GUSH

GUSH OPEN AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY AT THE LETTER ‘G’ AND YOU’LL FIND DEFINITIONS OF THE WORD ‘GUSH’ ARE VERY EVOCATIVE. ‘GUSH’ CAN MEAN ‘A SUDDEN, COPIOUS OUTFLOW’, ‘TO SPRING FORTH IN GREAT VOLUME’, ‘TO EMIT ABUNDANTLY’, ‘TO EXPRESS EMOTION WITHOUT RESTRAINT’, OR ‘TO DISCHARGE LIQUID IN A RAPID AND PLENTIFUL STREAM’.

THE FACT THAT THESE FOUR HOT YOUNG FRENCH MUSICIANS CHOSE THIS WORD AS THEIR BAND NAME COULD ALSO HAVE RACIER CONNOTATIONS DEPENDING ON WHAT KIND OF LIQUID YOU IMAGINE IS BEING DISCHARGED AND BY WHOM. BUT THIS QUIRKY ENGLISH WORD ALSO EMPHASISES THAT THEIR SONGS ARE ALL WRITTEN AND SUNG IN ENGLISH. WHATEVER THE INTENDED SIGNIFICANCE GUSH ARE CERTAINLY TRUE TO THE WORD AND ALL IT’S SYMBOLISM.
AS THE NAME OF THEIR WEBSITE CLEARLY STATES (WWW.WEAREGUSH.COM) AND AS THE ALBUM COVER PHOTO OF THEM SPRINGING FORTH FROM A DEEP PUDDLE OF MUD ALSO STRONGLY SUGGESTS, THESE GUYS ARE THE EPITOME OF THE WORD ‘GUSH’. THEY ARE OVERFLOWING WITH TALENT AND ENTHUSIASM, THEY HAVE BURST FORTH INTO THE FRENCH MUSIC SCENE IN A BIG WAY AND WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THEIR ADDICTIVE DEBUT ALBUM OR WITNESS THE SHEER ENERGY OF THEIR LIVE SHOWS YOU CANNOT HELP BUT GUSH ABOUT THEM. IF YOU BELIEVE ROCK BANDS ALWAYS HAVE A RINGLEADER, THINK AGAIN. GUSH ARE DIFFERENT. THEY HAVE FOUR RINGLEADERS. FOUR LEAD SINGERS. FOUR MC'S. FOUR VERY DISTINCT CREATIVE ENERGIES: YAN, XAVIER, MATHIEU AND VINCENT.
ALL FOUR OF THEM EXPRESS THEMSELVES INDIVIDUALLY IN THEIR MUSIC AS WELL AS IN UNISON, SO THEY ALL GET TO AIR THEIR VOICES.
THEY TAKE TURNS AT SINGING LEAD VOCALS AND EACH HAVE THEIR OWN UNIQUE VOCAL STYLES BUT WHEN THEY COME TOGETHER THEY PRODUCE SUCH SWEET HARMONY. THE GUYS POOL THEIR IDEAS AND SHARE THEIR DESIRES DEMOCRATICALLY. ON STAGE AND IN THE STUDIO THESE MULTI-SKILLED MUSICIANS CAN JUMP FROM ONE INSTRUMENT TO ANOTHER WITH INCREDIBLE EASE.
THEIR NATURAL INCLINATION, WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY IMPROVES AND EXPANDS THEIR REPERTOIRE, FURIOUS ROCK GUITAR, FAT SYNTHS, BOUNCING BASS AND BANGING DRUMS, ALL METICULOUSLY ARRANGED IN A MANNER THAT’S JUST AS WORTHY OF HIGH PRAISE AS THE MUSIC OF MORE REVERED VETERANS AND ICONS OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS. IF THE QUARTET SHOWS AN ASTONISHING ALCHEMY THAT YOU CAN HEAR IN THE SLIGHTEST REFRAIN IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE A FAMILY AFFAIR. XAVIER AND VINCENT ARE BROTHERS WHO PICKED UP THE BEATLES REPERTOIRE IN THEIR LIVING ROOM AS TEENAGERS. THEIR COUSIN MATHIEU TAUGHT HIMSELF CLASSICAL PIANO BEFORE BECOMING ELECTRIFIED BY NIRVANA AND MATHIEU’S COUSIN YAN WAS RAISED TO ROCK BY HIS FATHER WHO WAS IN A FRENCH POP GROUP AND AN ENGLISH MOTHER. THE GUYS GREW UP LOVING THE VOCAL HARMONIES (BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS/ FUNKADELIC) AND THEY DEVELOPED A NATURAL TALENT FOR HARMONISING WHICH HAS BECOME A SIGNATURE STYLE, IT’S LIKE SECOND NATURE TO THEM.
THEY STRENGTHENED THEIR RAW MUSICAL TALENTS BY PLAYING IN BARS & PARISIAN CLUBS COVERING FUNK AND ROCK CLASSICS,THEIR MUSICAL REFERENCES ALSO INCLUDE A FEW FOLK AND COUNTRY HEROES. THE FACT THAT THEY FEEL A CONNECTION WITH THE AMERICAN CHAMELEON BECK AND HIS COMPATRIOT JAMES MURPHY (OF LCD SOUND SYSTEM) DEMONSTRATES THEIR TASTE FOR CONTEMPORARY SOUNDS AND ACTS SUCH AS DAFT PUNK GET A NAME CHECK TOO.

SOUNDTRACK MUSIC AND UNUSUAL CHORAL PROJECTS SUCH AS ‘THE MYSTERY OF BULGARIAN VOICES’ ARE ALSO CITED AS BEING INSPIRATIONAL TO THEM. AND WHEN GUSH DESCRIBE THEMSELVES AS AN “MC ROCK BAND” THEY EVEN MAKE A NOD TOWARD HIP HOP.

THESE VARIED INFLUENCES, COMBINED WITH THEIR SOLID ROCK BACKGROUND HAS ENABLED GUSH TO DEVELOP A COHESIVE VOCAL SOUND WHICH RENDERS THEM QUITE UNIQUE.
THEY ARE CAPABLE OF INTERPRETING ACAPELLAS WITH ALMOST RELIGIOUS FERVOUR BEFORE BREAKING OUT INTO ELECTRIFYING ROCK'N'ROLL ARRANGEMENTS AND WHEN THEIR VOICES COME TOGETHER SOMETHING MAGIC IS DIFFUSED INTO THE AIR. CARRIED BY THE AUDACITY OF THEIR YOUTH THESE FOUR FRENCH FELLAS ARE PROFITING FROM THEIR MUSICAL HERITAGE WHILST CREATING THEIR OWN ORIGINAL MYTHOLOGY.
THIS FIRST ALBUM, RECORDED USING TRADITIONAL ANALOGUE METHODS, FEATURES SPECTACULAR SWERVES IN GENRE (FROM ROCK TO FOLK TO FUNK) AND THEY EMBRACE THESE DIFFERENT STYLES WITH ASTONISHING FLEXIBILITY AND APPETITE.
GUSH ARE CAPABLE OF SURPRISING AND DELIGHTING THEIR AUDIENCE WITH SOMETHING NEW. WHATEVER THEME THEY TACKLE (LOVE, SEX, JEALOUSY, LOSS), THEIR MUSIC IS CARRIED ON A LIGHT, FRESH BREEZE WITH A JOYFUL NOTE. THE BAND HAVE CLOCKED UP 150 GIGS SINCE 2010. THEY’VE SUPPORTED MAJOR NATIONAL ARTISTS (‘M’, YODELICE), OPENED FOR ADANOWSKY IN SPAIN AND SOUTH AMERICA (ARGENTINA, CHILE, MEXICO) AND THEY’VE PLAYED AT BIG SUMMER FESTIVALS AS WELL AS HEADLINING THEIR OWN SELL OUT GIGS IN PARIS (LA CIGALE, BATACLAN).
THEY WERE NOMINATED IN THE PRIX CONSTANTIN AWARDS IN 2010 (THE FRENCH EQUIVALENT OF THE BRIT AWARDS) AND WERE ALSO NOMINATED IN THE ‘BEST LIVE BAND’ CATEGORY AT ‘LES VICTOIRES’ (THE FRENCH GRAMMY’S).
ALSO, THE BAND HAS JUST EXPERIENCED A FEW GIGS IN JAPAN LATELY WHERE THEY PERFORM NOTABLY AT THE SUMMER SONIC FESTI