New LIVE album preview promo reel 'Smokehouse and Mirrors - Live in Ipswich'

Return to Ipswich

We're back in Ipswich this month! It's been a few years, but we'll be at The Smokehouse on 16 March, with other German Shepherd Records artists Bouquet of Dead Crows and Umbrella Assassins! Should be a great night, hope to see you there!

Strawberry Fair 2018 review

Pic by Adrian

Great review from Strawberry Fair by Cambridge Music Reviews... 
'Some years the event can be slow to get going but this time the weather brought out a substantial crowd early on, including an appreciative audience for The Scissors opening the Rebel Arts Stage at midday. After a decade at the forefront of the Cambridge scene they can still strike a pose and rip it up with the best of them, aided by a selection of their own fastest and loudest songs, including I thought an extra turning up of the blazing sound system to a volume beyond 11 halfway through the set. Having seen them recently in the confines of the Cornerhouse venue, their rich and hypnotic swirling sound easily steps up to an outdoor show.'

Read the full article

Look out! Update from Scissor HQ, gigs and recording

Look out! There's lots going on at Scissors HQ right now... work continues apace on a new Scissors mini-album (shaping up to be an eight-song collection), which should be out hopefully towards the end of 2018. And gigs coming up! We're thrilled to be back at Strawberry Fair on 2 June (12pm, Rebel Arts Stage), and at Knackfest, Karma Farm in Isleham Fen on 30 June. Also just confirmed is a REALLY exciting gig with a great band in mid July that we'll tell you about shortly! So keep 'em peeled!

Video of full set from Cambridge Cornerhouse, 19 April 2018

Incase you missed it (or if you want a reminder), you can now watch our full set from last week's Cornerhouse gig, captured via GoPro (with audio from a Zoom recorder).
Setlist: Sjhake! Phone calls from the dead No go the lowdown I dream in X-ray vision Glossy magazines Electric line terminus Lucy for London Do you believe in modern love? Why don’t you cry? Skylon Your house has ghosts

April Circus

Looking ahead to April, we're delighted to be playing with the fantastic Moscow Circus, whose album 'Resounding' was one of Stewart Scissor's favourites from last year. If you like Psychedelic Furs, XTC, early solo Julian Cope or House of Love, they'll be up your street.
We also have The Get, all the way from Southend-on-Sea, whose current EP on German Shepherd Records is a veritable delight of Magazine-influenced post-punk! It's a free entry evening at Cambridge's Cornerhouse, and promises to be a blast!

Summer's not over yet!

Pic by Donna

Big thanks to all who came to the Portland on Saturday and made the psych-punk-fest that was The Machismo's last stand such a great night! The Moonstrips were on top mind-melting form, and C John Freeborn also dazzled with his intricate wordsmithing and guitar sounds!

But summer's not over yet! Next up we're excited to be back on the bill at a great little festival not far from Ely - Knackfest 2016 is at Karma Farm on 20-21 August, with some great acts in a truly lovely location (Karma Farm). Book your pitch for Sat 20th August, or make a full weekend of it and arrive on Fri 19th, by emailing karmafarmcampsite@gmail.com and quote "Knackfest" to make your booking, or stay on for longer and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Isleham Fen. Please note places are limited to around 100 people for camping. Music all day Saturday, with further open mic acoustic slots on Sunday lunchtime weather permitting - bring your instruments! KF is self-catering, local shops/farm shop nearby. Real ale on site this year! Donations encouraged at £5 pp so the organisers can pay some basic expenses, otherwise it's just camping fees to Karma Farm. Book a yurt if not already taken? Kids welcome!

Machismos, Moonstrips and more!

We're proud to be playing with amazing psychedelicists Moonstrips, and the legendary Machismos on 30 July at Cambridge's Portland Arms! The night will be compared by Virgil deVoyde, and all proceeds go to Down Syndrome Association.
£3 entry on the door

Pond Life at Strawberry Fair

We're delighted to be playing Rebel Arts Radio's 'Pond Life' Stage at this year's Strawberry Fair!
We're on at 12 noon, ahead of a whole bunch of amazing bands - it's going to be a fantastic afternoon at the Pond!

Interviewed by Jude Clarke for Cambridge News

We're interviewed by Jude Clarke for today's Cambridge News! Read the full interview.

This week we meet The Scissors, who love rock 'n' roll outsiders, hope their best song is yet to be written and would like to be covered by The Fall.

1: How long have you been together as a band?

We've been going in various forms for 10 years, come this December! But the current line-up's been together since 2010.

2: Talk me through the band members: what do they do and what are they like?

Stewart (second right) sings and plays bass. Loves cats and cookery, though not at the same time.

Toby (second left) plays guitar. Loves ephemera, pop art and ancient megaliths.

Simon (far left) plays organ and homemade electronic contraptions. Likes making mechanical greetings cards.

Huw (far right) plays drums. Likes walking and cycling, loves Emily.

3: What's your favourite thing about Cambridge?

The way the river meets the trees meet the pubs.

4: What's your best song?

We've not written it yet, hopefully! But Phone Calls from the Dead (a cautionary tale about not believing everything you hear, driven by a severely off-kilter guitar riff) always seems to go down well, as does Your House has Ghosts (garage-psych stomper about being trapped by one's own memories).

5: Best local show?

Our recent album launch gig was great to play. It was fun to curate the evening, with punky-folkpop singer-songwriter Helen Robertson and local punk pop legends Rubber Dux supporting. We decorated the Boathouse gig room with hanging cut-outs of esoteric Victoriana (cats' heads, medicine bottles, haunted mirrors) to create the right atmosphere.

6: Who are your musical heroes or heroines?

We love rock'n'roll outsiders, like maverick record producer Joe Meek (The Tornados, Screaming Lord Sutch), Brit-rock/glam/punk legend Jesse Hector (Crushed Butler, Hammersmith Gorillas), neo-music hall poet Viv Stanshall (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), or 90s psychodramatic lounge legend Paul Hofner (Gretschen Hofner).

7: Which bands or artists would you pick to play your perfect festival?

The perfect festival is one where none of the good bands clash at the same times, so you get to see them all. Huw would have The Mars Volta, circa 2003-2005. Simon loves the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but The Demon Barbers are probably his favourite festival band. Stewart loves Dreadzone at festivals – they're perfectly suited to that environment and never fail to unite a crowd in a nonstop dancing frenzy. Toby would love the original line-up of Thirteenth Floor Elevators, but that's not likely to happen on these shores any time soon.

8: If you had to cover one song, what would it be; if you could pick any band or artist to cover one of your songs, what would it be?

We'd cover Garden of my Mind by The Mickey Finn, a classic UK psych-rock track from 1967. It'd be nice if The Fall covered one of ours. We once covered The Stooges' I Wanna be Your Dog in the style of The Fall, with Stewart shouting out random breeds of dog in the manner of Mark E Smith…

9: Who would you get to play you in a video?

Huw – Jim Dale

Stewart – Terry Scott

Simon - Bernard Bresslaw

Toby – Sid James

10: Can you suggest another local band or artist that we should feature on this page?

Think most of our favourites have been featured! (The Seven Twenty, Bouquet of Dead Crows, Beverley Kills), but maybe you've not featured Moonstrips, a fantastic Cambridge garage-psych trio who have just released a cracking three-track EP (facebook.com/moonstrips)?

Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Introducing-Scissors/story-29186872-detail/story.html#ixzz476qj4WYD
Follow us: @CambridgeNewsUK on Twitter | cambridgenews on Facebook

Summer gigs coming up

We're looking ahead to summer. Nice(ish) weather and outdoor rock'n'roll. Knotted hankies in the style of Steve Jones optional. We've added a few dates to our gig calendar!

Saturday 4 June
Cambridge, somewhere. More info soon...

Saturday 2 July
Bar Hill Festival, Bar Hill, Cambridgeshire

Saturday 20 August
Knackfest, Karma Farm, Isleham Fen, Ely, Cambridgeshire

New video footage from launch gig!

See (and hear!) footage from our recent album launch gig on the 'Video' tab above! Like this...

Listen again to our Stagger Indie show appearance

You can catch our unplugged (and unwashed) appearance on Monday's Stagger Indie Cambridge 105 show on Mixcloud!

We played two songs live and acoustic in the studio, 'Haunted Mirror' (about 30 minutes in) and 'Attack of the Phantom Teardrops' (about 40 minutes in), plus some tracks from the album and other things we brought along...

Psychrock and blues!

We're playing in March back at Cambridge's legendary Cornerhouse (home to a lot of Cambridge's local indie/alt scene), with the lovely Bouquet of Dead Crows (alt acoustic bluesrock), and fresh from Brighton, Jackdaws (howling garage bluesrock).
A bit different, a bit awesome, we reckon!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1389902261269306

Return to the Cornerhouse, 2 September

Sadly we weren't available to play this year's Buzz Weekend at the fabled Cambridge Cornerhouse, but we're there in a few weeks, on 12 September.

Don't know who else is on the bill as yet but we're sure it'll be a cracking night anyhow!

Staggered!

Thanks Stagger for playing our track 'Afternoons' on yesterday's (great) show on Cambridge 105!
It's a taster for next week when we'll be live on the show, talking about the new tracks we're working on, playing some of them, and spinning some other records that we like and think you should hear.
Don't miss!

Afternoons in Norwich

Here's some video action from last week's tour - the final date in Norwich at Epic... 'Afternoons'!

You can see more videos on our Reverbnation page

The Scissors live at Cambridge Barfly video