Birmingham unsigned singer Ed Geater talks ahead of hometown shows

Growing up on a mix of alternative rock, folk and electronic coupled with his love for classical music; Ed switched from his childhood instrument of the violin to guitar and pursued his love of song-writing, whilst harnessing his skills as a beat boxer.

Influenced by ambient electronic artists such as Bonobo, Boards of Canada and Four Tet – Ed set out to create the same vivid and textural musical landscapes only using his vocal beats, acoustic guitar and loop station. The resulting sound is an electronic infused, pop laded and folk inspired tapestry, with clears nods to revered songwriters such as Jeff Buckley and Ben Howard.

While Ed creates this sound completely authentically live, without any sampling, when producing in the studio he is not afraid to weave in layers of sonic textures, synthetic patterns and bass lines into his acoustic arrangements, adding depth and richness to the end product.

This year started where 2016 left off, beginning with Geater’s first headline UK tour in March supporting his recently released Unseen EP. The seven date tour finishing with a sell-out crowd at the legendary Hare and Hounds in Ed’s Birmingham hometown.

“The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath is such a great venue. I’ve seen some great gigs there; it’s one of the best independent venues in the country. I played my final tour date there earlier this year and it was an amazing atmosphere. They have great staff and sound engineers who really know what they’re doing.”

The EP was released off the back of the success of the EP, which received rave reviews from Louder Than War. Unseen was spearheaded by house tinged pop banger Symmetry, the video for which was premiered on It’s All Indie’s website and the song twice played on the Villa Park PA before home games, which was a special moment for Ed as a lifelong Aston Villa fan.

“That was a great feeling. I’ve been a Villa fan since my dad took me to matches when I was little, so it felt really special. My dad used to go to almost every match when he was a boy. Unfortunately my dad suffers from early onset dementia now, so he wasn’t able to understand that my song had been played there. But that didn’t stop me from telling him, with a big smile on my face. I know that if he still had his mind he would have been over the moon, and that feels wonderful.”

His latest release, the hip-hop infused Found a Place featuring Birmingham MC Lady Sanity, was met with critical acclaim when unveiled to the world in June, with significant support from BBC Introducing, leading to the track being spun multiple times on BBC 6 Music by Tom Robinson.

“I’m so happy with this collaboration. The track started out as an instrumental I wrote called Rainbow Round The Sun. The track has a trip-hop vibe, and my manager and I thought it would be perfect for Sanity to write something over. So we sent the track over to her. She asked for some inspiration for lyrical content, so I explained where my head was when I wrote the music.

“I was travelling in South America at the time, and I was finding beauty and escapism in the awe inspiring natural wonders there. Sanity got to work writing, giving her take on my experience. In two days she sent us a demo and we were blown away. Releasing that track and performing it with her at various gigs has been an absolute pleasure. I can’t speak highly enough of her”

A string of summer festival appearances followed, with Ed having played on big stages at national festivals including Beautiful Days and Cornbury, plus Geater’s first international shows – travelling to Hungary supporting fellow Brummie artist Call Me Unique to promote Urban Gypsy 2, an EP that Geater produced.

Looking ahead to the future he says, “It feels right to work on new material. I have some newer unreleased tracks that I’ve performed at recent gigs, and I’ve got plenty more in the works. I’m really excited with how my sound is evolving. However, despite that I also have some exciting support slots ahead, including playing with my buddies KIOKO at the O2 Academy 2 in Birmingham, which I am psyched for!”

l You can catch Ed at the following shows:

KIOKO, 26th October, O2 Academy Birmingham

Too Many T’s, 21st October, Sunflower Lounge