**Jonathan Bree, Marion Raw, Francis Lung**

Jonathan Bree is a composer, multi- instrumentalist and producer from New Zealand.

A self-confessed workaholic and social recluse, Jonathan spends his days (and nights) in a dingy home office attempting to run his record label Lil’ Chief Records (who have put out albums by the likes of Princess Chelsea, Ruby Suns and his previous band The Brunettes) whilst simultaneously producing albums for artists such as Princess Chelsea, directing and starring in viral music videos for duets about Cigarette Smoking (yes THAT video) and then somehow finding time to record his own material when he should be sleeping.

Jonathan starting playing music at the age of 9 when he wrote his first song "Rebecca" about a primary school crush.

By 12 he was playing drums with 20 year olds in an average goth band ‘The Plaster Saints’ whose claim to fame was releasing a song on a Flying Nun compilation in the 90s.

At 13 out of fear he was going to start wearing fishnets and piercing his privates he was sent to live with his Father in Australia. His Father was a spiritual guru living in Byron Bay, graciously helping his followers to starve themselves in order to raise their ‘vibrations’ so they could board the invisible motherships floating above them.

At 14 after failing to raise his vibrations and also feeling quite hungry he left home and took care of himself by selling drugs to local tourists to make his way through high school.

At age 19 he returned home to Auckland, New Zealand and started his first band The Brunettes. The Brunettes was basically a bunch of indie guys that liked Pavement and the Modern Lovers and the music reflected that. Within 6 months the band broke up but not before Jonathan met Heather Mansfield and convinced her to turn The Brunettes into a duet based recording project.

Jonathan wrote and produced 4 albums and 4 EPs for The Brunettes, driving himself mad over the course of their ten year career trying to achieve the sonic standards of his 1960's heroes of 4 track recording, George Martin and Brian Wilson.

The Brunettes went on to sign to Sub Pop after opening for The Postal Service in 2003 before eventually breaking up 2010. They still however have a loyal and dedicated cult following, especially in New Zealand where their debut ‘Holding Hands Feeding Ducks’ is regarded as a classic.

Jonathan Bree released his first solo album ‘The Primrose Path’ in New Zealand in 2013. The album drew much critical praise and was a finalist in the ‘Taite Prize’ – a respected arts award named after the late journalist Dylan Taite.

Jonathan’s second album ‘A Little Night Music’ drew similar critical praise locally and saw Bree venturing into more free-form territory, further breaking away from more traditional pop formulas found in some of his best-known work with The Brunettes. This was partly due to new interest in classical music after inheriting some old ballet records of Tchaikovsky, and music of Bela Bartok.

**Francis Lung**

Mancunian singer songwriter Francis Lung returns with his latest EP 'Short Stories', his first release since his much heralded 2021 album ‘Miracle’, a tour du force in melodicism as witnessed on Francis’ 6 Music playlisted single Bad Hair Day. 'Short Stories' is a half sung, half spoken collection of songs displaying a similar songwriting flare to previous releases whilst at the same time pivoting to a more narrative style with a distinct Northern English sensibility.

"A mind-blowing stack of sublime sounds all wrapped into a Mancunian bag of witty brilliance - 5/5" - Louder Than War

"A record of astonishing richness - 4/5" Sound Of Violence

The past few years have seen two big life changes for Francis – a move to France, specifically Nantes – with wife and collaborator Coralie and the birth of their daughter. Both had significant impact on the songs that appear on “Short Stories”, as Francis explains:

'Those first months following the birth of my daughter were a daze - the days were joyful, but the nights were long. Once I'm up, I'm up, and I could never get back to sleep after feeding or changing the baby. In my semi-delirious state I would lie awake in bed making up stories in my head to pass the time. ‘2p Machine’ was the first of these, which originated from memories of being a kid on holiday in the arcades on Blackpool pleasure beach’.

The narrative of ‘2p Machine’ follows ‘Sasha’, a young Stevie Nicks fan with a penchant for gambling away her pocket money on the arcade machines. But her goal of winning as many ‘blood red tokens’ as possible isn’t driven by a desire to swap them for toys at the ticket exchange, it is instead part of a naïve yet earnest plan to try and buy the un-buyable - a friend. “It’s a story about alienation and how our imaginations have the power to save us from loneliness, at least temporarily” Francis says. The arc of this tragicomedy, in which the protagonist utilises fantasy to try and escape a harsh reality, is indicative of the tone on the rest of ‘Short Stories’.

This is a 21+ event

Presented by Zebulon.

Zebulon

Jonathan Bree, Marion Raw, Francis Lung

You're So Cool

Jonathan Bree

Marion Raw

Francis Lung

Gigs

Los Angeles

300 capacity

Top track

Jonathan Bree, Marion Raw, Francis Lung

Top track

About

Lineup

Venue

Zebulon

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