Hunting Hearts are yet another independent local Southampton group making marks in the alt rock genre. Sitting somewhere between punk, indie and old fashioned rock and roll, their EP Pride Not Prejudice, released in August this year, is full of emotion and rocking rhythms. Hunting Hearts’ widely known tagline is “We’re here, we’re queer, and…
Visions in the Tea Steam: Art Exhibition: Emma Morrissey, A Touch of Japan
Back in July I was pleased to be invited to the opening of Emma Morrissey’s art exhibition A Touch of Japan at the d.@rt Centre, Hedge End. I had seen and been inspired by a lot of Emma’s art during the years I worked at the d.@rt, from fabulous realistic portraits in pencil and pastel…
Tea and Tunes: Threat System – Overcome EP
I recently had the delight of being offered the chance to hear and review Threat System’s new Overcome EP in the lead up to its release on Friday 26th April. Threat System are a band that I have been waiting to hear some recorded material from for a while, since beginning my Southampton Rocks playlist…
Tea and Tunes: Minus Alive, Maybe This All Just Ends EP
Earlier this month Lloyd and I had the pleasure of attending Minus Alive’s EP launch for their new EP Maybe This All Just Ends. We’ve been watching Minus Alive for a while now since discovering that they are Southampton based when I was building my ‘Southampton Rocks’ Spotify playlist. As rock bands go, Minus Alive’s…
Tea and Tales: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-storied-life-of-a-j-fikry/gabrielle-zevin/9780349141077 We recently joined a second book club. Don’t ask me how I imagine I will read two books a month and keep up with bands, playlists, Storytime and art, but a friend recruited us and we enjoy the chance to see her, and the extra conversation topic the rest of the time. Last month’s…
Visions in the Tea Steam: Stewart Taylor’s “Spillage”
https://www.nstheatres.co.uk/whats-on/spillage It was hard to know whether to categorise this review as the first ‘Visions in the Tea Steam’ or a new ‘Tea and Tales’ — an incredibly energetic, visual presentation of spoken word by one man who creates enough different moods and characters for at least five people. Patches of poetry blend with drama,…
Tea and Tunes: Toreador
In the process of building my Adelaide and Southampton rock playlists, I’ve learnt about a lot of new bands in both local areas that I’d never heard of until I went digging. One such awesome find is Toreador. In their single ‘Hollow’ the trio create the kind of groovy slow but driving rhythm that invites…
Tea and Tunes: Dreamweaver by Knight Over Day
Seeking connections in our first home, I set off on a quest to find indie and alternative rock by bands from Adelaide. Previously, when we were looking for material for our Mixtape session on Radio Adelaide, Lloyd and I had had a lot of trouble finding anything in this genre. A little help from Kym-Maree…
Tea and Tales: A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
Sometime ago now, whilst travelling around the UK and France with my parents, I read this book as part of the d.@rt Centre Book Club and immediately wanted to write something about it, but my time was swallowed up in travel and subsequently, music. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is one…
Tea and Tunes: Sub Pacific
Being on the other side of the world from most of our family and friends, Lloyd and I often have to work quite hard at trying to find places to play and ways to be more a part of the local music scene where we live. So it is that we put our name in…
From the Spout 