Sometimes you mention things in passing and you don’t always realise the interest in others that these little titbits of information can imbue, particularly if it’s become every day for you. It takes that other person to highlight that they weren’t aware of it and that actually it’s quite interesting and more people might like to know about it.
To me, this is how a lot of the music scene in Leeds communicates with the wider city; you only hear about certain facets of it if you ask questions or highlight that something someone said was interesting so they tell you more.
This recently happened between me and Emma: I was talking about a writing/production team from the city, Deuce & Charger and how their debut single came about, and here we are, the first in a series of blog posts about the music scene and the little bits, people, organisation, events and stories waiting to be heard.
It would be silly not to focus on the reason this all came about to begin with, so here’s the story of Deuce & Charger:
D&C have spent the last three years working behind the scenes with top 10 artists and rising stars of UK pop. Their combination of classic songwriting, live instrumentation and studio programming has been in demand and they’ve enjoyed it, but the formulaic nature of it all encouraged them to find an output for their wider creativity and step to the fore to release their own music.
Their debut track, Always Broke, featuring up and coming artist Benn Moore, was written out of the frustrations of not being able to address potentially political, and almost certainly downbeat topics within the tracks they were creating for other artists. The team, understanding that a great music can be both poignant and punchy, decided to combine their strengths, influences and experiences to create a uncompromising mix of eclectic pop sounds and styles that resonate with real-life drama and emotion.
Always Broke reminds us that even without money, the currency that seems to rule our every movement, there’s still something. I’m always broke but… and the ‘but’ in the lyric could lead to a million responses of how each person rewards themselves, focuses themselves on a positive in a often anxious situation or assures those around them that everything’s okay.
The track had its radio debut on Bradford based BCB Radio on Thursday and I’m sure that its catchy nature will have it stuck in people’s minds until their next release. With collaborations already arranged with Nightmares on Wax vocalist Pheonix Pearle and hotly-tipped solo artist Yo Preston, it’s a matter of seeing where this supercharged collective of collaborators appear next.
Kay’s day job is to ensure that the annual music festival, Live at Leeds goes ahead without a hitch, she regularly tweets the @culturevultures account with robot related links and she blogs about the little things to make you smile on Cheery Little Thing.