Galaxy Thief Talk New Single, Recording And More
Words by Glenn Sargeant
Photo Credit: PR
4-piece grassroots, home-grown indie rock band Galaxy Thief are no strangers to us here at JLTT. They have a new single ‘Last Chance’ out now and they sat down to chat to us:
Who is in Galaxy Thief and what do they play?
Rhys Messenger – Lead Vocals/guitar
George Bowerman – Lead guitar/backing vocals
Jake Trim – Bass guitar/backing vocals
Ben Watton – Drums
How did you all meet?
Through our musical pursuits as you might expect! In the current line-up we came together post lockdown in early 2021 with Rhys as a fresh new vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. Ben had been with us some time having been found through his role in the drum section of Absolute Music superstore in Bournemouth. George had been involved in the early days of the project since 2014 while Jake hopped onboard as bassist in 2019. The time we spent post lockdown really cemented our band brotherhood and we have had an incredibly productive time since then with our live shows going from strength to strength as we’ve released the new era music (with more to come soon in 2024).
Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?
Swanage in Dorset, UK is the band’s hometown where we work out of George’s farm. Ben and Jake live nearby and Rhys moved down from Essex when he joined us.
What is the inspiration/story behind your single ‘Last Chance’?
Last Chance was inspired by the ongoing war in Ukraine, with themes which relate not only to the realities of real warfare but also to metaphoric conflicts in our emotional lives. The interpretation is very much down to the listener.
Do you have any interesting, memorable or funny stories from the writing/recording sessions?
Our writing and recording sessions are always interesting! Working with a producer, we usually record over several days and it’s pretty intensive. We can have strong feelings about what we are recording and our producer pulls it all together to achieve what we think are some quality tracks. Needless to say there are a few funny moments and we sometimes share behind the scenes stuff in reels.
Do you have any favoured stage instruments?
As the first ever Yamaha Music London Ambassador Band we have a great selection of kit from YML and there are some other personal favourites among our equipment which you can check out on the many video clips out there. We rely on our equipment and work on improving and refining it to get the high quality performance we insist on for every live show, from the instruments to the electronic/sound set up too.
How do you look after your voices?
Good question! Rhys has an incredible voice and there are times when he can struggle with either over use or colds etc. There are vocal warmups which help and sometimes honey and lemon tea or a Vocalzone will improve things. Sometimes we can adjust our set if necessary but most times nothing will stop Rhys who was an experienced busker before he joined which made him pretty resilient.
Do you have any plans for live shows in 2023/2024 to support the release?
There’s plenty lining up for 2024, some yet to be confirmed. In particular, we are playing at Icebreaker Festival on 3rd February and look out for some announcements in the new year.
What are your plans for future music releases?
We released 5 tracks in 2023 and we will be looking to release a number new tracks across 2024. As people hear of us for the first time there is plenty to check out going back to 2021 so be sure to look up all our information via linktree and catch up with what we’re doing (linktr.ee/galaxythief).
What kind of music/artists do you like listening to? Any recommendations?
We all have very diverse musical tastes. For instance George likes a whole range of sounds from Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai to Blink 182 and Angels & Airwaves, while Rhys is a huge Pink Floyd fan as well as loving Nothing But Thieves alongside Ben – the two of them recently saw them live in Bournemouth. Jake, who plays an active role in songwriting too has his own favourites and will often be the one checking out new sounds and bringing them to the songwriting table, in fact he has compiled a Spotify playlist with favourite tracks mixed with GT originals – go check it out.
What makes Galaxy Thief happy and what makes you unhappy?
We are always at our happiest writing, playing, recording music, feeling the response of the crowd at live events. Arriving late to a live event, having technical difficulties and struggling to find enough time to keep our show on the road is probably what makes us unhappy but actually we are all really happy anyway – we love what we’re doing!
Photo Credit: Supplied By PR
Galaxy Thief’s latest single ‘Last Chance’ is out now. You can listen to it here:
For more information visit their official website here: https://www.galaxythief.com/
