Issue 3 May 2016 Fret-Buzz Music Magazine

m ay ‘ 1 6 £2 Digital | £3 Printed

issue 3

featured articles festival news | is rock dead? | rocket fuel bands in the spotlight nadia rae | chloe north In Review Laurel| jerry williams | olly fry | more...

Live & local patent pending | bestival competition

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Co-founder James Adsett Editor/Co-Founder Jake Priddle www.jake-priddle.co.uk

Contributors Andrew Butcher Jay Jay www.jayanamusic.com Luke Joynes www.iowfestivalsfansite.net Anthony Sharp

issue 3 May ‘16

Ian Vaughan Elliot McRae

www.elliotmcraephotography.com

James Gilby

@UHub_Official

Silas Gregory www.chalkpitrecords.com

Fret-Buzz HQ info@fret-buzz.net editor@fret-buzz.net 07576138337 Advertising/Stockists press@fret-buzz.net Music/News Submission reviews@fret-buzz.net Think you can do better?

Join our team today! jobs@fret-buzz.net Fret-Buzz Media www.fret-buzz.net

Have you ever tried to coordinate and produce a music magazine... whilst trying to move house? I have - and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

What I would recommend though, is to check out every single band mentioned in this magazine! They’re all awesome - even the ones we might not have written too positively about - it’s all subjective... make your own mind up.

In this issue we welcome back our permanent features and review writers with all the usual Fret-Buzz goodness. Recommended music and bands from Chalkpit Records and UHub Official. Festival News from Juke Joynes. Anthony investigates the question you all want answered ‘Is Rock Dead?’ Jay Jay is back with another fantastic introducing artist. Andrew Butcher is frustrated with commercialism. Elliot’s been to a gig. And I’m still learning how to spell - sorry to Lewis Shepperd for last issue!

Oh wow, ALSO this issue we have a pilot for our new Gig Guide section. Let us know what you think.

Support local music Jake Priddle editor@fret-buzz.net

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Contents Chalkpit records recommended music 8-9 Introducing Nadia Rae 10-11 chloE north 14-15 uhub Official bands to look our for 12-13 Festival news lukes ones to watch blissfields victorious 16-19 anthony investigates is rock dead?

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commercialisation frustration 24-25 don’t miss this gig 26-27 Magception rocket fuel mag launch 28-33 music reviews 34-38 live reviews 39-43 Gig Guide 44-45

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Introducing

Nadia Rae

Nadia Rae is a singer/songwriter from North London. Having moved to the UK from South Africa at a young ages she always knew that music would play a big part in her life. After seeing her perform at the UK Unsigned Hype showcase in Camden. Her voice stood out with a very silky tone, powerful sultry voice and cool confidence. The songstress has performed across different platforms in the UK and London, with a standout performance on BBC 1. Nadia has had a great presence in the indie scene and has worked on her debut EP ‘I am a warrior’ produced by Julian Chown that released at the beginning of 2016.

Her single ‘Dirty Lies’ was released with a video on her VEVO channel on the 12th of April and has done well in terms of the views that it has gathered! Make sure to check out her YouTube Channel by searching “Nadia Rae”.

Also, give the single a quick listen, you will not regret it! “Dirty Lies” here: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=pCLlgKNyNUs - Jay Jay

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Introducing

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ometimes in Fret Buzz we have written up a short single review of an artists, and then decided that just isn’t good enough because there is so much more we need to say about them.

So much more you need to know! Almost like we’ve done the ‘did you know this artist exists?

They’re great!’ bit, and then go on to give you a proper introduction to their sound, and what they’re about. This happened with Max Cowley in the transition between our March and April issues, and is now happening with Chloë North in this one.

Back in our April issue of Fret Buzz I did a review of a single released by Chloë that was a cover of a song by the 1975 called ‘The Sound’. This début single was a perfect introductory example of Chloë’s ability to take a stylistic and modern, but also very retro upbeat song, and turn it into a much more emotive, beautiful ballad. But then, Chloë is Manchester born. And Manchester has bred some intriguing, very talented musicians over time. Dating all the back to George Formby, the earliest man I know of to have made the Ukulele cool! (my knowledge probably doesn’t go back as far as yours, so feel free to write to us to correct this!), The Bee Gees, Take That (you might not be a huge fan, as it is.. An acquired taste so to speak. But they are from Manchester, successful, and gave Robbie Williams the kick start of his career.. Which to me is a great thing.

Yeah.. Self-confessed Robbie Williams fan. Shoot me!) and Oasis - to mention only a few great examples. And now of course Chloë North is continuing this great musical heritage! (No pressure Chloë..)

So who is Chloë North? Well, at her core: an ever-growing confident young woman with a brilliant voice! She describes her sound on her website, chloenorthmusic.com, as an electronic singer-songwriter inspired by Lorde, Lana Del Ray, Kate Bush, Broods, and Fka Twigz - to mention a few. And I imagine more recently The 1975 have definitely made that list too. Chloë moved down to the Isle of Wight after fifteen years of living up in the bustling city of Manchester, and therefore is cooler than all of us here as her Mancunian accent remained strong, just like her love for music! As Chloë reaches the end of her degree this year at Platform 1 Music College, she’s most certainly preparing herself for life as a musician after her degree, with plans to release quite a few more singles throughout the year. So, as the weight of ‘Mancunian Musician’ expectation (totally a phrase I’m coining) rests on Chloë’s shoulders, keep an eye out for more from her! You can catch new content and information at chloenorthmusic.com, and on her YouTube channel Chloë North! - Andrew Butcher

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LUKE’S ONES TO WATCH

Blaenavon

After catching the lads perform at the recent Record Store Day celebrations, I couldn’t help but include them in my ‘One’s To Watch’ for this month. Transgressive Records signees Blaenavon are quite honestly one of the most energetic bands I’ve ever seen, and their hard rock riffs combined with honest, rough vocals make for the perfect match. The trio have also just dropped the video for their track I Will be the World; the first song from their upcoming début album.

WHERE TO CATCH THEM: The Great Escape, Brighton: Thu 19 May – Sat 21 May Joiners, Southampton: Sun 22 May Blissfields Festival: Fri 1 July

DOWNLOAD: ‘Hell Is My Head’

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This Summer’s Festival Get-Arounds

Summer festival tours are apparently the new ‘in-thing’ for artists up and down the country, with a host of acts choosing to play a number of festivals, rather than the standard few. If you’re a keen festival-goer like me, then it’s more than likely you’ll catch one of these acts somewhere this summer…

Everything Everything

Manchester indie-rock outfit Everything Everything seem to be appearing everywhere everywhere this summer, with a whole raft of performances lined up for some of the country’s biggest stages. Jonathan Higgs and co. will be headlining the Deer Shed Festival, as well as the south coast’s very own Blissfield’s Festival. Additionally, the lads will be making a welcome return to the Isle of Wight Festival, having last played on the Main Stage back in 2013.

Reggie ‘N’ Bollie

After being named as runners-up on the X Factor just last year, rap duo Reggie ‘N’ Bollie have had huge success performing at arenas across the country, and signing a record deal with Simon Cowell’s label Syco. Their summer season sees them making appearances at Sunday Best’s Camp Bestival, in Dorset, and Bestival, on the Isle of Wight.

Blossoms

As predicted in my ‘One’s To Watch’ in the March issue, Radio 1 favourites Blossoms have since been confirmed for Reading/Leeds and Glastonbury, in their attempts to find global success. Their busy summer schedule will also see them making an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival; all of this and the boys still haven’t released an album yet…

Pretty Vicious

Bursting onto the scene in 2014, Pretty Vicious have headlined shows at venues all over the UK and will be bringing their energetic performances to a festival near you. As this is a south coast publication and all, I thought I’d highlight the fact that they’re playing Common People Southampton, later this month, Victorious Festival in Southsea and Bestival on the Invaders of the Future stage.

Jess Glynne

Arguably the biggest female artist in the country right now, Jess Glynne has a record 5 UK number 1 singles to her name and a number 1 album to match. After cancelling a number of festival performances last year due to illness, Jess is making it up to her fans by playing at them this year. In fact, you can be sure to catch her at the majority of major UK festivals: Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, V, T in the Park, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and a headline performance at Camp Bestival.

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eturning to Vicarage Farm, near Winchester from 30th June, Blissfields have announced the line-up for their house party themed event.

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Headlining the Saturday of the event is none other than rap legend Dizzee Rascal, who will be bringing a set featuring his greatest hits to the Manor Stage. Performing alongside him, on the Friday of the festival, are Mercury Prize nominated outfit Everything Everything, performing hits from their three studio albums.

Main support on the Manor Stage comes from rockers Swim Deep and producer Shy FX, who will be proceeded by the likes of Dub Pistols, HONNE, Beans On Toast and many more.

Championing the UK’s most exciting new musical talents, Blissfields will also play host to Loyle Carner, Frances, Spring King, Sundara Karma, Blaenavon and Isaac Gracie. In previous years, Blissfields has seen performances from Sam Smith, Jake Bugg and Years & Years, all before they became mainstream artists, so it’s well worth checking out some of the new music the event has to offer.

The Den at Blissfields will be hosting the likes of legendary Notting Hill DJ Norman Jay MBE, Roni Size & Dynamite MC, Molotov Jukebox (featuring lead singer Natalie Tena of Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones fame), London electro trio Subgiant and Isle of Wight rockers BullyBones.

Blissfields have a limited number of day tickets, as well as weekend tickets, so it’s well worth checking out their official website for the full line-up and prices.

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More acts confirmed for victorious festival!

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n what is shaping up to be one of the best value festivals of the summer, Victorious Festival have announced the next wave of acts joining their already world class line-up.

They will be joined on the day by indie-rockers Editors, whose latest album In Dream peaked at number 5 in the UK last year, and The Boomtown Rats, who will be performing as special guests early in the afternoon. Bob Geldof and co. enjoyed chart success in the late 70’s and 80’s before making a return to the live scene in 2013, at the Isle of Wight festival, after a very long break.

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Taking place on 27th and 28th August on Southsea Common, it has been confirmed that Scottish rock legends Travis will perform on the Saturday of the event. The two-times BRIT award winners will be performing hits from their 6 number 1 albums, as well as new tracks from their eighth studio album, Everything At Once, released just last month.

Also confirmed to perform over the weekend are Aussie hard rockers Wolfmother, who are influenced by the likes of AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and British rockers The Horrors, who are no strangers to the festival scene.

Promoting new, up and coming music, organisers have also confirmed that German folk duo Milky Chance, Essex rock-star Rat Boy, Game Of Thrones actor Jacob Anderson AKA Raleigh Ritchie, Izzy Bizu, who has supported Sam Smith and Rudimental in the past, and rock outfit Pretty Vicious, will also be performing at the festival.

Completing the latest announcement are Lauren Aquilina, JP Cooper, Sound Of The Sirens, Dagny, Rocky Nti and Samm Henshaw.

They all join the previously confirmed headliners Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Manic Street Preachers, as well as Mark Ronson (DJ Set), Will Young, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Coral, Levellers, Ash, Jack Savoretti, Space, The Selecter and Emmy The Great. Roll on August!

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Anthony recently completed his SSI (special subject investigation) on the future of rock music and has provided us with a snippet of his findings in order to tell us about where the genre might be heading.

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ock music is an immense genre that has had a profound influence on the world and its culture.

Of the fifty best-selling music artists of all time, thirty-two of them are either rock artists or artists who have experimented with rock music at some point in their careers. For these reasons, it is clear to see why rock has been an important genre – but is this still the case?

Is Rock Music Failing?

By performing a highly indepth analysis of music singles from 1953 until 2015 I was able to examine the trends behind rock music over the decades.

The analysis was by no means an easy feat – my method was to pick 10 songs from each

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year (randomly and fairly chosen from different chart positions using careful methods) and listen to them and decide whether or not they were rock music (using a general definition of some of the musical characteristics of rock music that I defined very early on). If a song was rock music, then it scored points in terms of how popular rock music was for that year. The songs were weighted using projections of modern sales data (for example, a number one rock song is more important than a number fifty rock song, and so would have scored more points).

Singles Chart Analysis - Results The 3 year moving average of the raw data gave a ghastly

insight, showing clearly the decline in rock music singles, falling today lower than at any point since the 1950s. On the x-axis is the year, from 1953 to 2015, and on the y-axis are the points each year scored. Therefore the red line represents the prevalence of rock music over time. The graph shows that the amount of rock singles in the charts has decreased from its peak in 1972 and continues to do so. It also shows that the popularity of rock singles comes in cycles, with periods of activity and inactivity. For rock music to score zero at any point on the graph (never mind for two years in a row) is a drastic shock, since this means that no rock songs came up in the yearly ten-song samples.

To prove my point, a recent Nielsen study showed that in 2014, rock music made up 29% of total music consumption in the USA, however the website musicbusinessworldwide.com then goes on to immediately say:

Chart Analysis - Albums

‘Rock’s share increase continued in 2013, marking three straight years of improvement. Passenger’s Let Her Go was the genre’s top seller at number four, with OneRepublic’s Counting Stars also featuring in the top 10.’

Clearly the goalposts were changed. To call Counting Stars a rock song was extremely inconsistent with my approach and my interpretation of the meaning behind the word “rock”. The problem is that you cannot analyse a genre’s popularity over time if you change what it means for a song to belong to that genre. This is why my data differed so much from theirs, because their interpretation of rock was extremely different. To say then that rock music is still popular just as it was in its heyday is misleading for young musicians who might want to enter into a career with genre, since it gives them a skewed opinion of what they should be creating.

They are going to think that styles such as those frontiered by bands such as Led Zeppelin are still popular, when in fact it is a very much more commercialised sound that will find you success.

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So what for the album? While the rock single may be slowly dying, could it be that the rock album is stronger than ever? In trying to come up with some externally sourced data I discovered a whole can of worms; a recent report by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) states that rock albums are holding firm, making up 33.8% of album sales in 2013. However, they also state that 23.1% of single sales and streams came from rock music, which is in complete disagreement with my findings, which instead showed that rock singles had been dying over the previous decades. How could this be? Upon reading the report from which all of this data came, it was clear to see that there was something inherently wrong with their analysis of the data surrounding rock. For instance, on the report they claimed:

‘It is worth pointing out that ‘Rock’ in Billboard/Nielsen’s eyes is quite a far-reaching term; in 2014, as well more straightforward Rock ‘acts’ such as AC-DC, Nickelback and The Foo Fighters, it was applied to big releases from the likes of Coldplay, alt-J, and Hozier as well as the 900k-selling Guardians Of The Galaxy soundtrack.’

Since outside data could not be trusted, I decided to perform my own mini-analysis by comparing the amount of rock albums in the end of year top 100 album charts for the years 1996 and 2015. What I discovered was that in 2015 there were 23.4% fewer rock albums than in 1996 (a drop from 47 to 36), which is statistically quite significant in a sample size of 100 albums per year. Of these 11 fewer rock albums, the amount of original rock albums decreased by ten and the amount of reissue/compilation albums by only one. It is also probably also worth mentioning that a lot of rock’s sales are thanks to back catalogue. 28% of rock albums that were in the top 100

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end of year albums chart in 2015 were back catalogue and reissues, meaning the opportunities for rock in terms of new original music is even smaller. However, the average charting of original rock albums in 2015 was almost seven places higher than in 1996.

This shows that, although fewer albums are making the grade, those that can are performing better.

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Despite this somewhat reasurring news however, it is important to realise that, unlike the single, the album is not a growth market. Rock music’s size is decreasing in terms of the total market share of music sales. Take a look at the graph below. In red are total album sales, both physical and digital. In blue is total singles sales, streaming and subscription revenue. The graph shows that albums are becoming less and less popular while people are switching to a “song-by-song” approach, wherein they can stream or purchase any song that they like. It is very scary for rock then that the market where rock fares worst (singles) is growing rapidly, while the market where rock does best is shrinking rapidly.

Even as rock remains in at least a similar standing in the top 100 albums chart it is still not good news as the album quickly becomes less and less relevant as a format.

BPI data, figures in millions of pounds might have increased about £50 million between 2010 and 2013, during the same period album sales decreased around £150 million, meaning that the The old adage is that recent extra revenue from live music increases in live music revenue is nowhere near enough to pay might save the genre. Using for the shortfall brought by data showing the growth of decreasing album sales. Conlive music in the USA, I was able sider then how much of the live to assume a similar trend for music revenue actually goes tothe UK and scale the data down wards musicians (and not stage to match the size of the UK live crew, equipment, advertising music economy. However, my etc.) – since revenue is gross findings revealed that although profit, not net profit – and then live music sector revenue

Live Music - Our Final Hope?

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consider how much of the remaining revenue actually goes towards rock musicians and you will discover that the actual amount contributed by the increase in revenue in the live music sector to rock musicians is but a mere meaningless fraction.

Conclusions Somewhere in between the reams of data is a glimpse into the past, present and future of rock music. It is not enough to take semantics at face value though, especially since the term “rock” clearly means different things to different people.

The problem is that as music has evolved, so has the terminology and so it takes a consistent viewpoint such as the one I have tried to put forward whilst studying this topic to create any kind of meaningful results.

In short: rock singles are at an all-time low, and according to the data will continue to fall.

Rock albums in 2015 seem to be doing at least similarly as well as they had been in 1996.

Despite this however, album sales as a whole have fallen massively and continue to do so, meaning that one of the last places where rock is successful is facing extinction.

Faced with the prospects of streaming, subscription services and platforms like iTunes, music consumers are abandoning the album format in favour of a more flexible system wherein they can choose which tracks to purchase or stream, with revenues in these markets on the rise. Therefore, unless rock can make some serious headway in the singles market it is likely that the genre as we

knew it will be pushed aside for the foreseeable future.

- Anthony Sharp

The safest way to listen O

wning music on vinyl, using those download codes and streaming are the only ways I can ensure the longevity of my music catalogue. Okay, with streaming you’re pretty much paying to listen to, create play-lists, and not actually own your collection, but at least you know its safe and available whenever and wherever you are - provided you have wifi or 3G coverage.

Vinyl is a fantastic way to protect your collection - it’s special, physically big and a beautiful format to behold something to look after and play on occasion. And new releases usually come with the free download code.

What’s not to love? It’s all backed up. Quality of listening doesn’t count for this article, that’s a topic for another time.

CD’s on the other hand... oh dear. I’ve always loved CD’s and I’ve always looked after them. Nice and compact, players are always readily available, they’ve become a feature of every household and car. But that’s the problem - they’re so readily available, everyone has shelves of CD cases, so much so that I think people take them for granted. That’s why I rarely buy a release on CD. Not because I’m a hipster who buys vinyl to stick on the wall and

never play, nor a digital freak who needs music instantly wherever and whenever. No, it’s because you can guarantee within seconds opening the case for the first time, someone comes along and makes a dirty great scratch through it.

When I first learnt to drive and had access to my dads car I was so excited to listen to years worth of music (how much does a collection of CD’s cost?!), but no, sharing a car means disks all over the floor, falling out the doors, thrown onto the back seat.

Even my first own car was a disaster. After painstakingly re-writing my old collection to new CD’s from dodgy low bit-rate rips I made in sixth form and earlier, either my car radio would wreck them or my girlfriend would throw them around, stand on them, sit on them. No respect. Time for a radio with a USB slot.

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This however is all meaningless without considering your own point of view. What do you actually consider to be rock music?

If your definition is rather broad, then you certainly could make the argument that rock is here to stay. But for those of us that classify “rock” as the sort of thing you could find on the radio in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, perhaps we ought instead to accept the fact that times have changed.

The “rock” of today is something much more commercial, much more broad and much harder to label. I suppose that rock never actually died, it simply evolved into something else, even if that means it might no longer be “rock”. There is a new rulebook in this digital age that sadly many of us never get the opportunity to read. By looking at the data and our own viewpoints critically we can begin to conceptualise this brand new industry landscape.

Vinyl is hard to ignore and is treated with the up-most respect - no scratches here.

MP3’s and streaming are virtual things, they don’t really exist - no scratches here. CD’s just get chucked in the wrong case, slipped into a dusty carry case, left on the dashboard, used as a coaster, frisbee’d into the glove box - scratched to oblivion. Lost forever.

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Commercialisation

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Frustration F

irst of all, no, I’m sorry, but I shall never apologise for the title of this piece.

I spent a vast majority of my English education learning so many different writing techniques to make my work stand out that a little rhyming really shouldn’t be a big deal... I mean come on! It rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Try saying it aloud.

Go on. Try it. Commercialisation Frustration. How good does that sound, right?

Anyway, so I was visiting my mother and brother (I might stop eventually... Its unintentional half the time I promise!) back in April, and I began playing some of my good friend Max Cowley’s solo album tracks while I was sending Jake (The wonderful editor of this here magazine!), the last pieces I had completed for our April issue of Fret Buzz. Whilst playing some of Max’s solo project music, my mum mentioned how differ-

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ent it is from the music of Last Chance City (the band Max is a lead singer for). I began explaining: one of the reasons Max is producing new music that is very different from his previous work is so that he might have a better chance of cracking the ‘commercial’ music industry. It was then that I got annoyed at the ‘commercialisation’ of the music industry, and my explanation turned into more of a rant...

I’m ginger. I’m allowed. (That will forever be my excuse).

So I mentioned briefly in our April issue that somebody should really write a piece on ‘What Makes Music ‘Commercial’?’, or something to that effect. However, I have since changed my mind. I’d prefer to tackle ‘Why Does Music Have to Be ‘Commercial’ to Succeed?’.

First of all then, it is only logical to explain what the word ‘commercial’ means to me.

Being a lover of performance as well as music, and writing of course, it becomes pretty obvious pretty quickly that human beings are huge, and I do mean HUGE fans of, what we like to call ‘Escapism’. People all have their own individual ways of attempting to switch off and ignore the pains of reality. For me, it’s experiencing the adventures that an ancient alien called ‘The Doctor’ has whilst gallivanting around time and space in an impossible blue box that can do just about anything! But for you, your main form of escape could be music. Now the thing about trying to escape the pains of reality is that we don’t really want to be reminded of the pains of reality... As that would be totally counter-productive! Therefore, many forms of escapism are safe, fun, easy, and entertaining.

I see the word commercial as a synonym for escapism when it comes to music. To me, commercial means something that

has been tried and tested. For example, music that continues to be produced because we know that it works already, we know that its success is already close to guaranteed because of its style, and therefore no matter how good or bad that particular piece is, it will likely sell regardless.

But let’s face it: the more something is made and played, the more boring it becomes, right?

Well, as much as you’d hope this would be true, and we’d get different types and styles of music circulating in the ‘commercial circuit’ to mix it up a bit, it rarely seems to be... And this all comes back to the idea of ‘commercial-

This may just be me coming from a performance background, but it’s the easiest way for me to explain it: Imagine it’s a beautiful, bustling, clear night, and you’ve decided to go and see a fun, entertaining show at your local theatre. The show is Grease - the very popular musical that paved the way for modern takes on American society and culture. You show your ticket, get a drink, find your seats, and have a wonderful little conversation before the show begins. However, when the curtain opens there are people rocking back and forth in nightgowns. They begin spewing depressing thoughts and shouting profanities at you. Much like if you bought a ticket to see Justin Bieber and Avenged Sevenfold suddenly burst onto stage (Though I’m very aware that

Bieber would be more torturous for me, not everyone feels the same). The point is: People feel safer if they know what they’re buying into. And, unfortunately, more often than not, people want creative work that helps them forget real world problems, instead of those that highlight these issues.

So, how can you stop the ‘commercialisation’ of music? (Only if you want to of course). Well, by doing something similar to what we do here at Fret Buzz: showcase all music. Give all artists a spotlight - no matter how big or small, no matter whether their music fits the ‘commercial’ industry or not. There are a lot of amazing artists out there, and we can stop the struggle that bands like Last Chance City face, simply because their work tackles real and philosophical issues like war and hatred, and doesn’t make the world seem as fluffy as ‘Oh no, so and so broke up with me and now I hate them!’. Because for some reason, people are more attracted to the latter...

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Now, this is where my frustration begins. Yes, there are artists that could be classed as ‘commercial’ who make brilliant music.

However, there are also a large proportion of artists who, in my opinion, only become hits because they ‘fit the commercial industry’. For example, if you’re a pop musician who often sings about love and heartbreak (and has great hair or an ‘intriguing’ fashion style...) then you’re pretty likely to be creating an instant impression upon the ‘mainstream’ industry, either because you’re ‘sooooo hot’, or because you’re ‘like so totally relate-able because I got dumped this one time too. Oh my god, I’m so angry! Preach it sister!’ (or brother.. No gender discrimination here! I don’t want Tumblr all over this...). Okay, so there are songs about love that are genuinely beautiful and great, and do touch your heart. For me, ‘Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)’ by The All American Rejects is a soft and simple, but perfect example of this.

isation’ - If people keep relating to something, and keep sharing it, and it keeps being played on the radio, then more often than not only more of the same will keep being related to, shared, and played on the radio. It’s a completely frustrating, seemingly never-ending cycle of the same type of music being overmade and over-played. Their styles and rhythms being worn out until we’re sick of it. So the big question is: how does the same type of music continue to succeed for such long periods of time? Well, there are many factors in this, including society, the context and time the music was made in, and what seems to be ‘popular’ at that time (people can be very much like sheep..

Following each other to whatever patch of grass seems the sweetest at the time). But I think the biggest factor, generally, is escapism.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to create some sort of uprising that will stop the commercialisation of music forever...

That would be stupid as there is some good ‘mainstream’ stuff out there!

All I’m saying is: no artist should struggle simply because they don’t write about ‘what people want to hear’. That just creates a ridiculously ignorant world - and we really don’t need any more of that now do we?

- Andrew Butcher

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Don’t miss this gig!

Chalkpit Records is proud to announce it's first live music event, showcasing the very best new indie artists from the Isle of Wight and South Coast.

The event will be held at The Blacksheep Bar, Ryde on Friday 13th May 2016 at 7:30pm.

ENTRY TO THIS EVENT IS £4.00 // £3.00 WITH VALID STUDENT CARD (THIS EVENT IS 16+, PLEASE BRING ID) Don't miss out on this highly anticipated Chalkpit Records night of Original Independent Music.

Headlining the bill is the rising Lo-Fi Indie Rock band XOCKHA. This will be their first headline show since 30th January 2016 where they brought the roof down at The Quay Arts centre.

XOCHKA will be supported by two new bands working under the Chalkpit Records label nakamarra and ECSESS. This will be the first exclusive live performance by nakamarra and ECSESS so expect some new exciting vibes. Debut singles will be exclusively released in physical format for one night only, so don't miss out.

Nakamarra Formed on the Isle of Wight, whilst studying for a music degree. The band is made up of Charlie Jones, Alex Benson, Jamie Sprosen, Joe Watson and Silas Gregory. Started by guitarists, Joe and Jamie, as a trip-hop project in the later months of 2015, the band fully formed in January 2016, taking a more eclectic musical direction from the addition of vocals, drums and bass.

Nakamarra’s style blends a range of influences from acts such as Foals, Mt Wolf to more electronic acts like Bonobo, Massive Attack and Mount Kimbie. The band creates an exciting mix of genres from indie-alternative to more electronic & atmospheric vibes, due to the vast musical tastes of those in the band.

Self produced EP set to be released over summer with the first single ‘Porcupine’ out for the 14th of May.

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ECSESS Formed on the Isle of Wight, whilst studying for a music degree. The band is made up of Freya Hamilton, Toby Ouston, Jacob Smith, Max Watson and Phillip Legaspi. Started by musical friends Jacob and Toby in 2015 and writing throughout, ECSESS have been developing their sound and creative abilities, with fresh faces and plenty of good vibes Influenced by artists such as Black Honey, Fickle Friends, Foals, Oh Wonder, ECSESS use a myriad of different sounds and influences, from delayed ambient guitars to 80’s style synth effects.

May 14th HEADING FOR RED official release EP to come September 2016 Drink Tea and Chill Peace

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Feature

Damn man, since we’ve started producing these magazines - the old pilot editions and the new official issues - the whole cultural landscape of the South has changed so much. Southampton Music Guide appears to have finished/is up for sale, new bands have come and gone like Eton Girls Choir who disappeared as soon as they began, more music blogs have cropped up, local record companies have started making a move, and now a brand new magazine has popped up.

To find out a bit more about the new Rocket Fuel Magazine we popped a few questions over on the old Facebook.

Hey Jake, I don’t know where David is - so this is creative director Fox coming in with some hot A’s to those cool Q’s Q - How often will issues be released?

A - The mag will have issues released quarterly each season.

Q - How much is the mag & where can you find it?

A- The magazine is currently priced at £2 and it can be found from any Rocket Fuel dealer (a member of our team that stocks and sells RF at their school or college) or Ventnor Exchange.

Q - What are your aims for the future of the mag?

A - Our aims for the future of the mag are to get more people involved and interested in writing/ creating, spreading out in variety of our mag (to

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online content, events, etc) and to create a youth magazine that appeals to kids as both consumers and creators of it - to enjoy both reading it, and to want to get involved in writing it.

I’ve lost my issue somewhere Q - How many people are involved?

A - Rocket Fuel issue 1 had over 60 island youths working on the magazine.

Q - How did the mag start?

A - The magazine was created after a David decided to avoid doing his homework by rallying his friends together to ask if they were interested in making a magazine - an idea he had long toyed with (I remember talking about making a magazine last autumn at a rainy bus stop in East Cowes). A load of writing, editing, designing, planning and printing later - Rocket Fuel issue 1 was born.

Q - What does/will the mag cover/feature?

A - The mag covers a huge variety of topics ranging from art, music, fashion, lifestyle, poetry, opinions and features - all written by island youths and the best being hand-selected by Rocket Fuel’s editorial team.

I hope this has been of help, Jake.

All the best, Fox Thanks Fox, you’re a babe. ;) Don’t mention it.

Feature

So there we have it - journalism at it’s finest.

The launch night at the start of April was pretty good. It’s amazing to see so many young people getting involved in the creative arts - let alone attending a gig. Where have they all been?!

Here’s a few photos from the night on the following pages. We wish Rocket Fuel and everyone involved the best of luck and cant wait for the next issue.

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REMINDERS MEMBERS: Anthony Sharp - Guitar/Vox Max Battista - Guitar Isaac Hulley - Drums Cris Taylor - Bass Genre: Lo Fi/Beach Punk Influences: Green Day, The Cure, SWMRS, FIDLAR, The Replacements, Jim Johnston Teens from the Southern Coast of the UK. Using the Lo Fi sounds of their bedroom to create Beach Punk music. Trying to get life figured out. Struggling.

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LUCILLE EFFECT MEMBERS: Anthony Sharp - Guitar/Vox Max Battista - Guitar Isaac Hulley - Drums Cris Taylor - Bass Genre: Blues Rock

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FURTHERMORE MEMBERS: Wilfred Armfield - Drums Jake Goodrum - Guitar/Vocals David McGregor - Bass/Vocals Genre: Math Rock

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DREAMER JOE MEMBERS: Curtis Connor - Guitar/Vocals Julian Voigt - Bass/Vocals Toby Jenkins - Drums Genre: Blues Rock

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Reviews just jack

Reviews

alchemist

Ever since his debut to the music scene Just Jack has showed his effortless cool to have many forms. From the self styled Streetsesque urban poetry of ‘The outer marker’, through the cheerily pensive ‘Overtones’, the more cynically slanted ‘All night cinema’ and impressively diverse EP ‘Rough/Ready’, Jack landed on the warm souled earwigs featured in the ‘Winning’ EP in 2014. ‘Alchemist’, the first release from Jack’s new ‘Life lessons’ is in this vein and definitely continues where ‘Winning’ left off. Musically, it achieves the same dual warm and soothing feeling of lazy listening, which personally I see as Jack at his very best yet. Lyrically, it’s a doubtlessly relatable take on the struggles and ultimate joy of parenthood, a visibly close topic to Jack’s heart. His mastery at the art of storytelling ensures that anyone can appreciate and enjoy the song and the tunes ensure you’ll definitely want to - Ian Vaughan

radiohead

burn the witch (Disclaimer - this review is taken way out of context) Meh. The strings through the first 2/3 of the song make it sounds really Coldplay.

- Joe Hagan

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laurel

life worth living This track has been at the top of my playlist for month now meaning pretty much daily listening. Can’t get enough of this! Southampton originally, now London based, Pop/Alt girl Laurel makes seriously good music. We featured the track Shells as song of the day way back when we did that sort of thing for its dubby feel, great songwriting and those powerful vocals.

Since we heard her new track Life Worth Living, we’re hooked again.

It’s such a powerful track again, one that sends chills down your spine after the intro builds up into a song of pure emotion.

Jerry Williams Mother

Another track that I’d happily listen to on repeat for a long long time - if you have the soundcloud app, you can! Check out the Cold Beer EP too, those tracks are great. And the A Hairdressers Called Sids EP too! Just listen to it all...

Reviews

Portsmouth based singer songwriter Jerry Williams has done it again. She always manages to take what should be a downbeat theme and present it in such a cheery way. There’s no reason to, but I guess no-one wants to listen to mopy songs all the time, so I applaud her happy twists on potentially sad songs.

Talk too loud jarre

JARRE are pretty much the members of Dreamer Joe plus Charlotte Beadle and Emma Wilkinson - come to think of it, that’s Dreamer Joe and Cage White all mixed up in a bucket with a sprinkling of TINK on top. And this track couldn’t sound any different.

A beautifully toned bass-line drives the song with a light guitar riff weaving in and out, stitching an extremely listen-to-able track. By listen-to-able I mean I keep on going back to it to give it another spin - it’s not too in your face or too weak a track. It just hits perfectly in the middle. Nice soft vocals and an intensity that racks up over the duration of the song makes for a real solid first track from this all-star band.

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The Last Shadow Puppets

Reviews

Everything you’ve come to expect I’m not sure if this album is having the ‘Suck It And See’ effect on me, oh wow I just got my own joke, or if this is just too gratuitously Alex Tuner and Miles Kane-ey. When Suck It And See was released, I was way out of the loop on Arctic Moneys albums past ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’, so much so that I listened to it once upon release, snubbed it at the time, only to go back to listen to it finding it to be my favourite album for the duration of a year.

The first album from the pair was nice enough - everyone goes bananas over the cutesy relationship Miles and Alex seem to share - but I wasn’t sold. To me it just seemed like a buddy album - which it totally was, and it’s what the people wanted. Now they’re back together again everyone’s lost their minds over Milex and their bromance.

I’m not sold. Maybe I’m a but jelly. Maybe I’m just not at all bothered. It all seems, like I said before, a bit too gratuitous. I like cinematic feel of the album though, don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on it. Next month I’ll probably re-review it hailing it the best album of all time. But for now I’ll give it a miss.

The music videos are great though!

- Jake Priddle

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olly fry

americana It isn’t too often I get the chance to review something that’s been burning out in the public eye for some time already, but when I was asked to do this I couldn’t say no (and not only because there was a tall man holding a gun to my head.. Honest!) Olly Fry, like me, is a lover of music and theatre. Where these are amazing interests that totally make you proper cultured and stuff, they are very difficult to juggle professionally (especially if you don’t know how to juggle professionally..). And for Olly, just starting out as a professional touring Theatre Maker, music has had to take a back seat for the time being.

Now, I know what you’re thinking! ‘Why is Andrew writing about a Theatre Maker in a music magazine? We don’t care about that stuff..’ Well, tell your thoughts to quiet down! because Olly is an intriguing and talented musician too - I’ve been badgering him to find a way to combine the two for a while now. But that’s not what you’re interested in, so let’s get down to the type of music that Olly produces! I’ll start with this: one of his biggest inspirations is the great Bruce Springsteen! There you go, I drop a great name like that and now I’ve got your attention!

Back in January of last year Olly released

onto his Bandcamp profile an album entitled ‘Americana’. Springsteen, the title: if you can’t tell what kind of artist Olly is yet then you obviously haven’t listened to enough proper Western music (And I don’t mean like, old stereotypical ‘Cowboy’ music... Though some of it borders, and that’s pretty damn cool!) Its okay if you’re not familiar with proper gritty, Western music, because now is the time to get stuck in!

So if you’d like to experience America through music, from the grit to the setting of the sun, take a look at Olly Fry’s bandcamp where you can find Americana. Its not a totally solid album, but if it was that easy to be Bruce Springsteen or Bryan Adams we’d all have done it by now! I think it is a very solid beginning though, with a good pace, fun stories, Latin influence, and some genuinely great and beautiful pieces. Hopefully, if Olly finds enough time in the future whilst he’s not touring theatre, we will catch some more of his music in the fresh Atlantic breeze!

Reviews

Americana begins with a song called Ba Da Bing, Ba Da Boom: a high energy, fast paced, folk song that stinks of New York! (In a great way, I don’t mean badly) It has Hot Dogs, greasy hands, Spiderman, and tourism - all conveyed through the slightly gritty American tone Olly adopts for this album. I think an introduction to the Big Apple is a fitting beginning for this American road trip of an album. One of the first notes I wrote for second track, Money Dance, was ‘feels like a sexy salsa’. There’s a clear Latin spice to this number, with a very consistent upbeat pace and smooth vocals to accompany it. The third track is called Six Stringed Scoundrel, and is the first slower song of the collection.

It begins well, with a nice pace to it and a soft beginning which works well. The only problem I found with this song is that it feels too gritty, or ‘throaty’ to me. There is a certain frustration behind this song, with the narrative seeming to be that the character has been robbed or betrayed and feels lost.

Although I think that’s probably what drove Olly to take a gritty turn with the vocals, I think it may have been better vocally if it was softer. The grittiness of the song distracted me sometimes from its meaning. Track four, Rathole, is a steady song about escaping on the road that brings us back to a slightly faster pace. The sound and vocals in this one are consistent and good, and the gritter vocals work because they are used less often and aren’t distracting. However the fifth track, Black Hawk Enemy, is definitely too throaty for me. Some higher notes are not hit because the grittiness is too much.

Though there is some Latin influence in part that breaks it up, and its really nice to hear some properly traditional electric guitar make its way in there too! Middle 8, the sixth

track, balances out the throaty vocals with softer parts and is a good, solid track with an upbeat pace and cleaner vocals. This one is probably one of my favourites, as well as the first two. Track seven, the penultimate song, Sway the Sickle, is the best slower song on this album. Some parts are a tad too gritty for the soft emotion of the song, but its mostly very good and nicely refreshing to hear a truly beautiful, softly sung song on this album. This is also one of my favourites.

The last track sees our American adventure in full swing. It has all the elements needed to conjure an American road trip - great pace change, a couple of times, from slow to fast to emphasise the adventure of day and night, moving fast and resting. It really does seem like you come full circle, from the greasy tentative streets of New York to riding in the American wilderness in the blazing sun - exploring and free.

- Andrew Butcher

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Lauran Hibberd

ventnor exchange - record store day

R

ecord Store Day is a momentous occasion for all music lovers, but more so than ever on the Isle of Wight! With the Ventnor Exchange being the only officially registered venue for Record Store Day on the Isle of Wight, and one of the best local venues for me, where else would I be during this fantastic opportunity for music lovers?! The answer is of course: Nowhere else, because I’d mad to be anywhere else!

Live

So, on the blustery morning of Saturday 16th April 2016, I headed down to the Ventnor Exchange at the nice early time of approximately 11.25 to take some shelter from the howling winds outside, all dressed up to look like a proper adult, and totally ready to spam the fabulous Fret Buzz in the faces of as many music lovers as possible!

It was a fab atmosphere down at the venue, with lots of people coming in and out all day and lots of faces to shove our great music magazine in!

But, whilst down at the venue trying to push Fret Buzz, I got more than I bargained for (Definitely in a good way!). The brilliant Ebb Phillips finished his set, and we had a bit of time to chill between acts. Which was of course spent chatting to people, enjoying myself, and selling allllllllllllllll the Fret Buzz! However, I didn’t know what was about to come next. Upon announcement, the next act was described something to this effect: She’s brilliant, and has recently won a Battle of the Bands competition to play main stage at this years Bestival - Its Lauran Hibberd!’ And obviously, being the music journalist I am, my ears pricked up like a Meerkats when I heard the words ‘won a Battle of the Bands competition to play main stage at this years Bestival’. After about a minute of listening to Lauran play, I’d noted ‘Reminds me of Of Monsters and Men - has the same flow, like a river’ (I’m very

into my metaphors - if you weren’t aware of this already) Of Monsters and Men are a large collective band from Iceland if you don’t already know, who are amazing! And the female lead has an awesomely emotive and beautiful voice. Lauran’s voice is sweet and soft, and she captivated the entire room by herself playing some really great acoustic music, which perfectly suited the beauty of her voice. She was also a joy to watch live, with her disposition being constantly calm with a large smile on her face - needless to say you could definitely tell how much Lauran loves music. Her voice is beautifully emotive, and she performed a mix of sombre, and sweet, fun songs throughout her time on stage. The only slight let down was that at points I found the guitar was a tad too loud and covered Lauran’s voice a little, which was a shame considering she is a delight to listen to - incredibly captivating. The final song Lauran performed, The House I Built When I Was Small, is her début single, and again - a great joy to listen to. The harp string like backing coupled with Lauran’s soft vocal talent conveyed a reminiscent tone, with good memories of carefree times. There was a slightly sad touch to the song as well, which I think Lauran used to show how times have changed since youth and how she somewhat longed to revisit them. So, if you like the sound of Lauran’s music, and want to catch her live (trust me, its worth it!) head to Lauranhibberd.com to check out more information and her next performance dates! And don’t forget to catch her on the main stage at Bestival later this year!

- Andrew Butcher

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Patent pending// Boy Jumps Ship// The haunt - Brighton 04.04.16

G Live

rab your converse and baseball caps; it’s another great pop punk show in Brighton. Patent Pending bring their energetic, catchy and humorous pop punk to the UK on their spring break tour promoting their new album ‘ Riots Hearts Rebellion’ and along with them on the tour is newcomers Boy Jumps Ship.

Boy Jumps Ship open up the opening night of the tour at the independent venue The Haunt in Brighton, a perfect location for pop punk.

Boy Jumps Ship play through their short set with ease and complete professionalism, with a sound that is hard-hitting and powerful.

Playing songs such as ‘No Tomorrow’ and ‘Lost And Found’. One particular song that sticks out is their latest single ‘Burn’, which has an extremely catchy chorus that the crowd all sings along to. Overall a very solid opening act and well received by the audience.

Next up the main act Patent Pending whose walk on music is perfect for the band, the game of thrones theme tune, it opens up for an epic and enjoyable night. They open up with ‘Started In My Head’ that gets the crowd to join in singing ‘Here we fucking go’. The crowd is in full participation pogoing along with lead singer Joe Ragosta who spends more time in the air than on his feet. They play a range of songs from their discography, from the chorus chanting ‘I Already Know (She Don’t Give A Shit About Me), new song “Riot Hearts

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Rebellion’ and songs about being drunk ‘Last Time I Saw You’ The band who can play great music with guitars, bass and drums can also take it slower with the band minus Joe leaving the stage and Joe playing a slow version of ‘Spin Me Around’ which he plays for his wife, who he loves and misses. As with any pop punk and especially Patent Pending shows crowd participation is a must and one particular fan, Glen I believe he was called got brought up on stage to sing ‘The Whisky, The Liar, The Thief’ which at the end Glen and Joe attempt to recreate the lift from Dirt Dancing, the key word being attempt (Look on YouTube for the video footage).

They play other hits old and new from ‘Classic You’ to ‘We’re Freaking Out (Map To Tahiti) there are circle pits and crowd surfing and as with any Patent Pending show Joe does his health and safety crowd surfing (remember health and safety is very important) in arm bands and goggles. They finish for their encore with two massive hits, one about video game character Mario’s love Life ‘Hey Mario’ complete with fans on stage dressed as Mario, Peach and Wario. They finish the night with a song that is about pop-punk as you can get ‘Douchebag’.

Post show they go to the merch stand to meet the entire patent pending family. Overall a very solid performance and gig.

Words & Photos by Elliot McRae

patent pending

patent pending

Live

patent pending

Boy jumps ship

Boy jumps ship

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Competition

Live

Who’s hyped for Bestival?

The Quay Arts Centre once again held the annual Bestival competition which pits three categories of acts against each other for the chance of playing the main stage at Bestival 2016. The categories were Live Act, DJ and Spoken Word. Just Eden won the DJ comp and Kestrell won the Spoken word comp. They get to play the Bollywood Tent and the Amphitheatre. Well done. Onto the live acts.

Judging this years competition were Mark King (Level 42), DJ Doorly (DJ), Glyn Taylor (IOW Radio) and the man himself Rob Da Bank. The contestants for the night were Rebel & The Hearts, Lauran Hibberd, Ever, Portable High and Nannik.

Shortly before the night started we took our own straw poll favouring either Lauran Hibberd or Ever to win as they’re probably the most festivaly out of all the bands. Rebel & The Hearts will be ok for maybe a bandstand stage, NaNNik we hadn’t really heard much about before then - although retrospectively we would have moved up the list, and Portable High would probably suit a tent stage? Three songs each, here we go.

Rebel & The Hearts played a shorter version of their usual tried and tested set - the crowd enjoyed it but as agreed before, maybe not a mainstage kind of performance.

Lauran Hibberd played with a full band today. She played the Festival comp a few weeks back but just missed out on the top spot to XOCKHA (last years Bestival comp winners) mainly I think to a failing PR system. This performance was a step

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higher that last time. She sounds the part and looks the part.

Ever next. Her stage presence is very reminiscent of Lorde with the quirky dancing and the songs she chose to play were sure winners - we’d love to see Ever play a main stage. I think the sound desk may have let her down a bit though - there just wasn’t the depth of sound we’re used to when watching her perform.

Portable High now. Full of passion and great stage presence from the singer which is way better than we’d expected. Maybe Portable High are main-stage festival material. The overall visual and animation of the band seemed a bit outweighed though - the singer going for it, guitarist on a stool looking ready to stand up for a key change and the bassist trying desperately to look cool.

NaNNik last - the dark horses. Really great performance from everyone involved in that band, just maybe not the right tone for Bestival main-stage.

They’re more of a big top mosh session. Would love to see that happen!

So, after the judges go into their little room for an argument over who’s best, they venture back into the public after enough time for us to get a couple of beers in. And the winner is...

Lauran Hibberd!

Told you.

Congratulations to every single performer - you all deserved to win.

rebel & the hearts

Live

ever

lauran hibberd

portable high

NaNNik

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THE GIG GUIDE Isle of Wight wed 4th the treatment Wedgewood rooms 8:00pm £10

thu 5th jess and the bandits talking heads 7:30pm £12

Fri 6th this feeling: Hello Operator Paves Cassava Joiners 8:30pm £5 Hello Operator Paves Cassava Joiners 8:30pm £5

sat 7th lauran hibberd the ventnor darlings Luchador Wight Rock 7:30pm Free tom bertram edge of the wedge 8:00pm £8

Portsmouth ruby blue mad king ludwig talking heads 7:30pm £4 into it. over it. the hotelier Joiners 7:30pm £11

benjamin francis leftwich Joiners 7:30pm

wed 11th army of bones Joiners 6:00pm £8

thu 12th strange cages haize lennon’s 7:30pm £4 maverick sabre damien murdoch engine rooms 7:30pm £15

sun 8th pretty little enemy Joiners 7:00pm £5

mon 9th boy jumps ship Joiners 7:30pm £6.50

tue 10th foxes Wedgewood rooms 7:30pm £16

Southampton

son of dave Joiners 7:30pm £12.50

spring king lennon’s 7:30pm £6

fri 13th xockha nakamarra ecsess blacksheep bar 7:30pm £4 newave - help for heroes Joiners 7:30pm £5

THE GIG GUIDE wed 18th night beats the 1865 7:00pm £10

thu 19th insurrextion presents coburgs 8:00pm £3

the summer set Wedgewood rooms 8:00pm £13 andy black portsmouth pyramids 7:00pm £19.75

half man half biscuit engine rooms 6:30pm £20

sat 14th paul armfield mark lotterman quay arts centre 7:00pm £5

milk teeth black foxxes eat me Joiners 7:30pm £8

as it is with confidence jule vera the 1965 7:30pm £1o

sun 15th gavin james orla gartland craig gallagher Joiners 7:30pm £9

tue 17th louis berry Joiners 5:00pm £6

the dandy warhols engine rooms 7:30pm £17

mon 23rd courage my love over Joiners 7:00pm £7

tue 24th spector Joiners 7:30pm £10

wed 25th

fri 20th

swmrs Joiners 7:30pm £5

The jooles badow blacksheep bar 9:00pm Free

sundara karma Wedgewood rooms 8:00pm £9

yak Joiners 7:30pm £8

sat 21st palms & pelicans Joiners 7:30pm £6

fri 27th slow club Joiners 7:30pm £10

mon 30th

formation lennon’s 7:30pm £4

[spunge] slagerij captain trips talking heads 7:00pm £10

sun 22nd

tue 31st

blaenavon Joiners 7:30pm £5

issues engine rooms 7:00pm £15

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