Act Happy on the Pure Local Extra show

This is not the first time the duo has come in for a chat, they last came in over a year ago and in that time, a lot has happened.

First things first, Act Happy won the Best Duo award at the Love Live Music Awards last week, something they talked about a lot on the show.

On the show, the First Act Happy track we listened to was “Things” and we got some insight into the creation of the song. Things is one of their earlier songs. Rhiannon wrote this song on guitar, which she doesn’t really play as she mostly sings. The song is about getting divorced, Rhiannon described writing it as a cathartic moment and a moment in which music is therapeutic. The song is full of emotion, so the mood of the gig they play depends if it gets into the set, if it’s a happier atmosphere, it doesn’t get played.

The next we listened to was Autopilot, which had an interesting way of being developed. The guitar parts were written during Covid by Jax before he met Rhiannon. It was being written for his own project but it didn’t end up getting written. Later on, after he met Rhiannon, he showed her the guitar and she pulled out some lyrics she had which hadn’t yet been used for anything. The music and lyrics just fit together, as Rhiannon said it was the “musical equivalent of soulmates”.

The topic of open mic nights then came up, something we’ve been discussing a lot lately as they are the perfect way to meet other people in the industry you may have never bet before. They gave some open mic’s which they recommend, those being:

• Arcadia Coffee House in Newport
• Porters in Cardiff
• Fork and Tune in Cwmcarn (they have not yet gone to this one, but they’ve heard good things about it).

A question that Kym has been asking recently on the Pure Local Extra show is “Who would you be a tribute act for?” Their answer? Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue, although they’ve not yet learned ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ but they’ve promised to do it for the next time they come in.

Finally, what’s coming up or what’s happened recently. Their EP ‘Stained In Red’ was released this past year, it can be found on all music streaming platforms. In the next few weeks, they’ll be playing a few gigs. Rebel Fest on the 27th of June and they’ll be supporting Ophelia’s Beard on the 28th June. Finally, on the last Monday of every month, they attend Arcadia Coffee’s open mic night and they’d love to see more people they haven’t seen before.

You can listen to the full show here