Bearded’s Guide To… Surrey

Chunkier in reputation and crowd-gathering capabilities than the venues would suggest, Surrey’s crop of talent is growing steadily, and sticking around more to take advantage of some of our lovely event establishments and PA systems. There is an element of charity, reward and love in the air this month, which we all revel in!

Revisiting the marvelous Boileroom, all revamped and refurbished to max the capacity for all gigging Guildford-ists, resident wayward punk/dub gentlemen Subsource are getting ready to unveil their new tour film, topped off with a raucous live session. The film, created by Director and Editor Colin Arnold, charts the course of their European tour, with Arnold in tow with a video camera documenting struggles and successes along the way. The premier screening of the ‘Dubumentary’, as termed by Subsource themselves, takes place in Guildford Odeon Cinema at 7.15 on April 21st, moving on to the Boileroom for the main event.

Willful punk posers Collapse the Control are also set to take to the BR stage early in May, as well as the Kingston Peel on the 21st April. Recent releases have taken interest for these guys in the form of cover ‘Do It Like A Dude’, which can be found on YouTube, and is actually pretty fucking good! Collapse The Control played a St Paddy’s day gig alongside Guildford staple Polar and the delightful Hearts Under Fire, who’s set was tainted with sadness as they said a fond farewell to their erstwhile guitarist Steph Forrow, who has moved on to pursue other projects. The remaining ladies plan to announce their new guitarist any day now, so keep your eyes and ears sharp. HUF have also joined the ranks of the ever growing My Major Company musicians, so you can now invest in them should you feel so inclined! What a marvelous idea (we could debate the shit out of that one!)

Similarly, Precilla Broke are asking for the help of all loyal fans in getting them to buy tickets for the O2 Academy Islington. The idea is, the more tickets you buy, more likely it is they will get to play at this renowned venue. A smart concept by the bookings people, but if you want these guys on that stage, you had better act quickly! The event is set to take place May 17th. Another group who have been picked up via a major movement is Eleanore and The Lost, who have been commissioned by a as yet unknown charity to write and record a song to be featured on ad campaigns and at all events. This song will also be included on the forthcoming album, and will no doubt be gorgeous. There will be updates on this one to be sure!

Speaking of charity, The True Deceivers will be putting on a show at Guildford’s Backline Studios, complete with various musician friends from former bands (His Wooden Fish, Plenty and Two Wooden Fish). The aim of the game is to have a lovely folked-out stripped acoustical evening, with all proceeds going to The British Heart Foundation in memory of former band-mate Mark Mitchell, who died suddenly and tragically in 2009. This event is sure to be emotional and raw, yet with a bout of bonded friendships that will be a delight to behold.

And last but not least, this very Friday at Backline, there will be a chaotic array of artists, including Slento, Bandicoot and Peter Piper adorning the stage (not to mention it's dark corners and back-bar) in order to celebrate the launch of new record label Space Trap. Don’t say Surrey never gives you nothing, it’s a veritable feast out there!