WIDE DAYS 2018 - SHOWCASE PRESS ASSETS

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

LUCIA
With distorted electric guitar to the fore, the sound of Lucia swerves through lo-fi garage rock, 90s grunge and more modern influences such as The Kills. With a kick-ass band backing up Lucia Fontaine, this former busking teenager has blossomed into a confident, edgy and magnetic on-stage presence. 2018 has already brought the release of anthemic punk single Melted Ice Cream and invitations to SXSW, Electric Fields, The Great Escape and Liverpool Sound City.

“Powerhouse vocals, a sneer and smirk in the delivery, mixed with icy pop and grand ideas. She's one to watch for sure” - HMV’s Next Big Thing
 

WUH OH
Nothing is off-limits for Bathgate's eclectic electro-pop maverick Wuh Oh, aka Pete Ferguson, be it experimenting with time signatures, dabbling in quirky chiptune, fusing jazzy rhythms or sampling whatever takes his fancy. An accomplished pianist, he plays synths and keys live on stage and, most importantly, he makes dance music that gets everyone at his gigs dancing, including himself. Wuh Oh's endeavours have already seen him land prized slots on Radio Scotland - in session for Vic Galloway and on Jazz Nights at the Quay - and endear himself to festival crowds at TRNSMT and Electric Fields.

“Euphoria and joy, playfulness and wonder” - Vic Galloway, Radio Scotland
 

ZOE GRAHAM
There is an impressive maturity and attention to detail in Zoe Graham’s music that sets this accomplished young songwriter apart from her peers. On stage, you will find her either with band or fleshing out the instrumentation with loop pedals on solo outings. But when Zoe pares it back to just a vocal and acoustic guitar, as she does on the achingly poignant The Anniesland Lights (from her recent Hacket & Knackered EP), that is when you know you're in the company of someone very special indeed. Championed by Radio Scotland's Roddy Hart and with multiple Celtic Connections appearances to her name, Zoe Graham's understated charms will not stay below the radar for much longer.

RASCALTON
Boasting a compelling frontman in Jack Wyles, Rascalton play fast and loose, the quartet’s frazzled pop-punk drawing inspiration from the garage-rock revival of the early 2000s. For a group with so much potential to get very big, very fast they are certainly putting in the miles to get the word out, selling out headline slots in Glasgow and Edinburgh and touring extensively across the UK and Europe after signing with renowned booking agency 13 Artists.

“Every so often a band comes along that immediately becomes my favourites” - Jim Gellatly, The Sun.
 

EDWIN ORGAN
In the past few years Edwin Organ’s postcode has shifted from Dunfermline to Ayr and on to Glasgow, each move coinciding with his own artistic evolution. Leaving behind his techno/club music origins, we find him pushing the boundaries of leftfield synthpop on debut EP, Missing the T, with scattered beats and melodic foundations pulling the four tracks in unpredictably thrilling directions. It is easy to see why Edwin Organ has attracted invites from T in the Park, Electric Fields and XpoNorth and recorded a session for Vic Galloway’s Radio Scotland show.
“Off-kilter electronics with a neat line in songwriting, it feels like an acerbic, much younger, more Glaswegian LCD Soundsystem” - Clash

CRYSTAL
Crystal began as a duo when lead vocalist Anna Shields joined forces with guitarist Blair Crichton, but soon expanded to a quartet after enlisting a drummer and bassist to amplify their creative ideas. With barely a handful of gigs under their belts, Crystal caught a remarkable break by beating nearly 500 other acts in a public vote to support Paolo Nutini at one of his Hogmanay concerts in Edinburgh in 2016. This was followed by an invitation to take part in  a Chris Difford songwriting retreat and a special performance for legendary producer Tony Visconti. The band have built on that early momentum, honing their skewed grunge sound and backing up a couple of singles - Sugar Sweet and The Fall-esque post-punk of Sex Rich - with striking promo videos.

GRAHAM COSTELLO’S STRATA
Featuring some of Scotland’s finest young jazz musicians, the raw enthusiasm of STRATA’S improvised performances centres around a musical framework composed by its founder Graham Costello, a first-class graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with the flair and skill to display percussive leadership from behind the drumkit. A residency at Glasgow’s Bar Bloc has allowed the band to open jazz up to indie/alternative audiences, winning new fans, and they have been rewarded with coveted slots at the Glasgow Jazz Festival and BBC Radio Scotland's Jazz Nights at the Quay.
“This band is set to grow exponentially” - Scotland on Sunday