Cambridge based Fuzzy Lights, who played recently at McGinty’s Green Room for local promoters of musical curiosities and eclectica ‘The Garden’, are a folk infused Post Rock band, whose luscious songs are brimming with deliciously giddy guitar loops, twee vocals, and poignantly reverby violin. Although lead singer Xavier disagrees with my categorisation: “There’s a tendency to put everything that’s instrumental into the category of Post Rock. Where do you draw the line?” “And infusion makes us sound like a kind of tea,” some one else remarks – I can’t make out who because the flurry of voices on my archaic Dictaphone are all drowning one another out by now and merging with the background noise of the pub. “I like tea,” says Rachel playfully, ending that particular exchange. The band agrees that they are mostly an instrumental rock band, rather than Post Rock – ‘Most Rock,’ Chris suggests sending the members into a fresh batch of giggles.

A frenzied rush of friendly banter, interviewing Fuzzy Lights is much like listening to their music. Clearly influenced by Jazz improvisation, the various melodies weave in and out of each other, set amidst a background of bassy drones and impressionistic drumming. Just as their music possesses a deep vein of playful experimentation, this also shines through in their personalities and interaction off stage. They are all clearly good friends and, like an anarchic playground assembly, no one seems to be in charge, despite the fact that the posters claim that they are: “violin led”. When I point this out the other members laugh as the violinist Rachel adopts a smug grin.

Their debut album A Distant Voice, which has shockingly good production considering it was recorded and mixed at home, was released at the end of 2008 on the DIY Manchester based label Little Red Rabbit Recordings and enjoyed a warm

critical reception. Xavier, originally from Toulouse, commented on the sense of camaraderie the process produced: “In the same way that we were recording it ourselves and learning as we went along, they hadn’t been a label for very long either. There’s a good sense of us all being in it together.”

Xavier went on to explain how the band developed through various incarnations to their current line up, slowly developing their sound and adding instrument after instrument, just as in their music they add layer after delicate layer of sound: “we moved to Cambridge at pretty much the same time. I landed in Cambridge from Paris because I got a job there and Rachel was studying a PhD. We were next door neighbours - she was playing violin and I was playing guitar, so we decided to start playing music together, but we got frustrated because we couldn’t find any other musicians to play with. We started to use looped instrumentals, so that’s kind of how the sound started. We met the others through various bands. We’ve changed drummers a few times, because they keep emigrating.”

www.myspace.com/fuzzylights  

The next Garden Presents night at McGinty’s is on Saturday 21st of February and features skittering electro folk from wiQwar, as well as Psychedelia, Prog and hairy Folk from the resident DJs. www.myspace.com/thegardenpresents  

Words > Dean Bowman
Photos > Adrian Nettleship (top), Frankie Tomany