Mesh – Britain’s Best Kept Secret

❉ Ange Chan profiles Bristol-based electronic band Mesh, and chats with Richard Silverthorn.

There’s a Bristol-based electronic band who have been going for 20+ years, who are massive in Europe, especially Germany where they have secured the Number One slot in the Alternative album charts with their most recent album, but yet are bizarrely relatively unknown in their native country.

Mesh are Mark Hockings (vocal), and Richard Silverthorn (synths/guitar), who are the band’s founding members. They ‘meshed’ at a gig in the late 90s, and hence the band was formed.  Lord-Richard Broadhead (synths) and Sean “Drummaniac” Suleman (Drums) complete the line-up.

Their musical style is essentially “electronic alternative” influenced by electronic pop music, alternative and industrial.  Their compositions mix intelligent lyrics which resonate, with strong, well-formed melodies which can’t fail to move you.

Richard Silverthorn (synths/guitar)

Speaking to We Are Cult, Rich Silverthorn said:

We first got asked to do some European gigs back in 1997 when we signed to a Swedish Record Label, Momento Materia. For us this was an eye-opening experience. Up until then we had only done small club gigs in the UK.  It was immediately apparent that everything in Europe was better equipped for doing shows like these. The level of professionalism was far greater than in the UK. I think this is why we put more energy into shows abroad.

Before long we had signed a new record deal with a German label that opened the door to a German tour with Beborn Beton and a few months later De/Vison. This was where it all started to take off. The German audiences seemed to take us to their hearts and the shows got bigger and bigger as word spread.

Eventually Sony Music came knocking on the door offering us a career changing amount of money and a two album deal. Radio and TV coverage soon followed along with festival slots and magazine covers and stories.  From then on its gone strength to strength. We have never turned our backs on our homeland, but the rewards have always been better in Europe for us. 

Looking Skyward‘ our latest album, has been the most successful album to date entering the German Top 40 at number 12 and topping all European alternative charts for weeks.  Soon after the album release saw us do our most successful tour too. The audiences and shows are still growing. In a moment of sheer madness on the last date in London, Mark (Hockings) and I were sat on the tour bus and we said “That was really good, we should do it all again”. “

Mark Hockings (vocals)

They kick off their forthcoming European shows on 31 March in Madrid and move throughout Europe culminating in a London gig in Islington on 1st May. They take in further shows in Saxony (Germany) and Poland, later in the year.  To catch one of their European and UK live shows click here http://www.mesh.co.uk/live/

In the UK, however, the Mesh fan base is a tight-knit unit. So much so, that “Wear a Mesh T-Shirt” day, which originated in 2012 by UK fans, is now an annual event and comprised of a video compilation of fans from all over the world, proudly wearing their Mesh garments. The Mesh song which always accompanies the video is quite aptly Friends Like These from their album A Perfect Solution.

So what’s next in the pipeline for the boys from Bristol?  As well as touring imminently taking in more countries and cities, a new single is being released to mark the start of the tour in April.

Following a successful show last year, they have also produced an orchestral album of their songs, which is ready for release soon.

Finally, if that wasn’t enough to delight their fans, they’re ready to go to print with a book…. Yes, a book!  It’s a large collection of unseen photos documenting the history of the band.  Very little words are involved, just pictures but very exciting news nonetheless.


❉ To find out more about Mesh, go to their website http://www.mesh.co.uk/ or Twitter @meshwecollide.

❉ Mesh Store: please click on this link

Ange Chan is a poet and novelist.  Her fourth poetry collection “Fame; What’s Your Name?” and her second novel “Baby, Can You Hear Me?” were both published in paperback and Kindle in 2016.  Her third novel will be published in 2017. 

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2 Comments

  1. Friends Like These is off Who Watches Over Me? Not A Perfect Solution. Nice article otherwise tho.

  2. I first saw mesh in 1996 in support of Gary Numan, they played twice on the tour, in their home city of Bristol, and then Birmingham a few nights later. They captivated the crowd and also played with him again in the early 2000’s at the forum in Kentish Town, London. That year also saw the release of their first full length album called In this Place Forever, that followed their debut ep called Fragile from ’94. I still regularly play that CD, along with their entire back catalogue.
    They have material dating back as far as 1991, so I’d say they probably first formed the band in the later 80’s or 1990/91 and not late 90’s.
    I’m off to see them at their gig at the Roxy in Manchester on 20th April. It will be their biggest venue in the city which has hosted artists such as my aforementioned Gary Numan, Adam Ant, The Mission and the Sisters of Mercy.

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