The Joy Formidable w/ Drowners (CANCELED)

Actions Panel

The Joy Formidable w/ Drowners (CANCELED)

By 3S Artspace

Date and time

Thursday, May 12, 2016 · 9:30 - 9:30am EDT

Location

3S Artspace, Vaughan Street, Portsmouth, NH, United States

Refund Policy

Contact the organizer to request a refund.

Description

Due to logistical travel issues beyond TJF's control, the group has been forced to cancel their upcoming performance in Portsmouth. We hope to bring them back to Portsmouth in the near future. All ticket purchases will be refunded within the next 7-10 business days.

The Joy Formidable w/ Drowners
Saturday, June 4
Doors at 7:30pm / Show at 8:30pm
$20 / $18 Members / $59.50 VIP Package

VIP PACKAGE INCLUDES:

  • One general admission ticket
  • VIP early entry into the venue
  • Exclusive meet & greet with The Joy Formidable
  • Group photograph with The Joy Formidable
  • Private and intimate acoustic performance by The Joy Formidable
  • CD copy of The Joy Formidable’s new album Hitch
  • Collectible tour poster autographed by the band
  • Official meet & greet laminate
  • Limited availability


The Joy Formidable have never been one to shy away from a challenge. Proving that time and again by holding their own as support for legendary artists and acts from Sir Paul McCartney to The Foo Fighters and The Black Keys.

Once described by Rolling Stone as “wickedly bracing and Himalaya-huge;” the fantastic live band would now face the self-appointed challenge of ensuring their onstage energy and ability to connect with audiences translated via recording. That is the challenge that TJF took on for their upcoming third release. “We realized we needed to build a space and do it ourselves, go back to being three people in a room again” said Ritzy (Rhiannon) Bryan regarding the band’s decision to self-produce the new record.

Twelve months later, the band have made an album that has “musically and emotionally put them through the wringer” but as the band explains, “it’s fine for it to hurt, to finish a record feeling exhausted, we needed a good purge.”

Continuing on the path of taking matters into their own hands, the group set out to build the right team around the new music by getting the legendary Alan Moulder to mix the album (The Killers, Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, etc) and by starting their own label and teaming up with Caroline Records as new partners for the release.

” We wanted to work with people who feel as strong as we do about music, who listen to albums, love the art and let that take control.” “On this album, we’ve been lucky enough to feel that same enthusiasm from everyone involved.” This self-starter approach has been a staple of TJF for quite some time, building consistently since the band moved back to North Wales.

The Joy Formidable started right away by launching Aruthrol – a unique 7” vinyl singles club, showcasing a series of new songs sung in Welsh; built a studio – The Red Brick – in the hills they roamed when they were growing up. They have since used that studio to write and record an astonishing new album, an evolutionary step forward from its predecessors The Big Roar (2011) & Wolf’s Law (2013).

They also completed their first short film score for Greg Jardin’s ‘Floating’, an urban love story about a character made entirely of balloons. It’s an emotionally resonant score, with all the underpinnings of The Joy Formidable, Ritzy’s atmospheric guitar work, and Rhydian’s piano-led melodies, interlaced together to compliment the themes of loneliness, vulnerability, persistence and humanity at the film’s core.

The band’s love for soundtracks is highlighted by their recently recorded and released interpretation of Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise’s iconic theme for Twin Peaks. “It started off as a distraction in the studio that gathered momentum,” says Ritzy. “It’s a great and unusual piece of music and a great and unusual piece of television; we’re excited about the new episodes.”

ABOUT DROWNERS

In the late summer of 2011, Drowners frontman Matthew Hitt found himself in New York City. He’s from a small town in rural Wales but New York is where Hitt feels most at home. “I just like the way things look here. I like the way things are done here. I like how late everything happens,” he says. New York’s signature up-all-night energy courses through Drowners’ self-titled debut, but there’s a sweet melancholy to the album as well.

In his down time, Hitt began writing songs that reflected this renewed interest in angular, compressed rock and roll. “The early songs came out really short – I thought, well, I’ve already sung the chorus twice I don’t need to do it again, that’s what makes it a chorus! I think that being in New York influenced what I was trying to do with economy in song structure and instrumentation. It’s like, here’s what I’m trying to say. Okay, I said it. Now it’s over. Onto the next one.” Gallivanting around downtown, Hitt also met likeminded souls, including future bandmates, Jack Ridley III (guitar, vocals,) Erik Lee Snyder (bass,) and Lakis E. Pavlou (drums).

It would take the better part of the next six months to secure the right record deal, but during that time the band gigged like crazy, ratcheting up their live prowess. They also released a well-received EP, Between Us Girls. By the time Drowners were in a recording studio to record their full-length debut, with producers Gus Oberg and Johnny T., they were ready. The first single off Drowners’ eponymous debut, “Luv, Hold Me Down,” is a propulsive slice of perfect garage pop. “It brings across this sort of jovial misery,” says Hitt, “It’s kind of pop, like a lot of the rest of the record, but lyrically, it’s not as shiny as seems.”

The other side of coin, according to Hitt, comes courtesy of the melodic and melancholy track “A Button on Your Blouse” which changes up the pace of Drowners’ self-professed brand of romantic aggression. “I always think of this one as our ballad even though it’s not even that slow,” says Hitt with a laugh. But it’s the cheeky grime of “Long Hair” that really showcases the easy, dirty thrill of Drowners.

While Hitt is responsible for the elegantly understated lyrics throughout the album – the kind that adhere to his Salinger-esque economy of words – he professes that everything changed as soon as recording began. When Hitt, Ridley, Snyder, and Pavlou began to play, Hitt’s initial blueprint and the band’s extensive punk music background melded, giving the album its true form. The group wanted to present something slightly different, says Hitt. “Our live shows are a lot more aggressive,” he adds, “With the album, we wanted to create like a sort of layered, fleshed out live show.”

The result is an album that’s equal parts playfulness and disquietude, toeing the line between music that sweeps the listener up, and lyrics that beg for their deep sensitivity and understanding. “Whether you think something is good or not is if you respond to it,” says Hitt. “I wanted to illicit a response, but I want them to get whatever they want from it.”

Organized by

3S Artspace is a 501(c)(3) non-profit grounded in an unwavering appreciation for the vital role that contemporary arts play in the health of a community, both locally and globally. We believe that art has the power to transform individual lives, bridge divergent perspectives, and establish meaningful connections between and across communities.

Please consider adding on a donation to 3S during checkout while making your ticket purchase. Thank you for your support!

Sales Ended