Oxford folk-pop heroes Stornoway have plenty to crow about with new album Bonxie

Brian Briggs gazes out over the vast salt marshes that stretch from his home to the sea beyond.

All is quiet, save the sound of the wind and the distant call of wading birds.

The frontman of folk-pop band Stornoway is having a busy day – having just announced details of his third album – but he couldn’t be further from the maelstrom of the music industry.

While the band have stuck resolutely to their Oxford roots, Brian – a passionate ornithologist with a doctorate in duck ecology – finds inspiration on the beautiful Gower peninsula of South Wales, where he now lives with his family.

“This place, and the birds in particular, have been a major influence on the album,” he tells me. “In fact there is a strong bird theme.”

He’s not kidding. It’s called Bonxie – the Scottish name for the Great Skua, one of our largest seabirds – and it opens with the cry of Brent Geese, one of 20 bird species to feature on the record.

“We have used a lot of field recordings of birds,” says Brian, who formed the band while studying at Oxford Brookes University and broke through after becoming it became the first unsigned band to appear on TV’s Later… with Jools Holland.

To their immense credit, Stornoway – Brian, keyboard player Jon Ouin, bassist Oli Steadman and his brother, drummer Rob – have earned success the old fashioned way, paying their dues on the Oxford circuit and maintaining their independence. Their latest album, engineered by Pixies and Foo Fighters producer Gil Norton, was recorded with the help of a crowd-funding campaign, backed by largely local fans.

And the band have never lost sight of their roots, eschewing big corporate venues for quirky independent spots like Oxford’s Holywell Music Room and Sheldonian Theatre. They have launched their albums at a Cowley Road pool hall and Oxford Town Hall.

So they are the perfect band, then, to blow the trumpet for a national campaign celebrating Britain’s most interesting clubs – Independent Venue Week. And they are marking the occasion by curating a night of live music in Oxford’s best-loved dedicated independent venue – The Cellar.

“It’s where we started off,” says Brian. “This is all about supporting independent venues and getting bands that have moved on to larger venues to go back and remind people how important those places are.

“When we tour, we try to play more independent venues as they are more interesting. And The Cellar was practically the first place we played.”

So what’s the club’s appeal? “It’s a classic!” he says. “It’s bang in the centre of Oxford, but is in a secluded alleyway off Cornmarket. It is underground, has low ceilings, and on a busy day it drips with water. It has a great atmosphere. There are club nights and loads of gigs of all genres, from reggae to rock and dance. It’s an institution, and we keep going back.”

He adds: “It gives a chance for new bands. If it wasn’t for places like that, bands like us wouldn’t have had a chance to make a name for ourselves. It’s only by playing venues like The Cellar that we were able to build a strong local support as we didn’t have a label at the time.”

Tomorrow’s show will be headlined by glitchy indie-electro act Pixel Fix, and will also feature sets by Tremor Heart, Esther Joy Lane and a solo set by Brian himself. Bandmates Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman will join in with DJ sets.

“Because some of the band are out of the country, we can’t play a Stornoway set,” he explains.

“But I’m going to play some oldies and definitely some of the new stuff and whatever the audience wants.”

That includes gorgeous new single The Road You Didn’t Take – the first single from Bonxie, which is out on February 16. The tune was premiered at their show at North London’s Roundhouse, and was also aired at their twin shows at the Sheldonian, held to celebrate it’s 350th anniversary. It could also include live favourite Zorbing.

“It’s a big one for us,” he says. “And it namechecks Oxford, so it might come out.”

The launch of Bonxie is set to continue a winning streak for the band, who still have their headquarters in a garage in Cowley.

Brian admits to being proud of the record. “There’s some folkie stuff on there but also more upbeat songs, with synth-pop and rock.”

It opens, suitably enough after those geese, with Between the Saltmarsh and the Sea.

“It is very Gower-themed,” he says, “But, yes, also very bird-themed.

“The aim was to get the most bird recordings we could,” he jokes.

“It is better than anything we’ve done before. I genuinely think it’s our finest work. It’s a little bit of a return to the first album in the simplicity of its melodies and pop, but we’ve used the experiences of the second album and made it more sophisticated.

“I’m proud of it – and I hope people enjoy it.”

CHECK IT OUT

• Stornoway’s new single, The Road You Didn’t Take, is out on February 16.
• The Independent Venue Week show takes place at The Cellar on Jan 30. Tickets are £7 adv, £8 on the door from wegottickets.com

CELEBRATE INDEPENCE BY GOING UNDERGROUND

Since its early days, The Cellar, has prided itself on its independence.

Tucked away, in Frewin Court, just off Cornmarket, the venue has long been at the heart of Oxford’s alternative music scene. Starting life as a rockers pub called The Corn Dolly, it has provided a platform for local, national and international acts - many of whom have gone on to make it very big indeed. Still run by father and son Adrian and Tim Hopkins, it remains close to the hearts of punters - and to those bands who played there on their way up. They include Foals, Fixers, The Young Knives and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, who played his first ever live show there.

Other acts to have graced its stage, under the watchful eye - and ear - of house sound engineer Jimmy Hetherington, are Afrika Bambaataa, Dawn Pen, Pulled Apart By Horses, Noah And The Whale, Metronome, Rolo Tomassi and Stornoway - who celebrate their link with the venue by curating tomorrow night’s show.

Frenzy: Foals rock The Cellar: Picture Paul Tipping

Here’s what a few of The Cellar’s fans have to say about Oxford’s quirkiest venue:

* Walter Gervers of Oxford band Foals: “After just about being allowed into the Point to see Dustball shows, the Cellar was the next level in Oxford to see bands. I have fond, albeit boozy, memories of Truck’s Trailer park nights, and feeling very privileged to let whoever was headlining to sleep in bags on our floor that night, long before I was doing the same on other people’s. There have been some great shows: Trademark, Young Knives, Black Madonnas, Youthmovies, to name a few.

“It’s also probably the venue that members of my band have been thrown out of more times than we’ve played there. Quite an accolade.

“Long may it continue for all to enjoy real gold shows in the most intimate of settings. Just please stop spilling Sambuca on my shoes!”

* Gaz Coombes, formerly of Supergrass: ”Oxford has some great venues, like The Cellar, where I’ve see a few shows. I love these places where you can feel the sweat dripping from the ceiling and the breath of the front row on your face!”

* DJ and promoter Count Aidan Skylarkin: “I’ve been running Skylarkin' Soundsystem on the first Friday of every month at The Cellar since 2008. All the acts I've invited to come and play in those years have fallen in love with the place. Dawn Penn, the great Jamaican hitmaker, still talks to this day of her two-night stint for me in 2011. Like the punters, the artists recognise a genuine place when they see it. Unsalubrious it might be, but The Cellar is still by far and away the best night out in Oxford. Long may it remain so.”

* Ronan Munro, Editor of Oxford’s music monthly Nightshift: “I’ve been going to gigs at the Cellar for nearly 30 years now, and it’s never really changed. And nor should it. They can put a new coat of paint on the walls once in a while but the spirit of rock and roll continues to seep out of them. With its low ceiling and labyrinthine layout it’s just the perfect venue to see bands in, to really get up close and personal and have your senses blown to smithereens by some great new band that no-one’s heard of yet. It’s a brilliant venue because it oozes character and it’s never had some corporate drone with a marketing degree come in and try to beautify it. It’s beautiful enough as it is.”

* Remi Phillips of club promoters Extra Curricular: “The Cellar is my favourite venue to work with, the crowd are some of the friendliest people I've met and the staff are an incredible team. There is no other place I know that welcomes such diverse musical talents, it has personally seen the growth of some of our most beloved artists.”

* Idiot King promoter Michael Chiltott: “The Cellar is pretty much the best venue in Oxford for the sort of shows we do. It's got a great atmosphere, a fantastic history and the sound guys get it right every time. It's done an incredible amount for the Oxford music scene.”

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