twentysixfeet

The twentysixfeet story is atypical in today’s musical climate. The Wrexham-bred, London-based quintet have ensued the common trend that sees bands rush before audiences and media long before they’re ready and have instead gradually evolved, developing their sense of artistry in a measured, organic fashion. And it seems they’re set to reap exactly what they’ve sown – the twentysixfeet sound is one that’s immediately recognisable and yet immediately unclassifiable. Indeed, it’s a sound that’s mesmerising and grows in stature with every listen.

Ask the band for their influences and you’ll be met with a disparate collection of artists and genres – Bob Dylan, Joy Division, Black Dice, Queen, metal, free-jazz, classical and the rave scene. And yet these references aren’t simply cavalierly plundered; they’re notable for informing and developing twentysixfeet’s musicality and philosophy.

The story harks back to when Dan Jones and Matt Cruice started working on music together at the age of fifteen and thus created the base from which twentysixfeet would form. They subsequently met vocalist Beorn Holmes at college, and his enigmatic lyrics form a major part of the band as we know it today.

Beorn admits that his lyrics often approach environmental and political undercurrents in an abstract manner, but adds, “A lot of the lyrics are to do with loss. I’d lost a family member and a lot of songs were expressing emotions that I was trying to sort out.”

twentysixfeet soon established themselves as a serious prospect on the North Wales/North-West touring circuit. However as the number of music venues in their locality began to dwindle, Beorn, Alex and Matt decided they needed to relocate to progress. Despite their drummer at the time opting to stay in Wrexham, the remainder headed to London regardless, planning to find a new sticksman upon arrival. As fate would have it, an acquaintance of the band that was known as one of the best drummers in the region wanted a new challenge in life and it was Alex Polakowski who completed the line-up.

“I finished my A-Levels and thought, I’ll join a rock band and make a go of it,” recalls Alex, laughing cautiously at how that seemingly naïve decision now looks set to be the best of his life.

“When we first came down to London, we thought we were great,” says the ever affable Matt. “But after our first gig, we were like, ‘oh shit…’”

Undeterred, twentysixfeet decided to get back to basics, pledging not to play any gig for six months and stay deep in the lab. They worked on their music at every available opportunity, their dedication demonstrated by the fact that they’d carry their equipment to their studio from Wood Green to Tottenham, a good two miles away. It was during this stage that the band experimented with electronics, fine-honed the necessary skills to ideally compliment their approach in the live setting. The band also moved in together, a la The Monkees (“We even groom each other,” deadpans Dan).

“It makes songwriting a much closer thing as we’d previously meet once a week in Wales and it would take a few hours to get onto the same wavelength,” considers Matt. “But now the writing is an extension of us living together and everything flows much smoother.”

The new material from the band is testament to powers of fine-tuning and perseverance. The clash between classy songwriting, an unrestrained electronic element that takes on a life of its own and good ol’ fashioned musicianship all combine to create a musical anarchy that spits out sounds that are simultaneously intense and infectious.

twentysixfeet’s debut single, ‘Moves Under Skin’, could loosely be compared to Radiohead (Beorn admits he admires that they, “are able to do what they want and be really successful with it”), Cooper Temple Clause and Mercury Rev. But as with the rest of the band’s work, it’s inimitable and individual: a product of who they are. The b-side, ‘You’re Too Cold’, focuses on twentysixfeet’s minimalist side, achieving a hypnotic intensity akin to Killing Joke interpreting Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’.

One of their blistering moments is encapsulated in ‘Everyone’s A Tease’: fusing neo-prog into an ever more commercially accessible environ, the track proves that the band can fulfil it’s potential by clashing genres and twisting influences into a four-minute pop song of fearsome substance. Unfortunately for them, due to a change of director, they were pipped at the post by Kasabian on the soundtrack and movie of the MTV and Universal funded global release of ‘Jekyll And Hyde’, which is due late 2005.

In July 2005 twentysixfeet recently welcomed a second guitarist, Ed Dudley

By embracing the alternative with a desire to connect with an audience, twentysixfeet have hit upon the simplest and yet most under-used formula with which to make a name for themselves. It’s now only matter of time before they encroach upon, and ultimately infiltrate, the mainstream.

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