The Blinders
With The Blinders having plenty to celebrate, Getintothis’ Lauren Wise catches up with the newly adopted scousers.
The Blinders conquer every venue they play. With a well-formed punk sound that spits with political rage and an explosive youthful energy, it was inevitable that the Doncaster hailing three-piece would soon be snapped up by a record label.
The lucky label is Liverpool-based ModernSky UK, headed by Sound City’s David Pichilingi. The company is the creation of a recent partnership between David and the mind behind Chinese-based music label leader Modern Sky Entertainment, Shen Li Hui.
With its own huge annual event, Modern Sky Festival, as well as signings such as Lenka, Re-TROS, Phonat and Queen Sea Big Shark, the collaboration is one that promises to have a lasting impact on the UK’s music scene.
The news follows last year’s announcement that Modern Sky Entertainment had become the sole global partners of Sound City, sparking the beginning of a fruitful partnership between the two music powerhouses.
Of the initial partnership, Shen Li Hui said: “The city of Liverpool is the birthplace of the music that influenced our growing years. Liverpool Sound City is a hugely interesting and very diverse music festival. Coming in partnership with Sound City is a great first step for Modern Sky venturing overseas.”
The next step saw the formation of ModernSky UK, keeping Liverpool at the forefront the changing music industry. Their latest signing is just one in many as Yorkshire trio, The Blinders, join a number of new recruits to the recently formed label.
Alongside them at ModernSky UK HQ are Liverpool-based psychedelic folkers FUSS, Blackburn quartet Violet Youth, Glaswegian pop dreamers Catholic Action and promising songstress Pixey.
You can catch them and their label mates here on the ol’ playlist.
ModernSky UK’s Sam Meaghan told Getintothis of his immediate excitement on first hearing The Blinders: “It was one of them, it was love on first listen really. It was an instant ‘if we aren’t picking this band, what are we doing wrong?'”
While Sam assured us that upcoming plans with The Blinders are firmly under wraps, when it does happen, we’ll know about it: “It’ll be like a slap in the face, like everything else they do there won’t be any hiding or dancing around it. They’re going to make a great album and once you hear it you’ll be made up, you’ll be in love.”
We chatted to Tom Haywood, frontman of The Blinders, to hear about the signing, their best gig of the year and their upcoming support slot for The Charlatans.
Getintothis: Congratulations on your partnership with ModernSky UK! How did that come about?
The Blinders: “They’ve been watching us from the shadows for a while now. It was all quite amusing to find out just how long we’d been on their radar, and how anxious they were for us to sign a deal with them. I’m a firm believer in fatefulness, and this is no exception.”
Getintothis: What aspect of working with them are you most looking forward to?
The Blinders: “ModernSky UK provide a welcoming, almost intimate relationship with all the bands they work with. From what we can judge, they work the same way the great independent record labels of the 20th century used to; and that’s all very appealing to us. It’s also nice to have such a great relationship with the label MD, Dave Pichilingi, the mastermind behind Liverpool Sound City.”
Getintothis: You mentioned that the partnership will allow you to release your art in a way unimaginable before – can you give us any clues as to what that will entail?
The Blinders: “The ‘unimaginable’ refers to the label taking the plunge and allowing 100% creative freedom, the necessary funding to keep the wheels of the band turning (if not accelerating said wheels), and releasing our music in the form of Long Play.”
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Getintothis: How do you feel to be supporting The Charlatans at Nottingham Rock City?
The Blinders: “A lot of bands would kill a man to be in our position. We’re incredibly grateful having been provided the opportunity, and belief that Tim & co. have placed in us. Mighty excited.”
Getintothis: What upcoming show are you looking forward to the most, and what show has been the best for you in 2017?
The Blinders: “The Doncaster show at Social Bar that we have planned for Christmas time is one to look forward to. Our native town never fails to give us a warm welcome. We miss that place very much at times, so it’s nice that we may go back and forget about the rest of the world for a night or two.
“The best show of 2017? It’s difficult to recall, we have had so many great moments. Perhaps our support slot for local anti-heroes Cabbage, at the Manchester Ritz. It had it all; an ‘I was there…’ kind of deal.”
Getintothis: You’ve had loads of achievements this year, what’s the biggest one for you all (so far)?
The Blinders: “Being signed. It’s every bands dream. We couldn’t be happier with our decision and cannot wait to see what the future brings, be it releasing our art, travelling the world, or having moved or ‘awoken’ by our music.”
Along with a supporting The Charlatans at Nottingham Rock City at the end of November, The Blinders have a UK tour lined up for February which will stop off at Glasgow, Manchester and London among many others. You can buy tickets from here.
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