STRAYS

Night and Day gig

2010-05-06T04:11:00.000-07:00

We celebrated ending the Temple sessions with a rockin gig at Manchesters Night and Day, photos courtesy Rivie Verran...

The Temple Sessions

2010-05-06T04:04:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the long delay with no updates, we dove underground these last few months, locking ourselves away in the temple honing material for our first record, and only surfacing for the odd full blast gig here and there. The last 10 days saw us lay down 8 tracks for the record. It was a mighty experience, 15 hour days blurring into a whirlwind of intensity, but it brought the best out of us, and all the last years hard work has paid off with a genuinely special sounding record. We went for full live takes on individual parts, no drop ins or overdubs on dodgy sections allowed. If you fucked it up you were sent straight back to the starting line to play a full take again, each time summoning as much intensity as you could muster whilst hanging on the edge of chaos and the brink of a disastrous return to the starting line. This paid off with some raw, skitzy, electrifying individual performances that we could never have captured if we'd played by the rules of produced perfection. Here's some shots from our time in the studio. Stay tuned for more info on the mixes as well as upcoming gigs this Summer.

Deaf Institute gig

2009-11-25T16:32:00.000-08:00

STRAYS kick start the coming festive season playing the Deaf Institute on Friday. The night is named High Voltage, and the Guardian newspapers weekly city gig guide has it touted as night of the week in Manchester. Get down there for some raucous rock'n roll...

ONE YEAR ASTRAY

2009-11-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

ONE YEAR ASTRAY from mickey smith on Vimeo.

One year astray and counting...

A skin of the teeth visual journey on the road with STRAYS...

Featuring latest demo BLIND BEGGAR, bend your ears and mind round it now on the MYSPACE page...

All Away In Green

2009-09-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

Last Weekend STRAYS played a blistering set at the Greenaway Pro down in St Ives, Cornwall.
The festival headliners exploded in front of an emotional crowd who packed out the venue to represent amongst an intensely charged atmosphere - lit up with incredible good vibes in memory of two well loved local kids who'd lost their lives under tragic circumstances.

Frontman Gary Briggs dedicated the night to Tom Greenaway and Unity Perkins , and called on the crowd to "Raise the fuckin roof in their memory". Raise the roof they did, as did STRAYS , who came back on for a further final encore after the crowd foot stomped in unison and the walls of the venue began to vibrate.

The weekend was an incredible tribute, the band were honoured to be a part of it, and massive shout outs have to go out to the organisers Richie and Matt .

Photos from the set were shot by Ally Sopp and Charlie Jay ...

The Road

2009-08-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Strays take to the high road after a blinding set at Manchesters Night and Day cafe last night, next heading to Glasgows King Tuts on the 22nd, followed by Manchesters Deaf institute on Sept 3rd, and St Ives in Cornwalls Guildhall for the Greenaway pro on the 5th...

Manchester Evening News Review

2009-04-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

David Sue talks to Gary and reviews Strays past, then hypes up the second coming (taken from The Manchester Evening News/Citylife)

THESE are good times for Manchester bands getting a second act and second bite of the cherry.

We’ve seen The Ting Tings emerge from their previous failures, Dear Eskimo, with wondrous results, and more recently, we’re witnessed Snowfight In The City Centre remould themselves into the brilliant Delphic, one of the most exciting new Manchester bands of 2009.

Hoping to join this list will be The Strays. The Manchester indie rock quintet comprise former members of Haven, one of the most heavily tipped Manchester bands at the start of this decade.

Signed to Virgin Records, produced by Johnny Marr and championed by the music press, Haven were true Manchester music scene contenders with the world at their feet.

Emotive indie

Sadly, things didn’t turn out that way. The band’s emotive indie struggled for attention as the music press turned its focus towards the American rock scene and bands like The Strokes; and after two poorly performing albums, Haven were dropped.

But now, eight years after they first emerged, it’s time for act two of the Haven story – enter Strays.

Comprising two former members of Haven, singer Gary Briggs and guitarist Nat Wason, Strays are another wonderful example of how Manc musicians can reinvent themselves with dazzling results.

“Strays feels really liberating,” explains singer Gary Briggs.

Grungier, muscular rock

“Towards the end of Haven we really weren’t enjoying playing music. We’d taken that band as far as it could go. With this new band, it feels like we’re free again. We’re making music purely for enjoyment – it doesn’t feel we’re in competition, or like we have anything to prove.”

Gary describes Strays’ material as being, “much rockier, based around heavy guitar riffs. There’s no big emotional ballads like Haven.”

It’s a fair description. Strays’ one live performance so far, at a low-key show at Deaf Institute, reveals the band to be a much grungier, muscular rock affair with brilliantly celestial guitar parts – think Television, The Pixies with a hint of Echo and the Bunnymen.

“We’re really excited,” reveals Gary. “We’ve only had a few rehearsals, but the songs just seem to be pouring out.

Manchester supergroup

''We’re not rushing into anything just yet – we’ll play a few low-key gigs, but we’re not going to make a big song and dance about coming back.

''I’m sure we’ll pick up a few fans 'cos of Haven. But I can’t really guarantee to Haven fans that they’ll even like this new band.”

But The Strays aren’t Gary’s only new musical outfit. As announced in a press statement last year, Gary is also the lead singer in the ‘Manchester supergroup’ Freebass – the band who feature triple bass duties from Manc music legends Peter Hook, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield and Andy Rourke.

There’s been much (largely negative) speculation as to whether Freebass will ever see the light of day. Gary is quick to refute the rumours.

Busy schedules

“Freebase will definitely be playing soon,” he insists. “It’s just that everyone has such busy schedules. Mani is really busy with Primal Scream, so he’s the hardest to pin down.

''But we’ve finished the record and it’s brilliant. I sing on most of the tracks, but there’s also guest vocals from Tim Burgess, Pete Wylie and Howard Marks.”

In the interim, Gary is focusing all his attentions on The Strays’ live commitments. Determined to avoid “playing all the usual Manchester venues”, The Strays are concentrating on more unique Manc music locations – thus, the band’s first official Manchester live date will be at South Nightclub on Thursday, April 9.

Big expectations

It promises to be a very special night indeed – and one that hopefully opens up new chapters for these Manc music resurrection men.

“I think people will be surprised,” says Gary. “But I’m not trying to raise any big expectations. I’m just happy to be playing music and enjoying it again.”

Gig of the Week - Thursday, April 9, South Nightclub, £5.

A REFLECTION FROM THE WORDSMITH

2009-02-28T01:08:00.000-08:00

With ‘we got to get out of this place’ ringing in his ears he set off for the quiet of Ireland. The lure of the ocean and an old friendship too strong to ignore. Some distance was needed and needed badly. He soon slipped back into the feeling of just being, but the promise of greatness was always there like a past addiction gnawing away at his subconscious, little reminders too small to notice at first but the more time Nat and Mickey spent talking and laughing they could no longer pretend it wasn’t there as it started to shine a light over them both.

The music came easy, too easy they felt, but neither complained. Was this their calling or maybe the whisky and too much fresh air, either way this had to go somewhere so they made the call.

It’s frightening how quickly you feel like your life has changed, it can feel like in one instance, the rules you’ve followed forever are no longer part of the game. We tell ourselves this but if we look back far enough, the warning signs were clear and present alerting us to the danger we chose to ignore. As he lay in the hospital corridor eyes stinging from the fluorescent strip light and nose irritated from the odour of disinfected floors and walls he knew something had to give. The seizures somehow gave Gary a clarity he never possessed before, he decided to start organising his thoughts and put pen to paper and maybe even track down a guitar player.

The number was unfamiliar and had called twice? If he wasn’t so drowsy from his stay in the hospital he would have called back, or maybe not, the paranoia that surrounds unknown numbers, the curse of the age of mobile phones. If it’s important they will call back thought Gary. His mind wandered into a dream like state full of dark and white light, an impossible alliance bound by the same cause, each needing the other yet battling for existence. Some where in the blurred, splintered edges of his conscious a siren called him from his sleep and reality crashed in like a drunk at a funeral.

He answered the phone, a familiar voice stirred emotions that had been buried so deep they burst like euphoric bubbles rising to the surface of a deep still water. The conversation moved at a lightning pace with more acknowledged and spoken between the lines that down the phones receivers. It became clear that the separation had brought their creativity together. All that stood in the way was the Irish Sea and two plane tickets.

So there they stood the three of them, united in their belief and hunger, charged and ready to explode. Their certainty was all they needed apart from a rhythm section to drive their music and complete the circle.

Manchester is a small place so reputations are hard to hide from, good or bad. With Charlie they had a guy with both, a good guy who was a badass drummer. Charlie’s joining came from a chance meeting the three had with Stuart, the eternal man about town but quiet and considered with a face made for poker. Stuart never said much apart from owning a Rickenbacker Bass Guitar and having the phone number of a drummer.

The three became five standing side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, bound by hearts and minds. Striding together into the divide and not looking back. The future promised a great many things...

AND SO IT BEGINS

2009-02-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Strays exploded onto the scene and straight into our hearts at a packed Manchester

'Deaf Institute' last night.

With a brand of passionate, garagey rock'n'roll, aimed straight at the hips but still tickling the soul, they slayed this crowd which included Damon "Badly Drawn" Gough and the legendary Johnny Marr.

Singer Gary Briggs stamped and handclapped like a young Bobby Gillespie (who can actually sing) whilst guitarist Nat hurtled around the fretboard with the perfect blend of abandon and precision not heard since, well....that man Johnny again!

There were only 7 songs on show- this is a brand new band after all- but if you're thinking you've got Strays boxed off as just another indie group, then you'd be well wide of the mark.

Yes they've got glam and grit, style and panache; they've got a wizard on guitar and a truly beautiful singer, but what really stood out and what really matters is this: Strays have clearly got, even at this very early stage, THE TUNES.

Half the set's still spinning round my head, and that's from one whirlwind assault, one smash'n'grab, hit and run!

They do leave you with something though: BELIEF!

.. ..

Andy McQueen

Piccadilly Records

AN INTRODUCTION

2009-02-27T23:52:00.000-08:00

A middle way is a death sentence for those who get caught up in the net of deceit.

There is no way back just a way through.

Unexpected freedom is a well-kept secret so don’t let it out of the bag.

Open your eyes turn the music up and enjoy some truth for always in your life –

The future is no-ones, that was a mistake.

Accept nothing less.

Taking the Rock with the Roll, Strays will open your heart and mind

No time for past or future – Strays are the now consideration for new beat generation.

Strays are the guilty for the blame culture, we accept your accusations.

Strays for prescience, Strays for the ever falling...