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Meet Gladboy: the student band bringing psychedelic rock to UEA

An eccentric trio of UEA students ‘Gladboy’ have released their latest single


Gladboy, an alternative rock band has just released their latest single 'Weight of Expectation' for download. The trio of second years have a unique, experimental, and psychedelic sound not normally found in student bands.

The group's trademark are their colourful outfits, vibrant album covers and retro inspired sound. The Tab Norwich spoke to George their lead guitarist and singer about being the weirdest band on campus…

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From left to right: George Orton, Andy Bentham, and Sonny Mitchell

'I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to be weird' explains George Orton, lead singer and guitar. ‘It’s called alternative music for a reason’

'Individuality is vital, the only genre that really appreciates this is hip-hop'

The group began after the trio started experimenting musically in their halls.

'I think our taste for experimenting came from me and Sonny the drummer just making so much noise.'

'Sonny was vital as I never really met anyone I could genuinely be myself around. The songs we’d play were weird as they didn’t really have lyrics or a structure. This period was vital to our development as a band.'

'We're still pretty small so don't have a devout following but we always get a real mix of people that like us – usually just people who want to have some fun' adds George.

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The band's latest single 'Weight of Expectation'

George goes to explain how important Norwich has been to their musical development; 'Norwich has quite a small but loyal music scene so I wouldn't wanna start making the mistake of trying to break out of it while we're still developing.'

When asked about how far he wants to take the band George laments 'I still have a minimum of 3 years at uni left so we'll have to take it as it comes.'

He adds 'The only certainty we have is that if in three years we've accomplished nothing at all and have to get jobs, we're going to record an amazing album and release it ourselves.'

You can listen to the band's latest single 'Weight of Expectation' here

The band is also the support act for Jeffrey Los & Los Bolts at the Norwich Arts Centre on the 2nd of April