1 April 2024
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with Ben from Birmingham/Shrewsbury band ACROBVT to find out more…
Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
The band started with the brothers, myself (Ben) and Sam the drummer. We found Charlie who was a local guitarist and we met Ash through the gigging circuit. We started doing shows together and eventually writing together. We came up with the name as we felt like after writing new material that we felt changed the direction of what we thought we were going to be about. We wanted something easy to remember, short and to the point. We also liked the ideas around what ACROBVT (pronounced Acrobat) stood for, resilience, determination and strength to name a few words that come to mind. We then flipped the last A into a V to help with the logo and to be honest URL space, the internet is a busy place nowadays!
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
For me when growing up I loved singer songwriters. People like Adam Duritz from Counting Crows who I still admire today, Coldplay and David Gray. All amazing lyrics in my opinion. Musically today I think we are inspired by bands that are looking to push boundaries of guitar based bands. So artists like Imagine Dragons, Coldplay and Maroon 5.
How would you describe your sound?
If you got Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Maroon 5 and the Stereophonics, then blended them together I think the smoothie would be ACROBVT’s sound.
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
We released our debut single Neon at the end of February 2024. That was inspired by my recent trials and tribulations with chronic pain that lasted for 6 years. I had surgery that finally fixed the issue and my life changed, allowing me to be present and enjoy the world around me. It was like a switch being turned off with the pain and it really allowed me to feel good again after feeling so lost for a long time.
What’s your local music scene like?
Shrewsbury always had a thriving scene for music and Birmingham has an incredible music scene with plenty of venues to choose from. Lots of places for us to cut our teeth!
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We just got back from LA after being invited out to perform in Hollywood off the back of our debut single Neon, which was incredible. We are now planning our next release and getting ready for the summer festival season!
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
To be honest, I think anyone and everyone. We actually wrote the last batch of material with Mikey Demus from Skindred and it was a fantastic experience. Now if someone had suggested that we would create the songs we have written with him I would have been surprised based on what Skindred sound like, so I’m much more open to working with anyone! I personally would love to sit and write some lyrics with Adam Duritz just to get a feel for how he goes about it and learn as much as I could.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
There are always funny stories! One that springs to mind is getting locked outside the venue ten minutes before we meant to go on stage with the drum kit! We managed to get on stage and set up, don’t ask me how!
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
One of us is dairy free, one of us is a Coventry fan (don’t hold that against us), one is obsessed with the gym and one of us is allergic to penicillin!
You can find out more about ACROBVT on their website or via Apple Music, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, TikTok or YouTube.
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