semaphore

Hailing from Rome and Dublin respectively, three piece London based band Semaphore have been playing together in various forms since meeting in Rome in 2004. Finding their own individual identity in Italy, the band swiftly moved to London, where they found varying success as a larger five-piece group. Their original incarnation, however, soon imploded as certain volatile personal situations came to a head, causing the remaining three members of Louis, Loris and Marco, to re-assess their future together.

As sod's law would have it, the disbandment coincided with the beginning of a fresh UK tour. The three were forced to cancel the string of dates, save for a final London date at Camden Barfly as their swan song. Stripped of the samplers and effects pedals, which previously enclosed them in a restrictive wall of sound, the Barfly gig was a surprising revelation for the band, seeing Semaphore emerge with a previously un-revealed fragility and beguiling intensity. Newly stripped bare, the band had found their wings. Pitched somewhere between the rich storytelling of Johnny Cash and the hypnotic siren-call of Spiritualized, the band's sound is expertly held together by Brennan's distinctive deep, dark and gravel baritone, that suggests a maturity far beyond his 22 years. Semaphore sings songs about drinking, women and everyday disillusion. Their words are peppered with imagery from nature, the Bible and even the wrong side of the bar. Cementing their influence on the current North London music scene, Semaphore has been involved in promoting the "Why?" Club night at Proud Galleries in Camden and then started hosting the monthly "Stabokki!" Club night first at the Cross Kings in King's Cross and now at the Wilmington Arms on Rosebery Avenue (Angel).