Opening the night is Arwen Marczak, a 12 year old singer/songwriter who lives on the stunning Isle of Lewis. Her first songs, “Connecting” and “Round and Round” were created between the ages of ten and twelve with the help of the artist Vegan Queen V.
“I was inspired to write these songs by the nature and society that I see and I hope to explore different themes on my song writing journey. In the future I hope to fulfil my dream of reaching everyone’s hearts and telling them that I am here to help. I also hope that many will enjoy my songs and my singing. I play the piano and violin, I love singing round the camp fire and I am grateful for the opportunities life gives me”.
Steeljoy are west of Scotland based artist Jen O’Brien’s all women and non-binary band with instrumentalists Jenny Tingle, JP Waksman, and Caroline McGregor. Writing and performing original genre-spanning alternative/punk/indiepop with bittersweet melodies and hard-hitting lyrics exploring the intersectional issues of misogyny, gender, class, discrimination and more.
Steeljoy have played multiple gigs to great response including as Scottish support to Seattle based Atrocity Girl on their UK tour, Radio Wigwam/JAMMA indie London showcase, ShiftThePower International Women’s Day, Fopp Edinburgh in-store, Lochwinnoch Arts Festival, Broken Speaker Festival, and Oct/Nov 2024 tour dates across Scotland.
“We are feisty and loud and express ourselves fully through our music onstage, bringing the audience along. We’re also super keen on representation in the music industry being a mixed queer, gender expansive, mixed heritage, mixed language band. Writing lively modern music bilingually is also important to us representing the vibrancy and live present-tense vitality of minority language which has been historically oppressed.”
Reviews:
“The uniquely brilliant set from Steeljoy made it truly a night to remember!” – Radio Wigwam
“Fist pumping Foot stomping feminist Irish punk rock from Steeljoy” – The Punk Buddhist Journalist
“5 stars. Steeljoy communicates the kind of confinement that can be felt by societal expectations, setting up a comprehensive foundation for the rest of the album” – Discovery Music Scotland
“That’s pretty cool, looking forward to the rest of the album” – Jim Gellatly, The Voice of New Music in Scotland Radio Show
Johnny Cypher is a Glasgow based rapper, educator and community worker who hopes to inspire social consciousness and engage communities through issues like ecology, inequality, addiction and optimism for a future, through hip hop.