Getting to grips with Gengahr

Their concoction of the catchiest of catchy dream-pop sees them crooning loveless lines like “Darling, it started out meaning nothing” on ‘Dizzy Ghosts’, but always immersing themselves in wicked horror-show cinematics: “Two teeth to stick you with and I still don’t know your name” the vampiric love story ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’ goes.

This is Gengahr – an odd-pop four-piece originally from London town, and they’re fast becoming Britain’s biggest breakout band of 2015. The year started well enough, opening for alt-J on their European tour, then onto Australia where the band have seen the most success; they gained a record deal there before anywhere else. “That was a big one for us” Felix Bushe, lead-singer and guitarist for the band, tells me as I caught up with him shortly before their first (first!?) headline UK tour.

The dank, dim gloom of Hounds would then play the perfectly imperfect host to Gengahr’s ‘Bathed In Light’ et al.

The Hare and Hounds, an old-school sort of grimy Brum pub/venue with decades-old decor (and a thriving live music scene – Du Blonde played another room on the same night; East India Youth, Speedy Ortiz and The Wytches were to play in the coming weeks), was several worlds apart from where I’d last managed to catch these pysch-popsters. Glastonbury’s John Peel tent on a Sunday morning is an unforgiving place; hangovers cling to skulls, like neuroscience-obsessed squirrels. Swaying to the music was probably involuntarily on most people’s part. I digress. The dank, dim gloom of Hounds would then play the perfectly imperfect host to Gengahr’s ‘Bathed In Light’ et al.

Live, the mix of lush melodies, Bushe’s captivating falsetto and lead-guitarist John Victor’s mind-boggling skills with a six-string axe, produce a wonderful sound. ‘Trampoline’’s outro and the thrashes featured on ‘Heroine’ and ‘She’s A Witch’ are particular highlights.

I wondered if taking the (often difficult) decision to pursue a career in the (almost always unforgiving) music industry had been made easily enough: “I always wanted to do this, but as I got older that confidence has wavered. I found myself back at uni a few times, trying to do other jobs: I always wanted to do music, with differing levels of intensity I guess”. There’s no doubt that now, all the hard work has been worth it.

The success of similar bands makes it surprising, then, that with one of the debuts of the year they’ve not quite exploded just yet

Certainly the success of similar bands such as Glass Animals and alt-J, then further back Radiohead, makes it surprising, then, that with one of the debuts of the year they’ve not quite exploded just yet. Felix nevertheless doesn’t take the bait, and points to the sort of level-headedness and grip on reality which has probably allowed the band to go as far as they have done already: “taking everything in their stride” and “there’s no missing out steps”. No ‘I want to be playing stadiums’ aspirations yet from this band, despite the plausibility of that prospect – whether they want to let themselves believe that or not.

As our interview comes to a close, I ask Felix if he reckons they’ll have had a number one album in ten years’ time. He laughs and says probably not. But with the 90s coming back into fashion, their well-crafted loud/soft dynamics seem perfectly suited to fill these smaller venues this autumn, and (well, why not?) even larger spaces for years to come.