The Big Push- Ren- and Chinchilla- Great young musicians from the U.K.

The Big Push covering Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," last summer in Bristol.  This video just dropped last week on YouTube.  The Big Push formed in 2017, in the U.K., and is made up of Ren Gill, Romain Axisa, Gorran Kendall, and Glenn Chambers.  Ren, Romain, and Gorran switch off on lead vocals and backing vocals, depending on the song.  Most of the time, Romain plays lead guitar.  Ren plays lead guitar on occasion, as well as rhythm guitar and bass.  Gorran plays acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, and bass.  These guys are best known for a whole bunch of great street performing videos playing a really wide variety of cover songs, with many millions of views among them.  Simply put, they rock.  This post will link a few of my favorite videos from The Big Push, as well as some of Ren's solo and duet work, mind blowing videos, and raps, and Chinchilla's work.  If you like any of these, there are many more videos on YouTube, and probably elsewhere, to check these amazing musicians out.  

And to all the salty, crusty, old geezers like me, The Big Push, Ren, and Chinchilla are proof that not all new music sucks.  

The Big Push- "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"- Bob Dylan cover

The Big Push- "I Shot the Sheriff/Road to Zion/Hip Hop" - Bob Marley & The Wailers cover

The Big Push- "Sympathy for the Devil"- Rolling Stones cover- Live at the Brighton Dome

The Big Push- "Passenger" - Souxsie & The Banshees cover

The Big Push- "Paint it Black"- Rolling Stones cover

The Big Push- "War Pigs"- Black Sabbath cover

The Big Push- "Heroes"- David Bowie cover

The Big Push- "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"- Cyndi Lauper cover

Ren

Ren- "Hi Ren" 

This mind blowing original song and video changed my life.  An old BMX freestyle friend in England, Alex Leech, shared this video on Facebook, shortly after it came out on YouTube.  I think it had less than 3 million views when I first watched it, about three years ago, this video has over 65 million views now.  After watching this video, and several other of Ren's videos that night, I started writing poetry again.  I had only written 3 or 4 poems between 2008 and 2022.  I managed to lose all copies of ten years worth of poetry, 165 of the best poems I've ever written, in 2008, when I got pushed out of California and wound up in living in North Carolina for ten years.  After losing that much work (and all my video master tapes and raw footage), the poetry in me just left.  I had no urge to write poems.  

The utter brilliance of "Hi Ren" motivated me to try and start writing poems again.  I haven't written that many, but most of the new poems I've written since (like this one) have been pretty decent, long epic poems.  I also took a break from the kind of Sharpie drawings I had been doing for years, those based on classic photos of musicians, and I drew a couple of big Sharpie Scribble Style drawings straight out of my head.  I did that just to get out of my personal rut, and challenge myself a bit creatively.  Seriously, this song and video had an incredible creative effect on me.  Thanks Ren.  I still watch this video sometimes to get into a deep, creative vibe.  

Ren- "The Tale of Jenny of Screech"

Ren- "Money Game Part 2"- rap/song

Ren- "Bittersweet Symphony" - Original roaming video- original rap/The Verve cover

Ren- "Bittersweet Symphony" - rap/The Verve cover- second version video with live strings

Ren- "Vincent's Tale- Starry Night"- rap

Ren X Chinchilla  (Ren duets with Chinchilla- about 2021-22)

Ren X Chinchilla- "Chalk Outlines" 

Ren X Chinchilla- "How to be me" live  This is a fucking incredible song and performance. 

Ren X Chinchilla- "Sexual Healing" live- Marvin Gaye cover

Chinchilla- 

Chinchilla- "I put a spell on you"- Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover- The Voice UK- blind auditions 2023

Chinchilla- "Little Girl Gone" video

Chinchilla- "Cut You Off" video

Chinchilla- "Fingers"- live for Hunger TV

Chinchilla- "OK As I Am"- video

These five young people from the U.K. are all incredible musicians.  If any of these tracks piqued your interest, dig into their work on YouTube and anywhere else you find music, there's a lot more out there.  

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Chinchilla "Ok As I Am"- new music video

Chinchilla's music keeps getting better and better.  I first heard of her a couple of years ago, after an old BMX friend's post turned me on to Ren's "Hi Ren."  Within a couple of days, I discovered the Rex X Chinchilla videos, "Chalk Outlines," and "I Forgot How to Be Me."  Those are still my two favorite songs I've heard of hers, along with her rendition of "I Put a Spell on You" on the British version of The Voice.  

I think there's a song out there with her name on it, something big and orchestrated, that will really let her show her skills as a singer and performer.  When that song comes along, she will quickly blast into the ears of millions of more listeners.  I'd love to hear her cover a Meatloaf song, or anything written by Jim Steinman, but that's just me.  Anyhow, I clicked on to find this video with under 6,000 views, and it's my new favorite solo video of hers.  It will have many, many more views by this time tomorrow.  A LOT more views.  Check this Chinchilla video out while it's brand new. 

5,700

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Chincilla

This is English singer/rapper/performer Chinchilla.  What's an up-and-coming pop star doing on my blog?  This young woman can SING, and I think she's got the talent and drive and the look to have one hell of a career.  That's why I'm sharing this, for any of you who haven't heard of her yet.  Listen to this song above, maybe she'll put a spell on you, too.

A little under a year ago, when this song, Ren's "Hi Ren," video was about a month old, and had 3 million or so views, I first watched it.  Alex Leech, a cool BMX rider I know from the 1990's, put it up on Facebook, saying this song blew his mind.  Alex plays music as well, so I checked it out, and "Hi Ren" is one of the most amazing music videos I've ever seen.  I dove down Ren's YouTube rabbit hole that night, and for the next several days, and became a big fan of Ren's work.  "Hi Ren" is overpowering, you can't listen to something that intense every day.  But I found a few songs of his, tagged "Ren X Chinchilla," including these below:

"Chalk Outlines"

"How to be me"

"Sexual Healing" (Marvin Gaye cover- live)

Last summer, after diving into Ren's music, which made me seriously rethink my own creative work, I started listening to Ren and Chinchilla's "Chalk Outlines" every single day, for at least two or three months.  "Chalk Outlines" and "How to be me" are great original songs.  They aren't good songs, they are both great songs, with Ren's minimalistic guitar playing.  He can really play the guitar, but didn't need to, these songs didn't require much backing music to be incredible duets.  So this is how I came to be aware of this singer in the U.K. named Chinchilla.  "Chalk Outlines" is still on my personal mental playlist, along with a few other of Ren's songs.  I listen to it on a regular basis.  

A couple months ago, I ran across the clip at the top, of Chinchilla on The Voice.  I thought, "Cool, Chinchilla is beginning to take off on her own, good for her."  Over the last couple of months, I've seen some more of her new stuff.  Today, while working on this blog post, I've been listening to her live set from Pink Pop 2024, which happened just about a month ago (late June 2024).  

This set really surprised me.  From the couple of her newer music videos I've seen, I expected her stuff to be more pop.  But this live set (link below) is a mix of rock, R&B, Soul, a bit of Hip Hop, and it's a damn solid set.  Am I predicting this her latest EP will go platinum?  No.  But for a new musician on the mainstream scene, still working to get her name out there and draw a fan base, now with some industry backing, it's good stuff.  

You know who this Pink Pop set reminds me of?  This is going to sound crazy.  Her energy and theatrical flair remind me of Meatloaf.  For real.  Anybody remember Meatloaf?  He had an incredible voice, and did live theater when young.  But it took him teaming up with the weird, crazy, and incredible songwriter Jim Steinman to really find his calling.  Then it clicked, and together they made a bunch of great music, starting with the Bat Out of Hell album.  

I think it may take Chinchilla a couple of albums to really find her creative voice, to figure out what kind of songs best suit her voice and style.  Maybe she will write the songs that will really take her global, or maybe someone else will.  But I think there's a lot more amazing music coming from this young woman in the future.  She's not a Britney Spears type, bubble gum pop artist, or a techno dance club singer.  She's the real deal, and I think has the potential for a long and amazing career.  So that's my take on the still up-and-coming singer, Chinchilla.  Here are more of her recent videos:

"Little Girl Gone" Live

"Fingers"

"1:5" Live

"Cold Water" Live

"Shut You Off" 

Pink Pop Festival 2024- Full 45 minute live set

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