plan?
To play all of them! We should be really busy this year so not to much time to enjoy ourselves, we’ll make time but it won’t be the constant party it was last year. Green man festival looked awesome last year but we only got to stay for one night so hoping we get to stay there longer this year.
Whats the best festival experience you’ve ever had?
My first year at Reading I slept in a bin bag as I pitched my tent in a puddle that had turned to a small lake by the evening. That was grim. Also I had so little money between me and my mate we had one can of beer for the whole weekend. The upside was we got to watch so many bands instead of being drunk in a field, I can and will do that at home.
What new music are you guys listening to?
This is just my taste but Songhoy Blues, Shuggie Otis, Makthaverskan, Speedy Ortiz, Kendrick Lamar, Burning Airlines, Thee Oh Sees, Flying Lotus, Deerhunter, Dinosaur jr. That all gets played a lot in the van. I saw Makthaverskan at sxsw as I waited for the next band to come on and they blew me away. They came on stage so unassuming and the singer seemed really shy then they blasted out some of the best new ‘indie’ music I’ve heard in a long time. Same feeling I had with Joanna Gruesome. I grew up listening to punk so I’m enjoying these bands that have a similar energy and anger about them but are writing really great songs that I can relate to at this stage in my life. Deerhunter is probably mine and Felix favourite band so we play them to death in the van, the other guys must be pretty bored of it now.
…And there you have it folks, now you can catch Gengahr on tour on the dates below…
* w/ The Maccabees
† w/ The Strokes
11th May – Birmingham Institute *
12th May – Glasgow O2 ABC *
13th May – Manchester Ritz *
14th May – London Coronet *
15th May – The Great Escape
16th May – The Great Escape
23rd May – Liverpool Sound City
24th May – Liverpool Sound City
18th June – British Summer Time Hyde †
19th June – Hurricane Festival
20th June – Southside Festival
21st June – Best Kept Secret Festival
3rd July Blissfields Festival
7th July Festival de la Cite, Lausanne
17th July – Latitude Festival
18th July – Longitude Festival
19th July – Melt! Festival
26th July – Splendour In The Grass
2nd August – Y Not Festival
28 – 30th August – Reading & Leeds Festival
05th September – Soundrive Festival
Headline dates:
06th October – Brighton Komedia
07th October – Bristol Exchange
8th October – London Scala
9th October – Nottingham Bodega
10th October – Oxford The Bullingdon
12th October – Birmingham Hare & Hounds
13th October – Norwich Arts Centre
14th October – Cambridge Portland Arms
16th October – Manchester Deaf Institute
17th October – Leeds Wardrobe
19th October – Glasgow King Tuts
20th October – Newcastle Think Tank
21st October – Sheffield The Harley