MARVIN x The Florentenes: Bolton’s Indie Rock Saviors are Here to Stay
Photo by Ki Price
Mr. Riley, if you’re reading this, which you probably aren’t, you’re never going to get guestlist for a Florentenes gig. “You’re a bellend,” says frontman Will Smith of his old Geography teacher.
Bassist Harry Stubbs gives me the backstory. They had just started the band and posted their first live video — “we were playing it bad,” Will admits — on Instagram. “I came into class. This horrible girl had got him to put the video on the big screen. After it ended, he said, ‘Will, you’re a shit singer, you should just quit.’”
Photo by Ki Price
Thankfully, Will and Harry didn’t listen to Mr. Riley, the girl or the other naysayers, who they’ll have more to say about later. Instead, alongside guitarist Luke Holding and drummer Liam Fiddy, they kept honing their brash, thrashy brand of guitar music, culminating in this May’s Homegrown EP and a fervent early following. “Two girls [have already] streamed our latest single over 1000 times [each],” Will says, crunching the Spotify stats.
Read the full feature in the MARVIN British Invasion Issue. Click HERE to purchase.
