It’s our pleasure to introduce you to CLKWRK.
CLKWRK is a band that exists with a mantra: combining Blues and rock with electronic music by creating every sound – electronic and organic – themselves, live.
Every synth and every electronic sound is created on the fly with guitars, live electronic drums and effects. No laptops, no sequences, no pre-recorded parts, no exceptions. Humans imitating machines imitating humans.
The journey to be able to release this music to the world has been a long one, though. Three years of exploring sounds, writing music, recording songs and discovering their musical identity, and a huge UK wide tour with US Rock Legends Electric Six. Produced by themselves and mixed by Chris Coulter (Arcane Roots, Jamie Lenman), with music videos, imagery and new releases underpinning their intense release schedule, tracks from the band’s first wave of releases (Namely ‘Fractures’ and ‘Rust’ and was released to critical acclaim with multiple plays on Planet Rock, Kerrang! and lots more.
After touring and gigging throughout 2023 and with their sights set on bigger things in 2024, the band are hugely excited to release new music.
Band Members:
Nick Pilgrim – Vocals & Bass/Guitar hybrid.
Adam Broadhurst – Guitar & Synths.
Romas Masteika – Drums.
Where are you from? / Where are you based now?:
Stoke on Trent/Staffordshire
Musical Influences:
Led Zeppelin, Prodigy, Gary Clarke Jr, Daft Punk, Black Stone Cherry.
About the latest release:
Hold On was a track that we never even meant to write.
Off the back of our last few songs, we were getting the tracks together for our debut EP, Shadows & Silhouettes. When one of us brought a sound to the practice studio, and within a few hours, we’d sort of… Added some more parts, included some vocal ideas and hammered out a structure. Before we knew it, we’d accidentally written what was to be our favourite from all of our tracks.
As a band, we take a very long time to write all of our songs. As we self-produce everything, we tweak and tweak and tweak and work into every small part of what we do. And yet this song felt like the most organic piece of music to us. It was genuinely fun to just let the creative juices flow.
What inspired the latest release?:
The song itself is a song about finding something to hold on to in your life – life can sometimes feel like an ocean, and without something to clutch to, it can leave us floating out at sea.
Quickfire Questions
If you’re on the road…
The absolute essential item for us on tour is…
- Our soldering kit. We have… A LOT of tech that we take around with us. Our guitarist, Adam does tend to get sick of hearing “Adammmmmm. I’ve broken this thing” when we’re on the road!
Our most challenging journey for the least payoff led us to…
- A lot of extra miles, but with a lot of fun on the way.
Keeping fit on the road requires…
- Trying desperately to not go to takeaways after shows. Picking up anything home-cooked will help you SO much.
The coolest pit stop worldwide is…
- The Gloucester services, of course!
A must-have in our tour survival kit is…
- Power banks… power banks everywhere!
The weirdest gig we’ve ever played happened at…
- In a previous band, our singer Nick once played in A chip shop one day and a greenhouse the next.
The place with the best bathroom graffiti is…
- Grand Central in Manchester.
The best part of performing live is the feeling of…
- Just hearing your songs being sung back to you is the best feeling ever. But playing live generally is a feeling unlike any other.
The silliest thing ever said onstage was…
- We have an entire bit about our ‘Director of bovine bell distribution’ when distributing cowbells among our crowds (Come to a show and you’ll know what we mean!)
How we prepare for a show….
- Restocking of cowbells, reprogramming of pedal boards. Regluing all the LED lights to our kit.
Tell us about an independent eatery in your hometown you love.
- Peaches Chinese restaurant in Newcastle Under Lyme. It’s SO good!
Shout out to a local business in your hometown, and why.
- Panda Press – they somehow make us branded condoms without giggling.
What’s the best attraction/place to visit/hang out in your hometown?
- Trentham Monkey Forrest is incredible.
