Oddity Road

Photo credit: The Leadmill

Two years after their formation, Oddity Road are setting up to be one of the next big indie bands. This year saw the four piece sell out dates in Sheffield, Manchester, and Liverpool, before going on a 6-month tour with The Sherlocks. This October 20th, “Oddity” are playing Exeter Phoenix, as part of their biggest ever run of headline dates, coinciding with the realise of their new single All Again.

A lot has changed for the four 18 year olds from Sheffield since the formation of the band; gone are the days of driving to a gig straight from school, worrying if they’ll get back early to school the next day. Jack Heath (vocals & guitar), Ethan Lambert (drums), and Joel Gilbourne (bass guitar) all attended the same secondary school, before Dan Brennan (lead guitar & vocals) joined them during A-Levels.  Now they’ve finally finished their A Levels, “Oddity” are spending their gap year working hard on the band, where they pride themselves on their energetic performances. This devotion to their gigs has been evident in the last couple of years, with Oddity Road playing 50 gigs and 25 festivals, including a BBC Introducing set to an audience of 4,000 people.

Their latest single, All Again is a perfect example of the band’s diverse song-writing ability. Each single is different to their others, partly thanks to their strong background in music theory; with all 4 members studying music and music technology at A Level. Despite Dan and Jack often being the ones writing new songs on their acoustic guitars, Oddity Road pride themselves on not having a ‘song-writing formula’ to rely on. This helps each new song to be unique and have its own character. Ethan and Joel then help finalise the song, with inspiration primarily coming from classic rock bands such as Queen and Led Zepplin. The band’s assortment of writing techniques have proven popular with their fans, with their latest single becoming their most streamed song on Spotify within just two months of its release.

As a new academic year comes around, and things are starting to become routine, why not kick off your gig list with the energetic performances of Oddity Road? Whilst you may not recognise a few of their songs, their gigs are known to have an electric atmosphere. With notable tracks Handshake and Don’t Hold Me Down being crowd favourites - this is a gig you do not want to miss.