Unsigned Bands

Josie and the Lovecats are Jo Dobson - vocals and keyboards, Helen Nash - cellist and George Horsey - drums. The band formed in early 2009 and has since unleashed a wave of ireegular yet blissful tunes across the county.

In their own words the band's sound is formed by "Josie's searingly melodious vocals and angular piano, backed by George's thumping breaks on the kit and Helen's intricately woven Cello lines, creating a soundworld in which they alone roam.

Musical siblings Jo and George in the studio

"It's a world where words fly in colours like comets, where spiders hold your hearts secrets, and where haunting melodies are set to joyous beats."

The bands interesting and eclectic sound may stem from their many influences which range from The Velvet Underground, Neil Young, and Radiohead to Bjork, The Cure, and Patrick Wolf.

"The songs in my mind have quite an unusual 'soundscape'." – Josie

In addition to their musical ties, band members Jo and George are brother and sister, as well as this Helen and Jo went to school together and are old friends, all of these factors help to keep the musical unit extra tight.

Speaking about the difficulties of writing a material Jo said: "It's a really personal thing, when your write a song, and perform it in front of a room of people you don't know, if your writing from a personal place, your incredibly exposed.

"I write the bones of a song and then George and Helen input quite a lot of how it sounds in the end."

Reflecting on her interesting role as cellist in the band Helen commented: "It's quite tricky to play what-register-when, we're trying to make a full sound without a bass and that's our biggest challenge, were experimenting with peddles and that's what makes our sound pretty unusual."

Listening to the Lovecats material there is a definite sound of fairytale melody, often tainted with a touch of the macabre. Some songs seem to float though blissfully whilst tracks like 'Spider' pack a decent punch without the use of a single guitar of bass note.

Cellist Helen in action

The band have been writing and recording material for an EP which will be released later this year.

The band has recently played at the Boardmasters festival in Newquay and have a range of live dates coming up over the autumn. They are as follows:

21 Oct Finn McCaul's - Falmouth
22 Oct The Barrel House Totnes Amnesty gig - Totnes
4 Nov The Centre Spot, - Exeter