WATCH: Forgotten Sons gear up for Halloween EP launch

Forgotten Sons are a band who in a short space of time are already making big waves in the local music scene.

The group has received a huge response on social media after releasing the music video for
their debut single just two weeks ago.

This should be no surprise for anyone familiar with the previous output of the band’s members.

Drummer John Gair was a member Black Bic Biro (also known as Oscar Charlie) and was also a member of The Last along with Forgotten Sons singer Robert ‘Birdy’ Burgess.

Burgess is a veteran of many bands including Juvenile Delinquents alongside Forgotten Sons guitarist Sandy Middleton. The band later became Beachless when Middleton left, a playful joke referring to the loss of their “sandy” member.

Bass player and Liverpudlian Danny Carter may be less familiar to local crowds but he is comically referred to as the band’s “international superstar”. This is because Carter once performed live in front of the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart.

Forgotten Sons formed last year when “writing songs with The Last was becoming harder,” Burgess said.

Members of The Last were struggling to get together, one was offshore, another had just had a child and another was moving house.

Burgess said: “We got thinking is this going to continue? I wouldn’t say we’re finished, probably just on hiatus.”

Gair added: “We’ve still got about two albums worth of material to record.”

Burgess said that the four Forgotten Sons members, “started hanging out more often and then realised we all played these different instruments.”

Gair had written the song Young and Free and sent it to other members of the band. This was to be the start of the writing process.

Middleton and Burgess wrote the rest of the material on the record, a process which Burgess described as smooth.

He said: “It was so easy to write with Sandy. We just sort of bounce off each other.”

He added: “We didn’t really discuss what kind of sound we were going for. It just came naturally.”

After writing the four songs which make up their debut release the band decided to record at the earliest opportunity.

On the CD the group combine rock harmonies with punk energy and raspy vocals with soaring choruses, signalling themselves as another sterling addition to an already thriving local rock, punk and metal scene.

The title track and lead single from the EP – titled Just So You Know – starts with a lone guitar reminiscent of The Gaslight Anthem’s terrific Springsteen meets The Clash track The ‘59 Sound.

Over the course of its three-minute run time the track builds up steam, eventually culminating with a frenzied crescendo of frantic strumming and the duelling vocals of Burgess and Middleton.

Burgess’s gravelly vocals lead the line on the two tracks which follow, backed ably by Middleton’s catchy guitar hooks and the driving rhythm section of Carter and Gair.

Hate the Way You Left Me is a particular highlight on the four track offering, coupling stuttering guitar riffs with impassioned vocals which build to a barked refrain.

On the final track, Blackened Heart, guitarist Middleton tries his hand at lead vocals. His exposed voice begins and ends the song, lending it an emotional clout.

The DIY sound of the record is rooted in the process which the band employed. The CD was recorded over the course of a weekend at Gair’s house.

Middleton said: “It was done very quick. We practised a few times.”

Burgess added: “It was actually scary. I went in thinking, ‘is this going to sound okay?’”

After recording the EP the band decided to shoot a music video, with assistance from Jordan Clark, for release on their YouTube and Facebook pages.

The response to the video has been huge, receiving thousands of views and numerous shares and likes.

Now, after building a great deal of hype, the group are set to officially launch their EP at Mareel on the Saturday before Halloween.

Sidewinder, Brundlehorse and Phat Sharp are also on the bill fore the free concert.