Things looking up for Jersey boy singing the blues

Friday 13 March 2015

A band who do blues “with a bit of a twist” are hoping to make it big in the Netherlands after being signed to the mainstream record label working with the likes of Mumford & Sons, Fun Lovin’ Criminals and Badly Drawn Boy.

Jerseyman Giles Robson and his band The Dirty Aces have spent the last two years eager to launch their album "From The Basement" that comes out on V2 Records Benelux on 20 April.

A teaser video for the new album is on YouTube - you can view it here.

Lead singer Giles said: “We recorded the album in Jersey two and a half years ago and since then we have been working in the blues world, we are a blues band with a bit of a twist.

“It’s a Jersey product, written in Jersey, recorded in Jersey and engineered and mixed in Jersey by Sam Falle, and recorded at Gilbert O’ Sullivan’s studio in July 2012.”

Giles said the band wanted to record something more contemporary and fresh and says the sort of garage rock they are doing is very popular in the Netherlands at the moment.

He said: “It’s pretty tough for bands in the UK at the moment, it’s very hard for record labels to financially support bands to go out and tour.

“The UK is very small, the radio outlets are very monolithic, if you don’t get radio 1 or 2 it’s very hard.

“There are a lot more radio stations in Europe, college radio stations, spread out across the country. It’s not so all or nothing.

“We didn’t want to rush a release – you are then judged on your sales so we are going to launch in the Benelux first and then start launching in other places in Europe after that.”