• About
    • Ethics policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Ownership, funding and corrections
    • Complaints procedure
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
Brighton and Hove News
8 July, 2025
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Opinion
    • Community
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Food and Drink
  • Sport
    • Brighton and Hove Albion
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
No Result
View All Result
Brighton and Hove News
No Result
View All Result
Home Arts and Culture

Bananagun move Brighton concert to The Hope & Ruin

by Nick Linazasoro
Friday 21 May, 2021 at 9:04PM
A A
0
Bananagun move Brighton concert to The Hope & Ruin

Bananagun have got your next Valentines Day sorted!

Bananagun have got your next Valentines Day sorted!

Last June saw the release of the much acclaimed debut long player from Australian outfit Bananagun which featured Nick Van Bakel (guitar, voice, flute, trumpet, harpsichord, percussion), Jack Crook (guitar, voice), Charlotte Tobin (percussion), Josh Dans (bass guitar), Jimi Gregg (drums), Pierce Morton (alto saxophone), Miles Bedford (tenor saxophone) and Zoe Fox (voice).

‘So Young Magazine’ in particular were raving about the album, which is titled ‘The True Story Of Bananagun’, saying “Nothing. No mind nor soul, creature nor critter on the surface no- face, of this entire solar system, is anywhere near as perfect as ‘The True Story Of Bananagun’. An immediate contender for ‘Album Of The Year’, there really is everything special about Bananagun.”

Uncut rated it 9/10 and said “They can’t help but sound addictively cheerful” , whereas Shindig Magazine gave them 5/5 and called them “Your new favourite band”. MOJO called them “Genuinely inspiring, the story of Bananagun is a great yarn.”

Bananagun’s debut album on trans red/yellow split colour splatter vinyl with accompanying 7” remixes single

The eleven track album can be purchased on trans red/yellow split colour splatter vinyl with accompanying 7” remixes single, or if you prefer normal black vinyl, they have that too as well as the option to purchase it on CD format or just download it. The gold vinyl and clear vinyl editions are sadly long gone. Order your copy from their Bandcamp page HERE.

The folks of Brighton & Hove will be able to make their own minds up about Bananagun, when they perform live at The Hope & Ruin on Monday 14th February 2022 – well that’s your Valentines Day evening sorted then!

The concert was initially announced as taking place at the Green Door Store, but it has now been switched to The Hope & Ruin, despite what the tickets may say!

You can purchase your tickets from Seetickets, Dice or Fatsoma.

Bananagun will be appearing at The Hope & Ruin, in Brighton on 14th February 2022

Let’s find out more about the intriguingly named Bananagun……

Hailing from Melbourne, but with a sound stretching from 60s and 70s afrobeat and exotica to Fela Kuti-esque repetition, the proto-garage rhythmic fury of The Monks and the grooves of Os Mutantes, there’s an enticing lost world exoticism to the music of Bananagun. It’s the sort of stuff that could’ve come from a dusty record crate of hidden gems; yet as the punchy, colourfully vibrant pair of singles ‘Do Yeah’ and ‘Out Of Reach’ have proven over the past 12 months, the band are no revivalists. On debut album ‘The True Story Of Bananagun’, they make a giant leap forward with their outward-looking blend of global tropicalia.

‘The True Story Of Bananagun’ marks Bananagun’s first full foray into writing and recording as a complete band, having originally germinated in the bedroom ideas and demos of guitarist, vocalist and flautist Nick van Bakel. The multi-instrumentalist grew up on skate videos, absorbing the hip-hop beats that soundtracked them – taking on touchstones like Self Core label founder Mr. Dibbs and other early 90’s turntablists.

That love of the groove underpins Bananagun – even if the rhythms now traverse far beyond those fledgling influences. “We didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing,” the band’s founder says. “We wanted it to be vibrant, colourful and have depth like the jungle. Like an ode to nature.”

Van Bakel was joined first by cousin Jimi Gregg on drums – the pair’s shared love of the Jungle Book apparently made him a natural fit – and the rest of the group are friends first and foremost, put together as a band because of a shared emphasis on keeping things fun. Jack Crook (guitar/vocals), Charlotte Tobin (djembe/percussion) and Josh Dans (bass) complete the five-piece and between them there’s a freshness and playful spontaneity to ‘The True Story Of Bananagun’, borne out of late night practice jams and hangs at producer John Lee’s Phaedra Studios.

“We were playing a lot leading up to recording so we’re all over it live”, van Bakel fondly recalls of the sessions that became more like a communal hang out, with Zoe Fox and Miles Bedford there too to add extra vocals and saxophone. “It was a good time, meeting there every night, using proper gear [rather than my bedroom setups.] It felt like everyone had a bit of a buzz going on.”

Bananagun

Tracks like ‘The Master’ and ‘People Talk Too Much’ bounce around atop hybrid percussion that fuses West African high life with Brazilian tropicalia; the likes of ‘She Now’ hark to a more westernised early rhythm ‘n’ blues beat, remoulded and refreshed in the group’s own inimitable summery style. ‘Freak Machine’ is perhaps the closest to those early 90’s beats, but even then the group add layers and layers of bright guitars, harmonic flower-pop vocals and other sounds to transmute the source material to an entirely new plain. Elsewhere there’s a 90 second track called ‘Bird Up!’ that cut and pastes kookaburra and parrot calls as an homage to the wildlife surrounding van Bakel’s home 80 kilometres from Melbourne.

Oh, and there are hooks galore too – try and stop yourself from humming along to ‘Out Of Reach’s swooping vocal melody.

Bananagun are first and foremost a band enthused with the joy of living and ‘The True Story Of Bananagun’ is an ebullient listen; van Bakel – as the main songwriter – is keen not to let any lyrical themes overpower that. There’s more to this record than blissed out grooves and tripped out fuzz though: ‘The Master’ is about learning to be your own master and resisting the urge to compare yourself to others; ‘She Now’ addresses gender identity and extolls the importance of people being able to identify how they feel. Then there’s closing track ‘Taking The Present For Granted’, which perhaps sums up the band’s ethos on life, trying to take in the world around you and appreciating the here and now.

A keen meditator, van Bakel says of the track: “so often people are having a shit time stuck in their own existential crisis, but if you get outside you head and participate in life and appreciate how beautiful it all is you can have a better time.”

Even the band’s seemingly innocuous name has an underlying message of connectivity that matches the universality of the music. “It’s like non-violent combat! Or the guy who does a stick up, but it’s just a banana, not a gun, and he tells the authorities not to take themselves too seriously.”

‘The True Story Of Bananagun’ then is perhaps a tale of finding beauty in even these most turbulent of times.

For more information on Bananagun, visit www.bananagunoz.com

Gig flyer
ShareTweetShareSendSendShare

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most read

Teens swept out to sea on calm sunny day

Judge warns tip jar thief he will die young if he doesn’t turn his life around

Hove school hosts educational leaders from around the world

Police try to trace Western Road brawl suspect

Bananagun move Brighton concert to The Hope & Ruin

Man suffers serious injuries in mass brawl in Western Road

Buses replace trains to London next weekend

Trial date set for man accused of attempted rape in broad daylight in Brighton

Constance Marten baby death jury sent out to consider verdict

Glastonbury Festival 2025…venturing beyond the obvious!

Newsletter

Arts and Culture

  • All
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Food and Drink
‘Still Smitten’ with Pale Waves

‘Still Smitten’ with Pale Waves

8 July 2025
Jessica Winter drops new single ahead of debut album and UK tour

Jessica Winter drops new single ahead of debut album and UK tour

8 July 2025
Sananda Maitreya announces first UK tour in 23 years

Sananda Maitreya announces first UK tour in 23 years

7 July 2025
Glastonbury Festival 2025…venturing beyond the obvious!

Glastonbury Festival 2025…venturing beyond the obvious!

7 July 2025
Load More

Sport

  • All
  • Brighton and Hove Albion
  • Cricket
Brighton tennis player beaten by seed in first round at Wimbledon

Sonay Kartal’s impressive Wimbledon run comes to an end

by Eleanor Crooks - PA sport correspondent
6 July 2025
0

Sonay Kartal’s fine Wimbledon run ended with a fourth-round defeat to Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Brighton and Hove player...

Sussex Sharks open T20 Blast with a win

Bad night for Sussex at Hove as Hampshire bounce back in Blast

by Bruce Talbot - ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
5 July 2025
0

Hampshire Hawks ended a run of five games without a win in the Vitality Blast to revive their hopes of...

From Lewes to LA : multi-award winning short film premier preview.

From Lewes to LA : multi-award winning short film premier preview.

by Kairen Kemp
5 July 2025
0

FROM LEWES TO LA: MULTI-AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILM 'BACK OF THE NET’, EXPLORING THE LEGACY OF THE LIONESSES, SCREENS LEWES F.C....

Brighton tennis player beaten by seed in first round at Wimbledon

Forget Brighton’s No 1, Sonay Kartal could be Britain’s No 1

by Andy Sims - PA
5 July 2025
0

Not only does Sonay Kartal have a Wimbledon quarter-final in her sights but also the British No 1 spot. Brighton...

Load More
May 2021
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Apr   Jun »

RSS From Sussex News

  • Foot fetish caller sentenced for repeated calls to police 7 July 2025
  • White van man held over road rage at Crossbush 7 July 2025
  • Intruder carried out sex attack, say police 7 July 2025
  • Man held for assault after woman reports being followed and touched 6 July 2025
  • Flat linked to drugs forced to shut after court issues closure order 5 July 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy
  • Complaints
  • Ownership, funding and corrections
  • Ethics
  • T&C

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Opinion
  • Arts and Culture
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Sport
    • Cricket
  • Newsletter
  • Public notices
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Contact

© 2023 Brighton and Hove News