INTRODUCING: Brightlight City
Taking a positive stance in the music industry can be tough for bands. While vying to make a mark for themselves and be a distinct voice in the huge vat of talent out there, a good portion of bands get lost. BRIGHTLIGHT CITY, however, seem to have a clear path and a talent for making music and decisions that will get them noticed.
Starting out, BRIGHTLIGHT CITY began as a simple exercise in honing teenage rebelliousness and ingenuity into something worthwhile. “Me and Justin are brothers, Justin is my older brother, and my mum felt that when I was fifteen, I needed some ‘guidance’ shall we say,” vocalist Jamie Giarraputo describes. “Something to keep me focussed and to avoid me getting in anymore trouble for selling fireworks out of my locker at school. So, Justin bought me a bass for my 15th birthday, pushed it into my hand and said, “learn this and you can join my band.” I thought I’d give it a go. Never looked back really, I gradually became the singer and ditched the bass.”
“Fast forward to 2013 where we were struggling to find the right lineup to take our music forward. My childhood friend Jono [Staunton, guitar] returned to the UK from Australia and we immediately asked him if he wanted to join as he played great lead guitar, very delicate like a petal. Then I met Ben [Bell, drums] whilst he was recording drums in another band at my old studio which I used to run, so I poached him away and he took to the throne. Finally, Ben introduced us to Tom [Stock, bass] and finally everything felt complete. The Our Future’s Not Dead EP (2017) was our first musical venture as the complete lineup, but it took us all a while (and many different paths/years of hard work) to find the right formula, we certainly aren’t ‘new’ to this crazy industry.”
Sparky, metallic guitars and bouncing rhythms ignites the space between pop punk and alt rock. It’s music that’s steeped in summertime festival vibes, with enough relatable lyrical content to keep you hooked. “Our music comes from a wide breadth of influences, we have been described as THRICE style riffs and intensity meets a punk rock attitude, with hat tips to THE CURE and HELL IS FOR HEROES.”
BRIGHTLIGHT CITY have a hard-line determination to create authentic music that they can completely throw themselves into. The impact of this unwavering identity produces a band that wins audiences and listeners from the off. “We are a band that pride ourselves on always, without fail, putting 100% into everything we do,” Jamie elaborates. “We work extremely hard to ensure that we are the best we can be and sometimes that can be exhausting, but for us, it’s necessary. Our live performances are always high energy, without exception. Recently someone commented saying that, due to a small audience size, they expected us to ‘go through’ the motions but were impressed that we still performed and put on a show…that sums us up really. Don’t expect subdued arrogance due to turnout; we’ll play in front of five people to 5,000 people and still put in the same energy. We’ve broken bones onstage, broken teeth and pushed ourselves to the limit. But it’s real and it’s us. This is who we are.”
The band also make a very apparent point about the state of the live music scene in the UK. While they delight in their performances, it’s getting ever harder to reach everyone. “We gig regularly and love every minute of it. The only real concern for us, and thousands of other musicians, is the all to frequent occurrence of permanent closure of some great venues,” Jamie opens up. “The gigging and touring scene in the UK seems to be shrinking with the dwindling availability of ‘go to’ venues, but that said we will continue to play everywhere and anywhere. We hope to continue to gain more recognition of our live shows and in turn build up as loyal following. We are already starting to see this happen, but ideally, we want to be in arenas soon [laughs]!”
Diversity and personal experience are also at the heart of BRIGHTLIGHT CITY. Balancing who each individual is with who they are as a team is a brilliant high point in the way the band push themselves forwards in their careers. “Our main driver as a band is the collective. We are all from various backgrounds, but we are ultimately great friends,” Jamie remarks warmly. “This allows us to collectively move forward together in harmony. We are also good at supporting each other through tough times and also making sure no one inflates their ego (high will never happen as we are all humble, chilled people). Every time we rehearse, play live or meet up we have a great laugh and enjoy discussing everything from the state of the world, local issues, health, films and of course, music. We are also inspired by all the bands on our label who have a similar outlook on music, shout out to BEST OF ENEMIES, LOOSE TOOTH, MERRICK’S TUSK and SEASONAL– Go check these guys out, you will not be disappointed.”
On the subject of labels, for such a young and busy band, it’s impressive that BRIGHTLIGHT CITY are also owners of their own label. “We run a record label Undead Collective Records on which we have put out (to date) 21 releases spanning singles to albums,” Jamie elaborates. “This is a real passion of ours as we want to be able to create and maintain a thriving scene of independent musicians. Working independently is hard, but incredibly rewarding, it allows us to have true artistic freedom and also give that artistic freedom to the bands on our label. We are constantly learning about the workings of running a label and we are so lucky to have some really energetic, enthusiastic bands, it is a true collective as we all discuss and run different ideas helping each other along the way.”
The band have released a seasonable collective of music from singles to an EP over the years, honing in on what they want to be. Finally, we look towards a full length debut album, The Harmony & The Chaos, which is a passionate listen, filled with big hooks and relevant lyrics to both the band and a wider community. There’s a journey to making an album, and BRIGHTLIGHT CITY are no exception to that journey. “The writing and recording process for us was great, I really feel we grew as a band and as a collective,” Justin positively explains. “We pushed ourselves as individuals to try and better each guitar line, drum fill, vocal hook that we wrote. At times it was exhilarating, other times you felt like you could barely see the light at the end of the tunnel. But to come through it and have the set of songs we have now, we all feel proud of what we have created. One of the last choruses we recorded was for a song called Who You Are. It has this group end refrain, in which Jamie summed up the process beautifully with his lyrics – Make your way through the dark, finding out who you are.”
Having understood the personal trials of creating something you’re completely happy with, while the physical arrangement is a very collaborative effort, BRIGHTLIGHT CITY also draws from a deeper well of emotion for it’s lyrics. Justin also explains. “Our inspiration is drawn from a number of places. For the album we drew inspiration from current social and political climates that we are living in, but also Jamie became quite insular and looked at how his genetic make-up and how his personal life impacts on the world he lives in. There are moments on every song of this album where the lines sung are soaked in emotion and deeper meaning. This is something we always strive to create, is music with a purpose that others can relate to.” Micro analysing and taking a step back to see the larger world at work is an important skill that BRIGHTLIGHT CITY have managed to apply to all aspects of their band.
Continuing, Jamie noted that the creation of The Harmony & The Chaos wasn’t without its trials. “The album was recorded in a number of locations over the course of a year [from the end of 2017 onwards]. We tracked all of the guitars, bass, keys and backing vocals at Tom’s home studio, then went to Stakeout Studios to lay down the drums. All of my main vocals were tracked at my home set up, whilst wearing nothing but my silky boxer shorts and a dressing gown- that’s an image you’ll never get out of your head!” He jokes. “We then refined parts and sent it all off to be mixed and mastered professionally. The process, from demoing to release took nearly two years, mainly because when we had it mixed, the completion date of the mix kept moving. This was the most frustrating part of the process for us. It was a situation that was completely out of our control and hugely frustrating. But that said, we are here now, with the album out, and it feels good. In the time that we have waited to release The Harmony & The Chaos, we have already demoed album number two and will approach the recording of the next album the same way…apart from the mix!”
While the music is catchy and really gets in your head, opening up a positive vibe and a light mood, BRIGHTLIGHT CITY also have a serious undertone with that they create. For example, the naming of the album has a well thought out meaning on it’s own. “The symbolism behind the title The Harmony & the Chaos is multi-layered,” Justin clarifies, noting that, “on the surface it was fitting a description as recording everything yourselves can feel perfect at times and then equally chaotic. It also has a deeper meaning that focusses on the Macro- the wider view of our world and society, but also the Micro where we focus on ourselves. The fine line we walk between Harmony and Chaos every day is evident and it is utterly exciting and scary in equal parts.”
As the band gear themselves up for bigger and bigger things, it’s clear that they’re rearing to push themselves physically and emotionally to be as raw and honest on stage for their audience. “For us performing live is something we love, I know that on stage we all put on an energetic, passion-fuelled performance,” Justin asserts. “Off stage, or just before we go on, we have a number of rituals we all follow. We tend to help each other through the nerves (yes we still get nervous because we care about what we do and sometimes when you’re on stage you are at your most vulnerable, but also most open) we will talk about films or TV shows we have been watching, books or new stories we have read and most of the time have some fantastic and ridiculous conversations on various subjects. All this helps to get us focussed on putting on the best show we can, we always live by the adage ‘play every show like it’s your last’.”
The Harmony & The Chaos is out now via Undead Collective Records.
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