local bands make it big at Z-Fest

Flynn & Byrde - photo: Xixi Zheng

Ecstatic Records in association with the Zenith Bar, Urban Elite Radio and ‘It’s All Happening’ music zine presented the first Z-Fest last weekend. The festival brought together 40 hand picked bands, artists and collaborators from the cusp of London’s unsigned music scene for three days and nights for what was to be the finest selection of live music this side of the hemisphere.

The event had every genre covered so there was something for everyone; folk,

blues, R&B, hip-hop, funk, electro, rock, indie and metal.

A selection of bands from the East London Lines boroughs had been invited; ‘Flynn & Byrde’ was one of them. This band are a newly formed semi-acoustic duo based in

Flynn & Byrde at the ELL radio studios - photo: Phil Brown

New Cross, they are currently studying at Goldsmiths, University of

London. Tom Flynn (guitar) and Gabriel Byrde (vocals) play a stripped down fusion of off-beat reggae rhythms and soulful melodic vocal lines.

Flynn & Byrde joined ELL’s radio studio to share their music and experience:

ELL interviewed another band, ‘Joe & Tom’. The band was formed in January 2011, after a chance meeting online. Joe Housley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Tom Bailey (backing vocals, lead guitar, keyboards) are the two members, as the name suggests. Their first face-to-face meeting was at the Live and Unsigned National Music Competition auditions at the N.E.C in Birmingham. They’ve gone from strength to strength and have won their way through to the finals at the O2 in July. Along the way they have performed at live gigs in London, Cardiff and High Wycombe with great audience response.