Hillhouse is the antifolk acoustic nom de plume of Pete Murphy. Originally a 5 piece band formed in 1997, Hillhouse merged bands and formed-reformed until 2019 when Pete started to produce solo material

Contact: band.hillhouse@gmail.com

Powerfully uncool electronic pop grooves for sarcastic introverts.
Working the Recovery Chronic Depression/Anxiety
Trekkie 🖖

In the Forest are a 4-piece acoustic, indie-folk band featuring family dynamics and four-part harmonies with vocals that blend naturally and instinctively. 

Their songs are mellow and take you on a journey through the elements; from embracing moments of inner fire to running away and walking free in the rain. 

Their collective song-writing approach gives you songs that have roots in folk, indie, pop and reggae and with many years of playing all over the UK, In the forest will enchant you with their multiple instruments and intricate vocal arrangements.

In the Forest are launching their debut EP 17th June 2020 across all major online stores

Life-affirming Mancunian electro-pop"
-  Tom Robinson BBC 6Music
​
"That has Manchester's musical heritage running right through it like the writing in rock"
-  Guy Garvey (Elbow)  BBC 6Music

"Lush"
-  John Kennedy  Radio X

Test Card Girl is a solo project by new Manchester indie singer-songwriter Catherine Burgis. Having grown increasingly frustrated with an admin-based existence, and wishing to conquer a life-long fear of singing in public, Catherine embarked on a country-wide tour as a musical comedian in 2018 complete with novelty miniature keyboard. Winning awards (North West Comedian of the Year, Frog and Bucket 2018, Funny Women Semi-Finalist 2019, Beat the Gong Winner, The Arc, Stockton 2019) and growing in confidence as a singer, she performed her first (and last) gig as solo synth-folk artist Test Card Girl in February 2020, with all subsequent gigs immediately being cancelled due to the dawning of a global pandemic.
 
With live performance not possible, Catherine turned her attention to recording and released her first single 'Holds Me Down' in 2020. The single was picked up by BBC 6Music, Radio X, Absolute Radio and XS Manchester and she was named Steve Lamacq's BBC 6 Music 'One to Watch' in January 2021. Catherine was awarded an Arts Council grant to make a further 3 singles in 2021 and is currently working on her debut EP 'Fly' with producer Seadna McPhail at Airtight Studios, Manchester.  The EP is due for release in Spring 2022 and will feature guest performances from drummer Andy Hargreaves (I Am Kloot) and bass player Nathan Sudders (Miles Kane, Guy Garvey, Nadine Shah). Test Card Girl's music ranges from lo-fi bedroom pop to simple indiefolk songs, influenced in equal parts by the standard-issue musical taste of a 90's Manchester teenager; an obsession with the MIDI sounds of childhood keyboards past and finger-picking folk songs of old. In January 2022 Catherine was announced as one of 10 Manchester International Festival MIF Sounds artists​ and will be performing live throughout 2022 (dates TBC).

From Electronic Sound Magazine Nov 22 issue

Keller Machine
The electropogo revolution starts here

Who?
Sam Day and Adam Donovan, two dog-eared likely lads, one from London and one from Lincolnshire. Having spent the last couple of years putting single tracks on Bandcamp, the pair have now brought together the best of these for their debut album ‘Kitchen Sinks And Rocket Ships’. Taking their name from a mind-mushing device used by the Master in a 1971 episode of ‘Doctor Who’ - this was in the glory days John Pertwee - Keller Machine deliver short and sharp electronic pop songs powered by almost punk levels of vim. Is there such a thing as electropogo? There is now.

Why Keller Machine?
We could talk about the gritty vocals, or the super-catchy synth melodies, or the driving basslines, but what’s most striking about Keller Machine is how they sound like they’re having a total blast. They have a way with words as well, the title of their album neatly encapsulating their interest in both humdrum happenings and outer space. Take the opening lines of ‘Neil Armstrong’, a desperate and hilarious message to the dead astronaut about how badly the future has gone wrong: “Sitting in an egg-shaped chair/listening to Eno/Accumulating some orgone/Reading The Beano”. Rhyming Eno with The Beano is gold star stuff, but sliding in a Hawkwind reference  in there too is genius.

Tell Us More…
Since you’ve asked nicely…Weirdo disco, black briefcases, monsters, Our Price, paper hats, leaky taps and phone taps, Spizz Energy, double chasers, low-end fuzz, Davis Essex and Ringo Starr, mini-skirts, builder’s tea, ‘The Man Machine’, bursts of guitar deliberately timed to give synth purists the heebie-jeebies…And relaaaaax, albeit only for as long as it takes to start wondering why we’re messing about with half a page on Keller Machine when they should quite clearly be on the fromt cover of the magazine. Maybe next month.

Push

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