Northants acts head to Marburg for Mano MusikFestival gigs

The annual event sees bands from across the county joining up with acts from twin town Poitier in France and host town Marburg.

Similar to the Northampton festival Twinfest, gigs take place at venues across Marburg.

Rock trio Drinsipa comprise singer and guitarist Beb Reed, bassist Myles Dove and drummer Josh Marshall.

Beb said: “We feel extremely privileged and grateful to have been picked to represent Northampton, we really were not expecting to be asked, so it was an amazing surprise.”

Miles added: “We have never played abroad before which makes this occasion even more special.”

In previous years, Drinsipa have played Twinfest in Northampton.

Josh said: “It’s great for a band to be able to play abroad in terms of publicity and getting your sound around, it’s also great for the fun of it too.

“It’s great when the Germans come over to Northampton, you can definitely tell it’s an adventure, so it makes us more excited to go over there and play some shows.”

Drinsipa released the six track EP Poppy Fields at the end of last year which is available via Bandcamp and they are currently in the process of recording a new single called DOP which is due out in April.

Joining Drinsipa will be singer songwriter Keiron Farrow who, as a self-proclaimed “fairly obscure solo performer”, said it was “very humbling” to have been picked to play.

Farrow (pictured) said: “I’m really looking forward to heading out to Marburg and meeting and playing for folks. I’m a bit of an amateur historian and Marburg has plenty of it.

“Events like this are organised at grass roots level and as a result it creates a greater sense of camaraderie and community.

“From what I've witnessed, it takes real passion and commitment to bring it altogether.

“All I can say, is there a lot of generous hearted people behind the scenes.”

Farrow is hoping to release the EP Round About Queen Eleanor this spring.

Recorded at his house by Ben Jennings, it features the tracks No Harm, The Quickening, Round About Queen Eleanor, Danny and What Lurks.

Making up the Northampton contingent is rising indie stars, Sarpa Salpa.

In recent years the band have cemented their place on the town’s music scene, gigging relentlessly across the region.

Guitarist George Neath said: “We were absolutely over the moon when we found out we were playing.

“When we started this band a little over two years ago we never thought we’d get the chance to play outside of Northampton, let alone Germany.”

Bassist Ethan Whitby added: “We’re very excited for Marburg, we’ve heard it’s a really beautiful town full of lovely people.

“Plus, we’ve got a bunch of our friends coming out with us so it will be great to share the experience with them.”

Frontman Marcus Marooth stressed the importance of events like Mano MusikFestival.

He said: “I can’t emphasise enough how important events like this are to up and coming bands.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for local bands to take their show to a new audience and it’s great to experience different cultures”

When they return from Marburg, Sarpa Salpa will be gigging across the UK as well as playing the Roadmender on April 28.

Drummer Charlie Doe added: “We’ve been in and out of the studio since January cooking up several new tracks, a release date isn’t set yet but a new single is coming very soon.”

For full details of this year’s Mano MusikFetival and all of the bands playing, visit http://mano.host-web.de