Page 14 - 367639 LP248834 NE Volume Magazine (170mm x 245mm 52pp) October 2022

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT OCTOBER 2022
THE
COLLECTORS TEESSIDE
One of our top artists to see live in
2022, The Collectors, started out with
humble beginnings, with two secondary
school friends making demo CDs together.
Since then, they have continuously risen
towards the top of local popularity, selling out
shows, getting radio play and amassing thousands
of streams online. Today, they’re fronted by those
same high school friends, Ralph Solis and Elliot Wells,
who both share guitar and vocals - as well as writing the songs between them - with Ralph taking the vocal lead and Elliot taking the guitar. But now, they’ve collected Tom Francis and Dan Williams along the way, providing drums and bass respectively. Self-described as ‘Mod AF’, their music and style encompasses all that made up ‘80s/’90s mod culture and Brit-pop, with the band consistently seen decked out in parkas, waving union jacks, with their music featuring heavy chord-based guitar riffs, melodic vocals and screaming solos, with influences including the likes of The Who, The Stone Roses and, of course, Oasis. Their most recent single, ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ “[reflects] on people’s wellbeing. To Ralph, it’s all about that worrying feeling you get that just won’t seem to go away, so there’s really nothing else to do
but daydream about things to forget about it”, with its lyrics reflecting on an all too familiar late night experience and offering a very needed hopeful response to it. While the lyrics make me want
to sit up crying, the rest of the song is doing
everything it can to carry on that message
of not being afraid. With a beautifully bluesy
guitar solo, an 8/4 feel that makes you want to
gently sway along, and a chorus that switches
the key to its relative major, the band literally
change a sad chord into its relatively happy version,
backing up the track’s central message of ‘Don’t Be
Afraid’ because things are (at least in the song) going to get better. If that got you excited for what's next to come, you won’t be disappointed. With a string of singles lined up for release by the end of the year, the next one featuring a “wall of sound” with “30 layers of guitar” and massive gigs including a date with The Skinner Brothers at KU in Stockton on Friday 14th October, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from The Collectors this year.
ADAM BRACCHI
Visit: Facebook.com/Thecollectorsband
You’re going to
be hearing a lot more from The Collectors this year!
14 \\ NE VOLUME MAGAZINE \\ ARTIST SPOTLIGHT