Based between Brussels and Berlin, Golden Hours is comprised of past and present members of Gang Of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tricky, The Fuzztones and The Third Sound. A band with mileage and stories, they trade in rock’n’roll missives that are at times dark, tense and hypnotic, at others sweaty, relentless and danceable.
Made up of Hákon Adalsteinsson (Guitar/Vocals), Rodrigo Fuentealba Palavacino (Guitar), Tobias Humble (Drums/Vocals) and Wim Janssens (Bass/Keys/Vocals), Golden Hours released their self-titled debut album earlier this year on Fuzz Club Records.
Golden Hours came to exist after a chance encounter in 2021 between Tobias and Rodrigo whilst they in Athens, Greece playing the same clubs and festivals that week – Rodrigo with The Fuzztones, Tobias with Gang Of Four. They met in the back of a van, careering into Athens, distracting themselves from the perilous journey by barking names of EBM and post-punk influences at each other. By the time the shuttle had pulled into their hotel to the tune of screeching tires and relieved passengers, Golden Hours were formed.
Rodrigo tasked himself with rounding up some co-conspirators to complete their line-up: “We planned to meet up in Berlin where I had made contact with Hàkon, being a fan of his work with The Third Sound and Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Wim, who I knew from Brussels and his work with Joy Wellboy and Tricky.
The newly formed band came together to create and record in clandestine fashion in a secret location in Berlin – the band adjusting their dynamics to avoid the keen eyes of the Polizei roaming the streets outside.
Later that year Rodrigo was invited to be the artist-in-residence at the Ghent edition of Desertfest, where the band made their live debut and spent five days holed up in the Vooruit venue writing and rehearsing. Returning to Berlin, the rest of the album was then committed to tape, with Wim helming the mixing duties.
Wim says of the project: “The musical backgrounds of each member are pretty broad but somehow when we come together there’s a pretty clear definition of what our music should sound like. There’s a beautiful friction between the noise we produce and the love for melody that seems to overtake at just the right moment. There never seems to be a lack of ideas when we come together. In silent agreement, every idea gets tried and will be further developed into a song or skipped in a heartbeat. No time is wasted. It all happens pretty automatically.”
“Wim is the bands' sonic alchemist,” Tobias says, “he toiled for what felt like aeons, melding the unshakeable, and often conflicting, band-members’ desires into a complete being of the like that would make a Shelley shudder.” And, like that, their self-titled debut was complete. Signing immediately to Fuzz Club, their self-titled debut work was released into the world in March 2023.
We are honoured to be hosting this super group of artists from bands we have admired and loved over the years.
In support straight from a blinding set at Manchester Psych Fest are Fuzz flavoured psych outfit Pray for Mojo and opening we have I Create Deathrays, producing loud and spontaneous sounds describing social interactions, comic book arcs and their mutual love of ethanol based liquids.
This is not a large venue, and capacity is limited so please grab tickets early to avoid disappointment.