Anthony Birdseye, Chris Hampson & Tobias O'Reilly make up Cardiff-based Grunge/Alt Rock trio Penny Rich.
The band was formed over the summer of 2016 by Ant and Tobias, two active musicians who met through their work. Ant was the founder and frontman of the band Nowhere Boy, while Tobias is the drummer for The Dharma Violets. Born out of a mutual desire for a new project, they met for one jam session to throw out some new ideas. The rest is history. The search was then on to find a Bassist. After a long search involving several try-outs and auditions, Chris was recruited into the band. Since then, the band have been working on material together and compiling a lively set. For them, the emphasis should be on 'electric' live performances.
On 2 April 2017, the band released their debut EP "Nomad'
Flare – breaks us in gently with a sweet riff and then boom. ‘Flare’ builds you up and drops you back down again with a heavy smack. A big foot-stomping, head-nodding grinder of a track. Pounding bass, banging beats and gruff vocals give an excellent start to this debut EP.
I’ve Been Driving – another foot-tapper straight from the off that quickly accelerates into rock-grunge chaos. This is an awesome, melodic track that is guaranteed to have you singing along at the shows for sure!!
Scream – the signature Penny Rich sound kicks off the final track and doesn’t leave you feeling disappointed. Its got everything you want in a kick-ass rock track!
I love my 90s rock/metal/grunge and this certainly has massive familiarities with that decade. In a good way, of course. You get the Soundgarden, you get the Pearl Jam, Nirvana make an appearance and you get more than just tinges of Therapy? sown in for good measure!
A brilliant, energetic and powerful debut EP from the Cardiff boys, just as promised. You get exactly the same from the live show with Penny Rich. All three members really pass on the buzz that goes with their performance!
They are thinking big and I’m sure they will make it big!
I chatted to lead guitarist and singer Ant to find out a little bit more about the rising rock stars...
So...Why Penny Rich?
"We really struggled to come up with a name. We were originally Nomad for a while but realised that had been used numerous times already. After months, I thought of Penny Rich, relating to the saying "Penny for your thoughts?". It's appropriate as I use my lyric writing to get a lot off of my chest."
Nice, I love to know the origins of band names. In your bio you mention Nirvana, QOTSA, Soundgarden etc. Are these your main influences? What are you inspirations?
"As a band absolutely. We came together through a love of Grunge and Alt Rock. I initially knew Toby and I would get something good going when I saw him whack the hell out of his kit, very much like a certain Mr. Grohl, cliché though it may be. Chris only added to the feel. On a personal note, I was mainly into Indie in my formative years, but further developed into darker/heavier stuff in relating to their subject matter. Singers like Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder made my mind up on genre and vocal style inspiration wise. I should add, as a band, we are respectively into a whole plethora of genres!"
Sweet. That certainly comes across in your music style! Talking about Chris, he loves getting involved in the live shows doesn't he!? At least he did when I saw you last, getting into the crowd and keeping them dancing! As a band you like to give an energetic performance for sure.
"Absolutely. I'd say it's for show but it's genuinely how we are in practise! What would be the point of writing music we don't want to move to. We're all relatively quiet people left to our own devices, so, as the name suggests, it feels like an unleashing of emotion."
You can get an example of their performance with a video I shot from my first gig here..!
Its been almost a year since Nomad was released, what's next for Penny Rich?
We're heading back into the same studio with new material at the end of this month.
We have lofty ambitions so be sure to keep tabs, we have a lot to share!
Awesome...can't wait to see it all unfold!
You say about new material...Are you the main song writer Ant or is it generally a group effort?
I am the main songwriter in the sense that I come up with a musical skeleton. As a band we sort out the mushy, soft tissue. When we can collectively yell "it's alive", we have a song.
Catch them live at GWDIHW, Cardiff on March 15th!
Check out the audio video for 'I've Been Driving'
as well as Flare and Scream on Penny Rich's YouTube Channel
Keep up to date with all things Penny Rich on the usual social media platforms - Facebook & Twitter.
or get the music on these links.....
and over at BANDCAMP the EP is currently on a Pay What You Want offer...Or even FREE!!!