About this Event

BIG DEAL

plus support from Fazerdaze, Annabel Allum



http://www.theboileroom.net/listings/events/13-jun-16-big-deal-the-boileroom/



It’s been a remarkable few years for Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe, the London-based duo better known as Big Deal. After meeting in 2010 when Kacey taught Alice some songs on guitar, the twists and turns of their on-going relationship has been documented via their catalogue of intense rock-pop songs. “Our relationship has always given us plenty of inspiration to write music.” Costelloe says.



Having received widespread acclaim for their first two albums, 2011’s ‘Lights Out’ and 2013’s ‘June Gloom’, the band were invited to join Depeche Mode on tour. “Something clicked for us during that time,” they explain. “Touring with them made us realise we had been hiding when we should be stepping in to the light.” This realisation resulted in the band adopting a stronger, bolder attitude to making music.



Released via FatCat Records, ‘Say Yes’, the band’s third studio album, began as an entirely self-funded project. “We had to borrow money to get the album made—it was very risky,” explains Costelloe.



The task was only made more challenging when the duo’s laptop, containing demos and ideas for the new record, was stolen in December of 2014. “We had to start everything from scratch—it was fight or flight and we decided to fight,” they say. “Pretty much everything that could fall apart for us, did. This included parting with our label [Mute], breaking up a relationship, band members leaving and losing all of our music when my apartment was broken in to. We didn’t want to give up, or revel in our misery. We decided instead to try and turn it into something magic.”



Following a 10-day recording window during the summer of 2015, the duo road tested the new material while touring with Drenge and Peace, before approaching labels.

“It was not an easy period but we decided to see it all as some sort of blessing,” Underwood explains. As with ‘June Gloom’ additional support came from outside, in this case Dom Boyce from Peace, who guest spots the drums, and full-time members Jessica Batour [Drums] and Jesse Wong [Bass].

Typically confessional, it’s hard not to connect with the raw honesty of the lyrics on ‘Say Yes’. Sonically the record still sounds very much like Big Deal, but it evidences a certain newfound confidence, the pair explain “We’ve done everything backwards. Most bands spend a few years figuring themselves out before releasing a record. We released a record and then have spent a few years finding ourselves.”



‘Say Yes’ is arguably the most open and emotionally provocative of all their works, “We’ve always been pretty private about our relationship within the band, but feel more comfortable talking about it for this record, as it’s pivotal in the placement of our career.” they explain. “It’s about taking all kinds of heartbreak and defeat, and just looking at it dead in the eye and going for it.”



In many ways, ‘Say Yes’ can be seen as the final chapter of the band’s first instalment. “The first one [album] was about not being together, the second one about being together, the third is about breaking up and trying to make sense of it all,” Costelloe explains, frankly. “The three albums in effect make one enormous concept record.”



Fazerdaze

Fazerdaze

https://www.facebook.com/fazerdazemusic/

https://soundcloud.com/fazerdaze



The brainchild of Amelia Murray, Fazerdaze began as a string of bedroom recordings created late in the night, emerging fully-formed in 2014 as her debut eponymous EP. A succinct collection of intimate, beautifully produced dream-pop written, produced and performed by Murray herself. It’s a significant first outing for the young New Zealander with layers of softly crunching guitars swirling over consistently driving drum machines, and

sparse electronica.

The EP quickly took flight, receiving critical acclaim from blogs and publications around the globe. NME described it as ‘elegant dream pop’, while US blog HillyDilly exclaimed how ‘Fazerdaze transports us to a warm, optimistic sonic space with her glistening synths and mellow acoustic guitar strums’. NZ’s Sunday Star Times listed it in their ‘Best of 2014’ spread, hailing it as a ‘versatile collection of near-perfect pop songs...’.

Since the EP release, Fazerdaze and her band have shifted to another level. Opening the 2015 New Zealand Silver Scroll Awards with her cover of Marlon Williams’ Dark Child as well as supporting and touring with international acts like Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Connan Mockasin and Matt Corby. With a full length album set for release in 2016 and a

UK tour in June, this is just the beginning for Amelia Murray and Fazerdaze.



Annabel Allum

https://soundcloud.com/annabel-allum

“She’s not trying to fit in with any trend... if anything, Allum has created a sound defiantly honest...” - Gold Flake Paint



Growing up with her military father and older brother, Annabel was unlike the other girls at school. She spent most of her spare time roaming the woods, building dens, and getting her knees dirty. She’d always been a bit rough around the edges. It was as Allum grew older and realized her struggle to fit in, that she taught herself to play guitar. “Music was my outlet of frustration. It helped me quietly deal with the things that I couldn't make sense of.” Allum's vocal tone has been compared to the likes of PJ Harvey and Policá; twisting vowels into dark



depths of lyrical despair. Don’t expect to grasp every word she phrases. Allum's songs aren't necessarily about telling a story, but rather, painting a musical picture.



Take from them what you want, interpret as you desire.



https://www.facebook.com/AnnabelAllumOfficial/





The BOILEROOM

13 Stoke Fields

Guildford

Surrey

GU1 4LS

01483 440022



£7ADV // £5 w/ NUS

All Ages Welcome

7pm Doors



Sisters Unite: Celebrating Women in Music and the Arts

https://www.facebook.com/sistersuniteuk/