Phantom Isle and Megalashhh join up for EP release gig at Black Prince

Phantom Isle and Megalashhh are holding a joint EP release gig at The Black Prince on Friday.

The former released Out Of Blue earlier this year with the EP now out on vinyl, while Cheap Thrills by Megalashhh, was released last month - also on vinyl.

Both records have been released by Northamptonshire label Eight Limb Entertainment who have previously put out records by other county acts including Sarpa Salpa, Rolling Thunder and Baby Lung.

Megalashhh, pictured, comprise of Alessia Stranieri, Caleb Watson and Cal Rae.

Cheap Thrills features current single Shoot The Moon, debut single Elevator, Window World and The Royal Sovereign.

After recording a chunk of the record in Watson’s own room, they turned to friend Angus Mcalpine to finish tracks in his home studio.

Stranieri said: “We are very happy with the EP, it feels great to have it out finally.”

Rae adds: “It took us ages to agree on the final tweaks. Elevator feels like so long ago now.

“We've definitely still got bits of that going strong in us though.”

Shoot The Moon is named after the card trick in the game Hearts.

Watson said: “It recounts that low life mood on the sofa, ordering greasy takeaways, turning numb from all the s**** Netflix feeds - scrolling through for that perfect match.

“The love of your life, your future fellow borrower might just be a fingers’ swipe away.

“All the while, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg dine out on iguanas, all paid for by the data harvested from your fumblings on the fibre optic.

“The song hopefully ends in a happier spot, one where people can see their choice to break out.”

While Megalashhh cite influences across the musical spectrum, the trio’s music melds alternative and left-field pop influences.

Rae adds: “When me and Caleb met, he spoke about wanting to involve more ‘traditional’ bass / guitar / drums band stuff - his background has mostly been electronic.

“All the projects I’d been in before had always been that, and at that stage I was wanting to move toward more synthetic sounds.

“So, it was a good match really. It feels like we’ve found a sonic sweet spot between the two.

“Alessia seems to have forever floated between genres.”

The trio are currently all based in London, while Rae has ties to Northamptonshire. They originally met before covid.

Watson said: “I was having an argument with someone about how sick Blink-182 were and this guy was having none of it.

“Cal backed me up and within five minutes we’d decided we were going to start a band. We all met Alessia soon after that.

Rae added: “Covid hit and we were busy with other bits so went through quite a transitional period. 18-months ago is about when we think of it all as having properly started, but there were efforts a good while before then.”

Megalashhh were approached by the team behind Eight Limb Entertainment after playing with bloody/bath at The Black Prince earlier this year.

Following Friday’s gig, Megalashhh will continue working on new music to follow Cheap Thrills and hope next year to head to Scandinavia to reunite with recently departed drummer Vida Vojic.

Phantom Isle originally released Out Of Blue in May - the successor to 2021’s EP Figures.

The band, who recently shared stages with Blur’s Dave Rowntree, also teamed up with Eight Limb to release the record on blue vinyl after discussions with Mig and Paul from the label.

Its six tracks are each titled a different year, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2001.

The trio of Pete Marchant, Sam Thorne and Josh Guy were again approached by Eight Limb about the potential of a vinyl release.

Marchant said: “We’ve got lots of new material that we're working on in the studio at the moment which will be out next year.

“We created a very explorative and experimental record with Out Of Blue but we've taken a bit more of a classic catchy song writing approach with this new stuff, we’re really excited to see how it's received.”

Talking about the physical release, Marchant added: “It feels amazing, it’s the first time any of us have had our music on vinyl, so dropping the needle on it was a pretty big moment for the three of us. The record sounds great on vinyl.”

Phantom Isle and Megalashhh will be joined by Off Peek and Sam Bland at The Black Prince on Friday, November 4.

Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets cost £5 before fees via www.wegottickets.com/event/555971

Cheep Thrills and Out Of Blue are available from the band, Eight Limb Entertainment and select independent record stores.

For more information, visit https://www.phantomisle.com and https://linktr.ee/megalashhh