Alan Dearling
So, last night I spent a few hours in The Sanctuary in Burnley waiting for the punk-psych-ska-reggae-hip-hop-hardcore extravaganza. My friend Saul from the B-Team invited me a while back. I wanted to see the new line-up, and I wasn’t disappointed. B-Team gave a storming performance – it was tight, loud, kind of aggressive, but also audience-involving. Rap and punk vocals and a bevvy of guitars plus sax, drums and keys.
Here I can only share my collection of images of The B-Team. The Sanctuary is a Heavy Rock Heaven – a bar and venue across three floors, near the centre of Burnley. The lights flashed on/off – red-blue-white – intensely bright – a cacophony – a wall– a barrage of sound.
Find out more about The B-Team in my Q&A with Saul.
Alan: Hi Saul – I first met you when you were putting on edgy, leftfield gigs with bands like RDF and Inner Terrestrials at the upstairs Big Tree venue. You were fronting BUFF, who were a fairly punky-hardcore outfit. How did you end up forming The B-Team?
Saul/B-Team: After Buff disbanded, Daz (Buff’s drummer), Rew (Buff’s synth player), and I wanted to keep a similar spirit and energy alive. I had a few demos ready; the idea was to retain the punk, alt, and psychedelic edge of our previous band while pushing into new territory.
We decided to focus on heavy dynamics and usher in some different collective influences—like hip-hop, metal, and electronic music—to create a harder groove that would engage us more in what we were creating and, more importantly, create a better experience for the audience. To round out the initial lineup, Rew moved onto bass and we recruited Pierat (guitar), Harvey (synths and rap vocals), and Sammy (saxophone). Harvey and I had spent years discussing a punk/hip-hop project (mostly in various states of hedonistic oblivion), so when the right pieces finally clicked, the band was born and began practicing, writing, and planning out a new path.
Alan: The B-Team seems to have a different vibe. A lot more rap, perhaps strangely also more melodic. Some impressive new material too… Tell me more… How would you describe your music and style?
Saul/B-Team: Our style is a true culmination of our collective influences and whatever spews out naturally when we write. Sammy, Harvey, and more recently Jordan have all had a drastic impact on our sound, bringing in haunting sax melodies, vocal hip-hop grit, wild textural synths, and a distinct metal edge to the rhythm through Jordan’s playing style. Plus, introducing a second rhythm guitar has made the whole thing feel much heavier and more intense.
Alan: The B-Team lineup struck me as a bit unusual, with, I think, two guitarists, bass, sax, drums, and a keyboard-playing rapper. You, Saul, are a behemoth—a mammoth presence, big voice, but sharing vocal duties too.
Saul/B-Team: Haha, I think that “behemoth” you’re referring to is actually just a nervous, anxiety-riddled little boy hiding behind lashings of alcohol, faked bravado, and whatever else he can get his hands on to feel comfortable up there. Thanks a lot for the compliment, though!
I’m absolutely loving sharing vocal duties with Harvey and Rew; the three of us are from completely different planets in that respect. You’ve got the rapper, the screamer, and the ethereal space wizard—it’s certainly a unique mix.
Alan: It struck me that The B-Team seem to be a tight musical outfit… have you been rehearsing a lot? And who is on writing duties?
Saul/B-Team: Yeah, we’ve been doing our best to practice as much as possible, despite the distance between some of us and a recent lineup change. Writing duties have been shared across the board so far, and honestly, every single person has added something of real value to the songs.
Alan: What plans do you have for gigs this year? Any festivals?
Saul/B-Team: We’re lucky to have such a solid starting point as a new band; between us, we’ve all been in previous projects or involved in the scene through underground events and promoters. Because we come from such different musical backgrounds, we’ve been able to pool our contacts and get involved with some pretty cool stuff.
Our current event listing is:
– 1–3 May: Horse Drawn
– 16 May: Hulme Punx Picnic
– 11–13 June: Feral Fest
– 26 June: Blind Pig, Sowerby Bridge (w/ China Shop Bull)
– 27 June: Blind Pig, Sowerby Bridge (Sowerby Festival)
– 3–5 July: Lost in the Woods
– 17–19 July: Mabfest
– 17–21 Sept: Equinox Festival
– 02 October: Zephyrs, Sheffield (w/ China Shop Bull)
We have a few other things in the pipeline, including a weekender of gigs with one of our favorite U.K. bands. So keep your eyes peeled!
Alan: And musical developments, experiments…?
Saul/B-Team: Yeah, our next move is to take some of Harvey’s solo tracks—he’s an excellent producer and vocalist—and transpose them into a purely live band format. We’re basically going to take his fully produced alt/grime style tracks and rework them for the stage in our own style. I’m really looking forward to that process and seeing how the final versions turn out.
Alan: What about recordings? Anything in the pipeline, in the works…?
Saul/B-Team: Yeah, we’re pretty much there material-wise; it just needs some refining and a few more tracks added. Realistically, I’d like to imagine we’ll have a full LP out next year, and we’ll probably fire a few singles out in the meantime too.
Alan: And can you let me have a couple of video links to the band, please, for sharing with my article for the zines…
Saul/B-Team: Here is our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@The-BTeam-q2m
There are also bits of live footage on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Alan: The B-Team is a cool name. Why did you choose it? Are you concerned that if you become almost-famous, other international bands of the same name will come after you with lawsuits?
Saul/B-Team: Haha, I’m pretty sure we all think it’s a bit shit! I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a name change before too long. It actually came from the name of the project folder I was demoing in while I was still in Buff—it’s a sort of anagram of one of my many nicknames, “Meaty B.”
The “B” in The B-Team is also obviously a pun on that spectacular ‘80s TV show, a nod to the first letter of our previous band, “Buff,” and a bit of a celebration of underdogs everywhere—the ones who, like myself, always got picked last for football in P.E.
Alan: Thanks for your time… no doubt we’ll share some cider apples in and around another musical mosh pit soon. Luv ‘n respect…
Saul/B-Team: No worries mate, and yes, booze is most certainly in my future—in fact, I might crack one now!
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