bby’s SECRET UNDERGROUND SHOWS: AN INDIE RITE OF PASSAGE | LIVE REVIEW

LONDON’S BEST KEPT SECRET ARE SET TO BLOW UP THIS YEAR | BY HEATHER COLLIER

It’s not even been a year since they formed, and indie quintet bby are leading me to an undisclosed location nestled in a darkened corner of East London. As we line up outside, the air is quiet and still. A calm before the storm. Some of the guests look around at one another with knowing smiles, feeling smug that they’ve been hand-picked for this week’s ‘hang’, an intimate jam session in the heart of the band’s stomping ground. There’s a sense of community here, and a level of exclusiveness that can’t be found anywhere else.

Greeting us in the entryway, the group are visibly just as excited as we are. I give my name to the doorman, (who also happens to be their drummer) and soon enough I find myself in the centre of bby’s secret lair. One girl turns to me, admitting she had “snuck out” to be here. “I didn’t know what to expect, but there’s no way I could miss this” she whispers, her eyes lighting up beneath her hoodie.

From a generation that was raised on the internet, it’s no surprise that the quintet had initially connected online. After exchanging DMs back and forth in early 2023, they decided to meet in person at Dalston’s Pirate Studios for their first ever rehearsal, the ultimate blind date. Fast-forward several months later, and bby have grown a loyal underground fanbase pretty much overnight.

Hungry for their music to be heard, the rambunctious five-piece are unabashedly the perfect musical unit, comprised of Benjy Gibson (vocals), Deon Graham (bass), Tommaso Medica (guitar), Jessy Jacquet-Credites (guitar), and Tom Parkin (drums). With several nods to the likes of Phoenix, Coldplay, N.E.R.D., OutKast and Steve Lacy, their sound is a love letter to the summer of 2006, a heady concoction of indie rock, old school R&B and funk. Known for their sultry basslines and demonic riffs, bby manage to stay refreshingly unique in a soundscape overrun by garage bands and bedroom musicians.

Feeling my way through a low-lit corridor, I reach a large, derelict room with abandoned furniture and random paraphernalia scattered around me. Clutching our drinks in anticipation, we’re eventually given the heads up that the support act is about to begin, beckoning us into what looks like a broom cupboard at the very end of the hallway – except it’s much more than that.

The bby HQ has a DIY feel – shelves filled with miscellaneous objects, a sacred mural on the wall lovingly littered with drawings and signatures penned by fans, and of course their infamous bunk bed, formally known as the ‘double-decker sofa’. Two girls clamber their way up to the top, eager to secure the best seat in the house. Weaving his way to the front of the crowd, Benjy introduces the support as “one of the best voices in London right now”, and he’s not wrong. Skye has powerhouse vocals – there’s an old soul within her, and its warmth envelops me beneath the studio’s tangerine glow.

The dust begins to settle, only for bby to soon erupt with a ferocious energy. With only a handful of singles under their belt, they manage to perform each one flawlessly, including their latest release ‘spinnin 88’, along with ‘shhh’, ‘u come near’, ‘money body’ and ‘gold teeth & fenty’, before closing things off with their raunchy debut single ‘hotline’, which became a viral sensation right out of the gate.

There’s a rawness and electricity on stage, an understanding between the five of them. I watch on, dumbfounded, as they seamlessly communicate with one another with a single look. Launching into their upcoming new single ‘kill me’, they decide to take things up a notch, and suddenly I’m front row at Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Fake blood begins to ooze from Benjy’s chest, pooling in the middle of his shirt. Creeping further across the fabric, the song begins to build to its crescendo as he ‘bleeds out’ right in front of us. ‘You take the breath out of me’ he sings before Tommaso explodes into the riff of all riffs, a piece of romantic theatre that outwardly confesses the pain of being in love. Sheened with sweat, Benjy pushes the loose curls from his face with ‘blood’-stained fingers before bursting into another unreleased track.

Shirt now discarded, he thrashes around the makeshift stage, all while sipping on a carton of Rubicon. The party’s nearly over, but not before ‘hotline’. Its bouncy, star-spangled guitar and percussive vocals have the entire crowd jumping – which nearly takes the roof off (quite literally). The final chord rings out, and we’re snapped back to reality.

On the cusp of something truly incredible, this is a band that is no doubt months away from reaching inevitable stardom. After recording their debut album in a postcard-worthy country house in the Cotswolds earlier this month, their bond not only as musicians, but as friends, is clearly stronger than ever.

For now, little is known about what we can expect from the band in 2024, but after generating millions of streams, securing first-time spots at All Points East and Leeds Festival last year, and receiving a well-deserved endorsement from iconic radio DJ Zane Lowe, there appears to be a long, successful road ahead. If one thing is for certain, nobody puts bby in a corner.

You can listen to bby’s latest single ‘spinnin 88’ NOW!