More about: Bandit

“We love playing live!” Bandit talk to me about the run up to CloseUp festival and kicking off a summer of gigs, gigs and more gigs. “The energy and rush we get from it is unreal. So buzzing to give it the beans on stage for the first festival of the year for us alongside some other class artists.”

Self-described as “if indie and grunge collided and had a horrible mouthy child,” Bandit have a sound that craves the live environment. Catchy choruses, heavy guitar riffs and energetic lyrics mean they’re one of the perfect bands to take to the stage and instil head banging, dancing and ensuring all drinks that aren’t half drunk get spilled.

They keep a lot of themselves in every track that they make. “We’re based in Liverpool,” they explain, “been here for a number of years now but we hail from the grim up north in Preston and Leeds, hence the gory accents. I find it more authentic and I actually just found it easier singing in my accent than not to be fair, I’ve always felt like more of a poet than a vocalist so it just seemed to come naturally. I always connected more with John Cooper Clarke than Adele.”

The band will be heading to CloseUp festival in a couple of weeks, an event that we at Gigwise have covered a fair bit given how eclectic and exciting the line-up is. Bandit only add to that, their sound is made for a stage, something that is both intentional and not. “Yes. No. Depends what the tune is really,” they said, “some songs when you have a banging riff or a catchy line you can’t help not think what it would be like being chanted back to you by a load of heads; however, sometimes that also adds more pressure on the writing, sometimes it’s just best to kick back and stay true to whatever pours out.”

If you’re keen to see Bandit live then you have the chance to do so alongside a number of other fantastic acts at Colours Hoxton later in the month. “We’re excited to see Delights,” said Bandit, “and also excited to embrace my inner pop punk and see Bronnie as well to be fair. It’s a class line up!”

You can buy tickets to CloseUp festival now

Grab your copy of the Gigwise print magazine here.

More about: Bandit