Freeq Magazine - The Goat Issue by Freeq Magazine

POCKET £25 FESTIVAL PREVIEW GIG LISTINGS HAUNTS PISTOLA KICKS ALVAREZ KINGS SWOUND THE SMEARS DEAR SUPERSTAR ENVY & OTHER SINS THE TEENAGERS

EDITORIAL Congratulations. What you have in your grubby little mitts is an official launch issue of Freeq Magazine – voted the World’s Best New Music Magazine ‘With A Conscience’.* We have trawled through the vast oceans of unsigned and independent music to bring you reviews, interviews and other views on tomorrow’s tunes, today. This is The Goat Issue – we are buying a goat from Oxfam Unwrapped for every full page advert sold. See page six for more information on how we’re helping in the fight against world poverty and how you can get involved in Oxfam’s Oxjam project. Speaking of goats, I trust you like the front cover of this launch issue – we’ve got a profile on the artist, Smallkid, on page six. If you think you can step up to the plate and design the next cover then get in touch: info@freeqmagazine.com We listened to your feedback from the pilot issue and have included a gig listings section for June and July gigs – so you can plan your evening entertainment. (Don’t forget to send us your reviews and we’ll print the best ones in the next issue.) As the festival season is upon us, we look ahead to a selection of music fests on offer in the UK and further afield (get it? ‘a field’ – festivals? No? Oh forget it).

illustration: Phil Robinson

THE TEAM

Editor in Chief: Sam Borrett Deputy Editor: Tomi Ajayi Sub Editor: Rachel Hurst Art Director: Mellisa Harrison Music Production: Ryan Nolan Writers: Lucy Adams, Karen Asbury, Richard Blackledge, Olivia Cellamare, Steven Cookson, Jennifer Dixon, Simon Gresswell, Andrew Hendry, Martin Guttridge-Hewitt, Guy Little, Ben McGrae, Laura Nineham, Kimberley Ross, Lee Sentino, Liam Sheasby, Louise Steggals, Jamie Tabord, Gareth Vipers.

In our regular ‘conscience’ section we discuss the critical situation in Darfur where millions of people have been displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands murdered.

Art and photography: Mimi, Colin Brothwood, Katharine Brown, Robin Hulme, Patrick Niall, Phil Robinson, Ben Wheele.

On a lighter note, we have rammed this issue with more bands and independent music than you can shake a drumstick at. My personal favourites are definitely Pistola Kicks (review page 24) and The Apples – an Israeli funk band – we’ve got a review on page 17 and an interview on page 28 (because we just couldn’t get enough!)

Printed by: www.epgprint.co.uk

As always we want your feedback – it’s your magazine after all. Let us know what you think at www.freeqmagazine.com and you could end up £25 better off. Right, that’s enough from me – happy reading! * As voted for by us here in the office, purely because we are proud to have the best ratio of content to adverts in any independent music publication. We have to thank The Music Directory for continuing to support the magazine – check out www.themusicdirectory.co.uk and go visit all our advertisers – there wouldn’t be a magazine without them.

Cover illustration: Smallkid Design: Radar www.radar-pr.com Published by: The Music Directory Limited Advertising: Call Sam on 0115 9682168 or 07766 118852 or email advertise@freeqmagazine.com Offices: Freeq Magazine 3 The Triangle NG2 Business Park Nottingham NG2 1AE www.freeqmagazine.com info@freeqmagazine.com

Printed on paper from sustainable forests

GET INVOLVED Freeq Magazine needs you! We’re looking for writers, photographers and illustrators to help us with our next issue. If you think you have what it takes to make our lovely magazine even better then get in touch today. You need to love one or more of the following: • Music • Art • Earth (the planet, not mud and dirt) Email info@freeqmagazine.com with an example of your work and if it’s great then we’ll get in touch!

CONTENTS

Gig Listings

UNWRAPPING POTENTIAL : THE GOAT ISSUE Here at Freeq we’ve been supporting Oxfam by buying from Oxfam Unwrapped’s catalogue of famously funusual gifts; we buy a goat for every full page advert sold in the magazine. This is our commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of the most disadvantaged people on the planet. We have to thank our advertisers who have supported this concept by purchasing full page adverts. If you want to raise your company’s profile and reserve a space in the next issue of Freeq email info@freeqmagazine.com for a media pack. Unwrapped is a way of sending real life solutions directly where they’re needed most. From bogbuilding to business lessons, the price of each gift includes all the elements needed to make it a meaningful solution. Check out more povertyfighting presents at www.oxfamunwrapped.com We’re also fans of Oxfam’s Oxjam Music Festival. Oxjam is a music festival with a difference. Each year thousands of music-lovers like you get involved, all across the UK, to raise money for Oxfam. Oxjam 2008 took place in April and was a great success with events ranging from Gillingham’s record-breaking blues jam, to Glasgow’s Clothes Swap Party. And there are after parties still raving! Check out www.oxfam. org.uk/oxjam for details of summer gigs near you. The next Oxjam Music Festival will take place in early 2009. There are exciting developments to be made. From June this year, the Oxjam team will start recruiting regional support teams for the 2009 festival. These will be exciting volunteer roles, with responsibilities ranging from media work, to co-ordinating event organisers and venues, to budget management. If you’d like to get involved, keep an eye on their website for the latest news. Details of how to apply will be published soon.

ARTIST PROFILE

SMALLKID : (he did our goat-alicious cover design)

Home town? Oxford

Tony Hart or Rolf Harris? Rolf Harris every time!

When did you decide that art was your calling? When I realised I wasn’t that good at anything else.

Peanut Butter or Marmite? Marmite or mixing the two

Weapon of Choice? Spray paint now the sun is coming out, during the winter I’ve been using a lot of ink markers on canvas and interior walls, and for design work a mouse and a cup of tea Influences? At the moment: Jeremy Fish, Toast, Dran, Os Gemeos, Flying Fortress, the rest of the collective I paint in, Oxygen Thievez (Mr Deam, Kaption1, Dregs, Mobs) Notts Graffiti, wildlife, black ink, movies, tea, toast, friends, family, girlfriend, pints, George Lamb, Nathan Barley

Where can we find you? You can see some of my stuff and work from the Oxygen thievez on these sites: www.smallkid.co.uk www.oxygenthievez.com ...but for more up to date work there are bits on Mansfield Road, Alferton Road, in Basford, Forest Fields, (Nottingham) on Detonate flyers, and in Size and Ryouki sneaker shops. Got a few things that are in the pipe line with a gallery show and a collaboration with a clothing company but not saying too much about them in case I jinx it. Also check out Above Gallery upstairs in Oh My Gosh (Nottingham) with some works by Mr Deamz.

INDUSTRY PROFILE :RUPERT CHRISTIE

Those of us who’ve gone through university probably remember lectures as being dull affairs, being cramped into auditoriums with 60 other students. I doubt many of us have had ones where you’re sat at a table opposite Elton John; unless you are Rupert Christie. Rupert is a singer/songwriter, composer, engineer, producer…well there’s not a lot Rupert doesn’t do when it comes to music. In his own words: “I like to think of myself as a George Martin kind of guy, I can do the string arranging, I can engineer…” And this comparison to the legendary Beatles producer is no case of false modesty on Rupert’s part. A quick glance over his CV reveals a plethora of work experience, from assisting on the production of Mike Oldfield’s top ten album Music of the Spheres through to composing incidental music for the BAFTAS. Rupert studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music where, besides attending guest lectures from the likes of Elton, in 1998 he gained a first class honours degree in Commercial Composition and Production, no mean feat in itself. “Oh it was brilliant, just brilliant!” he enthuses. “The level of teaching was ridiculous! I feel like the Uncle from Withnail and I with all the stories…” he laughs. The young Rupert obviously made an impression on his tutors as, not only did he win the Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Achievement, but recommendations from his instructors and the people he’d worked with during the course landed him his first job, as assistant to film composer Michael Kamen. Kamen’s name may sound unfamiliar but tapping it into IMDB will reveal him as composing the music for some of the biggest movies of the last 20 years and beyond; X-Men, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – the list goes on. “Michael was a brilliant character,” remembers Rupert. “I worked with him near the end of his life so he was in a pretty bad state.” “His approach over the years became more and more on the basis of the piano, so he’d play some, and his team would put it together so, as part of

the team I’d orchestrate stuff and re-construct his compositions which, towards the end, became a lot more than that.” It’s a word-of-mouth approach that has been a large part of how Rupert has been involved with some of the biggest acts in the world, acting as Lou Reed’s musical director – a tour which saw Julian Schnabel of Diving Bell and the Butterfly fame designing the sets – through to assisting Benny Anderson of ABBA fame with the score for Mamma Mia: The Movie, based on the hit stage show. “I don’t do many film scores,” Rupert admits. “I do a lot of orchestration and unofficially I do scores but not as the composer, that’s really hard to get into.” “I’m in a bit of a quandary,” he continues. “I’ve been looking for a manager for some time and, a lot of managers can’t touch you because you can’t be pigeon-holed. The way they think is that, if you are a keyboard player, and you can engineer and produce, that means you don’t do anything very well!” Lack of management hasn’t held Rupert back so far it seems, as the boy who, with a broad grin, claims he can’t play any instruments - not even the keyboards he has played on Lou Reed and Scissor Sisters tours - has recently finished producing Karl Jenkins latest album (who, according to Rupert, actually outsells the Kaiser Chiefs) and is set to tour with Reed again. He does admit that it’s a slog to get as far as he has, to develop a reputation that means he is often on peoples’ lists to get onboard for their latest projects. But Rupert still has plenty on his own wish list in terms of his career. “I’d love to do some proper film scores,” he says, “you know, where I’m the actual composer.” “That’s my background, that’s what I studied. That’s probably what I want to do. We’ll see what happens”. To find out more about Rupert, and listen to some of his work, go to www.rupertchristie.com Louise Steggals

DESPERATE IN DARFUR Rape, murder, torture, beatings. For many of us these things crop up regularly in action thrillers or crime programmes like 24 or CSI, which we use for ‘light’ entertainment to help us unwind at the end of a long day. However, as hundreds of thousands of desperate people living in Darfur know only too well, there is nothing remotely entertaining about death, pain and destruction.

Are things improving? The widespread crisis remains unresolved. In fact, according to reports, the situation has been rapidly deteriorating in recent months, with heavy violence spreading throughout the area. Peace talks have also failed to get off the ground, since some of the key rebel leaders are refusing to sign up to the negotiations.

The UN has described the situation in Sudan’s western region of Darfur as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. What first began in February 2003 as a relatively minor anti-government rebellion, has now catapulted into a crisis of epic proportions.

So what’s the solution? The international community is being asked to contribute to the peacekeeping mission, which still needs over 15,000 troops, as well as helicopters, armoured vehicles and other logistical support. Nevertheless, it is widely recognised that military intervention probably won’t lead to stability and security. To see real change, there needs to be progress on the peace process between tribal and community leaders, and also the government.

How did the situation begin? Five years ago, rebels in Darfur took up arms and began attacking government targets, accusing the State of neglecting the impoverished region. As the fighting escalated, full-scale conflict broke out between the rebels and the Sudanese Government, who denies accusations that it used Arab militias to stem the revolt. More than a dozen rebel factions are now believed to exist. As with most wars, civilians have been caught in the crossfire. Countless people have been attacked by state troops, nomadic militia and rebel groups. In the early stages of the conflict witnesses spoke of toddlers being burnt alive in villages while their houses were destroyed, and of women being gang-raped as they fled their ruined homes. There are currently in excess of 2.5 million Darfuris living in refugee camps, at least 300,000 dead and 4.5 million dependent on aid handouts. Needless to say, the figures make for grim reading. Fighting has also spilled over Sudan’s borders into neighbouring nations, namely Chad and Central African Republic. What is the international response? Earlier this year, a joint UN/African Union (AU) peacekeeping force of 26,000 troops began to be deployed in Darfur, replacing a small, overstretched AU force. However, the entire force won’t be fully deployed for some months, leaving Darfur’s already vulnerable citizens still at risk of further violence.

Darfur is now the focus of the world’s biggest relief operation: a shortage of food, water and medicine has left two-thirds of the population dependent on humanitarian assistance. Unfortunately, development agencies have said that ongoing violence is making it increasingly difficult to deliver aid in some parts of the region.

UN member states are being asked to put pressure on the Sudanese Government to stop the hostilities. Meanwhile, China has come under fire for its role as an oil investor and arms supplier to Sudan – campaigners say China should use its strong economic and military ties to encourage the country’s leaders to resolve the crisis.

What can I do? • Become a grassroots activist. The internet has plenty of campaign information, resources, petitions and other action points. Visit www.globefordarfur.org or www.amnesty.org.uk for ideas. • Fundraise. Organise a fundraising gig and give the proceeds to a Darfur campaign. • Demonstrate. Find out when the next Darfur rally will be, build a placard, get yourself down there and make some noise. • Donate to a Darfur appeal. Whether it’s a pound or a fiver, every little helps. • Lobby politicians. Write to Foreign Affairs Secretary David Miliband, asking him to ensure the UK Government takes action (milibandd@parliament.uk). • Expand your album collection. Seriously, why not use your love of music to make a difference? Some of the biggest names in the industry have recorded a 28-track charity album to highlight the crisis in Darfur. Imaginatively-titled Instant Karma, it features exclusive covers of songs from John Lennon’s solo songbook, performed by the likes of U2, R.E.M, Lenny Kravitz, Greenday, Snow Patrol, Jack Johnson and the Flaming Lips. Proceeds from CD and digital sales go to Amnesty International and its work in Darfur. For more information, visit www.instantkarma.org.

Tomi Ajayi

THE BIG C One in three is a bigger proportion than you might think. A third is the percentage of our lives we spend in the land of nod, it is apparently the number of children who are bullied on the internet and it is also the amount of people who will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life.

When you realise a third of us will one day get ‘the big C’, one in three suddenly sounds like a lot. Blunt it may be, but the fact is cancer is one of the largest destroyers of life known to man. With this in mind, it certainly can’t hurt to know the ins and outs sooner rather than later. Cancer is more than just a star sign or a scare tactic on television convincing us to donate our pennies to charity. It is something that should not be ignored, particularly by the younger generation. So what exactly is this incurable disease? Normal cells in a body grow in a controlled manner. Cancerous cells, slightly more anarchic, grow uncontrollably. By the time they are detectable by a scan, they are already tumours. These cells will not always stick together, which is why it’s always important to catch it in early stages, to prevent it from spreading elsewhere. More than a quarter of a million people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK alone. Who are these unlucky individuals? It is said that anyone unfortunate enough to be diagnosed is just experiencing a dose of plain old bad luck. However, as highly-publicised warning labels on products and Government health reports tell us, certain risk factors can make some people more susceptible than others. The killer fashion accessories that we know and love in our youth – cigs, booze, sun beds, kebabs – are all exactly that: killers. So it’s a question of how much you love your favourite must-have accessory: enough to die for? The four most common cancers are breast, lung, bowel and prostate. Nine out of ten lung cancer sufferers are smokers, as well as a large number of patients of mouth, throat, pancreatic, bowel, stomach, and cervical cancer. See any connection? As a strong player in the field of cancer, smoking has even exterminated its very own Marlboro Man… twice. Two of the men who advertised Marlboro cigarettes were diagnosed with lung cancer and unfortunately succumbed to the disease in the nineties. The second of the two, David McClean, was apparently forced to smoke up to five packs a day as part of his job – the basis for his family’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry after his death. He didn’t just advertise

the product, but also sadly advertised its consequences.

Sun-worshippers also wear their killer accessory on their sleeve. Anyone who chooses to spend long periods of time outside in the summer is at serious risk of damage from UV rays – a wellknown major cause of skin cancer. It is a given that a glowing tan can make someone look healthy and radiant, but how attractive is someone with wrinkled skin that closely resembles a leather purse? As the glossies would suggest, the answer is not very. Good looks don’t last long when the sunshine’s exposure ages the skin by 10 years. Perhaps it’s time tan-a-holics were introduced to tinted moisturiser. Or better yet, wouldn’t it be wonderful if pasty chicken legs on a man were The Next Big Thing? (On second thoughts, perhaps not.) Still, if you insist on looking like the offspring of a Satsuma and a Wotsit, then there are certainly easier ways to achieve this illuminating effect without risking your health. Ultimately, in the words of Baz Lurhmann’s popular song, ‘wear sunscreen’. There are always bound to be urban myths and unfounded rumours surrounding major issues such as this one, but according to most sources on this topic, it is such misinformation that can be most infectious. If the Daily Mail is anything to go by, just about anything can give you cancer in this day and age: a new toxic product; the latest technology; microwaved potatoes; aerosol antiperspirant. Indeed, mobile phones have been blamed profusely for the terminal illness.The only thing we really know for sure is that sometimes, otherwise healthy people simply fall sick. That said, the big C is less likely to befall those who are genuinely healthy, such as non-smokers with balanced diets, who drink in moderation and exercise regularly. Doesn’t sound too difficult but with the way many teenagers are going, according to the tabloids, the UK appears to be a nation bingeing itself towards fatalities. For those already suffering from cancer, financial problems are usually a given. That’s why charity events such as Gig4Life (fundraising concerts) and Race For Life (sponsored runs) are take place regularly. So if you have a band or just fancy a jog in the park, why not join in and make a difference. Support for cancer patients is always appreciated. With the amount of people diagnosed each year, chances are, one day you might just need that support yourself. www.raceforlife.org Karen Ashbury

A Love Music Hate Racism spokesperson commented, “we want to create a national movement against racism and fascism through music, so it’s vital everyone gets involved however they can.” LMHR provides complete marketing plans and documents for those wanting to hold their own event, so it really couldn’t be easier to organise your own gig and fill it with top acts.

We only have to watch the news today to see that racism is very much alive in this country. Only last month, a Polish family in Shrewsbury were attacked in the middle of the night, with swastikas and the word ‘England’ spray-painted all over their house. Sadly, it is estimated that half of all racial attacks in the UK are carried out by school children or young people. Love Music Hate Racism runs with the idea that music stands as a clear indication that our cultures can mix and live in harmony. The movement was established in 2002 in response to rising levels of racism and electoral successes of the British National Party (BNP). LMHR aims to use the positive energy of music as a means of fighting racism, similar to the Rock Against Racism movement of the late 70s. Since 2002, there have been over 400 LMHR events, from large outdoor festivals to local gigs and club nights including several music genres. Artists such as Hard-Fi, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, The View and Lethal Bizzle have performed at the events, as well as the countless up-and-coming artists who have performed at or organised their own events. LMHR also put on the Liverpool tribute concert for murdered teenager Anthony Walker in 2005.

The LMHR Carnival was held on 27th April in Victoria Park, London and celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the Rock Against Racism movement. Featuring some high profile performers it’s clear that the music world is supporting the movement. Kate Nash recently wore an anti-Nazi League badge on her dress at the Brits and DJ, presenter and altogether ‘well-cool’ guy Tim Westwood told us that “music is a powerful force to bring young people of different race and religion together. The need to fight racism is a moral duty.” See www.lovemusichateracism.com for more information and future events. Andrew Hendry

GOING OUT

BANDWATCHING

THE FROG AND PARROT, DIVISION STREET, SHEFFIELD Those of you reading this issue of Freeq Magazine in Sheffield are no doubt already well aware of the intimate pub and live venue that is the Frog and Parrot. (If not then you need to get out more!)

absorbs the frequencies, leaving you with a clear, distinct arrangement of instruments and vocals – or maybe the engineer is an absolute genius… either way, it’s a joy to actually hear what’s being played and sung!

Anyone planning a night out in the field of Shef should really factor in a couple of pints at the Parrot and most definitely stay on for the evening entertainment. First of all it’s completely free to get in – a novel concept not lost on the hundreds of music lovers that cram themselves into the venue every night. Free entry doesn’t reflect on the quality of live bands though; this place is held in very high regard – it features on the CD artwork for the Artic Monkeys debut album and has a continuous stream of excellent bands requesting gigs from Lord Parrot (aka Nick the landlord).

If you’re in town during the day and in need of some lunchtime snap, the Frog and Parrot do an array of wallet-friendly pub meals for under three quid – a bargain by any stretch of the imagination. Pub lunch and a drink with change from a fiver means more money to buy CDs and clothes…

The beer is good, (very important in my professional opinion) and the punters are very amicable – the regulars seem to demonstrate a real fondness for the pub and this invariably results in hassle-free drinking and a relaxed vibe.

Whilst we’re on the subject… Frogstock.

The sound is fantastic. I’ve not been in a live music venue of that size (150 capacity) with such good acoustics. Maybe it’s the close proximity of the stage to the audience and wooden bar that

Currently planning a refurbishment to open up a beer garden the Frog and Parrot promises to be even better than before with an improved sound system and stage design. Keep an eye out on The Music Directory’s gig listings for events at Frog and Parrot over the summer.

Frogstock is the Frog and Parrot’s very own music festival. It takes place over the August bank holiday (22nd to 25th) and features more than 40 bands playing throughout the day and night. They even lay turf in the bar area to give it that authentic festival charm – wellies are optional!

LORD PARROT (AKA NICK THE LANDLORD)

Female led bands have long been underappreciated, and many have fallen at the hands of the male dominated UK music scene. Until now. Olivia Cellamare welcomes us to the world of The Smears. A lot of bands seem to now throw themselves into genres and sound nothing like it at all. They’ll call themselves ‘indie’ when they really aren’t. Whether or not indie even exists anymore is a different topic (and you won’t find the answer in NME!) In the first issue of Freeq I said it was about time a female-fronted band made history. I think we have the band that could possibly do this and last a long long time. The Smears are a lovely band from Nottingham, on their website page they are listed as grunge/ punk and they actually do sound like how they have labelled themselves. About bloody time! The Smears are Maimee, Miss C and C.Doll and their sound is like a mixture of Hole and The Distillers with a touch of Patti Smith to make their sound raw. Since The Distillers split up a few years ago, I felt a void in my music collection (or maybe it’s because I’m too poor to buy anything!) but The Smears pick up where Brody & Co left off. I have heard some female bands call themselves punk and be quite annoyed that they would do such a thing, but with The Smears you know that they are not lying.

DIDN’T ADVERTISE in THIS ISSUE OF FREEQ?

I’m writing this listening to Gluttony for the third time and I don’t think I’ll be getting bored of it anytime soon. I urge you to go see them live now. You have no excuse; they are playing damn near everywhere- even Dublin! No excuses. You’ll love it. Their name may cause them to have a bit of a rough time, but it’s just a name. It’s not exactly a swear word now is it? Make of it what you will. It can be a smear test, having your name tainted, lipstick smearing - it has female connotations, makes sense really doesn’t it? As singer Maimee says, “It’s a word that people don’t seem to like for some reason and we get judged because of it but it’s not that hard once you say it a few times!” On their website, it says: “The Smears will kick you in the teeth and rip your heart right outta your chest” and it is true. You will not be disappointed, so head over to iTunes to get the album and go see them live. Oh, and enjoy! www.themusicdirectory.co.uk/thesmears

Olivia Cellamare

YOU DONKEY! ...Don’t worry, there is always a next time! email info@freeqmagazine.com for a media pack and get exposure for your business in the next issue

LET’S GET PHYSICAL With more and more people converting to digital music, fears are growing over the future of physical formats. Are these the irrational thoughts of puritan enthusiasts, or warnings that should be heeded? Martin Guttridge-Hewitt investigates. As a musical format, vinyl represents many things to many people. For some it is pure nostalgia; for others it is a sign of specialised tastes and a desire to be different from the average consumer. For electronic music, DJ cultures in particular, it is the very lifeblood of the scene, however this can be seen to be changing rapidly. In the past four years alone a number of major international distributors have collapsed, sparking fears about the future of vinyl. From the recent liquidations of Amato and Syntax, to the closure of EFA and Watt’s Music in 2004 and 2006 respectively, is the format becoming a dead duck or is this simply a shift in trends that is representative of a pluralistic marketplace? Anyone who has followed the ongoing vinyl debates on the Resident Advisor website will be aware that mismanagement and internal economic instability are the frequently cited reasons for such businesses folding. But look a little further, a little closer, and the problem appears to be much more complex. In April, Alan Jones reported in Music Week that singles had reached their lowest sales figures in some 16 weeks. This sales figure, of 1,838,895, may well be higher than the same week in previous years, but the formats generating sales are not physical. In 2008, 94.8% of all single sales are mp3 downloads. Jim Bane, who has worked in Manchester’s famous Eastern Bloc Records for over four years, has experienced the shift in trend first hand. “Although we are selling much, much more Drum n Bass than we ever did before, House and Techno sales are dropping fast. “ “Undoubtedly, it’s stuff like Ableton and Serato [real-time production software using mp3s] that have had an impact. CDs are pretty much a dead medium for DJs in my opinion – you can do the same as with vinyl, but everyone prefers

records to CDs. There is still some life left in vinyl, but there’s no doubt that there is a big culture, particularly in House and Techno, for laptops and software,” Bane explains. In a bid to combat this situation, five leading international distributors,Word & Sound, Neuton, Groove Attack, Kompakt and Intergroove, have drawn up a mission statement. The distributors, who are dubbed the ‘Pro Vinyl Alliance’, developed the pseudo-manifesto in an attempt to try to stabilise an increasingly troubled market place. As if to reiterate the scale of the problem, Intergroove has also fallen foul to the current climate, collapsing under economic pressures. If trends continue, the distribution network may fall, leaving even the most credible and successful vinyl labels open to the elements. Without labels, there is no scene. It really is as simple as that. Whilst supporting vinyl, the Alliance is not antidigital. Its stance can be best summarised as prochoice. One of the key initiatives of the Pro Vinyl Alliance is to secure a staggered distribution. One month of vinyl-only release, followed by digital formats. If downloads are not available – or at least if downloads of a high-enough quality to use professionally are not readily available – then the need to buy vinyl will be reaffirmed. “I think that this would be a good idea, in theory,” Bane says. “The only problem is it only takes one person to rip it, burn it and upload it. Really, what we should be doing is restricting mp3 releases, or somehow making them more expensive and vinyl cheaper… though I do not know if this is really practical.” Groove Attack label boss Holger Klein is, in his organisation’s membership of the Pro Vinyl Alliance, obviously a man who sees the format with a degree of positive prejudice. Rose tinted as this may be, many believe that if vinyl is lost completely to digital formats it will be at the cost of the scene’s production quality, given that it takes more talent to secure enough investment for a physical release than the comparatively lowcost digital versions. It would therefore seem important to preserve the format, in order to ensure continued quality

illustration: Patrick Niall

of music production, not to mention safeguarding jobs. Commenting on this, Klein proclaims: “It does not have to be preserved. It will survive because human beings want to own and collect things. Already today, limited LP box sets with a retail price of 250EUR are sometimes easier to sell than a new CD release for a budget price.” “For us, the main point of the Pro Vinyl Alliance is that digital releases are not to be released prior to the physical release, because otherwise the physical release will look and smell like old fish when it finally gets to the dealers. The dealers do not want to sell old fish and neither do we,” adds Klein. “As almost all labels want to continue to release on vinyl, they should hear what their distributors are saying.” Jeremy Collingwood, an academic and author who has spent more than 20 years in music retail observing trends in consumption, would seem to be an informed source to turn to when analysing such a complex situation – a situation that appears to be riddled with personal preference. “One of the problems is that the music industry has lost the perceived emotional value of its product. It’s increasingly consumed on a trackby-track basis, at little or no cost to the consumer.The straightforward economic model for selling music is collapsing. Rents and wages rise, whereas your average unit price has dropped like a stone. There is little business left in the business,” says Collingwood. It can be said that vinyl maintains its dominance within certain genres, but growing evidence suggests that across a wider musical landscape, the format is increasingly under-threat of extinction. Action now could surely guarantee a working future for people involved in the business: the current international network of producers, distributors, dealers and DJs cannot survive in a digital-only future. This, if nothing else, is reason enough to support pluralism in music consumption, rather than a monopolised marketplace that breaks with a ‘quantity over quality’ ethic. Martin Guttridge-Hewitt

PISTOLA KICKS: REVIEW

Tighter than a badger’s bumhole. That’s the review sorted then. What? 300 more words?! Er,ok… Pistola Kicks pummelled the Frog and Parrott’s sound system on a mild April evening in honour of Nick (the Landlord) as it was his ‘30-something’ birthday bash. They are quite simply the tightest band I have heard for a long while. They’re currently unsigned, but I wouldn’t expect things to stay that way for very long - these guys know how to write and play with serious aplomb. Firstly, how refreshing to be at a small venue with

a great sound! I’m not quite sure how they manage it - the bar is so close to the stage that the singer was leaning over the crowd and getting his own drinks! Still, it works, and Pistola Kicks certainly work. Almost every Sheffield band since the Artic Monkeys gets some sort of ‘they’re like the Artic Monkeys but…’ comparison in reviews but I wont do one this time. Except to say they’re not like the Artic Monkeys – because I like Pistola Kicks (not something I can say about the ‘other’ band that I promised myself I would never mention, but still managed to drop in the review - three times.) Pistola Kicks don’t sound tired; their songs are full of energy and the band are very talented

songwriters; they almost invite you in to their world when they play live. There is a lot of commercial potential with this band. And no, commercial does not mean ‘sell-out’ - it’s the main point of being in a band (unless you’ve won the lottery and don’t need to sell records). They already have a track on an Umbro advert a good sign that this music will indeed go a lot further than I could ever kick a football. I’m personally looking forward to seeing Pistola Kicks again and I almost never say that about a band. In fact, this might be a first.

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Sam Borrett

ENVY & OTHER SINS

Frontman Ali Forbes explained: “The fact that we won a TV show that wasn’t on the BBC didn’t help. It’s pretty ridiculous really, they seem perfectly happy if you’re a legitimate pop act who has all your songs written for you that has won a reality TV show but not if you’re part of a band.”

feel like victims of their own success after a Radio One snub has prevented the band from getting their music to the masses.

Upon winning the show, Sins were rewarded with a million pound contract with A&M Records, which allowed them to give up day jobs and release a debut album. The show was first brought to the attention of the band by a friend and a phone call came out of the blue after a couple of months to go and audition for the final 50. Ali said: “In traditional Envy & Other Sins style we came across it by accident and then stumbled through all the way to the final. Even then we were convinced that we weren’t going to win and then we ended up winning so it was a triumph of luck over skill I think!”

The Birmingham four-piece, currently on a nationwide tour, were winners of Channel 4’s reality show contest mobileAct unsigned in December 2007. But the band have not been heard on Jo Whiley’s show because of an ironically envious ‘conflict of interests’ with her BBC contract.

As far as funk bands go, The Apples are easily the pick of the bunch. The band not only treated Nottingham’s Maze to tracks from their new album, Buzzin About, but also to some of the finest and most entertaining music it had heard in a long while.

And the Radio One blackout has not prevented the band gaining recognition as far away as the Western Hebrides, where they have been album of the week in April. Drummer Jim Macaulay explained: “I’m very much looking forward to getting booked there because apparently it’s only a two hour ferry journey from the mainland!” Slightly closer to home is the Scottish mainland, where Sins played at the end of April, offering a chance for the band to enjoy the true touring experience for the first time. Ali said: “To try and keep costs down and because we’re based in Birmingham we’ve drove home from a lot of the gigs, but with doing a proper northern leg of the tour we’ve got a few overnights which could be interesting.” The band are doing it the old fashioned way of getting themselves on the road and playing to as many people as possible.

Debut album We Leave At Dawn hit the shops on March 31st preceding their first major UK headline tour.

How far the foursome can go could be out of their hands but Jarvey is confident that BBC bosses will play the record in the future.

Keyboardist Jarvey Moss added: “It’s frustrating that more people don’t know about the album because we’re all really proud of it.”

“Radio is the only way for people to hear your music unless they go out and buy it and they’re unlikely to go out and buy it if they haven’t heard it so it’s a vicious circle really.”

Despite that lack of airtime, debut single Highness reached 65 in the UK singles chart and has given the band a loyal fanbase. Moss explained: “We’ve had people turn up to gigs with presents; a lady bought us all cravats and braces at the Bush Hall show so it’s nice to inspire that sort of response in someone.”

“We’re hopeful that they’ll come round, we’ll just have to wait and see I suppose.” It’s time Jo Whiley gave these guys a helping hand. Jamie Tabord

HOW DO YOU LIKETHEM APPLES?

Jazz-funk is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of an Israeli band, but the nine (including the engineer) unlikely lads funked the audience at Maze until they could take no more. Intricately mixing anything from Ray Charles samples to traditional Jewish melodies with upbeat trumpets and saxophones, The Apples had a sound that catered for everyone. Some would consider eight instruments too much for a single band, but the result was fantastic and certainly got their crowd moving. The Apples started their show as they meant to go on, making their way to the stage through the crowd, in some sort of funk procession. If their stage entrance wasn’t crazy enough then the band’s two DJs,Todres and Schoolmaster, certainly took it to a new level. The two pulled off some insane scratching on a four-deck setup, making somewhat of a statement in their death row style boiler suits. Throughout their electric hour and a half set, The Apples performed as a really tight unit and had their audience hanging on to their every note. They spent all night playing off one another and members of the group would often burst into seemingly impromptu (but no doubt wellrehearsed) solos. In an age where record companies hold such a tight grip on their artists as well as our wallets, it is refreshing to see a band such as The Apples simply doing their own thing and loving every minute of it.

Andrew Hendry

REVIEWS

LYONS &TIGERS

Exciting, entertaining, wild, the future of live music…….all words and phrases that could be used to describe this Liverpool based band.

NON THESPIAN

The Old Angel, Nottingham. Not the first venue that springs to mind for a hip-hop act such as Non-Thespian. I had to double check the gig was actually on - it wasn’t in the venue’s gig diary and the place is usually full of beer-swilling rockers. I really wasn’t sure. However, after a nice evening nap (I’m getting old and they weren’t going on till midnight!) I trundled off down the Angel and despite the place looking very closed, knocked on the doors and was ushered upstairs to the dingy room that for this night at least, was home to hip-hop. The guys who were playing when we arrived were, um… interesting. They looked more like something out of American History X than anything else – and one guy seemed to have some kind of involuntary hand spasm while rapping. It was a cross between Plank from Lock Stock and Rain Man. I heard a rumour it was their first gig - maybe that explains it. Get someone to video your next one lads and then watch it back the next morning. Non-Thespian made a cameo appearance at the end of the night, an hour behind schedule, and kept it short so we could all get home to bed (or maybe he was bored senseless by the support acts). It was a high tempo and energetic performance, crowd-pleasing and kept your attention despite the backing tracks being consistently too loud for

the vocals – bearable when there’s a band on with good live music but not when you’re rapping to a CD player. I did hear enough to know that he wasn’t happy with Capital One sacking loads of its staff. I’m not sure what people expect when they go and work for those types of companies anyway – they’re hardly likely to put your interests before the shareholders now are they? (Too controversial? Moving on…) Back on point, I did not quite understand the cowgirl doing backing vocals. It wasn’t needed but it offered some unintentional amusement. The rapping was decent and Non Thespian put on a good show. It’s not groundbreaking hip-hop although the Capital One crowd seemed to enjoy the short set.

If there is one group that you need to go and see this year it is Lyons and Tigers! Sure they played all their best songs first and so meandered a little at the end, but their personalities and stage presence made up for this slight naivety. They describe their musical genre as comedy, lounge, electronica. It’s fantastic. Personally I wouldn’t like to restrict them to any specific genre as it may put some people off from going to see them. They are born performers and look so comfortable on stage that whatever your musical tastes, I can guarantee if you give these guys five minutes you’ll love them. Ryan Nolan

It would be worth checking these guys out again - maybe in a more traditional hip-hop venue. Right, I’m off to have a listen to some NonThespian MP3s to see if I can make out the faint sound of cowgirls in the background… Sam Borrett Non Thespian have an album out on Dealmaker Records this summer. Keep an eye on TheMusicDirectory.co.uk for breaking news.

Happy 25th birthday to Wild Clothing. Nottingham’s premier vintage clothing shop first opened its doors back in 1983 (when a lot of the clothes it sells now would have been brand new!) Located in the trendy Hockley area, it has an excellent range over two floors and is well worth a browse. An additional store, Wilder, was opened in 2006 in a more central location with the same great selection of vintage and new clothing from top brands including Stussy, Pop, Dickies, Lazy Oaf and Ames Bros. You’ll also find copies of Freeq magazine at the Hockley store.

RIUVEN Friday 11th April 2008 saw the album launch party of the up and coming rapper RiUven. Based in Toxteth, Liverpool, his lyrics and vocal style stay faithful to the picture that he and the media like to paint about the area. Aggression, deprivation, crime and of course, drugs.

Although it’s not immediately apparent, RiUven is in fact simply a parody of Liverpool’s more undesirable youth. Robert Morris is from Toxteth but during his Jewish upbringing he attended the prestigious King David’s school in Childwall and therefore had a better education than most in his area. His myspace biography alludes to his lyrics making a social commentary about the state of youth in Liverpool and though his press interviews have been designed to remind us that it’s all a joke I’m not sure it’s been enough to convince the locals that it’s really that funny. Some might say it’s because he’s uncomfortably close to the reality of Liverpool’s inner city problems. Of course on a wider scale we could believe his commentary is accurate for most if not all cities in the UK. Perhaps this is part of his attractiveness and also his controversy. His persona epitomises all that is wrong with youth today but through his keenness to show us all how bad things are perhaps we should be taking more responsibility to recognise where things have gone astray. RiUvens launch party gig was marred by poor sound engineering throughout his set. Quite simply the backing music was louder than his vocals and so only segments of his performance were distinguishable. Unfortunately, I was not the only one to get frustrated with this and half way through the show many of the crowd demonstrated their annoyance by walking out leaving only friends, family and a few stragglers like myself to hear the remainder of his set (or should I say his backing tracks). He did however use the stage well, interacting with the crowd between songs and berating his DJ for playing the wrong music. Entertaining indeed but I may actually have enjoyed it if I could have had heard him rapping!

image: Colin Brothwood

Acoustic singer songwriter Paul Liddell sings with a passion and a pride in his North Eastern accent that is refreshing at a time when most similar acts try to hide their roots. As a consequence his songs are more intimate and honest than his faux-American contemporaries.

From listening to his online tracks Robert Morris is an artist with undoubted intelligence plus lyrical and musical ability that should see him successfully shed his persona as RiUven and turn into an artist rather than a caricature. The only obstacle he faces is that his joke is perhaps not as obvious to first time listeners as perhaps he thinks it is and this may end his career before it even begins. Ryan Nolan

artist profile: PAUL LIDDELL

He has achieved much to date with tours of the US, the release of two solo albums and a collaboration EP with a band he put together called Delphians. The songs available on his website are well produced and aptly demonstrate his musical talents. There are many things about his song writing that make him more interesting than his peers in the acoustic genre. For a start Brighter Lights is an uplifting song that makes you feel better about yourself despite the lyrics possibly implying a more sombre vibe. The music provides a contrast that overrides the worries that the person in the song might have. It leaves you with the sense that around every dark corner is a bright future. Not often does a songwriter inspire me with this sentiment and I am thankful for finding another who can do this. The instrumentation choices stay true to the folk influences that he states he has; refreshing, because too often today artists let go of their influences for commercial reasons or for an easier approach to song writing. The other songs are stylistically similar and well executed giving Paul a unique sound that is easily identifiable. I wonder, when listening to Paul, why the labels who have shown previous interest haven’t signed him. I hope it is because what they were offering him was an unacceptable deal, as I believe he has a lot of talent and a bright future ahead. If you can find the album A Lighthouse Keeper’s Diary (I found it on amazon.co.uk) I’d recommend buying it but hopefully we’ll be able to pick up his next recording everywhere soon. www.paulliddell.com

Ryan Nolan

QUEST FORA FEST Last year, it cost £145 to get your hands on a ticket for Glastonbury, which attracted approximately 135,000 people. In 1990 it cost just £38 for a place, with around 70,000 attending. So what’s the deal? Festival promoters have cottoned on to the evergrowing market of festival goers. Nearly all of the bigger outdoor music events, such as Glastonbury, V and Leeds, have steadily increased in price as time has gone on. This year your Leeds ticket cost you £155, but last year it cost you £10 less. Festivals, from the word ‘feste’ meaning feast, can be traced as far back as 600 B.C. People have been going away and indulging themselves in pleasurable pursuits for centuries, although I can guarantee that back then it wasn’t as expensive. Music festivals were very big in the 60s and the 70s, particularly the legendary Woodstock, which pulled in an impressive crowd of up to 900,000. However in subsequent years this huge demand for festivals died down, before its renaissance in the nineties. Perhaps the sudden burst in popularity was because festivals started giving time and space to the revival of popular post-punk and the evolution of other sub genres, such as baroque pop and new progressive. Or it could be that the birth of Britpop gave them a much wider appeal and presented a more easy-listening alternative than the screaming punk acts of days gone by. The rise of ‘indie’ bands in the mid-nineties could in part explain why many music festivals are now much more mainstream and commercial than in the past. Festival organisers are raking in larger amounts of cash by promoting bands that ‘the masses’ want to hear. Even so, each year sees Leeds and Reading showcasing considerably more punk and metal – witness the 2008 headliners, Metallica and Rage Against The Machine. The popularity of Download festival might have some role to play in this.

Speaking of money, estimates put Reading’s

annual income at £7m, with no signs of falling. In 2006, tickets for Leeds sold out in a record time of just two hours, forcing organisers to release more tickets that proceeded to sell out in a mere 26 minutes. Fast forward two years, and you’ll see Leeds Festival tickets for 2008 were also snapped up in a matter of hours. In 2007, an estimated 80,000 people attended Reading. Around 70,000 were at Leeds, where organisers were forced to ask for more space, leading to a new camping section at the ground. However, high demand for places comes at a cost – fire chiefs at Leeds expressed their concern about the substantial increase in numbers and its potential impact on safety. Festival planners increasingly find themselves having to go to extreme lengths to enforce tightened security measures. This summer, Glastonbury is reportedly having 500 uniformed police officers on site during the weekend, with organisers allegedly claiming that punters shouldn’t be able to walk 30-40 feet without spotting a bobby. Whether or not the officers will be wearing polka dot wellies, is up for debate. When it comes to wellies – not to mention hotpants, for that matter – the reigning queen of festival chic still has to be none other than Kate Moss, who created the look in 2005 by donning her rubbery footwear at Glastonbury and inspiring a whole new boho trend. As long as Moss continues to make her regular appearances at these events, festivals will continue to be considered as slightly more glam, and less grunge, than they once used to be. Fashion aside, any seasoned music fan will agree that there’s nothing better than being in a field with a pint of (over-priced) beer in your hand and listening to some of the best bands around for three consecutive days. Or the feeling of getting home with a sunburnt face, trying to remember the drunken blur that was the festival. The people you meet and speak to; the unique

atmosphere; the unforgettable characters dressed in Spiderman outfits or Roman togas. Festivals are about forgetting about work/uni/family life, letting go and enjoying the ride. Where else can you lose yourself in the moment and throw caution to the wind? Who cares who might be watching – chances are they’re doing it too.

your computer waiting for those Glastonbury tickets to go on sale, why not just search online for other festivals instead? There is simply no better way to spend your summer.

As long as UK festivals continue to offer a highlysought after experience, their popularity is set to continue. Although whether this can be said of Glastonbury is another question, with hordes of regulars opting to give it the cold shoulder this year – apparently in protest at the choice of US hip-hop star Jay-Z as a headliner.

We’ve previewed a selection of UK festivals as well as a couple of lesser-known European alternatives over the next four pages. It should get you in the mood for some summer music!

Jen Dixon illustrations: Katharine Brown

Perhaps this could be a good thing, as it might give music lovers a chance to sample the delights of other, less-mainstream events. In fact, don’t be upset if you missed out on your chance to get a Leeds or Reading ticket. There are plenty more festivals to occupy your time for the summer. All is not lost. The same weekend that sees Leeds and Reading taking place will also play host to another festival in Ireland, fondly known as Electric Picnic. The weekend presents such acts as Wilco, My Bloody Valentine, Goldfrapp, Sex Pistols, New Young Pony Club, CSS, The Gossip and many more. Meanwhile, Festival Republic – the people behind Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury – are putting on a slightly lesser-known weekend event, from 17th - 20th of July. Latitude is only in its third year and is being held in Suffolk, with tickets going cheaper than any of the other more popular festivals. Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros and Interpol are among the headliners, with other noteworthy acts including The Go! Team, Deathcab For Cutie and The Mars Volta. Unlike most other main music events, Latitude also hosts a literary tent and a poetry venue. Whichever one you opt for, you’ll soon find that there are plenty of festivals to get yourself along to, not to mention a vast and assorted selection taking place abroad. So next time you’re sat at

V FESTIVAL

Largely considered to be the equivalent of ‘My First Festival’, many regular festival-goers will once again start their annual anti-V rants, slating its variety of pop/rock and its highly commercial nature. However, as I prepare for this year’s event, I discover that this is THE festival for the masses. Past performers: The festival has featured past headliners such as The Verve, The Manic Street Preachers, Coldplay, Muse, Oasis, Radiohead (considered one of the festival’s defining moments) and The Killers, as well as pop acts such as Girls Aloud and McFly. Ones to watch: Main acts for this year include repeat headliners Muse and The Verve, as well as Kings of Leon, Stereophonics, The Futureheads and Hot Chip. Once again, The Road to V competition is out to find new talent to appear as Main Stage openers, the finalists were announced at the end of April. Music lovers will know the competition has already seen the likes of the Young Knives, The Holloways and Bombay Bicycle Club gain notoriety. Don’t forget your… Having never done a festival before, I’m a little unsure as to what to expect. That said, the chance to see Muse headline a festival is easily worth the £70 day ticket. As with all festivals there are some essentials to take;

money, a mobile phone, a small bag, bottle of water, a waterproof jacket/coat, wet wipes, deodorant, spare clothing and wellies if doing the full weekend. Not to mention, most importantly, the tickets. Green rating: Festival organisers have got V helping out the environment as well. A 10p refund policy is in place for paper cups as incentive to keep the sites tidy. Rubbish in the campground is also said to be a real issue by the end of the weekend, so be prepared. The toilets are considered to be good by festival standards. Meanwhile, the festival organisers have once again made arrangements with National Express and Liftshare.com to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution to and from the festival sites. Parting words: From what I’ve heard, V Fest is a great festival, with an amazing atmosphere and a friendly crowd. Who is a typical V Fest fan though? When you think about it, you come to the conclusion that this festival has no typical fan. There’s Glastonbury for the indie kids, Reading/ Leeds for the rockers, Download for hard rock and metal fans; but there is such variety of genres at V that you just can’t label it. Liam Sheasby

THE ROADTO V

Whenever there’s talk of the UK’s main music festivals in the UK, it’s usually only headliners and other big acts that get a mention. However, people are becoming increasingly aware of discovering unknown bands who just might have otherwise passed them by. Festival bookers understand the need to promote new talent, so many run annual contests to give one lucky band a possible big break. The V Festival’s Road To V is one such competition. Road To V is a ‘battle of the bands’ for acts all over the country, with the prize being a coveted place in the festival line-up. Past winners have included The Young Knives and Bombay Bicycle Club. Each year, thousands of bands apply and the final 14 are selected by industry professionals before going to a public vote. Worry not; this isn’t some X-Factor-type instant shot to the top. The bands still have to earn their spot by playing gigs in Liverpool and London, as well as winning over a new crowd. Although it’s essentially an opportunity to play at one of the country’s top music festivals, taking part in Road To V is also a great way for unsigned acts to get noticed and receive some publicity, even if they don’t win. The contest website has a list of all the competing bands, with their songs and videos uploaded. It covers almost every genre imaginable, so there’s bound to be something there for everyone. www.roadtov.com

Illustration: Ben Wheele

Steven Cookson

DOWNLOAD Expect: A rowdy, dirty, loud and very hectic festival experience. If you’re tired of the tameness of V or the frustration, and idiots, of Reading/ Leeds, Download may just be the festival for you. Do not, however, be dissuaded on your first glance at the headline acts. Download is an event for behaving badly, drinking so much cider you can’t feel your tongue and, most importantly, discovery. The whole point of a festival is to explore and discover something you never even knew existed, so don’t get sidetracked by the monotony of the mainstream festival line-ups – at the end of the day if you want repetitive drivel you can just listen to Radio1. Ones to watch: Look out for Rise Against, In Flames and, of course, Korn’s Jonathan Davis on a one-man mission. Other top acts include Incubus, Biffy Clyro, Motorhead, The Offspring, Kiss and

Kid Rock. The more eclectically-minded of you will also enjoy seeing the likes of drum and bass kings Pendulum on the bill. What’s where? Download follows conventional festival procedure; i.e. a massive camping area at one end and a separate music arena at the other. Situated in the middle of Donnington race track, the main stage enjoys sporadic interruptions from jet engines that scrape the lighting rigs when preparing to land at nearby East Midlands Airport. It also has two massive indoor tents providing a cozy / sweaty / frantic / overwhelming (delete as appropriate) scene for further debauchery and hot rock.

Gareth Vipers

Don’t forget your… Sun cream, some transfer tattoos and an inflatable sofa (perfect for sitting, sleeping and moshing).

LEEDS

Leeds Festival approaches its 10th year, with a star-studded line up that would excite any selfrespecting music fan. Metallica, The Killers, Rage Against The Machine and Tenacious D, to name but a few, will make sure this August Bank Holiday Weekend is one to remember. Leeds Breakthroughs: Bands like Klaxons, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Blink 182 have all started out at Leeds and since gone on to greater things, so when the full line-up is announced, it would be wise to check out who is playing where. Not least because, as the Kaiser Chiefs did last year, some artists may play under an alias and perform surprise sets. Best festival for: Weather. So don’t forget to bring your sunglasses. For the last two years Bramham Park has basked in glorious sunshine while playing host to some of the best rock n roll the industry has to offer. When the music is over, why not rave the night away in the Duracell Battery nightclub, the Oxfam tent or even try the Silent Disco.

BESTIVAL

A note aside: You can’t take booze into the arena. You can try, but it’s not easy. Be sure to head off to the tents early, as they get mighty busy mighty quick, and leave plenty of time when heading to the festival as it’s a fair walk from the car park.

With names like My Bloody Valentine, CSS, Aphex Twin, Gary Numan and an exclusive appearance by the legendary Sugarhill Gang, the Isle of Wight’s Bestival 2008 is set to be bigger and better than ever before.

Cage the Elephant and The Teenagers. Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong will wow audiences with their unusual brand of kooky indie and impeccable style, while The Duke Spirit’s Leila Moss blasts the crowd with her lungs of steel.

Known for its weird festival fun, outlandish entertainment and eclectic mix of artists, bands and DJ’s, Bestival is the place to be if you fancy something a little out of the ordinary this summer. After all, where else are you going to kick back with a cup of tea while watching a burlesque show, learn to dance the Viennese waltz while waiting to see your favourite band or listen to poetry lazing in a hammock while tended to by fairies?

There’s also the proverbial breath of fresh air in the form of King Creosote, who combines classic rock with traditional Highland folk influences, as well as the highly-anticipated live set by Ox Eagle Lion Man, rising from the flames of the ill-fated band, Les Incompetants. We’re also dead excited about newcomers F**k Buttons, who combine the kaleidoscopic progressive repertoires of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power.

Over at the ‘BBC Introducing’ stage, Bestivalgoers can enjoy the crème de la crème of upcoming talent from the likes of bands such as Let’s Wrestle, Zombie Zombie, Imperial Leisure,

For more information on artists and events, visit the Bestival website at www.bestival.net. Rachel Hurst

Worst festival for: The perennial problem with Leeds Festival has been the limited range of drinks sold. As it was previously sponsored by Carling, that was the only lager sold. However, Carling is now no longer part of the biggest festival in the north, so there will undoubtedly be a large array of alcohol to choose from. Defining moment: One of many defining moments in the festival’s history was the now legendary Arctic Monkeys set on the small Carling Stage in 2005. Hoards of crazed fans packed out the tiny tent to see Alex Turner et al just on the strength of free demos. Green rating: 8/10 Last year, organisers offered a hugely successful scheme called the Carling Amnesty. Festival goers will get money back for every empty can of beer returned to a number of special stalls. Meanwhile, staff will scale the park offering recycling bags and generally helping anyone that needs information on how to do their bit for the environment while at the festival. Lee Sentino

READING

With such a diversity of the bands, it isn’t surprising all sorts of people attend Reading and Leeds Festivals. On any given year you’ll find fans from a mix of genres, whether its dance, ska, punk or rock. Even so, everyone gets along quite happily despite their musical differences. Regulars at Reading will notice a few changes to the stages – the result of Carling dropping its sponsorship. Broadly speaking, the Main Stage will feature popular bands of any genre, while the NME/Radio 1 Stage is set to host up and coming indie acts, along with a well-known headliner. The Lock-Up will offer a mix of hardcore, punk and ska for two days, with the same venue being transformed into the dance tent for one day. For the first time, the festival will include a BBC Introduces Stage – a new space to showcase unsigned or lesser-known bands. Meanwhile, anyone who fancies a bit of light relief during the event can pop along to the comedy tent, where comedians and DJs will be on hand to offer some entertainment.

Don’t forget your… Wellies: the weather can be erratic. High factor sun cream: you get a lot of sun exposure throughout the day. Groceries: go to a supermarket to get food and drink supplies in before you arrive. It’ll save you a lot of money. Disposable BBQs are good if you want hot food.

A final word… Programmes will cost, but at least they have correct stage times, so it’s worth forking out for one. They’re handy to keep in your pocket or around your neck. Let’s face it, if you’re going to enjoy the festival, it helps to know where everything is. Kimberley Ross

Toilet paper: always vital. Fold-up chair: this always comes in handy for anyone who’d rather not sit on the floor. A large tent porch or gazebo would also be useful if it rains (and it probably will). But… Leave valuables at home. There are lockers on site, but at a price. When you sleep, put your valuables at the bottom of your sleeping bag, so no one can get at them.

SUMMER SUNDAE Summer Sundae, held in the grounds of the imposing De Montfort Hall in Leicester, has evolved from a one-day event in 2001 to a full three-day ‘weekender’ held over five stages and two campsites. It does not attempt to compete with the big-name events like Reading or Glastonbury, instead carving out a niche as a more laidback, less crowded festival. The bill is generally made up of some established names (last year’s headliners were The Divine Comedy and Echo and the Bunnymen), with the rest being up-and-coming and unsigned acts. A recent trend for Summer Sundae is to have a well-known band play an acoustic set on the main stage; last year Spiritualized performed as Spiritualized Acoustic Mainlines, this year The Coral will be doing the honours. Ones to watch: At the time of writing, most of the unsigned acts for 2008 have yet to be announced, but up-and-coming bands appearing this year include Frightened Rabbit, exuberant youngsters Operator Please and New York’s Dirty Projectors. Summer Sundae breakthroughs: The festival often puts local bands from the East Midlands on earlier in the day. New Cassettes and

Redcarsgofaster played some of their first festival appearances at Summer Sundae in 2006. Leicester boys Kasabian received some early exposure at the festival back in 2004. Best festival for: Actually having space in which to walk around and pitch your tent. You can usually guarantee that you’ll be able to see the bands that you’ve actually bought a ticket for too, instead of being cruelly shut out of a tent because the festival has been over-ambitious in increasing the capacity. Due to its fairly relaxed atmosphere, it’s probably one of the most family-friendly festivals around. Worst festival for: Spoilt rich children from the Home Counties running around in soldier’s hats and singing ‘Time For Heroes’ in posh accents around a burning gas stove at 2 am. Middle-class families showing off with tents the size of Westminster Abbey and far too much camping equipment. Defining moment: If you’re looking for any Radiohead-at-Glastonbury-style epiphanies, then this probably isn’t the festival for you. However, sometimes it is almost loveably shambolic, particularly in 2006 when Camera Obscura’s

equipment failed to arrive and Vashti Bunyan came in for some considerable heckling having been booked to play before The Proclaimers. Green rating: 8/10 It’s a very environmentallyfriendly festival. Leicester train station is a short walk away from the festival site, and Summer Sundae monitors all its stalls, suppliers and vendors closely to guarantee food, services and goods are ethically produced. In 2007, all motorists were given a lightbulb to offset the carbon emitted whilst travelling to the site. Providing shower cubicles is a noble idea, but by Sunday the queues for them are quite lengthy. Toilet facilities are the usual festival standard. Richard Blackledge

EURO FEST The UK may have a shedload of festivals taking place this summer, but if you’ve tried them all before and want something a bit different, maybe it’s time to venture abroad and swap your mudfilled wellies and cans of cheap cider for flip-flops and a bottle of unpronounceable foreign beer. There’s a menagerie of music festivals all over Europe including Sziget in Budapest, Roskilde in Denmark, and Pukkelpop in Belgium. However, the two festivals you really should be buying tickets for are Benicassim in Spain and The Garden Zardar in Croatia. Benicassim is based in sunny Valencia, and is the perfect place for a unique music festival. Every day is spent lounging on the beach and when night falls the fun begins, with the hottest bands around playing to audiences until the sun comes up. The 14th festival will be held between the 17th and 20th July and the line up this year is simply sizzling, with headliners such as Gnarls Barkley, Justice and Spiritualized - not to mention upcoming bands such as These New Puritans,The National and The Glimmers. The festival also provides a range of entertainment including film, art and dance events. Tickets are €170 for four days.

Alternatively, you could head to Croatia and immerse yourself in the beautiful idyllic surroundings of The Garden Zardar, set within an immense 2500 square foot garden overlooking the ancient city of Zardar and its busy harbour. The mood here is seriously laid back, and visitors can leave the crowded, sweaty arenas back in Blighty for comfy cabanas and cocktails. The festival takes place between the 4th and 6th July and tickets are just £50 for three days. The line-up promises only the best in uplifting music from artists like Bonobo, Belleruche and Mark de Cive-Lowe and dj’s such as Mr.Scruff, Monkey and Buddha and The Sick Trumpet DJ’s. Bliss. ‘Essential’ phrases: Croatian: Ja misliti ja cu pobolijevati. Možete li održavati se moj kosa? (I think I’m going to be sick. Can you hold my hair?)

Spanish: Babyshambles - Está ese banda con ese idiota piedra en ella? El un ese estado en prisión? (Babyshambles - it’s that band with the idiot stoner in it? The one that was in prison?) Tiene usted cualquier emulsión pintura? Esto suncream justo isn’t fuerte bastante. (Do you have any emulsion paint? My suncream just isn’t strong enough.) http://fiberfib.com/ http://www.thegardenzadar.com/ Rachel Hurst (Editor’s note: Yea yea, these quotes may not be 100% entirely accurate before you bilingual smart alecs start moaning. Just give them a try and see what happens. Failing that, just talk louder and slower in English while waving your arms about - works every time)

Ima li u blizini ugao ducan do ovdje? I’m jato gusaka za pinta od Stella. (Is there a corner shop near here? I’m gagging for a pint of Stella)

CARRY ON CAMPING If you’re doing your first festival this summer, there are a few things you should know about the art of camping. Tomi Ajayi explains all. Pitching a tent requires seven things: outer tent, inner tent, groundsheet, poles, pegs, guy ropes and resolve. Don’t leave home without them. Even if it’s been sunny for days beforehand, there’ll be a downpour the moment you arrive at the campsite, just as you start putting your tent up. You’ve been warned. Location is everything. Do not be tempted to pitch at the bottom of a hill; for when the inevitable mid-week storm arrives, you and all your belongings will float away on a sea of shame. Even if you’ve just bought a new tent, there will never be enough pegs in the box. If, and when, this happens, get to know your neighbours and don’t be afraid to beg, borrow or steal them. If you’re stumbling back after a late-night gig, slightly worse for the wear, chances are you’ll have trouble finding your tent. However, most campers will have the same £29.99 two-man triangle tent from Argos. Bring an original, colourful flag to make yours stand out from the masses. (Note: the Union Jack is not original). Next to your humble abode, some flash geezers will have built a state-of-the-art, 10-man

marquee, complete with detachable gazebo and inbuilt plumbing system. Resist the temptation to torch it. Instead, swallow your pride and befriend them. You may well need their help when your cheap tent collapses at the first gust of wind. Do not panic when a wasp flies into the tent. Simply zip yourself up in your sleeping bag and wait for the beast to die. When you’re walking past a group of attractive campers, trying to look cool and aloof, this is statistically proven to be the point you’re mostly likely to trip over a guy rope. It’s okay – just pick yourself up, continue gracefully on your way, and try to ignore the laughter. Your ‘everlasting’ torch will run out of batteries on the first night. Take some spares, to light up those late-night visits to the portaloo. That way, you’ll know where to aim. If you’re sharing a tent and feel a little body-shy, acquire the art of changing your underwear while lying on your back in a tiny sleeping bag. (Also a useful dinner party trick). You can survive on a campsite with just wellies, tea bags, spare underwear, wet wipes, chocolate, loo roll and beer. Everything else is negotiable. Tomi Ajayi

MUSIC DIRECTORY NEWS Band promotion – or should that read ‘banned’ promotion. There seems to be no end of new websites for bands to register on in the hope of ‘getting signed’ or tempting us with some other gimmick. Even the globally established ones don’t actually appear to offer anything more than a shoddy profile page and the sale of your personal details to marketing companies [allegedly – legal department]. Messy designs, annoying pop ups, complex navigation and plenty of spam are all in abundance throughout Internet ‘music networking’ websites.

basis of a weekly email bulletin to all our users – vital for maintaining interest in your band.

We’re developing something quite different at The Music Directory.

We are busy integrating the new demo competition format into our improved user interface system and will be back up and running over the summer with exciting new prizes on offer.

We realise how important it is to look the part so you won’t find daft backgrounds that take days to load on our profile pages. Bands will stand out because of their music, and the reviews they receive, not because they’ve downloaded software that automatically adds friends to their profile. Direct links on the home page help point record companies and talent spotters to the real talent (that’s you!) and the services we are continuing to develop will help you forge a successful music career independently of record companies if that’s what you prefer. Of course, the usual facilities apply; picture galleries, MP3 uploads, mailbox, blogs, gig listings and user comments. But our added value is in the ‘extras’ that are not quite so common. Make it pay No need to fork out for hundreds of CDs up front and struggle to sell them at gigs to your friends and family – with our system you can begin generating cash without parting with a single penny. You upload your tracks, specify the amount you want to charge your fans and away you go! DIY Public Relations Submit your latest news; tour dates, album launch, charity gig or simply a new drummer, and not only will it be included in your profile, it forms the

Send press releases to members of the professional music industry such as A&R, producers, managers and publishing companies.

Beat the odds You want a detailed statistical breakdown of profile views, song plays and downloads, reviews, ratings, new fans and blog reads? You got it! Our weekly email alerts give you all the figures you need to work out how your band are performing on The Music Directory website. Networking Manage your own fanlists – as users sign up to your profile as ‘fans’ you can let them know about upcoming gigs, mail them new albums and maintain your own database of people interested in your music. Exchange gigs If you want to tour the UK or just play outside your home town, you can look for a band in the city you’re visiting that fit with your style and exchange gigs with them. You support them in their town, and they reciprocate the arrangement; helping build your national profile. Just a number of reasons why The Music Directory is the ultimate Internet tool for your music. Visit www.themusicdirectory.co.uk to register for your free account today.

iPod competition winner

Pocket yourself £25

In the Pilot Issue we asked for your feedback on the magazine. It’s important that we know what you think and we appreciate how busy you all are so we offered an incentive by way of an iPod Nano for one lucky reader who gave us their feedback via our website.

We want to give you that extra bit of encouragement to let us know what you think to the magazine.

Our independent adjudicator pulled Tom Kerswill out of the hat (not him literally, but his name). When we got in touch to tell him the good news, he had this to say, “okay, so really loved the pilot issue of Freeq - especially the design and artwork and general feel of it. I’m based in Manchester, so got my hands on an electronic copy - heard about the whole thing from themusicdirectory.co.uk” “I’m a singer-songwriter, so do loads of gigs round the country. Having an iPod Nano is going to be pretty cool, because I spend a lot of time on the train going from gig to gig. I’m playing at a festival in southern Georgia (2 hours south of Atlanta) in May, and doing a couple of gigs on the way back, in Washington and NYC. Coincidentally I was booked to play the festival because the organiser was on a plane listening to a podcast, which just so happened to feature one of my songs. When he got home, he Googled the lyrics, got my contact details and asked me to play. I’m a promoter myself, and put on a lot of gigs in Manchester (including the Songs for the Bath Tub series of acoustic nights). So I reckon I’ll use the Nano to store podcasts and see if we can book some even more eclectic acts than we do already! Thanks once again - really enjoyed the pilot. It’s a great thing you’ve got going on.” Thanks Tom and happy listening – and while your at it don’t forget to download the Fresh Music Podcasts from www.freshmusiccast.com as they feature lots of the content and bands in Freeq Magazine.

Request reviews from fellow users and review other bands – manage the reviews you receive to improve the look of your profile.

Log on to www.freeqmagazine.com and fill out the simple feedback form – all responses go into a prize draw and if your name is pulled out the hat, a cheque for £25 will be winging it’s way over to you through the Royal Mail. You can also email any letters / comments / amusing anecdotes / gig reviews / photos to info@freeqmagazine.com if they’re really good you might just find them in print next issue.

Top of the Pods Freeq Magazine is now being podcast. You can download podcasts from www.freshmusiccast.com and hear presenters Liam Fitzgerald and Nick O’Connor bring you the best of Freeq Magazine’s bands and features as well as adding their own special brand of musical entertainment - anything from indie to electro, dirty punk to soft acoustic; if they like it; they play it. Do you think you should be on the show? Well, send an email to info@freshmusiccast.com and tell the guys why! Don’t forget to listen out for the Fresh Music podcast special featuring interviews and reviews from Freeq Magazine’s recent launch night.

MD PROFILES

AMELIA & SIM Who’s in the band? Amelia McCloskey and Simrin Phull (we’re a songwriting partnership/acoustic duo) What or who do you sound like? A cross between the Foo Fighters, meets Evanescence, meets Kelly Clarkson etc. Sim brings in the rock, Amelia brings in the pop; rock + pop = pop rock! What’s the band up to at the moment? We should be writing and have four new unfinished songs but we’re currently dealing with interest from publishers as we’re aiming for a publishing deal, but hopefully finishing off those songs and writing again soon. Talking of milky drinks – Yop,Yazoo or Frijj? None of those! Nesquick all the way! Worst gig you ever played – where, when and why? HMP Send women’s prison near Woking in Surrey. Into the first song, Sim broke a guitar string, a few minutes later we carried on but the jailbirds in the front row had really sarcastic smiles on their faces and had their arms crossed and looked like they had an attitude problem. We don’t know why they were looking so smug because all we knew was that at the end of the gig, WE were going to be on the other side of the prison walls! Who would be your support band at Wembley? The Buttered Nuns (Who? We don’t know either!) What will you be doing in five years? Writing, recording with top producers, continuing to cause mayhem, general debauchery and waiting for the cheques to roll in from our major publishing deal of course!

VOLCANOES

DEAD LIKE HARRY

Who’s in the band? Kev Shirley, Samson Bedford, Chris ‘Ash’ Hall, Boa Internationàle.

Who’s in the band? Sam Taylor, Matt Taylor, Alice Faraday, Robin Baker, Adam Crofts, John Redgrave.

What’s the band up to at the moment? We’re well busy approaching record companies with our newly recorded tunes and getting our stuff promoted and on radio. We’re playing loads of gigs up north particularly in Sheffield and Leeds where the band members are based and later on in the summer we’re playing a few showcase gigs down in London which we’re well excited about. Then in the autumn after a few of the smaller festivals we’re going to release a fivetrack EP on our own label and hopefully go on tour supporting a touring band. It’s busy work, but it’s all good.

What or who do you sound like? Like Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan are jamming to a Kinks song at summer band camp!

Talking of milky drinks – Yop,Yazoo or Frijj? Frijj (Banana) If you were recruiting for the job of Leader of The World, who would be on the interview panel and why? God – He’d be a pretty good judge of character and you wouldn’t really need anyone else on the panel. Best gig you ever played – where, when and why? We’ve had a few great nights. In May 07 we released Trick of the Light on a small indie label called Raw Tone Records. We had a launch party at Frog and Parrot in Sheffield. That gig was brilliant. The atmosphere was fantastic we packed the place and the crowd jumped up and down for the whole gig. It gave us a taste of what it could be like if we stick at it. Worst gig you ever played – where, when and why? Josephs Well, Leeds, early 2006 - just a complete waste of life. No bands bothered bringing a crowd including ourselves, so we played to our Girlfriends. Who’s your biggest fan? My cousin Ed

If the world is your oyster – where’s the pearl? In the music maaaaaaaaaaan! ha-ha-ha!

If the world is your oyster – where’s the pearl? Anglesey, North Wales

http://www.themd.eu/ameliasim

www.themd.eu/volcanoes

What’s the band up to at the moment? Just about to head into the studio to record their forthcoming EP ‘When We Were 17’ with legendary Sheffield producer Alan Smyth (Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley, Pulp, Reverend and the Makers, Long Blondes etc…) If you were recruiting for the job of Leader of The World, who would be on the interview panel and why? Nick Cave – I think he might be from another world; I feel it’s good to have an outside opinion. Aslan the Lion - he’s had some experience in politics etc. And our drummer Adam Crofts – That guy is just SO wise. He drums with two sticks at a time! Best gig you ever played – where, when and why? I think it would have to be a very recent gig at a small venue called The Frog and Parrot in Sheffield. It was a Friday night, it was so busy you couldn’t get in the door. I even saw my brother Matt (the piano player) stuck outside, trying to get in just before we went on! Have you seen Santa Claus the Movie? Poor homeless boy outside MacDonalds watching everyone else have fun. That was Matt. Outside in the rain and the cold, face pressed up against the windows, tears rolling down his cheeks as the band began their opening song... Who would be your support band at Wembley? Prince, I know it’s aiming high but what a guy… Actually, even better, Prince singing Rolling Stones hits, wow how good would that be, I just fell off my chair!! Who’s your biggest fan? Harry. RIP. And finally; the famous Jaffa Cake debate biscuit or cake? Biscuit without a doubt. Or cake. www.themusicdirectory.co.uk/deadlikeharry

THE TEENAGERS

Self proclaimed ‘sleazy pop’ outfit The Teenagers have scores of uber-scenesters from here to Japan dribbling over their quirky tales of sexual depravity and naughtiness. Lucy Adams selflessly locked herself in a room with the Frenchmen to bring you this interview… Congratulations on the release of your debut album. Are you happy with the way it has turned out? Quentin Delafon: We are really happy and proud. We are surprised that everything came out so quickly. It’s cool. We’re very happy. How true are the rumours that your band started as a bit of a joke? Dorian Dumont: Not as a joke it was just for fun in the beginning. We did not expect to put out an album or anything. But yeah, definitely not as a joke! When you were signed none of you knew how to play the songs live because you wrote everything on a computer. Have you perfected your live shows / instruments yet? Michael Szpiner: We have been touring for a year so we have learnt a lot. It was really horrible and hard for us at first. The 10 first gigs were… well the very first one was in London and we were so stressed we were physically shaking.

SWOUND

Our fifth gig was in Manchester in the Ritz with CSS and we were playing like this (looking straight down at instruments). We felt so sick. Things have improved since then.

Were the additions something you wanted or did the record label insist? QD: Oh no it was something we wanted. We’re more like a real band.

You have been touring constantly for a year. How hard has it been? QD: We are actually bored when we are not touring. It’s really cool. It’s our first time playing in Japan soon but before that we’re touring North America again.The last show in Vancouver was one of the best of the North American tour. The junkie streets though! We went there on our first day and we were like “oh my god this is horrible,” it’s scary!

Any advice for unsigned bands? QD: I would say have sex with the right people. DD: Don’t try too hard - just don’t send records to labels because they never listen to them all.

You’ve welcomed a drummer and a second guitarist to the band recently. Is there a reason why you picked two extraordinarily attractive women? DD: First because they can play! QD: Really??.... I’m joking!

Liam Sheasby grabbed five minutes with up and coming Nottingham band: Swound You’ve played alongside Kasabian, Hard-Fi and Madness. What were those gigs like? Really good. We were asked to play the Kasabian gig in order to ensure there were enough people at the show and that’s the truth. The Madness one was ace. Does it give you a confidence boost being able to play with these bands? Yeah, especially if they watch you and pretend to like you. It can be a bit depressing though when you play with unknown bands that start to get really famous. You’re currently recording at the moment… We’ve decided to record a mini album. Paul Tipler’s doing it, which we’re thrilled about. He produced what could collectively be Swound!’s three favourite albums of all time – Hope Is Important by Idlewild, Sublingual by Cable and Horse of the Dog by the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. The recording will probably go down a grunge route but sound upbeat and lively. It will definitely be amazing. There’s a debate that Nottingham has a good band scene, but no-one ever seems to make it from there. What do you think is the problem? I think there are lots of good bands here. However, I think Nottingham suffers a bit from its bohemian art-house reputation. Bands who have the kind of sound that could reach a wider audience are often overlooked for not being arty or spazzy enough.

Lucy Adams

And arty and spazzy bands, no matter how good they are, are never going to be absolutely huge – there’s a limit to who’ll like them. Do you feel that maybe this whole indie/ nu-rave thing at the moment is partially to blame for hindering better bands who just don’t fit this sound? Maybe, but then it’s always going to be like this. This trend will just be replaced by another one which we probably won’t fit into either. Amuse us with an anecdote… Once, I saw a group of emos sitting cross legged in Market Square, all with their eyes shut singing The Black Parade. None of them were joking. Finally, give us the general jist of plans for 2008. Play as many good gigs as we can, release as much stuff as possible, befriend some famous bands with money, try and leech off them, get famous, have several number ones, headline Reading and win Anne Robinson’s cold shrivelled hand in marriage. Liam Shearsby

ALVAREZ KINGS Interview (with Lead Singer Simon)

We heard you were ill at a gig in Nottingham recently. How are you feeling now? I’m feeling a lot better now thanks. I felt even worse about having to cancel a show. I felt that ill at the Nottingham show we all decided that travelling to Castleford the following day would not be the best option. How did you guys get together? We first got together back at school. Me and Paul (bass) are brothers so we grew up playing music together and Will (lead guitar) was in Paul’s class and so he started coming around to our house to play music and that’s when we decided we wanted to be in a band. It’s taken a long time to get to where we are now but it’s definitely been worth it and we love what we’re doing and the direction it’s taking us. Here’s the annoying question: How would you describe your sound? I think ‘Indie-Disco’ is a fairly good description of our sound, although I feel our music has a bit more depth with jiggered and off-beat rhythms. Describing our sound is always the hardest question for us to answer in interviews. We tend to just pause, look at each other and hope someone jumps in and offers and a sensible response. No one ever does so we just end up laughing. How does the band differ from all the ‘generic’ indie bands out there? We don’t necessarily set out to be different but I think some bands do and it sometimes ruins what music is supposed to be. We just write what we would like to hear regardless of what anyone else is doing. It just so happens that a lot of people seem to be enjoying our style. Do you think there are too many indie ‘bland-bands’ out there who sound the same? A lot of people frown upon the indie genre at the moment because of bands like this, but on the same note I think it opens the door to bands that do have something a bit different and a bit special because not many do. The biggest effect I think ‘bland bands’ have had on music is on the live scene though. It is only over the last couple of years that live music has began to shine again after a long period where nobody was really that interested in the little local venues Who inspired you back in the day when you were starting out and which bands do you respect now? We grew up listening to The Beatles as it was our parent’s era of music, so they have a big influence in our music and what we do. We’ve been very lucky to share the stage with bands such as Little Man Tate, The Kooks, and The Enemy. A band who I really admire is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. They slog their guts out, touring country to country every day, for as long as year at a time, and then releasing an album in between. A proper old school rock and roll work ethic.There’s a couple of local up and coming bands I’m enjoying and admire at the moment called The Headliners and Pistola Kicks, who we are great friends with too What’s next for Alvarez Kings? Do you have any albums or singles in the pipeline? Any big gig dates? I think the next step is to just keep banging the tunes out in the practice room, try them out live and then demo in the studio. We’re waiting for the right label with the right deal at the right time. We’ve already recorded a few new songs that are a bit different to our current songs, one called Blood on the Pavement, which is a bit more driven and ballsy. It’s going down a treat live. We’ve also been asked to play a festival around August time in Germany just outside of Bremen so we’re really looking forward to that as we’ve never toured outside of England. Apart from that we’ve been asked to play the Eurocultured Festival in Manchester and looking at playing the O2 Wireless Festival again. Who knows what’s lurking around the corner! Rachel Hurst

DEAR SUPERSTAR

A Saturday night in the North’s small town of Workington doesn’t seem that appealing, but tonight is special, Dear Superstar is in town - a bunch of five, port drinking, straight talking, rock stars oozing the 80’s sleaze rock and roll attitude from every orifice. Guy Little got stuck in…

‘Welcome to your new favourite rock stars’ is your tag line but who’s your favourite rock stars? Motley Crue is a big one for us, but we’re also really influenced by people like 18 Visions and Bullet For My Valentine.

month and found common ground with them and became good friends, I asked them if they’d do some vocals on the track, Live, Love, Lie which they accepted. The track means so much to us. (Live Love Lie is tattooed across Micky’s chest).

Conceived in October 2004, Dear Superstar has been making waves on the live music scene, touring the UK and Scandinavia. In 2006 they recorded their self-produced debut album, ‘Confessions Of A Twisted Mind’ which was shortly signed over to Copro Records and was released in September 2006, to critical acclaim. Dear Superstar soon parted ways with Copro Records and are now one of the UK’s most famous un-signed bands. Now in 2008, they have toured and written more than ever, the result is Heartless. The new album is set to be a major success and has even racked up guest vocals from Bullet For My Valentine.

So how would you describe your sound… Well, we love 80s music but we’re not just trying to re-create that ‘coz it isn’t the 80s you know! We’re bringing what we love about it into the 21st century – we’re set in the ‘now’.

You’ve toured the UK and Scandinavia. What’s the music scene like over there? It’s different; rock music is like pop music over there. We went into McDonald’s and they were playing Iron Maiden! The UK can sometimes be unpredictable when we tour, but over there we know it’s going to be rammed.

Before the interview I was escorted to their tour van by lead singer, Micky and drummer, Minge, both skinny jeaned and booted, for a quick chat about the band tipped to be as big as Motley Crue. To start with, how are you guys feeling? How’s the tour going? We’re feeling great! The tour is going well, so far so good. We’ve sold out London, Newcastle, Manchester and I believe tonight is sold out. It’s been a bit of an eye opener to think that people are actually standing up and listening to us. Where did it all start for Dear Superstar? It was in October 2004, we just wanted to make rock and roll. Some of us had been in another band together, but in 2004 we regrouped. It was hard at first; there was no money so we were flogging stuff on Ebay, sleeping in the van, friend’s houses - anything to get by.

Tell us a bit more about your first album, Confessions Of A Twisted Mind… This one was just something to sell at our shows, if we didn’t have anything it seemed a bit amateur. We spent three grand on a home studio and just laid our ideas down, they weren’t really songs at this point, we never rehearsed them properly or anything – it was just what ideas came from the back of the van! We sent it to the record labels not expecting much, but Copro Records signed the album and we got it on the shelves of major record stores. And you’ve just recorded your second album, Heartless, in Cardiff with Romesh Dodangoda (Funeral For A Friend, Manics, Bullet, Lostprophets). How does this album differ from Confessions? This time we just wanted to do it properly. We stopped touring, and rehearsed 5 days a week. We knew we needed the right producer, so we looked at up and coming bands, and Romesh’s name kept appearing. He turns down 90% of his work, so for us to be in that 10% was fantastic. The album is for everyone, it’s so accessible - we have a song called Hollywood Whore on there and even Minge’s gran loves it! You even got guest vocals from Bullet For My Valentine - how’d you manage that? They were in Long Wave Record Studios rehearsing for their world tour when we were there recording Heartless. We hung out for the

What’s the band’s proudest achievement so far? Listening to ‘Heartless’ – it kicks ass! On the drive home from Cardiff to Manchester we listened to the album all the way, and everyone was smiling from ear to ear. We’ve had some sh*t thrown at us and been through a lot, but we’re still together now. That’s what our song Brothers In Blood is about. (The tattoo on Minge’s neck reads ‘brothers in all but blood’). Finally, what plans do you have after this tour and for the rest of 2008? Big things - high-profile tours! A release date for Heartless is our main priority though. We’re hoping for a summer release, then possibly do a few festivals and tour some more. A few big records deals have been coming our way, so maybe the right deal will come along. (Micky to Minge, “Next time we tour I’m bringing your mum!”) Guy Little www.dearsuperstar.co.uk

image: Sam Borrett

THE APPLES

We liked The Apples’ gig so much that we had to get a few words with drummer, Yonadav Halevy, after the show. Andrew Hendry posed the questions on behalf of Freeq Magazine. How would you describe your sound? Jazzed-up, Scratched-up raw instrumental funk. What is it that drives you to make music? “Music is its own reward.” - Arnie Lawrence. Israelis playing funk- how did that happen? There are Israeli musicians involved in many different types of music that you wouldn’t expect them to be involved in - a true melting pot of cultures and therefore genres. We came together based on our love of Funk music specifically. What’s the story behind the name of the band? We booked our first gig without a band name so it had to be decided upon in a five minute telephone conversation. At the time a favourite drink of ours was Apple Juice. Still is really. How did you get together? Schoolmaster and I first played together in an acid/drum’n’bass/jazz band and then continued to play with my old friend Shai Ran (jazz bassist) in an improvisatory raregroove/dub collective. After living in London during 2002 Shai returned with a vision of uniting both turntablists and adding a horn section. Finding horns was easy since we all knew each other in the jazz scene so we got a friend from our hometown Haifa and Shai’s fiends from the music academy in Jerusalem. Bari Sax player Yuval Tabachnik and I play together in New York and he’s been in the band since 2004.

With so many of you playing at once, is there every any conflict amongst you? Never musical ones, we work off of a very loose platform which allows space for everyone to shine naturally. On stage you are a very visual band. Is there any symbolism to the costumes worn by your DJs? No symbolism. The ‘electronic department’ wears industrial boiler suits with their names on the back, the horns wear proper shirt ‘n’ tie combos. The rhythm section wears something they can soak right through with sweat. The Yoda mask was part of a mini star wars theme in the rhythm section for Purim (Jewish Halloween) 2005. Other themes that year were Doctors and Nurses for the turntables/sound console and The Village People for the horns. For Purim just past, we all went as old ladies. What do you like about the UK and its audiences? Do they differ much from Israeli audiences? Israeli audiences are always up for going nuts at live shows. So we have fans of hardcore rock and electronica alongside jazz heads and teenagers who are just into having a great time, regardless of whether there’s a singer or not. I think in that respect it doesn’t differ too much from our UK experiences, even though our audiences here are built on people who first got exposed to our music via our previous LP and recent 7” from Freestyle Records played by Funk 45 DJs and the

like. There’s a long running tradition of live instrumental funk bands in this country so what we do doesn’t look completely alien to the audiences here, albeit with a bizarre twist on the format. We’ve recently found out that they love a little traditional Russian and Middle-Eastern groove as well. What is the Israeli music scene like right now? Fantastic, very healthy and diverse, with talented minds creating in every direction; straight ahead jazz, hard rock, indie rock, avant garde, electronica and funk. It centres around the Tel Aviv nightlife scene with more clubs featuring music nights being opened. The underground’s on top. Also many bands are releasing material in English so I’m sure you’ll be hearing from them soon. Andrew Hendry www.theapplesmusic.com

Laura Nineham caught up with Adam, the band’s vocalist, and put a few questions to him. Have you heard I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you by Black Kids? It really reminds me of Elle Milano - do you reckon they nicked a bit of your sound? I saw them live on Jools the other day, playing that very song in fact. And no it didn’t make me think that at all... Actually, now I think of it, they have totally ripped off our sound, and I will have them ‘taken care of ’ very soon...

Elle Milano is a band that has been flying under the radar for a shamefully long time. With songs such as their latest single Meanwhile in Hollywood and Swearing’s for Art Students, it’s hard to understand why they are still relatively unknown.

I YouTubed the band and there are so many mobile phone recordings of poor sound quality. Do you think it’s good that people are uploading footage of your gigs onto YouTube, or do you think the awful quality will put people off the band? Well I’m assuming people realise sound on a digital camera will distort if you take it to a gig, and we don’t actually sound like that? But maybe I’m wrong. I quite like the sound of those recordings - it covers up our shabby playing. What about music downloads - how do you feel about people downloading your music illegally rather than buying it? I don’t really care because we’re not making any money either way. I’d like to think if someone enjoyed something they illegally downloaded they might buy the album, or come to a gig, which is all good. Does anyone from the band download music? Well for the last couple of years since feeling like I’m in a ‘proper band’, I’ve felt pretty guilty downloading stuff, so I completely stopped for ages. But now everyone’s just been helping themselves to our album I’ve thought ‘f**k it, I’m taking something back’.

What do you think about MySpace joining up with Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music so they can charge people to download songs from MySpace and sell ringtones etc through the website? Well it’s not very surprising. There’s little point going into an anti-capitalist rant, but it is a bit sad how corrupt the music industry is and how no one actually cares. If you could save 3 things from a burning building (excluding people or pets) what would they be? I’ll say Bruce (my trusty Akai sampler), my inflatable hover bed, and my original 1987 Michael Jackson - Bad LP. If you could only ever listen to one band or artist for the rest of your life, who would it be? Well Michael Jackson by the looks of things, as my house has just burnt down. Er, right - moving on. Are you looking forward to playing The Great Escape? Any tips on which venue you will be at? We’re playing at Revenge (I think it’s called) on a penis shaped stage... yep... only in Brighton. Will you be going to any festivals this year? Yeah Glasto. Haven’t been for a few years so we’re really looking forward to it. Laura Nineham

THE MEXICOLAS

Being named after a Queens Of The Stone Age track has proved more of a hindrance than a help, but the band are starting to lose that tag thanks to an excellent debut. “We’re trying to shake off the Queens comparisons,” explained Tim. “Obviously it’s nice on one level but we don’t want to get pigeon-holed when a lot of the stuff on the album is not like them.” X is a real rollercoaster effort, with foot stomping rock combining seamlessly with vigorous anthems and powerful ballads. Rollercoaster is not a term used lightly for lead singer Evans, who went through a marital breakdown during the recording of the album. “Lyrically, a lot of the album is quite depressing and personal but some of the more recent tracks we’ve done are a lot more observational like Big in Japan for example.” Many of the 13 tracks reflect the myriad of emotions Evans was going through during a turbulent three years. The Black Country trio first appeared on the radar thanks to a Channel 4 documentary as part of the 4 Music series, where the band were shown recording in a disused warehouse. That has now been sold, but they are enjoying their new surroundings in a much smaller two-room studio, as Tim explained “At the new studio it’s a much more confined space that’s more conducive to producing music and there are no distractions.”

British rock’s best kept secret is making the most of their last chance at the music industry. Jamie Tabord meets The Mexicolas.

With the band already having three new tracks completed, a second album could be on the way sooner rather than later. The Mexicolas recently supported The Cult at London Forum and made a confident step up to the larger venue.

Hailing from Digbeth in the West Midlands,The Mexicolas are a three piece threatening to take up the mantle from Feeder and Biffy Clyro as the flagship of British alternative rock.

Jamie said: “We’re doing things the old fashioned way, getting out there and playing to as many people as possible and loving every minute of it.” The band has already been mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Stereophonics, Snow Patrol and Feeder. Come Clean has already been used on the Burnout video game series whilst ballads Times Infinity and Skin Tight have the potential to be big songs for the group.

With the band being no spring chickens, lead singer Jamie Evans realised The Mexicolas could be their last shot at the music industry. “Me and Tim (drummer) left another band to start The Mexicolas with Del (bass player) and we all agreed this was the last serious band we’d do.” That was over three years ago and their hard work finally came to fruition in February with the release of debut album X.

Stevens sums it up perfectly: “We’re just waiting for a single to break on commercial radio and then who knows.” Jamie Tabord

ARTIST PROFILE

BENWHEELE We are always on the look out for fresh talent and when we spotted Ben scribbling away in the Fine Art studios at Nottingham Trent University we just had to ask him a few questions.... Where are you from? Ditchling (it’s a small village near Brighton) Inspiration? ’m currently interested in making highly decorative mutations and disfigurements. I want these drawings to appear visually interconnected to the extent that it is impossible to pinpoint where each grotesque / ornamentation begins or finishes. Weapon of Choice? It really depends on the nature of the work I am making - when I make drawings I mostly use fine pens out of habit, but I’m also interested in animation and performance based projects. Where can we find you? My e-mail is bunnyfilms@hotmail.com otherwise I can be found lurking around Bonington building at Nottingham Trent University. I have a website too - www.benwheele.com Peanut butter or Marmite? I do eat a lot of peanut butter, but marmite is friendly too - marmite with peanut butter together is often overlooked.

OH HUSH

Oh, Hush! have only six songs, no record label, and the band members identities are a secret. So how have they managed to get over 26,000 friends, 43,000 plays on Myspace, and enviable radio airplay? Kimberley Ross talks to one of the elusive band members to find out how... How did you come up with the idea for the band? Did you originally intend for the members to be anonymous? It was about creating a project based entirely on the music and the fans. Love us or hate us, but do it based on the music! But we did intend to be anonymous and to make it an ‘internet band’. You have a blog where fans ask questions about Oh, Hush! Has anyone come close to unraveling the mystery that surrounds the band? There’s like over 2,000 comments in that blog, so some people have probably guessed a small part about us, but I’m confident that they don’t really know who we are. Once we reveal who’s in the band, there will be lots of ‘I knew it’ for a part of the band but I think overall people’s minds will be blown! Fan interaction is a big thing with you, is that something you plan on continuing? Since everyone is busy with their other bands, we need help doing things! We want fans to feel an ownership with Oh, Hush! They know what they like and we’d rather give them what they want instead of us telling them what they should want. Do you have any live shows planned for 2008? At some point, we’d like to play live shows, but not sure when, how, with whom, etc. We’d like to see the record get finished and released first though. You succeeded in getting your song Going Down In Style on Sirius Radio in the U.S., despite not having any official promotion. Do you think your fans had a big part in this? I think the fans played a huge part in that because I’m sure Sirius started hearing about us from fans spreading the word. They said we were the most requested band on their show! What comes next for Oh, Hush!? Finishing and putting out the record! We’ll have some new contests designing us a fresh new logo and album cover. We have a million ideas for music videos. And most importantly, we’ll keep putting the fans first! Kimberley Ross

TWIN ATLANTIC Twin Atlantic are an unsigned Glaswegian rock band with a twist, and have been touring their socks off all year. Craig Kneale (drums and vocals) talks to Kimberley Ross about their biggest gig to date, and the future for the band. What’s it like having played with such established bands as the Smashing Pumpkins and Biffy Clyro? Playing with Biffy was one of the best weeks of my life. It was an ideal crowd for us to play in front of - I think we made a lot of fans! Smashing Pumpkins was surreal, the biggest show we’ve played - it’s interesting to see how a band like that function and run everything. Is it weird to hear yourselves on the radio? The first time we were on the radio I stayed in my brother’s car for two hours to listen! You have a cello in your line up of instruments - how have you incorporated its sound into your music? Barry has played Cello since he was about 6 or 7. It seemed silly to not to incorporate it. There are plans to use it in a more interesting way. For someone who has never heard your band, how would you describe your music? Rock with a pop ethos. People label music far too much. We’re trying to write good music with something that people can latch onto and relate to. Are there any bands you would like to be as successful as? Not really, it would be naive to say we don’t care about how big we get. I’d love to be able to make a career out of this as it’s the most important thing in my life. I wouldn’t care if it took ten years for that to happen, as long as we could see progress. You released your EP titled A Guidance From Colour in January of this year. Do you have any plans for a full length anytime soon? We are writing songs at the moment. We have so much material we’re dying to do something with, but at the same time we are in no rush to get them recorded. I think for the next six months it’s all just about raising our profile. Kimberley Ross

HAUNTS

They don’t fit into a category, don’t like band names, and aren’t into obsessively promoting themselves. And they don’t even like drinking pints? They’re mysterious and dark yet harbour a giddy love for all things electronic. Lead singer Banks welcomes Rachel Hurst to the world of Haunts. When I looked for Haunts on the Net I noticed something straight away where was the over-the-top website in the usual unsigned band style? Where were the advertisements selling new albums, gig tickets, t-shirts, lunchboxes, action figures, pencils and all other types of weird and wonderful merchandise? Nothing - just a modest page with the band’s tracks playing over an arty background. But this is no ordinary band.

we’re trying to create has a real stomp and swagger, the sort of music that will make you move your body. Each track has a different mood but they all have a real dancey feel to them. We’re trying to make the drum sound like a drum machine and make the base sound like a synthesizer and we’re trying to make guitars sound like robots. Electro music without any electro instruments.”

Haunts formed when lead singer Banks met guitarist Alex on tour with separate bands. They clicked instantly: “Basically we’d crossed paths at several points and liked the look of each other.” Banks remembers, “Then me and Alex were on tour together and decided that we should do something that was a bit… special.”

Their current single Underground is the perfect example of the eclectic mash-up of musical genres.

With a name and their final band members (bassist Mitch and drummer Grover) - they were ready to go. But Haunts did the opposite of what every other fledgling band would do. Rather than downing a couple of Red Bull’s and racing to their mate’s garage to play the first things that entered their heads, they sat down and talked; for a long time. Banks explains: “We knew exactly what we did and didn’t want to do. The idea of a few mates getting together and standing in a room jamming, to us that sounded appalling.We had a really clear idea of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to sound like. A manifesto.” And what a great manifesto it turned out to be. Haunts recorded a few demos, whacked them on the Internet and soon received a wave of messages from record companies begging for more. But while other bands shamelessly promote themselves till they’re dead on their feet, Haunts patiently wait in the wings, getting ready to deliver that shocking blow to the masses. Which is worse: knowing that you’re going to get punched in the face, or getting your ass kicked when you least expect it? Haunts walk the line between electro and new wave punk/indie, producing great results. The band’s debut album, out in the summer, is the work of a group that will never stop exciting us. It’s like a kid with a chemistry set; each track smashes together elements of punk, electro, metal, rock and indie in a variety of deadly concoctions that puts the listener on a rollercoaster ride through dark paranoia and sunny ecstasy: “We wanted to do something punishing but at the same time euphoric and happy. The mood of it that

It’s a fast-paced dark story about life in the big city. Crashing drums fuse effortlessly with the edgy guitars and deliciously dark vocals.The electro and punk elements don’t conflict against each other at all, but instead weld together to create a whole new dance experience. Think QOTSA, Bloc Party and The Horrors being force-fed Justice and MSTRKRFT Clockwork Orange style. The mystery of Haunts go further when you discover their love for electro has led them into world of remixing. The proverbial Mr. Hyde to Haunts’ other material. “Do you know what?” Banks says, “I don’t know how that happened. I think Alex had been chatting online with someone from Funeral for a Friend and made a little electro song. They had a listen and really liked it so they asked us to make a remix. We did stuff with The Enemy and Athlete and have remixed our own stuff too. It’s fun because in many ways we’re not an electronic band but it might be something we get onto later on… you never know, our next album might be a electro album. We don’t even know.” So with a single spreading like wildfire, a much-anticipated album on the way, more remixes in the pipeline, and some very hush-hush festival dates, Haunts have a very busy few months ahead of them. And yet, they don’t seem fazed, and instead spend time contemplating more important things: “We were toying with the idea of changing our name every month. I really hate names- they’re irrelevant. We quite like horse. We might be really subtle, like Chinese whispers. I think next month we might be Horse, then Wars, Cars, then Trucks and then by the end of the year we might be Astronauts. You never know!” Rachel Hurst

ONES TO WATCH HIJACK OSCAR

Hijak Oscar are purveyors of a dirty, sweet, blues rock tinged with jazz and soul. Emerging only two years ago, and having released their debut LP in November 2006 off their own beaten backs, the six-piece just missed out on success in T4’s Mobile Act Unsigned 2007. Fantastically talented, but perhaps not yet commercially attractive enough to grab the support of the Jo Whiley clique, Hijack Oscar are certainly set for big things. The five guys and girl, formed in Yorkshire and have been gigging intensely since their exposure on T4 and have supported the likes of Son of Dave and Jack Penate. Bottom line – if you see them on a bill near you, get yourself down there before they stop playing pubs and move on to bigger and better things. Tracks to look out for are Bitter Carnival and Discipline of Time. Gareth Vipers

Metal maestro’s Beyond All Reason have just completed their headline tour of the UK, but have no intention of slowing down, as guitarist Russ Hampshire explains: “We have done a lot of touring and ground work recently so we are setting our standards high this year with the new album - its going to be killer.” The four piece powerhouse from York are back in the studio writing and recording their new album which is set for release later this year. Beyond All Reason played on the Tuborg stage at last year’s Download Festival and on the main stage at Bloodstock three months later. As well as touring and playing with rock giants Coheed and Cambria and Funeral for a Friend, Beyond All Reason have had airplay from Xfm and regional BBC stations as well as KROQ in Los Angeles. The band, who had their huge single Love Crossed Pistols on the Scuzz playlist after winning their New Blood show, are currently in talks with a major record company in Germany. Comparisons with Funeral for a Friend are justified but their melodic metal has a very unique style and presence - well worth checking out.

BEYONDALL REASON

Line up: Paul Ventress (Venno) - lead vocals/guitar; Russell Hampshire (Russ) - backing vocals/lead guitar; Nick Hutson - backing vocals/bass; Mark Forster - drums From: York Style of music: Melodic Rock/Hardcore Sounds like: Funeral for a Friend, Lost Prophets Current release: Angels (New album demo, out now on BAR’s MySpace) Website: www.beyondallreason.com Download this: Love crossed Pistols (album, Words of Betrayal, out now) Signed/unsigned: Unsigned Simon Gresswell

EXPOSE YOURSELF! A HIVE OF UNSIGNED AND INDEPENDENT MUSIC TALENT The music directory is the fastest growing music networking website in the country, with an increase of over 300% traffic since the start of the year. this is the best place to get a free profile, sell you music, manage your fan base and keep the record companies up to date with your band news.

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THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THANTHE CHORD Music is nothing without the lyrics weaving with the sound to create our favourite tunes that we laugh, dance, sulk and cry to. The lyrics of a song can be used to convey any message to the listener. You can protest and give your enemy the finger or pour out your inner feelings and declare your love. Lyrics are not to be messed around with and although we take for granted 90% of songs by how they sound; now and again someone pushes the boundary in song writing by shocking us all.

I want you to cast your mind back to December 2007 in Brighton. A venue titled Concorde 2 in the city’s gay district had banned the exotically named Buja Banton from performing after he recorded a song with homophobic lyrics. The Jamaican singer’s song Boom Bye Bye had lyrics referring to shooting gay men. While our rappers are taking song writing steps back into Victorian times, our Rock and Indie songwriters have been growing. Bands can write songs more or less about anything from sexual experiences and drug taking, to attacking governments and narrating horrible experiences like death.

Today in Rock and Indie, our song writers have a huge foundation to write songs upon and we’re now seeing biographical accounts of people’s perspectives, like the Arctic Monkeys and The Enemy. It’s almost as if albums are becoming more than just music and are diaries to the lives of a band or song writer before they were famous. The homophobic rappers who are itching to stir up controversy just to sell a record need to look at themselves in the mirror because our Indie and Rock song writers are the voice of the 21st century that we are proud to have above our government. Rachel Hurst additional contribution: Ben McGrae

The problem with critics of song writing is that they read into a song too much and make themselves out to be clever by encrypting messages or codes but instead come out as mad morons. For example, in the song Come as You Are by Nirvana, singer Kurt Cobain repetitively says, “And I swear, that I don’t have a gun, no I don’t have a gun.” Famously Kurt Cobain killed himself with a gun a couple of years after the song but even to this day you will get critics suggesting the lyrics were a warning that Kurt was going to kill himself despite the song being released during the height of Nirvana’s success. Another band that has come under attack has been the Beatles. This time they were accused of racism in the songs Get Back and Old Brown Shoe. To say the Beatles were racist is extremely absurd and is the kind of evidence Heather Mills will have be preaching about. Indie pioneers The Smiths have also been attacked as singing about indecent topics. Singer Morrissey’s sexuality has been forever questioned but never answered so critics will tell you his songs are biographical answers. So the title Reel Around the Fountain is apparently a Victorian term for oral sex and This Charming Man is a song about losing your virginity in a gay relationship. These critics are ignorant and songwriters today will tell you that their influences from the past have inspired and encouraged them to take song writing to new levels. The Clash have been a huge influence in song writing. Joe Strummer used to say the band used to pick up a newspaper and draw inspiration from the headlines. Topics the band covered were critical against the government and society. Fused with punk they were seen as rebels with songs such as Guns of Brixton, London Calling, White Riot and Police And Thieves. During the 60s in America, bands such as the Velvet Underground and The Doors were preaching about the seedy underground of drug usage while the likes of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix were protesting against the Vietnam War. After glam rock in the 70s, bands inspired in the 80s were open to their sexuality. Songs like Tainted Love by Soft Cell and Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood made the subject of being gay more acceptable in music.

illustration: MIMI

GIG LISTINGS MAY 19th The Black Angels - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Ida Maria - The Cockpit, Leeds The Fureys + Davey Arthur - Loughborough Town Hall Cancer Bats - Rock City, Nottingham Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 20th A Place to Bury Strangers - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham South Central - Sumo, Leicester The Thirst - The Charlotte, Leicester Tanihill Weavers + Steve Cartwright - The Musician, Leicester 21st Ram Raid + Diego Snail + Splatter Brains - Carpe Diem, Leeds Robots in Disguise - Rio’s, Leeds Palladium - The Venue, Derby State Radio - The Charlotte, Leicester Nice Peter + Robert Brown + The Codes + Nimisto + Acognito - The Musician, Leicester 22nd The Sunshine Underground + DJ Nick-Nack + DJ Run Hide Survive - Jake’s Bar Zion Train + Gentlemen’s Dub Club - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds The Dead Kennedys - Rio’s, Leeds Little Man Tate - Leeds Met. Student Union Abdoujaparov - The Royal, Derby

23rd Saul Williams - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds The Black Keys - Leeds University Students Union Caribou - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds The Melt - Running Horse, Nottingham DJ Yoda - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham Vincent Vincent and the Villians - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham Raven’s Creed - The Old Angel Inn, Nottingham Ian Parker Band - The Flowerpot, Derby The Devil's Haircut feat. Ortega, The Wickets & DJs – Junktion7, Nottingham

28th Tanglefoot - Assembly Rooms, Derby Belisha - Sumo, Leicester Jack Savoretti - The Charlotte, Leicester

24th Aces and Eights - The Cockpit, Leeds The Boat Rockers - Running Horse, Nottingham Sonic Boom Six - First Floor Nightclub In Isolation + Heroes Of Switzerland + Inukshuk – Junktion7 Nottingham

30th Headway + The Faraways - The Cockpit, Leeds Dream Evil - Rio’s, Leeds The Dodos - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham Tokyo Police Club - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham Life Among People - First Floor Nightclub, Derby The Subways - Leicester University Students Union The Metros - Sumo, Leicester OCEANSIZE + Kyte + World on Fire – Junktion7, Nottingham

25th The Tings Tings - The Cockpit, Leeds MJ Soul + DJ Noah + Orgatronics - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds The Muffin Men - New Roscoe, Leeds 26th The Felice Brothers + Serious Sam Barrett - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds Rukus + D’Clash + Boy Blue Entertainment - De Montfort Hall, Leicester My Awesome Compliation - The Charlotte, Leicester 27th Vetiver - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds Duece Katz - New Roscoe, Leeds De La Soul - Rock City, Nottingham Fear of Music - The Royal, Derby

29th Black Rainbow - New Roscoe, Leeds Let Down + Ironclad + The Gramercy Riffs + Humanity’s Gone - The Fenton, Leeds Kids in Glass Houses - Rock City, Nottingham Pilgrim Fathers ALBUM LAUNCH NIGHT! w/ Apparatus of Sleep – Junktion7, Nottingham

31st Sinnerboy - The Flowerfot, Derby Hot Club De Paris - The Charlotte, Leicester Censored's Club SOS w/ Lowline, Avangaad & Tom Jackson – Junktion7, Nottingham JUNE 1st Johnny Foreigner + Ox.eagle.lion.man + Tubelord The Faversham, Leeds Hot Club De Paris - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Matt Anderson - The Grapes, Sheffield Thea Gilmore - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham Leicester City Blues Fesitval - De Montfort Hall, Leicester

2nd Emergencies + Pop Fosters + King Simian - Trash, Leeds Noah & The Whale - The Cockpit, Leeds Vetiver - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham Inner City Pirates - The Charlotte, Leicester 3rd Jamshed - The Showroom @ Media and Exbibition Centre, Sheffield Gillemots - Rock City, Nottingham The Futureheads + Make Model - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham RB Morris - The Maze, Nottingham Clocks - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham 4th High Contrast + Scratch Perverts - The Club, Nottingham The Racals - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham The Maybes? - The Royal, Derby 5th Natty - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds Hate Eternal - Corporation, Sheffield Paramore - Rock City, Nottingham Ted Maul + Drag the Lake + Station! Station! Junktion 7, Nottingham Cinders Fall - Rock City, Nottingham Chase Long Beach - The Charlotte, Leicester 6th The Echo - The Hi Fi Club, Leeds Impressions - The Riverside, Sheffield Sly Fox - New Barrack Tavern, Sheffield Claude VonStroke - Stealth, Nottingham The Fillers - The Flowerpot, Derby Tom Mansi and the Ice Breakers - Sumo, Leicester 7th The Humour - The Cockpit, Leeds Erol Alkan + LJ Freeman - The Plug, Sheffield I was a cub scout - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham The Little Explorer - The Royal, Derby Wildside Clubnight – Junktion7, Nottingham 8th The Hooverdams + The Echo - The Northern Monkey, Leeds Micky P Kerr + The Dudes + Ali Whitton - The Faversham, Leeds Why? - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham

14th Wiley - The Plug, Sheffield DOSCH - New Barrack Tavern, Sheffield Patchwork Grace - Assembly Rooms, Derby 15th Queensryche - Leeds University Students Union Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham

5th Spock’s Beard - Rio’s, Leeds Lo-Ego - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

16th Deerhunter - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

6th Duran Duran - Trent FM arena, Nottingham

17th Melt Banana + Rolo Tomassi + That F**king Tank Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

7th Jah Wobble - The Boardwalk, Sheffield Ben Folds - Rock City, Nottingham Jim Moray - Loughborough Town Hall

19th Tesla - Corporation, Sheffield 20th Toots and the Maytals - The Cockpit, Leeds The Music - The Leadmill, Sheffield Love Grocer - Corporation, Sheffield Pressure + Telegramme - The Old Bell, Derby The Arcane + friends – Junktion7, Nottingham 21st Senser + Talula - Rio’s, Leeds Eyeball - New Barrack Tavern, Sheffield Sandi Thom - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham 22nd Derrin Nauendorf - The Boardwalk, Sheffield 23rd Melt Banana - Rock City, Nottingham Atmosphere + Brother Ali - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 24th Primigenia - The Shed, Leicester 25th We are Scientists - Leeds Met. Students Union Kit Holmes - The Maze, Nottingham Forty More Autumns - The Shed, Leicester Kill The Arcade + High Vixons + Long Drop – Junktion7, Nottingham 26th Koopa and the Conspirators - Sumo, Leicester

9th REO Speedwagon - Rock City, Nottingham Ejector Seat + Rosalita - The Venue, Derby

27th Sworn Against - Rio’s, Leeds Hard Luck Saints + Imicus - The Shed, Leicester

10th Zut Alors + Soft Toy Emergency - Carling Academy Sheffield

28th The Pietasters - Corporation, Sheffield Rockett 88 - New Barrack Tavern, Sheffield The Nightingales + Violet Violet - The Vic Inn, Derby Censored's Club SOS – Junktion7, Nottingham

12th Cage the Elephant - The Boardwalk, Sheffield Fleet Foxes + Beach House - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham Strawberry Blondes - The Shed, Leicester Make Model - The Charlotte, Leicester 13th Bilge Pump + The Velvet Orchestra + Solus LocusBruenell Social Club The Hair + Middlemen + Dinosaur Pile Up - The Cockpit, Leeds 36 Crazyfists - Corporation, Sheffield Earth + Tex + GBH - The Plug, Sheffield Big Session Festival 13th,14th,15th - De Montfort Hall, Leicester Resistance77 w/ S-Punk – Junktion7, Nottingham

Them is Me - The Faversham, Leeds Riding the Low - The Royal, Derby The Rotted (Previously Gorerotted) and Ted Maul, with Martyr Defiled and In Dying Days – Junktion7, Nottingham

JULY 1st The National - Leeds Met Students Union

8th The Goo Goo Dolls - Rock City, Nottingham The Rocket Summer - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 9th Jaguar Love - The Cockpit, Leeds 10th Comeback Kid - Corporation, Sheffield Mindless Self Indulgence - Rock City, Nottingham 11th The Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Cockpit, Leeds Band of Horses - The Leadmill, Sheffield Arnocorps - Corporation, Sheffield Treebeard - The Lion Inn, Nottingham My Morning Jacket - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 12th Red Sparrowes - Corporation, Sheffield 13th Efterklang + Braken + James Yates - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds Murder By Death - The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham 14th Converge - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 15th Parts and Labour - The Faversham, Leeds 17th Logan - The Boardwalk, Sheffield 19th Johnny Truant - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham The Mustangs + The Pirahna Brothers - The Musician, Leicester 20th Adolescents - The Casbah, Sheffield 23rd Acacia Strain + Annotations of an Autopsy + Knights of the Abyss - Junktion7, Nottingham

2nd Black Kids - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

24th Tinariwen - Rock City, Nottingham Failsafe + Miss Conduct - The Royal, Derby

3rd Chris Helme - The Boardwalk, Sheffield Tift Merrit - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham You Me at 6 - The Vic Inn, Derby

25th The Smyths - The Charlotte, Leicester Hip Priests / Musclecar / Shadow Cops – Junktion7, Nottingham

4th Mishkin - The Library, Leeds Midnight Special - Duck & Drake, Leeds

27th The Dickies - Carling Academy Sheffield See www.themusicdirectory.co.uk for more listings.

Q&A’s Simple and straightforward answers to your every question – we won’t boggle your brain with overly complex technical jargon so if there’s anything on your mind, and no-one else can help, maybe you can email - the Music Directory’s Production Guru Ryan Nolan: Ryan@themusicdirectory.co.uk There are so many microphones to choose from out there. Could you recommend a few must haves and their main uses? There are quite a few affordable, good sounding and excellent value for money microphones on the market. These are my favourites: Shure SM57: Possibly the most versatile microphones around and no matter what studio you go to you’ll find at least one of these in the mic cupboard. This will be particularly successful when used for recording guitar amps, bass amps, snare drums, brass instruments and of course rock vocals. Shure SM58: Similar to the SM57 this is the mic you’ll see just about everyone singing through on stage. Really good to use when trying to avoid feedback on stage this can be used to record all of the things the SM57 can but has the advantage of being able to be thrown around a little more due to the design of the grill. AKG D112: A great mic for recording bass drum and other high sound pressure or bass instruments. Such as bass cabs or trombones. Don’t worry how hard your drummer kicks his bass drum this mic will take it! AKG C518 M: A clip on mic primarily designed for stage use on drums and percussion this can be used well in the studio for mic’ing up tom-toms and percussion. Rode NTK: An affordable and excellent sounding valve microphone. Perfect for vocalists and acoustic instruments. I spent ages with a singer recording vocals for my new song. Finally we got some great performances but I’ve noticed that there is distortion on some parts, is there anything I can do to fix it? Quite frankly no, not really. You could try to edit the bits out using small sections from other takes or parts of the song but this could be as timeconsuming as re-recording it. This highlights how important it is to listen carefully to each recording when tracking to spot any sound issues that may become problematic when you go to mix. In my opinion you should always beware the engineers who say “don’t worry we’ll fix it in the mix”. Although some issues may be able to be corrected to an extent, they won’t be removed and anyone with astute ears will pick them up. Always get your recordings perfect before going to the mixing stage. It’s useful to keep a note of your recording settings in case there is something you have to rerecord later; that way you won’t spend ages trying to replicate the original sound. I wanted to invest in some recording equipment, what should I get? This is a slightly open ended question that could be a topic for a whole book so I’ll try to give some advice rather than give you specific equipment information. 1) Decide what your requirements are. Will this be for recording yourself as a solo artist, your band or as a commercial venture? 2) Find out what other people use. Visit other studios that are similar to what you want and take note of what they use. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the gear. 3) Draw up a wish list. Following your studio visits make a list of all the stuff you’d like. 4) Read reviews and forums. Now research your wish list making notes about what people think of the gear you want. Assess how reliable the equipment appears and whether it will be good value for money. 5) Edit your wish list and go shopping. Finalise the things you want and then approach different suppliers to get the best quote for the gear. Try to negotiate a discount if possible; most suppliers will give you something off if you try hard enough. This will leave you with a little money left over for anything you have forgotten….such as the cable you need to plug everything together.

illustration: MIMI