What an exciting and busy couple of months this is turning out to be for Leeds based and Sunshine HQ published indie group, Hope & Social. The 31st of July saw their sell out Garden Party enjoyed by over 500 fans of all ages in a day that included paintball swingball (confused? Take a look HERE for photographs of the day and all will make sense), a silent disco and some expert pegging. On top of this, those attending were also lucky enough to enjoy some great food, great drink and of course, great music. Bands playing across the two stages included the String Fellows, Wilful Missing (also Sunshine HQ published) and finally Hope and Social who brought the curtains down on a hugely successful day. Take a look HERE to view a video of the day.

Hope and Social also have a busy weekend planned in the form of two festivals – making their Greenbelt debut as well as playing the Galtres Festival alongside Chris Helme (formally of The Seahorses) and the fantastic The Charlatans. Click HERE for more information and to receive a discount code for the event.

Now in its third year, this weekend sees the return of Sheffield’s fantastic Tramlines Festival. From the 22-24^th July, this totally free festival sees the entirety of Sheffield’s city centre become one of the world’s most amazing festivals, with music spilling out from every available performance space. A celebration of the city’s musical diversity, the whole event is a co-operative effort from Sheffield’s numerous musical communities.

You can read all about the festival at http://www.tramlines.org.uk but with hundreds of performances for attendees to choose from, ‘spoilt-for-choice’ doesn’t even come close. So to help, here’s a few of the festival’s fantastic acts that Sunshine HQ has had the honour to be associated with, and we can’t recommend highly enough…

Volcanoes – an experimental indie band that almost defies definition. You can see them at The Washington on Friday from 17:00.

Pistola Kicks – Unpredictable indie/alternative group described as “the most exciting and promising band in Sheffield” by BBC Raw Talent. Catch them at the Forum Festival Bar from 19:30 on Friday, or 12:00 at the Frog & Parrot on Saturday.

Wooderson – raw and energetic post-punk/indie/rock band. See them as part of the ‘Audacious Art Experiment Presents…’ evening at The Red House on Friday at 21:15.

Fallen Trees – A powerful combination of grunge, post-rock and Americana, and an absolutely essential live act. Catch them on Friday 22:00 at the Forum Festival Bar.

The Skints – an amazing reggae/dub/punk fusion from London, signed to Bomber Music. They’ll be playing at Corporation, 22:00 Friday.

Ghosting Season – a new project from the amazing duo behind worriedaboutsatan mixing ambient electronica with dance beats. They will be the closing act at The Harley on Friday night, starting 1am.

Mim Suleiman – Halfway between Miriam Makeba and Aretha Franklin – see this soulful, powerful and heart-stoppingly vibrant singer on Saturday 21:00 at Penelopes.

The Duke Spirit – an amazing meld of 80s guitar-noise bands, tremulous rock ‘n’ roll and psychedelia. The Duke Spirit will be playing at DQ on Saturday, 22:30.

UMSD – a hard-hitting mix of grime, rock, dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass and many, many more that needs to be experienced to be believed. Luckily you can do just that at The Washington, 1am on Saturday night.

The Crookes – jangling indie inspired by ‘50s and ‘60s pop; Steve Lamacq proclaimed them his “favourite Brtish band of the year”. For a more intimate gig, see them at The Shakespeare at 23:00 on Friday night. For the full-blown festival experience, they’ll be playing the Main Stage at 15:15 on Sunday.

Hope & Social Already renowned for their one-off special events, innovative indie group Hope & Social have their next big day planned for the 31st July. The Hope & Social Garden Party will take place in Mirfield, Yorkshire and will feature cold ice cream, warm beer (a re-run of their very own Leeds Brewery produced Ho-Ho-Hope & Social beer), cupcakes courtesy of the National Cupcake Champions of Great Britain Sunshine Bakery (no relation!) and, of course, fantastic music from a variety of musical guests. For tickets and details of the Garden Party, see HERE . The guys will also be keeping themselves busy with a whole host of festival and GIG DATES across the country, following their newly released and critically acclaimed third album ‘Sleep Sound’

Cy Curnin will be attending the Love Hope Strength Foundation’s ‘Avebury Rocks’ trek and concert on Saturday July 9th. All proceeds from the event will be donated in aid of Prospect Hospice – if you can, please help support this great cause. For more details, see www.aveburyrocks.com

Cy will also be resuming frontman duties this summer, out on tour again with The Fixx for a string of summer dates across the US and Europe.