On Saturday 22nd December, Bandicoot played a very special SOLD OUT hometown show at The Bunkhouse Swansea and what a night it was! Jacob Winter was on hand to capture the show through his pictures (+ check out the video at the bottom of this post captured by Steph Evans).

Photos by JACOB WINTER

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photo by Jacob Winter

Photos by Jacob Winter

Video by Steph Evans

On the first of January this year we announced 10 acts that we thought would have a big 2018 - so before we announce our next acts for 2019, we thought it’d be nice to look back and dig deeper into what our 10 got up to this year!

Bandicoot

2018 proved to be a very very busy and exciting year for Bandicoot. They’ve released three tunes - ‘Stuck in Space’, ‘Being Erased’ & ‘House of Fame’, and gigged extensively including support slots for Spring King at Sin City, Al Moses in Clwb (Cardiff) and Estrons in The Parrot (Carmarthen).

As part of Radio One’s Biggest Weekend, the boys played a special showcase show for Horizons, went on to headline the Swansea Fringe Festival at Sin City and played Swn Festival in Cardiff. If that wasn’t enough, the boys ended their year by selling out the Bunkhouse, for a very special hometown show. Do not sleep on this band - they’ve got a massive 2019 ahead!

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King Goon

The Goons have been very busy in the studio this year, preparing to unleash their long awaiting album to the world. As always, the boys have brought the party to multiple venues in the city including Creature Sound and Sin City (twice - once as part of the Swansea Fringe Festival) and also provided the BBC Academy with a special acoustic set as part of the Biggest Weekend!

We’re all waiting eagerly for that album (hopefully due out 2019) and we’re even more excited about the party that’ll accompany it’s release!

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The Zinvandels

Swansea’s favourite rock n rollers spent a lot of time in the studio this year - and released their latest single “Liars” in November. With lots of packed hometown shows including at Cinema & Co and The Bunkhouse the boys also headlined a special Horizons x Swansea Music Hub showcase at Unit Nineteen for the Biggest Weekend back in May.

These guys are going from strength to strength both in their songwriting and in their live shows - we can’t wait for what 2019 will bring them!

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Emilie Merry

Emilie released her debut EP “Not Your One” back in August and rumour has it she’s back in the studio creating her next batch of tunes! Emilie’s also played lots of shows, wowing audiences with her soulful poppy tunes and played a special full band show for the Radio One Academy during the Biggest Weekend in May.

If her next release is anything like her EP, we’re in for something very special from Emilie!

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CrazeTheJack

2018 has been a massive year for CrazeTheJack - lots of gigs and festivals, including The Biggest Weekend Fringe, FOCUS Wales and the Swansea Fringe Festival matched with the release of his long awaited album “Kaleidoscope”. He also provided an insane verse for Rachel K Collier’s cover of Badfingers’ ‘Come & Get It” - created for Horizons in celebration of the Biggest Weekend.

Big things are coming for Craze next year!!

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Cities

Cities have been very busy in the studio this year, putting the finishing touches to their next release (that we’re so so excited about) as well as a storming end of year show in Cinema & Co alongside. They played at the Bunkhouse for the Swansea Fringe and provided us with one of our favourite moments of the festival.

2019 is set to be huge for the band - we can’t wait to hear what they’ve been doing!

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Geraint Rhys

Geraint’s had a very impressive 2018 with a host of super cool achievements. He created a short documentary on the role of music during the Catalan independence struggle and won awards for it! He played for us at the Swansea Fringe Festival for Folk at the Fringe in Unit Nineteen and his latest single Dilyn was released in November!

With new collaborations and creative journeys set for 2019, we’re very excited for what the future holds for Geraint!

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The Riff

A very busy year for the boys in The Riff - with a whole host of gigs! Most notably, the boys sold out the Bunkhouse this month and blew the roof off! They headlined the Swansea Fringe Festival at Sin City, played a headline show at Sin earlier in the year and also played a special set for the Radio One Academy as part of the Biggest Weekend!

Favourites of the Swansea Music Hub, we can’t wait to see what they’ve got planned for 2019!

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Picsel

Picsel are another band who have been busy in the studio this year (their album is due out next year and we cannot wait!!). This year they released their single Alcohol and Drugs, played a bunch of exciting (and sweaty) shows including South West Fest in Cinema & Co and headlining The Bunkhouse for the Swansea Fringe Festival.

Next year is set to be their biggest yet - do not miss out & make sure you listen to their music and catch them playing live!

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Little Folk

Little Folk have had a ridiculously busy year. They’ve played so many gigs and festivals including the Biggest Weekend Fringe Festival, Hub Festival, the Swansea Fringe Festival, the Wales’ Airshow, Americana Fest, Live on the Wye, Countryfile Live and The Longroad Festival for BBC Introducing!

Their single Heading South was released earlier this year and is an absolute banger (we seriously recommend you check it out!). If 2018 is anything to go off, this band has got a very exciting year ahead of them!

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Words by Simon Parton

The spotlight is on Creature Sound this week for our gig of the week. Presented by Welsh Connections, we're treated to a superb line up featuring News From Nowhere, Bandicoot and Hobglin.

After their amazing debut album "...and the human had half" (released in December 2016), we're looking forward to catching News From Nowhere play some new material this Thursday! Joining them is a double whammy of superb support acts.

Bandicoot (who we hear have also been cooking up some new sounds) bring their party indie/alternative vibes alongside the heavy, funky, bluesy boys from Hobgoblin. 

Tickets can be purchased from Derrick's Records, Swansea or from Welsh Connections and Creature Sound.

Really exciting news as BBC Radio 1's Academy have announced what their plans are for the week leading up to the Biggest Weekend at Swansea Grand Theatre. We're also incredibly excited to announce that we're part of the week running some workshops, curating some live music and more! We'll get straight to it, it's impossible to list everything that's happening (as there's just so much going on - check out the website) so we'll give you what we're really looking forward to:

Monday 21st May - Thursday 24th May

Oh yeah, and everything is free!

• On Monday Not3s will be playing live and will then join us for a very special lyric writing workshop. 
• Greg James will be hosting a radio workshop on Monday.
• Horizons are putting on an evening of live music with Pretty Vicious, Adwaith, Bandicoot & Stella Donnely on Monday. 

• On Tuesday Marmozets play live and then join us for a special guitar workshop.
• Rachel K Collier is DJing and doing an ableton live workshop on Tuesday
• We're also hosting a 'Get Started In Music' workshop on Tuesday
• James Bay is playing live for Clara Amfo's Live Lounge on Wednesday tickets here

• High Contrast is doing a music production workshop on Wednesday 
• We host a special songwriting workshop on Wednesday 
• Sigrid is playing live on Thursday and will then join us for a second songwriting workshop on Thursday.

• Get behind the scenes with Nick Grimshaw for his Breakfast show on Thursday.
• Emily Eavis will be making an appearance to talk all things Glastonbury

And so much more. We really recommend you check out the website to find out more. See you there!