LAISH

by Chris Torry

For Press enquiries: Chris Stone: stone@stoneimmaculate.co.uk

Radio enquiries: Luke at Rocket PR: luke@rocketpr.co.uk 

Folkwit Records: Nick: nick@folkwit.biz

To contact the band: laishmusic@gmail.com

Laish biography:

Laish, indie folk heroes from Brighton, have Danny Green writing and singing songs with a delicate grit, while the band arrange and play with passion and poise.  Lyrically these songs are honest – brutal even, and yet full of humour, distilling all from the joyful pleasures of life through to the slow demise of relationships and indeed humanity.   Their brief is wide and vague but those who have seen Laish live in the flesh come away exhilarated; sweatier and with an uplifted feeling.

Green’s voice is like no other, from a deep and warm brogue to a soaring falsetto.  Frayed around the edges but rich in emotion. The Laish band features Emma Gatrill and Martha Rose who provide the angelic voices and organic instrumentation of violin, clarinet and accordion; and Patrick Lawrence and Dan Harding lay down a solid rhythm foundation of bass and drums.

Laish have toured relentlessly throughout the UK and Europe over the last three years, cementing their reputation as a tight, professional unit but with a touch of the unexpected. They are now comfortably headlining larger shows but have supported the likes of Sons of Noel & Adrian, Peggy Sue, David Thomas Broughton and even one night with Grizzly Bear and Beach House at The Roundhouse.

The band performed a triumphant set on the mainstage at this year’s first No Direction Home Festival and have previously appeared at The Big Chill Festival, Burning Eagle Festival and Willkommen Foxtrot Festival.

They have so far released a self-titled album that received a glowing reception from many including Mojo Magazine who were impressed by its “beguiling songs of love”; and the recent Obituaries EP showcasing what to expect from their new album.  Radio play from Marc Riley, The Waiting Room, Folk Radio UK and Amazing Radio. They have a brand new album impatiently waiting in the wings.

Laish originally formed five years ago from the sparks of Green’s shy, fuzzy home recordings.  Son of a languages teacher and an amateur photographer, he is a completely self-taught musician.  From his first attempts at learning to play Nirvana’s guitar and drum parts from ear, he spent his teens experimenting with sound on cheap instruments and a second hand four track machine.

“I had some piano lessons for a few months when I was really young. I hated it.   Then my teacher died very suddenly of lung cancer.  That was the end of that.  My parents are not really musical but I am from a long line of show offs.  My uncle is a clown, my brother is a comedian.  My dad is the most serious joker I’ve known.”

A move to Brighton in 2007 found Danny fall in with a strange kind of folk orchestra, Sons of Noel and Adrian, and here began a new musical apprenticeship.

“Suddenly everyone I met was a songwriter.  But writing intimidatingly good songs that I wanted to hear, with unique voices and ambitious arrangements and interesting home recording approaches.  I knew I had a voice in me somewhere and I knew I had some songs to write but I had no idea what was coming out.  I just had a sense that there was a lot of work to do.”

Green got more involved with the Willkommen Collective and began organising and promoting shows across Brighton and curating collaborative recording projects and compilation releases.

“The Willkommen Collective seems to be something of a mysterious entity.  Who is in it?  How does it work?  Are you all sleeping with each other?  These are questions I get asked a lot.  I just point people to the Willkommen Foxswap Compilation and let them figure the rest out.”

RESPONSE TO LAISH 

• “This is real, beautiful, honest, gracious and just plain wonderful music.” 9/10 – The Blue Walrus
• “Very special indeed” – Whisperinandhollerin 8/10
• “Beguiling songs of love and fasting” – Mojo Magazine
• “Packs a lot of punch and emotion” – 4/5 Folk Radio UK
• “Danny Green clearly wins at harmony arranging. He is worthy of some kind of harmonic rosette” – Bearded Magazine
• “Laish require attention” Onda Rock 8/10
• “Daniel Green has the kind of voice that can melt butter.” – Sounds XP
• “Spell-binding music” – Never Enough Notes
• “An affecting and irresistible blend of the melancholic and the pretty.” – Suitcase Orchestra
• “There is little on the record to dislike” – Bowlegs
• “An impressive and beguiling record” – Epigram Bristol
• “You would hope that the deserved acclaim will soon come knocking for this talented few” – Subba Culture
• “A modest but quietly stunning affair that deserves to make this hard touring band a national treasure” –  Southcoasting
• “It’s clear from the band’s sound that they are aiming to do something different with the genre, twisting harmonies and song structure into something their own” Muso’s Guide