SUM OF THEIR PARTS
Shine up your boots, pour a pint and get ready for some traditional street punk! Vancouver’s Bishops Green steps it up with their first 12” album. Establishing a European following and rapidly growing North American fan base, this band has influences of Blitz, Stiff Little Fingers, Cock Sparrer, Minor Threat and European Oi!
“Music that we grew up with,” says drummer Orville Lancaster. He describes their music as punk yet melodic. The band utilizes two guitarists and “yes, it adds to the traditional sound as well as thickening the overall sound,” says guitarist Scott Farquarson.
Energetic and charismatic frontman Greg Huff leads an enthusiastic floor with the camaraderie of an old school punk sing-a-long. Tobias Chobotuck shares guitar duties with Scott Farquarson and the latter on backup vocals. The rhythm section consists of Bryan McCallum on bass and Orville Lancaster on drums and backup vocals.
The members have been playing in bands together since the ’90s, giving these boys the ability to find a distinctive sound. Formed in 2011, with a background of various styles and common bands, Bishops Green are able to pull from different punk genres and create a sound that is familiar yet original.
“We all have history together, playing at different times …. that history really gives us a unique sound,” explains Lancaster. “Let’s see, Scott, Greg and I all played in the original lineup of Lancasters back in the late 1990s. After the end of the Lancasters, Tobias and Greg played in Alternate Action! Bryan and I played in a brief reincarnation of Death Sentence,” says Lancaster, who incidentally, is also the drummer for Stockton California punk band, The Authorities.
Bishops Green’s first album will be released in Europe through Rebellion Records of the Netherlands in North America with Longshot Music from San Francisco. When asked how it all came about, “we think word got out, maybe via the Internet, that we had started this new project,” recalls Lancaster. “People heard some of our scratch tracks and it took off from there. All of us are pretty stoked about how our songs are being received.”
The new album is expected to be released on CD and vinyl late November 2012. Get ready for music that will take you back to the struggles of working class man, the spirit of a soccer match and sing-a-long anthems. If you haven’t had the chance to catch them live then put on your best pressed Sherman and head on out!
Bishops Green will be playing at FUNKYS October 26 and October 27 at Iron Road Studios.
By Bexx
Photo: Tiina Liimu
