Yūngold’s debut EP Force of Habit drops May 2, 2025, and captures the exact energy brewing in Hereford, UK right now—unfiltered, self-made, and fully alive.
What started in a cabin behind Frank’s house with coffee, jazz riffs, and a rogue fuzz pedal quickly evolved into a four-piece band chasing raw urgency. After adding Joe on drums and Ash on bass, they locked into a fuzz-drenched sound that turned heads at The Jam Factory and landed them a live session for its “Little Green Room” series in July 2024.
Their chemistry is the result of a wider shift in Hereford’s music culture. Once a scene in decline, it’s now buzzing thanks to venues like The Jam Factory, grassroots projects like Livewire, and a youth-led DIY spirit reshaping everything from basement gigs to art festivals. Yūngold doesn’t just reflect that shift—they’re part of the reason it’s happening.
Force of Habit leans into distortion, instinct, and lyrical sharpness. It’s a debut that feels grounded in place and time, and it shows exactly why Hereford’s no longer flying under the radar.
Check out the full scene report, in their own words, below.
Words by guitarist Oscar Featherstone
For as long as I’ve lived in Hereford, the music scene has existed on life support. I arrived in 2013, age 16, just in time to see all the major venues closing down, and this prematurely ended my live music career before it even started. I actually quit gigging completely — all the way up to 2022 — when suddenly, new sparks lit up in the form of fresh venues with ambitious owners, and unrepresented musicians and artists taking matters into their own hands to change the status quo.
For me, it all began when a local independent cinema, The Loft, decided to team up with some friends who run the local music store, and secured Arts’ Council funding to host live music every week (The music shop crew happen to be incredible live sound engineers). The atmosphere was beautiful from the very first show, and I couldn’t resist showing up early to gigs just to be involved with moving sofas and equipment. Around that time, another ambitious venue opened with a strong focus on original live music: The Jam Factory.
The combined emphasis these venues placed on live performance sparked what now feels like a renaissance. Students at Hereford College of Arts’ soon hosted a multi-venue charity music festival called ClusterFest, and it was my first time seeing my tiny city completely embrace original music in a way I never thought it could. Seeing acts like Elin Grace, Jelliebean, Fungi Girlz, Thylacine and Innit made me rethink my entire relationship to my dead music scene – all of these puzzle pieces existed in isolation, but the ambition to actually assemble the puzzle and share it collaboratively was what had been missing.
Nowadays, the youth scene is trailblazing Hereford’s music culture, and there’s almost too much to talk about. Livewire, a charity-funded music project offers weekly sessions to help guide young musician’s songwriting and instrument skills with a core focus on live performance opportunities.
The college scene has exploded, with Hereford Sixth Form College’s cohort growing from 2 bands in 2022, to 16 bands in 2025, and the College of Arts continues to offer excellent live performance courses and regularly hosts masterclasses from incredible musicians like Jacob Collier. These young bands have made their home at venues like The Speakeasy, a basement venue in the centre of town offering a grungy, industrial vibe that’s perfect for their regular max-capacity shows.
The Jam Factory has also continued to innovate, now offering Tiny Desk style recordings in their “Live from the Little Green Room” sessions, The Butterfly Effect and No Comment are two of the aforementioned sixth form bands who have recorded their own sessions with some of their insanely exciting originals, but other incredible local powerhouse bands have taken part such as Return of the Spouse and Monday Club.
This year also saw the rise of Medicated Promotions formed by ex-students who have blown the roof off the scene, booking gigs in exciting and untapped locations like the local skatepark and nightclubs, and inviting bands from further afield to take part in the evolution of Hereford’s scene.
There’s also some more mainstream appeal popping back up every now and then – last year’s Indie Food Festival featured The Lottery Winners, Gabrielle and Feeder as headliners, with upcoming acts like Cherym, Jetski and Ten Tonnes supporting through the day.
Musically, this town has developed in ways I never thought possible as a teenager, and all of it achieved through community and innovation. I stood in a packed out Jam Factory a few weeks ago, watching a Hip-hop night, the band lineups consisted of Herefordians who’ve moved to big cities, young people who were just starting out, uni students refining their sound, and pro level musicians headlining, and I suddenly recognised that THIS is the music scene I hoped I would find when I moved here.
I can’t forget to mention some of Hereford’s incredible output in art too, High Dive Apparel, is literally based in Hereford and hosting their 8th birthday party at The Jam Factory next weekend, featuring a truly stacked lineup of music to celebrate their amazing growth in the world of independent clothing.
This year’s iteration of CMYK, a massive art and print festival, just took place and hosted tables to over 100 independent illustrators.
Many of these artists also contributed to the Hereford Art Trail, it’s hard to believe how much stuff is developing in this small town, but I think we’re only just getting started.
