Festival season is finally upon us once more, with many of the world’s greatest musicians landing on UK shores, heading to a festival stage near you. 

This year is a great year across the board with the likes of Adele, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Who and The Cure headlining Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Isle of Wight and Bestival respectively. 

Among this list of chart-topping and legendary acts, there is also a whole host of fantastic new acts taking to festival stages up and down the country.  

Here at London Speaker Hire, we love new music, that’s why we have put together five of our most recommended new acts to check out at this summer’s festivals.  

Spring King 

After a number of hard years grafting at the bottom of bills, Spring King finally seem to be coming into the limelight. The art-pop-punk four piece from Manchester are headed up by the supremely talented singer/drummer Tarek Musa, who sets them above many other new acts.  

Here’s their 2015 single City, which was the first song played by Zane Lowe on the launch of Beats 1. 

Catch them this summer at T in the Park, Reading & Leeds, Bestival, Boardmasters and Kendal Calling. 

Let’s Eat Grandma

This Norwich duo will likely make you question what on earth you were doing during your teen years. Rosa (16) and Jenny (17) create wonderfully bewitching, disorientating and rich tunes which lie somewhere between the sounds of PJ Harvey, Bjork and CocoRosie.   

A track which best sums up their talent is the fantastic Deep Six Textbook. 

Go see them if you’re heading to Latitude, Festival by The Sea, Castlepalooza, Field Day or Visions Festival.  

Blossoms

Probably the most recognisable name on this list is the superb Blossoms. In the last 12 months, the Stockport indie rock five-piece have gained plenty of airtime on the nation’s top radio stations and have supported the likes of The Libertines, Jake Bugg, The Charlatans, The Last Shadow Puppets and The Stone Roses. This all comes before the release of their first album. 

Check out their latest single Getaway. 

See them at Reading & Leeds, Truck Festival, Glastonbury, Kendal Calling, Y Not?, T in the Park, Boardmasters, Festival No.6, Parklife, Isle of Wight amongst others. 

Black Honey

With their combination of frontwoman Izzy B Phillips’ femme fatale vocals and spikey guitar riffs, the Brighton four-piece are the latest in a growing collection of female led contemporary rock/indie bands.  

We are still awaiting their debut album; however, they have a number of great single releases worth checking out. Their biggest hit to date, with over 1.3 million plays on Spotify is the brilliant Madonna:

Black Honey will be performing at Bestival, 2000 Trees Festival, Truck Festival and Barn on the Farm Festival.  

The Big Moon

Fresh off the back of supporting the likes of the Vaccines and the Maccabees, The Big Moon are sure to be a hit of astronomical performances this summer. 

The London female four-piece create a refreshing pop-inflected retro rock, which combines snarling guitars with frontwoman Juliette Jackson’s nonchalant vocals. 

Their accessible singles get no better than Nothing Without You.

 You can catch them at Glastonbury, Bushstock Festival, Latitude, Leefest Presents Neverland, Truck Festival, Outlines Festival, End of the Road Festival and Festival By The Sea. 

Next weekend sees the launch of The Soundcrash Funk & Soul Weekender, an all new UK music festival.

When & Where

From Friday 13^th to Monday 16^th May, the festival will open its doors for the first time at Pontins Holiday Centre, Camber Sands, Sussex. 

What to Expect

Music fans will enjoy a weekend packed full of established and up and coming acts and DJs from the worlds of funk and soul, reggae, jazz, ska, northern soul, disco and hip-hop. 

On top of all the great music there will be a whole host of other activities to enjoy and indulge in across the weekend including karaoke, quizzes, record fairs, jazz dance classes and much much more.

There is also the added bonus of this year’s festival being held at Pontins Holiday Park, which means your ticket includes chalet accommodation, so say goodbye to cramming you and your friends in that rubbish pop up tent you use every year at other festivals. 

Line up

This year’s collection of artists and performers is as diverse and eclectic as the list of genres above suggests.

At the top of the bill sits jazz vibraphonist and R&B legend Roy Ayers, breakbeat and electro-funk DJ pioneer Afrika Bambaataa and prolific alternative dance trailblazer Will Holland aka Quantic.   

There’s also BBC 6 Music’s true voice in funk and soul, and festival circuit regular Mr Craig Charles, the man described as “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived” Tony Allen and nine-piece dub, ska and roots reggae band Gentleman’s Dub Club.

Across the weekend there are also sets from one of the hardest working DJs on the circuit, the all vinyl eclectic Mr Scruff, mash up Jedi DJ Yoda and Nottingham Hill Carnival and radio legend Norman Jay MBE.

There is plenty of live music too, with performances from new and exciting Swedish vocalist Fatima, afro-beat ambassador Dele Sosimi, West-African funk and disco masters Ibibio Sound Machine, soul singer-songwriter and DJ Andrew Ashong, hip-hop collective Lazy Habits and many many more.

To see the full list of acts and videos of each, check out the official festival page here.

The Location

The location for the festival, as hinted at earlier in this preview is quite different to most festivals for two reasons. The first is that unlike most festivals where you have to pay over the odds for good accommodation, the most basic weekend ticket gets you chalet accommodation.

The second is that the festival is very close to the sea, which means you can go for an afternoon on the sands in between sets if you enjoy the beach.

Other activities

Like plenty of festivals, there is lots more on offer than just the music stages. All in keeping with the weekend vibes, there will be jazz boogie n’ soul dance classes, disco yoga, live band karaoke, record fairs, music quizzes and a jazz café among others.

Using the location to its advantage, there will also be pool parties on site and after the live music there will be a number of after parties, including a Soundcrash speakeasy party and a Wah Wah 45’s takeover party.

Plenty of these activities, such as the pool parties will cost you a little extra, so make things a lot easier and book ahead through the Soundcrash Funk & Soul Weekender website. 

If this preview has caught your eye then head over to the festival website here and grab yourself a ticket.

 

Hearing is undoubtedly the most important thing any musician possesses, without it, your profession and key interest are essentially finished. 

Unsurprisingly, musicians are more susceptible to noise-induced deafness than most, with a recent German study showing that 57% of professional musicians are more likely to suffer tinnitus as a result of their jobs than anyone else. 

At London Speaker Hire we want performers to have a prolonged, healthy and productive musical career. So if you are a musician and haven’t considered how your hearing could become damaged, listen up while you still can.

See below our 10 ways to protect your hearing as a musician. 

Rehearsal Volume

Trying to save your ears when onstage is obviously tricky, but it is something you can help when rehearsing, especially if you work in electrical instruments.

Subjecting yourself to high levels of output on stage has its purposes and is less avoidable, but there is no reason to do so in the closed space of rehearsals. Bring levels down to a reasonable volume and use headphones when possible.   

Earplugs

The common misconception with earplugs is that they completely block out all noise. While they are designed to reduce the sound your ears are subjected to, they aren’t a total block.

Increasing amounts of musicians have adopted the use of earplugs in recent years. This is because it is one of the most consistent ways to keep tinnitus at bay while still allowing you to hear clearly to perform. 

Stage Positioning

One very simple measure to take when on stage or even watching a gig is to position yourself away from the speakers.

A simple rule to follow is if you can feel the bass in your rib cage, you’re probably too close. Instead, stand away and to the side of the output, so you are not directly in line with the full force of the amp/speaker. 

Reduce Device Volume

As a musician, you are exposed to more consistently loud music than most people, so you really need to make the most of your downtime.

If you listen to your iPod (or similar device) frequently, try cranking down the volume a little to give your ears as much of a rest as possible. 

Rest Your Ears

Take even further precautions by resting your ears whenever possible. Between gigs, try and wind down by avoiding other gigs or performances that might contain excessive sound.

While it might be fun to check out a bucket full of other bands when you are at a festival, it might be better for your hearing to cut the amount in half. 

Get Your Ears Checked

So many musicians assume their hearing is fine because they haven’t suddenly gone deaf one morning, in fact, it is much more progressive than that.

Read this helpful piece on tinnitus from Slide Share and consider if you have any symptoms. If you feel you might, book an appointment with your doctor in the near future.

Buy A Sound Meter

If you have been performing for a long time and have never used things like ear plugs, you might not be aware how much damage you are doing to your ears.

A great way to do this is to invest in some sound level meters to see what you are regularly subjecting your ears to. As a general rule, anything over 100dB is pretty harmful over prolonged periods of time. 

This post from New Orleans Music Clinic is great in explaining how many decibels you can subject your ears to before damaging your hearing over different periods of time.

Plan Rehearsal Times

With the last point in mind, it is important to space out the periods of time in which you are going to be around excessive sound for a given length of time.

Perhaps schedule rehearsals in blocks of half hours instead of enduring a couple of hours straight could be a decent option.

Enjoy Antioxidants

One of the stranger ways to combat your potential hearing loss is to consume plenty of antioxidants, especially before you head out onstage.

In recent studies, when administered before exposure, antioxidants have proven to boost ear defence.

You can pick up supplements like this from any high street chemist.

Be Cautious

While prevention is the best approach, there is no guaranteeing that damage hasn’t already been done.

If something doesn’t seem like it used to, you turn volume up louder than you used to or you have a consistent ringing in your ears after gigs, don’t hesitate to see a doctor.

If there is something wrong, it is better to nip it in the bud now rather than wait till it deteriorates further in the future.