CMAT
Each year the headline hunt at Deer Shed causes much ruckus in the office.
Step forward CMAT aka Ciara Mary - Alice Thompson. I'm only affectionally annoyed that Otherside Festival in Ireland got there
first. This is CMAT's return to Deer Shed - but with headline status.
The new album Crazymad, For Me for me deserves it, and don’t just take my word for it, with rave reviews from Line of Best Fit and NME.
The album’s described as an “abstract break up record”, and the track 'Where Are Your Kids Tonight' duet with festival favourite John Grant seems poignant (especially for Deer Shed, where kids are at the heart of our ethos).
As I listen, sparked by seeing her a second time live this summer, it’s a rapid growth for the Irish star. Described by herself as the "bat out of hell by Meatloaf for the girls" it’s an album for all, that can have you listening intently over a glass of vino one minute, and then dancing round the living room the next.
NME described the star as Dublin’s answer to Dolly Parton, CMAT is more than worthy of a Sunday night headline status, much as Dolly would be.
M.E
The Go! TEAM
Referring to our [old posters] our memory is jogged. The Go! Team last appeared at Deer Shed 2 in 2011. Those were the days, and we very much celebrate their return to the main stage on Sunday prior to CMAT.
The Go! Team has a new album out this year, Get Up Sequences Part Two. Their 7th album no less. According to Clash magazine Get Up Sequences Part Two is the best album The Go! Team have released since their 2004 debut album Thunder, Lighting, Strike. We'd agree. Their 2024 performance at Deer Shed will mark the 20 year anniversary of this seminal L.P. for your delight :)
The band still feel very current in 2023. A mixing tin of influences and styles from all over the world in a weird way reminds us of the way A.I. generated art can bring in different influences and styles into a coherent whole, and so it is with The Go! Team, all served up with a big helping of their trademark Sesame Street positivity.
It might be the perfect excuse for a [Double Dutch style skipping] flashmob. Who knows...
O.J.
The Tubs
Bands have their own natural sound when they get together to play in a space. It is their own sound. And if your band sounds like Richard Thompson fronting a 1980s college radio hyped guitar-based combo, that's just the way it is.
Formed from the ashes of band Joanna Gruesome, what's not to like?
Add in Johnny Marr guitar vibes, and sometimes Peter Buck guitar vibes, sometimes Bob Mould vibes and the recipe is complete. And it is awesome.
We recently caught them play at the SWN festival in Cardiff and after the first song the drummer apologised to the audience in case anyone saw him throw up prior to the show. Good honest rock and roll. It was our favourite gig of the weekend, so much so that we bought the tshirt.
They appeared on our radar initially due to rave reviews of their shows, "everyone loves them" the trusted source said. We know for sure that when we ask you for your fave band of Deer Shed 2024, that The Tubs will heavily feature. We'll leave it there.
O.J.
Blue Bendy
When I make music for my own amusement the moto is - "the road less travelled hides the new". If I were to ever get a tattoo, this is what it would say, on my calf I think, the least hairy part of me.
And so it is with Blue Bendy, for they are nothing if not experimental. We wish more bands would do this sort of thing.
They are a six piece band from South London via Scunthorpe. And we would describe them as a young hybrid band, electronics and guitars, Olivia's Korg MS20 mini adding one of many juxtapositions against the dead pan vocal delivery of Arthur Nolan.
Supporting Squid at Nathan's new venue in Leeds we were struck by the variety between tunes and within them (much like Squid too in fact). Gong-esque similarities abound, marvel at seat-of-your-pants-roller-coaster transistions with a 5 minute tune, a more neurotic version of B.C. Camplight.
Hopefully this has given you a flavour, highly recommended and not to be missed.
O.J.
John Niven
Yours truly first met John Niven in the late 1990s when he was an A&R person working for Independiente Records. I was playing guitar with the band Sunhouse that he kept a watchful eye on, but that's [another story] - but relevant to his writing.
At the time I had no idea of John's literary talents, his first-class English literature degree (thanks Wikipedia) was not apparent to me through the hedonistic haze of the London music industry scene in 1998.
And yet it was that same environment that was to fuel John's post-record-company career as he drew inspiration for his first novel. Kill Your Friends is a satire on the music business, the debut novel described by The Word as "possibly the best British Novel since Trainspotting". Write about what you know...
And so it started. In 2023, ten novels later, John published his latest book to great acclaim – the best seller O Brother documents the life and eventual suicide of his brother Gary. His latest novel is certainly a departure from his previous work due to its very personal nature. It is conflicted to say the least.
If you follow John on Twitter [@estellecostanza], as we do, you will perhaps get a sense of what to expect from a literary chat at Deer Shed. Uncompromising, we hope! We are both excited and delighted to welcome him to Yorkshire to discuss his latest book, his long writing career, his current fave bands and where he is taking us next...
O.J.