Splink for Psych/space or prog folk

SPLINK: Formed 2014, Kent, UK.

SPLINK is a four-piece progressive rock band originally comprised of Matt James EVANS (guitar), Tim CHAPMAN (drums), Steve BUTLER (bass) and Vikki INGS (violin). The band had their their first live outing at the Evelina London Children's Charity 'Evelina Rocks' gig at The Miller pub in Borough, South East London, UK on 28th August 2014.

This initial line-up then recorded a four-track studio EP called 'Autumn' at Wicker Studios, London, UK on 25th October 2014, two tracks from which were finally released digitally on Bandcamp in December 2020.

Vikki INGS then left the band in July 2016 due to family and life commitments, her last appearance with them being at The Lighthouse, Deal, Kent, UK on the 22nd of that month.

A seven-track album called 'Free' was then recorded at The Backstage Theatre, Purfleet, Essex, UK in October 2017, with Ian CUTLER guesting on electric violin. It was released via streaming services on 27th October 2017, and eventually on Bandcamp in December 2020. The album was showcased by the band at the Ascape Studio in Bromley, Kent, UK on 17th August 2017.

Two songs called 'Splinket' and 'The Train Stops Here' were then recorded by the band as a three-piece at The Backstage Theatre, Purfleet in January 2018, and eventually released as digital singles on Bandcamp in December 2020.

Continuing as a three-piece, live performances at Glastonbury Psychfest in 2018 and the Avalon Ballroom Weekender in 2019 were recorded by the band for future release on Bandcamp (December 2020). The band played several other gigs in both 2018 and 2019, being voted 'Best Up & Coming Band' and Best Songwriters' at an awards party in Deal, Kent, UK in April 2018.

Vikki INGS then returned to make a guest appearance at the Rifleman in Sevenoaks, Kent, UK on 14th December 2019, this being the last gig that bassist Steve BUTLER played before he left, and also the one where the band met their future replacement bassist Andy CRICKETT, who joined a month later in January 2020, with Vikki INGS also rejoining the band permanently on electric violin in the summer of that year. 

Andy CRICKETT was introduced to a live audience at The Birdsnest in Deptford, Kent UK on 21st February but by now Covid-19 had reared its ugly head, and no further live performances were possible in 2020 to welcome Vikki back into the fold in front of a live audience.

She was finally able to perform in front of a crowd again at the 'Nestival' at The Birdsnest, Deptford on 29th August 2021, the band's only other live performance that year being at the Glastonbury Psychfest on 19th September whilst working on new material for the follow up album 'Kozmosis', which the restored four-piece line-up recorded at Ten21 Studios, Maidstone, Kent, UK in November 2021. The album was released via Bandcamp and streaming services on 22nd June 2022.

A remastered version of the 'Free' album that the band originally recorded as a three-piece was then released on 16th Sept 2022 via Bandcamp and on streaming services, and a new EP called 'Magnifique Eccentrique', recorded at Snorkel Studios, Catford, UK in May 2023, was released on 19th August 2023 via Bandcamp and on streaming services.

The band have continued to perform live regularly during 2022 and 2023, including another gig at the Glastonbury Psychfest on 22nd September 2023, and they play a unique brand of infectious jazzy psych/space rock - their philosophy being to play 'No Rules Music', in which perceived restrictions about how certain musical genres should be played are cast out in favour of a love of honest music played with an open heart.