Saturday 31st May 2014

Resin at the Firebug

By Trevor Locke ∏

Hot-foot from The Shed I arrived at The Firebug in time to hear Resin, a band that you don’t want to miss if you can help it. I paused for a moment to think about the past, one in which I saw Resin grow from a minor acoustic act to one of the bands elite bands of Leicestershire.

Resin’s set tonight presented many of the songs for which they are rightly celebrated as one of the finest bands in the ‘shire. Superb nu-metal sounds and stunning guitar playing back the distinctive vocals of lead singer James Botha. Resin is a band with a sizeable following and the ‘Bug’s upstairs concert hall was not short of a crowd of enthusiastic fans tonight.

Resin has a stage presence that demonstrates how to live a musical performance as they put out high-calibre rock with technical wizardry and lashings of mood and atmosphere. It’s music you easily take home in your head, a rare gift amongst unsigned original bands these days. In set that fizzed and sparkled, Resin showered the room with massively good music. An experienced and mature band they have made some of the best songs to be heard on the local music scene, within this genre of rock, clever orchestration combined with immediately compelling rhythms they play with presence and considerable skills. Resin’s original musical is recognisable, conjuring up riffs and sounds that we have heard before from some of the greats of modern times, bands like Alien Ant Farm, Linkin Park and Staind come to mind when you listen to their music.

Music that they made their own, moulding it into their own distinctive sound and featuring incandescent guitar passages, pounding drum work, laced with ingenious chords, infectious energy and a towering knowledge of their musical idiom. Resin’s set was varied enough to keep interest focused on the stage and massively big beats that suddenly give way to soft, delicate passages before exploding again into those hugely head-banging moments.
Superb.

Resin at the Firebug in 2013

Photos: © Kevin Gaughan.

News about Resin

Resin won their bid to play at Bloodstock 2014.

Band members

Resin’s band members are James Botha (vocals and rhythm guitar), Mark ‘Chez’ Roseby (Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals), Simon Yarwood (Rhythm Guitar), David ‘Sev’ Seville (Bass) and Mark Abbott (Drummer to 2013) replaced by Danny Finch (January 2014).

Origins

Artsin: So, how did you guys come together? How did you all get into the band?

Resin: Sime and Chez met James when they were both leaning against the bar one night doing open mics. W”e started doing Alice in Chains covers together, after listening to James sing an original Afrikaans song at one of those nights. We asked him to learn an AIC song that we could perform as a threesome. [Arts in Leicester interview]

Previous reviews

16th January 2011 – Playing an extended set of covers and their own songs, the finale to the show capped a night of quality entertainment. Lead vocalist James Botha put on an impressive performance, showing talented interpretations of songs and delivering well rounded singing. They covered Jackson’s ‘Billy Jean‘; it was a convincingly good interpretation, not just a karaoke style performance of it. They brought the song alive, putting in feeling and drama. Not having seen them before, I was impressed by their musical skill, their dedication and their ability to evoke mood and atmosphere, both in their own songs and in their covers. I did like their cover of a System of Down song. [Arts in Leicester magazine]

Arts in Leicester made Resin their band of the month in March 2012, and the band launched their album Embrace The Fall at a show held at The Firebug on Wednesday 19th December that year. Supporting Resin at that event were Raptusound from Leicester, From The Ashes from London, Ronin from Worcester and The Dedbeats, also from Leicester.

Resin Band of the Month 2012 (PDF of the original article from Arts in Leicester magazine.)

12th May 2011, Resin played at the Band And Gig Society’s Battle of the Bands at Sub 91 with Resin, Hybrid Trend and Dammit Fletcher and on 2nd June 2012, Resin played with Dethonator and Fearless Vampire Killers at the Soundhouse.

The band played at the Original Bands Showcase in 2012; Kevin Gaughan wrote ‘I don’t envy a band that have to follow the previous, however Resin were not phased, starting with a solid, rocky drive that immediately showed their musical talent, both in writing and performing. I took to the singer straight away, a powerful vocalist with a pure rock sound. Their own compositions had the pleasing tones of late 90s/early naughtys bands such as Staind. Although maybe lacking slightly in stage presence, instrumentally Resin have some real talent; a brilliant drummer and a really good solidly bass player (with a very impressive beard!) created the foundations for the guitarists to let loose. Both players use their guitars very well, especially lead guitarist Mark Roseby … wow! What a guitarist! Resin finished their set with a rendition of Alive by Pearl Jam, and my word they nailed it, totally made by Mark’s incredible solo. [Arts in Leicester Magazine]

19th December 2012 – Resin album launch at the Firebug – A large number of people turned out on a wet Wednesday night to hear a line-up of very good bands and the headline act that was Resin, introducing their latest album at the Firebug.

At the Riverside Festival in 2012 Resin, from Hinckley, put on a superb set of their own songs and captured and held the attention of a large crowd of music fans. A resoundingly good set saw lead singer James Botha doing one huge leap on the stage. A real festival-style performance. They covered Jackson’s ‘Billy Jean‘; it was a convincingly good interpretation, not just a karaoke style performance of it. They brought the song alive, putting in feeling and drama. Not having seen them before, I was impressed by their musical skill, their dedication and their ability to evoke mood and atmosphere, both in their own songs and in their covers. I did like their cover of a System of Down song. [Arts in Leicester magazine]

Tuesday 3rd January 2012 – OBS unPlugged. Normally a full electric band, Hinckley’s Resin, performed tonight as a four piece acoustic group. The vocals from lead singer James Botha and guitarist Mark Roseby were well blended. This a Group of well experienced and skilled musicians who are every bit as good at their acoustic work as they are when playing with their drummer in a full electric set. The performance was laden with style and character and they delivered a superb set of original songs and covers, including Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean, to which they brought their own inimitable style. A pleasing end to a really good evening of musical talent. [Arts in Leicestershire magazine]

24th June 2012 – ArtsIn headed over to Derby for a day of music that brought bands and singers together from several parts of the East Midlands. From Leicester we saw Resin, Steve Faulkner and Lisa de’Ville and from Nottingham Micro Jupiter.

23rd March 2013, Resin and Linear at the O2 Academy

Photos: © Kevin Gaughan

5th June 2013. Brit riff beasts ‘Resin’ stake their claim as rising alternative rock newcomers, armed with their new album ‘Embrace the Fall.

23rd June 2013. Resin played at the Hinckley Music festival.

21st December 2013. Hinckley-based band Resin held a night at the Firebug which was widely acclaimed by gig-goers as being one of the best of the year. Read our review of this gig.