The latest instalment of Live4ever’s Presents introducing series features Blanketman.
Blanketman by Through The Eyes Of Ruby
Who?
Adam Hopper: Vocals and rhythm guitar
Daniel Hand: Lead guitar and vocals
Jeremy Torralvo-Godoy: Bass
Ellie-Rose Elliott: Drums
Where?
Adam: Great Driffield
Dan: Reading
Jeremy: St Etienne
Ellie: Leicester
Why?
I don’t think any particular bands made us want to start a band together, more of a drive to make music with some like-minded people and have a laugh. I guess we all had The Fall and The Velvet Underground in common.
How?
I (Adam) posted an ad on joinmyband.com before moving to Manchester, saying I was moving in the next couple of months and wanted to start a band and some of the music that I liked. I met them one by one for a cup of tea and we clicked. Jeremy, Dan and I were looking for a drummer for a couple of months and thankfully we stumbled upon Ellie. Played our first gig about a couple of months after meeting Ellie at the Peer Hat in Manchester, January 2018.
Past?
I’d been in a couple of bands at Uni in Reading where I studied Archaeology, and Jeremy had been playing in bands and solo projects for years back in France, good fun but nothing that amounted to much. For Dan and Ellie this is their first band. We all arrived in Manchester to work/study, but everyone has graduated now.
Present?
Two guitars, bass and drums.
Future?
Releasing a debut album and playing Glasto. Standard, but they feel like significant moments to aim for.
Did you know?
We played a show at the excellent Trades Club in Hebden Bridge; we didn’t have any way to get back to Manchester, a family at the gig very kindly allowed us to stay at theirs. We slept in sleeping bags in a cottage in front of an open fire surrounded by the family’s many pet rabbits.
What’s next?
We have a new single coming out in January followed by our debut EP in March. Plans are underway for a tour in 2021 too, so fingers crossed for that!
Live4ever:
It’s unusual these days to hear or read about bands that sound like The Beatles. Such is the stage of rock’s cycle that we’re at but, when the time comes around again (and it will), Blanketman may point to Harold as Exhibit A.
Spiky, Revolver guitars, hauntingly distant vocals and a mega drum sound combine to create one of catchiest tracks of return times, complete with a splendidly restrained, mid-section wigout worthy of Blur.
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