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Artist
Gloria Cycles
12+ albums
female vocalistsindie rockbritishalternativesxsw 2010
about
Gloria's first sons, founding members Kenny McCracken and Julian Ward, first met at Brighton University, a south coast petri dish breeding creative talent. Both were studying photography, achieving their own merits along the way and it wasn't until degrees were done and dusted that they decided to enter into a musical partnership. This was sealed in the Brighton boozer The Basketmakers Arms, where the name was taken from a tin sign on the wall advertising an‘Agency for Gloria Cycles’. Kenny's first musical experiences were on a piano in his parents' garage in Glasgow, aged 4, while Jules, who grew up in Sussex,had always carried a passion for music heavily influenced by his father's vinyl collection and acoustic guitar. Both progressed through teenage bands (in Kenny's words: "shit bands playing shit cover versions") and student bands. Through mutual friends the pair later met Jen Dalby, who had moved from Newcastle to Brighton to study fashion. Raised on her father's record collection, she had recently taken up the bass, but unknown to them all she also had a beautiful, harmonic voice. But Gloria needed something extra to make her whole, which they found in drummer Jack Hannan and the picture became complete. Born in Abu Dhabi, he spent 10 years in Boston USA before returning to England over a decade ago - his drumming experience is similarly comprehensive. From musical theatre to punk rock, urban hip-hop and everything in between, he landed in Gloria's lap with his sticks
