WESLEY GONZALEZ
Gonzalez made a name for himself at an early age as the petulant frontman and creative force behind guitar-shredding pop-punk band Let’s Wrestle. The band, formed in 2005 when Gonzalez was only 15, was lauded for their no-fi DIY sound. In 2015, after ten years and three records together, culminating in a chaotic sold-out final show at The 100 Club, as reported by The Guardian, the group disbanded and Gonzalez set his sights on an entirely different approach to songwriting – “I wanted to completely indulge myself with the experimentation that I had previously kept to my bedroom demos.”
Without letting go of his fascination with ‘Beatlesesque’ melodies, Gonzalez taught himself piano by learning to play Stevie Wonder and Al Green songs, “which all have chord structures I’d not paid much attention to previously. There’s also a lot of emphasis on the bass notes and rhythm of the bass”. He began writing songs harking back to mid 70’s singer-songwriters such as Emmitt Rhodes, whilst maintaining those elements of soul and funk via Sly And The Family Stone and Donny Hathaway. A summer revisiting early electronic music (White Noise, Mort Garson) encouraged Gonzalez to invest in analogue Korg synthesizers, on which he wrote Excellent Musician. Although he made a conscious retreat from punk music, Gonzalez maintains his work is “still defined as angry music; anger is still an energy” but contends that “whilst I’m proud of what I did with Let’s Wrestle, I hate bands that regurgitate the same sound over various LPs – I knew something had to change for me to want to try music again.”
LICE
LICE have been establishing themselves in Bristol’s tight-knit artistic community for the last year, playing a number of incendiary DIY shows including a Halloween gig in a 13th century crypt. They’ve also played support shows for The Fat White Family and The Fall.
This Spring they will play a string of shows which includes their first headline show in London at The Windmill on June 8th and support slots for both The Rebel and HMLTD
FACTORY SECONDS
Factory Seconds is a band from London generating '80s inspired melancholic indie pop from a unit in an old factory.
Popular Culture is a regular monthly clubnight from Rockfeedback.
Tickets are on sale now.
Facebook event
The Finsbury
336 Green Lanes London N4 1BY
8pm
£5