Night Of Sevens

Night Of Sevens are a five piece hailing from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. They describe themselves as an “autonomous, lyrical, garage rock ‘n’ roll movement upholding the age old fight between good and evil”. Add to this a healthy belief in the D.I.Y ethos and you get the picture. A band with a lot to say and a ‘fuck off we’re going it alone’ attitude.

After forming in February 2007, Night Of Sevens set about honing their sound and developing a tight set before cutting their live teeth in July 2007. Since then they remained active on the North of England live scene and have built up a loyal local following.

In early 2008, after recording and releasing several ‘live’ demos and extended improvised jams, Night Of Sevens set about building their own studio in the derelict old Tyne Tees Television Studios and in the Autumn of that year their task was complete.

For those that don’t know, Tyne Tees Television Studios was a huge, (and now demolished) space with a rich musical history. The building once hosted 80's seminal music television show The Tube, presented by Jools Holland and Paula Yates showcasing many influential bands of the era. Artists to have graced the Tube stages include such legends as; Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, Killing Joke, Iggy Pop, The Fall, The Jam, The Pogues and Tom Waits to name a few.

With their spiritual home now complete the boys started working on new material and quickly recorded and mixed a number of tracks for release. With growing interest now from outside the camp the band turned down ‘singles’ deals from two independent labels and decided to self-release on their own label, Ragtag Records.

The first of these releases was entitled, Wait For The Red Tape/Murder Kiss and was released as a Ltd. Edition 7” and download in February 2009. The single was launched at a now legendary free gig at The Ouseburn Boathouse on the Tyne River in Newcastle. The band toured the single throughout the spring and summer and were even chosen to represent the North East’s burgeoning underground scene at the exclusive Evolution Festival.

After a short break the boys headed back to their recording space to work on new tracks. Inspired by the hushed atmosphere and cultural heritage of the building, the band embarked upon a journey of experimentation, recording huge amounts of material over a 10 month period until their studio flooded, miraculously leaving all their equipment undamaged. Subsequently the band got moved into one of the huge film studios in the building and took advantage of this by feverishly recording for another two solid months, capturing the sound of the building with organic recording techniques. These recordings would eventually get released in August as a double gatefold CD, aptly titled, The Flood Sessions.

On weekend downtime between mixing the Flood Sessions the band took time out to record, mix, master and sneak out a 3-track digital EP entitled ‘Anaesthetised’. Its release in May won many plaudits and picked up plays on BBC 6 Music and BBC Newcastle Introducing, as well as features on BBC Tyne Introducing and Drowned In Sound.

The band are currently amassing a collection of new songs for their debut album to be released in summer 2011 and a documentary of the recording of The Flood Sessions will be available before Christmas 2010 in homage to the building and everyone who shared this experience.

Catch The Nights Of Sevens at the WESTWAY ROUND THE UK TOUR 15th October.
- 360 Degree Music

Night of Sevens @ The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle, Saturday 7 July 2007
Headlining on only their second outing live, Night of Sevens were greeted by a sizeable crowd of paying punters. There's already a buzz about this band, palpable tonight in the mood and excited chatter bouncing around the place.

With the room semi-lit by candles and a backdrop of projected abstract images, the band took to the stage.

Groove-laden
The driving bass lines of Alex Bacon, alongside the twin guitars of Shaun Wilson and Wes Hartley, whipped up a sonic cauldron and with the backdrop now footage of rockets blasting off, the combined effect was impressive.

Night of Sevens, have the swagger of an early Oasis and the angst of The Jam but coupled to a definitive sound all of their own.

With the band well into their stride, Eleven Ways was next, greeted by the now obligatory cheers from the crowd, who would have been singing along, if only they'd known the words.

With this band though, you get the feeling that singing along is not far off, especially when they crack into the groove-laden God Don't Leave.

Sparkling
With frontman Daniel Chadwick working the stage, the band have a charismatic focal point extraordinaire - and he can sing a bit too.

However, it has to be said the vocal mix didn't really do justice to his efforts and the same sound issues muted Janssen Wrights' performance behind the kit, not that the crowd seemed to mind.

Alone Against The Night screamed in throwing punches, the band, now up and riding the wave, looked to be enjoying themselves.

In shifting gears the first delicate bars of Kimono were offered up and seemed to throw the crowd, not quite ready for a quiet number they gave no ground and the moment was lost... though not for long when the song burst from its melodic intro into a rage of emotion, offering the stand-out moment of the night.

Finishing on a high, Night of Sevens played Into Arrest, a sparkling jaunt with Chadwick again straining at the leash and the rest of the band easily pulling their weight behind him.

In the end the crowd went home wanting more and with up-coming gigs in the city they won't have long to wait.
- BBC Tyne

Night of Sevens

A numerology-inspired rock 'n' roll democracy, Tyneside-based outfit Night of Sevens unleash a fearsome barrage of apocalyptic psychedelia on their own Rag Tag Records.

Drawn together by a shared love of outlaw literature and socialist ideals, the acidic drone-pop collective are firmly in control of their own destiny.

Self-contained, self-produced and self-released, Night of Sevens boldly refuse to exist on anyone else's terms.
- BBC Tyne Introducing

Night of Sevens are an alternative garage rock band based in Newcastle. We gave them eight chances to grab your attention.

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Describe your sound in three words...

Organic, visceral, insubordinate.

You'll like us if you listen to...

The Stooges, Birthday Party, Neil Young, The Fall, The Drones, Wire, Television Personalities, Sonic Youth.

Music is important because…

"As Charles Darwin said: 'It's the most mysterious faculty mankind is endowed with because it has no real use.'"

To try us out listen to our song…

A Girl's Name. Listen to the band on MySpace.
Our biggest inspiration is…

Monotony, survival and reproduction.

Our most popular venue is…

The Cluny in Newcastle over the next couple of months.

You'll know we've made it when…

Our increased work-rate reflects our departure from day jobs.

In 10 years time we want to be...

Ten-years wiser or dead from success.
- BBC Tyne Introducing

"The festival is preceded by unsigned showcase Evolution Emerging in which more than 200 local bands have applied for the chance to play at a massive multi-venue event taking place across the city’s Ouseburn district. Last year saw the likes of Night Of Sevens, Manila Chapter and Brilliant Mind emerge from the pack as three of the region’s brightest new hopes."
"Tyneside-based indie mag Narc marks its anniversary with a huge gig at The Cluny on April 1st that features performances from rising stars Night Of Sevens" - Drowned In Sound

A while back I reviewed a band called Night Of Sevens, and their first instalment of a series of releases collectively titled ‘The Flood Sessions’. I was rather enthralled by their introspective yet snarling garage rock sound, so this follow-up is one I have been holding out for. And thankfully, the production/mixing issues of their previous release has largely been dealt with: the overall sound of ‘Abused And Unused’ is clearer without feeling too polished, each harsh squall, clean note and clattering drum impact cuts much closer to the bone, which does a lot to improve the immediate visceral bite of the release.

Right from the opening tinnitus ring and ominous guitars on ‘Thursday’, it is evident that Night Of Sevens’ undertone of dark rock is still very much there, the buildup of sound reaching fever pitch with squalling feedback, a throbbing bassline and fluid cymbals. However the actual song is much more of a direct rock song, with easily recognisable riffs and structure. There is a definite hint of punk rock in tumbling percussion and constant guitars, although the descent into an artful feedback solo as well as the aforementioned atmospherics still keep this band’s status as an intelligent curio.

We are then given time to recuperate before the band proceed with frenetic tribal drumming and stop-start stormclouds into one of their more unusual and longer tracks: ‘Movement No. 7’. Although retaining the heightened energy of the first song, this is much more in the vein of their spiralling, paranoid moments with stream-of-consciousness lyrics spilling from gravelly vocal chords at a surprising pace, and a blues-rock/metal hybrid style that pays particular attention to agile, melodic bass and active drumming. Proving to be another successfully mesmerising track with added bite due to its rapid pacing, ‘Movement No. 7’ can even withstand its instrumental indulgences, as everything seems to ramp up the pace to impossible levels by the four-minute mark and we are pulled along by a juggernaut of an instrumental that really puts all members of the band through their impressive paces.

Most bands would (with good reason) feel that they could not follow on from that, but Night Of Sevens then use their smart ability to pace track listings by producing ‘Dirty Boots’, a hooky song that straddles the gap between Queens Of The Stone Age and UK indie rock, hybridising sonic heaviness and manic drumming with a bouncy guitar rhythm, ability to create upbeat riffs, and a surprising amount of accessibility.

The closer ‘Kimono’ does indeed feature aspects of Japanese musical style in the opening percussion, as a distorted bass injects skeletal melody to the eerie proceedings. Almost midway through, the vocals start: an echoing murmur that leaves me thinking of Love & Rockets. But then Night Of Sevens leap into action once again to deliver one last powerful kick of their feral rock and roll with fever-dream lyrics to sustain us until next time.

By releasing ‘The Flood Sessions’ in two halves, what Night Of Sevens have done is almost emulate the old days of records having two sides. Each half has its own mood, but the entirety is something coherent and solid, and I would highly recommend this band to anyone who likes their rock to have a little more edge and invention than what is often offered.

Author: Katie H-Halinski - AAAmusic

Night Of Sevens are a band that call themselves a “feral rock ‘n’ roll” outfit releasing part one of their series entitled ‘The Flood Sessions’. My iTunes insists on classifying them as folklore… this could be interesting.

My first impressions of the crashing yet ponderous opener ‘Dirge For An Angel’ is a UK take on stoner rock, with slurred bass and discordant guitars barely held together by lurching, cymbal-dominated drums. Over this, the vocalist recites what is more a stream-of-consciousness poem than a song. Yet this is not some loose, contented collective who stumbled across instruments to jam. The music has been well thought out, the drums arrhythmically supporting the gripping and demented chaos of the instruments to create one single sound with a deeply hypnotic quality, drawing the listener into the dark poetry of the lyrics as it seethes with a threadlike grasp of rationality.

‘A Girl’s Name’ brings us back to the dark atmospherics of earlier, the guitars wailing and screeching, a throbbing fretted harmonic note creating an ethereal background, and the bass and drums combine to create a pulsating, primal sound to accompany the vocals that fluctuate between snarl, spoken word and borderline yowling. I am simultaneously mesmerised yet left distinctly unnerved by what is happening here. Listen to this alone with the lights off, and you’re treated to a sonic equivalent of playing the early Silent Hill games.

‘Weightless’ cools things down with a spine-tingling echo-drenched riff that does indeed almost float above the sludgy rock/metal proceedings. Midway through, we’re given a hint of Rage Against The Machine in metallic guitars and what is almost a rap verse.

‘Edinburgh’ has a droning opening almost defeatist in tone that wouldn’t go amiss on a film soundtrack, and the weeping trumpets and the mournful vocals occasionally grate but by the first minute have settled into a powerful combination. There is a distinct emotional heft to the track and, as it then embarks on what feels more and more like a funeral march, I am moved. Although on the surface these tracks might not be immediate, they seep under your skin and into your blood, and without realising it, you find yourself wholly immersed in their twisted sonic and poetic landscape.

Overall, I am left somewhere between The Stooges and Jane’s Addiction by the squalling noise, barbed-wire mood and sprawling weirdness of the whole affair, and a distinct impression that perhaps, like Jane’s Addiction, Night Of Sevens are a band that need to be seen live in order to be understood and appreciated, as these tracks seem somewhat hampered by being recorded and studio-bound, and I’d like to see and hear them in their full majesty on stage.

As for the rest of ‘The Flood Sessions’ series of two EPs and a documentary, I am hoping that better production allows for a greater display of sonic power.

Keep an observant eye out for further instalments. Something potentially great is at play here, and I for one want more.

Author: Katie H-Halinski
- AAAmusic

Hailed for their dark blend of salacious garage rock ‘n’ roll and inspired by their love of all things lysergic, Newcastle based Night of Sevens are hotly tipped to be one of the North East’s breakthrough acts of 2011.

The band are about to embark on a feverish recording binge ahead of their debut album release in the summer and have recently unveiled a behind the scenes short film, documenting some of their after hours wanderings around the legendary Tyne Tees Television studios on Newcastle’s Quayside.

Absorbed by its ethereal atmosphere and almost wiped out by a freak flood, NOS adopted the now demolished studio as their second home in 2010 and pay homage to the building in their new short film.

kyeo fired the questions in the general direction of guitarist Wes Hartley to find out more.

kyeo: What inspired you to produce The Flood Sessions film?

W: We knew the old Tyne Tees Television Studios were due for demolition in 2010 and it had it had a rich musical history having once hosted the 80's seminal music television show The Tube, presented by Jools Holland and Paula Yates.

kyeo: They had some decent bands on that show no?

W: The Tube showcased many influential bands of the era, among them; Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, Killing Joke, Iggy Pop, The Fall, The Jam, The Pogues, Tom Waits, even Miles Davis and Madonna. It was a stirring place to spend time in. We just wanted to try our hand at documentary film-making and capture the building and the recording of The Flood Sessions on camera for posterity’s sake.

kyeo: How did you manage to stay in their so long without getting booted out?

W: We were the last people ever to record in there. We literally got kicked out by the fire brigade whilst we were recording on the penultimate day of our tenure there. They thought we were squatters and condemned the building on health and safety grounds as a death trap. We also wanted to tell the story of our studio flooding , which miraculously left all our equipment undamaged and how we’d been fucked over by the letting agents and building management companies. We felt they needed to be named and shamed in some respect.

kyeo: What do those strange times mean to NOS?

W: The time we spent in the building meant a lot to us, we created a huge amount of music in there, had some mad parties and generally spent a lot of time there. One of us even lived there for just under a year, unofficially of course. We also shared some really poignant moments in that building; we saw a little child get run over whilst we were having a break from recording and having a smoke on the roof top terrace. The road it happened on is in the opening scene of the film.

kyeo: What are your memories of the old studio building?

W: When we moved in to the old Tyne Tees Television Studios it was a huge, deserted, derelict space with hardly anyone in it bar a couple of bands, producers and film makers. It was that big you’d forget anyone else was there and everyone was left completely to his or her own devices with no interruptions, it’s the way it should be. It looked like something out of a post apocalyptic zombie movie; the light, size and scale of the building lent itself perfectly to filming, we’d have been mad not to get it on camera.

kyeo: What can you tell me about the film?

W: We wanted to create a film to go with the sounds we were creating during that period and we set out to make a double EP and documentary to release as one entity. The film itself was shot with a fairly standard hand held camera borrowed from a friend.

kyeo: The documentary’s quite moving isn’t it?

W: We didn’t really have an end product in mind as such, we just knew we wanted to capture the recording process and get good shots of the building, especially our studio which had quite a heavy, hushed and almost haunted atmosphere due to the sheer size of it and the fact it was a dead space (acoustically speaking) with no natural light. We didn’t set out to make the documentary as affecting as it turned out to be, it’s got a sense of nostalgia to it.

kyeo: What are NOS’ plans for 2011?

W: We’re due to record our debut album in February at our friend’s guesthouse deep in the heart of the Lake District. It’s right on the edge of a beautiful lake, surrounded by huge mountains that are right on top of you. It’s difficult to get to, it’ll be closed for the winter and there’s no phone reception so we’re cut off from the world there. We’re also in discussion with a record label about releasing a single sometime in the spring of 2011. - Kyeo.tv