A Genuine Freakshow are an artful blend of pop sensibility, icy soundscapes and blistering walls of noise. Their sound, while impressively focused, covers a range of musical staples, with the group letting influences from Mew to Sigur Ros and The National surface throughout.

Their songs capture quirky, catchy pop akin to Pulp in their pomp and grandeur – and even geeky charm. This ability to combine the poppier elements of indie rock whilst maintaining an intricate, delicate soul is what they do best. With a line-up that adds violin, cello and trumpet to the standard rock four-piece of guitar, bass, drums and vocals, their live shows are a master class in how to do epic without slipping into pompous.

There’s no real way to tell when A Genuine Freakshow came into existence, as the group are fairly unsure themselves. It has been agreed, for the time being, that the official Reading based seven-piece line up was born in 2008. After finding their equilibrium with a handful of self-released singles, the group settled into a touring schedule from 2009 onwards, playing over 150 headline and festival shows since the release of debut album Oftentimes in late 2010. April 2012 saw the band take a step away from the road and head to the studio with long-term collaborator and producer Jordan Fish to record a handful of new songs the band had written and been performing live over the summer of 2011 onwards. Originally planned as part of a new album, these 4 songs became a complete story of their own, so the band decided to release their first new music since 2010 with 4-track EP Where The River Bends on 3rd December 2012.  

“A thrilling Reading-based seven-piece… String section, sheets of Pink Floyd and Sigur Ros fed through the Radiohead filter” Mark Ellen, The Word

“A seven-piece experimental post-everything pop bonanza, and as you’ll hear, A Genuine Freakshow are even better than that. What an absolutely marvellous band” Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music

 

“There are elements of the baroque, halting fragments of folk, exultant flourishes of pop – properly rationed, of course - and just a hint of rock onslaught to make an emotional point.” Manchester Evening News

 

“Combining the grandeur of post-rock with lush orchestration, pop sensibility and a rare vocal sincerity, A Genuine Freakshow is an exciting band… Traces of Arcade Fire, Elbow and Radiohead are evident, however, there is far more under the surface.” The List

  A Genuine Freakshow are: Jack Bryant (Drums), Simon Evans (Guitar), Marianne Casey Canning (Violin), Timothy Sutcliffe (Vocals, Guitar), John Dunstan (Trumpet), John Szmidt (Bass), Melanie Dickson (Cello)