The Forum Basement

Sunflowers make noise like it’s a language of survival. Their sound blends blistering punk energy with layers of distortion, experimental chaos, and existential release — always teetering between catharsis and collapse. They are not here to comfort you. They are here to rip the floor out from under you. Their music is a living organism—loud, messy, and mutating in real time. What starts as raw intensity quickly reveals something deeper: an obsession with pushing boundaries, tearing down expectations, and chasing the next sonic mutation. No two shows are the same. No two records stand still. Their live shows are legendary: primal screams, distortion worship, and an unrelenting energy that refuses to hold back. Chaos isn’t a byproduct — it’s the point. At their core, Sunflowers are about total immersion. This is not music made for the background — it demands your body, your ears, your surrender. Loud, unrelenting, and weird in all the right ways.

Darius Zaltash is a British-Iranian singer-songwriter and producer based in Bristol, known for making loud electronic rock music with danceable and emotional elements. He is the driving force behind the band The Nu, a Birmingham-based “futuristic electronic-rock outfit.” Zaltash was nominated for multiple Birmingham Music Awards in 2020, including Best Band and Best Song.

“Hey I’m Darius. I’m a 27 year old british Iranian currently based in Bristol. I like making very loud electronic rock music that you can dance, sing and cry to. My favourite band is Linkin Park and I also love abit of the 1975. Outside of music I love a good sci fi movie and you can’t go wrong with a Guinness from time to time. I hope my music makes you feel something! These songs have helped me get through some dark times, so sharing is caring. X”

Guildford-based alternative rock five-piece Aqualine are setting off for their first UK tour in support of their new EP, Tripwire. Fusing post-punk aggression, grunge, ethereal shoegaze with bold experimental flourishes, the band explores themes of mental stability, disassociation, and self-identity in young adulthood. Tripwire is a raw and emotionally charged collection that captures the chaos of intrusive thoughts and the quiet weight of imposter syndrome, all set against a dynamically enraged sonic backdrop.

Irish Music at The Sussex Arms – Free Entry

The Sussex Arms are bringing the true Irish spirit to the Pantiles! Join us for an afternoon of live traditional Irish, Cornish, Folk, and old-time tunes with some of the county’s finest session players. If you’re a fan of the Pogues, the Dubliners, or new folk legends like Lankum, this is for you. Our handpicked Celtic Session band is here to bring ‘Trad’ back to where it belongs – in the heart of the pub.

So grab a pint of Guinness and watch the best ‘Trad’ this side of Dublin. Sláinte!

As befitting a band all-but born on the road, MOULD’s forte is wresting meaning from the clutches of chaos. Reflecting the unsettling impermanence of the late millennial experience, the Bristol/London-based trio’s new EP, Almost Feels Like Purpose, explores what it’s like to feel adrift in the world, pairing paranoid reflections with fidgety post-punk that’s prone to sudden melodic shifts and rhythmic about turns. They are – as singer/guitarist Joe Sherrin puts it on ‘Temps’ – “as unsettled in our skin as we are our locations,” and, honestly, it’s a thrill to witness.

Anchoring it all is the sort of easy creative chemistry that can only come with familiarity. Sherrin and drummer James Luxton have been collaborating for over a decade, having first played together in slacker indie outfit Let’s Kill Janice. Multi-instrumentalist Kane Eagle became involved three years later, contributing bass alongside Luxton’s drums to Sherrin’s Guided By Voices-esque solo project Slonk, before the three joined forces again as part of alt-folkie Fenne Lily’s backing band.

They cemented their seamless musicianship over five years of on-and-off touring with Fenne, accompanying her on dates across US and Europe. Outside of these commitments, the trio explored other projects individually – from the garage rock of Kane’s outfit Radiators to Sherrin’s adventures in post-hardcore with the Fugazi-influenced Milo’s Planes – but it was in soundchecks on Fenne’s 2022 US tour that the seeds for MOULD were sown. “We were messing around and made all of these little bits,” Sherrin recalls. “So we resolved that after that tour, we’d do a new project.”

Taking their name from a song by Luxton’s previous band Cagework, the three-piece set about consolidating their experience, pouring elements of each of their previous outfits into the new project. Their ferocious debut single ‘Birdsong’ showcased that playful, pick and mix approach, pairing jackhammer drums and sawn-off guitars with Sherrin’s commanding, shout-sung vocal. Released by Nice Swan Recordings (English Teacher, Sprints) in November 2023, it was one of three songs produced by Jon McMullen (Wet Leg and Michael Kiwanuka) to be included on their self-titled EP of 2024, with the final track ‘Glow’ produced by Harri Chambers (L’objectif). For the follow-up, the band brought Dom Mitchison (Heavy Lungs) on board, keen to capture the raw power of their live performances on recent tours with Regal Cheer and Lip Critic.

Recorded in May 2024 at Bristol’s Humm Studios, and due for release in April 2025 via 5dB Records, Almost Feels Like Purpose bristles with pent-up frustration, setting Sherrin’s sardonic reflections to a breakneck punk (‘Frances’), wiry alt-rock (‘Brace’) and Weezer-ish indie (‘Wheeze’, featuring Harry Furniss on cornet). Lead single ‘Chunks’ is a riotous mish-mash, it’s winding, melodic verses, giving away to an unrepentant bludgeon of chorus, all thrashing drums and feral howls. For the lyrics, Sherrin drew on his experiences travelling across America, laying bare his feelings of entitlement as a passive tourist to these “relentless stoic landscapes.”

Counting David Berman and Nick Cave as his big lyrical heroes, Sherrin possesses a similar knack of distilling an entire mood in a few words. ‘Snails’ sees him personifying his dissatisfaction into the helpless character of a baby, conjuring an image of “feeding my malaise by the spoon,” while ‘Temps’ delves deeper into the idea of a rootless existence. Speaking on the latter’s inspirations Sherrin explains, “I wrote that whilst I was away on the

last Fenne tour, feeling directionless and wondering what temp job I’m gonna do when I get back.”

Unquestionably, times are tough for a touring musician in 2025, juggling the discomfort of life on the road with the constant quest for temporary work. But ironically, you could say it’s this very ability to shapeshift that proves MOULD’s main strength as a unit. Certainly, as listeners, witnessing them move fluidly between various punk strains, with an almost panicked sense of urgency, we wouldn’t have it any other way. And neither would Luxton, as he semi-jokes self-deprecatingly: “All we’ve ever wanted to do was go to practice rooms and make horrible songs. The joy of MOULD is to be gross and make noise.”