Ren and the Big Push: The Summer of Busk

Brighton has always been synonymous with music, from the pubs and clubs of the Lanes to buskers pulling crowds in unexpected corners, and many musicians call the city home. This summer of 25 has been a particular highlight, mainly thanks to some guerrilla busking by Ren and The Big Push, climaxing in a 3 hour crescendo beachfront gig on Sunday  6th September to officially end of the Summer of Busk.

The setting was symbolic. At the Kings Road Arches by West Street, the band (Ren Gill, Romain Axisa, Gorran Kendall, and Glenn Chambers) had busked to near-empty pavements seven years ago. This time, the same spot was mobbed with adoring fans and passers-by leaning over the Kingsway rails to watch.

The fact they were playing at all felt like a bonus. The Big Push disbanded in 2022 after a Brighton Centre concert, partly due to Ren’s health, but it never felt final. To see them reunited, pouring energy and joy into the music again, is to sense that this story isn’t over yet.

The only obstacles are Ren’s meteoric solo career, and the fatigue and autoimmune issues he has spoken about openly. And for the record: although Ren attracts the spotlight, he doesn’t dominate onstage. More often than not, he slips into the background, the joy evident as he just strums his guitar at peace.

There are some great clips on their social media and YouTube if anyone want’s to hear them.

Stumbling on Ren and The Big Push

On the August bank holiday weekend, an old friend was visiting. Our wild Brighton nights were twenty years behind us, now we were herding kids around the Lanes. They wanted lunch, so we trotted off to Pizza Pilgrims. As we arrived, I noticed a small crowd gathering outside Trinity Chapel on Ship Street. A familiar figure was setting up, I instantly knew my luck was in.

For fans of Ren, it’s difficult to explain his impact and articulate his talents. I whispered to the kids that this was ridiculously good fortune. “How famous is he?” they asked. I rattled off his credentials: a number-one album in 2023, 4.3 million TikTok followers, 42.5 million likes, 2.37 million YouTube subscribers, and 59 million views on Hi Ren. Boom, they were impressed, and so were some older ladies listening in. “So why haven’t we heard of him?” A fair question.

I explained that he’s an independent artist, a gifted songwriter whose music is raw, dark, honest, so isn’t mainstream radio fare. Taylor Swift might soundtrack her life with polished saccharin sweet pop; Ren writes about his mental health struggles, domestic abuse, diazepam, and suicide. I kept that last part from the tweens obviously, but they got the message.

Then we sat in awe as Ren delivered the best live version of No Woman, No Cry I’ve ever heard. And I say that as someone who saw Bob Marley at Crystal Palace in 1980.

Who are the members of the Big Push?

The Big Push began as a group of friends busking on the streets of Brighton, blending rock, blues and indie with infectious energy. The line-up featured three multi-instrumentalist frontmen; Ren Gill, Romain Axisa, and Gorran Kendall, with Glenn Chambers completing the Big Push line-up on drums. Here’s a closer look at the other members beyond Ren:

Romain Axisa

Romain is a French-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who brought fiery blues riffs and soulful vocals to The Big Push. He first met Gorran while busking in Brighton and quickly left restaurant work to pursue music full-time. He became Ren’s housemate, which led to playing music together. Known for his passionate live solos and eclectic covers, Romain also contributed original songwriting, including shaping the band’s single Why My Woman.

When the band split in 2022, he’s focused on a solo career, releasing tracks like Goodbye Good Days and his debut album The Radios Killed The Blues (2024). Fans praise his ability to move between rock ’n’ roll, folk, indie and jazz while staying grounded: “It’s just music… as wonderful and magical as it can be, it’s only music.”

Gorran Kendall

Raised near Southampton, Gorran started violin and piano as a child, added bass and guitar in his teens, and trained at both the BRIT School and BIMM in Brighton. A hitchhiking busking trip across Europe cemented his love for street performance before joining forces with Romain and Ren.

In The Big Push he shared lead vocals and guitar duties, blending folk, rock and pop influences into the band’s harmonies. As a solo artist (simply “Gorran”), he’s developed an alt-pop style. His debut EP Grown Up (2022) was praised for heartfelt lyrics and genre-mixing production, with singles like I’m Sorry and The Garden gaining traction. He continues to busk, record, and tour independently.

Glenn Chambers

Irishman Glenn provided the rhythmic backbone on drums. Originally a bassist in another local group, he sat in on early Big Push busking sessions before officially joining. His versatile drumming gave space for the three frontmen to swap instruments and harmonize freely.

Known for his tight timing, showmanship (and trademark moustache), Glenn anchored the band’s marathon street sets as well as big shows like the Brighton Dome in 2022. During the break, he’s lived a more low-key musical life, travelling (including a stint in Australia), busking occasionally, and sharing glimpses of drumming and jam sessions on social media.

Discovering Ren

That’s the thing with Ren, whenever I am asked to recommend an artist to people, I do preach about his talents but that his lyrics are raw, dark and honest and perhaps not to their tastes. I repeated this rhetoric to my friend, feeling the need to point out the band we just saw were performing covers from musical influences, jamming with friends, and a far cry to his solo work.

As Brighton resident (Hove now actually), I’ve known about Ren for a lot longer. In early 2023 his version of Bittersweet Symphony did the rounds on friends social media, driven by the video walking down Western Road we all knew too well.

But when I was working with a fashion brand in 2018, we were always on the look out for any connections to influencers who would wear our clothing and promote it to the masses. One of the staff knew Sam Tompkins, and the pair were both exploding with Blind Eyed at the time. We caught Sam and Ren busk (same spot outside the church), and the first time I heard Ren’s voice is the exact moment in the video below. I still haven’t found my socks.

So how do you introduce an artist and performer like Ren to someone unsuspecting? It makes sense to point to Hi Ren. His breakthrough song from December 2022 is a refreshing standout battle of his subconscious introducing new listeners to his mental health struggles. Most of the world know him from this, usually leading to a trip into the rabbit hole of exploring his diverse range of songs and styles, that takes them to places they didn’t know existed, sometimes identifying with their own trauma or troubles.

And thus started my personal journey down the rabbit hole. I have an eclectic music taste so if I like a song, I don’t care about genre or artist. If I really like it, then it goes on repeat, both on a sound system and in my head.

And in a perfect example of the difference between hearing and listening, I can happily sing along to the lyrics, without taking the time to understand the artists story or think too much into the meaning.

For this reason, I initially wasn’t tied into Ren on a physiological level deeper than his catchy music. I listened to Chalk Outlines thousands of times without analysing how reflective it was of his life, I just loved the melody and harmony with Chinchilla’s vocals.

Hi Ren and Beyond

I’m a talker and oversharer, which I guess is why I write for a living. When Hi Ren came out it did open my eyes, and I found huge respect for Ren Gill as a person who would speak up with gut-wrenching honesty about his battles, as well as appreciate his talents as a singer, rapper and songwriter.

I still believe our health system fails many invisible illnesses, both mentally and physically. For this reason I applaud Ren on many levels for his courage in speaking out, which is brave even if cathartic. The fact he’s a supremely talented musician is a blessing for the exposure his words brings. He’s not just someone to admire as an artist, but his gift to humanity stretches beyond the music.

He’s also human, his life story is inspirational. At the end of Sunday’s gig he asked fans not to swarm him, despite acknowledge the distance some had travelled, because he’s “a neurodivergent mess” and crowds cause panic attacks. He’s said before that strangers often unload their personal traumas on him, which he can’t absorb. Fair enough, I know that feeling. When someone bares their soul in lyrics and vlogs, you feel you know them, but the crowd respected his space.

The Renegades

Ren’s fans, the Renegades, are a devoted, diverse bunch. Many see themselves in his story: battling illness, losing friends, surviving trauma. This isn’t making Ren to a bit of a messiah figure, I think it’s just relief they are not alone in their thoughts and feelings. No-one understands the failure of the body like someone who lives that life.

Their loyalty is remarkable given that Ren has never done a full traditional tour or had major-label backing, it’s all been internet based. Even The Big Push’s 2021 UK run was just six nights outside of Brighton, which was a huge demand on his fragile energy levels.

Ren’s magic lies in performance. Official videos rack up millions, but the live takes often triple them. The street version of Blind Eyed has 5.6 million views to the studio cut’s 1.5. The echoing live duet of Chalk Outlines with Chinchilla has 14 million views to the polished video’s 4.1. His audience discovered him not through billboards but through shared clips of busking sets, passed hand-to-hand online.

Ren clearly knows the power of marketing (Money Game Part 2), his drip feeding of the recent release of Vincent’s tale with short introductory films shows his extraordinary story telling. The name comes from Van Gough, a tortured genius unappreciated in his life. One hopes that is not what Ren fears is the case for him.

Brighton has always had music in its veins, but Ren has given it a new pulse. For the city, and for the fans who stumbled across him on Ship Street or Kings Road Arches, he is proof that out of struggle can come something transcendent. And for those still in the dark, his message is simple: hold on.

Rumours are rife of the Big Push recording and releasing new material. I look forward to that!