Band of the Day: Broken Lines

Heading into the hills and valleys of Wales fo today’s noise-merchants…

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

The band has its own studio space where we write, rehearse and record, just outside of Narberth in Pembrokeshire. We have spent a lot of time getting the feel of the place right as it is a second home for us.

How did you meet?

Jack and Dave have previous history in bands and socially. They started looking for a bass player in 2017 and Mark got in touch and the rest is history!

How long have you been playing as a band?

Approximately 2 years.

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

Ha, good question! Dave spent hours and hours with friends trying, before getting together with Mark and Jack, to find a name that worked and we had 100s of them. Depending on the situation they got more and more crazy! In the end Broken Lines came about and it was liked by everyone, it’s a nod to punk, to not conforming to one style, to being different, to having ideas and being confident to change and shift and not being precious. Both Mark and Jack were happy with it, so that’s who we are.

What are your influences?

Mark: The Stranglers, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, New Model Army, Bob Marley, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Steve Harley.

Dave: Jimi Hendrix, Nick Cave, Rage Against The Machine, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Clash, Bowie.

Jack: New York Dolls and The Pink Fairies.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

We’ve been around the block and have a great deal of experience and skill in what we do. We are fully self-contained and can put on a great show with our own hi-tech PA and lighting rig.

We are experienced multi-instrumentalists and song writers who also have an in depth knowledge of playing live and recording. We genuinely love creating and performing music and want our audience to share the feeling we have. Getting this across is a challenge we all enjoy; there is too much formulaic mediocrity out there, we are definitely not part of that!

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

We write about the world around us and anything else really. We have songs about love, films we like and things that make us feel passionate.

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

We are loud and wear our hearts on our sleeves. We like to be completely immersed in what we are doing and no show is the same. We live for playing live and performance. Come see us, you won’t regret it!

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

Our entire show is wild, fast and frenetic. We dance with the audience and have a lot of banter on stage. I (Mark) was in the biggest bottle throwing situation I’ve ever seen, at a Slipknot gig in Cardiff a while back. Truly impressive!

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

Mark: Fender American Standard Precision Bass – Black Fender American Standard Precision Bass – Olympic White Fender American Standard Jazz Bass – Olympic White

My amplification: Ashdown Engineering ABM EVOII 900 Head into 4 x 10 and 1 x 15 ABM cabinets. Ashdown Engineering RM-800-EVO 800w Rootmaster Head into a RM-610T-EVO 900w 6 x 10 cabinet.

I am very proud to be a listed Ashdown Artist and considers them to be the best bass amplifiers bar none.

I trigger an old Akai E4 sampler with midi foot pedals.

Dave: Amp: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe MkI, Guitar: Fender Stratocaster with bare knuckle pick-ups, a selection of beautiful fx pedals to hone my sound form: Xotic, TC Electronic, Electro Harmonix, Earthquaker Devices, MXR and some home-made silicon fuzz, which is awesome!

Jack: Ludwig kit and Roland synth.

What are your plans for 2019?

The sky’s the limit, really! All three of us are totally committed to Broken Lines, and we have the experience and skill to move forward, creating new milestones along the way. We want people to feel the way we do about our music and enjoy the Broken Lines experience.

If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!

Cruelty from Bristol. We’re a little biased because one of us is the singer’s father, you decide :) But they are shit hot! We also have a great relationship with a band called The Fens, from swansea. They are a 2 piece guitar and drum outfit who make an enormous sound!

Broken Lines: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp | soundcloud | youtube

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