Biography
Inspirations & Aspirations
Despite their obvious love for indie rock, upon listening to their sets it becomes apparent that the band have an ocean of influences they draw upon.
Aaron’s emphatically wide vocal range dovetails cleanly with Harvey’s melodic, bluesy guitar licks and Alfie & Tom’s intricate basslines and drumbeats.
Big Dreams
Their relentlessly engaging stage presence is a mirror to their core ethos of dedication and graft being the most important ingredients to musical success, and this is reflected in their lyrics often being focused around desires, ambition and making all the mistakes required to better oneself and pursue your dreams. Their lofty aspirations to play on the stages that musical influences such as Nothing But Thieves, Buddy Rich and Interpol have stood upon, are only further endorsed by their name: ‘The Upper Hand.’
An expression promoting momentum and progress, the band look to push the advantages of every opportunity that falls their way with an infectious level of enthusiasm, clapping hands and stomping feet. Onlookers will bear witness to a showcase of musical camaraderie by a crew built upon understanding each other's varied needs and playstyles, and attestable to a brand of adapting ones own unique physical and mental attributes to storm down their chosen path.
Early Stages
It was after the musical starvation brought upon by the COVID pandemic in 2021 that longtime friends and freshly crowned Falmouth Uni graduates, guitarist Harvey and drummer Tom, started a new initiative together to get back on stage. However, the Torquay-based duo knew that to achieve this feat they had to fill two important spaces on the stage.
The first of those spaces to fill was a vocalist. After expanding their hunt to social media, they discovered Ottery St Mary based Magic player and former amateur shark whisperer Aaron Samuel. After meeting up for a pint (and promising an undetermined number of movie marathons), the trio started writing their eventual first original track ‘Mistakes.’ Nonetheless, despite the fresh musical impetus brought by a vocalist, there was still a glaring hole in their soundscape missing: the engine that would provide a foundation to their sound - the BASS guitar.