Peggy Chats With: Blanketman

Your weekly go-to new music guide brought to you by our London music journo, Peggy, as she uncovers the latest ‘bands and artists to watch’ in the post-punk, new wave, jazz and indie communities. This week she discusses DIY video making, jangle pop and a fear of imminent hair loss with Adam, the energising frontman of Manchester's new wave five-piece, Blanketman. @peggyfromearth 

Hailing from the historic indie hub of Manchester, how did the five of you come to form in late 2017? 

None of us are actually from Manchester, most of the band moved here from other towns and other countries at different points in 2017 for various reasons. I posted an ad on a well-known band member finding website looking to get something together and the rest of the band answered the call. Went for a few pints to make sure we could all bare each other’s company enough and then started jamming. Manchester has become our hometown as a band and there is nowhere quite like it.

With nostalgic echoes of 80’s jangle pop and new wave adorning your sound, where in particular do you take influence and how does this impact your songwriting processes? 

We use about three guitar pedals between the two of us and two of those are tuners which probably adds to the jingle jangle. Our bass player Jeremy loves new wave so I think his basslines have a part to play in that. We have influences from all over the shop, we disagree on a lot of music which I think adds a nice dynamic to our sound. A few things we mostly agree on would be Talking Heads, Velvet Underground, Modern Lovers, The Fall.

You gave a triumphant ‘up yours’ to Covid-19 by releasing your footloose debut single, ‘Taking You With Me’ in late March. What were your thoughts behind the track? 

It’s a bit of fun really. Probably a song birthed from my very conscious fear of aging, instilled in me by the male side of my family and their lack of hair. But also, probably inspired by a wider fear of aging within our society. Its good to laugh at these things. It kind of has ended up being a bit of an up yours to Covid-19, people have told us that it’s made them laugh (especially the video) which is always a nice thing in these bleak times.

Did the unseemly timing prove a help or hindrance?