More about: This FeelingWharvesFlowvers

Walking into a This Feeling club night, you know exactly what to expect. But aside from energetic live shows and the whiff of Red Stripe, the solidarity that unites everyone involved is perhaps the most poignant piece of the This Feeling puzzle.

With no live shows this Spring due to COVID-19, Gigwise is bringing you a collection of covers from the bands who were meant to be performing for TF over the coming months. 

Harnessing their sense of community spirit, founder Mikey Jonns says of the collaborative project: “All these bands were due to play for us this Spring in grassroots venues and whilst clearly that's not happened, it hasn't stopped This Feeling band’s sense of community and spirit, as well as supporting the venues they were due to play (almost all are under threat). Stay at home, get in the zone and if you can please help save the UK's grassroots circuit by chipping in whatever you can. Mikey X”

Today it’s the turn of Wharves and Flowvers who have swapped songs. First up Wharves’ rendition of ‘She Don’t Talk About It’.

Gigwise: Tell us about the band you're covering…

Wharves: I saw Flowvers at a This Feeling gig in London in October 2019 and was really impressed. One song that stood out to me was ‘She Don't Talk About it’, it was catchy and the crowd lapped it up. That is the track we have decided to cover. Very keen to play some gigs with these guys next time we are in the UK!

G: How has coronavirus impacted your plans? 

W: We’ve had to reschedule our UK tour with This Feeling from May to October.  Back here in Aus we all actually haven't seen each other since early March which is crazy for us. We usually rehearse at least once a week.

G: How have you adapted to the situation?

W: Definitely writing more and thinking of different ways to collaborate and involve fans. We did a merch run which was our best yet. People are loving our ‘WHARVES WORLD’ T-Shirts which are a play on Wayne’s World.

G: What’s your best This Feeling memory?

W: Definitely the London gig in 2019, sunk a bunch of Red Stripes and met so many legends! That gig was at Nambucca which is weird because Nambucca is an Australian aboriginal word meaning “crooked river” and refers to an area just near where I grew up. I think the original owner of the Nambucca might have been an Aussie? 

G: What does 'The Zone' mean to you?

W: The Zone is that part of the show, whether you’re on the stage or in the pit yourself, when you and the band and the crowd are one entity, fuelling and propelling each other forward. You feel so free and know you're exactly where you're meant to be.

And over to Flowvers, with ‘Sooner Or Later’…

Gigwise: Tell us about the band you're covering…

Flowvers: We have covered Wharves who are an indie alt band from Australia. It was them who initially covered our track ‘She Don’t Talk About It’ and we wanted to give ‘Sooner Or Later’ a Flowvers touch, Connor suggested it and we all agreed that it felt cool.  I believe the lead singer had seen us play at London’s Camden Assembly and they have often tagged us in Instagram stories so they were on our radar but being from the other side of the world we haven’t been able to play with them yet. But we never say never…

G: How has coronavirus impacted your plans? 

F: Our tour’s been cut in half which was a massive blow to us, however I think the thing that’s got us particularly down is having studio time that we’d been preparing for to work on demos and pre-production postponed throughout January/February. We were super excited and very ready for this but unfortunately just like everything else it’s been delayed until further notice. The studio was in London as well so we’re scared to think how long it will really get pushed back. 

G: How have you adapted to the situation? 

F: We’ve all been working on individual stuff, so that when the time finally comes to getting back into the rehearsal room we will have a ton of new material to experiment with. I think we all felt a real sense of adaptation as a band during our last few shows and it's such a shame that we couldn't allow that momentum to carry on building. However this is a real opportunity to reimagine our set and show that we're not just your average indie band. 

G: What’s your best This Feeling memory?

F: Best This Feeling memory was probably playing at The Camden Monarch. The room was packed out and the atmosphere was amazing making playing feel so natural and really reinforced why we do what we do. Being given the opportunity to go on tour and play new cities is something we will forever be grateful for. We learn a lot on the road, both about each other and about the music we are playing.

G: What does 'The Zone' mean to you?

F: Well, for us we’d never even attempted to do a cover before. So it means something new to us and a challenge but also sharing each other’s music. And I used to go to a lot of play zone parties when I was a kid so that too I guess. 

More about: This FeelingWharvesFlowvers