News Pushing Hands

Rarely do a band come as fully formed as Pushing Hands. Spawned from across London, the group developed from an initial friendship between lead singer Freddie and bassist Matt, drafting in Matt’s brother Andrew on guitar and eventually Chris, who replaced former drummer Kai. They deal in affecting alternative ‘indie rock’ with a grungy, yet electronic tinge. When asked to sum up their sound, Freddie tells us “it’s based around instrumentation and looks at music as the language, all of us put the instrumentation at the forefront of the music.”

Coming from an outsider’s perspective you could easily compare them to Bombay Bicycle Club, half of whom Freddie went to school with, but that would be lazy; Pushing Hands are their own beast. They tell us Yuck, D/R/U/G/S, Smith Westerns, Baths and Gold Panda are all bands they’re into at the moment, with other influences spanning from Yo La Tengo to Mount Kimbie to Talking Heads. This comes across strongly in their songs; recent release ‘He’s Still Here’ features chiming guitars and rolling drumbeats, while others are firmly in Pavement-esque alt rock waters. This broad spectrum of sounds is explained by Freddie, who says they’re “creating those songs that we feel should exist that don’t;” a refreshingly clear sighted objective.

Following recent recording in Norfolk, which produced an untitled track and regular live track ‘Waterbug’, Pushing Hands are planning on laying low, writing new material and possibly trying their hand at party planning. “One thing we’ve been talking about is organising our own gigs, around like a party, our own event, like a night out but not your typical band night out.” With self-made videos also in the pipeline, their ‘home-grown’ aesthetic looks set to propel them firmly out of ‘landfill indie’ territory.

Just as I’m about to leave I ask the band if there’s anything else they would like to talk about, a collective “errr…” is followed by Freddie asking “how long will Odd Future last?” I’d give them six months. Pushing Hands? A whole lot longer.

Taken from the Summer 2011 issue of DIY, available now. For more details click here.