Music – Page 4 of 7 – The Orbital

17Feb

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Coffee House Sessions: Mark Sullivan

Beth Carr chats to Mark Sullivan after the first Coffee House Session of the term. Mark Sullivan brought a mellow and mature feel to the first Coffee House after Christmas with what he deems “funky acoustic soul rock”. It has always been his dream to do music full time and I wanted to find out more about how this came about. In early life, Sullivan was surprisingly not into music at all but that all changed after seeing Oasis unplugged on MTV. He obtained a guitar at the age of 14 and soon was choosing to play it over the classic teenage pastime of computer games. He also started to sing but in his own opinion he was bad at it, giving up for a period of time to concentrate on his band. 7 years ago he started singing again properly and has been solo for 3-4 years. However the guitar a...

7Feb

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Coffee House Sessions: Matt Wills

Beth Carr reviews the final Coffee House Session of last term. With November almost over, Matt Wills brought last term’s Coffee House Tour to a close with an edgy acoustic set of original music melded with familiar samples of popular songs such as ‘Hotline Bling’ and ‘No Scrubs’. I asked Matt how he decided to add those tracks into his set: “When I do songs there’s always like a space that I leave like a little space and I’ll throw a random song in, it probably won’t originally fit and it’ll probably be a different key or probably a different vibe but I’ll throw it in”. He prefers sampling to doing indie covers of mainstream songs, and it really works. He got into music from a young age, writing music as an awkward thirteen year-old who wanted to impress a girl through songwritin...

25Jan

By Joanne ArcherNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

McFly: It’s All About Egham

Four-piece boyband McFly have been spotted in Waitrose Egham during their writing trip. Joanne Archer charts the recent developments of the band. In September 2016 I saw McFly play their anthology tour in London. Watching the boys play every song in their discography over the course of three nights was a delight. I was even lucky enough to catch Tom Fletcher’s guitar pick. The band had been joint at the hip with Busted for three years, forming super-group McBusted. Many fans, myself included, enjoyed the novelty of McBusted, a blend of their childhood favourites, but found that this soon wore off when McFly faded out of existence. There was no new McFly music and no McFly tours. That all changed in 2016 with the announcement that Busted would be touring alone with the likes of Emma Blac...

19Dec

By SumibalNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Coffeehouse Sessions: Lee Rasdall-Dove

Sumi Bal drops by Coffee House Sessions to check out Lee Rasdall-Dove This week Tommy’s Kitchen welcomed singer songwriter Lee Rasdall-Dove for the weekly Coffee House Session. At only twenty, he has performed over 150 gigs in one year alone. If this wasn’t impressive enough, some of these venues include festivals such as Bestival and V Dub Island Festival. Lee’s earthy voice coupled with the smell of burgers wafting through the air makes for a delicious combination, fit for a scene taken straight out of Central Perk. How refreshing it is to see an artist accompanied by only his guitar, leaving the soul focus on his strong vocals and guitar rhythms. Lee’s recently released EP, ‘Head in the Clouds’ is definitely worth checking out. Paired with a nightmarish yet emotive music v...

8Dec

By SumibalNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Leonard Cohen #Legend

Sumi Bal reflects on the tragic loss of Leonard Cohen. Another one bites the dust. What a crappy year for humanity. On the plus side, there’s only about six weeks left of this BS we call 2016. Leonard Cohen died on the 7th of November and, despite being 82 and having a good run at this life thing, it came as very unexpected. For those who are unaware, Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) was a Canadian poet, singer and songwriter, known for his song, 'Hallelujah'. Other notable songs are 'Suzanne', 'Famous Blue Raincoat' and 'Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye'. 'Chelsea Hotel No 2' is one of my favourites, which is supposedly about a love affair Cohen had with Janis Joplin. I’ll be the first to admit his baritone voice isn’t for everyone, even if it is hauntingly beautiful. If it isn’t f...

5Dec

By Ruby_rogersNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

The Carnabys

Ruby Rogers chatted to indie rock band The Carnabys after their gig at the Students' Union. “Do we think that Jack could fit into your skinny tights?” asks Ben Gittins, guitar player of up and coming indie rock band The Carnabys. We never did find out the answer (maybe next time?) but I quickly realised that my pre-interview nerves were almost totally unwarranted. Chatting to Ben and lead singer Jack Mercer after the gig felt more like chatting to your significantly cooler mates at the pub, mates who’ve toured with Blondie (“Yeah, you’d just sit down and have a bit of soup with Debbie [Harry]”) and played gigs at the Roundhouse. Playing at the Students’ Union as part of the tour for their debut album ‘Too Much Never Enough’ on Saturday 5th November was the third time I had seen T...

A Triumphant Team Effort at the ‘Winter Concert’.

26Nov

By Georgia BeithNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

A Triumphant Team Effort at the ‘Winter Concert’.

This year’s Winter Concert was a lovely collaborative effort between two of Royal Holloway’s many choirs: the Gospel Choir and the resident A capella choir, Absolute Harmony. Set against the simply stunning backdrop of the Chapel in Founder’s Hall, the two choirs treated the audience to a selection of songs, both new and old, traditional and contemporary, to create a special evening of live music. Topped off with a traditional Christmas carol, performed by both choirs together, it was a great way to get into the festive spirit. Perhaps some questions could be raised over whether some of the song choices were quite appropriate, considering the particularly religious venue, but I’m sure no one would have changed the setting for the world. Besides from being visually beautiful, the high ec...

‘Lady Be Good’ made this lady feel good!

19Nov

By Victoria BastableNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music, Theatre & Performance

‘Lady Be Good’ made this lady feel good!

‘Lady Be Good’ made this lady feel good! Last night I was treated to the Savoy Opera Society’s main term show ‘Lady Be Good’, music and book by George and Ira Gershwin, directed by Monte Marché. It was the perfect start to my weekend. I was giggling and singing the songs all the way home! The plot follows the misadventures of brother and sister Dick Trevor (Tom Chippendale) and Susie Trevor (Jenny Collins) after becoming destitute on the streets of New York. Their struggle to turn their fortunes around leads to false marriage proposals to the rich and glamorous Josephine Vanderwater (Sarah Vanderplank), falling onto the wrong side of the law via the misguidance of the mischievous lawyer Watty Watkins (Will Davidson) and a run in with Mexican gangsters, lead by the serial murderess Ma...

3Nov

By Joanne ArcherNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Interview with Quarterlights

Orbital’s Joanne Archer caught up with up and coming band, Quarterlights, a group who originated from Royal Holloway. Meeting and interviewing Quarterlights with my Deputy Editor, Beth Carr, has to be one of the highlights of being the Arts Editor for the Orbital thus far- it’s only been a few months but still! Although I was only able to meet three out of four of the group, I could get a real sense of what this band is all about. Quarterlights, made up of three RHUL alumni and one of their friends, got their start playing in the Forester’s Arms. The pub, which is situated in Egham, allowed them to build a small following which later lead to their success playing at Summer Ball in 2015. Originally the band went by the name Cardboard City, a name which they pointed out was also shared wi...

31Oct

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Stranger Stranger Review

Beth Carr reviews Stranger Stranger’s recent set at the Students’ Union. The third Coffee House Session of the year welcomed duo Stranger Stranger to Tommy’s Kitchen, an ethereal and mesmerising performance. As with all the artists so far this was the second show in the tour and of the day, but firmly their first (and probably only!) performed on the landing of a staircase. Our quirky setting was a great accompaniment to their quirky set, and its unearthly quality resonated across the SU. Stranger Stranger’s style of music is hard to pinpoint. Full of dissonance and harmonies, it’s a concept that doesn’t sound like it would work but, in fact, it brings a unique tone to the saturated world of music. It was clear that the duo were incredibly immersed in the music and performance and ge...