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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 Bang Bang Romeo and Hourglvss who have swapped songs. First up Bang Bang Romeo’s version of ‘Johnny’.

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

Bang Bang Romeo: Hourglvss first popped up for us back in October when they released ‘Dead Man’s Hand', we were on tour and whacked it on in the van, it then stayed on the playlist for the rest of the tour. Brighton keeps producing great new bands, there must be something in that sea water.

G: How has coronavirus impacted your plans? 

BBR: Well right now, we should be in mainland Europe, finishing the final week of our first ever headline shows in Europe, for our biggest ever UK & European headline tour. Gutted, is an understatement. But this thing has hit the world and everyone in it in one way or another. It’s thrown a huge fucking spanner in the works but we’re going to use the time to our advantage and turn it into a positive as much as we positively can. There ain’t no rest for the wicked and all that.

G: How have you adapted to the situation?

BBR: We haven’t stopped, I think that would be the worst thing for us all, we still speak every day, video calls, group chats etc. There’s so many song ideas flying about, we’ll be demo-ing a few from home over the coming days and working on plans to get some music out to the world as soon as we can. We’re enjoying interacting with people too on socials, running quizzes, podcasts, just trying to keep ourselves entertained and the folks who’ve supported us throughout our journey. I don’t think Stars & Ross have put their guitars/pens down since the lockdown began… 

G: What’s your best This Feeling memory?

BBR: It’s hard to beat a Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy hug sandwich straight off the This Feeling stage at Leeds Festival, or being introduced to Example by Mikey Jonns at TFTV but I think our favourite memory is probably one of the key moments of our career. The day TF took a chance on us, and gave us a 12:30pm Saturday slot on their first Isle of Wight Festival line-up. It was our first ever festival, and the catalyst for everything that’s happened since. We’ll forever be thankful.

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

BBR: The zone is, and will always be, a family.  A fucked up, crazy talented bunch of degenerates baring their souls on stage every night, but a family nonetheless.

And now over the Hourglvss who have covered BBR’s ‘Bag of Bones’.

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

Hourglvss: We have covered ‘Bag of Bones’ by Bang Bang Romeo. I first discovered them when I was asked to interview them at Isle of Wight Festival 2018 before they played the main stage. Then I discovered they were from Doncaster and fabulous northerners. They are all super nice guys. We'd love to play with them live at some point. A fusion of their big vocals and our dark pop would be cool.

G: How has coronavirus impacted your plans? 

H: Where do we start? Our most favourite season of the year has completely vanished. We were so looking forward to festival season and playing at all our favourite festivals. The COVID-19 situation has also meant we've not been able to see each other, which is something we've found very hard. We're like sisters so not being able to give each other hugs has been super hard.

G: How have you adapted to the situation?

H: We have adapted by taking to the internet. I bet Zoom are loving this pandemic. We've been writing virtually, rehearsing virtually and just having good old girly catch ups virtually. It's still easy to be creative, it's the not seeing each other part that sucks. 

G: What’s your best This Feeling memory?

H: I reckon our best This Feeling memory was playing Isle Of Wight Festival last year. It's our favourite festival and our favourite festival to play. All our friends and family were at the festival and it was so amazing to have all our nearest and dearest watching us play in the place we love the most. 

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

H: A bunch of creative, inclusive people doing their thing. A safe space for all artists to get together and be fabulous with each and every person being supportive of your craft and spurring you on 100% of the time.

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