Ex-Wellington School student wins Best UK Album of the Year
30 Mar 2023
A former student of Wellington School has won a prestigious music award – for UK Album of the Year at the Americana Music Association.
Archie, together with his wife Issy Ferris, are the duo Ferris & Sylvester and they shared the stage with the likes of Robert Plant, Judy Collins, Mike Scott of the Waterboys and Alison Krauss at the Hackney Empire as they collected their award and played to a live audience of thousands.
Their Album – Superhuman – is their first released album and is the culmination of a glittering whirlwind of activity in their developing years. They have played a host of festivals including Glastonbury and the Nashville AmericanaFest, been on European and UK tours and played at all the best London venues, including The Royal Albert Hall, The Royal Festival Hall and many of the hip music spots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5a5T2lR_3o
They write and produce all their own songs, have a prolific repertoire and are superb instrumentalists, with Issy playing guitar, keys and Archie’s fantastic lead guitar, keys and funky percussion machine pumping away on his feet! Their sound is hauntingly beautiful and rip-roaringly danceable with riffs that will stay with you all day! The clever combination of Archie Sylvester’s blues influence and Issy Ferris’ soft folk tone has created a distinctive genre of their own.
Archie made his stage debut at Wellington School when he played he roller-skating, guitar playing Ariel in the school production of Return to the Forbidden Planet. The couple have had a fabulous year and welcomed their first child, born in Nashville Tennessee – aptly named Lucky Sylvester!
They met as solo musicians on London’s vibrant music scene and their thoughtfully crafted, superb songwriting caught the ear of legendary producer Youth (Paul McCartney/The Verve/ Crowded House). The pair recorded their first record ‘The Yellow Line EP’ with Youth in his Space Mountain Studios, Spain, and then released their self-produced second EP ‘Made In Streatham’. Both received stunning press acclaim, with the iconic Rolling Stone Magazine including them in their ‘Top 10 New Country Acts You Need To Hear’ list, and Mojo Magazine referring to their song ‘Save Yourself’ as a ‘masterpiece of Brit Folk’. While the 60’s sounds of NYC’s Greenwich Village are clear references in their catchy folk-pop sound, the duo also sit comfortably within a thriving contemporary alt-folk scene.
‘Ferris & Sylvester’s Youth-produced debut single is an overlooked masterpiece of Brit Folk that should already have made them household names.’ – Mojo Magazine
‘Dreamy, deceptively lovely folk-pop that tickles the ear and softens you up for the thornier sentiments contained therein. A rich and fully realised sound that leaves one pining for a full-length.’ – Rolling Stone Magazine
‘Alt Simon & Garfunkel: dreamy pop with spiky sentiments’ – The Guardian
‘Exquisite songwriters’ – Music Is My Radar
“Top 10 new country acts you need to hear” – Rolling Stone Magazine
“Dreamy, deceptively lovely folk-pop that tickles the eat and softens you up for the thornier sentiments therein. Pretty as a California sunset, gorgeously dusky singing voice and immaculate harmonies” – Rolling Stone Magazine