On hearing Man & The Echo there’s two things that first strike. The first is being impelled to move; the other is the gravity of their message. Behind their smile are a band with no fear of having the rarest things in pop music; an opinion.
Gaz Roberts, or The Councillor as he’s been known to be called, provides the voice and guitar; with Joe ‘Fush’ Forshaw his writing sidekick providing the big bad bass guitar. Joey ‘The Mod’ Bennett sits at the back hitting the skin and playing those tippy tappy keys is The Conductor, Chris Gallagher.
Man & The Echo was born from the ashes of previous close endeavors and a divine clarity on what the outfit wanted to say and do. Matching stories of species, spaces and other places with tight, lean arrangements that sound somewhere between Wigan Casino and Salford Lads Club via a collection of detours.
Since putting out Beg, as free download accompanied with a DIY video owing a nod to another activist troubadour, Man & The Echo have been holed up in their Warrington writing and playing. Few have been taken into the Church where the clergy allows the local lads to rehearse, others have witnessed them gig undercover shows in Manchester.
With an arsenal of songs the band have continued to grow together experimenting within their own set bounds of classic songwriting. Signing a record deal with a team who’ve proved their hunger and shared beliefs, Man & The Echo have announced a set of December gigs to bring 2014 to a close; ahead of a year where they will be releasing a debut single in April on 1965 Records and working to see how hard their music and words are going to hit.