Port Erin + Beaming Porn Through Nuns

Port Erin

Despite having a Manx inspired name, Port Erin are proud to call themselves a West Country band. Formed in a tiny Wiltshire village back in early 2007 these inauspicious origins have not hindered the band at all, serving more to generate a genuine gang mentality and impressive work ethic. Drawing on influences such as Talking Heads, XTC, Syd Arthur, Talk Talk, Miles Davis, Cowtown, Sigur Ros, Frank Zappa, Oceansize and Prefab Sprout the band’s constant and relentless writing and touring has developed their unique sound, with no limitations put on genre or style.

The last seven years have shown Port Erin to be one of the most productive and consistent bands on the circuit with the release of three EP’s – The Weight Of This (2007), The Deads (2008) and Threee (2013) and two full length albums – I’ll Be On The Common (2009) and Wheel Inside A Wheel (2012). The latest two recordings were produced with Marco Migliari (The Beautiful South, Crowded House, Deep Purple, Doves) at the legendary Real World Studios in Box.

Each of these recordings has showcased the chameleon-like abilities of the band, each recording a snapshot capturing a moment in time as the trio experiment with their sound, pushing at boundaries and bringing new influences into the mix. In fact, the only consistency between these recordings has been the universal critical acclaim that each has received. Writing about Wheel Inside A Wheel music website God Is In the TV Zine stated; “as well as the recognisable shades of early Elbow, Doves and Jeff Buckley, the carefully picked notes and flourishing melodies are boosted by the jazz-funk punch of the rhythm section” whilst Delusion Of Adequacy described it as; “something of a minor masterpiece of Alt Folk that combines finely turned guitars alternating between accomplished songwriting and laid back summery grooves”.

Each recording has had support from BBC Introducing and resulted in multiple live sessions with one stunned presenter describing the band as “simply mind blowing” and BBC 6 Music’s pre-eminent presenter Tom Robinson has played the band both on his mix-tape and live Saturday show, introducing “the glorious sounds of West Country trio Port Erin”.

Port Erin are no less accomplished live, performing at Glastonbury Festival in 2010, 2011, 2013 and again this year on their biggest stage to date. They have shared stages with acts as well known and diverse as Red Snapper, Nick Harper, Paul Heaton (The Beautiful South) and The Redwalls and toured the UK extensively.

These live shows have not gone unnoticed with Venue magazine describing the band as “a perfectly weighted three-piece dispensing precision rock full of space and dynamics with a pysch groove that’s undercut by sharp guitar and vocal lines that never settle for an obvious pattern” and the songs as “progressing unpredictably as jazz, but with hints of melody that never quite get lost in the rubble of breakdown”.

2014 has seen Port Erin sign to independent label Secret Chord Records and return to the studio to record their third LP “Floating Above The City”. This album, which is due for release in late September, will be co-produced by Dom Bailey at Nine Volt Leap Recording Studio in Melksham, Wiltshire. This release will be supported by a full UK tour.