Guernsey Press

Song written by Guernseyman tops 10.5k streams on Spotify

AN ORIGINAL song created by a Guernseyman and his band has reached more than 10,500 streams on Spotify.

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A band headed by a Guernseyman, George Russell, has released a song that now has over 10.5K streams on Spotify. (Picture supplied by Russell & The French Boys)

George Russell went to study at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London after completing his A-levels at the Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre.

There he met three friends who helped him form a group called Russell & The French Boys.

‘I met The French Boys, who are actually French, during our second year of university,’ he said.

‘I was desperate to create and release new music, so I approached Mattia, Jean and Julien, who were all equally keen to get out and perform. We swiftly concocted the oh-so-creative band name Russell & The French Boys.’

The group debuted in late 2017 and fellow Guern Dom Wainwright joined the band at the start of this year to take on the role of keys player and backing vocalist.

They are currently working on an audio-visual performance concept, combining songs with colourful animation to tell a narrative about ‘growing up’, which they debuted at their first gig at the Camden Assembly in April.

‘Most recently we released a single, Turn Me On, in July, which was a lot of fun to write and record,’ Mr Russell said.

‘For this song we also decided to go flat-out and shoot a crazy video in the south of France, directed by the brilliant Isabelle Maurel, which accentuates the ’80s funk influence of the track.’

Turn Me On has just gone over 10.5k streams on Spotify, which he said was exciting but unexpected.

George Russel of Russell & The French Boys. A band headed by a Guernseyman, George Russell, has released a song that now has over 10.5K streams on Spotify. Picture credit: Margot McAdams. (25680342)

‘It’s encouraging to see this many people engaging with our music and I am so thankful for all the support, particularly from friends and family in Guernsey who have gone out of their way to help us spread the word.’

The band has labelled its genre as suggestive, progressive pop rock, with an incorporation of a number of different genres and styles within the songs.

Mr Russell said: ‘For me, it is important that we remain as honest as possible and using various styles helps to properly communicate the lyrical meaning, while also ensuring we have a lot of fun when we perform.

‘For now I write all the material, which each of the French boys add their creative flare to, taking influence from artists such as Pulp, ELO, Prince and Queen.’

Having just graduated from ICMP, the group is staying in and around London and getting ready for their next gig on 21 September at the Tooting Tram & Social.

‘We hope to keep up regular gigs throughout the year and I would love to bring the band to Guernsey one day.

‘As well as this we are also working on plenty of new material that I cannot wait to share,’ he added.

Alternatively, search Russell and The French Boys on YouTube or Spotify.