Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
Pick up your copy on campus or read online
By Freddie Bruhin-Price
Image: Tonstartssbandht/Bandcamp
The band plays long songs which are both progressive and psychedelic. This is head music, and, at times, I felt awash with humble joy, as Andy used his 12 string Danelectro to pilot winding journeys from late Hendrix through to stoner rock. The sound includes occasional tender harmonies (think Grateful Dead but less phlegmy) plus delay-charred shouts and yelps. Andy’s Hendrix/Cosmic Jollies-Funkadelic-ish guitar mixes with Edwin’s rolling tumbling drum style to create a sound which, from time to time, threatens to lift you off the ground.
This duo play like they were born in 1943. Keith Richards (who was born in 1943) described the process of writing a song as like painting a canvas, with the white space in between as important as the paint. Tonstartssbandht understand this, at times sounding fragile, at others filling the space with meaty riffs and Reverby chord sequences.
The dynamics are great. Highlights of the night included ‘Breathe’ which built up gradually into a frenzy of syncopated grooves and urgency and ‘Trusted You’, a humorous Andy Kaufman cover. The former is long and opened up like a lotus flower. It features on new album Sorcerer, as one of only three tracks. Drummer Edwin seemed very proud of this song when we spoke after the gig: “We’re quite proud of the recorded version.”
It’s easy to see why. It’s the most sophisticated thing in their arsenal. ‘Trusted You’ on the other end of the spectrum, was pure live action speed-freak fodder, ripping with breakneck repetition, stopping so suddenly as to solicit a gasp. By that point the energy in Manchester’s Soup Kitchen was very strong. There was a spontaneous quality to the night which made it feel like a 60s gig, an atmosphere which is helped by Andy’s bandito moustache and shoes-off/shirt-off stagewear. As he said, “I only sweat two times a day, once when I’m awake and once when I’m asleep.”
Talking about how the band achieve their sound, he told us, “Mxr carbon copy delay pedal used for vocals! We don’t have a bass player, being a two piece, so I put the guitar through one bass amp one guitar amp, with the guitar spread across two, and delay spread across the two amps! And I use 9s on my 12 string danelectro.”
Edwin went on to talk about Tonstartssbandht’s influences and musical inspirations:”As far as influences go, Mitch Mitchell was the reason I started playing drums. As for influences on music… Sly and the Family Stone, Hendrix, Funkadelic… I think Funkadelic are my favourite band.”
The band’s final song was a reprise of ‘Trusted You’ once again – a short, sharp shock. Tonstartssbandht’s gig was definitely an hour and ten minutes well spent.
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