Manchester is often at the centre of promoting bands and pushing them from the ground up, this past weekend on was no exception during the Worm Grunting Mag Launch at Aatma. The evening kicked off at eight and saw a steady, welcoming crowd fill the room as Charley Westing began the night of live music with a mix of powerful yet gentle vocals and hard-hitting lyrics. Another defining performance of the night was headliner Joe Leath who took the night by storm, earning genuine screams from fans so dedicated that they begged for an encore song which was also a raging success, with the guitarist ended up climbing on the speakers. Despite such a unique and talented line-up, one band stood out, Deviant Order. Formed and based in Liverpool, closed the night out with electronic bangers with their own twist. The energetic duo took control of the night and landed themselves a room full to the brim with people dancing and cheering for them.
The multi-talented band originated as a quartet but have found themselves whittling down to just two over the past few years. Despite this, they have only pushed harder and mastered more talents. So far, setbacks have only motivated them further. Both members provide harmonic vocals while loan focuses on the guitar. TC Quested, however, shows up mostly as the drummer but has been known to bring a bass on to the stage, as well as being the main brains behind the production of their remixes. Their one original song, “Revival” often opens their live sets, but some very notable songs like “Let it happen” by Tame Impala and “Confusion” by New Order appear as remixes that gather the kind of crowd that dances into the early hours.Â
This gig was special for the band as it was their first time outside of Liverpool, and they did not disappoint this new crowd. Deviant Order were the last act of the night, starting their performance at nearing 1am in the morning. You’d assume that the crowd would have grown tired but in a matter of seconds of their infectious beats and addictive riffs playing, they pulled in one hell of a crowd. The two don’t know what it means to give less than a hundred percent, with TC Quested committing to interactions like climbing on his stool to dance and clap, starting chants with the fans and both members introducing cowbells. The energy was electric with the perfect bright, colourful lighting and impeccable use of a fog machine that only enhanced the incredible head-banging aspect of their set.Â
With an average set time of about forty minutes prior to getting to Manchester, they handled the pressure of a ninety-minute set incredibly well. Using older and more dormant mixes that have not been able to fit into the line-up together before. When speaking to the band, they went into detail about his journey as a guitarist. He has recently made the change from analogue pedals to more digital software as it is much easier to use. He says, “It’s endless what you can do and it saves all the presets and because the songs we do varies in sections, some are quieter some are really loud and its great for that. All in one click of a button whereas before I’d be tap dancing for an hour and a half.” Clearly it is important as an artist to feel comfortable, confident, and as through they are progressing which seemed to be the case as they approached this gig with upgraded gear.
Continuing with about what it’s like finding their way in this industry. After being a band for just over three years, a big portion of their fan base remains based in Liverpool making breaking into other areas difficult. loan says “With us it’s been a lot more difficult to find gigs and promoters that are doing what we are doing” in reference to the difference between the popular and often trending genre indie in comparison to their take on electronic music. TC Quested also has a lot of experience in this area saying, “Normally the only promoters that are willing to work with us are the ones willing to take risks”. As a result of of this, he took it upon himself to create electronic sessions which promotes all sorts of DJs, producers, and artists in the scene.Although the future is not yet paved for the band, they’re often found performing around the city of Liverpool and producing remixes and playing electronic music live in a way that no band has before. The pair have admitted that they are committed to working on this project, wanting to eventually take it to Europe. TC Quested ended off the conversation by admitting “I want to create a whole scene for live electronic music, there were a load of bands doing it in the nineties, but I feel like it could have been explored further, and I want to take part in doing that”. With such a deep belief in a space for this genre there’s no stopping them.