Brilliant Mind – noise and sparks

2015 in Photos

Photo by Graeme Baty at Blank Slate Creative Photography

If you’ve been following my photography posts (search “photo” in the box at the top), you’ll know I’ve been a fairly industrious sort of a bee in 2015. I’ve shot a number of bands for Drowned In Sound‘s In Photos section, as well as for ma ainsel. With the year rushing to a close, here’s a recap of some of the shows I’ve shot this year with a slideshow of highlights.

Below you’ll find some of my favourite shots of *deep breath*… Maximo Park, Mark Lanegan, Twilight Sad, Richard Dawson, Sean & Zander, Polyphonic Spree, Nadine Shah, The Lake Poets, Kingsley Chapman and the Murder, By Toutatis, Brilliant Mind, Glass Caves, Samantha Durnan and Kylver.

Enjoy!

Photo ~~Friday~~ Sunday: The Lake Poets, Brilliant Mind and Coquin Migale at the Mind All-Dayer

I’ve got a lot of respect for the work of mental health charity Mind, particularly within the North-East of England. However, I have to confess that’s not the only reason the recent charity gig was a fixture in my calendar. A rare set from Brilliant Mind, plus the promise of new album material from The Lake Poets? You’d have been nuts to have missed it.

Sadly I couldn’t make it down to the whole day, but it’s always a good night when you find a new spaced-out indie band – Coquin Migale, in this case. Brilliant Mind‘s joyful set, by contrast, had a much poppier vein, a sort of Smiths-meets-The-Beatiful-South-via-Shearwater vibe, but with a North-East bitterness to it. The highlight of the evening for me was still the ethereal harmonizing of Martin from The Lake Poets and Rebecca Young (aka This Little Bird). Tracks like ‘Black & Blue’ suggest that Martin’s recent recording time in Nashville wasn’t wasted — definitely a record that’s on my wishlist.

Here’s some shots I took of Coquin Migale, Brilliant Mind, and The Lake Poets. Enjoy!