Pull Yourself Together Zine Issue 13

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010 *FREE*

PYT IS 2, JENS LEKMAN, INDIE FOOD + DRINK, CITY PLANNING, ONE INCH BADGE ON BRIGHTON & STANDARD FARE.

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WELCOME

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pull yourself together zine.co.uk ON THE PYT STEREO Standard Fare, Tender Trap, Olafur Arnalds, The Divine Comedy, A Classic Education, Electrelane, Elmo Logic *NEW WESITE*

Design: teacakedesign.com

*NEW WESITE* WELCOME

Hello and welcome to this extra-special edition of PYT! As it’s our second birthday we decided to extend the zine this time round and here it is - all 16 pages of it! It’s been a funny couple of months at PYT Towers; we started putting on shows again (thanks to everyone who came to the Foxes! show, or the two recent Postcards from Manchester shows from The School and The Lovely Eggs), broadened our DJing horizons by getting shuffling indie kids and hipsters alike to dance to Prince and Toto at the Deaf Institute, and have both attempted to balance this with MA dissertations and the ever-tricky job hunt - time will tell whether the balance has been struck correctly!

So what’s in issue 13?

As we are writing this we have just got back from The Smell of Rain Reminds Me of You, a beautiful flashmob cum art cum theatre piece which was part of the Hazard Festival. It is lovely when these little pieces of group based art pop up around the city. We’ve just spent about 15 minutes walking around Piccadilly Gardens in bright sunshine listening to rainfall whilst holding a white umbrella aloft. It was a great project to be involved in, and we’d like to congratulate Hannah Nicklin who put it all together. Check out rainreminds.tumblr.com for more details.

Oh, and make sure you keep an eye on our website too, as there is loads of stuff on there that doesn’t find its way into the zine. Recently we’ve added interviews with Tender Trap, Pagan Wanderer Lu and Wonderswan, and whenever we find new videos and whatnot we stick them on there!

Anyone who has been reading PYT for a while may well recognise the artwork this month as being from the pen of Ceri Williams, who was responsible for the dancing robots from Issue 2.

We absolutely love our marching band, what better way to celebrate our birthday than with our own band! For more of Ceri head towards ceri-williams.blogspot.com

P3 - We’re off to the other end of the country this time round, with Todd Jordan of the ace One Inch Badge records telling us what’s going on in the label’s home city of Brighton.

Here at PYT we’ve been fans of Brighton indie label One Inch Badge for quite a while. Amongst other things, OIB have released some ace split 7”s featuring great bands like Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Lonely Ghosts, Munch Munch and Casiotone For The Painfully Alone.

Oh, and their logo is a squirrel nibbling a record.

That’s pretty cool. Up until recently neither of us had visited Brighton, but one half was lucky enough to make a trip to the seaside city in the glorious June sunshine, and it was a real treat - much like Manchester it has that village community feeling in the city. We’re no experts on the places to be and the people to see in Brighton, but luckily OIB are, so it’s over to Todd Jordan for a taste of what’s on offer!

P4 - PYT may be all about the music, but we bloomin’ love our food and drink. Manchester’s full of so many great independent bars, cafes and restaurants that we thought we’d share a few of our favourites!

P8 - What better birthday present could there be than hearing from Jens Lekman about where on earth he’s been in recent years, upcoming shows and new material?

P12 - Not content with just interviewing one of our indiepop heroes, we’ve also been chatting to Sheffield’s fantastic Standard Fare about their debut album, Mexico and Indietracks.

P16 - And finally, Hannah’s got a few words about one of the great public spaces of the city PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

For example, this year alone we’ve got three genuine hip-hop legends, one each from the old school (22nd October: KRS-One @ Concorde 2), the new school (14th October: DOOMSDAY feat.

DOOM [formally MF DOOM] @ Concorde 2…also appearing @ Warehouse Project, Manchester on 13th October), and the underground (17th September: Sage Francis - Audio, Brighton … also appearing at Roadhouse, Manchester on 18th September), all paying us a visit for some really massive shows, that ordinarily should not be playing a sleepy seaside-town such us ours.

Everything’s always changing down on the coast.

Things get torn down, rebuilt, improved, destroyed, re-rebuilt, removed, and multiplied with such regularity that it can be hard to keep up with. But the one constant that remains all year round; through summer when the beach is full of comatose daytrippers, to the winter when the students have returned to their mothers, there is always a plethora of killer shows to choose from.

P6 - I’m afraid we couldn’t resist, it’s our happy birthday to us page!

P10 - We like nothing more than a good collaboration, and with Postcards from Manchester returning for an all-day festival in Manchester there’s good reason to celebrate.

Brighton is awesome. It is, technically, a city, but when most people visit, they end up commenting on how small it actually feels. Everywhere is no more than 30 minutes walk from everywhere else.

Despite this, somehow, it definitely is still a city, and fortunately for us, this makes it the stoppingpoint for visiting artists that feel like exploring south of London…

LETTERS FROM INDEPENDENT BRIGHTON

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Personally, I’m going to celebrate the zenith of the summer in the beachfront Concorde 2… when it gets hot enough, sometimes the security staff open up the enormous swing doors to allow a through breeze, blurring the line between where the venue ends and the beach begins. People track pebbles into the venue, and swimwear clad volleyball players wander through to check out the music drifting down to the shore. It’s going to be the perfect laid-back setting for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart when they visit on July 28th.

Hope to see you at a show in town this year….come sun or snow.

For more information on One Inch Badge shows around the country, visit www.oneinchbadge.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

LETTERS FROM INDEPENDENT BRIGHTON

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FOOD

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INDIE Anyone who has read PYT before, or indeed has a quick flick through this one, will be fully aware that our main passion is for independent music and culture. There is a worry that sometimes that can be the only thing that music zines write about, which is certainly not what we want to happen here. We are big fans of all things independent, and right now there are some fantastic places to eat and drink in Manchester that are built upon the same values that our favourite record labels are produce something unique, make the customer/listener feel like they are part of something, promote other independents, achieve the very best that you can - without compromise.

Team PYT like to think of ourselves as foodies too; there are few better ways to spend a Sunday morning than having a chat with a baker/cheese-maker at a Farmers Market, and thus we are shedding a spotlight on some of our favourite indie food and drink purveyors - finding out why they are so good, and why they do it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INDIE: FOOD AND DRINK

Right at the top of our lists at the moment is a stall in the Arndale Market, which were sceptical about at first. We used to really like the little French and Italian cheese seller, but they seemed to be selling a product which not masses of people wanted in the city centre (NB - as an aside, it is worth recognising just how brilliant The Cheese Hamlet is in Didsbury, a place where good cheese and pickle is to be appreciated!). It was with some sadness that we noticed it was gone, and had been replaced by some Mexican stall. Then we ate there. Then we chatted to the people making the Burritos. Then we ate there some more. And some more. And some more.

Pancho’s Burritos is now one of

our favourite places to eat in the city. Run by a great bunch of people who are as enthusiastic about seeing people enjoying their food as they are about finding the best chillis from around the world, Pancho’s has become an indie success story in no time. Not only are they making the best Mexican food in the city, they are now doing the catering at The Kings Arms in Salford, a pub also worthy of note here due to its fine selection of local ales, welcoming atmosphere, and fierce commitment to local arts, theatre and music.

Staying down in Salford, just up the road from the Kings is an independent restaurant, which produces some of, if not the best food in town. The Mark Addy has gone through many rebirths, and is now home to Robert Owen Brown, formerly of The Bridge and The Angel. Rob’s food is amazing, and all produced with local, independently sourced ingredients. The Black Pudding Potato Cakes, Ribeye Steak with Duckfat Chips and Blacksticks Blue Cheese Bhajis are the stuff of food heaven. They also have a great knack of sourcing ale, and regularly have new and exciting things that I haven’t tried before.

Another bunch who are good at their beer are the Marble Brewery who make the best beer in this city. Their new venture, 57 Thomas Street showcases their own beer (which is brewed just up the road in The Marble Arch), but also a great range of continental bottled beer.

The main appeal for me t hough is the cheese boards - strong cheese and tasty beer are a terrific combo.

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

It’s not all about boozing though.

Manchester is also home to many independent tea and coffee specialists. Unfortunately, since planning this feature Grindsmith has gone to the great coffee syphon in the sky, a sad loss as they made a great cup. New kids on the block North Tea Power are making quite a name for themselves by selling great tea.

Simple stuff. They stock a great range of leaf teas, make tea espressos, and bake some fantastic cakes. Along similar lines, An Outlet are also doing a fine job of making great hot drinks, serving fantastic food, and doing it all in a simple, welcoming way. In fact, this is exactly why places like North Tea Power and An Outlet are fast becoming key destinations for freelance types in Manchester, who can treat them as both an office and a lovely place to be.

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

However, king of the nice-placeto-hangout-and-also get-workdone is our second home, Common. It is not without good reason that most of Manchester’s creative community hold their meetings in Common, they have great home cooked food, a daily changing specials board which never fails to excite, magnificent drinks from around the world, and CAMRA approved ales. Obviously we know that Common support independent culture, with PYT being amongst the people who they have encouraged. With an expanded venue they now have the opportunity to do the same with their food, which is going down a treat.

These two pages have only scratched the surface of the fantastic food that is available in Manchester. We’ve not had room to talk about the baked sweet potato at Oklahoma, curry at This N That, pies at The Lass O’Gowry, soup from The Soup Kitchen, a pint and a Manchester Egg from The Castle, the steak sandwiches at Knott Bar and fry ups at Koffee Pot. Get out there and get eating folks. These bars and cafes need the support of people who care; there is so much more to this city than chain sandwich shops and fast food.

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“ The independent businesses and the independent spirit make Manchester and all great cities what they are.

I t goes without saying that we should support and nurture independents and creativity, without them, our streets would be full of McStarbuck’s. e want to be a part of W the community - we want to support local suppliers, local creatives, all the locals! We want to give Manchester somewhere nice to go and sit and feel good!”

- Wayne, North Tea Power

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING INDIE: FOOD AND DRINK

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PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

February - March 2010

*FREE*

Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now! - Urbis - Allo, Darlin' - Indie Edinburgh This Many Boyfriends - FUC251 - Meursault

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

June - July 2010

*FREE*

RIP Kruger, PYT goes Folk, This Many Boyfriends on Leeds, Dutch Uncles, Indie Labels

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NOW WE ARE 2

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NOW WE ARE 2

My oh my, has it really been another year? Yup, time flies when you’re having fun and PYT’s second year has been pretty jam-packed really - from the first Postcards from Manchester festival back in September, to John Peel Night in October, starting up our online ‘presence’ over at pullyourselftogetherzine. co.uk and of course working with more and more great contributors in the zine itself. Here are a few of our personal highlights: John Peel Night To an extent we’re still

amazed this happened. What started by questioning why on earth nothing seemed to be planned in Manchester to mark five years since the great man’s passing ended up in hundreds of pounds being raised for charity as some of our favourite bands took to the stage at Night & Day - and not even a bunch of fascists could stop us.* We still owe a massive thanks to Sweet Baboo, The Loves, Dutch Uncles, Sky Larkin and Malcolm Middleton for joining us, and to everybody who came along - the money raised for Diabetes UK and the Musicians Benevolent Fund will hopefully have made a small difference at least!

*We’d spent much of the day concerned that the English Defence League’s march through the city centre would hamper our peaceful charity night somewhat. We still feel slightly bad that we hadn’t warned Malcolm Middleton about this, as he walked into the venue looking very bemused by the atmosphere outside.

Oh get off the air, I’m on the Stereo This year has also seen one of the most exciting things ever happen. Well at least most exciting things ever which include PYT and one of our heroes. I was sat at home one afternoon, about to make a cup of tea when Steve Lamacq started talking about how it was nice to recieve a proper fanzine in the post, and that not enough people make them

these days. My ears pricked up, excited to see who he was talking about, just in case it was someone we knew. Know them? He was only ruddy talking about us!

STEVE LAMACQ LIKES OUR FANZINE!

You should pull up your socks girl...

Ok, self indulgent, but it made us smile A LOT. Whilst playing his first live set in a long time, Micktravis did his bit to work in bits of hits.

It was probably as much to calm his nerves down as it was anything else, but we were very very happy when from nowhere a verse of Pull Yourself Together popped up. Cue all of our friends in the room turning round to see Team PYT at the back beaming from ear to ear!

We can’t write any celebration of our birthday without thanking the fine souls who help us out all along the way. Duncan Sime is a constant source of support, advice and mild put downs who we couldn’t work without. Rob Walmsley and Graham Sykes from Teacake design transform our words into something which looks beautiful. Dave, Kirsty, David and Phil from Postcards are like an AA meeting for the DIY community. All of the people who have written for the zine, or provided artwork, or let us interview them are also stars in our humble opinions. We thank you all, and hope that this little zine and night go some way to showing our appreciation.

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN PYT PLEASE GET IN TOUCH - HELLO@PULLYOURSELFTOGETHERZINE.CO.UK

IN WHICH PYT INTERROGATE JENS LEKMAN

JENS LEKMAN

In the eyes of PYT, there are few better songwriters in the world than Jens Lekman. Dan knew about him first, and Hannah fell in love as soon as she first heard Maple Leaves. Since releasing When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog in 2004, Jens has continued to produce some of the finest pop music made this decade. PYT are hugely excited that Jens took some time out ahead of his upcoming European live dates to have a quick natter about his music, Australia, Sweden and Drew Barrymore.

Hi Jens, how are you doing? Well, I’m not wearing any pants. Do your own interpretation of that.

You seem to have been quiet for a while now, what have you been busying yourself with over the past year or so? Since the last record, which was three years ago, I spent one year touring almost every day. Then one year trying to find a home. Then the last year I’ve just been writing.

You’ve been living over in Australia for a while now - how did that come about? A long distance relationship that didn’t work out in the end.

It was cool though, I had already fallen in love with Melbourne by the time I got there.

Do you think you’ll settle out there more permanently, or does moving from place to place appeal to you more? I think visa issues will prevent me from living there much longer. But the arranged marriage is appealing to me, first of all it would get both partners double citizenship, so it’s a win win situation. Second of all, it’s the only form of relationship that doesn’t lie about its intentions.

Can you tell us a bit about the backyard shows you’ve been doing? It sounds like they could be a whole lot more fun than ordinary shows! Yeah, they’re great. It’s like something happens when a crowd doesn’t have to stand in line, be yelled at by the door guy, spend money on taking off your jacket, stand in line for a beer that costs 10 quid...

It’s like they actually look happy. I started doing them because of the visa issues, I don’t have a work visa so I can’t do proper shows down under.

I just have someone arrange tickets and pay for my flight and someone else letting me sleep on their couch. Then people sign up through my newsletter and that’s pretty much the whole thing.

With some tour dates over the summer, can we expect some new recorded material from you any time soon? Hopefully a new song before the tour starts. And I think there’s enough songs soon to release a full length. I’m thinking of it in terms of “my debut album”. The earlier records have all been compilations of songs, this one feels like a set of songs that belong together. So I’m a bit sensitive about it coming together.

What kind of show can we expect on your upcoming dates? Are you still playing with a full band and dancing/flying around the stage, or have you switched to something a bit more one-man? It’s a full band, it’s actually a greatest hits band sort of. I’ve compiled people from all the bands I’ve played with in different continents over the years. We’re eight including me. There’s going to be a lot of new songs, but since I’m spoiled with a crowd that actually wants to hear new songs we’ll be doing some classics too.

Your lyrics do a great job of painting a landscape for the listener, do you naturally absorb details of the landscapes you’ve visited? I usually absorb what is out of context in them. Like the fucking golf courts they build everywhere.

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

I guess part of why your lyrical landscapes are so engaging is because it seems that all your songs are seen directly through your eyes. How much of your lyrics is real life Jens, and how much is fiction? I always get that question, and I’m starting to think that maybe everyone else’s life is really boring or something. Which is fine, you can live your lives through me if you want. One interesting thing I’ve noticed is that while fiction never beats reality, every time I draw inspiration from a real story I’ve had to trim it down and actually make it a little less interesting. If I told you a story just as it happened to me it wouldn’t seem credible to you.

I once read that you used to write a song a day, and originally sent Secretly Canadian a collection of 200 songs. Are you still working at the same levels? Is your songwriting as much about the process as the product? While the idea of “a song per day” appeals to me tremendously, because it brings out the true beauty of mundanity (I heard Arthur Russell once wrote a song called “I Brush My Teeth For You” = so pretty), I have to say the writing goes slower and slower and I’d like to think it’s because with age you see more nuances and for Christ’s sake, you can’t just fall in love with every girl who walks by your window.

How did you end up contributing to the soundtrack for Drew Barrymore’s Whip It (we haven’t actually seen the film, but have heard some pretty good things about it!)? See it! It’s great. It woke up the 14 year old girl in me. Drew contacted me and flew me out to LA where we had a cup of coffee and talked about this and that.

Randall Poster, who put together the soundtracks for such classics as Kids and the Wes Anderson movies was there too. He had pink corduroy pants.

standout is that your songs seem to chart in Sweden, whereas that is so much harder to achieve in the UK. Does that represent something to do with the size of the country, or maybe a differing approach/appreciation of pop music in Sweden? Really? I never saw those people. Everyone I met there was British or Brazilian. I get the feeling no one in Sweden knows me or cares about me anymore. I never get any emails from anyone in Sweden. There’s a book I haven’t read, only heard about, where a young girl travels from Canada to Sweden because she likes my music and she thinks that wherever there’s music like that it’s gotta be heaven. She travels around and finds that no one’s heard of me, she ends up in a small town where she gets a shitty job and finally manages to save up for the ticket home.

A friend of ours wrote a song about children in Sweden having ‘magic indiepop hands’ (he was singing about Labrador), do you think there is something to this? It seems to us that there is loads of interesting music going on over there.

Do Swedish kids have a particular affinity to music? It’s funny, a lot of the bands I associate with Labrador seem so influenced by British pop.

I don’t mean anything bad by that, there’s a lot of good bands on there (Radio Dept!) but it seems like something that Brits could be shaking their heads at and just grunt “rip-off”. My favourite part of Swedish music was when people stopped caring about what was going on in the UK and just listened to what their own backyard sounded like.

Like when Johan from Radio Dept. called British music “Dirty heterosexual rock” or something like that and then released a single that sounded like Dr.Dre. Who are the artists you are listening to at the moment? Is there any new music that you are particularly excited by right now?

I’m not listening much at all, I DJ now and then so I’m looking around for dance music mostly and I read a lot. Amy Hempel, Christine Schutt, Jane Hirshfield, Lorrie Moore. Mostly middle aged women.

Jens Lekman plays the Deaf Institute on 2nd August, followed by shows around Europe through the rest of the month. To find more of Jens’ thoughts head to his website jenslekman.com

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Are you going to start using your website more again? We always enjoyed the Topic of the Month idea, in amongst all of your musings.

Yes. I need more of a flow there, once you stop it’s hard to get going again. But “smalltalk” has always been an anti-blog or anti-twitter, so I’m trying to be careful not to put too much nonsense up there. I mean I do put nonsense up there, but it’s sophisticated nonsense.

We found it quite interesting a few years ago when we saw you at End Of The Road that a bunch of Swedish teenagers had come over and were treating you with something close to Beatle-mania. How does your reception differ back in Sweden to other places? The main AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

JENS LEKMAN

Postcards from Manchester 2010

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POSTCARDS FROM MANCHESTER

We can’t quite believe that this time of year has come round so fast, but we’re very excited to have announced details of this year’s Postcards from Manchester festival! All parties involved were very happy with last year’s festival at Saki, with ace sets from Napoleon IIIrd, The Kabeedies and plenty more besides, as well as our stage at Sounds from the Other City this year with Islet, Windmill and The Rural Alberta Advantage - so we decided we’d have a another go!

It’s hard to work out what we like best about Postcards, but it’s been great to form a group of like-minded individuals and see what we can put together through collective experience. It’s something that Manchester seems particularly good at right now, with various groups coming together to form more than the sum of their parts.

OH Promotions (a combination of independent promotion stalwarts Pineapple Folk and Hey! Manchester) fit this bill, booking many of the best gigs in this city including the first ever popular music performances in Manchester Cathedral seeing The Magnetic Fields play in such a beautiful venue with such fantastic acoustics was nothing short of heartbreaking. It’s also been great to see a number of one-off collaborations, like Now Wave/ Hey! Manchester/Wotgodforgot putting on Battles last year. And that’s what this is all about really, if you work with more people you’ve probably got more of a chance to take that risk and book a bigger band or a better venue than you could do alone.

Almost every independent promoter in this city (and indeed in this country I’d imagine) puts these bands on in their spare time, because to them it’s an important thing to do - much like the array of indie labels we spoke to in the last issue of PYT; they do it for the sheer love of it, and the belief that it can make a difference, however small that

difference may be. That’s certainly why we do it - being able to put on a band that you love is a great experience, because even if you lose money, or your turnout could have been better, there will almost certainly be somebody there who has had a great night, or found a new exciting band. By getting together with Underachievers Please Try Harder, Young Adult Friction and the rest of You! Me! Dancing! we’ve been able to put on more of the bands we all love, whether for individual shows or for the all-dayer in September.

Sure, the more people you add into the mix the more chance there is you’ll disagree (there’s always a large pile of discarded band ideas in this respect - like the time we tried to persuade people we should book British Sea Power to play on a boat on the Irwell for Sounds From The Other City; whilst people were fond of the idea, it was probably never a goer when the practicalities were considered), but far more importantly these extra people mean you learn about bands you’ve never heard before, from people who are more often than not bursting with enthusiasm. So as far as we’re concerned Postcards from Manchester is important. It’s important to us to bring these bands together for a day, and it means a lot to us if anybody - friends or strangers - is excited about the day; we are too.

This year’s Postcards from Manchester festival takes place on Saturday 18th September from 3pm-3am at the Deaf Institute, Grosvenor Street, featuring Here We Go Magic, Allo Darlin’, Trailer Trash Tracys, Vera November, Internet Forever, Golden Glow, Deaf to Van Gogh’s Ear, Mazes, D/R/U/G/S, Patterns plus more TBC! Tickets are available from ticketline.co.uk priced at an early bird price of £10 until 8th August. After this they’ll be £12 advance, from ticketline, Piccadilly Records, Common and the Deaf Institute.

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN PYT PLEASE GET IN TOUCH - HELLO@PULLYOURSELFTOGETHERZINE.CO.UK

“ We’re big supporters of independent labels. Independent labels are the future.”

Part of this reception has been comparisons to Kenickie - that’s pretty damn cool right? To us you sound like a perfect blend of the Britpop we loved growing up and the 80s jangle-pop we’ve got so into in recent years. It’s really wonderful to be compared to such admired bands but it’s also strange because we hadn’t heard of some of them when we recorded the album and have had to go and look them up since!

It seems that a lot of your songs are based on real life, personal, erm, experiences/mistakes/ fuckups/good times. Would that be fair to say?

There are similarities between your lyrics and Allo Darlin’ in that way, they both have a really personal but not (too) sentimental feel to them.

Indeed! This is mainly because I’m a very literal person with no imagination! I’ve always written about experiences or about what I want to say to someone, or what I wanted to say to someone at the time. We’re big fans of Allo Darlin’ and really like their lyrics too.

Speaking of Allo Darlin’, you guys were great supporting them at The Lexington back in June - one of my favourite gig line-ups of the year.

Not being a Londoner I have no idea what kind of reception you usually get there, but everyone in the crowd seemed both very happy and quite blown away - does that sound about right?

We had an amazing time that night (apart from Dan’s guitar gear breaking!) The crowd was amazing - it was probably the best gig we’ve had in London. It was great to be supporting Allo Darlin’ at their album launch too. London gigs are the same as anywhere though really, you get some good ones and some not so good ones.

It seems that 2010 is a year of rich pickings for indiepop fans, and sitting amongst the cream of the crop are Sheffield’s Standard Fare.

Effortlessly catchy popsongs of jangly guitars and well-woven storytelling, their debut album The Noyelle Beat is no doubt destined for many of the year’s best of lists. Emma took some time out ahead of their appearance at Indietracks to answer a few questions for us!

IN WHICH PYT INTERROGATE STANDARD FARE

Hello Standard Fare! How are you?

Great, thanks!

For anybody who doesn’t know you, can you tell us who you are? We’re a 3 piece band from Sheffield made up of Emma Kupa (vocals and bass), Dan Howe (vocals and guitar) and Andy Beswick (drums).

Your debut album, The Noyelle Beat, has had some fantastic reception, were you expecting this when it came out? The response to our album has completely exceeded our expectations. We were quite happy with it when it was released and everyone who heard it liked it, but we never expected quite such a response.

PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER

Your video for Philadelphia has that lofi-buta-bit-less-lofi-than-the-Dancing-video feel to it. Where did the inspiration for this one come from? Is there more than a bit of truth in the back garden call centre frustration?

We filmed the video in Andy’s nana’s back garden in Derbyshire. It was made by Rupert Noble and most of the ideas were his - he took his inspiration from the song. The office scene was the most fun to do because we were acting with our friends and everyone was joking about, then we got to destroy all the furniture at the end! I think we all sometimes feel a bit frustrated with our day jobs.

You’re currently on Thee SPC (who are one of our favourite labels), how important is it to you to release music on an independent label?

Independent labels are the only thing we’ve known but our experience with them has been AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

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wholeheartedly positive. Darren from Thee SPC was the first person to show an interest in our music and encourage us to take it further. He’s one of the main reasons the album got this far. So we’re big supporters of independent labels. Independent labels are the future!

We’ve never actually made it over to Sheffield, what is it like as city? You’re missing out.

Sheffield’s a really great city - the people are lovely and have a great sense of humour. The weather might be a bit rubbish sometimes but there’s a lot going on. The music scene’s really good too.

How did your World Cup song come about? Did you pick Mexico out of a hat or was there more to it than that? We were presented with a list of countries and we thought Mexico seemed the most exciting musically because of the wealth of different styles of music coming from Mexico and the southern states. The idea of doing it was really exciting.

We’re very excited about seeing you at Indietracks. Have you been before? What are you looking forward to about the festival?

We’ve never been before but we’re really excited.

We’ve been looking forward to it for months and months now. We’re looking forward to getting a ride on a steam train and seeing some of our favourite bands like Allo Darlin’, The Smittens and This Many Boyfriends.

And it’s not just Indietracks is it? A US tour in August? That’s pretty damn exciting! We’d love to go to the Athens Popfest, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. Yes it’s going to be really exciting, a real adventure. Last time we were there was an amazing experience, but this time we’ll be doing less flying and more working our way down the coast. We don’t know quite what to expect from Athens Popfest but it’s going to be good! I’ve got family in Atlanta who are coming as well which makes it even better.

What have you guys been listening to recently?

Do you have any recommendations for us?

I’ve been researching the solo projects of the Be Good Tanyas since they announced their hiatus.

We’ve really been enjoying all the other bands we’ve been playing with like Kid Canaveral who we played with in Scotland and Tender Trap who we played with in Leeds. We’re enjoying the new One Happy Island album too and recommend that!

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IN WHICH PYT INTERROGATE STANDARD FARE

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The Noyelle Beat is out now on Thee SPC, as is the single Philadelphia which was released in July.

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THE LISTINGS

AUG-SEPT 2010

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – Night & Day, Wednesday 4th August They may not be as impossibly young as they were when Rob Da Bank first noted their immense talent and signed them to his Sunday Best label, but Kitty, Daisy and Lewis must still be some of the only artists of such youth who practise a combination of country, blues, and good old fashioned rock’n’roll to such winning effect. With a live line-up now expanded to include parents Graeme and Ingrid (previously of The Raincoats) it’s going to be a night where dancing shoes are required!

The Mountain Goats – Brudenell Social Club, Sunday 8th September John Darnielle is playing just two shows in the UK in the warm up to End of the Road Festival at the end of September.

This Leeds show at one of our favourite venues in the country is sure to be a real treat, with the venue perfectly intimate to showcase the poetic lyricism of a true living great.

Manchester Scenewipe 100th Video Celebration – Deaf Institute, Thursday 12th August Over the past 6 months or so Manchester Scenewipe has established itself as one of the best places on the internet to watch bands playing in unusual spots. What better way to celebrate their commitment to supporting great music than by hosting their first gig with some of their favourite artists. Folky-blippy-loopy star Denis Jones is headlining, alongside electronic-noise-popster Cats in Paris and the brooding With That Knife. Check manchesterscenewipe.co.uk for more info and videos!

Intuition – Whitworth Art Gallery, until January 2011 The Whitworth is really on top of its game at the moment, and this exhibition only goes to further the growing reputation they have for putting on exciting shows. This display of outside art features genuinely original, intuitive work made by artists outside the mainstream system of art education and galleries. This is the first collection of such art in a public museum, showing the innovative direction this gallery is heading in.

Underachievers with The ABC Club + Just Handshakes (We’re British) – Saki, Saturday 14th August Another great line-up from the folks at Underachievers.

This may be more towards the twee end of their efforts, but most certainly in a good way. Just Handshakes went down a storm at the Postcards stage of Sounds From The Other City, so it’ll be great to see their jangle-pop again, whilst the ABC Club are the perfect band to fill that Hot Puppies shaped hole in your life.

Drowned in Sound present Grammatics farewell tour – Deaf Institute, Sunday 15th August It is with some sadness that we list this event. Grammatics are one of those bands who I have always kept an ear out for, but never got round to seeing live. So the first time I see them will also be the last. Over the past four years or so the band have released a load of singles and EPs, and a self-titled album from 2009. Catch them on their final tour, before it is definitely too late.

The Castlefield Picnic – Castlefield, Saturday 21th August You remember D:Percussion? You know, where some of the city’s best promoters and bands descended on Castlefield for a day jam-packed full of ace music? Well, so do plenty of others who have decided that just because it doesn’t run anymore, doesn’t mean that something can’t exist in its place. Head down to Castlefield with stereos or instruments and see what you can make happen!

David Dondero – Dulcimer, Wednesday 25th August In 2006 David Dondero was cited as one of the best living songwriters, and yet for some reason he isn’t playing in venues the size his talent deserves. That said, it means his shows are even more special for those who see him. Dondero’s music reminds me of every film I’ve watched that includes a long drawn out sequence following a tumbleweed, or plastic bag, or other inanimate object which simultaneously recalls joy and weariness.

Eels – Academy 1, Saturday 4th September A night in the company of Mark Oliver Everett and his band is always going to be a bit special. Eels have made some of the best recorded output of recent decades, and constantly manage to bring something new to their alternative and sometimes slightly warped take on pop, tackling subjects that most songwriters seldom dare to touch. Despite the soulless setting of the Academy, Everett and his band are bound to provide an emotionally charged experience.

Jónsi – Academy 1, Monday 6th September Jónsi Birgisson needs little introduction. The driving force behind Sigur Rós, and one of the best examples of a man who can get away with using a cello bow to play the guitar. This man knows how to make affecting music, and his solo album Go retains much of the feeling of the band’s work, but features English vocals. If his solo show is even close to a Sigur Rós one then this will be great.

PYT at Common - Wednesday 11th August, Wednesday 25th August, Wednesday 8th September, Wednesday 22nd September As ever we’ll be with you at Common twice a month to bring you the best of indiepop old and new. Expect to hear some new favourites we pick up along the way at Indietracks and End of the Road festivals as well as your usual mix of the likes of Belle and Seb, Los Campesinos!, Super Furry Animals and, as ever, much much more.

THE LISTINGS

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Unrealised Potential – Cornerhouse, until Sunday 12th September Now this looks interesting. Cornerhouse have joined forces with the Unrealised Projects group to put together an exhibition which is an art project as exhibition which will allow gallery-goers the opportunity to become producers themselves by purchasing the right to realise a leading artist’s dream project.

So in effect this is an exhibition of ideas, presented as art, being art. Conceptual, yes. Worth going to, definitely.

An Evening With Liam Frost & Friends – Sound Control, Monday 20th September Whatever the problems Liam Frost has had over the years, whatever the delays to recorded output, he has retained an incredibly loyal fanbase and with good reason. His emotionally charged songwriting makes for some of the most honest and affecting live performances PYT have witnessed in recent years, and it’s always good to get the chance to watch him perform the highlights from Show Me How The Spectres Dance and We Ain’t Got Money, Honey, But We Got Rain.

See You Soon Animals! Last chance to see the Mammal Gallery – Manchester Museum, until Monday 6th September The Mammal Gallery at Manchester Museum has been in place since 1891, and although it has been ‘refreshed’ as ‘recently’ as 25 years ago, the grand Victorian gallery is set for a complete redesign. We would fully recommend getting down to the museum before this space is closed, as it is a last chance to see their wonderful collection in its original display.

An Evening With The Answering Machine + Friends – Sound Control, Thursday 23rd September It used to be that as long as you attended gigs in Manchester relatively regularly, you were bound to see The Answering Machine on a regular basis. Now, not only have they honed their three-minute popsongs into something more clever, more expansive and more passionate, but they’re also far more elusive. Don’t miss out on the chance to hear new material destined for their second album, Lifeline - which is due to be ready in the new year.

Recorders: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer – Manchester Art Gallery, from Saturday 18th September This is very exciting.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is probably best known for his Pulse Room, which features 100 light bulbs reacting to the heart rate of participants. This is typical of the artist’s audience interaction, and his new work People on People is no different. As you walk around the exhibition space, your image is filmed for live and delayed playback inside the shadows of other visitors, whilst the image of another visitor follows your shadow around the room.

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ISSUTEHE Postcards from Manchester – Deaf Institute, Saturday 18th September If you’ve had a read of this issue you’ll know how excited we are about this year’s Postcards from Manchester all-dayer, particularly as we’re holding it at Manchester’s best venue, the Deaf Institute. 12 hours of musical entertainment, from acoustic acts in the basement bar, to Underachievers, PYT and You! Me! Dancing! DJs in the main bar, and, most exciting of all, some of the best acts from Manchester and indeed worldwide in the music hall. We’re incredibly pleased to be hosting Allo Darlin’, Here We Go Magic, Golden Glow, Deaf to Van Gogh’s Ear and many more, including an extra special performance from Vera November, aka Verity Susman of Electrelane. We all know the early bird catches the worm, so be sure to pick up your £10 tickets from Ticketline, the Deaf or Common before 8th August!

PYT + Underachievers present World Atlas, Downdime, The Empty Set – Saki, Tuesday 3rd August We’re teaming up with our good friends at Underachievers to host Brooklyn’s World Atlas, who are over on their first ever UK dates. The band make swooning orchestral indiepop, with an instant comparison to Belle & Seb and The Divine Comedy.

Support comes from PYT’s noisy friends from Leeds, Downdime and The Empty Set. AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010

THE LISTINGS

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If This Is A Plan It’s no surprise that a city the size of Manchester undergoes constant transformation over the years, and even in the six years I’ve lived here a lot seems to have changed in this city, whether for better or for worse (the Beetham Tower has certainly been filed in both of these categories). As an enthusiastic resident (I think I’d been in Manchester for about 10 minutes when I decided it was the city for me) with a fondness for urban architecture and public spaces I was bound to take interest when new potential plans for St Peter’s Square were put on display. St Peter’s Square is an important part of the city centre: not only is it a transport thoroughfare which anyone in Manchester is likely to use with some regularity, it is also home to some of the city’s most impressive architecture. The view down Library Walk (between Central Library and the Town Hall Extension) is my favourite in the city: the two pieces of architecture compliment one another perfectly with that sweeping curve despite being of wholly different styles.

It has always seemed wrong then, that this space isn’t user friendly in the slightest - it’s hard to grasp the opportunity to admire the buildings when hemmed in by buses and trams. The plan now is to open up the space, to keep the tram lines but pedestrianise the remaining area between the Central Library and the Town Hall on the one side, and (the soon to be replaced) Elisabeth House on the other. You may not be aware that this was happening, or that you, the public, were able to attend a design consultation. That’s because nobody told you. This consultation of five designs, often with striking differences, only lasted for three days, and as far as I’m aware was not advertised to local residents in the slightest.

In fact, if it weren’t for a Tweet from the Manchester Modernist Society, we wouldn’t have made it over at all. Apparently business leaders were invited especially, leading to distinct concerns that the final design may be decided more by business stakeholders looking for cash than by the local communities who pass through this space day in, day out. “ You hadn’t exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them had you? I mean like actually telling anybody or anything?”

“But the plans were on display...”

“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”

“That’s the display department.”

“With a torch.”

“Ah, well the lights had probably gone.”

“So had the stairs.”

“But look, you found the notice didn’t you?” “ Yes. Yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard” Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy This is emblematic of the planning sector’s approach to public consultation - luckily there were no close encounters with leopards at the St Peter’s Square display, but it’s extremely sad to think that there is still so much truth in Adams’ writing of the fate of Arthur Dent, despite over three decades having passed since the Hitchhiker’s Guide first hit the shelves. If we are to truly have public spaces we can call our own, some serious changes need to be made. Right now all we can do is hope that intelligent, sensitive decisions are made about St Peter’s Square.

With thanks to the Manchester Modernist Society for alerting PYT to these plans - manchestermodernistsociety.org

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