I annoyingly arrived waaaay too early for this show. OK well, for any other show it was just normal arrival time but in this case it was waaaaay too early as it was just early enough to encounter the band directly before the populist screamo five piece I was planning to review. This outstandingly awful band that were unfortunately on before Deaf Havana were called Sacred Mother Tongue, and having not really known what to expect regarding a Deaf Havana show I was pretty scared that this band might be an indication of what was in store was for me. I tried to run in vain to the exit to escape the near ear bleeding noise, but the merciless doorman wouldn't let me out as I had naively purchased a beverage (stupid Lina!) and was nowhere near finishing it. He was a man who clearly got kicks from this (and most likely not very uncommon) part of his job.
After having endured the hellish crap metal long haired ordeal I waited patiently and finally Deaf Havana came on stage to begin their set of songs from current EP “It's called the easy life”, springing the semi packed bar suddenly into activity. They opened their short set with “Love by the riverside”, which the always eager impressionable emo haired kiddie crowd lapped up with the kind of blind enthusiasm only the very young can do so earnestly. Being an incredibly small intimate venue, Deaf Havana fully utilized the cramped stage with their overzealous youthful grubby boy presence, and were sweating buckets within the end of the song. Next up was the simply titled, “Oh Howard, you crack me up”, providing a strangely melodic mix of growl, scream and harmony to their so far punchy set.
It was clear to see that although they didn't sound an exact replica of their recorded music, they did have energy and enthusiasm in abundance, and commanded the postage stamp sized stage ferociously. Moving quickly from song to song, they followed on from the first two songs with “Tune of ID”, “Keep it sunny side up”, “They call it the easy life” to set finale and newbie song “Friends like these”, which they dedicated to previous fellow tour band “We are the ocean” (who incidently were all at the gig lurking around the stage side watching closely). Bonding with the crowd, they informed them of the main two lines of the chorus prior to the start, and the crowd in turn sang it back at the appropriate time with them in unison.
All in all, it was a good promising performance from somewhat unpolished boys of Deaf Havana. Albeit, the venue was only marginally full, but the crowd that did gather no doubt had the time of their lives that night and this all started to happen the minute Deaf Havana took to the stage.
Speaking briefly with Ryan Mellor, second vocalist of the band, outside the venue after the show, he talked openly about the new upcoming album and the direction they were heading;
“We are going to have completely new songs [from the EP] on our album, I don't know if you know of a band called Enter Shikari (me- hmmm, not sure I've ever heard of them! Haha..)? Well, their album only had like three new songs and the rest all their fans had already had from demos and b-sides, so we're not doing that. All new songs.”
When asked if they would possibly tone down the heaviness of their sound and possibly go a more commercial route, like say, youmeatsix, he smiles coyly and says tight lipped, “hmmm, maaaaybe..”.
Talking about the perks and progress that Deaf Havana have made, Ryan says modestly, “now we're getting a bit more money we can stay in hotels [occasionally]”, and he sounds happy and content with the way things are going. He confesses to not being much of drinker, “Nah, I don't really drink much, like one pint?”, and how some of the other boys are a bit younger so are getting fully involved with the touring lifestyle of drinking and partying all night, but not him. When asked how much younger they were, he replies “like 18”, when asked how old he was, “Well I'm 20, so I've done all the drinking and stuff already”. Ahhh.. Despite Ryan being the grand old age of 20, I personally thought he was incredibly mature for his age, and thought he seemed like a good, sweet grounded young gentleman preparing himself sensibly for the fruits of his labour.
Deaf Havana are currently working on their debut album, and their pevious EP "It's called the easy life" is available now, released on "A wolf at your door records".
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Interview w/Deaf Havana & All Forgotten
| Features 
Deaf Havana @ Bar Islington Academy - 16th March 2009
