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WHAT’S INSIDE
MANAGEMENT Tony Ereira MAGAZINE Andrew Benge LABEL Scott Lewis EVENTS Sam Robinson TOM WALKER & SLEAFORD MODS COVERS Andrew Benge To support CPWM please see www.patreon.com/CPWM
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SPECIAL THANKS In no particular order - Steven, Gordon, Marcus, Warren, Jason, Andrew, Danny, Frank, Burak, Katja, Lindsay, Sammy, James, Steve, Jith, Sam, Luke, Ian, Dean, Lauren, Sean, Sam, Becky, James, Simon, Thom and everyone else that helped make this happen.
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TOM WALKER 4
Tom Walker has learned some lessons. You can’t get chart-topping tracks and a Brit award without doing so to be fair. But his experiences have been ones that have built the Tom Walker you saw taking to the stage at The O2 in February with a shocked face to collect his publicly voted ‘Best British Breakthrough Act’ award even when some are targeting him just for being, well, him.
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“When people want to criticise my music and tear it to pieces, I’m like, cool, because that’s subjective,” He reasons. He’s currently out in LA, and life has found Tom on the west coast of the US, which is a far cry from his Northern beginnings. But before that, he still has more to say on his detractors. “If you don’t like my music that’s totally fine with me because I don’t like some other peoples music that other people might like. It’s all this massive subjective thing… there was this one article in The Independent I think it was, where this guy just completely slated my character and said I look like a bingo caller and someone who’d take your nan out for dinner…” He pauses, with an air of disbelief hitting the phone line. “I was just like, fair enough if you want to slate my music but like what benefit is it to anybody to go out and personally attack your character? And he was essentially saying, that was he was annoyed that I’m a nice person, and I’m like ‘Who the fuck are you? You sound like an absolute dickhead!” With some hearty laughter, he ends his string of thought; “It’s hard not to get hung up on that stuff, but at the same time it doesn’t matter because again… as long as people are coming to your shows and enjoying your music, then that’s all that really matters.” And the people have indeed been coming to his shows and buying the records. Having just announced another tour, one of the largest he’s ever done, the road to this point has been littered with those learning moments, where he takes an element to the next stage. Happily, some of the more, shall we say precarious ones happened in the very early days of Tom’s musical life. “I was in a band called Sister Brother, and I was guitarist and backing singer” He begins recalling with an audible smirk. “This was like years ago, six or seven years ago, and we all thought it’d be a good idea to have a few drinks before the show and actually it was not a good idea because we just went up for
one of our first shows, completely hammered, made a complete fool out of ourselves,
“THIS GUY JUST COMPLETELY SLATED MY CHARACTER AND SAID I LOOK LIKE A BINGO CALLER AND SOMEONE WHO’D TAKE YOUR NAN OUT FOR DINNER” “I’m pretty sure at one point [we] got booed. It was at this place called the Mau Mau which we’d always wanted to play, and this was our one chance… it was kind of a ska band thing that we were doing, and we totally cocked it up, so yeah” He says with a summarising pause. “Lesson learned - don’t get absolutely hammered before a very important debut show with your whole band and completely fuck the gig up” He finishes with a giggle. Speaking with the familiarity of an old mate you’re meeting down the pub is just one of the reasons he’s made such great strides in his musical career. But as with most things, the best projects are those that are as great as the sum of their parts, and for Tom Walker, as much as it’s his name, it’s also now a fully fledged idea. Being a solo act in 2019 is far from being one person slogging your gear around dive venues in a beat up old car, well, once you start making strides that is. “The early stuff was a lot of me gigging in a lot of pubs to not a lot of people” He reminisces. “I found [myself] begging my mates to come down and all that kind of stuff, and before I signed to management, I was in various bands, either as a guitarist, or a guitarist and a singer when I was in college. I’ve done a lot of musical moments that’ve led up to this project.” “I don’t think people would realise how much work goes into these 7
things.” He continues. “Because I guess on the surface of it is you see me going around doing gigs, but behind the scenes there’s we’ve got amazing teams helping this project get to where it is now.” “Everyone around me, from Sony to all the international teams, everybody was grafting really hard so it’s nice to have this big team around you and they’ve absolutely smashed it.” The most substantial part of this journey began around five years ago when he signed with his management team, which is where the real development of Tom Walker began. Since then it’s been a battle to forge a path through the masses of voices to become something. “I’ve got a new MD [Musical Director] in, helping make the show really good and I’ve got a bunch of amazing players in my band. Guys that have been with me for the last two or three years who have stayed the core players of the band, which to me is important because the more you play with people, the more musically you get to know each other.” “For me, they’re my songs but me and the band do our thing with it, and we all do it together. If I don’t like something I’ll be honest, but I try and give the boys a bit of creative free rein in what they’re doing because I think that makes it better. If they feel they can be creative in the project, they’ll be inspired to be a bit more dedicated. If they feel like it’s just they come in and get told what to do every day, then I think that’s a bit crap.” “I’ve got a solid team around me. For the next tour, we’ve got in a bunch of kind of like amazing video/lighting screens that we’ve never used before and spent a fortune getting loads of amazing content worked up for each song from the new album. It’s all really fucking exciting, and cool to have a bit of budget to play around with, making what used to be ‘a gig’ into a proper show.”
It’s an important fact to note that as solo artists they deal with everything, both the flourishing positivity and scrutinising negativity, as the direct face. Being able to collaborate on a creative level is what gifts these songwriters a musical life and not a brightly burning hard and bright career. “When I started I was doing everything on my own; I had Ableton pads and a computer and a guitar, then I added in the drummer, and it was, me, Ableton pad and a drummer. Then we brought in a bass player, then we brought in the keys player, now we’re getting another guitarist in, and you know, he’s going to do backing vocals, and it’s just slowly but surely adding stuff, costeffectively as well. With an eye on the financial side of blossoming, he continues. “If you expand everything too quickly, then you’re losing money every show, and it’s not going to last forever, so we’ve tried to sensibly make the band bigger and better each tour, so people are getting the value on the ticket price. [That] ticket price goes up every tour because they’re bigger and more expensive, so yeah, I just wanna give people the show they deserve for the price they pay for the ticket.” This is all another shining example of Tom’s personable ability to just be ‘nice’. The only thing that matters to him, apart from the musical enjoyment comes the being sincere and true to himself. Standing tall and strong with a ‘this is who he is, take it or leave it’ attitude without losing any of his personable charm. Which brings us on to that Brits win. A moment that perplexed many people, including the man himself - though not because he’s undeserving; he’s a hard-working artist who’s developed and evolved to success - and with the help of some other friends. “We went to Scotland and did a few gigs up there” He begins on his quest for victory. “We played at Murrayfield stadium, where I ended up doing a version of one of my songs with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers who are like a
bagpipe band,” this proved to be a particularly positive choice for Tom as it got to number 4 on the iTunes chart, raising money for the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity. “We did all this amazing stuff, and it really helped us because I think a lot of the other artists who were nominated were just staying in London and tweeting and not really including the North of England at all, in the Brits vote… it was like ‘oh well, we’re in London, we’ll just send out a few tweets’. We worked really hard to raise awareness through social media and through media, in general, to try and let people know that we’re up for a Brits vote.” “I wasn’t going up like a political ‘YOU MUST VOTE FOR ME BECAUSE I WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE MUSICALLY!’ I was just like, ‘I’ve got some music out, it would be wicked if you could listen to it if you like it, and if you fancy voting for me, then please do’. We worked hard, but the day the Brits came up I really didn’t think we’d win it because there were so many amazing people up for it… they’re all amazingly talented artists who worked hard on raising awareness of their music.” This is all the integral part of being an artist in these modern times - raising awareness of your music through any means, such as getting a bunch of bagpipers to create that ‘moment’ to spotlight just why you’re actually alright. But as much as the musical development is key, there are newer conundrums to over come. “Literally when I signed my record deal I wasn’t on Instagram or Twitter,” He confesses. “I’ve had to play catchup over the last three years big time because it wasn’t something at the time I was interested in. I grew up in a slightly different era where it wasn’t a massive thing, it was Myspace and Facebook that were big, and when Instagram came out I was a bit behind the curve… fuck I sound like an old man!” He says with a hearty chortle.
Being quite a private person I think it’s really weird that every single day you put stuff on stories and like have people saying stuff to the internet every day, that’s not something that came naturally to me.” “I think it’s important to a point, but to become obsessed about it is the wrong thing to do. Use it as a tool to try and aide spreading the word about your music, but to think that everything is about social media would be a mistake.” He warns. “It’s essential and a really useful tool for up and coming artists, but arguably there are so many people who’ve made careers doing covers and then adding in their own songs online. Using the internet as a tool in general to spread the word about your music, and what you’re up to is really important in 2019.” But nothing is more of an important lesson on Tom’s journey to this moment than just being himself. And to also celebrate those wins that come in different forms. “It was just a really nice feeling, and again, because it’s a public vote, it’s really gratifying. It doesn’t matter what people say about you in articles, slating you as a person as some bloody magazines will do, because as long as the public like the music and vote for you that’s all that really matters isn’t it? If the public are digging your tunes, then you’re on to something as far as I’m concerned. And, as always, you win some and you lose some - “Obviously, it’s very nice to be up for ‘Best British Song’ as well. [But] you’re not going to win that against Calvin Harris because he had absolute banger after banger out last year!”
“But you know what I mean I had to play catch-up when it came to socials because it’s something that didn’t come naturally to me. 8
Words by Steven Loftin | Photography by Andrew Benge
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DIALECT WHO ARE YOU?
My name is Dialect and I’m a grime artist from Leeds.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
I’m a rapper, so I record tracks for release and also perform in venues, festivals, events and now also run my own events were I book other artists.
WHY DO YOU DO IT?
I do what I do because I love my music, especially rap because I started off in poetry and I strongly value the arts of expression. I’ve always wanted to show we have talent in Leeds and through representing myself and
the city hopefully that can open more doors for other artists. “WITH GRIME GETTING MORE COMMERCIAL ITS OPENING THE DOORS FOR MORE ARTISTS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY”
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?
I’m currently waiting to release my brand new music project and I’m working on setting up some more events. My events company is called ‘Talk Is Cheap Entertainment’ and we have a spot at NASS Festival this year! I’ve got a single launch night 11
coming up for the Come Play With Me competition I won last year. I’ve made my 2nd appearance on Lord Of The Mics this year and I’m sat on loads of content that I will releasing over these next few months. It’s a really exciting time!
WHAT’S THE HOT TOPIC?
I think the way music is evolving again, with new genres coming through and collaborations of different styles. With grime getting more commercial its opening the doors for more artists to be taken seriously. Personally for me it’s great to see how far the style of music I rap on has grow into what it is now.
SLEAFORD MODS Self-described as “electronic munt minimalist punk-hop rants for the working class�, electronic punk duo Sleaford Mods are not afraid to tell it like it is. However, many know them not for their abrasive and minimalist music but their outspoken opinions on the current state of popular music. 12
But that reputation is nowhere near surprising, considering that one listen to any entry in their discography it shows them as electro-punk poets, candidly describing and despairing at the state of politics, society and our own mental health. The release of their fifth studio album Eton Alive is no different. Strangely not an aggressive lobbyist album, the project is still a commentary on the world as we know it, but with a lot more depth than just aimlessly tackling the world’s problems. “I just wanted to write something that was in line with what was going on politically, socially and psychologically perhaps, in the sense of collective psychology within the people, so that’s how I approached it.” Jason Williamson’s’ distinctly East Midlands accent tells me down the phone. Williamson is responsible for the words, bringing on collaborator Andrew Fearn’s musical abilities in 2012 to make the current Sleaford Mods line up. I call him whilst he’s out walking the dogs, and he apologises if he starts shouting at them. Luckily, they behave, and I’m able to probe him on the newest release. “It talks about the kind of emotional, interpersonal relationships people have got with each other and with themselves, all under the guise of austerity and of Tory abominations that have been wreaking havoc with the country.” Says Williamson of the album, and it’s true it’s a lot more personal. Although there are the standard critiques of the elitist system you would expect from him, it’s also about the struggles of daily life, on a much rawer and evolved level than before. “I wasn’t looking to do something massively aggressive because I didn’t really feel that way,” he adds. The album is a perfect mixture of beats, melodies and social commentary. It moves through each of the twelve tracks with a purpose and has had its fair share of critical acclaim. All but two reviews have been complimentary. Although whilst
Sleaford Mods are well known for their capacity to shout about politics and life in song format, but do other artists have an obligation to speak out, especially in the wider canon of punk?
“YOU REALLY DON’T THINK THAT SOMEONE ENJOYS GOING OUT, BUYING TRAINERS AND STABBING SOMEONE DO YOU, I MEAN COME ON” “Artists don’t have a duty to be political, but they are without knowing it. For example, people give current Hip Hop a bad reputation for being quite congratulatory and being obsessed with material things, stuff and sex, but this is how the world has trained people so that in itself is a massive political message.” “You really don’t think that someone enjoys going out, buying trainers and stabbing someone do you, I mean come on. The human soul really doesn’t like doing stuff like that, we’ve just been conned into thinking that way.” Perhaps albums act as messages in a bottle for future generations to understand. Even with the rise of Soundcloud rappers, 15 track albums with 2-minute songs and 3 words repeated over and over again, there are still artists making music that’s a genuine illustration of the world around us. Maybe duty comes down to authenticity, and for Williamson, authenticity is the most important thing. “It’s hard enough to get somewhere. It took me a long time to get somewhere, and I went through lots and lots of situations where I’d just given up, I just didn’t want to carry on anymore. For some reason, I came on top and here I am. I get 13
really fucked off when people are not authentic when people jump onto something when they, largely probably don’t understand. They might understand some of the emotions that go with some of these things that they’re saying but the experiences? I don’t think so. It dilutes the idea before the idea is given a real chance to grow, and people could potentially miss out before the idea has had the chance to grow properly.” Of course, a quick Google search will tell you Sleaford Mods have become slightly more famous for their stand on posers and plagiarisers than the poignancy of their music. Recently criticising IDLES for masquerading as working class, Williamson’s annoyance at inauthenticity is somewhat justified when you remember the number of labels creating pop sensations out of nowhere, it’s scary to think about the voice of the underdog dying. But Williamson is still optimistic about the future of music. “Of course, it will always come through and it will always have a voice, it’s just unfortunate that the people that take from it will have a bigger voice. There will always be people who take from it and who have a better communicative arena, perhaps using ways which are unfair, and these stories are never publicised, the individuals just have to deal with it in a solitary way which again is really sad. These things are never heard about.” “But I think it will always be there. It’s hard really, for example Joe Strummer got criticised a lot, people thought he was just an imposter jumping in on a scene that was created by all these young kids, and he jumped in this middle-class guy that was in loads of experimental rock bands, and formed one of the most notable English punk bands we’ve ever seen, so it’s hard, it’s peoples perceptions and opinions, they’re never going to change. People are always going to be different, and obviously, you would hope so because it would be very miserable if people weren’t.”
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But where do we draw the line? Williamson seems as perplexed at that as the rest of us. “How do you get by it? I don’t know. Is it bad to call somebody out face to face, is it bad to hurt somebody’s feelings about their work because you don’t think they’re genuine? That’s another thing. It’s okay having these idylls, but f you’re actually upsetting someone and causing someone else sadness, is that actually good? Sometimes I think they do need telling. If it’s really overtly, I don’t know. If there’s a lot of plagiarism, it needs criticism.” Creativity is a mixed bag of ideas and idylls, and although a lack of authenticity is a widespread problem in the music industry when any kid with enough money to buy a mixer can make a halfgood track, maybe the lesson is that we could still be a bit nicer to each other. Jason’s own favourite track on the album, Top It Up, is a true story that talks about mental health in a different way. “It’s basically about a workingclass funeral and how the person that died committed suicide because he couldn’t be arsed with it. He was doing lots of drugs and thinking, then everyone at the funeral doing drugs and thinking and there isn’t one conversation at the thing about why he did it, people are just kidding themselves and ignoring the truth and not thinking about it, and that was taken from real life. That I’m proud of because that’s how it is for a lot of people.” “I didn’t really want to bring the idea of class up, but I find it more interesting to comment on my own experiences. When we got popular and it was pointed out to us that we were voicing a class thing, I didn’t really think about it but the more I looked into that the more it interested me.” Now that the album is out and the band are touring it, the band describe it as a cathartic experience. But whilst writing is one of the ways Williamson makes sense of the world, artists can’t be switched on all the time. “I think you have to have a breather. You have to have a
cooling off period to gather your thoughts again, that happens naturally. Going into something else straight away is not a good idea because it’s not very effective, you need a bit of recuperation. I’ve been doing a lot of writing, literature and I’m looking at doing a bit of acting as well, so these things keep you occupied.” As for when the time comes to start writing again, he’s not scared. “It’s just not being scared of what’s going to happen next as to what you should write and being honest with yourself. There’s always a temptation to go completely off the hook with it. People kind of know what they’re going to get with an album, but when they think ‘I’m going to go out and do this it’s going to be brilliant’; that’s usually going to end in tears. “It’s about not alienating yourself too much because of peoples expectations, and listen to negative press or whatever. Have a bit of a breather then get back into it. It usually takes care of itself if you know what I mean. So when the music starts coming from Andrew again, it will have moved on considerably and it will be the right thing to work on.” Although the band rinsed the album when it was being made, Williamson admits he can’t listen to it anymore. So what is he listening to? “Currently, anyone good. Rappers, anyone good who comes across as being serious and under brief investigation seems to be serious. At the minute I’m listening to Black metal, and what else, a guy called Moon Boots, he’s got an album that’s quite good. Giggs new album I’m listening to, a bit that’s good.” But although politics, austerity and social commentary are what drives Williamson, not all music does have to have a message. “There’s too much of it and I don’t want to get fired up by something I already know a lot of the time unless somebody’s got a really good slant on it. The only people I listen to at the minute in that sense are Drill 15
artists and Grimers, who aren’t necessarily talking about politics but they are. By definition, they are heavily politicised because of the faceless lives they lead, so you know. I tend to listen to a lot of that really. I mean, I was so into Drake all year last year and there are no messages in that!
“IS IT BAD TO CALL SOMEBODY OUT FACE TO FACE, IS IT BAD TO HURT SOMEBODY’S FEELINGS ABOUT THEIR WORK BECAUSE YOU DON’T THINK THEY ARE GENUINE?” “The lyrics are terrible, but the way he sings and the production is brilliant. He’s got such good spit and is a very talented person so he gets away with it because of that. People know he’s a little bit of a softy but gets away with it because he’s very good. It doesn’t have to carry a political message, in fact, I prefer it if doesn’t a lot of the time.” All in all, Sleaford Mods are just doing what they want, which if you think about it is the epitome of punk. Not afraid to be themselves, Williamson and Fearn have created something that stands as a message in a bottle to potential listeners and die hard fans, as well as for future generations to analyse and unpick. But at the end of the day, Jason and Andrew just want to make good music that says volumes, and if their discography and approach to life is anything to go by they manage it. “People are individuals as well that just have a bit of a platform. People just don’t want to hear somebody else’s opinion, and we’re all guilty of that.”
Words by Ella Guthrie | Photography by Andrew Benge
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CROWS Known for their raucous and energetic live shows, Crows are one of the UK Punk scene’s favourite and most loved bands right now. Having just released their debut album ‘Silver Tongues’ on IDLES’ own record label Balley Records, we sat down with front-man James Cox to discuss the album, their upcoming EU tours and all things Crows! 20
Who are Crows?
Crows are: James Cox – Vocals // Steve Goddard - Guitar // Jith Amarasinghe - Bass // Sam Lister - Drums
Where and when did you form? We formed about five or six years ago in London after meeting at university. Sam joined later after Laurence, our founding drummer, moved to America to start a family.
You’ve just released your debut album ‘Silver Tongues’, when did you start the process of writing and recording it? We started recording it in summer 2017 - but with all the set-backs and having to pay for it all ourselves it just took that long to make. We recorded the main bulk of it in one go at a studio called Fish Factory in north London. Overdubs, vocals and all finishing touches were then done as and when we could. Doing vocals in venues during the day when they were closed etc. It came together to sound exactly how we wanted it to so we’re really proud of it and so glad it’s finally out for people to enjoy.
What made you decide that Balley Records was the right label to release the album?
Their passion for it was the clincher really. When I sent it to Joe (Talbot) he was so enthused and positive. I knew I wanted that energy on the release of it. Every other label we had been speaking to gave us the vibe that we would be low down on their list of importance and therefore not a priority. We just thought we’ve taken this long to make the album that we want full attention and it needs to be done right, I knew Balley would deliver that.
You’ve just been on tour with IDLES, how’s that been?
To say Incredible would be an understatement. That band are so deserving of everything they have achieved, they are a real
inspiration to us. The audiences every night have turned up early and welcomed us with open arms which has been amazing. Timed with the release of the album it’s incredible to see a whole new group of people know us from the album and not our previous EP releases.
Did you feel a big difference playing such large venues with them?
Not really. We’ve played the same size venues on previous support tours (Slaves, Wolf Alice) and people who have seen us on both larger stages and small sweat-boxes have said how well the live show translates to both. I love it because I’ve got loads of room to run around and do my sweet moves. The venues are always really accommodating too so it makes touring much easier. We’re just enjoying it before we start our headline tour of slightly smaller venues!
Crows’ visual identity is very strong and consistent, what influenced this and what attracted you to it originally?
So, Elliott Lane (@elliottlane) is the man behind our image, he’s been with us since day one really. We’ve grown together with his art and our music. He always does artwork for us whilst listening to the music and we just give him free reign to do whatever he wants. We have that trust in him.
What do you think of the U.K. music scene right now and how do you think it has impacted you?
The music scene in the UK at the moment is so exciting. I think it’s impacted us in a way that when we were close to calling it a day after all the set-backs we’d had, the music scene started really ramping up and pushed us to keep it together and do the album. I didn’t want to miss out on this period of time that is so good for new music! Also, people’s passion to go to gigs is bigger than ever 21
which is obviously important.
What else influences has impacted Crows as a band and the music you write? With us it’s always been situational. What’s happening in our lives at the time. Musically it’ll be whatever we are listing to a lot of at the moment and lyrically I find inspiration in the weirdest places. I’ll spend hours in research holes about subject matters I’m fascinated by, write loads of stuff down, shelve it and go away for a while. Then later on I’ll come back to it and write a song from it.
“I DIDN’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THIS PERIOD OF TIME THAT IS SO GOOD FOR NEW MUSIC!” Most memorable gig you’ve ever played?
I think for me it will always be when we headlined the 100club. That was a big achievement for us at the time and such good energy in the room. On Halloween too of course!
Other bands you’re currently listening to? Lumer, Treeboy & Arc, Squid, Krush Puppies, Sleep Eaters, Terraví, Yowl.
Bucket list band to play with?
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Black Angels.
What’s in the pipeline for Crows for the rest of 2019? A headline tour (starting late April) and festivals. Carry on writing for a successful second album!
Words by Sammy Robinson | Photography by Andrew Benge
CLEOPATRICK WHO ARE YOU?
We are Luke Gruntz and Ian Fraser, a duo from Cobourg in the Canadian province of Ontario. We are better known as Cleopatrick.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
We play honest music.
WHY DO YOU DO IT?
I feel like nobody has ever asked us this. I don’t really know. It just kind of happened. When we originally started Cleopatrick, we were doing it to make friends, and find a scene we could belong to. I think for me, writing songs has been a vessel to help me figure out the weird things I’m feeling. This whole band has given me purpose, and throughout our growth, this purpose has evolved. It’s gone from making friends, to having fun with those friends, to saying something meaningful
Photography by Danny Payne
for myself and anyone else that needs it.
“THERE’S BEEN A REALLY STUPID PRESUMPTIVE CULTURE AROUND FEMALES IN MUSIC FOREVER. AND NOW THERE IS A PARADIGMSHIFT BEING FORCED ON THE IDIOTS IN THIS INDUSTRY” WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?
We are just wrapping up the best tour we’ve ever done. Two weeks through the UK and Europe. This is our first tour where we’ve been consistently selling out shows, and we just put out a new single
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called “Sanjake” so everything has felt extra powerful with the new track backing us. We are playing a couple festivals through the USA, Canada, and UK this summer. And also recording a lot of new music that is going to redefine what it means to be a band in 2020.
WHAT’S THE HOT TOPIC?
I think the hot topic for us is female representation in music. There’s been a really stupid presumptive culture around females in music forever. And now there is a paradigm-shift being forced on the idiots in this industry. Female artists, managers, agents etc are smashing these preconceived ideas, and creating a proper balance. It’s awesome.
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MORE THAN A FESTIVAL The evolution of the festival industry over the last ten years has been fascinating to watch. Long before my time, Music Festivals must have once been built on some rebellious spirit; Woodstock, Glastonbury, the counter-culture and the alternative. A place to escape the everyday; to discover the unknown.
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I think back to days of television; before VHS, before repeats. If you weren’t sat in the front room of a British household on December 26th 1967, or January 5th 1968 you may have struggled to see the Magical Mystery Tour feature by The Beatles. Film was a treat, film was a moment to cherish; the cinema a sacred zone. Such was the gig space, with festival grounds often the geographically challenging higher plain. Around the turn of the century, the festival circuit had reached the evolutionary stage of the Multiplex. More stages or screens than you could possibly need, with an industry built to fill those spaces at any cost. Quality was not of much concern - at least not as much as the mark up on the hotdogs, and the ubiquity. Culturally now, we exist in sludge of excess. Caviar and oysters may be considered luxuries but blend 100 metric tons of them and it’s not something you want to go swimming in. Spotify, YouTube, Netflix. We’ll never starve, but we’ll never be satisfied. Cinema suffered and continues to do so. The ones that thrive took the counter-intuitive step in the face of home streaming and high quality TVs to increase their prices, but create a more bespoke experience. Now, you can watch your blockbuster sat on a sofa with your burger, chips and beer brought to you by a waiter. It’s about the experience, less the medium. That’s where it feels we are with festivals too. In such a sea of choice, often the location and the concept trumps the artist. Although the programming has been impeccable, Bluedot’s positioning under a radio telescope and sideline in science has made it stand out. Although
it folded last year, Festival No. 6 at Portmeirion had found the perfect fantastical location - who cares if the exclusive interview with Alan Moore was in a tiny 100 capacity building and only 1% of the audience got to see it?
“THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MCDONALD’S, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE HOLLYWOOD. BUT THOSE OF US INSIDE THE INDUSTRY NEED TO AFFECT HOW THE MACHINE IS RUNNING” But the thing is, what good is a festival? What is the point of it, really? Although the recent Fyre documentary showed life on the far reaches of an industry, I saw a lot of truth in it. Don’t forget, it was an hubristic and deeply arrogant marketing campaign for a product - it was a means to an end that went horribly wrong. Living inside the festival circus as I do - albeit in a distant and overlooked outpost - I often see only the dark intent behind a festival. To 95% of people a festival is simply a menu, and if those acts are good enough value on a date they and at least one friend is free, we have a sale. Aside of truly DIY events, most are simply business opportunities to scratch the back of others within the industry, be that booking agents, press or local business, with an intention that’ll lead to more work in the future, or a tighter iron grip over someone, 25
something or some place. The multiplex LOVES cinema, as long as it is made by the right people, about the right things and never takes a chance with their profits. Festivals need to do more. It’s unlikely that consumers will ever really care about the ethics of such things; there will always be McDonald’s, there will always be Hollywood. But those of us inside the industry need to affect how the machine is running. A festival needs to balance the books, but then inject everything beyond that into a model that reflects a local level ethos. Festivals should be commissioning local artists to create new work, not booking some rising London ladrock band because they share an agent with a media darling. Festivals need to source locally, and learn to cultivate talent, not hoard skills, knowledge and funds to a tiny elite, then blow a marketing budget desperately trying to show how passionate they are about “emerging talent”. They should be employing the young and if they can’t find them, create them through education programmes. I’ve often thought that corporate festivals put all their effort into appearing grassroots whilst DIY festivals can find themselves putting their energy into appearing ‘professional’. They shouldn’t. They should focus on the art of creation, on the ethics of the venture and the future. DIY Forever.
Words by Dean Freeman | Photography by John Jowett
HANDS OFF GRETEL WHO ARE YOU? We are Hands Off Gretel a four piece alternative rock band from South Yorkshire. I (Lauren) founded the band back in 2016 with Sean (Guitarist) and to be honest it took ages to find the right members. I had such a strong vision when I started the band, I knew exactly what I wanted from the music to the look, I had it all mapped out in my head and I think that was annoying for people. I’d never had a band before Hands Off Gretel began so finding my feet as a woman in music was pretty hard at first. Sam saved the bloody day when he came into the band, I knew him from a previous solo project where he played guitar and I invited him in to cover for the bass player who at that time decided she didn’t want to commit to the band leaving us pretty screwed with an upcoming Photography by Andrew Benge
tour. Sam then replaced the drummer within the same month as we came to jam together in practice and all fell out. The second the drummer walked out the room that day Sam jumped to the kit and we smashed through the set as a 3 piece. It was one of those movie moments where we all just looked at each other like “wow”! It sounded heavy as hell, something we’d been lacking previously. Becky joined after we recorded our latest album, she’s the freaking best player I could have asked for so I’m pretty confident now I’ve found people that are going to push this band to the top! WHAT DO YOU DO? I (Lauren) write all the songs for the band along with designing all the merchandise and directing and editing the music videos. I am a control freak for sure, 26
people always told me that was a bad thing but I think that’s just a thing people say to young girls, I feel like if I was a boy people would see me more of a leader rather than a dictator. Sean works at Sainsbury’s in his non-music time. I think every musician just dreams of quitting their day jobs and doing it full time. It’s a weird feeling when you play a run of sold out shows, feeling on top of the world with the reviews of the new album and riding off that buzz then realising you have to go back into work the next morning. WHY DO YOU DO IT? A lot of people will say that music means everything to them and I totally feel this, I think I would die if I quit music. I’ve never had a plan B. Growing up at school every single teacher told me I would never make it, that I was being stupid and all the kids in my
“AS IF BANDS DIDN’T GET SCREWED OVER ENOUGH, WORKING THEIR ARSES OFF ONLY FOR SOME DICKHEAD IN A SUIT TO PUT IT ALL AT RISK” class would tease me and laugh when they saw my singing videos online. I remember one day a boy passing his phone around the class with my singing a cover of a P!nk song on YouTube when I was 13. Everyone was laughing at me and I remember writing in my
This year’s Leeds International Festival is set to wow, with a line-up that is already packed to the rafters with big name speakers and exciting, diverse and innovative events. From Tumor and Tommy Cash, to John Cooper Clarke and speakers including Frank Bruno MBE, Matt Haig and Professor Alice Roberts, it promises to take the festival up a gear. This year will see new CORE and OFF programmes, dividing the line-up between internationally renowned speakers and more upcoming and diverse acts and events. 2019 will also see a new location for The Village hub, and a new area called The Discovery Zone (hosting free-to-attend events for all the family). WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN? Developed in partnership with Leeds Beckett University with Professor Alice Roberts, Matt Haig, Gelong Thubten and Simon Anholt. JOHN COOPER CLARKE Listen to new material from The Luckiest Guy Alive alongside the old classics (like ‘Evidently Chickentown’) with legendary punk “people’s poet” John Cooper Clarke, alongside special guest poets Toria Garbutt and Mike Garry.
maths book ‘I will prove everyone wrong’, which has always stuck with me. I cannot back out now; I’m in too deep. I have so much drive and passion in me it eats me up sometimes, I’ve got huge expectations of myself. WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW? Well we’re currently a train, headed down for the Vive le rock awards. Hopefully we win. That’d be nice. Then we have our album releases in London and Barnsley. We’ve been sitting on this album for over a year so can’t wait to get it out there. There’s a copy of Kerrang in front of us with a 4k review of our album which is pretty awesome. We’ve got tours in the UK and a European one in the pipeline. New Merch. We’ll have more music videos. All the usual good stuff you’d expect. We also recently owned a paper shop, until it blew away.
BLAQUEXPLOSION Featuring Frank Bruno MBE, Jermain Jackman and JoJo. Feel the noise of Black Britain in a day of exploration and celebration. Frank Bruno MBE discusses music and black mental health, whilst Capital radio presenter JoJo co-hosts and The Voice champion Jermain Jackman performs live, before Sound System Iration Steppas take over in the evening and bring the beat! CRAZY P (LIVE) + FRIENDS English electronica favourites Crazy P (plus some stellar talent in support) bring their shimmering, soulful underground disco to Leeds International Festival for Leeds’ only date, on the back of their recent record release. JUICEBOX with Tommy Cash and Yves Tumor JUICEBOX presents some of the most urgent and transgressive humans working in music today. Yves Tumor, the LA-based enigmatic gothic soundscape auteur, Tommy Cash, conceptual artist and post-Soviet raver, Grime music’s queer pioneer Karnage Kills & Leeds’ own NikNak will be headlining to kill. REWIRE LEEDS As a special agent for Rewire, your assignment is to protect the city. But 27
WHAT’S THE HOT TOPIC? Hot topic right now is crowdfunding websites, and all the shenanigans that’s been happening with certain ones. We too were affected by this. We sold 25 grands worth of pre orders for CDs, vinyls and Merch and saw nothing of it. As if bands didn’t get screwed over enough, working their arses off only for some dickhead in a suit to put it all at risk. We managed to have a more successful campaign through our own website. So in the end it worked out OK, we’re lucky to have the fan support we do. Now the artists who crowd fund, hit the goals, then do not deliver the goods in the end... They can get fucked.
whilst you’re on lookout, who is watching you? This interactive game taking place across the city is in conjunction with machina eX and Transform19. ALL DAY HEY! Returning to Leeds International Festival, this affordable, all-day conference for front end developers and designers in the heart of Leeds boasts a stellar lineup, featuring some of the tech industry’s finest minds. MUSIC:LEEDS LAUNCHPAD In partnership with Music:Leeds’ Launchpad program, L19 is commissioning a new piece of music/ sound for performance/installation at L19 - a unique exhibition opportunity. Proposals must be new, original and previously unperformed. The deadline for submission is Thursday 28th February 2019. Interested? Find out more, and how to apply, at www.musicleeds.com/ launchpadcommission2019 Leeds International Festival 2019 takes place 2nd May to 12th May. See www.leedsinternationalfestival.com for full details and tickets.
LIVE AT LEEDS SOME OF THIS YEARS PERFORMERS RECOMMEND WHO ELSE YOU SHOULD SEE AT THIS YEARS FESTIVAL AND RECOUNT MEMORIES OF THE CITY
SUNDARA KARMA
DREAM WIFE
Hi, we’re Sundara Karma, Our second record has just come out and we are currently touring it in the UK and Ireland, which we are very excited about.
After a year relentlessly touring our first born album we are taking a little time off to regroup and well... write another album! We are currently at a remote writing location in Ireland working on some indie bangers.
We’ve had many a great show in Leeds. One moment that stands out is when Ally was standing on the bar in Oporto playing the cowbell during a DJ set. He doesn’t remember but we do... GO SEE: Swim deep, Confidence Man, Gengahr
Be prepared to sweat, dance and stomp with us at Live At Leeds. We’re not doing so many live shows this year so catch us while you can! We’re going to give it our all!! We got to support one of our all time faves The Cribs at the Brudenell Social Club. It was a special night, Alice said on stage that Ryan Jarman is one of her all time favourite guitarists and out he pops as a floating head from behind the curtain to exclaim that she’s better! GO SEE: Body Type, Wooze, Dead Naked Hippies
MINI MANSIONS We just got off tour supporting Arctic Monkeys in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. In May we are doing a full UK tour, including a show at Live at Leeds, in support of our upcoming third full length album “Guy Walks Into a Bar...” We’ll be touring with Jon Theodore (Queens of the Stone Age, Mars Volta) on drums. Can’t wait to be back in Leeds! Last time in Leeds Jon and I got to headline Leeds festival with our other band, Queens of the Stone Age. We’ve played that festival numerous times, but this was the pinnacle of all the work we’ve done in our career to be able to headline such a classic festival. GO SEE: Metronomy, Black Honey, Jesse Jo Stark 28
GOAT GIRL
SHE DREW THE GUN
Hello there, at the moment we’re having a nice time in London, writing, experimenting, getting inspired, learning. We have something brewing as well as a nice strong cup of tea.
We’ve just finished a headline tour for our latest album ‘Revolution of Mind’, been having a blast taking these songs around the country, smashing the patriarchy and dismantling capitalism one guitar riff at a time haha. Expect lyrically intense, politically charged guitar pop with a splash of psych, hopefully something different to the expected anyway.
We’ve played in Leeds a few times it’s always a good time and especially have enjoyed the shows we’ve played at The Brudenell Social Club. This will be the first time we’ve played at Live at Leeds so we’re looking forward to playing and seeing as many other shows we can.
I can’t think of a proper Leeds story, but I do remember asking Anna Prior from Metronomy whereabouts in France the band was from, cos I’d got it into my head they we’re French for some reason, and she was like “No love am from ‘Donny”. That was boss, they we’re amazing.
GO SEE: Metronomy, Squid, Wooze
GO SEE: Metronomy, Zuzu, The Mysterines
BLACK HONEY
WHENYOUNG
At the moment we are rehearsing for our UK headline tour and writing the next record! Expect news very soon!
Hey we’re Drew, Niall and Aoife and together we make up whenyoung. We’re currently on our first tour in the US, we’ve been in New York, at SXSW and are now in Los Angeles and we’re loving it. We played Live At Leeds last year at the Brudenell and absolutely loved it. We’ll be bringing a new and exciting set this year and can’t wait to play for you.
The last Live At Leeds I tattooed a sad face onto Tommy and Toms butt cheeks with the Amazons. GO SEE: Dream Wife, Confidence Man, Mini Mansions
Our first gig in Leeds was at the Chapel in February last year and I’m not lying when I say the venue was zero degrees, it was freezing. The crowd were all wearing coats, that was a tough one to keep the hands warm. Also at Live at Leeds last year our van broke down on the way up the M1 and we had an hour til our show. Thankfully Rae Morris’ tour manager Will saved the day and picked us up! Wonder what will happen this time! GO SEE: Gently Tender, Inhaler, Kate Tempest
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FATHERSON
THE SLOW READERS CLUB
We are just back from a US tour supporting the release of our new album “Sum Of All Your Parts” and we are getting ready for a summer of festivals. We can’t wait to be back in Leeds to get sweaty and have a big old sing a long!
We’re currently in the middle of our biggest ever tour (48 dates) and have been writing new material. People can expect a set of our biggest tunes and we should be pretty nailed on after 48 dates on the road.
We actually recorded our new album just outside of Leeds in a studio called Chairworks. We spent 3 weeks living there recording 16 hours a day 7 days a week which was a really cool experience. We have always had a real affinity with Leeds. The city has always been very kind to us so it just felt right to record there!
The last time we were in Leeds we played a solid out show at Brudenell Social Club. It was one of our favourite ever shows, properly bouncing, amazing atmosphere. GO SEE: Sam Fender, Metronomy, Dream Wife
GO SEE: Sam Fender, Tom Joshua, The Snuts
LARKINS
SPORTS TEAM
We finished off our UK tour at the 2000 capacity Albert Hall in Manchester and then jetted off to Texas for SXSW festival which was unreal! We’re writing and recording at the minute along with working on the set for the festival season!
We’ve just finished our first headline tour, now we’re in the studio in Margate for a week. Live at Leeds could be a mixed bag, Al (our drummer) likes a drink when she gets back to her home town. Last time Rob and I were there we were booed off stage at a karaoke bar. Just assumed the “Let Me Entertain You” lyrics would be one of those things that were ingrained in the national psyche. They were not.
Dom and Josh once had an actual drunken fist fight in Leeds at someone’s house party. Was pretty weird, Josh won. And when we’re not fighting the shows we’ve done there have been immense, we played at Chapel last year and it was one of the maddest shows we’ve done, a Leeds crowd always show us a good time.
GO SEE: Walt Disco, Metronomy, Menace Beach Live At Leeds takes place Sat 4th May 2019. See liveatleeds.com for full details and tickets.
GO SEE: Cassia, Giant Rooks, Marsicans 30
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