Ferris & Sylvester: International Showcase Fund (SXSW)
Two years ago Ferris & Sylvester were playing regular nights at the same venue, Spiritual Bar in Camden, but a night apart. Issy Ferris playing the folk nights whilst Archie Sylvester headlined Saturday nights with his blues band. Raf, the owner brought the two of them together. A hundred gigs later, Ferris & Sylvester are a force to be reckoned with.
Determined to get their music out and with next to no budget, the duo recorded and self-produced their ‘Made In Streatham’ EP (Feb 2018), in the kitchen of their South London flat. Released through their own label Archtop Records, their fusion of blues, folk and indie-rock EP has clocked up millions of streams on Spotify, rose to No.1 on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter chart, No.14 on the Spotify UK Viral Top 50 and received widespread acclaim (“A masterpiece of Brit Folk” – MOJO).
Summer followed with a packed out tour diary including slots at BST in Hyde Park (Eric Clapton), Bath Festival (Robert Plant), main stage at Wilderness Festival with BBC Music Introducing and a sold-out debut at Reeperbahn festival. Further support slots came for George Ezra, James Blunt, Jade Bird, Gary Barlow, Tom Odell and Tyler Childers.
SXSW has always been a festival at the top of the band’s to do list. With Industry uttering similarities to Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin and Jack White, it was only right for the band to take their music State side and play SXSW, simply the greatest showcase festival for guitar lead bands.