Britain has a long tradition of producing the best in guitar pop and powerpop bands, from the British invasion of America in the 60’s by legends such as The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who through the 70’s and 80’s with Badfinger, Elvis Costello, XTC and Squeeze.  However, in the 90’s this crown as birthplace of the greatest guitar pop bands was stolen away by our friends on the other side of the Atlantic when a new breed of powerpop bands, a reaction to that British invasion, began to appear. Groundbreaking yet retrospective albums by artists such as Jellyfish, The Posies, Matthew Sweet, and Ben Folds Five seemed to raise the standard to a new level. A level at which most bands didn’t dare compete.  Until now…

Mini are Glen Johnson (bass, keys, sax and vocals), Scott Richardson (drums, percussion and vocals), Andy Warden (guitar, keys, brass and vocals) and Gary Davies (guitar, keys and vocals).  Blessed with not only astounding musicianship, but with more vocalists and accomplished songwriters than you have any right to expect in one band, their sound is both diverse and distinctive.  Having four multi-instrumentalists in the band and sharing lead vocal duties from one song to the next ensures not only an interesting live show, but also that the listener is always taken by surprise by the differing vocal styles and timbres.  The purity and clarity of Andy Warden, the gentle gruffness of Glen Johnson and the rich and creamy soul style (early Stevie Wonder) of Scott Richardson, sit together perfectly. 

Hailing from the veritable powerpop heartland that is the London suburb of Essex, Mini enjoyed great success on a local level before splitting back in 2000 at the height of mini-mania gripping the burgeoning Romford music scene.  But in the true spirit of natural selection, greatness tends to find a way to float to the top of the barrel and at the end of 2015 a long lost demo was unearthed by the Cherry Bombs radio show on Liquid London (sister station to Virgin Radio) and Mini received the call to come out of retirement for a one off live session.  The session was a roaring success, the band realised the old magic was still there and were soon gripped again. 

Combining the memorable melodies and pop sensibilities of the Beatles and Crowded House, the hooks, harmonies and handclaps of Jellyfish and Teenage Fanclub and the balls-out rock’n’roll of The Who (as guitarist Gary Davies succinctly sums up his philosophy on the ideal guitar tone stating “You can kill most things with a Telecaster!”), Mini are not afraid to wear their retro influences on their sleeves.  Fuelled by their reverence of these influences, and by an unnatural craving of Indian cuisine (the debut album has a working title of ‘Table For Four’) Mini seem destined to fulfil their promise to be one of the most exciting UK powerpop bands to emerge for many years.