Butserfest Interview: WSTR, The Next Big Thing.
“I’m not too bad to be fair. It’s not as bad as it looks.”, so says pop-punk guitarist Danny Swift of WSTR, in spite of being sodden and muddy after their set on the main stage at Butserfest. The press tent isn’t doing a whole lot to keep anybody dry from the...
Interview: Luna Bay, Great Things On The Horizon.
Luna Bay arrive surprisingly fresh faced, as they have all assembled in London from various parts of the country, their guitarist having stepped off a train from Wales moments before. They are a four piece band consisting of front man Connor O’Mara, lead guitarist...
Butserfest Interview: Seething Akira, Easy Riders.
Portsmouth-based “electronic, shouty rock” (their words) five-piece Seething Akira are a lively bunch, and in spite of being beaten up in their latest music video for ‘Airstrike’, their live performances are just as energetic. Nick Pollard spoke to Seething Akira...
Dodgy Interview: Good Vibes Is What It’s All About!
Dodgy interview - What Are We Fighting For? ‘Good vibes, that's what we've always been about’ Dodgy’s new album, What Are We Fighting For, is released on 2nd September, on Cherry Red Record. It’s the fifth Dodgy album by the definitive line up of Nigel Clark, Andy...
Interview: Ani Glass, Heart of Ani.
Ani Glass is the stage name of Cardiff based electro-pop singer songwriter and musician Ani Saunders. Having begun her musical journey as a member of girl bands Genie Queen and The Pipettes, Ani moved back to her home town of Cardiff to join Indie band The Lovely...
Interview: New Jacobin Club, Theatrical Metal With A Hint Of Fire.
If you are into sounds of 1980s punk and like to keep your mind open to new experiences, then you definitely should check out New Jacobin Club. This six piece band straight from Saskatoon, Canada came to the UK to promote their fifth studio album entitled Soldiers Of...
Interview: Ray Wilson, The Song Inside.
Ray Wilson is a sublime rock vocalist with a rich Scottish edge. He is the long-time front man of the post-grunge band Stiltskin, who topped the UK charts in 1994 with their hit Inside. In the last year Ray has written twenty songs that are personally meaningful to...
Interview: Band Of Skulls, Church-Inspired Phase 2
Taking a step back from relentless touring, Southampton-based rock trio Band Of Skulls have been squirreled away in Monmouthshire recording the follow-up to their well-received 2014 album Himalayan. With the fruits of their labour – fourth studio album By Default –...
Interview: Elisabeth Webb, Beyond The Valley.
Elisabeth Webb is a folk singer-songwriter brought up in The Valleys of South Wales, currently showcasing music from her debut extended play, Fly, which was released in January 2016. Before a run of upcoming gigs, and a performance on BBC Radio Wales. Michael...
Interview: Jonny Kaplan, Shining Sparkles & The Lazy Stars.
It’s hard to believe that Jonny Kaplan And The Lazy Stars have been around since 1997. Almost three decades of music brought three strong albums and countless shows played all around the globe. Don’t get fooled by the name. They’re not lazy at all. In fact, they are...
Interview: Teleman, A Streamlined Machine.
A Teleman Interview. Teleman formed in 2012 from the ashes of Reading’s acclaimed Pete and the Pirates. The new band took it’s name from composer Georg Philipp Telemann – signalling a shift to a more refined form of pop from their indie guitar-fest early days....
Feature: Joseph Arthur. Welcome To The Family.
It’s almost two years since Joseph Arthur’s last concert in the UK so I’m more than happy to be at The Borderline this Sunday evening to witness his long-awaited return. It’s my twenty-sixth time seeing Joseph, although if time-money-distance were no impediment it...
Interview: Bandini, Nomadic Jazz and Blues.
Bandini is a singer-songwriter born and bred in Italy and based in London, raised on jazz and blues and the art of storytelling and song-writing from an early age. He began showcasing his talent on the London streets before building a presence on the Open Mic circuit...
Cage The Elephant Interview: From Bowling Green to Nashville via Leyton.
Cage The Elephant returned to London for an explosive show at The Forum, in support of their latest album Tell Me I’m Pretty. Having transplanted to London for a spell at the start of their career, playing to a packed venue in the city with songs from their fourth...
Interview: Federal Charm, Generating Headlines.
Federal Charm are a four-piece blues-edged rock band from Stockport, Greater Manchester. Both their eponymous debut album released in 2013 and the sophomore Across The Divide have received strong critical acclaim, and the band are set to commence their first headline...
Interview: Shuggie Otis, This Charming Man.
Shuggie Otis Interview Once there was a man who, while really no more than a boy, took the world of blues and soul by storm. That was in late 1960s and early 1970s. He made three great albums with some of the hottest musicians around and then disappeared from view....
Interview: The Rebirth of Kula Shaker
Has it really been 20 years since Kula Shaker released their debut album, K? At the time it was the fastest selling debut since Oasis’s Definitely Maybe, and went on to shift more than 1m copies. Follow up albums performed well and solidified a hardcore fan base, but...
Feature: John Helps. Introduction To Handmade Festival.
An introduction to Handmade Festival, a forward-thinking and totally independent music and arts festival in Leicester curated by some of the city’s best loved venues and promoters. Nicola Greenbrook is in conversation with John Helps - one of the Festival Directors, a...
Feature: Bror Forsgren. Solo Narcissus.
Bror Forsgren (The Lionheart Brothers, Jaga Jazzist, Silence The Foe) is making his solo debut at the age of thirty-four and he doesn’t go easy on anything. As the title on the great art deco-inspired cover indicates at first sight, Narcissus is a grandiose and...
Interview: Frankie Lee. American Dreamer.
Frankie Lee interview: American Dreamer Reading the bio of American singer Frankie Lee can leave you feeling like you’ve just been fed a pitch from a scriptwriter: he was born on the banks of the Mississippi; aged 12, he moved to Minneapolis following the death of his...
Interview: Nad Sylvan. Vampirate.
Interview with Nad Sylvan Nad Sylvan took time out of his busy tour schedule with Steve Hackett to talk with Tim Price from RockShot magazine. His new solo album Courting The Widow has just been released on Inside Out Music. He spoke about family, cats, quitting his...
Interview: Buck & Evans. Slow Train Coming.
Buck and Evans Interview. Slow Train Coming. Formed in the valley’s of South Wales, quartet Buck & Evans have been honing their own brand of ‘rock ‘n’ soul’ since forming for what was expected to be a one off gig in London’s Soho in 2013. The ‘Buck’ is Chris Buck,...
Interview: Flight Brigade. Standing To Attention.
Flight Brigade Interview. Standing To Attention! It’s been a great year for Hampshire septet Flight Brigade. I met up with them at the aptly named Rainbow House on Portobello Road, designed by top Architect AB Rogers and featuring a rather crazy slide in the living...
Interview: The Shires. Fish ‘n’ Chips & Country Licks.
Interview: The Shires. It’s hard to have missed the relatively recent upsurge of interest in Country music in the UK. Be that huge American Country music stars touring in the UK more and more and the establishment of the UK’s very own Country music festival, to...
Interview: Nils Lofgren. Powerful, Intimate & Emotional.
Nils Lofgren Interview. Passionate, Intimate & Emotional. Nils Lofgren has flipped in front of 100,000 people supporting The Who, ran joint headline tours with Tom Petty, at eighteen years old he played piano with Neil Young and has been guitar sideman for thirty...
Interview: Victor & The Rain Dog. Nomadic Rock.
Interview: Victor & The Rain Dog - Nomadic Rock. Formed in 2014, Victor & The Rain Dog have a unique style described as ‘Carnival Rock and Urban Storytelling’ with each song telling it’s own fascinating tale and conjuring up beautiful imagery. It’s been quite...
Interview: White Reaper. Rising.
Interview: White Reaper. Rising. It's been a big year for Louisville punk-rock quartet White Reaper who are made up of singer and guitarist Tony Esposito, Ryan Hater on keyboard, and twin brothers Sam Wilkerson on bass and Nick Wilkerson on drums. Barely out of their...
Interview: Heartless Bastards. An Upward Trajectory.
Heartless Bastards Interview. Heartless Bastards were formed in Ohio in 2003 by lead singer and songwriter Erika Wennerstrom and have been playing in various iterations ever since. The band have received wide attention in the US and are a familiar site playing on talk...
Interview: Cate Le Bon, Drinks. Raising A Glass To Good Friends
LA-based Welsh singer songwriter Cate Le Bon and American psych-rocker Tim Presley have joined forces to form Drinks. The pair became good friends after Presley’s band White Fence supported Le Bon on a US tour and she has returned the favour by regularly playing...
Interview: Umar Bin Hassan of The Last Poets. Change Is Coming.
The Last Poets have been railing against American politics and discrimination since their emergence from the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Proving the pen is mightier than the sword, they have inspired for decades with their fearless poetry set to hypnotic beats...