Name: Villanelle // Live in Independent, Sunderland
Start: 2025-12-05T19:00:00+00:00
Location: 27/28 Holmeside, SR1 3JE Sunderland, United Kingdom

$Villanelle \/\/ Live in Independent, Sunderland$

Having ended 2024 with a riotous sold-out headline tour - without releasing a note of music - VILLANELLE today share their eagerly anticipated debut single ‘Hinge’. The track arrives as the band, featuring Gene Gallagher (vocals/guitar), Ben Taylor (guitar) and Jack Schiavo (bass) are putting the finishing touches to their upcoming debut EP.
Amid a rising wave of grunge revivalism, VILLANELLE are at the forefront— keeping it visceral and real, connecting with audiences through their distinct blend of raw authenticity and pure rock and roll.
‘Hinge’ delivers a bold statement of intent. Every gnarly, ragged guitar riff is an earworm, the bass rumbles with grimy, distorted low-end intensity, drums thunder-and-groove in equal measure, and the vocals shift from urgent and soaring through to drawled nonchalance. Influences range from the melodic rush of The Who and The Buzzcocks, to the heavier spirit of Nirvana’s ‘Incesticide’, Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr and Black Sabbath, and the maximalist wall of sound of My Bloody Valentine.
Gene says, “That’s my favourite sort of music, so there’s some of that in everything I write. ‘Hinge’ is about paranoia derived from sleepless nights. I was probably hungover when I wrote it.”
“‘Hinge’ is just simple and high energy,” adds Ben. “Anyone can play it, but no one can play it like us.”
VILLANELLE were formed by friends Gene, Ben and Jack in the summer of 2023. Gene’s livewire creativity is balanced by Ben’s tight, composed musicianship. “Gene brings the most unique perspective on both life and music of anyone I’ve ever met,” states Ben. “I’m very organised with the way I play music, and Gene is the complete opposite.” Whilst bassist Jack, who Gene describes as having “the height of Krist Novoselic and the attitude of Duff McKagen” is the glue that holds it all together.
On the live front, VILLANELLE will celebrate the release of ‘Hinge’ with a sold-out London launch show at Jaguar Shoes on September 11th. They then embark upon an underplay headline tour in December.