New EP for Brighton's Bandoliers

Written, arranged and produced by STB, it tells the tale of the band’s future musical exploits, paving the way for a professionally-produced seven-track record titled Strangers Paradise to be released this summer.

The band are Kian Vaziri (lead vocals and lead guitar); Dylan Wells (bass and vocals); Beau Thompson (guitar); and Joel Blunden (drums and vocals).

Originally formed in 2012 in Milton Keynes as a three-piece, Silver Tongue Bandoliers are now based predominantly in Brighton where they’ve had a string of successful shows.

2016 saw STB support King Prawn and Dave Wakeling’s The English Beat in Milton Keynes, as well as playing alongside The Mariachis at Silverstone F1 and Moto GP official campsites, based at Silverstone Woodlands. Their career so far has also had them playing shows across the country but mainly focusing on the south and south-east circuits. Notable performances for the band have been main support for Gentlemen’s Dub Club and Vice Squad in 2014.

As Joel says: “Mr Funkyson has been structured around funk-styled basslines, pop choruses and the band’s use of vocal harmonies.

“We are now in year four as a band. In November, it will be year five. It has had its ups and downs, like all things, but since Beau came on board a couple of years ago, it has been going well. The singer used to sing and play lead guitar, and there are points where you want the freedom to do one or the other. When Beau joined, it took a lot of stress off the live performances, and it has gone a bit more in one direction. Originally, we did a bit around all genres, bits of this and bits of that. Now we are more funk-based. I describe it as funk-based, pop lines and rock breakdowns. It has just been like a natural progression. We have not really pushed it in one direction. We just went on with what we are doing and it just developed that way. I am pleased with the sound now. It is much easier to categorise.”

For Joel personally, the aim is for the band to take off to the extent that he can leave his job (in a leisure centre) behind.

“The new EP is five tracks with an intro. The introduction is like a welcome to our new sound. It talks about the tracks. The lead singer did a scenario. It is like a skit. All the track titles are mentioned in the sketch. And then the next thing is we are hoping to release the other EP in the summer.

“This one was recorded by us. This second one has been produced professionally. We are working on getting the mixes back.

“The release date just depends how long that process takes.”

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