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Closed Circuit: ‘This album is about us finding our sound…’

It has been an exciting couple of years for local five-piece rock band Closed Circuit, who are now due to release their first album ‘Violet Nights’ this month. We caught up with two members of the band, bassist Dave Mallinder and guitarist Lee Daffern to find out more about them and their upcoming album launch party which is being held at the Voodoo Lounge in Stamford

How did the band start?
Lee: I left my last band due to stresses in my personal life back in… January 2012, I think. Musicians under pressure aren’t generally the most rational of people, so of course I’d sworn to never get in a band again; in the end, though, I had a whole load of music in my head and decided that a compromise would be to start a recording-only project, with the idea of putting a band together just to play the stuff live if the feedback was good. I had to find a singer, though, because nobody really wants to hear me sing. After about six frustrating months of trying to find somebody with the range and power I wanted, Kirsty popped up on one of the classifieds sites. We had a chat and everything seemed pretty good. Then, almost completely randomly, Ant (drums) and Dave (bass) got in touch. At that point, it seemed like it’d be pretty rude not to at least try – if nothing else, it gave me a chance to see how it might sound live. We learned a couple of my songs, and ran through them (somewhat nervously) at our first rehearsal – everything gelled so well that we were all completely knocked out by it. We haven’t really stopped since.

What has been your highlight so far?
Lee: There are so many, but two in particular stand out: that first rehearsal, where we all turned up without having a clue what to expect (and, if we’re honest, pretty low expectations), and by the end of it feeling like a band who’d been playing together for years.

Getting the final mixes of our album back from our studio wizard, and discovering that it didn’t sound out of place in the middle of our own music collections. It was quite emotional…

How would you describe your music and who influences you?
Lee: That’s a tough one (as most bands would tell you). We all bring vastly different styles and influences to the table, so I can’t really think offhand of who we sound like; however, our individual influences are Joe Satriani, Extreme, Ozzy Osbourne,The Pretty Reckless, Audioslave and Alter Bridge.

Which gig has stood out for you the most so far, and for what reason?
Lee: Playing Yaxley festival, to a surprisingly large crowd (there were at least a couple of thousand people there). It was our first good-sized festival, the stage was fantastic and we had an absolute blast. Many thanks to Chad Sunderland for both organising it and inviting us to play (we’d love to play again next year if you’re reading this, Chad…).

How would you describe the music scene in Peterborough – has it been a good place to launch your band?
Dave: We are told by the old hands in the community that for decades Peterborough has been regarded as a tough place to get a following or launch new music. Although we don’t have a big population like the major cities the place does have a tight-knit community of diverse musicians. The open mic nights have been a fantastic launch pad for new music and helping young artists getting a leg up into the scene.

As a band performing in your local area to get your name out there, how important do you think it is to do this?
(Dave) You can’t get good gigs elsewhere until you build a following and that can only start at home. The trick is to play the right places  at the right times and not over-do it with too many small gigs close together. We’ve been spoiled for pubs who are enthusiastic about mixing original artists in with cover bands and more of the city venues have caught on that live music often draws in more punters than a DJ at peak times. The free summer festivals like Yaxley and The Willow are truly amazing considering they’re privately funded and entertain thousands and they give new bands big audiences so it really helps you to get your music heard.

You are female fronted, what effect does this have for the band?
Lee: I think it lends our music a more mainstream appeal – a lot of our songs have quite heavy, driving riffs which could be termed ‘metal’; that’s something that can put some audiences off a bit (why, I have no idea…). Kirsty’s vocals – and particularly the power of her voice – can make people sit up and take notice, because they’re unexpected. There don’t seem to be too many female-fronted heavy rock bands around these days, and that’s a real shame.

And now you are set to release your first album! Can you tell us a bit about it?
Lee:
Given that this was always intended to be a recording project, we made sure that we got into the habit of recording as we go – right from the very beginning, we’d have recording sessions to experiment with the sound and basically learn how to get the best out of our gear. The album itself was all recorded in May last year, and is entirely a DIY effort; we simply didn’t have the budget for a studio, so we recorded everything ourselves (I think our total spend was something like £900, and that included the recording gear and mixing/mastering). It can be done, as long as you all have the will and persistence to keep going even when it’s looking bleak and you’ve got no idea where to turn.

As for the music… most of the songs on the album are based on riffs and ideas that we’ve all had bouncing around in our heads for quite a while. I think the oldest one would be Wall of Haze – the main riff for that was written back in 2011, it just had nobody to play it. Really, this album is about us finding ‘our’ sound and giving it the best chance we can of being heard by other people in the same way that we all hear it in our heads.

You recorded it back in May, you must be excited about the launch party! What is happening on the night..
Lee: It’s definitely been a long time coming, yes – and we’re all ridiculously excited (and nervous, of course). We’ve got two great local bands getting things started for us: Skyfight are kicking things off, and then BlackHawkDown are going to get the crowd pumped up for us the way they always do.

The launch is at the Voodoo Lounge in Stamford. Doors are open at 8:30 pm, and anybody who buys an advance ticket from us or the other bands (just email  and we’ll send you instructions) will get a free shot as soon as they get there, and there might be a few points during our set where drinks and merch get given away…

Entry will be £4, but we’re also putting on some transport for anybody who wants to get to the show from Peterborough, tickets including transport will be £12.

And you already have your sights set on album number two…
Lee: Absolutely! If you’re not moving forward then you’re moving backwards, right? We’ve already got two or three songs in the bag for it, and we’re going to start recording in the summer.
The second album will be a much more involved launch; we’re not sure how we’re going to record it yet – we might actually use a studio this time – but we’ll certainly be looking for industry representation in terms of PR and management, and there’s definitely going to be a UK tour in the works.

Closed Circuit’s album launch party will take place at the Voodoo Lounge in Stamford on Friday, 30 January from 8.30 pm. Check them out on Facebook to find out more, or for tickets e-mail

Album available now, visit https://closedcircuituk.bandcamp.com/album/violet-nights to download

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