Paul Baird cut his teeth as a sixteen-year-old in Manchester Punk band Breather, performing at In the City Festival, in Dublin, at the request of the late Tony Wilson, before departing the group, on the eve of signing with RCA Records, to pursue a degree in English & Philosophy. Baird later went on to front Manchester dream-pop bands Glass, I See Angels & Just Everywhere, chalking up A play-listed singles on NME radio, playing shows at the 02 Apollo Manchester, The Fuzz Club (Athens, Greece) and was the focus of interviews by the BBC, XFM and the Manchester Evening News. Along the way, Baird made fans of Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins/Bella Union Records), Gerard Love (Teenage Fanclub) and a host of producers, musicians, and writers who have championed his uncompromising musical journey.
Paul Baird is Hostile Tribes these days… His swooning vocal instantly recognizable as it carries gorgeous melodies across otherwise digitally corrupted dream-pop. Interestingly, Baird opts to mask his distinctive pipes beneath layers of effects on debut single Une Brave Femme – urging those familiar with his previous output to abandon any preconceptions about Hostile Tribes from the get-go. An accomplished singer, guitarist, and producer, amongst other things, Baird often throws several synth-led bouts of songwriting into his mixes, reverberated vocal loops and fragile harmonies surging alongside mercurial beats, pretty instrumental interludes, the aching hum of ambiance and fuzzy guitars.
An aggressive acid eats away at Baird from the inside; his tracks play urgently as a result, whether they’re of the dreamy electronic variety or totemic slabs of industrial noise, periodically running riot with distortion pedals and protesting guitar squeal. Pin Baird down with any precision to a location and his momentum goes haywire. Track his speed and lose the man in space forever.
Musical influences: Beastie Boys, Cocteau Twins, FKA twigs, A Tribe Called Quest, NIN, Tom Waits, Japan, Thelonious Monk, Frank Zappa, Can, Hall & Oates, Beach House, Howlin’ Wolf, Jane’s Addiction, Broadcast, Steely Dan, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Black Sabbath, TV on the Radio, Sarah Vaughan, Chavez, Tears for Fears, Young Fathers, Fleetwood Mac, Scott Walker, John Coltrane, Radiohead, Massive Attack, This Mortal Coil & Sonic Youth.
Une Brave Femme, the debut single by Hostile tribes, releases digitally on 25th October 2019 via Mimic This. An EP is set to follow in early 2020.
LINKS:
https://hostiletribes.com
https://www.facebook.com/hostiletribes
https://www.instagram.com/hostiletribes
https://twitter.com/hostiletribes
https://soundcloud.com/hostiletribes
https://hostiletribes.bandcamp.com
