Hebden four-piece Rose Villas are the latest in a line of young indie rock bands to emerge, restless and hungry, from the reverberating wilderness of the Calder Valley.
They join a wave that started with The Orielles back in 2017 – on January 15th, 2017 to be precise. That’s when The Orielles notoriously played an uproarious headline show to an excited, heaving Trades Club crowd. In attendance that night were a number of local youngsters who, inspired by what they saw on stage, went on to form bands of their own.
The Lounge Society were one such band. They impressed straight away and promptly signed to Dan Carey’s cult indie label, Speedy Wunderground, when they were aged just 15. Around the same time, Syd Minsky’s electro-punk outfit Working Men’s Club exploded onto the local circuit and were soon ripping up UK venues and festival fields alike with their unique brand of cathartic disco filth.
Mal Campbell, Promotions Manager at The Trades Club: “It was the beginning of a young local music scene that still exists now.”
Post-lockdown, we’ve seen a new gaggle of exciting young bands and solo artists take centre stage – among them, The Short Causeway, Grow, The Incident, The Caymans, Rebecca Spooner and Doogle.
Rose Villas are the latest to catch the eye. Mal is already a keen admirer: “They look and sound like they’ve played 40 shows, but have only played four. They’re crackling with potential.”
The band is made up of Alfie Hackett, vocals and rhythm guitar, Harry Cave, lead guitar, Charlie Pickens, bass, and Albie Shaw-White, drums. All aged 18, they’ve arrived at a sound that meshes the brooding intensity of alt-rock titans Radiohead with the subtleties and textures of shoegaze and psych. It’s a moody, alluring concoction, but it’s a sound that has taken them a little while to settle on.
Alfie: “The band first started with me and Albie in year 7 attempting to play terrible covers like Seven Nation Army. That fizzled out after a bit and then in year 10 we reunited with Charlie on bass. Due to GCSEs, it never progressed, but then Harry reached out to us and asked if we would be interested in starting up a band again with him.”
Their first gig was at The Grayston Unity in March 2025, supporting the Leeds-based collective Fold.
Alfie: “It was such an amazing feeling – and we managed to nearly sell it out!”
Grayston Unity owner Michael Ainsworth is well known for his avid support of upcoming local bands. Rose Villas were given another slot at the same venue the following month, playing second on a three-band bill, with Eva Kiss headlining.
Next up, they played The Trades Club. The night, entitled ‘Melodic Journey’, featured a number of emerging acts and was organised by a young local promoter and musician, Honey Andrews.
As they evolve their stagecraft, Rose Villas have had no shortage of help.
Albie: “Mal reached out to us and asked to meet up, which we were all nervous about, but he is a lovely chap. He gave us loads of advice and has really helped us grow.”
Charlie: “The local music scene is an incredibly supportive place. Everybody seems to want to help you out with progressing your music. In terms of bands, we have to talk about The Lounge Society. Growing up with them a couple of years older than us and seeing them achieve what they have, it really drove us on to try and do the same. The influence from their music is definitely prevalent in our tunes.”
Six In One: The Artists That Have Shaped The Rose Villas Sound
Listening to the Rose Villas live set, you can discern links to many different genres. The band are more than happy to acknowledge the Radiohead influences in their songwriting, but are quick to highlight a number of other notable acts as well.
Harry: “Fontaines DC, specifically Skinty Fia. That’s an album we all love and it spurred us on to try to write tracks as good as those.”
Charlie: “I’m a huge fan of Stuart Zender of Jamiroquai. He has great syncopation and creativity with his bass lines, which really move a crowd.”
Harry: “I admire the work of Graham Coxon with his versatility from heavy distortion to soft melodies, and combining lead and rhythm guitar into one.”
Meanwhile, Albie takes influence from Clyde Stubblefield, the James Brown drummer, “for his use of ghost notes and other intricate work on the snare, adding complexity to his grooves while still keeping a solid driving beat.”
Alfie is a massive fan of Thom Yorke noting “his ability to sing and play unreal guitar lines at the same time” but also takes inspiration from Ian Curtis for his “moodiness and undeniable stage presence.”
Follow Rose Villas on Instagram.
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