Music
Press
M1 Connect is an unpromising name for a band, which sounds as though it’s been borrowed from a trading estate in Brackley. It actually belongs to Martin and Stewart Cuthew, a sibling duo whose music is, they say, “simple but epic”, “personal yet anthemic”, “sad but hopeful” and “uplifting with dark undertones”. White, in other words, but also black. Or something.
What we actually get is a wall of guitars and synths, punctuated by heavily squashed drum machines and overlaid with some rather good singing. Anything that can be arpeggiated, compressed, distorted and double-tracked usually is, but the Cuthews have enough discipline to make sure that the end result is powerful rather than simply messy. They also know their way around a big chorus, preferably delivered with as great a sense of impending doom as possible. I’m not sure this level of intensity and claustrophobia could be sustained for an entire album, but in small doses it’s quite bracing. Sam Inglis - Sound On Sound magazine, April 2010 issue
Discography
'Songs Of Sympathy/Not Enough' demo, 2009.
Further tracks can be heard at www.myspace.com/m1connect
Photos
Bio
“For us it’s born out of a lifelong obsession with music – of all types – ranging from dance to rock. We’ve both always talked about making something that pulls elements of all the bands we’ve loved into something that’s totally ours. Now with the M1 Connect we’re starting to achieve that.”
M1 Connect is a two-piece electro rock act comprised of brothers Martin and Stewart Cuthew. Both together and separately, they have been involved in numerous bands and projects over the years and have drawn from this combined experience and a lifelong obsession with music to mould elements of the sounds they love into something totally theirs. Both started out as guitarists, but have since widened their range of skills to include keyboards, programming and production in order to pursue their craft.
After an initial few online demos, the brothers made a conscious decision to not use live drums, instead favouring electronic beats and samples alongside synths and guitars to define their sound. This made it easier for them to fuse their love for dance music with their love for rock and led to M1 Connect, as it is now, being born to the world at the end of 2008.
“We want to create something that moves you emotionally as well as physically and comment on the things that affect ourselves and others every day. For us it’s about the human condition and making sense of the modern world and its problems and complications, but not losing sight of what beauty there is in the simple little things – and ultimately remaining hopeful.”
The brothers have drawn from a wide range of influences including Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, Doves, Orbital, The Prodigy and Aphex Twin to create a sound which is uplifting yet dark and edgy. Warm pad synths, melodic guitars and yearning vocals float above a barrage of driving synth bass and pulsating electronic grooves. They have earned comparisons to Joy Division and have been described as “a melodic Sisters of Mercy crossed with the Editors and OMD and a little Coldplay”.
Recently, M1 Connect have been championed on several radio stations, including RadioWey, GU2 Radio, Darkhorse Radio and Insomnia Radio, and have supported Phil Hartnoll, one half of electronica legends Orbital! Building on these achievements, and with a growing fanbase and an ever-improving live show, the future is looking good for M1 Connect.
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