4PLAY - A new music magazine for new and upcoming bands/artists. This includes gig reviews and industry personnel interviews! Read before you play!
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INTRODUCING..
Describing themselves as "weird and whimsical”, Lorien is the newest indie pop singer/songwriter to emerge from the south coast music scene.
As well as being raised in a musical household with parents, Lorien takes an interesting approach to writing their music. Comic books and storytelling is the basis of their weird and whimsical music world. With folk inspired lyrics, Lorien writes comics and uses those storylines to write their music. This interesting pathway of lyricism opens up an escape and not just to the average listener. Lorien's music creates an escape for everyone and I am confident they are one to listen to!
4PLAY REVIEWS...
On the 9th of March 2026, I attended GurlzSpit's very first headline gig at The Daltons in Brighton hosted by Systemic Promotions. The support act lineup was The Rats are Taking Over, Carva and The Clubheads. This was my first time seeing all 3 support acts live but not GurlzSpit as it happens that I am friends with them, but with me being their friend, my review will be fair. The night started out with The Rats are Taking over. The singer and bassist of the band, Phoenix, actually owns Systemic Promotions who hosted the gig. After looking at their social media after the gig, they label themselves as a "midwest emo band" and I can confidently say that they are. They opened the show with such energy and Phoenix's vocals stole the show for me as I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting too much from them. After them Carva and The clubheads were on. They were safe to say the heaviest bands out of the whole lineup and I wasn't mad about it! Again the vocalist from Carva stood out to me, especially with the screams. What stood out to me about the clubheads were the riffs and addicting melodies of their original songs so I hope I get to see more of them.
GURLZSPIT HEADLINE GIG
On to the main event GurlzSpit! Apart from the majority of their setlist being covers, I loved the set a lot. The crowd were super receptive, especially to their originals such as Spunky Monkey and Skinny Bitch. Although the set was mainly covers, they fit the vibe of their originals really well. Penny's vocals throughout were incredible. There was one song that she couldn't quite manage but I think I was the only one who noticed that as the whole crowd were just super excited to be there. I do have a few criticisms of the stage presence. It did seem like Penny was the only one carrying the stage presence. I understand that for Matt behind the drums it may be difficult as he keeps the whole band in check but I do feel like his playing could flow a little more. Throughout the whole gig, Ruth did not look up or smile once either at the audience or the camera. This made it look like she wasn't enjoying her own gig but in all honesty I think they were all distracted by Penny and her crowd interaction to be looking at her the whole time.
For some reason, they decided to talk about politics. Now the crowd were very receptive to this but personally I feel like there is a time and a place for these certain topics and I feel like the whole mood of the gig changed. I understood where they were coming from speaking up about current government situations, especially about governments in different countries, it felt a little forced and a little out of place. It didn't feel like the type of gig where speaking up about it was necessary. I certainly wasn't expecting it but I do hope they understand in the future when the right time to speak up about it and when not to. They ended their set with an unreleased original which they had been teasing on social media which was really fun and the crowd loved it too. After the gig had finished they handed out signed setlists which I thought was really sweet.
After the gig, around the time I am writing this article, I managed to sit down with the band for a little interview to see how everything was from their perspective. Including how the venue was to play and a behind the scenes look into the gig. They loved the venue and they especially loved the sound guy. "Everyone there, all the team and the staff were lovely. The sound guy was so lovely and so attentive, he kept calling us darling”. Although the venue was nice to play, they did report back on 2 of the support bands, Carva and The Clubheads being really anti-social. I also found out The Clubheads barely promoted the gig and sold no tickets!
Apart from a few fumbles, GurlzSpit smashed their first ever headline! Let's hope the stage presence improves next time they play!
paul frank.
Formerly known as "You're too late", Bird MadGirl are the newest alt shoegaze rock band from the vibrant Brighton music scene.
First formed in college, Tommy and Rowan created a demo band "You're Too Late" for fun. They later unearthed the desire to be a serious band and found their bassist and second vocalist, Penny, and they came to light as BirdMadGirl. The insisted "newest and coolest❞ addition of the band is Sol. Affixing his abundance of pedals and effects, he creates the overwhelming and hypnotic wall of sound this band upholds.
BIRDMADGIRL
Taking their main writing influences from The Cure and trainbreaksdown, the band aspires to stand out from the competitive industry. Together with their raw, DIY and undermixed sounds, they are sure to stand out from the generic, pop influenced and over produced rock bands of today. With their attitude towards music matching bands like The Clash, they intend to take the industry back to its stripped back roots with their unique and exposed sound. Capturing the audience with their melancholy lyrics and buoyant melodies, their debut gig held at The Factory Live in Worthing back in February was a total success! With them being a crowd favourite with their set of unreleased original music, a debut EP is in the works for BirdMadGirl. With 4 songs expected, I am confident to say that they are one of the most iconic and compelling bands to come out of Brighton to date.
photo credit: @sam._photography_._
As a new segment of 4PLAY, I'd like to introduce to you, Hollie's Picz. Hollie is a musician photographer who most recently worked with ETR collective, a DIY gig collective in Brighton made up of a multitude of local bands, musician photographers etc.
I sat down with Hollie and gave me an exclusive insight to her life, her work and how she started out.
Although originally from a singing background, in 2025, Hollie joked around saying she wanted to become a musician photographer. Her partner is a bassist in 2 bands, Rage Therapy and The Edge, and low and behold she became one. The bands she first started working with helped her get into the community that is ETR. This community not only helps local bands progress but also people such as Hollie who prefer to be behind the scenes but still want to be in the industry. “If there was any community a musician would want to join it would be ETR." The ETR community have helped Hollie get to know 2 other photographers, Ray and Lauren who both work with Unorthodox and Shugi (bands who are both part of ETR collective. Hollie has had support from musicians and "the music scene itself is something you can't really do if you don't know what's going on." (As a photographer),"you have to understand what the bands are about to do on stage so then you can photograph it."
Hollie also works with bands outside of ETR such as GurlzSpit. "They're not mine but when I do shoots with them it's different to work with them than my bands as they've got a different vibe." Another band she worked with is called Brain Face. Hollie would've never been introduced to them if it wasn't to ETR. Before Hollie found the collective, she mainly worked with bands that attend her college (bands like GurlzSpit), so ETR have given her access to an abundance of new people to work with. So if you are someone in the Brighton area or in a band who wants access to more like minded people, ETR is your best bet!
When talking to Hollie, she spoke about her personal style and beliefs and how it affects her work and what message she wants to portray throughout her work. "In 2026, it's definitely bringing out the feminine side to things. I certainly bring out the punk side and a little bit more alternative. Last project I did, I had GurlzSpit in it. I had Jake (guitarist and vocalist in both Shugi and Unorthadox) saying "real men can be feminists." Because Hollie wanted to go on about this throughout her work, she wants to voice her opinion on feminism and the stereotype men are surrounded by when they think they're not feminists but they actually are. She has had a multitude of different bands work with her and she "likes working with new people and genres as it's quite unique". Hollie has a big project that is coming up with the edge that can't be disclosed at the moment but be sure to check out her socials and her work as she is one of the most enthusiastic photographers in the games right now!
paul frank.
photo credit: @sam._photography_.__