| Sound Tank: The Ethos | - Sound Tank is a collective of local bands and performers set up since 2004.
- The aim is to create a fair climate for local music to grow, by equal pay and mutual respect.
- Members include The Hat, Mab, Big Hairy Band, Cate Ferris, Martin Harley Band and many more.
- Gigs are regular: first and third Thursday of the month at The Hope on Queens Road, and every third Tuesday in Cella at The Sanctuary in Hove.
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With such a miasma of local ‘promoters’, some excellent and committed to local music, others trying to make a buck and duck out after, a lot of bands feel ripped off and exploited by the middle man; unpaid and unlikely to get on. It’s the same old stuff. “We’ll only give you a gig if you fill it” or “we’ll pay you if there’s anything left after our expenses” are familiar stipulations to most bands starting out. Another classic: “No we don’t do guestlists!”
 | | Cate Ferris Performs at the Sanctuary |
Sound Tank Collective, a growing number of artists hosting their own monthly night at The Hope and Cella at The Sanctuary in Brighton, are offering an alternative to this state of affairs. Sound Tank has built quite a repertoire and excellent gallery of hosted and member artists, including Lou Rhodes (Lamb), The Hat and The Big Hairy Band. Everyone gets paid fairly, bypassing rubbish promoters. They are also all excellent musicians. Cate Ferris opened the latest offering. As I watched her grounded bare feet pressing into the floor and listened, elemental images sprang to mind. Melting snowflakes on soft warm skin. A crackle of burning wood in a winter fire. With accompanying bass and Melodica from Adam, Cate’s music is enveloping. | "The wholesale rape of the planet is like a blind, runaway juggernaut crashing into the source of life itself. I don’t appreciate that." | | Martin Messent, singer/songwriter in Mab. |
Martin Messent’s five piece jazz ensemble Mab headlined. Resonant with the largess of Theolonius Monk or Count Basie’s Orchestra, Mab echo a certain solitude too – the solitary and painful delicacy of Nick Drake. After the gig I ask Martin about his lyrics about social injustice. “The wholesale rape of the planet in the name of ‘progress’,” he told me, “is like a blind, runaway juggernaut crashing into the source of life itself. I don’t appreciate that.” Indeed.
 | | Martin Harley Band |
Such a disarming outlook is countered beautifully with the simpatico and resonant harmonies of the band. Mab are exquisite. Sound Tank are breaking new ground in the local music scene. CDs available through Martin. Check out the next gig at Cella on August 30 2006. | 
