We couldn’t be more excited to head down to Pop Recs in Sunderland this weekend to have some young people from our Mixtape Music Club play their first shows in England courtesy of We Make Culture’s Young Musicians Project! We have two acts of theirs and two from ourselves completing a stellar line up of talent for what is sure to be a great evening!
We thought we’d do some intros for the acts playing incase you aren’t familiar!
Lottie Willis is an immensely talented songwriter ready to explode out of the Sunderland music scene. At just 20 years old she has already gained an anticipative audience across the North East with radio support from BBC Introducing, as well as performing shows for the likes of Summer Streets Festival, Munro Festival, and Tracks Festival.
She kickstarted her career by attending We Make Cultures Young Musicians Project when she was just 14, and they helped her find her identity as a young person and songwriter. Lottie’s constantly evolving story has seen her shares stages with the likes of The Lake Poets and Paul Smith (Maximo Park).
You can follow her online @lottiewillismusic
Rokkari are a Sunderland based four-piece indie rock band, originally formed through the Young Musicians Project. As an up-and-coming local band, Rokkari are making their name with a sold out headline show at the Bunker already under their belt, along with gigs at famous stomping grounds The Cluny and Cumberland Arms. Inspired by Paramore, Foals, RATM, and Wolf Alice – Rokkaris music is an eclectiv mix of all four band members styles. After recently releasing their debut single “Home” they were featured in NARC magazine, as well as racking up plays on Amazing Radio.
You can follow them online @rokkariband
Low Tide are an Edinburgh based Indie Rock band who formed in high school and have been writing together since late late 2022. They started coming along to Mixtape shortly afterwards and have never looked back.
Their debut single “Between Knuckles” – a sardonic piece of fuzz punk social commentary inspired by a night where lead singer, Beau, was followed home – was released 4th of August 2023 and the buzz surrounding this saw them sell out their debut headline show at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s in September 2023.
The band then set to playing shows all over Scotland including selling out their stage at Dunfermline’s Outwith Festival that same year. Further radio support for second single “Greek Islands” allowed the band to keep their momentum going and start recording a focused body of work.
Latest single “Faces and Names” (released 10th May 2024) not only showcases the bands lyrical depth but their capability to, quite simply, write an unashamedly massive chorus. Written at a time of real change in their lives as they leave school, home, and certain people behind – it is sure to resonate with old and new fans alike – with BBC Introducing calling lead singer Beau Johnston’s vocals on the track “Phenomenal”.
Sell outs across Scotland have followed in 2024, including King tuts as support to fellow rising star Ben Walker, BBC Introducing at The Fringe, and their first Glasgow headliner at The Hug and Pint. With debut EP “Sunburn Season” just released – Low Tide look set to only increase their burgeoning reputation as one of the best new bands around.
You can follow them online @lowtide.band
Meeting and starting out as a cover band through Mixtape in 2023, the new friends played their set of Eisley, Florence and the Machine, and Maisie Peters – among others – at a local music festival in Edinburgh.
They then decided to take these influences and run with them, quickly gelling as a unit and writing their own songs. Now with a set full of original releases, this youthful six piece are garnering a reputation for being a force to reckon with live – fusing a mix of alt-rock and dream-pop influences – and weaving the ethereal and bombastic vocals of lead singers Alba Cummings and Abigail Kerner into a sound that is all their own.
You can follow them online @drenched_in_dreams_band