Westfalia’s story begins not in the eponymous region of Germany, but in the plains of Padana in northern Italy, where the band’s four components met and grew together. Their raw, visceral approach to sound design belies the members’ extensive conservatory training, which informs the chameleon-like cauldron of influences that they combine into a new genre they define as “trip rock”.
Westfalia’s first EP, We’re Not Just Good At Playing (Needn’t, May 6, 2022), leaves the saccharine origins of their success on X Factor Italia in the dust. Combining soulful, yet tongue-in-cheek melodies with nuanced, harmonically saturated instrumentation, vacillating between jazz virtuosity, frenetic grooves, and immersive walls of fuzzy synth and bass, the album foreshadows the explosive energy the band brings to its live performances.
The band’s upcoming album prioritises space over virtuosity – lyrics that recall familiar sensations often left unexpressed, married to massive soundscapes that provoke introspection and bursts of emotion.
This show takes place on the bar stage.
Artists on stage: 8.30pmCurfew: 12.00am
Stage: The Bar