GANS

GANS are Euan Woodman (drums, vocals) and Tom Rhodes (bass, vocals).

Growing up in working class areas of the Black Country to parents who worked in factories and mills has helped define how they approach GANS. As Rhodes puts it, “We both come from places where people get locked in by their surroundings – trapped by jobs and ambitions that go as far as getting married and settling down by the time you are 23. We knew we did not want that. We felt connected when we met and we had ambitions that lay beyond that world. We are fiercely proud of where we are from and we strongly believe in how we were raised. It’s just we have ambitions that are more Copacabana than Costa Del Dudley.”

Woodman would sit scribbling away in his books. Not only does he write poems, but he also paints. Some of his paintings are disturbing Francis Bacon-like images of animals dressed as humans. There’s a Goose smoking a cigarette. Ironically this is where the band got their name – GANS is “Goose” in German.

Woodman says, “I have to be creating, and I will do until I die. I know people say that, but I truly don’t know any other way, I don’t know what I’d do.” He is the main lyricist in GANS. His words reflect a sense of discomfort and unease with life.

GANS went away in November 2024 to Wales to a remote cottage to write their debut album GOOD FOR THE SOUL, a direct, honest, noisy, heartfelt collection of songs to reflect the times the band find themselves in. There are songs about electronic gadgets to improve your life (‘THIS PRODUCT’), ‘OH GEORGE’ tackles mental illness head on, and stories of “Little England” mentalities and the ghosts of Reform supporters shine through on ‘A FOOL’ and ‘IN TIME’.