Check out these bandstanders
Newbury band Mosaic headline Crafty Craft
INDIE pop/rock band Mosaic, who met in Guildford during their university days at ACM, mix poppy guitar lines with ‘the joys of youthful experiences’. Head down to the Victoria Park bandstand on Monday to see this highly-energetic band who are ‘driven by the enjoyment from playing the songs they write... songs that can leave the listener feeling moved’. TRISH LEE talks to frontman Craig Robinson
Catch five-piece Mosaic – bassist Dan Morris, drummer Simon Daruvala, Craig Robinson on vocals and guitarists Adam Constantinou and Will Fitzmaurice – playing at Monday’s Crafty Craft Race; “It’s not our usual audience, but as it will have such a large crowd we thought we'd take it on,” says Craig.
The Newbury-based band recently played at the NEW:Music showcase at the Corn Exchange and the gig went down well. “We’ve played with the guys from New:Music twice now and both gigs have been exceptional for us. In total we’ve sold 180 tickets and the hometown support is incredible. “The last gig, we were lucky enough to headline and the room was buzzing! There’s nothing better at a gig than a crowd enjoying our music with us, so both the band and crowd bounce off one another.
“Our local fan base is building. Until recently, three of the band have been Newbury-based so the following was prominent from the off. We’re now confident in the Reading area, so also keeping those guys happy and building upon them is a priority.”
The band got together in Guildford, as fellow students at the Academy of Contemporary Music, in 2015. On a sunny Easter afternoon Craig and Simon decided to “get something going” and from there Mosaic was created. Simon approached Adam then Craig approached Will...“At first the search for a bassist seemed troubled, but as we were all friends we asked our housemate Greg whether he’d like to change his instrument and play a bass role. Sadly, Greg has recently taken a back step from the band, so his boots have been filled by a friend of ours, Dan Morris.”
Adam is the band’s main songwriter: “He’s our little box of ideas. We begin the majority of writing process with him then build upon it with the other guitars before adding drums and vocals.”
After a busy 2016, this year has been mad so far. “The past three months we’ve played Reading almost every other weekend, while travelling to Brighton and London. We’re always looking for more gigs, and due to some recent new discoveries we’re excited about what’s to come throughout the summer!
“After releasing our most recent EP For You (available on spotify and Apple Music ;D) we’re currently looking at gigs, festivals, videos, recordings... what I’m trying to say is we enjoy doing what we’re doing, so getting our teeth into as much as possible is keeping us very happy.”
So if things really take off, what about the day jobs? “Our days jobs aren’t quite what you’d expect. Simon works in a bank, Craig works in landscaping and groundwork, Will office work for a charity, Adam a civil engineering company and Dan the most likely job of teaching. We’ve found that having these jobs has made chasing our other musical ambitions easier to keep on track.”
Just how did the Crafty Craft gig – you’re headlining – come about? “We were approached! We’ve been looking for more Newbury gigs as it’s where people want to see us and luckily Ian Collins, who is preparing all the music for the bandstand on the day at the crafty raft, invited us to play.
“If come down, you’ll be entertained. You’d see a highly-energetic performance, a band that has the ability to write songs that can leave the listener feeling moved. We’d also love to meet anyone who comes down, so we’d like to say come down, check us out, have a chat maybe a cheeky photo to remember us by. We’ll be on at the bandstand for 3.30pm.”
