Ocular

When you hear Ocular live – and they intend to make that easy – you’ll be gobsmacked by the level of compositional talent and creative energy from the group of five 20somethings who perform smart jazz with a prog soul. And how couldn’t they, when bass and horn player Laurie Glass is a son of Solstice mastermind Andy Glass?

With varying amateur and semi-professional experiences behind them, Northants-based Glass, Ben Maxwell and Joe Dan Hirst got together to blow the Covid cobwebs away in 2021. “I’d been in wind orchestras, choirs, jazz bands and quartets,” says Hirst. “It was surprisingly out of my comfort zone – but the lack of limitations sparked the ideas included on our debut album, ‘Planet Ocular’.”

While they feel live and studio work are miles apart, they’re all on the same page when it comes to writing music – well, usually. “I love the disagreements and pushbacks,” Glass says. “You’re always going to end up with a result that no individual could have conceptualised themselves.”

Saxophonist Lucie Berry argues: “Playing for an audience improves our writing. It’s the most efficient way of gaining constructive criticism –finding what works and what doesn’t. It’s a ton of fun as well!”

Asking them to choose their favourite ‘Planet Ocular’ track results in very different answers – but Glass says the function of the record was to find their approach and sound. “The first track we released, ‘Aurora’, set the foundation; but that wasn’t the first track we wrote. ‘Angels’ and ‘Fragmented Signal’ sound completely different because they came together first.”

Every member is studying for or has achieved qualifications in music, except Maxwell, who’s studying maths at Oxford. If it sounds potentially overwhelming, it can be – but in a good way.

“We’re not a pop group with a vocalist and four-chord songs,” Hirst says. ‘We’re a multi-instrumental band with one of our main lead instruments being a flugelhorn! That’s such an exciting thing; while we’re different to a typical mainstream group, we also perhaps slot in a category where there are fewer bands. That gives us an advantage.”

“Being a solely instrumental band has its challenges from a commercial aspect,” Maxwell adds. “But we’re beginning to find our feet.”

Berry accepts Ocular can be a hard sell – until you’ve heard them. “It’s tricky finding the right audience fit and a  venue that will accommodate us,” she reflects. “But as we meet more people who enjoy our stuff, we’ll eventually break out.”

Glass hopes 2025 will include “frequent gigging, tours, festivals and more releases.” He adds: “We hit a milestone with our first London gig being sold out. We really want to continue riding the wave of hype we got that night!” 

– Martin Kielty

Prog file

Line-up: Laurie Glass (flugelhorn, bass), Ben Maxwell (keyboards, guitar), Ross Baker (drums), Lucie Berry (tenor sax), Joe Dan Hirst (keyboards)

Sounds like: Jazz fusion played by old souls with young hearts and hands, adding a delicious touch of irreverence, and a prog spirit beneath

Current release: ‘Planet Ocular’ is out now via Bandcamp

Website: oculartheband.bandcamp.com