Regressive Left

Musicians — Luton / Bedfordshire

01Profile

A Regressive Left Photo

03Interview

Photo by Luis Kramer

Name, where are you from?
Regressive Left (Georgia, Simon and Will), Luton and Bedfordshire.

Describe your style in three words?
Unimaginative, utilitarian, regressive.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
G: I hosted Kamasi Washington’s afterparty at The Lock Tavern a few years ago. Was at the time when the London Jazz scene was taking off and Moses Boyd, Ezra Collective, Sons of Kemet et al jammed until the early hours in that tiny room. Kamasi joined in, having just smashed a headline at Roundhouse a few hours before. It was a moment where I felt like I was witnessing something important and couldn’t stop smiling.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
The B-52s and Grace Jones. A vibe.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
DFA Records / NY proto-punk / UK jazz - those scenes have all borrowed and reinvented to push the restrictive boundaries of genre.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?
S: Bedford Esquires will always hold a special place in our hearts because it’s where we met. It’s also the venue that introduced us to touring bands we wouldn’t have otherwise had access to see as teenagers.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
W: Julius Eastman - in an era where American new music and art, specifically the New York school, was dominated by white male academics, Julius Eastman’s mere existence caused controversy. He was written out of the histories of that time and movement and died homeless at 49 years old. Only in the past few years has his music come to light and his story is rightly being told, and with it making space for other subjugated and exploited artists.

04Playlist Notes

The first track you played on repeat?
G: 'Waiting Room' by Fugazi.
S: 'What You Waiting For?' by Gwen Stefani.
W: 'Mysterons' by Portishead.

A song that defines the teenage you?
G: 'Dominant View' by King Prawn.
S: 'Get Innocuous!' by LCD Soundsystem.
W: 'Simple Stuff' by Echo & The Bunnymen.

One record you would keep forever?
G: 'Let It All Out' by Nina Simone.
S: 'Marvin, Welch & Farrar' by Marvin, Welch & Farrar.
W: 'Ambient 1: Music for Airports' by Brian Eno.

A song lyric that has inspired you?
"Light is shining in the sky
Heralding the dawn of a glorious new day,
British working class you're the revolutionary force
To build our socialist land
In the 1840s Marx and Engels on our shores

Organised and hammered out the objective laws
Propelling history.
Marxist-Leninist science is the guiding star
Charting the course of the working class:
Socialist revolution."

From 'Song for the British Working Class' by Cornelius Cardew.

The song that would get you straight on the dance floor?
G: 'Lowdown' by Boz Scaggs.
S: 'Fake ID' by Kah-Lo.
W: 'Get Myself Into It' by The Rapture.

A song you wished you had written?
'Blue Monday' by New Order.

Best song to turn up loud?
'Lowrider' by Yussef Kamaal.

Best song to end an all-nighter on?
'A Rainy Night In Soho' by The Pogues.

Any new music you are listening to right now?
G: 'Worship II' by Bishopskin.
S: 'Frame of Reference' by Drug Store Romeos.
W: 'Furies' by Moor Mother, Billy Woods.

03Interview

Photo by Luis Kramer

Name, where are you from?
Regressive Left (Georgia, Simon and Will), Luton and Bedfordshire.

Describe your style in three words?
Unimaginative, utilitarian, regressive.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
G: I hosted Kamasi Washington’s afterparty at The Lock Tavern a few years ago. Was at the time when the London Jazz scene was taking off and Moses Boyd, Ezra Collective, Sons of Kemet et al jammed until the early hours in that tiny room. Kamasi joined in, having just smashed a headline at Roundhouse a few hours before. It was a moment where I felt like I was witnessing something important and couldn’t stop smiling.

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
The B-52s and Grace Jones. A vibe.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
DFA Records / NY proto-punk / UK jazz - those scenes have all borrowed and reinvented to push the restrictive boundaries of genre.

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?
S: Bedford Esquires will always hold a special place in our hearts because it’s where we met. It’s also the venue that introduced us to touring bands we wouldn’t have otherwise had access to see as teenagers.

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
W: Julius Eastman - in an era where American new music and art, specifically the New York school, was dominated by white male academics, Julius Eastman’s mere existence caused controversy. He was written out of the histories of that time and movement and died homeless at 49 years old. Only in the past few years has his music come to light and his story is rightly being told, and with it making space for other subjugated and exploited artists.

04Playlist Notes

The first track you played on repeat?
G: 'Waiting Room' by Fugazi.
S: 'What You Waiting For?' by Gwen Stefani.
W: 'Mysterons' by Portishead.

A song that defines the teenage you?
G: 'Dominant View' by King Prawn.
S: 'Get Innocuous!' by LCD Soundsystem.
W: 'Simple Stuff' by Echo & The Bunnymen.

One record you would keep forever?
G: 'Let It All Out' by Nina Simone.
S: 'Marvin, Welch & Farrar' by Marvin, Welch & Farrar.
W: 'Ambient 1: Music for Airports' by Brian Eno.

A song lyric that has inspired you?
"Light is shining in the sky
Heralding the dawn of a glorious new day,
British working class you're the revolutionary force
To build our socialist land
In the 1840s Marx and Engels on our shores

Organised and hammered out the objective laws
Propelling history.
Marxist-Leninist science is the guiding star
Charting the course of the working class:
Socialist revolution."

From 'Song for the British Working Class' by Cornelius Cardew.

The song that would get you straight on the dance floor?
G: 'Lowdown' by Boz Scaggs.
S: 'Fake ID' by Kah-Lo.
W: 'Get Myself Into It' by The Rapture.

A song you wished you had written?
'Blue Monday' by New Order.

Best song to turn up loud?
'Lowrider' by Yussef Kamaal.

Best song to end an all-nighter on?
'A Rainy Night In Soho' by The Pogues.

Any new music you are listening to right now?
G: 'Worship II' by Bishopskin.
S: 'Frame of Reference' by Drug Store Romeos.
W: 'Furies' by Moor Mother, Billy Woods.

 

05Videos

Regressive Left | Cream Militia (2021)

Regressive Left | Take The Hit (2021)