It’s our pleasure to introduce you to Halfcut.
Halfcut are:
Lucas Shaw (Vocals + guitar)
Ollie March (Drums)
Max Heslop (guitar)
John Pimlott (Bass)
Where are you from? / Where are you based now?
Lucas and Ollie are from near Reading, and Max and John are from Portsmouth, now all based in Exeter.
Musical Influences:
Anywhere from classic Indie rock with Catfish and the Bottlemen and Arctic Monkeys to Classic Rock with Led Zepplin. Prog heavily influences Ollie’s drumming.
In Your Own Words:
We are a high-energy act that focuses on playing live. We take every gig we can and try to make it our best.
When we formed in Exeter in October 2023, we played our first gig at Time Piece to a massive crowd. We’ve been riding that momentum ever since, playing various venues from the Cavern to 50.7.
About the latest release:
Our debut single, ‘Glass House,’ will be released in the coming months. It starts out quite delicate and light, then really builds tension before the explosion of the chorus.
What inspired the latest release?
Thematically, the song is really about the people in your life projecting their own issues onto you, creating a rift between you.
It’s not an uncommon thing that takes place. Whether it’s someone who used to be a friend, a parent, or a partner, the vicious cycle repeats, and these fragile people lash out in similar ways to how they have been perhaps mistreated in the past.
Musically, the songs I (Lucas) was mainly inspired by while writing was ‘Concorde’, by Black Country New Road and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis.
Concorde has an incredible climax and ends with emotional lyrics that I love. Although our track isn’t quite as diverse instrumentally, we are all really happy with how epic the payoff to all the build-up works throughout the song and where it takes you.
The inspiration from Don’t Look Back in Anger is primarily the style I was influenced by when writing the guitar. Oasis is one of the first guitar bands I properly listened to, and I especially felt that Noel Gallagher’s solo sound worked well over the top of our song.
Max, our lead guitarist, said he was predominantly inspired by Florence and the Machine’s track Bird Song, with its jangly and shiny riffs that remain pretty high throughout, so can cut through this wall of sound and John, our Bassist, our producing, especially in the pre-chorus.
Quick fire – Just for Fun
If you’re on the road…
The absolute essential item for us on tour is…
Scissors, paper and glue as there’s no better way to relax after a gig than with some arts and crafts.
Our most challenging journey for the least payoff led us to…
Getting John to buy new shoes.
Keeping fit on the road requires…
Running behind the van.
The coolest pit stop worldwide is…
Welcome Break Cardiff Services off the M4.
A must-have in our tour survival kit is…
Custard Creams.
The weirdest gig we’ve ever played happened at…
Old Firehouse at home in Exeter, we decided we’d have three guitars on one song, so our old bassist Matt, brought along his guitar and managed to slice his finger open and bled everywhere. We have not played that song since.
The place with the best bathroom graffiti is…
The Angel Bar Exeter.
The silliest thing ever said onstage was…
Not allowed to be repeated.
How we prepare for a show….
Rock Paper Scissors to see who plays which instrument.
Tell us about an independent eatery in Exeter you love.
Can’t remember the name of it but that one Pasty shop in the middle of the High Street is incredible and pretty cheap too.
