With their debut album out for all to enjoy and a couple more nights on their UK tour to play, you’d expect to find Exeter alt rockers in high spirits at The Phoenix, a venue that has seen many great shows in the past for them. Tonight was no exception, I met Benjamin (drummer) in the bar area just before 7pm, the time I had been given for an interview ahead of the evening’s festivities. After meeting Alex (vocals/keys) and Benny G (bass/backing vocals), it was clear that they had ‘things to do’ ahead of the gig, I left them to it, in search of sustenance with a later time to have our sit down (I make it sound like a meeting of the Don’s in a New York mafia movie), it wasn’t!

Alex led me into a room on the first floor of The Phoenix where we received some surprised looks from a bunch of ballerinas who were busy going through the motions of whatever they were doing, wrong room I assumed, yep, it was the one around the corner!

We got comfy, hit record and chatted at length about the debut record, the fact that this was the 16th time we had chatted about it, (okay, I think we’d done 2 interviews in the past but I like to exaggerate!) I was also keen to learn more about whether they plan to use any of the tracks that were match fit and ready to go from their originally penned album ‘The Smile High Club’ which consisted mainly of up-beat, disco bangers that would be more than enough to turn a static dance floor into a sweaty club night in about 5 mins of pressing play. 

We also chatted about merchandise, and whether they had plans to put out a new range of items to replace their sold out tea towels (of which I am a proud owner) and it is STILL pleasing my dishes to this very day when it comes out for a round of drying up!

The main thing I wanted to learn from our chat was the shift in musical approach from their aforementioned record, which was chock full of disco bangers to this, a body of work that felt a lot more reflective in mood and style, a collection of tracks that made you listen rather than jump about like a loon waving your hands in the air whilst the dopamine rushed around your brain, creating a state of euphoria. 

Now please don’t think that the record is akin to something that Nick Cave would put out on a dull wet day in November, it clearly has it’s more upbeat moments and even some of the more contemplative, slower numbers, get you moving but in a more composed manner, musically, it is tighter, more thought out and is a very enjoyable listen. Alex added that he had gone through a break up with his long term partner and felt as if his life had been turned upside down as a result, coupled with the loss of his father, these factors fed into a number of tracks on the record but not in a glum, depressing kind of way, more a reflection of the situation with a positive light hanging over him. He admitted that they have all grown up and matured since the days of the ‘Smile High Club’ was considered and they were keen to move away from that with the new record. 

Ben G is now the proud father of a lovely baby girl, something he was keen to mention when we sat down (he even showed me a couple of photos)  and apologised for looking ‘a bit like death warmed up’, I tried to make light of it by saying that he looked ‘jaded, but happy’, I don’t think this worked very well but we all had a good laugh at his expense!

Tonight was night four of the five night tour which has taken them to London, Falmouth and Newport, leaving tonight’s Exeter homecoming show and one last night in Bristol which would wrap up proceedings and give them a nice break to plan their next round of events. They said that all of the dates had been great, especially London which saw many people from Europe who had seen them over the winter when they enjoyed a residency in France during ‘ski season’ in the past. I asked about festivals, Ben G mentioned that they had a couple in the pipeline (including Poltimore, which is very close to their hearts (and addresses)) but wanted to use the summer to relax, recharge their batteries and (personally) enjoy some quality time with his daughter and partner, I explained that you really do have to do this as before you know it, you’ll be the proud owner of a 19 year old who knows far more than you do and regularly reminds you about it. 

I asked about the recording process and whether they approached things differently from their previous time in the studio, they all looked at one another and laughed, adding that they would never approach recording in the same way as they did for ‘The Great Letting Go’. If you want to learn more about this, you’ll have to check out the interview is available on the site (musomuso.com).

At this point, it was clear that they still had things to finalise, friends to meet and drinks to be had prior to their set. I thanked them for their time and with that, they vanished into the ether to complete their errands.

I loitered around the green room, a Pattern Pusher cake was presented to the band, then swiftly demolished by everyone in the room! 

Kicking off the night’s entertainment was KING LOUIS, a bunch of mates who met at Exeter University and, through their love of music, formed a band. They kicked out a great set full of alt-rock loveliness which warmed the room and kept everyone entertained. Seeing as they formed whilst at Uni, I asked the frontman if they had plans to carry on the band when Uni came to an end and he said that this was the plan but they would have to see how everything panned out, it’s either make it in music industry or get a gap year in before turning into a ‘norm’ with a 9-5 job, paying bills and all that shizzle, I guess only time will tell.

Up next was a London based 4-piece going by the name THE RIGHT DISHONOURABLE, I chatted to their drummer ahead of the show and she told me that they all used to live in Exeter, so it was a bit like a homecoming show for them too. They clearly brought their own fan club to the show as the front row was rocking during their solid 7 track set, which, by looking at the setlist, included a number of ‘drop D’ tunings, I hope for the guitarists sake, he had a couple of instruments to save having to manually tune between numbers. The bass player was getting a lot of attention from the front row with constant wolf whistles throughout their set but you know what, I think he loved every second of it!

SAFF JUNO is an artist that needed no introduction, having played alongside PATTERN PUSHER in February at the BBC Introducing showcase event headlined by the mighty TORS. Saff played a great set which spanned her career to date, including tracks ‘December Daisies’ and ‘Nightmare Nightmare’ which sounded pitch perfect live. Her band were on top form and with the recent addition of a new drummer, they provided Saff a solid platform to perform on, the bass player looked a little warm on stage with his shirt AND sweater, whilst Josh DC played a blisteringly HOT performance, the noises that man can get from his guitar are otherworldly.

After a short break, the auditorium filled once again in readiness for the main event. PATTERN PUSHER took to the stage to a massive welcome from their hometown fans and launched straight into their set with ‘Home’, the opening track from their debut album ‘The Great Letting Go’. This was followed by ‘Hotel Room’ which saw the room singing the chorus back at them which must have been an immense thing for the guys to witness. ‘Edge of the World’ ended the run of tracks from the new record (for now). 

They delved into their back catalogue and pulled out a couple of crowd pleasers in ‘Find the Light’ and ‘Happy Place’ which illuminated the room with smiles and bobbing heads all over the place.

They returned to the new record with ‘Things We Say in Love’ and ‘The Hills’, which saw them in a more contemplative mood, the audience reaction was the same track after track which proved that despite moving away from their previous musical style, they still had a solid fan base that are still 100% supportive.

They ended their main set with ‘Love is the Biggest Risk’ and ‘Forever and a Day’ and after numerous chants for more, they were happy to spend the last 15 mins of their stage time knocking out ‘Hey Dude’, an emotional piano led ballad which Alex wrote after the passing of his dear father which segued into an incredible version of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ which saw Benny G go for a little walk around the auditorium and Ben C standing on his drum stool (which didn’t look very safe at all) and leaping from it to a seated position a couple of times, epic stuff indeed!

With just 3 minutes left on the clock, they announced their last track and kicked into ‘Round the Corner’ which saw the room singing along in unison.

Tonight was immense, 4 great bands had come together to celebrate the debut album from PATTERN PUSHER and every person on that stage gave 110%, as for the audience, they were complete legends as usual, doing what they were asked to do, singing along, dancing like loons and having the time of their lives.

‘The Great Letting Go’ is available to stream on all platforms NOW and if you’re a fan if nice shiny vinyl, you’ll be over the moon to hear that you can pre-order it right now HERE

Words and Pictures by Steve Muscutt