Walsall's The Bostin' Cockers are a mixture of tricks - unsigned column
There’s recent pedigree for the patch for bands meeting at university.
Chart-topping indie darlings Editors first started forging their musical path when they met while studying music technology at Staffordshire Universities in the early 00s.
And with the 2020s on the horizon, it’s time for another group to try and reach for the same heights – albeit with a slightly different sound.
More coverage:
The Bostin’ Cockers have just released their debut EP – Ow Am Ya, Kid? - a five-track sauce consisting of jazz, ska, reggae and rock.
It’s an interesting mixture created in the most DIY of fashions. And they will be hoping that it is their formative steps towards the kind of heights Tom Smith and the boys have mustered.
They are fronted by Alice Edwards, a smooth-voiced singer from Sutton Coldfield who also plays saxophone and keyboards on this early release. Backing her up on percussion and vocals is Wolverhampton’s Marc Cope, while the first of three Walsall-born members – Sam Quirk - also provides backing vocals and bass. There’s then the two guitarists – Robbie Grundy on lead and Liam Cox supplying the rhythm.
They’re not even a year old, so to be here promoting their first release on a student budget is some feat.
“Me, Alice and Marc are all studying popular music at the Walsall Campus of the University of Wolverhampton,” says Liam. “We’re going into our third year, while Sam does the same course but up in Liverpool.
“Myself, Robbie and Sam had been in college together in 2015 and had played together a bit. We did a terrible blues gig as a one-off under the name The Bostin’ Cockers and never thought about it again.
“Then we met Alice and Marc in uni. It was the end of our first year and we chatted about putting together a bit of a band. We still loved the old name so took it.”
And this is where the comparisons with Editors end as Liam begins to open up on their influences and niche. And it sounds a bit bonkers.
“We’re mostly ska-based, or more ska-punk,” he adds. “We try to focus on that but use reggae too.
“But then on Wannabe we go all over the place a bit as Alice wrote it and we use a lot of soul and funk. It’s a bit Diva-ish actually,” he adds with a laugh.
“We all really enjoy songwriting and never really do it as a full band. That’s why it changes so much. Somebody writes something they like and then we pair off and work on building from that. We bring it to the rest of the band and they add their parts. Apart from our track Shine, Marc wrote that by himself.
“We actually find it makes it more manageable. Marc is also in a metal band called Angmaar so that comes into it. Alice and Robbie use a lot of jazz. They’re working on a new song now actually so who knows what that will sound like.”
So with their wide range of ideas they had a lot to work with fairly quickly. And being at a university that catered for music students they had a whole range of rehearsal spaces at their fingertips. And so, within 12 months, we had their first assignment to listen to.
“It was a weird process,” Liam admits. “We just wrote lots and lots. We recorded our first song, the first version of Rudy’s Got A Gun, really quickly. We thought it was important we had something to showcase to people.
“When we had them all down we just picked a random Friday in August and decided to release it then. But we didn’t realise the stress that would involve.
“It was all done in the biggest room at uni we could find. It was a big classical music room, not hot and cramped. We had to fight all the other students to get access to it ‘cos they were all doing their coursework.
“We went all DIY and punky for authenticity. We had one decent mic and one terrible mic, and just a three or four-channel mixer plugged into Alice’s Mac Book. You can hear the difference in sound on different tracks as we fought with it all.
“We got it done in time for the deadline – just – but I don’t think Alice or Marc got much sleep those last two weeks.”
And having released the physical EPs with a launch show at the White Lion pub in Walsall on August 23, they saw it go out digitally on September 10. It is now available to buy from all the usual digital outlets.
“Everyone seems to have enjoyed it, we’ve had a really good response,” Liam says. “Just to make ends meet we’ve got to make £120 on sales so it’s nice to have made a few and got a good reception.”
And next?
“Robbie is starting a new job and Alice has been working between terms over summer so let’s get back to uni and then we can settle back in and get back on the open mic nights. We’ve put everything into this EP so let’s get on with promoting that and then think about some proper gigs in November and December.”
But they’re not quite stopping there.
“I’m itching to get on with the next one now,” Liam admits. “It’s early days at the moment and I am sure uni will take over again. But I’ve already got a few things on the go so we’ll see.
“We’re looking at leaving covers gigs behind and maybe heading for 45-minute-to-one-hour originals sets. If there are any ska festivals looking for artists, we’re looking to get ourselves out there onto that scene, and the punk and reggae scenes too.”
To find out more about the band or book them for shows, you can find them on Facebook @thebostincockers - physical EPs are available by contacting the band on there, or via streaming on their Soundcloud page and to purchase from the usual digital outlets. They will be playing a gig at Walsall's The Wheatsheaf on October 5.
