It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeeear! Yes, the Joyzine Advent Calendar is back once again to bring you 24 days of fantastic free music downloads from a amazing array of our favourite artists. This year marks the 21st edition of our online calendar making it (as far as we’re aware) the longest running on the net (though we’re always happy to be corrected). As always, every track is completely free to download and we don’t require you to sign up for a mailing list (though you can if you want to) or hand over your personal data – it’s our way of saying thank you to everyone who’s visited the site during 2024 and to hopefully bring a few more listeners to some very deserving artists.
However, if you do enjoy the tracks we would love you to consider making a donation to our chosen cause, which this year is the wonderful First Timers Fest, a brilliant grassroots DIY organisation helping people take the first step into making music. Alumni include Joyzine faves Big Joanie, Panic Pocket, Charmpit and Breakup Haircut, with many more great bands coming through every year. We asked First Timers for a few words about what they do:
First Timers Fest is all about supporting new people into music! Yes that’s right, we mean you! We demystify the music making process through a series of beginners workshops that encourage people to try something new, no pressure to start a band after. The festival is open to everyone, but we particularly want to encourage people from marginalised groups to apply.
Next year we will be hosting our workshops at the Cavendish in Stockwell but following a sell out festival at the Victoria in Dalston we have decided to host the festival at a much bigger venue: The Oslo Hackney! This will take place on 4th May 2025. See you there!!!
We’ve got a sleigh-full of fantastic tracks for you again this year, including some festive tunes, plenty of exclusives and some of our favourite songs of 2024. Let’s get crack(er)ing!
Yesterday’s track came from one of the bands to feature on our fabulous 20 Years of Joy, Vol. 3 compilation and today we have another fantastic free download from an artist who graced the album. This time it’s marvelous London punk poet Gemma Rogers, whose tune ‘A Million Brilliant Things’ we loved so much we chose it as the focus track for the record. She’s been a regular within these pages over the course of the year too, with our own Kevin J Milsom effusing in a live review that “There are few in my memory who ooze such personality and close connection to an audience as Gemma manages, with ease”.
Today we have the uncompromising ‘Never Have I Ever’, taken from Gemma’s excellent NO FUTURE EP, which is out now on all the usual digital platforms and available as a red vinyl in store at Rough Trade, from the Ode To Records online shop, Dash the Henge store & Juno records. If you like what you hear there are a few opportunities to catch her live over the coming weeks and months – a festive show on December 14th at The Music Room in New Cross Gate alongside fellow Joyzine fave Gabi Garbutt (tickets), an Independent Venues Week gig on 28th January at The Face Bar in Reading (tickets) and a performance at Tom Thumb Theatre in Margate on 31st January.
We caught up with Gemma to find out what she’s been up to this year.
Tell us a little about your track please
It’s not the most Christmassy song but it’s hard to forget that although the festive period is a joyful time for so many of us it’s also a time when there’s a dramatic increase in cases of domestic abuse and violence.Let’s never stop calling out shitty unwanted behaviour and be good to each other.
What have you been up to in 2024?
Putting out NO FUTURE EP. Touring NO FUTURE EP, writing new music, teaming up with new teams. It’s been a goodun!
And what do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Finishing new material for my new album. Very excited about it. Tunes are sounding large. More gigs. Bigger gigs. Staying healthy and doing all I can to promote good things and good people.
Christmas songs – love them or hate them? Why?
The vintage ones were amazing so I’m not gonna fully ‘ bah humbug’ though In truth I haven’t heard a decent new one for AGES BUT Reverend Jon aka ‘Reverend and the Makers’ have just released a new classic called ‘Late night phone call’ and the best thing about it is that it’s to raise awareness and money for Samaritans Charity.
Download ‘Never Have I Ever‘
Make a donation to First Timers
Gemma Rogers: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Catch up on all of this year’s Advent Calendar Tracks so far:
1: Piney Gir – Reindeer
2: Gabriel Minnikin – Said Information
3: LOUD WOMEN ft. Smallways, Butterknife, Daddy Issues, Witch Spit, R.U.B, Vipersnatch, Worm Girlz, Lady Lazarus and Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys
4: First Timers Fest – Gay Skeleton Club and Skutterfly
5: Goo Records ft. Jopy, The Stanford Family Band, Owners Club and The Roebucks
6: Dead Horse – Historic
Check back tomorrow for another free festive download!
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