CORTES ARE… Andy Cortes – vocals/guitar | Sam Davies – bass | Marijus Aleksa - drums
As is the story for many new bands, Cortes were born out of a vibrant London underworld of jam sessions and dark sweaty gigs. Meeting in 2012 and bonding over Hendrix, Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, it wasn’t long before their insatiable desire to better their peers resulted in the official formation of ‘Cortes’, and so the tale begins…
Andy hailing from London, Sam from Devon and Marijus (Mar-i-us) from Vilnius, Lithuania; set about writing and rehearsing a blistering set of groove laden indie rock tunes and in late 2013 it was time to bring it to the people – taking the stage in the notoriously busy, let alone difficult London scene. It didn’t take long for the band to start turning heads. Unleashing an early demo of one of their first tracks ‘Facing my Fear’ on the internet in 2014, the track found its way to Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1 and received airplay, with Lowe describing the band as ‘certainly, better than good’.
Before too long - and with no formal release in place, no Facebook fans and no Twitter followers, Cortes had themselves radio play and a major publishing deal. No mean feat for a brand new band, and testament to the electricity the band channel with their recorded output and live on stage.
In 2015 the band found themselves holed up with Larry Hibbitt (formally of seminal UK rock band Hundred Reasons and more recently co-writer and producer to Marmozets, Nothing But Thieves and Dinosaur Pile-Up) in RAK Studios in St. John’s Wood London – emerging with their debut self-titled EP. Four tracks of raw, unbridled rock and roll. A force majeure of well honed guitar work, an incredible rhythm section and the distinctive vocal delivery of Andy Cortes.
Lead track ‘Close To Nowhere’ will be released in January 2016 ahead of the release of the bands debut EP. A full live diary for the band is to follow.