Rising stars bring their acoustic talents to Coventry

Ben Sydes and Dan O’Dell, who met in Cambridge while playing in bands a few years ago, both took the plunge to go it alone - but, as their success grows, they are bringing their talents to the nation in a single tour.

Ben - or B-Sydes - has released two EPs and shared the stage with the likes of Frank Turner, Sam Duckworth, Chris TT, Dave McPherson, Walter Schreifels, Ben Marwood, Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun and Oxygen Thief, and he is planning to release a third record this summer.

So what does he put his success down to?

“Hopefully my song-writing has been up to scratch. I’m quite personable, so if people don’t like the songs, I hope they still enjoy coming to talk to me.

“I will play anywhere that wants me as I want to be out there as much as possible.”

While Ben studied a B-Tec course in popular music, he puts his love for playing down to being involved in bands from the tender age of 12.

He said: “No one wanted to sing, so I was the one to stand up and do it. At that point I was not playing the guitar, but I started playing when I was 15.

“On my college course, I was inspired by the others around me. I used to play the piano, but I would get stuck playing the same old things.

“Watching the guitar players on my course, I could see that they had so much more freedom and creativity. I wanted to emulate what they were doing.”

As much as he enjoyed playing in a group, Ben reached a stage when he had had enough. He said: “Every time you got asked to do a gig, you had to go and ask three other people and you’d all have to get your diaries out. It was the freedom of being on my own that attracted me to the idea.

“I do miss having others around and I have recently done a bit of band recording for the first time in a while. It’s totally different.”

Describing his sounds as “folky, acoustic stuff”, Ben says he always writes about the things that are going on in his own life.

He said: “People appreciate honesty in all walks of life and they will always know when you are being disingenuous.”

Both he and Dan are still paying their bills through other jobs, but music is what they really want to focus on. While performing as separate acts, the friends decided to tour and support one another.

Dan - or Dropout Dan - after his first release, played at more than 100 venues around the UK, supporting artists including Dave Mcpherson, Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun, Marc Halls, Mark McCabe, Oxygen Thief and Frank Hamilton. Last year, he recorded and released Forever, Instead, his most successful record yet.

B-Sydes and Dropout Dan are playing at the Beer Engine in Far Gosford Street, Coventry, on Thursday. For details and tickets, call 024 7627 0015. To find out more about the artists, go online.

dropoutdan.bandcamp.com

b-sydes.bandcamp.com