Nowadays it’s easy for bands to big themselves up, however it’s kind of hard not to when you’ve been surrounded by it all your lives. Take The Velvet Hearts for example, one of them has a father responsible for one of the biggest tunes ever heard and another works with the most successful British female album seller of the last two decades.
Growing up on a stringent diet of Rock and Roll has put this six piece in fine stead, their groove rock anthemic style is a tribute to their legacy, a homage to their past and most notably they posses a shameless troubadour spirit which is ever so clear in their Live shows. “Our Dads took us to the Blues Tavern for our first pint at the age of fourteen. We thought it was just a regular jam night, it just so happened that we were joined by Oasis’ drummer Zak Starkey and John Entwistle on bass. It was a bit weird when they started to see some of these old faces turn up at our shows a few years later” says the band’s versatile keys man and Elkie Brookes’ band mate Stevie Jones.
Having such diverse influences as Jeff Buckley, Nirvana and Counting Crows, it’s certainly no shock that their music is somewhat eclectic, with a unique capacity to construct soft sweet three part harmonies through to all out stomping anthems. There’s a fierce ardour throughout every single song, where the subject matter is paramount and delivered with more punch than Ricky Hatton.
Compelling lead frontman John James Newman (son of Sandy Newman of ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ fame) tells us “We just want to get out there, blow peoples minds and buzz off the reaction” Likened to such bands as Muse, Snow Patrol and The Killers, The Velvet Hearts are already attracting major label attention, after their recent tour culminated at London’s prestigious Clapham Grand Radio 1’s Zane Lowe touted them as one of his tips for 2007. Completing the sextet is the enigmatic Lydia Cascarino-Close on Bass, Quest Quinton on Guitar and the powerhouse combo of Ollie-Richmond Jones and Jamie Bruce on Drums and Vocals respectively.
These days Steve Jones is playing with Brother Strut, John James Newman is playing solo and has a side project called Betadrone with Pete Kirtley.
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