The Oh Yeah Music Centre, recently celebrating its tenth year, has been a hotbed for talent development throughout its history. A huge part of that has been its Scratch My Progress programme, offering extensive advice and tools to artists lucky enough to be selected. Now onto its sixth edition, the Scratch My Progress compilation showcases tracks from the four acts.
There’s a real diversity across the artists selected here. Strange New Places‘ ‘Trombone’ is coming of age indie with a throwback eighties vibe as vocalist Ashley Jones sings of queerness and self-deprecation.. It’s an enjoyable first showing from the five piece. Reevah takes it slower on the stripped back and gorgeous ‘Wildflower’. Cut In Blinks are the most unusual prospect with their experimental electronica incorporating a range of sounds across a glitchy three minutes. Final track ‘Skate Shoes’ by Hand Models is a catchy, California dipped anthem of adoration, the lyrics roll out of frontman Gareth Murray as easily as the slacker guitar riffs.
The Scratch My Progress class of 2017 has arrived in fine fettle! We are thrilled to support a new tribe of young, inspiring boundary breakers including an electronic enigma ‘Cut In Blinks’, dream folkster ‘Reevah’, reductive indie rockers ‘Hand Models’ and queer punk troupe ‘Strange New Places’. Expect new songs, new shows and new stories to weave into the rich creative fabric of our Northern Irish musical tapestry.
