The Banter - June 2012

MICHAEL KIWANUKA JASON MRAZ // PALOMA FAITH // B.O.B

LOSTPROPHETS // DOG IS DEAD // STOOSHE ALSO : CD REVIEWS // GIG REVIEWS // MOVIES // COMPETITIONS

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Contents

14

INSIDE â—? www.thebanter.co.uk

8 INTERVIEW - Michael Kiwanuka

The Banter talks to Sound of 2012 winner Michael Kiwanuka

16 CD Reviews

22

Tht We take a look at the best recent releases in the music world

8

28 INTERVIEW - B.o.B

Anna Gault chats to American rapper, singersongwriter and record producer B.o.B

32 Gig Reviews

A round up of some the hottest gigs in Glasgow over the last few months.

42 INTERVIEW - Lawson

The UKs latest boyband talks exclusively to The Banter

48 Movies

50

54

Editorial Team Editor

Ritchie Marshall

Photos

Daren Borzynski

News Team Maxwell Lynas

Anna Gault

Daren Borzynski

Sean David

Martin Knox

Scott Purvis

Simon Cassidy

Jack Chambers

Natasha Reid

Tony Connelly

Cover Photo Daren Borzynski

A look at the upcoming movies to hit your screens over the upcoming weeks.

A loo

Contact

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THE BANTER | 3

Interview

INTRODUCING STOOSHE 4 | THE BANTER

Interview

A

girl band made up for very different characters with lashings of girl power, sound familiar? Well, forget the Spice Girls, this is Stooshe and they are fierce in all sense of the word. I get a chance to talk to Karis and, as always with these girls, the only rule is that there are no rules.

The first thing that pops out at you when you see/hear/ watch Stooshe is that these are three girls with their own styles, their own personalities and they are not a cookie cutter band. Karis Anderson, Alexandra Buggs and Courtney Rumbold make up this cheeky trio Apparently this clashing of three totally unique personalities doesn’t cause problems though, “It means we’re never arguing over the same thing, we really embrace each other’s styles and ways of singing and like styles in terms of fashion and we all are three totally individual characters” Karis told me at hyper speed, “it’s kind of fun because we get to be ourselves without people getting confused because we’re always going to be three really individual characters and that really works for us”.

Stooshe isn’t exactly a typical name for a band either, it’s meaning is something that is a little lost in translation too but Karis was kind enough to explain how it came about, “In South London, Stoosh is kind of a bad word, it means when a girl thinks she’s nicer than she is, but we didn’t like that meaning, we wanted to change it so we added the ‘she’ on the end for like girl power. We also looked it up in the Urban Dictionary and it also means hidden away and mystery so it’s a bit of a contrast and with the ‘she’ on the end it’s all like girl power and female empowerment”.

INTERVIEW BY ALYCE MACPHERSON

While talking to Karis girl power is a frequently mentioned phrase but are the girls feminists? “People ask us this all the time but definitely not!” Apparently there’s a difference between being a strong woman and being an out and out feminist, that’s you lot told!

If you haven’t already, you need to discover ‘The Only Way Is Stooshe’, a set of vlogs that the girls have been putting together just to give their fans a look at behind the scenes and an insight into the world of Stooshe, the girls care a lot about their fans because quite simply, they are so grateful to have them and that’s something that maybe other artists forget, without their fans they wouldn’t be where they are.

THE BANTER | 5

Feature Interview

Karis explained that even though the girls can be a bit controversial they didn’t want people to think that they were just a cheap shock factor gimmick, “[We want people to] understand that we’re trying to make good music and they don’t just concentrate on the lyrics. Even though some of them are explicit we always do have a clean version for radio and air but it’s important to us to just stay true to who we are, we have banter in the studio and then we’ll write a song about it so we’re not going to contrive that in any way”.

In the two days after the girls put up their first release, “Betty Woz Gone” on YouTube it got over 150,000 views which was something they definitely were not ready for, “we were out at dinner and our management told us and we were like ‘Woah!’, we couldn’t believe it. We were like are they real, are they like fake views? But they were real, for sure, and it was just really, really overwhelming and we were all really ecstatic and it was really nice that people were actually watching our videos and raising awareness about us, it’s all amazing”.

When talking about the cool people that Stooshe had already met Karis said that it was also the people they met day to day that was really cool as well and she continues to talk about all the people around them like heroes which is possibly the nicest thing to hear when talking to someone famous. It’s obvious that the girls of Stooshe are still overwhelmed by everything going on around them and it is positively endearing.

Seeing Stooshe perform or watching their music video’s always puts them across as being a bit mad and a little bit 6 | THE BANTER

crazy but this isn’t all for the camera’s, “It actually is always crazy, it’s mad. Obviously we’re three very different characters but we’re so in sync, like we all start laughing at something, the most ridiculous thing and we crack loads of jokes together and we’re always laughing and it always is a bit crazy, we always have fun with it; whether it’s a rehearsal or it’s on stage... it’s always going to be very Stooshe”.

In Stooshe songs there is always banter in the background from the girls, a unique idea which works really well with their style but it’s not in any way scripted, “We’ll all go in the booth together and let the track run and we’ll just talk over it and then we’ll be like ‘Okay cool, we’ll keep that bit, we’ll keep that bit’” and it was also a spur of the moment thing for Courtney to our herself in the track Love Me, “when we were writing the song it just came about through the banter and she’s very happy that she did it now”.

So what’s next for the troublesome threesome? An album later in the year and quite a few big festivals have already been confirmed as well as talks about a headline UK tour but for now the girls are working hard in the studio and playing gigs when they can and most importantly, “we’re just enjoying every moment and trying to have fun with it still, just keep smiling and have fun with it all”.

Three girls who were meant to be taken on as solo artists but have created a new age girl power group with plenty of spunk and enough personality to fill the bodies in a room is certainly a great recipe for success. Either way, they’ll most definitely make an impact on the music scene no matter where they end up, remember, The Only Way Is Stooshe!

Feature

THE CIVIL WARS I

f you haven’t heard of The Civil Wars yet then chances are you will have by next month. The band has recently teamed up with Taylor Swift for the track Safe and Sound, and as if a duet with one of the world’s bestselling female artists wasn’t enough. The song is featured in the hotly anticipated film The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games books have sold millions worldwide and it’s being tipped to be the next twilight phenomenon, just without any vampires.

The band has been together since 2008 when singersongwriters Joy Williams and John Paul White met in Nashville. But they didn’t come to release a full length album until 2011. And it seems it was definitely worth the wait – the album went onto with Best Folk Album at the Grammys last year and the band also went home with the

award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. And it also spend the end of last year popping up in various magazines as they listed the best albums of the year.

If you’re looking for a place to start then listen to single ‘Poison and Wine’. The track is a great traditional folk song laced with beautiful vocals sung by both Williams and White as if their voices were made for each other.

It’s also hard to believe the two of them aren’t a couple during the song, as It seems like their singing right at each other.

The band might not be as big in the UK as they are elsewhere but give a couple of months and everyone will be talking about them. And you’ll be the one that mentioned them first.

SARAH MOYES

THE BANTER | 7

Interview

8 | THE BANTER

Interview Interview by Ritchie Marshall Photos by Daren Borzynski

B

orn in Muswell Hill to Ugandan émigré parents,

with vibes and sounds and colours.”

Michael Kiwanuka was brought up in a home from which music was largely absent, music didn’t enter

“There was no intention for my voice to sound old.” He states.

his life to his early teens, his first musical love wasn’t the folk

“The songs come out like they do because I like the sound

and soul music he performs now but it was just guitar music,

of stuff like that. I didn’t start writing songs to get a record

Michael grew up with Rock music and bands of that day like

deal. I wrote songs to express myself and they ended up

Radiohead and Nirvana while hanging with the skater kids in

sounding old.”

the north London suburb during his early teenage years.

Though deeply into soul and jazz, he found real inspiration Given the fact that he was born in 1987, to Kiwanuka’s

in the cross-pollination of the two styles with folk in the

impressionable young ears, even the music of the past was

music of Bill Withers. “Bill Withers was very rootsy and earthy,”

fresh to him. “To me, those records sounded new,” he says.

he points out, “but people branded him as a soul singer.

“Growing up, I didn’t have records at home. I didn’t even

To me, he was a folk artist. So that encouraged me to keep

know any Beatles albums. For me, it was all completely brand

going, ‘cause I didn’t know where I would fit in as a black guy

new music, even though it was recorded decades ago.”

with an acoustic guitar.”

Later coming across a soul compilation album given away

Michael reacts to the comparisons of himself to Bill Withers

with a music magazine, he was enthralled by the sound of

with the required modesty;

Otis Redding’s studio talkback discussions with his engineer

“It’s nice. I don’t pay too much attention I try to concentrate

while recording an outtake version of (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of

on what I am doing but it is nice.”

The Bay. From this point on, he resolved to make music that sounded raw and authentic.

Michael descrbied Bill Withers as a folk artist rather than a soul artits, is that how he’d position himself?

For Kiwanuka, key musical touchstones include Marvin Gaye,

“Yes, I think I would. Folk music I see as being raw and rootsy

Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Shuggie Otis, Roberta

music and that is how I see Bill Withers music and that is how

Flack’s First Take, Bill Withers’ Live At Carnegie Hall and

I see my own music. I see myself as a folk artist, whatever

D’Angelo’s modern soul landmark, Voodoo.

Folk is? I mean I am not like an English Folk artist or how other people see Folk as but that is how I see myself.”

“I just wanted to make a record that, when someone puts it on, it takes them to a certain place,” says the 24-year-old

With the landscape of music changing, does Michael feel

north Londoner, and recent winner of the BBC’s Sound

pressure to adopt a more mainstream sound or even

of 2012 poll. “I wanted it to have the lush-sounding

mainstream infuences?

instrumentation and feel of older records, to be warm and

“Not really, sometimes when you look around a bit too much

peaceful and put the listener in this little world, which is rich

you might think that certain other types of music get a bit

THE BANTER | 9

Interview your music to nice audiences. It meant quite a lot, I am really pleased to be signed to Communion.

Few records make such an instant impression as Home Again, the debut album by Michael Kiwanuka. Immersing the listener in a sound that is both modern and at the same time as familiar as the classics, it manages to strike the balance between being contemporary and somehow utterly timeless.

Both of these EPs – as with Home Again – were produced by Paul Butler (The Bees) in his vintage equipment-stuffed basement studio at his house in Ventnor on the Isle Of Wight. Together the pair played almost every instrument to be heard on the album, with Butler’s remarkably intimate, detailed productions –adorned with everything from flute to brass to sitar to aching strings – perfectly matching Kiwanuka’s visions for his songs. “The way we made the record was very modern,” the singer points out. “There was loads of editing. We manipulated it to get exactly what we wanted.”

“I didn’t really think about the techniques used for the music in terms of vintage instruments. Guitars have been around for more privileges, playing nice venues and stuff like that but I

ages so by nature they can be heard in old music and I like

think I love music so much you have to stay true to who you

the sound of older guitar amps, they just sound nice to me.

are and concentrate on what you are doing and try not to be

If its an old acoustic guitar great. In terms of using modern

anything other than myself.”

techniques, if there is a computer there and we need to use it we will and if it doesn’t need it we wont. I don’t pay too

In beginning to perform on the acoustic circuit around

much attention to how it is being recorded or the techniques

London, Kiwanuka quickly attracted interest and made

we use as long as its feels good and sound good to my ears

connections, not least with his current manager who in turn

and I feel I have done the best job I can.”

garnered the attention of Communion Records, the label that in 2011 released the singer’s first two acclaimed EPs, Tell

From the opening bars of the stirring Tell Me A Tale, it is

Me A Tale and I’m Getting Ready.

instantly clear that Home Again is a very special album.

What made Michael sign with Communion Records?

While its more upbeat characteristics are embodied in the

I like their aesthetic and I like what they stand for musically.

irresistibly catchy Bones and the rolling soul groove of I’ll

They are a great bunch of people but its also just fun

Get Along, elsewhere it proves itself to be a record of real

hanging out with a bunch of people from Communion.

stripped-down beauty. In I Won’t Lie, with its gospel-infused

Good gigs and you get a great opportunity just to just play

echoes of The Staples Singers, Kiwanuka offers something

10 | THE BANTER

Interview akin to a modern spiritual, while in Rest he turns in a tender

to put out there some vinyl for whoever would want to buy it

“love lullaby” and in Always Waiting, he blends classical

and would like the album as a whole.”

elements with the confessional intimacy of Roberta Flack.

Michael recently scooped the Sound of 2012 award, did this It is with the title track of Home Again, however, that

come as shock to him?

Michael Kiwanuka feels the record’s sounds and themes are

“Yes, you mentioned the mainstream thing I didn’t pay

ultimately encapsulated. “That’s the song that really for me

too much attention to the mainstream thing or even think

ties everything together,” he says. “It’s one of the earliest

that I fitted in so to win something like that was a surprise

songs I wrote for the album and even though I progressed

thinking that my music wouldn’t win. But when I heard the

and changed stuff in the studio, it was the one I could never

announcement and found out that I had won I was very

throw away. Like a lot of them, it’s a hopeful song. I use home

happy. It’s been a great platform for music and opens so

as the metaphor for contentment and peace within.”

many doors. Its very encouraging that they are helping my music get out there to more people, it’s a very privileged

Other parts of the record, on the other hand, find Kiwanuka

experience and I am very happy with that.”

struggling for peace of mind and using his songs as a form of self-empowerment, not least in the soulful I’m Getting

Michael recently finished a European tour with the musical

Ready, the darker, unburdening Any Day Will Do Fine and

juggernaut that is Adele’s he now has experience in bigger

the self-explanatory Worry Walks Beside Me. “It can really

venues, so which does he now prefer?

paralyse you, if you worry too much,” the singer admits. “I do

“I like the in-between. I would love to one day be able

tend to overthink things. All of these songs are me talking to

to play theatres and places that are geared for music to

myself, really. Trying to encourage myself to believe.”

listened to and enjoyed. If there was a very large theatre environment I would enjoy but I probably prefer smaller

It is an album that is set to make the liquid-voiced singer an

venues to the likes of big 02 Academies because people at

international name and touch its listeners in the same way as

the smaller venues tend to go more to listen to the music,

his favourite records inspired Michael Kiwanuka himself.

the bigger kind of venues seem like they are not really built

“I’d just like for the songs to mean something in people’s

to cater for certain kinds of music. “

lives,” he concludes. “That for me is what music ultimately is for. All of our favourite records, you can remember where

Michael has now incorporated a band into his live act, how is

you were when you first heard them. Or they might remind

he finding it now being a frontman?

you of a time or someone. My hope is that these songs will

“Its fun. I like singing songs and performing things I have

move people.”

been working on and I am working with a nice live band but I don’t necessarily feel like I am at the front, I mean I am

“Its just a collection of songs that I have been writing and

singing the songs but everyone brings such a big part to the

singing that I felt make a good body of work and it’s a

music, I definitely feel like there is a group of us.”

mixture of all my influences like soul music, folk music, jazz music. That’s kind of as much as I can say, it’s a very colourful

Could we see any Michael Kiwanuka collaborations in the

record with many instruments and sounds and textures that

future?

go with the music and I am very happy with it.”

I am a big fan of Alabama Shakes; I am a big fan of Danger

With the album released on vinyl, was this something that

Mouse, Black Keys and many more. Soul artists like D’Angelo,

was important to Michael?

Lauren Hill I am a big fan of. Those guys are all amazing so if I had a chance to work with any of them I would be honoured.

“Yes I think it’s very important to me. It just feels that the value of music is kept with that. You also take care with it

Michael Kiwanukas debut album, ‘Home Again’ is available

and like it enough to go and buy it means its valued and

now through Polydor/Communion Records.

treasured a bit more rather than downloading it, even though it’s easier and cheaper. So yes it’s important for me THE BANTER | 11

Feature

T

he 17th annual West End Festival the biggest festival in Glasgow’s calendar was officially launched and organisers outlined a programme of 400 events taking place across the west end of Glasgow, including a series of ‘mini-festivals’.

Established in 1996, the independent cultural Festival draws a strong crowd each year of around 100,000, to enjoy a mix of both free and ticketed events, from music, theatre and comedy to family days, guided walks and children’s events to be held in 80 venues throughout the west end.

It will run from 1-24 June, bringing together the entire business and residential community to generate a hugely positive economic impact for the city of Glasgow. Previous years have resulted in over £1m in sales for the wider Glasgow economy.

Ticketed events will be sold online and on occasions at the door. Full details of where to buy tickets are included in the brochure and online. Some venues are selling tickets at reduced prices to attract the student and family market. more.../ Elizabeth Scobie, chairman of the West End Festival commented: “As ever we are extremely grateful for the support of all those involved and to our sponsors - the festival would not be in its 17th year without them. Now Glasgow’s largest and most dynamic cultural event, we hope residents from all over the city and beyond will take every opportunity to attend as many events as possible.”

A special fundraiser event will also take place on 18, May at the Glasgow University Union with the theme of ‘Strictly West End’ and a performance from the Glasgow University Big Band. Another first, the ‘Best Dressed Window’ competition will be set to encourage community spirit and involvement.

West End Festival director, Michael Dale said: “Our annual festival of culture, community spirit and summer fun is back once again! The willingness of local traders, stall holders, artists, musicians and volunteers to get involved never fails to impress and the hard work of all will ensure that this remains a destination festival year on year. It has been 17 years since we launched and the calibre of talent involved continues to bring visitors from the world over – we’re set for another great month.”

12 | THE BANTER

Interview

JASON MRAZ INTERVIEW Where are you in the world right now?

I am at Heathrow, just getting ready to fly to Los Angeles so as soon as I hang up the phone I am gonna go jump on a plane and head back home.

You recently visited the Antarctic, how did that come about?

Yeah the Antarctic man, the Icy Cold Blue bottom of the world. The three primary colours of the Antarctic are Black, White and Blue and its extraordinary, its earths air conditioner and whether or not humans are the cause of climate change something is going on to cause the ice to melt a lot faster than normal which has a lot of us nervous that is the sea levels continue to rise it could change the face of our coast and the conditions of the world. So I went down there to basically learn that, to rediscover wildlife and our natural world and hopefully try to connect the dots between, I guess, consumption vs. climate and/or even more deeply “what the heck are humans supposed to do here”. And that’s what I always try to figure out with my writing as well, even before I took trips to places like the Antarctic I would step in my own back yard and ask 14 | THE BANTER

those same questions, “what are humans supposed to be doing here?”. Is it buying things and filling up our lives with stuff and of course that stuff always being thrown away in to land fills and oceans, “Is that we are meant to do?” or its hard to say that’s what we are doing so the beauty to be seen in that and theirs gratitude to be had being alive and for some of us on the planet having lunch, or even water, food and shelter, while millions of people don’t. So Antarctica is a way to view the natural world and, even though no one is down there, get a bigger picture of the 7 billion people to the North. I am still trying to get my head around it to be honest with you.

You’ve had lots of set-backs with your new album, what’s made this one so hard to work on?

It wasn’t that there were any setbacks, its that I don’t want to put out rubbish. I don’t want to put out a just a bunch of clever songs for the sake of selling songs. I like to ask questions about the world and I feel like once I have some worthy answers that will invite other people to ask questions or once I have worthy answers that I think will empower people that’s when I feel I am good with the

Interview music and I am not only putting out but I am ready to go back out on tour and sing these words with audiences.

And I am in no hurry to just create a product for the sake of creating a product because once people buy a CD these days “what actually becomes of that CD”, I mean I guess this kind of connects to the Antarctica question. “What the heck are we going to do with all of our CDs after we leave this planet?”. So I am in no hurry to just jump and make shit and sell it, I want there to have to be a real purpose.

“I wont give up” has already been well received with the video as well as the song itself getting much praise.

You also produced a “Lyrics” video for this, what was the thinking behind this?

It’s a tricky one because I didn’t want to make a video that had any complicated story because by the time the second video was being made people had already fallen in love with the song and had their own interpretations of the song and so I wanted to make the video be more about a variety of people and show that we are all connected and that we all have our struggles, that we all have something worth fighting for. Our director Mark Pellington is a classic music video director; he did a great job in telling the story that had this story which I thought was beautiful.

You also created a contest with Instagram that was a great success for “I wont give up”, using Twitter and Social Networking for this, do you think it is important for artists to use these platforms to communicate with their fans?

Oh yeah definitely because there is no middleman. I can take a picture right now, add some thoughts and just let it go and have access to whoever is operating on the same frequency and that’s empowerment right there. That also for the listener, for the reader, for the viewer, whoever is participating they also don’t have to deal with the middle man. They are getting their art or their inspiration directly from the artists and I think that’s super cool.

You’re involved in a lot of charity work, Can you tell us a little about The Jason Mraz Foundation?

Play it Forward! You know as a musician I play music, and I emphasise the word play, because that’s really all it is. I’m just like a child and I just get the chance to bang on a guitar and make shit up and people seem entertained by it, the same thing a little kid might do in the living room. Because I have gained a well amount of success, commercially, financially, I have a spotlight on me a lot of the time, I fell it is important for me to “play” it forward, to shine that light on other great organisations who don’t often get that light, who don’t have the voice or at least they don’t have the exposure or the attention that they deserve. So I like to share that and I have been inspired by the organisations that my foundation supports so I felt like it was a long time coming, I am happy now that it has finally begun and we have lots of money in the foundation already that is continuing to grow daily and we serve around 10 different charities at the moment. It feels really good to know that music is something that appears in our lives, our hearts just out of thin air is actually making such a difference in the world.

You support the Save The Music cause yet you encourage people to record you at live shows, why is that?

Because the live experience is much different to anything that I do on my albums. The arrangements always change, the stories I find between the songs are important. You said it yourself at the beginning of this interview “why so many setbacks, or why did it take you so long to make the next album” Well I’d rather people not wait for me to make albums because I am in no hurry to make albums but they are more than welcome to come and tape the shows, have a great time and share it with their friends.

You have collaborated with and Willie Nelson as well as both performing at Farm Aid, what was it like meeting and working with someone as influential as Willie Nelson?

Stoney, very stoney. He is easy to work with, he’s been enjoying it twice as long as I have been alive so you can learn a lot from a guy like him, and I did and I do, and I continue to be inspired by him. He’s a real life cowboy, he’s an outlaw and it was hazy day, it was just fun.

Is it true you have an avocado farm? Where does you finished produce go towards?

My avocados have started to go to a company called Chipotle, which is a really great company that is transforming fast food in the United States. Basically fast food usually comes from factory farms and Chipotle, they support family farms and local farms so even the meat they raise and the meat they sell doesn’t come from factories.

It comes from open air, open range, craft fed. But my avocados do go to them and I like that they do because I think fast food is a travesty and I think that it is necessary, it is economical so I like that a company is being conscious about the environment and about our health whilst always providing good food, fresh food.

My avocados have been there for 30 years when I moved in to my house, the trees surrounding my house were already producing fruit and had been for 25 years or more so I just kept it going. I just made sure that the trees didn’t die and that the fruit went somewhere, its been a real joy to have in your backyard, an infinite supply of food, it really makes you look at the world differently. Its thanks to those trees that I found myself in Antarctica, its thanks to those trees that I find myself giving a shit about our planet and most importantly its inhabitance, human and wildlife alike, because you know what else are we supposed to do, we are only here for a short time. I live in gratitude, I haven’t had a day job in almost 15 years thanks to music and I think its important that we always have fun, always are relaxed but in order to that we also have to be responsible for those around us that share the same home because they want to have fund and be relaxed as well and the more we do so separately without thinking of others that’s when others are going to suffer. I hate to be sounding so serious because I would rather be someone who is joking and light hearted all the time but I just thinks its important that we all be responsible in our thoughts, our action, attitudes.

Jason Mraz album “Love is a Four Letter Word” is available to buy online and in store now.

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Music

CD REVIEWS THE TING TINGS Sounds From Nowheresville COLUMBIA  The Ting Tings, blasted on to the music scene in 2008 with their definitive debut We Started Nothing. The sound that first broke them through the industry ranks was one that resonated with listeners immediately and saw the duo top the charts. But they had etched out a mould for themselves that could be difficult to break themselves out of or recreate.

Their second album, Sounds from Nowheresville, makes for a slight anti-climax, given the impact their first tracks and album created. Beginning with the slow and steady, Silence, listeners are re-introduced to lead singer Katie White’s distinctive heavily Manchester-accented voice. The droning guitars impede the rhythm of the track and without White’s recognisable voice the track is almost unrecognisable as even belonging to the Ting Tings.

And really the rest of the album follows suit. Hit Me Down Sonny starts out with a strong drummer boy, “rat a tat tat” drum beat but soon descends into a mish mash of church bells, guitar riffs and hand claps which leaves the ears buzzing - but not in a good way. Hang it Up has us hearing Jules de Martino’s vocals for the first time as he joins White’s.

16 | THE BANTER

De Martino’s vocals are surprisingly less jarring than White’s as she almost shouts rather than sings the lyrics. White’s voice continues to take a hammering through Guggenheim where she sings/talks throughout most of the song-without the desired affect the duo must have been going for.

The album itself is a strange mixture as it jumps from reggae sounding Soul Killing to the futuristic beats of One by One to the disjointed pop love song that is Day to Day. Yet it does have a ray of light in final track In Your Life, which again does not sound much like anything that has come before it, but with it’s wailing violins and White’s voice admirably stripped back and distinctively deeper than on any other track. The result is, again, not jump out your seat and dance but sit and listen and is all the better for it.

Ultimately those looking for a “That’s Not My Name” or a “Shut Up and Let Me Go” are not going to get it from this album.

There is a blatant lack of a discernible beat to dance to on almost every track, which was, for a majority of listeners, the draw of the aforementioned songs. But if the Tings Tings aim was to show that they had something else to pull out of the hat then they certainly succeeded.

ANNA GAULT

Music

THE FRAY Scars and Stories

RCA  Having released their debut album to worldwide success back in 2005, The Fray got over their difficult second album syndrome by getting nominated for a Grammy in 2010 so it seems all the pressure is on as the Denver rock band return with their third album. Unlike their previous two records, ‘Scars and Stories’ was produced by at the legendary Blackbird Studios in Nashville with the help of Brenan O’Brien whose previously worked with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam. It’s evident from the title, the band are feeling reflective which comes through the whole album. Lead single ‘Heartbeats’ for instance is about a trip some of the band took to Rwanda where they met people affected by the genocide – not exactly the average topic of song writing for a band. ‘I Can Barely Say’ slows everything right down – stripped back and accompanied by a piano, it’s a classic love song at its best and it’s the sound that a lot of fans will find familiar. And other highlights of the record include the more upbeat ’48 To Go’ and catchy pop track ‘Here We Are’. But it’s not just lyrically that they’re pushing themselves. The album marks a new sound for The Fray – they’ve grown in confidence and aren’t afraid to try sounds that they might have stayed shy of before.

If you’re already a fan of The Fray then you’ll still love this new sound. As just like their fans, it seems their music has grown up with them. And if you’re one of those people who brushed off their sound before thinking it was just merely background music to various US teen show dramas then think again. The Fray might just have a record to prove you wrong.

SARAH MOYES

MORNING PARADE Morning Parade

PARLOPHONE  Surprising an indie cynic is no easy feat but that’s exactly what this debut band titled album did. Although it’s slow to start, the first few tracks seem to skip by without demanding your attention or indeed capturing it at all but once you hit the fifth track, ‘Us & Ourselves’ the true charm of Morning Parade starts to shine through.

An album with the typically ‘euphoric’ sound attributed to indie music but front man Steve Sparrows vocals add a rough and haunting edge to this typically clean and inoffensive style.

‘Under The Stars’ is a track that uses the crescendo to great effect kicking into a dance style song with great rhythm that’ll keep you hooked with Sparrows complimentary urgent lyrics.

The penultimate track, ‘Speechless’ is an extremely Coldplayesque track with lots of big sounds and piano but it’s executed well none the less. Morning Parade close out the album with the track ‘Born Alone’ which uses the echo effect on vocals without sounding like karaoke, pretty impressive.

Over all, this album is well worth the money you’d pay for it despite the disappointing start. This would be much appreciated by fans of Coldplay and Snow Patrol but unfortunately it’s not an album that will reach into too many other genres and really pull in any unexpected fans. The high points definitely outweigh the low making for a powerful debut album.

ALYCE MCPHERSON

THE JAMES CLEAVER QUINTET That Was Then, This Is Now HASSLE RECORDS  Strangely, the best place to begin is in the middle rather than beginning, but strange is what The James Cleaver Quintet do best with their debut album, That was Then, This is Now. Jump forward to ‘The JCWho?’ As it address, probably the most important question, not ‘who are these guys? But ‘Just who do they think they are?

The cacophonous noise of drum on bass on jarring, jostling, clanger notes combine to make the album a severe if occasionally melodious assault on the senses.

Initially the album is barricaded against even the most hardened punk ears, but on a second try, you can pick out the surprisingly punchy riffs and drums beats that belie the heavy metal tones running throughout the album. The opening track ‘Golfing Pros, Bitches and Hoes’ is a strangely romantic song, with some particularly good riffs but is let down by the heavy-handed delivery and screaming vocals that leave the listener in fear of a ripped vocal chord.

Back to the middle, The JCWho track opens with an unexpected brass segment before succumbing to vocal scorching again, it pulls back ending with a still unexpected, Latino jazz reminiscent of The Mavericks, 1998 hit, ‘Dance the Night Away’. Simply put the album tries to hard to not fit the mould, it’s a little bit ‘System of a Down’ and a little bit ‘The Smashing Pumpkins’ but sadly not quite as good as either.

The sheer velocity of the album is both its heart and its downfall, the melodious interplay of genre and tone gives hope for progression, but the tour de force nature is angry and aggressive. Ultimately the result is a disjointed album that if personified, would be a Ritalin-laden, spoilt four year old.

HEATHER CAMPBELL

THE BANTER | 17

Music

GORILLAZ The Singles Collection 2001-2011 PARLOPHONE  Unfortunately, this collection of singles is by no means a collection of greatest hits, but the few hits here are golden, and from platinum albums! Who would expect one of Britpop’s biggest and most prolific frontmen to convert, to some extent, from alternative rock into his own the world of animated electronic hip hop and soul that is Gorillaz?

Damon Albarn created a monster, teaming up with artist Jamie Hewlett to create a virtual band.

I was sceptical about listening to this collection - before I even looked at the track listing, I honestly couldn’t recall enough great songs that would be worth featuring - maybe only a handful.

To me, it is Gorillaz’ debut album and second offering Demon Days which provide the most impressive singles and videos that dominated the charts, and The Singles Collection is loaded at the forefront - we trudge through the hits, which dwindle well before the end of the mighty fifteen track listing, and we’re left with four songs from the third album Plastic Beach, flung together with some remixes. Something that is always refreshing is the impressive roster of artists that feature with Gorillaz (Mos Def, De La Soul, Shaun Ryder), some of whom did appear more than once.

Fans will appreciate the deluxe edition which has a bonus DVD featuring videos and live performances, and you can also visit http://www.converse.co.uk/ for a free download of the new single Do Ya Thing, featuring Andre 3000 and James Murphy.

MARTIN KNOX

18 | THE BANTER

INME The Pride GRAPHITE  InMe are an alternative rock band from England. They formed in 1996 and have since been experimenting within their genre and even 16 years later they don’t seem to have found their niche. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; their sound is interesting and cannot be pigeon-holed into any genre which makes them slightly unique.

Their last album Herald Moth was released in 2009 and received critical acclaim for being ‘too technical’, The Pride is set to focus on the song writing rather than being too technical. The Pride has been 3 years in the making and fans have been anxious to hear what they have to offer this time around. The Pride is also the first full album with lead guitarist Gazz Marlow.Almost as soon as The Pride opens, I realise the same old angsty vocals are there. It may be just me but I find those kind of vocals outdated now, they had their time to shine back in 2005/2006 but lately clean vocals not last with whiny angst are much more preferable. It takes a short while for the album to really grab my attention, it’s very, very forgettable and those who advised them to stop leaning towards progressive rock have created a dull monster.There are interesting key changes and some of the solos are slightly technical but aside from that, this album is barely worth the listen. One of the only highlights was the opening to Silver Womb, a haunting piano opening put it miles above the rest of the album but still not something to save it with. It’s just far too easy to tune out of this album.

SARAH LOUISE KELLY MARCUS COLLINS Marcus Collins RCA  It seems Marcus Collins is under the impression that his album will be cooler if he covers music by bands he probably hasn’t even heard of. First up the record opens with his debut single ‘Seven Nation Army’ and if you’re a fan of The White Stripes then it’s probably a good idea that you don’t listen to this version of the song. I’m sure there’s been worse versions recorded but it just doesn’t suit his voice, the song’s meant to be guitar led and this one had too many trumpets for it to ever be good enough. But it doesn’t get much better when he covers Janelle Monae’s song ‘Tightrope’, while even though this song suits his voice, people who appear on shows like X Factor shouldn’t touch songs by Jack White or Janelle. It just should be done. And just for those older fans who aren’t aware of those musicians he’s thrown in a completely pointless and generic cover of Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher.

Gary Barlow, who was Marcus’s mentor on the reality show, has had some input in albums more original tracks. ‘Mercy’ is catchy and has a very old school motown song, while ‘Love & Hate’ has more big band sound about it but neither is going to set the world on fire. The album only seems to get going near the end with ‘Feel Like I Feel’ – the only song that jumps right out at you on the whole record; it’s got a catchy chorus and got a great beat behind it. But by the time you reach it, you’ve started to give up any hope that you’ll actually find a good song that it takes a few listens to really appreciate it.

SARAH MOYES .

Music PINKUNOIZU Free Time REGAL  Pinkunoizu’s album ‘Free Time’ is a delightfully whimsical album that plays on the light and dark of childhood in its melodies. The album’s title ‘Free-time’ calls to mind the happy hours between classes in school, where you could hang out and simply play.

The opening track sways in on a breeze with loose chimes and slow rhythm that subtly builds with added guitars, before seamlessly blending to the second track, Myriad Pyramid. A general feeling of calmness permeates the album, with wistful chimes and unusual vocal effects giving more depths to the second track as it carries on in a wandering, child-like manner.

Track 4, Everything is Broken Or Stolen has a beautiful energy that is carried throughout by synth generated melodies and Indian chime tones. Now I know what your thinking, synth melodies! Not again, but this is no, laptop generated cop-out flying in the face of real instruments and traditional melody making. This is an exciting experimental mixture of trippy, psycho- hallucinogenic melody-making that wanders through the delights of sunny afternoon to the scarier corners of a dark bedroom by means of poly-rhythmic beats and disconcertingly disassociated vocals. The lyrics are hard to catch and almost incoherent which renders them disturbing giving new depth alongside the change of pace in the track.

The sheer length of the track (almost 7 minutes long) allows the listener to follow the tune on its journey.

Although track 4 length lends credit to its personal story within the overall theme of childhood and day-dreams, the remainder tracks follow suit getting longer and longer which builds on the ‘trippy-hippy’ vibe of the album but without much in the way of added, or altered instrumentals it can seem a little flat after the halfway mark of Parabolic Delusions’ despites its pop injection.

ENTER SHIKARI A Flash Flood of Colour AMBUSH REALITY  In true Enter Shikari style their newest and perhaps their most highly anticipated album arrives with an addictive intro of synth met by violins that’s built upon reaching a crescendo with Rou’s very distinctive voice. If this intro doesn’t make your hair stand on end at first listen then you’re quite probably not breathing.

With some nice linkage, the second track kicks in and you get a bit more of classic Shikari mixed with their new and somewhat well executed dub-step style. The violins from ‘System’ are a welcome addition to the following track, ‘...

Meltdown’ which also has a rare snippit of Rou singing properly which is, in fact, very beautiful.

Old habits die hard and it appears that the lad’s cannot drop their need to have a track name with extended letters in it, the third track and first single release ‘Sssnakepit’ is more of their political agenda pushing from the previous album which sometimes made it a bit tedious.

Disappointingly, this theme has been dragged into this album as well but it is definitely an improvement on Common Dreads. There is more likeness to their debut and best loved album, ‘Mothership’ in ‘A Flash Flood of Colour’ and it doesn’t do the track any harm, it’s a welcome addition if anything.

There are a few tracks on the album that you feel like you could probably skip past on first listen and in spite of this they do grow on you but they do have some seriously great tracks as well.

A couple that stand out on first listen are definitely the ones that are heavier, with less of a radio friendly, dub-step based sound to them; although, in fairness, that might only be the opinion of die-hard fans.

The album drifts hazily, on a cloud of its own self-wonder towards a tremendously gratuitous near nine minute finale, where the day-dream through innocence and nightmare in childhood culminates.

As beautiful a singing voice as Rou does have the track ‘Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here’ is quite Owl City-esque and as a direct result, pretty disappointing and this somewhat extends to the following track ‘Pack of Thieves’.

The final track opens with an adult understanding and here reaches maturity as a punchy bass line picks up on the relaxed melody. Slowing down halfway through the latter half of the track picks up with intensity, as increased temp and use of horns adds volume and energy. Finally Sombre Ground’s meditative start explodes with the use of horns in a happy free for all, where the album spills out over itself.

Luckily Shikari shenanigans are in full tilt again in ‘Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannacide’ that has a great intro that really sets the mood for some mischief which is followed by some of the magic we’ve come to expect.

Free Time end before being called back to work in an undiluted expression of joy, where the textured layers of each track build on top until one sound and voice cannot be singled out before eventually spiralling away and winding down like a broken toy, repeating and mechanical. Joyous to watch and sad when it finished, just like free time at school.

HEATHER CAMPBELL

‘Constellations’ closes out the album and although it’s a charming track it doesn’t really make the album go out with a bang.

In short, this is well worth your ten quid as it really is an improvement on Common Dreads but it still falls pretty short of the dizzy heights reached in Mothership so make some space in your CD collection and give it a chance, it’s worth it for the few sterling tracks on the album if nothing else.

ALYCE MCPHERSON

THE BANTER | 19

Music

CHIDDY BANG Breakfast REGAL  The boys of Chiddy Bang are a few years older and it shows in their new album, their sound is more mature, more polished and if The Preview blew your mind sit back and get comfy because Breakfast is about to fill you up.

Still full of Chiddy Bang’s trademark sound, lots of sample, dirty bass and gritty beats, Breakfast is an evolution of their original sound rather than a whole new direction. They’re learnt how to use samples more effectively as well as finding new instruments.

The album titled track, ‘Breakfast’, is a punchy but low key track, nothing like their debut smash, ‘Opposite of Adults’. The track is something of a ‘Wake up, we’re back’ from the dynamic duo, a welcome break from the hectic electro we’re used to from them.

‘Ray Charles’ is a tongue in cheek song that oozes the trademark self confidence that the boys usually exude and it is a prime example of Chiddy’s effective use of an appropriate sample. Strangely enough, this is followed up by the mellow, melancholy love song ‘Does She Love Me’ which has resonances of the track ‘Bad Boy’ from The Preview.

‘Happening’ is probably going to be a big summer hit, an upbeat, up tempo song with a good message, something 20 | THE BANTER

more akin to the message in the last album and it’s a nice reminder of what Chiddy Bang are capable of.

Over all I could not confidently say that ‘Breakfast’ is better than ‘The Preview’ but it certainly has a few lucky charms in it and it’d still be a worthy addition to your music collection.

Unfortunately Breakfast has an undeniable lack of ‘party anthems’ but that aside, it’s a great album, with more tracks than The Preview but with fewer tracks that jump right out at you. Breakfast is definitely a grower rather than a show-er.

COMPETITION We have 5 copies of “Breakfast” to giveaway to Banter Readers, For your chance to win just answer the following simple question.

Q: Can you name both members of Chiddy Bang?

Send your answers by e-mail to info@thebanter.co.uk with the heading Competition: Chiddy Bang along with telling us your name, age, address and e-mail address. Entries close on June 20th.

Winners will then be chosen at random!

Music ALL AMERICAN REJECTS Kids in the Street POLYDOR GROUP  It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since All American Rejects last released an album. While most bands like to take a break to write new material and find a way to update their sound, four years is a lot longer than most people tend to take. Unless they’re coming back with something really special and while Kids in The Street is good, it isn’t exactly as good as you’d been expecting after such a long time away. The band worked with producer Greg Wells (Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Adele) and went down their usual route of locking themselves away in a quite retreat in the country to write the album before going into the studio with Wells to record it.

I guess after four years most people will be expecting some spectacular but there’s a few stand out songs on the record which are worth listening for, And if you’re a fan then the rest of the album will appeal, even if it doesn’t sound as new as you would have liked.

SARAH MOYES VARIOUS ARTISTS The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond MERCURY RECORDS LTD  There’s no denying that The Hunger Games is one of the most successful films of the year, even if we’re still to reach the halfway point of 2012. In America it had the fourth best opening weekend box office sales of any movie ever, so it’s no surprise the soundtrack is just as good going straight to the top of the billboard 200 chart and also charted in other countries around the world.

While the actual music of the movie was composed by James Newton Howard, Songs from District 12 and Beyond is more of a companion album rather than anything else. To kick things off there’s the usual big names to pull in the more teen based audience, the sort of fans the movie and books before it have attracted.

Taylor Swift heads up the big names with two songs on the record. The first one Safe and Sound is collaboration with The Civil Wars and was the promotional track released before the movie. Lyric wise is completely in sync with the books, which is probably why the fans have reacted so positively to the endearingly beautiful acoustic folk song that they offer us. Her second contribution Eyes Open is more upbeat, less folky and a little bit more in line with her usual style of music and lyrically it reflect the stories told in the movie too. Other highlights include Arcade Fire’s haunting Abraham’s Daughter and Maroon 5 give everyone a taste of a completely different side to them as they team up with Rozzi Crane on the track Come Away To The Water.

It would have been nice if some of the songs had actually featured in the movie, but saying that it’s a great record especially for people who are already in love with The Hunger Games story. And if you’re one of those who thinks it’s just for teens then this record might surprise you cause it’s a lot more alternative than many mainstream music soundtracks usually are.

SARAH MOYES

SAM LEWIS The City and I HIDDEN PONY RECORDS  Sam Lewis new album “The City and I” is a collection of eleven songs which together make a beautiful array of soulful and intimate music. This is Sam Lewis debut album and for the most part it’s a good album, gorgeous vocals and a harmonious flow throughout. There are a couple more pop sounding tracks which, blanket Sam’s vocal talents and seem to detract from the relaxing blues flow of the album as a whole.

The opening track “What Did I Do” is really representative of the album as a whole, the soft acoustic guitar and Sam’s vocals give a very personal feel to the song and you are left feeling comforted by the sincerely happy vibe of the song. As is the case throughout the album though, Sam’s lyrics have a disparity to them yet the songs still portray an intangible joy.

“The City and I” is the title track of the album and is a stand out song. The rhythm is beautiful and Sam’s vocals flow in perfect harmony to tempo of the song. The addition of keys to this track fits seamlessly into the feel of the song and adds an elevating beauty to the song. Another stellar track on the album is “Words Count for Nothing” the piano on this song helps create a sort of soulful love letter feel which is present throughout the album. Backing vocals on this track are provided by Dave Eaton and serve to reinforce the fervency of the catchy chorus.

All in all, Sam Lewis new album is well worth a listen. Its relaxing flow and beautiful, honest vocals will leave you with a feeling of unequivocal joy. There are a couple tracks which seem to detract from the flow of the album and shift more towards an upbeat blues feeling. These songs are still enjoyable but you can’t help but feel you’ve lost out on the chance to experience one of the soft, slow songs, where Sam’s talents shine through in abundance.

TONY CONNELLY

THE BANTER | 21

Interview

PALOMA FAITH 22 | THE BANTER

Interview

You’re releasing your single ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ at the end of next month – can you tell us a bit about what this song is about?

It’s about being in a relationship with somebody who you think might be on the rebound but is going out with you but you’re not sure. They’re recovering from the past relationship and what it’s like to be in that position when you’re doubting yourself and your role in their life.

For your upcoming album ‘Fall To Grace’ you’ve stated that you’ve taken a more cinematic approach with the album, with it being the ‘soundtrack to your life’, was this a conscious decision on your part, to combine your music with your love of acting to make the album more personal?

It was a conscious decision but it wasn’t really that I wanted to combine it with my love of acting; it was more that I wanted to combine it with my love of film as a viewer. I watch a lot of films all the time so I wanted to somehow cultivate the atmosphere of films into this whole album and everything we put out.

Do you have any favourite tracks? What track are you most looking forward to fans hearing?

I love all of them, but I think some stand out ones are probably ‘The Next Thing’, ’30 Minute Love Affair’ and ‘Blood Sweat and Tears’ they’re kind of… more dancey ones, which make me excited to have a dance! I’m really looking forward to the emotional side of things ‘Just Be’ and ‘Streets Of Glory’ I’m really excited about, ‘Just Be’ is a very stripped back ballad with piano and then ‘Streets of Glory’ is the opposite, it’s got bells and whistles and everything all in one. They have string arrangements from David Arnold who I think is incredible.

You’ve previously said that “A lot of people write songs because they want to record them in a studio” whereas you write songs so that you can perform them live, do you prefer performing the chilled out songs better, or the more upbeat numbers?

I think both, a mix of both. Like light, you need light and shade; gigs are full of light and shade as well.

Interview by Warren Higgins

Going back to your acting career, you’ve appeared in several films and television dramas. You’ve recently been announced to appear in the BBC adaptation of Blandings – can you tell us a little more about your character and how this came about?

I’m just appearing as a character called Jordan who’s in one episode, episode 5 of the series; she’s basically a 1920s version of me! She’s a London cabaret performer and is a bit playful, and quite cheeky. I had an audition – I don’t think they even knew I was an actress! I went to an audition and they said that they liked my interpretation of the character and I said ‘I’m just being myself!’

You’ve been hailed in the press as somewhat of a fashion icon - who would you say were your biggest influences or inspirations, and are there any new designers we should look out for?

Biggest inspiration is probably Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich… Coco Chanel – I love the way she dressed – Bjork and Grace Jones. Designers I love Dolce and Gabbana, I keep wearing them, Alexander McQueen I think is incredible, I love all the high-end stuff like Jean Paul Gautier. New designers I think Piers Atkinson and Victoria Grant are amazing.

THE BANTER | 23

Interview

You mentioned that Bjork is one of your fashion inspirations – you recently worked with Nellee Hooper (Bjork, No Doubt, Madona) who produced your album; what was it like working with him? Did you learn anything from him?

I learn new things everyday! I learn new things all the time.

If you go through life not learning it’s a bit weird. I learnt loads; it was amazing working with him. We were a match made in heaven, as he’s really into visual things and so am I so I suppose he’s the first producer I worked with who understood my language as I sort of, speak in pictures! My old A&R from my record company left and this guy called Colin Barlow took over the record label and I told him what I was after and how I didn’t really know who to approach and he suggested Nellee. He said ‘I’ve got a really strong feeling about this, and you’ve got to trust me’ and I did, and I met him, and I thought he was brilliant!

You’ve been revealed as a mentor for Danny’s team on BBC’s ‘The Voice’ to help prep the vocalists for the ‘Battle’ round of the competition. What was the main piece of advice you gave to them, and how was the experience for you? Did you learn anything by going through the process with them?

I think the main piece of advice I was giving them was about performance and how I think it’s not enough to just stand on stage and sing the song, you have to do extra,

whether it be physically moving around and giving depth to the song physically or giving a more physically emotional performance. I just feel like to me it’s important that we have something to look at, so I focused on that. I learnt how much talent there is out there, and how it’s a really strange industry as at the end of the day, not that much talent breaks through. It’s unbelievable sometimes when you just take a minute to think ‘actually, there’s loads of people who could be wearing the exact same shoes that I’m wearing’. It makes me feel grateful for what I’ve got and what I’ve achieved – obviously I’ve worked bloody hard for it but I think there’s a certain combination of hard work, perseverance… and a little sprinkling of luck.

What are you plans for the rest of the year; do you have any live plans or plans to tour?

I’m doing some warm up shows this summer, I’m yet to find out dates – I’ll be promoting this record then I’m hoping I’ll tour towards the end of the year but I won’t if people don’t buy the album! So I’m waiting to find out if people will buy it so I can go out on tour and show off!! I’m very nervous about the release, I keep ringing my manager up, as I’m a bag of nerves!

‘Picking Up The Pieces’, the first single from Paloma Faith’s second album is released out now. The album ‘Fall To Grace’ will follow on 28th May via Sony/RCA. scott purvis

24 | THE BANTER

laura gallacher

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Feature

MUSICAL SNOBBERY AND THE INTERNET CRITIC: Isn’t it time to leave the Jurassic Park to the dinosaurs?

By Petra Raspel

B

eing struck down with the cold has very few advantages, especially if you have to spend your days glued to the sofa with an ever-increasing mountain of tissues around you. Due to this not very pleasing fact (and the blessing, or curse, that is an iPad), I spent more time than usual on different music forums and social networks over the weekend. And then it struck me: The musical snob (and hobby critic) is still very much alive!

Whilst most people now probably think about older classical musicians having a go at rappers, I am afraid that it doesn’t seem to be linked to musical style, or the professional circuit, at all. It rather seems a mindset than being fuelled by musical preference: There IS the classical musician who thinks all pop music is rubbish of course. However, there are also the pop musicians who turn up their noses at classical musicians.

The professionally trained musicians who call others amateurs (and don’t mean that in a loving way), or the selftaught musicians who laugh at formally trained musicians for “being overtrained and stiff”. Even the music educators who seem to forget that not every musician is born perfect and criticise them in a rather hurtful way (there is a

26 | THE BANTER

difference between constructive criticism, even saying one doesn’t like something, and just being plain mean or rude).

Or the professional musicians who live in their own bubble and seem to think that everyone not having the same “status” is inferior.

It really is a universal phenomenon, and it seems to be more of a personality trait than being linked to (musical) background.

What is the reason for this behaviour? Is the online slag-offfest some way of “bonding”? Or an attempt to look better and more knowledgable than everyone else? Does it maybe even stem from insecurity, or is it really just arrogance?

What makes us write off whole musical styles (usually ones we don’t even know enough about)? It is legitimate not to like something and say this openly. However, should it lead to sweeping generalisations?

Also, where do we draw a line between criticising and being destructive? How do we justify judging people, especially when most of the time, we never did anything remotely similar ourselves, or put ourselves in the same position,

Feature and have no understanding of how hard it is to e.g. sing “perfectly”, or how much guts it actually requires to perform in front of an audience?

Everyone who ever stepped out on a stage and gave their best will probably know how crushing it can be to hear or read throwaway remarks afterwards. If criticism is constructive, it can still hit us hard, but we will have strategies to deal with it. If it is destructive, personal and plain nasty, it is much more difficult: You can choose to ignore it as best as you can, but it still hurts.

As someone who used to perform a lot, I sometimes find it very difficult to strike a balance between being honest from a professional point of view, and putting myself in the shoes of the one being criticised. There is a camp of people who say that if you put yourself out there, you have to live with the criticism. This is undoubtedly true, and as a performer, I agree with it – it’s part of the game, and constructive criticism helps you to grow. So this blog is in no way a call for stopping criticism, or painting everything bubblegumpink.

Maybe the idea is to occasionally think about the power of words, in the good and negative sense, and word criticism in a way that is helpful rather than personal? It is still tricky, because even well-meant comments can be hurtful – it is not easy to always get it right, especially if we don’t know the person we are criticising and therefore feel quite detached, and as if we can say everything we like: “That person won’t read it anyway, so who cares?” True, but the next question would be: Who are you writing for, and what’s the purpose? That’s a serious question by the way...

The same applies to being intolerant towards other musical styles and branding them as inferior (or, in my job as a vocal coach, criticising other teaching methods). We will usually have very strong feelings about what we personally deem right or wrong, like or don’t like. Sometimes, these things are quantifiable, or we can even provide scientific proof. If this results in dialogue, it can only be a good thing, hopefully leading to progress, or new creative projects. For this, we need to stay open-minded though, and that’s a hard thing to do if our main goal is to prove our superiority, or to make ourselves feel better by putting others down.

And whilst I occasionally have a quick “trigger finger” as well (who hasn’t?), reading so many destructive comments about all sorts of things in such a short timeframe made me aware that they actually reflect much more on the one writing, than the one being written about.

Some can of course afford not to care, but maybe it is about time to at least occasionally remember a good old rule when it comes to the virtual world: If you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say anything at all.

THE BANTER | 27

Interview

B.o.B INTERVIEW

By Anna Gault

28 | THE BANTER

Interview

2010

saw many successes for mankind, the iPad, 3D movies, the UK coalition government...OK maybe not the last one so much, but for rapper B.o.B, 2010 was a year of great personal success as he saw his debut album blow up the charts. The critically acclaimed “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray debuted” at number one in the US on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart and was nominated for five Grammy awards.

The album introduced us to Bobby Ray Simmons AKA B.o.B and his, easy to listen to, rap with it’s distinct pop undertones. It saw two massive hit singles in the form of “Nothing on You” featuring Bruno Mars and “Airplanes” featuring Paramore’s Hayley Williams both of which catapulted to the top of the UK’s Official Charts and combined, the two tracks have so far sold in excess of 1.5million copies in the UK alone.

So with success of this magnitude, returning to the studio again for sophomore release, “Strange Clouds”, would certainly be a different experience second time round. “I’ve had even more fun on this album,” explains B.o.B .

“Especially because I had all of the resources and support I could need. I think that was crucial for me with this project and the first album was something I was working on for years and years and I went through a lot of frustrating periods.”

Although the process this time may have been less frustrating, when an artist has such a meteoric rise to fame it isn’t hard to imagine that a lot of pressure is placed on their shoulders. The build up for their inevitable follow up could easily have artists cracking under the strain. However B.o.B says he thrives despite stress: “I work better under pressure, I think. It makes me work harder but I honestly haven’t felt too much pressure with this album, I’ve just tried to have a good time with it.

It’s everything that people loved about the first album. It’s the best of the last album but more.”

As his debut album hit the top of the charts in 2010, 2011 saw the 23-year-old begin to polish up some of the tracks for his new album. However, soon the anticipation for his next track came to a head when lead single “Strange Clouds” was leaked ahead of schedule. “It can be frustrating when that happens,” he stresses. “It’s all the preparation that goes along with it - I mean even if a track is mixed and it leaks we might have had little promo bits to give to fans to get them excited. It’s like the audio foreplay is taken out of it!”

The “Strange Clouds” single is latest in a succession of tracks by B.o.B featuring another artists. For the past

couple of years there has been a growing number of singles released by musical alliances which have had chart success over solo tracks. You only need to look at David Guetta’s discography since 2009’s “When Love Takes Over” featuring Kelly Rowland to see that collaborations have taken over the charts. B.o.B hasn’t escaped the collaboration treatment either, including being the featured artist in Jessie J’s “Pricetag” . But these tracks beg the question, is buddying up with another artist the only way to achieve chart success these days?

“It’s really about what the fans want to hear,” explains B.o.B. “The fans really love to hear and want to hear these collaborations. They want to hear these artists doing something fresh and I think that these collaborations have built a bridge between my fans and fans across the water and genres. They have made the world a smaller place in music.

“I think that with this album I will stand alone even more - even though I am collaborating with a lot of people and still working with other artists, I think this album really sets me apart from the rest. There is nothing that sounds like it.”

While he may have proven himself a chart success in the UK, B.o.B has yet to have a headline tour here. He supported Paramore on their 2011 UK tour but was not featured at their Scottish gigs, so for many fans in the UK they have little to no idea what a B.o.B gig is like. But the man himself promises a good time. “As soon as I put this album out, I am hitting the road and I am going to be on the road for two years,” he reveals. “I love it though and I would do it all the time. People who come to my gigs can expect sweat, they’ll need a shower afterwards! and just a party really.” The party spirirt is so much so that B.o.B admits that even if he is told not to by the venue, he loves a good crowd surf.

Despite his immense success the rapper is not one to rest on his laurels and doesn’t feel that one hit album makes him. He explains: “You have to define your own success and measure your own success and bare the fruits of your labour.

“For me, just getting my first album out was such a victory for me but I think that the real victory is not just doing it once but doing it for a long, long time and having longevity.”

Even at his young age, B.o.B muses about the future and surprisingly he doesn’t restrict himself to the music industry. “In 10 years I would probably like to be acting or maybe scoring movies, you never know,” he says. “I’ve always admired acting. I’ve never really tried it but it’s something that I have a respect for but music will always be there.”

THE BANTER | 29

Interview

By Sarah Louise Kelly

30 | THE BANTER

Interview

A

professional career spanning 10 years, 5 albums and touring worldwide alongside the likes of Metallica, Lostprophets are a force to be reckoned with. The Welsh 5-piece rockers have ventured through different styles and have just released their new album Weapons.

Lostprophets are no strangers to change; in the past 12 years of their career, they have progressed from heavy metal, to light rock, verged on pop and are now finally finding their feet. Their keyboard player Jamie Oliver says this was a natural process for the band: ‘as kids, you’re enthusiastic and you don’t even think about what you’re doing really. If you listen to Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja (from their first album), we don’t even have a decent song structure! That song doesn’t even have a chorus but as we’ve grown, it becomes a new era, a new process. As for the changing of sounds, when we were younger we felt that we had to keep recreating our sound to remain fresh and relevant not just to our fans but to ourselves.

Now, we can see that remaining true to who you are is something musicians just have to do. On this record, we haven’t compared ourselves to current music, we trust our own tastes. We’re grounded enough now to relate to fans via music.’ Due to their previous ever-changing sound, Lostprophets received criticism from not only critics themselves but fans. They have been described as ‘sell-outs’ amongst other hurtful things. Jamie said they no longer pay attention to criticism. ‘Twelve years on, criticism just gets abolished by us.’

As well as new sounds with every album, there tends to be a different tone to each album as well, they seemed to be progressively darker and angrier. The predecessor to their current album was a particularly dark album, Jamie says that was their album for dealing with demons that they’d been hiding away and the writing process for Weapons was far more enjoyable. ‘Once we started writing [Weapons], we were far more inspired, enthused. It really felt like a brand new start, as if we’d been revitalised, our last album was exorcising demons and this is the result of it. We’re all enthusiastic like a whole team again. It’s quite easy to see where the band were personally by just listening to the albums; each one is like a Polaroid of who we were and Weapons is a Polaroid of who we are.’

The amount of criticism and change that Lostprophets have experienced would bring down lesser bands, but Jamie says their band is more than just a band, they’re a group of friends and that’s what keeps them tight and grounded.

‘When we were younger, we listened to metal bands, we liked alternative sports. We didn’t get on with the rugby players; we were inevitably drawn to each other. It was almost like a working class mentality, our group of friends was a brotherhood and now, Lostprophets is a combination of people believing in each other who have friendship to fall back on’.

No matter how confident Jamie may sound, he says their work is never done, they are not ready to stop just yet. ‘We always feel like we can better ourselves, no matter how good one album is we can ALWAYS do better; we’re actually planning album number six! We’ve grown again and the time just feels right.

With such an ever-changing eclectic sound, it’s almost inevitable that one would question who their influences are. ‘We’re metal kids at heart, but we’d look ridiculous as a metal band. We also want to mature with style while remaining young at heart. Consider us to be metal kids with metal sensibilities. We also have a lot of 80’s pop and when I say pop, I mean actual pop, not the derogatory terming. If you think of the likes of The Police and Duran Duran, that’s us. What I will say, though is that we are starting to trust ourselves a lot more now and are less inclined to look at influences and more likely to look to each other. We respect each other’s ideas and tastes.

As a band that have toured worldwide with a lot of other highly respectable bands, Jamie shared some of his favourites so far: ‘I think the ones that stand out are Metallica and Slipknot. Metallica are heroes of ours, always have been so that was a dream come true. It was in Europe and there were so many metal-heads out there! They were looking at us, a bunch of ponces and we were TERRIFIED. Though, at that age I would have reacted exactly the same to us when I was younger. The best though were The Blackout and Kids in Glass Houses. We toured Australia with them and it was basically just a big Welsh family kicking around Australia.

That tour is one I’ll remember for the rest of my life’.

Finally, their plans for the rest of this year: ‘Well... I’ve been told by the manager to expect to be busy until November!’

THE BANTER | 31

Music

WE ARE AUGUSTINES O2 ABC2, Glasgow GIG REVIEW

Glasgow’s O2ABC welcomed the return of hard working Brooklyn trio We Are Augustines after a run of successful support slots, including Scotland’s very own Glasvegas.

Billy McCarthy, Eric Sanderson and Rob Allen opened with ‘Philadelphia’ from their debut album ‘Rise Ye Sunken Ships’ after receiving an enthusiastic welcome to the stage.

Their emotive 13 song, 1hour 20 minute long set climaxed with guitarist Eric surfin on top of the sell-out crowd. Clearly these guys need a bigger stage.... they deserve it!

Photo - Daren Borzynskl 32 | THE BANTER

Music

THE BANTER | 33

Music

PHOTO // DAREN BORZYNSKI

CLOCK OPERA O2 ACADEMY, Glasgow

THE USED King Tuts, Glasgow

GIG REVIEW

GIG REVIEW

It’s a quick return to Glasgow for Clock Opera to open for The Temper Trap as they have only just headlined at King Tuts a month earlier, but who is complaining?

The Used have been one of my favourite bands since as long as I can remember, and I’ve had poster of them on my bedroom wall since I was about 17. Don’t get me wrong it’s not in the best condition anymore but it doesn’t mean I love the band any less.

Announcing a date at King Tuts is a dream for fans of any band that usually plays much bigger venues so it was no real surprise the show sold out quickly. Not only is it the first time the band have been in Scotland for years (last time I saw them I had to go to London for it) but it’s also unlikely they’ll play a venue this small again.

Tonight’s show is to celebrate the release of the bands fifth album Vulnerable and they waste no time tonight in letting us here some of the new material. Songs like Kiss it Goodbye, I Come Alive and Give Me Love all go down really well, especially with those people who have only recently become fans of the band. Their new sound sounds like a natural progression for the band and is met with a lot of love from tonight’s crowd although it’s evident not all the band have heard the new material.

With their long awaited debut album release of ‘Ways To Forget’ behind them, the band (now a four-piece and led by singer Guy Connelly) can now concentrate their time on touring. His vocals are often compared to that of Elbow’s Guy Garvey, but I’m sure with just a few listens to tracks such as ‘Lesson No7, Belongings’ and ‘The Lost Buoys’ you will realize that no comparisons are needed.

Most of the audience are unsure of what to expect from Clock Opera, but it doesn’t take long for the O2ABC audience to tune into their sound. Reviewers tend to call their style ‘chop-pop’. I am not entirely sure what to call it and if you ask Guy, he finds it interesting to read where reviewers try to place it.

It’s a poetic arrangement of lyrics and with Guitars, Drums, Sequencers, Pots, Pans, Lids and Tea Pots being thrown in to create this distinctive sound, it can only be called ‘Clock Opera’.

By the end of the night it’s obvious that this sound has created new interest, and the band have enlisted a growing number of fans as a queue builds up to talk to the band and buy their merchandise.

Hopefully another quick return is on the cards.

DAREN BORZYNSKI

34 | THE BANTER

But it’s not all new stuff tonight. The bands set list includes some of their most popular songs from their career with Take it Away, Blood on my Hands and The Bird and the Worm. And for people who’ve been fans of the band since their debut record was released, definite highlights of the night would be some of their earliest songs like Buried Myself Alive and Blue and Yellow and of course the bands anthem Taste of Ink which was obviously delivered with a mass sing along from tonight’s crowd.

There’s a huge buzz in the air as everyone heads out the venue after the show as clear we’ve all seen one of the best Used shows in years.

SARAH MOYES

Music KATHLEEN EDWARDS Oran Mor, Glasgow GIG REVIEW

Opening with the first track on her new album Voyageur, ‘Empty Threat’ is the perfect introduction to Kathleen’s style; a song that shows of not only Kathleen’s vocal talents but that of her band as well. After a strong round of applause the band dives right into the next song, another one from Voyageur, Chameleon/Comedian, which slows down the mood.

She has a backing singer in the form of her support act, another Canadian with a beautiful voice, Hannah Georgas, and she lends a brilliant harmony on Chameleon/Comedian, listening to her you’d almost swear it was her voice on the album recording.

Kathleen quickly thanks the crowd and explains that she’ll be playing a few more songs from her new album but she’d like to play some old ones too and she continues her set with ‘Asking For Flowers’ her previous album’s title track. It’s quite a different style to Voyageur, more Americana, cleaner cut and a little less dark but still extremely good stuff none the less.

Addressing the proverbial elephant in the room, Kathleen talks about how her new album isn’t all about her divorce and the next song she’s going to play has, hilariously, been misinterpreted as a break up song when in fact it’s about a night when she “spewed my guts up one night in Calgary Bay”, nice. In fairness, Pink Champagne is a beautiful song but now that you’re aware of the real meaning you do start to smile a bit about the frivolity of the subject matter.

Four songs later, and much chatting and joking with the crowd, Kathleen starts to tell the basement of the Oran Mor the story of her divorce, how they had a perfect house, and how much she loved that house, and then she explains that on the night that they were handing over the keys she slept in the empty house on her own and lay on the floor looking at the stained glass window in her living room and that the song she’s about to play, ‘House Full of Empty Rooms’, is inspired by that experience.

After closing the show with a beautiful rendition of the song ‘Change The Sheets’ which was co-produced by her boyfriend Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, there was enough cheering and clapping to fill the three minute void before the band appeared on stage again to play an encore song, only the one as the venue wouldn’t let her have time for anymore.

Kathleen joked about playing a 20 minute long song as it was “only one song right?” to cheers and clapping all round but she ended up playing the upbeat but melancholy song, 6 O’clock News from her debut album Failer.

A gig like no other, with an eclectic mix of people in the audience all sharing the same wonderful experience that is seeing Kathleen Edwards perform live. The Venue of the Oran Mor might not be a great venue but in most cases, a venue is what you make it and Kathleen Edwards made it pretty damn amazing.

ALYCE MCPHERSON

PHOTO // DAREN BORZYNSKI

THE TEMPER TRAP O2 ACADEMY, Glasgow GIG REVIEW

Melbourne band The Temper Trap finally returned to Glasgow after 2 years, only now as a quintet, with New Zealander Joseph Greer (Keyboards, Guitar ) joining Dougy Mandagi (vocals, guitar), Lorenzo Sillitto (guitar), Jonny Aherne (bass) and Toby Dundas (drums) as an official member of the band.

Most bands tour on the back of a new album release, but not The Temper Trap, as they open their set with ‘Need Your Love’ from their yet to be released self titled album.

They then go on to tease the audience by mixing in ‘Love Lost’ from their first album ‘Conditions’ before letting them hear another new track ‘Rabbit Hole’. The theme continues through the night keeping the crowd interested in what to expect next. New... ‘Happiness, Trembling Hands, Dreams’ and ‘I’m Gonna Wait’ are added to the list and the crowd are warming to the sound.

With the set nearing an end you could clearly see that the crowd were anticipating what could probably be classed as The Temper Trap’s signature song. An extended intro gave the indication that this special event was about to happen, a sea of camera phones began to light up the crowd and then it happened: The first few chords of Sweet Disposition, and the audience erupted into jubilant cheers.

The new tunes certainly don’t disappoint, but the audience reacted more to what they knew. Maybe this is just a ploy of The Temper Trap to make you go out and buy their new album?

DAREN BORZYNSKI THE BANTER | 35

Life has its ups and downs You can talk confidentially online or by phone whenever you need to.

Whatever your worry, it’s better out than in.

www.childline.org.uk ChildLine is a service provided by the NSPCC. Registered charity numbers 216401 and SC037717. 7244/11

Interview

THE MILK

For someone who’s not heard your music yet, how would you describe your sound?

Its soul rock n roll with hip hop production.

Your released single ‘Broke Up The Family’ and you’ve got an album in the works. Have you finished recording yet and what can people expect from it?

The album is finished and we are really proud of it. Lyrically it tells a story of what life in essex is like right now for a lad in his 20’s cos thats all we know life to be but hopefully theres stuff there that all kinds of different people everywhere can relate to. Musically you will hear all of our major influences combined, twisted and mutated into the music that we wanted to listen to in the first place. Its also worth mentioning that the whole album is linked together with different interludes and sound design intertwined into the track list which we feel will reward the listener for listening to it from start to finish.

The album is being produced by Brad Baloo of The Nextmen – how have you found working with him?

Brad very quickly became a friend of ours because his sense of humor was as daft as ours i think so we found ourselves in a scenario where we were making these great tunes with this mate of ours, it certainly didnt feel like work thats for sure. When it came to making the album it was nothing short of a holiday with the lads, all we did was laugh the whole time.

Has he had any influence on your sound?

Massively yes. His record collection is second to none so when it comes to referencing an idea or getting some inspiration Brad is the best at pulling out a record and going: “have you heard this?”and 10 times out of 10 it is a banging tune and we’ve learnt and been exposed to something new. Brad has been a major catalyst in bringing what was a quite traditional sounding soul band right up to date, its this mixture of old and new that is the Milk.

On your website you’ve covered a classic 60s ska track – Toots The Maytal’s ‘54 56 Was My Number’. Have you got any more covers lined up for your shows or will you be playing new material from the album?

On our tour we shall be playing the majority of the tracks from our album but we’ll also have a selection of covers to draw upon if the occasion calls for it. Also just like the album, the songs in our live shows are always seemlessly linked together so for this we shall be constructing a brand new set order and link bits that caters more towards what we hope will be a party atmosphere.

You’re from Wickford in Essex – what’s the music scene like there? And finally, what can people expect from The Milk’s live shows?

There is no music scene whatsoever in Wickford. Micks pie and eel house has heart fm playing, plazma bar plays smash hits tv all day and night and DJ jonny change plays 80s and 90s tunes down the duke most friday nights.

THE BANTER | 37

Interview

DOG IS DEAD T

he Nottingham quintet were heading steadfast down the M5 for Bristol when I spoke with them.

There was an infectious excitement from within their van, three days into their twenty five date UK headline tour, and you can feel the enthusiasm and confidence exuberating from the talented indie band.

Rightfully so of course, they’ve worked hard over the last few years which now sees them selling out gigs throughout the UK and having a major record label deal with Virgin Records.

Lead vocalist Rob Milton demeanour was one of confidence and jubilance when I asked him about the bands new single “Two Devils”. While the tempo of the song is upbeat and catchy-you come to expect a high standard of this when familiarised with the bands music- the lyrics are somewhat darker and morbid. “I 38 | THE BANTER

INTERVIEW BY TONY CONNELLY

really enjoy writing about dark and bleak subjects and I was keen to do something darker and show that we are capable of that kind of colour.” Rob described the song as a dark tale of guilt and insanity stemming from a twisted relationship in which a girl falls sick. The song was debuted on the Huw Stephen’s radio 1 show ahead of its March 5th release and has an increasing number of heads turning.

Dog is Dead have received a steadily increasing level of attention over the last few years as a result of touring the UK extensively and supporting such bands as Bombay Bicycle Club. This doesn’t pass the band by either, there’s a real humble outlook from Rob “ It’s weird, going back to venues that we’ve played at previously, like Oxford, we’ve played there four times now. There was hardly

Interview anybody there for the first show but each time the crowd have doubled in size and now on this tour, it’s sold out. It’s amazing to see the reaction of the crowd now compared to a couple years ago, people are singing along to so many of our songs now and the atmosphere it’s brilliant.”

It’s the bands appreciation for their fans that has resulted in the recently released EP titled ‘The Talent Show’. The new EP is free to download from the bands official website and includes acoustic versions of some of their most popular songs. “We wanted to put something out before going on the road so that the fans know we’re keeping busy. We also thought that there are some places that aren’t on the tour and some people unable to make it so we wanted to give those fans something at this time as well.

With a couple years of touring and four EP’s released, the fans are craving for a full length debut album.

There’s a host of material to include in the album and with their increasingly popular status, the choice of producer becomes more encompassing too. “We’re actually around 70 percent complete with the album.

We have David Kosten producing which we’re really pleased about, he worked on Bat For Lashes album ‘Two Suns’ which I thought was really beautiful. It’s great being in the position of being able to choose a producer and Kosten’s work with other artists has been very unique; he seems to get the best out of them.

That’s really what we wanted in a producer, we couldn’t have it feeling derivative”.

Twin Atlantic Barrowlamds, Glasgow

Wed 27th October

Lady Antebellum Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow

Fri 13th July

Marina & the Diamonds 02 ABC, Glasgow

Wed 20th June

The Band Perry O2 ABC, Glasgow

Sun 8th July

With the band on tour just now they are planning on hitting the studio as soon as the tour finishes and so fans can expect the album out very soon.

Dog is Dead are playing a total of 7 Scottish dates with the Glasgow gig at King Tuts falling on March 6th; the day after the their new single, ‘Two Devils’ is released.

“We love playing in Glasgow, there’s always such a good atmosphere and the people there are so nice. The crowds in Scotland are amazing actually, there’s always such a good atmosphere when we’ve play anywhere in Scotland because of the crowds.”

Tenacious D SECC, Glasgow

Tue 12th June

Patti Smith O2 ABC, Glasgow

Wed 5th September

With King Tuts being such a small venue the band are sure to be mingling with the fans before and after the gig so I had to ask what their favourite drink was. “Ha ha, I’d say a spiced rum, Morgan’s Spiced or Kraken Rum actually, we’ve enjoyed that lately”.

A new Free EP, an album almost finished and a great new single coming out; this great bunch of guys deserve a Kraken or two if you’re lucky enough to see them in King Tuts on March 6th.

The Civil Wars O2 Academy, Glasgow

Fri 2nd November

The View O2 Academy, Glasgow

Thur 5th July

THE BANTER | 39

Feature

W

hile Scotland seems to boast a booming music industry filled to the very brim with every kind of genre imaginable, some are beginning to ask, is the industry over-flowing? Polluted with copy-cat rock bands to those acoustic solo artists who like to pull on the heartstrings, it seems that for such bands and artists, competition is proving too tough. How do they beat the band before? How do they achieve exclusivity and uniqueness? The truth is, they have began to seek it elsewhere. China.

It is hard for anyone not from China themselves to establish an understanding of their music industry, however, what we do know is that Beijing is famously known for its underground music scene. One of the first British bands to visit Beijing was Wham! in April 1985. Already an established pop group in Britain, Wham! took to the People’s Gymnasium in Beijing in front of an audience of 15,000 people. Both BBC News and the Time magazine reported that the pop euphoria caused a mass divide in the audience. Half were sitting still in their seats whilst the other half were going crazy. Intrigued, other British bands

40 | THE BANTER

and artists began to follow in their footsteps in what was almost a contest to see who could be the first to win over the chinese crowd.

It was rock legend and Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain who won in the end. Although an American band, the influence they had on the music industry in China is not to be ignored. It marked the beginning of acceptance of rock and punk music and his suicide in 1994 was a major event in the Beijing underground scene. So much so, that in 1997, Hao Fang published “Radiant Nirvana: The Life of Kurt Cobain” sourced completely from English materials. This showed the people of not only Beijing but China as a whole the importance of Nirvana’s influence and the growing range of music genres that were fast developing without the majority of the population even being aware.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Glasgow was crowned the European city of culture and its population, in comparison to China’s, were well aware of the growing variations in music genre. Fast-forward ten or so years and Glasgow plays host to a thriving electro scene with venues such as The

Feature

Arches and Sub-Club and record labels such as Chemikal Underground. It has also became a hotbed for hard-rock, punk and heavy metal again with venues such as Ivory Blacks and Cathouse. For music fans, no matter your genre preference, there is a venue of some kind to cater for your needs and likewise for aspiring bands and musicians. The huge variation in music that is available has influenced the success of many Scottish stars.

For example, Biffy Clyro, a rock band hailing from the small towns of Ayr and Kilmarnock (around 50km from Glasgow) and said to be largely influenced by Nirvana. Biffy Clyro have had massive success in not only the UK but are also currently touring America playing shows and festivals in all major states. It is only a matter of time before Chinese, Nirvana loving, fans will be introduced to the band, who could possibly turn out to be somewhat of a replacement.

Another example is the band Twin Atlantic, an alternativerock band that could possibly be welcomed with open arms into the Chinese music industry. Having only recently been formed in 2007, the band boosted their profile extremely fast playing major music festivals in Britain and landing support slots with Biffy Clyro on their UK arena tour. If Biffy Clyro plan to visit China sometime soon, do not be surprised if Twin Atlantic are to join them again.

There are others such as The View that have a whole other version of rock which China may not be familiar with or heard before. Indie-Rock. It could be considered as one of the most popular genres of music, particularly amongst Scottish students. Bands that fall into the indie-rock genre may not be globally known or even nationally known but uniquely recognised amongst indie-rock fans. It has been very popular and successful in Scotland with bands such as The Fratellis, the Dykeenies and The Xcerts.

Scotland and China may be very different from a cultural point of view. When it comes to music, especially of the rock genre, China seems somewhat hungry for new bands whereas Scotland is hungry not necessarily for new bands but for something new all together. The genre has been exhausted here, not in a negative way but is moving gradually to other countries. The niche has been recognised in China and is hopefully soon going to be filled with Scottish artists such as Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic and The View.

Whilst it seems that we have what China needs, could China possibly have what we need?

BY // NATASHA REID

COMPETITION! Win one of 5 copies of the Gossips, “A Joyful Noise”

A

blend of soul, gospel, rock, funk, disco, punk, passion and rebellion, Gossip is comprised of vocalist Beth Ditto, guitarist Nathan Howdeshell, and drummer Hannah Blilie. Originally formed in Olympia, Washington in 1999, Gossip first garnered attention with the release of their 2006 breakthrough album Standing In the Way of Control, and they have been in the spotlight ever since.

Recorded in both Xenomania, Higgins’ studio in England, and KBC Studios in Portland, Oregon, A Joyful Noise stays true to Gossip’s trademark brash and unapologetic nature – that is, as true as possible for a band that is constantly reinventing itself and pushing boundaries. Working with Higgins, Gossip sought to create their own brand of pop. Ditto proclaimed, “I spent the whole year listening to ABBA and not listening to the radio,” accounting for the pulsing energy of A Joyful Noise. The album’s infectious tracks will certainly be welcomed by fans who are already entranced by Gossip’s insanely danceable beats, and will no doubt lure in many more.

To celebrate the release of A Joyful Noise band we have 5 copies to giveaway to Banter Readers, For your chance to win just answer the following simple question.

Q: Can you name all 3 members of Gossip?

Send your answers by e-mail to info@thebanter.co.uk with the heading Competition: Gossip along with telling us your name, age, address and e-mail address.

Entries close on June 20th.

Winners will then be chosen at random!

THE BANTER | 41

Interview

For those that aren’t familiar with your music yet, how would you describe Lawson’s sound?

ANDY – guitar led meaningful pop music RYAN – Epic!

How’s the tour with The Wanted going so far? Is it good to be back out on the road with the guys again?

ANDY – It’s going great. The guys are great and we always have such a laugh on tour with them.

JOEL – They’re great mates of ours so we always have fun.

ADAM – We’re playing venues we’ve dreamt about playing all our lives.

What has the crowd reaction been to your set, especially as you’re the only guitar based band on the bill?

ANDY – The reaction has been amazing, we’ve been overwhelmed with the reaction we’ve been getting.

JOEL – Really good because a lot of people have seen us play before when we supported The Wanted last year so a lot of the crowd even know the words to our songs.

You recently finished recording your debut album in LA with Grammy award winning producer John Shanks – did he offer you any advice? What was the experience like?

42 | THE BANTER

RYAN – I’ve learned a lot from him he’s a very inspirational guy.

ANDY – He’s an amazing producer and it was an honour to get the chance to work with him – especially as he’s worked with such legends like Bon Jovi before.

How did you find LA as a whole? You also played your first American gig there – is breaking America something you would like to try in the future?

ADAM – A lot of people tell us that our sound is quite American so we’d love to try and break it of course. We went to Las Vegas whilst we were there too which was so much fun.

Do you all collectively write the songs? What’s your writing process like?

ANDY – Melody is key obviously but the lyrics are just as important. 50% of the time I start with a title and 50% I start with a melody line. Getting a great chorus is always priority.

You headlined Glasgow King Tuts back in January – do you think you’ll be coming back soon for another headline show?

JOEL – We loved playing Glasgow and are already planning our next Scotland show for later in the year.

RYAN – The response we got at King Tuts was fantastic –

Interview

definitely one of the best dates on the tour.

With your debut album now completed, are there any stand out tracks that you can’t wait for fans to hear?

ADAM – I’ve always loved Standing In The Dark – there’s an acoustic video of us on youtube playing it you should check out. Gone is another great song which I can’t wait to play at festivals!

RYAN – My favourite is Everywhere You Go. I love the groove in that one and the big jump into the chorus.

THE TEMPER TRAP Australian band The Temper Trap received global success due to their song Sweet Disposition and next month are releasing their new self-titled album in May. The Banter’s Sarah-Louise caught up with bassist Johnny Aherne to find out more about who The Temper Trap really are.

Your success was almost overnight; how, as a band, did you deal with the massive change in your life?

We moved to the UK but the biggest change was touring. We toured for a few years and looking back, it’s a blur a lot of it.

It’s only once you’re done touring can you take a moment to look back and realise how great things are.

The Temper Trap don’t seem to fit into any genre, what would you describe your sound as?

It feels like we’re always evolving. This next album felt like we used the strength of conditions but expanded as musicians.

We have new instruments, keyboards and a new member, I mean we never get a chance to stick to any one sound. I hope we keep moving and evolving as artists. We’ve never felt that we don’t fit into a box. We’re a guitar driven band with vocals and I’m not sure how else to describe our sound.

Ed Sheeran won two awards at the Brits – does it inspire you that guitar based predominantly pop artists like Ed are making such a massive impact these days? Maybe you’ll be at the Brits next year?

ANDY – We were just saying how cool it would be to be at the Brits next year. It’s a dream for all of us and obviously to emulate what Ed Sheeran has done would be amazing.

RYAN – We all love Ed Sheeran – Lego House is one of my favourite songs of all time. It’s amazing how it’s just him and his guitar when he performs – so effective.

Any last words?

RYAN – Can’t wait for you to hear the single! Check us out on tour later in the year.

ANDY – We love haggis.

What inspires you to write music?

When you’re good at something, and people enjoy it, that’s enough inspiration to carry on. Creating music has always been quite fulfilling. Just writing music is so fun. Writing something that hasn’t been heard yet is an exciting prospect.

What’s been the best moment of your career so far?

Mexico City, supporting the Pixies. There were around 40,000 people there and they were singing along to our music. That was incredible.

Which bands are you listening to most lately?

The label we’re signed to just signed an artist called Alternative Jay and another one called Cymbals. I’m really enjoying both of those quite a lot.

And finally, what are your plans for this year?

Well, the album’s released in a month, UK tour, Australia, and finally the United States to promote the record.

SARAH LOUISE KELLY

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Interview

KATHLEEN EDWARDS INTERVIEW BY ALYCE MACPHERSON

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Interview

I

t’s not every day you get the chance to delve into the mind of someone who’s been in the music industry since you were getting skinned knees but it is a very welcome moment when it does come along. I got the chance to have a natter with Kathleen Edwards about love, camping and lying.

Warm and friendly but with a tough edge, Kathleen is apologetic about the delay in the interview but throws in a few curse words to show her frustration, I like her already. I fire away with the boring and inevitable questions to get us chatting and I’m surprised by both how willing to chat she is and her answers.

Kathleen is not run of the mill and she’s no cookie cutter act, the daughter of a diplomat she never bothered with college because it never appealed to her, “maybe I’m just not very well suited to institutional learning. I see the value in it, it’s just something I don’t think I’d do well in”, and instead went on to pursue a lengthy music career.

While telling me about the reason behind the name ‘Voyageur’ for her new album I’m pleasantly surprised at how in depth the meaning actually is. Most people give the fairly obvious answer and I was waiting for ‘I’ve been on a journey’ story but actually she really had been on a journey; “To be honest, I had a really hard time trying to figure out what to call my record, partly because I’d spent so many years conceptualising and working on this album and recording and I tried to find a title, this perfect word for a while that would just sum up all the things of where I’ve been and where I am. In 2010, I went on a trip to Northern Canada in the wilderness with people and I had this amazing experience which reminded me of my teenage years when I spent all my summers out canoeing and camping and it was like I’d sort of come out of this camping trip a few summers ago, a child again, my teenage self, and when we were kids when we went camping, at summer camp, we were called The Voyageurs and I found it kind of laughable because I’m a touring musician and I’m always kind of searching for my home.”

Amazingly enough Kathleen is extremely open when she talks and she explains that it’s down to her Mum training her to be a bad liar, “I am incapable of lying, it’s not because I’m a good person or a bad person, it just doesn’t come by me naturally”.

This explains the openness and honesty with which Kathleen writes her lyrics, they’re transparent, there’s no metaphors, it’s clean cut and that’s the way it is when you talk to Kathleen also.

She has absolutely nothing to hide and that sort of sincerity is so hard to come by that it makes her seem both vulnerable and so emotionally stable it’s unreal.

As a result of Kathleen’s writing a lot of the tracks on her new album have been up for intense dissection and speculation and actually a few things have gotten misconstrued along the way, “a few people said to me ‘Is this your divorce record?’ and in an interview I told somebody, ‘Well, a lot of people are going

to say this is my divorce record’ and the quote got cut to, ‘This is my divorce record’ and it’s funny because I don’t really mind that but at the same time that’s just not true. It has a lot to do with being married, it has a lot to do with the up and downs of getting older and it has a lot to do with love, it has a lot to do with sadness and who you change into as a person. The record’s as much about love as it is about guilt and figuring out day to day how to be a better person and how to be more honest about who you are.”

Talking about her ability to open up through her music and vent all of her emotions so easily Kathleen talks about how hard she finds it to write a happy song, “The sentiment comes easy and when you’re actually finishing the song, I find it somewhat hilariously difficult to like finish it because sadness feels like a more valid emotion sometimes when you’re writing music”. In the interest of fairness Kathleen also explained that while being able to put her thoughts and feelings out into the world is extremely liberating there is a bad side to it as well, “Sometimes it’s a curse because you get to the other side, put a song out and realise that you’ve kind of shown all your cards. You’re like, ‘That’s about me f***ing up, do I want to tell everyone about that?’.”

As an artist that’s been in the music industry for over 10 years now Kathleen has pretty much seen it all and heard it all, when I ask her if she’s excited about the good reaction she’s had from her album she seems a little jaded, “There are cycles that exist in the hype machine of music and I’ve learned to not put a lot of value into the fact that people like your record and also be able to sort of step back and say it’s not everything in life. If you put everything, your whole heart and everything that makes you feel like a person, into the fact that you’re a person that records albums sometimes you end up feeling disappointed because there’s more to life than that and you can’t put everything into it” although she quickly counters this point with, “I spent so much time making this record and I did it for me and I didn’t really think of anyone else except when it goes out into the world and gets received well you feel really validated”.

Kathleen really is the happy medium, she’s been married, she had the perfect house with a beautiful garden, she’s been through a divorce and she’s come out the other side still in one piece. She is a person who truly understands how to just enjoy life and more importantly really understands it. That is a rare quality within life day to day, never mind within the music i ndustry. Talking about the Grammy awards, which she attended with her boyfriend Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, she is incredibly unassuming about it all, “It was fun to be a fly on the wall for it and I actually had an incredible time. It was fun to sit two feet away from Rihanna, and it was fun to see Paul McCartney up close.It was actually a very humanizing experience because you’re sitting there and you realise that we’re all just in the same boat. We’re all just making music and doing our thing and all the statistics that make us different as musicians or recording artists are really funny. Some people spend a lot of time getting dressed and choreographing dance moves and other people spend a lot of time working on vocal THE BANTER | 45

Interview harmonies or applying guitar and its fun to see that circus”.

Even talking about the day Voyageur was released Kathleen manages to remain down to earth and gives me the expected answer but follows it up with something so human and real it’s hard to believe she’s at all involved in celebrity culture, “I was getting loads of emails from my friends and I was trending on Twitter but that stuff is so fleeting, you snap your fingers and it’s over. I remember walking down the street in New York and I had a big smile on my face even though I was feeling like, ‘Oh my god, this is so intense’. Then I went on to play David Letterman and afterwards I invited all my band back to my hotel room, we had some drinks and yeah, I just kind of tried to be with my friends and enjoy the moment”.

I keep waiting for that hint of fame to leak out from Kathleen but it never does. She constantly surprises me with how little she seems to be affected by the career choice she made and it continues to impress me later when I see her play a show, she keeps it friendly, low key, and chats with the audience throughout the set sharing personal experiences and really just making people feel like they’re part of something really special. A quality that’s hard to come by in a lot of performers, she isn’t there just to play her songs, she’s there to share a little bit of herself with you.

Finishing up the interview I feel a sense of enlightenment, if someone who’s been through so much, especially in the last two years, can still be so happy and in love with every little bit of life then surely you don’t have much to feel ungrateful for?

Perhaps more people should stop asking for flowers and just stop and smell them instead.

46 | THE BANTER

TWIN ATLANTIC

COMPETITION Currently receiving massive support on the BBC Radio 1 airwaves with their anthemic new single “Make a Beast of Myself” - Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic have announced a 10 date jaunt around the UK this autumn. Never a band to rest on their laurels - the tour will follow an arena tour with blink-182 round the UK in June and a 4 week run on the Van’s Warped Tour in the US. To celebrate the announcement of the tour we have 5 copies of “Free” to giveaway to Banter Readers, For your chance to win just answer the following simple question.

Q: Can you name the four members of Twin Atlantic?

Send your answers by e-mail to info@thebanter.co.uk with the heading Competition: Twin Atlantic along with telling us your name, age, address and e-mail address. Entries close on June 20th.

Winners will then be chosen at random!

Maxwell lynas

Volunteer Journalist

STAR APPEAL

Rolling out the red carpet for volunteers throughout Scotland If you would like to be a star in your community visit www.volunteerscotland.org .uk contact us on 0141 941 0886 or text Volunteer to 80800

Movies

BRAVE

PG FROM 17TH AUGUST

Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In “Brave,” a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts.

Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane).

Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Wise Woman (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

RED TAILS 12A FROM 8TH JUNE Inspired by the true story of World War II’s first African American fighter squadron, RED TAILS is a thrilling action-packed film with the most realistic dogfights ever to hit the screen.

Executive Produced by George Lucas, Produced by Rick McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson, Written by John Ridley (THREE KINGS) and Aaron McGruder (THE BOONDOCKS) and Directed by Anthony Hemingway (THE WIRE), RED TAILS tells the tale of the heroic 332nd fighter group of the U.S. Army Air Corps who overcame racial discrimination to become one of the most distinguished squadrons in World War II. 48 | THE BANTER

iCE AGE 4 U

FROM 30TH JUNE

One of filmdom’s most beloved trios - “Ice Age’s” Manny, Diego, and Sid - embark upon their greatest adventure after cataclysm sets an entire continent adrift. Separated from the rest of the herd, they use an iceberg as a makeshift ship, which launches them on an epic seafaring quest. Manny and the gang are challenged like never before to become heroes and do the impossible, as they encounter exotic sea creatures, explore a brave new world, and battle ruthless pirates. Scrat’s reunion with his beloved but cursed acorn catapults him to places no prehistoric squirrel has gone before..

Movies

OUT NOW!

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING 12A

NOW SHOWING

In a not–too–distant future, Over the moon about starting a family, TV fitness guru Jules and dance show star Evan find that their high–octane celebrity lives don‘t stand a chance against the surprise demands of pregnancy.

Baby–crazy author and advocate Wendy gets a taste of her own militant mommy advice when pregnancy hormones ravage her body; while Wendy‘s husband, Gary, struggles not to be outdone by his competitive alpha–Dad, who‘s expecting twins with his much younger trophy wife, Skyler. Photographer Holly is prepared to travel the globe to adopt a child, but her husband Alex isn‘t so sure, and tries to quiet his panic by attending a “dudes” support group, where new fathers get to tell it like it really is. And rival food truck chefs Rosie and Marco‘s surprise hook–up results in an unexpected quandary: what to do when your first child comes before your first date?

A kaleidoscopic comedy as universal as it is unpredictable, What to Expect When You‘re Expecting finds humour and uplift in all the unexpected trials and triumphs of welcoming a child into the world.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE tbc

NOW SHOWING

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the Super Hero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.

together on screen for the first time.

The star studded cast of Super Heroes will be joined by Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”) as Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD, as well as Tom Hiddleston (“Wallander”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Angels & Demons,” “Mamma Mia!”) who will both reprise their respective roles as Loki and Professor Erik Selvig from the Marvel Studios’ feature “Thor.”

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Marvel’s The Avengers” brings together the mightiest Super Hero characters as they all assemble

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN

FROM 6TH JULY

The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

THE BANTER | 49

NEW

G I R L

Television

H

ands up if you love Zooey Deschannel? Over the past few years Zooey (that’s pronounced Zoe) has cemented herself as Hollywood’s new favourite actress – after supporting roles in movies like Elf, The Happening and Yes Man she stepped into leading lady shoes with 500 Days of Summer in 2009. The quirky offbeat romantic comedy is still a firm favourite among her fans and it’s got one of the best soundtracks of any film in the past few years. And before you ask, no she hasn’t left the world of movies behind it’s just that for now she’s concentrating on her new comedy New Girl which has just landed on Channel 4.

Zooey takes up the lead role of Jess – a girl who moves in with three guys she meets on the internet after she discovers her boyfriend was cheating on her. Straight away it

seems that this role was written for Zooey. “It wasn’t written for me initially, but it was sort of a perfect fit. You go to a store and there’s a dress that just looks like it was made for you, but it wasn’t. That’s sort of like what it was like. Then, now that I’m on the show, it is written for me. It’s wonderful to have all these great writers writing stuff for me.”

Jess can be easily summed up in a few words – quirky, funny and loveable but one of the most common used words to sum up the character is adorkable (clever huh?) but it’s not something Zooey would apply to herself, “There’s a lot of Jess that is very much like me. I feel like I understand her very well. I feel like she is very much like I was when I was 13. I was not the coolest kid in my class. I feel like that inner dork is a wonderful thing to have. And, on behalf of school kids all around, I like to represent. So, yes I definitely have a part of myself like Jess. So, I’ll leave it at that. But, I don’t know if I’d describe myself as particularly adorkable.” So what is Zooey’s favourite aspect of her character, “I really love that she’s totally herself, even though she’s awkward and kind of nerdy at times.

She’s not afraid of being herself, whether it comes out as being a little bit naive or something else, or just a really strong sense of self. She’s totally herself. I think that’s really nice to see, because a lot of times female characters are just reacting to the men.

Especially in comedies, I think a lot of time the female characters are there to provide a balance for guys. And, I really don’t feel that’s true with this character. I really feel like she’s equal to all the guys. I really, really love that. She’s a real true modern woman.”

But there is one noticeable different between Zooey and Jess, while Zooey has found success in indie duo She and Him with M.Ward, Jess on the other hand can’t really hold a tune, “Jess isn’t a singer” explains Zooey, “Although singing is something I do as a profession, I felt like Jess should too -her singing comes out of pure self-expression. I just didn’t want her to be a really great singer like Beyoncé, I thought that whatever manner she tries to sing in should match her mood at the time, and that she’s not really singing to show off her vocal togs but as much as trying to express something she can’t express, and to express certain awkwardness. Yes, she sings a lot.

That’s one of her character quirks. So, you will definitely hear a lot more weird random singing.”

But let’s not forget about the male members of the cast – there’s her three roommates Nick (Jake Johnston), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston (Lamorne

52 | THE BANTER

Television

Morris) and Justin Long even makes a guest appearance in a couple of episodes as Jess’s boyfriend. So how is Zooey finding being the only woman in a house full of men, “Well, I feel like it’s easy to take the show and be like, oh, it’s a girl and three guys. Obviously with any sort of plot, you can boil it down and turn it into something that sounds like generic. I think that as far as this goes, it’s really about the person who’s having a big change in her life, and these people that help her. It’s less about male/female dynamics and more, I think, about these particular individuals relating to one another. I have a lot of guy friends and they all have helped me a lot in different ways. So, I feel like it’s less about her moving in with guys and more of about the person who’s really in transition in her life and her friends helping her.”

Unlike her past film work, TV operates on a completely different schedule of extra-long days and many more lines to remember, so why did she make the move to the small screen, “I had been tour with my band all last year and had really taken a lot of time off working as an actress but then I just happened to read this script. I was so blown away by how perfect it was and how funny it was, and sweet, and smart. I hadn’t seriously considered any television shows before, but this was just too great to pass up. They took a chance on me and I was able to do it. I just love being busy. I prefer to have constant stimulation. So, I like going to set every day and working with the same awesome people. Even though it’s really long hours and it’s a lot to memorise, it’s really exciting and it’s fun. It’s fast moving, but I love not waiting around. I like getting everything done quickly. There’s something really exhilarating about it.

I also enjoy getting to develop a working relationship with a group of people; that there’s always a little bit of summer camp

sadness to doing a movie. If you’re having a good time and then it ends. There’s a certain amount of I think melancholy to that. I like that doing a TV show, you have potential for this to go on.”

The show’s only been our screens for a few weeks but it’s already proven to be a huge hit – so why does its leading lady think people are so hooked, “To be honest, this is a new world for me. So, I’m like that little kid. I have to say there’s something about this show-and I’m not saying it has anything to do with me, because I obviously wouldn’t want to say that, but this show I feel so lucky I jumped aboard this train, because the writing is so great and it just feels really special to me to be working on it. I can’t explain it. I just have a really special feeling about this. I think it’s really the writing. It plays more like a romantic comedy than a sitcom, per se, even though it has some of the physical comedy that some of the classic sitcoms have. We’re telling stories that are not purely comedic. I really believe that you end up caring about these characters.

At the moment it seems like everything Zooey touches turns to gold from New Girl, to her band and don’t forget she’s also the cover girl for Rimmel but it doesn’t exactly leave her much time to do anything else. “At the end of the day, I basically eat and learn my lines at the same time. It’s really just trying to multi-task as best I can. Sometimes, you have to scramble to get stuff done, or a lot of times you have to scramble to get stuff done. But, I really love it because I love being busy. I’m a person who has a lot of energy. So, yes, I don’t really stop to rest or de-stress. I just keep going. I figure that if you don’t stop, then you’ll never notice how tired you are.”

BY SARAH MOYES THE BANTER | 53

Television

HOMELAND

BY MAXWELL LYNAS

INTERVIEW WITH DAMIEN LEWIS

54 | THE BANTER

Television

T

o many, Damian Lewis is Major Richard D. Winters, an American War Hero.

It is scarcely believable that the seminal Band of Brothers hit our screens over ten years ago.

The BBC and HBO co-production is perhaps the greatest depiction of the Great War ever shown on the small screen and the narrative of this great story was firmly placed on the relatively unknown Lewis’ shoulders.

“It was totally out of the blue, because they didn’t know me from Adam. I think part of the reason I got that role was because he was a 1940s war hero, and even though he was an American, there was something old-fashioned about him, and upright. I think they felt they might find him in England, in a stiffer, more upright actor than a cool American hipster. It was a big sea change, and it was a huge hit, although it had a pretty inauspicious start, because the second week it was on air, 9/11 happened, and people’s appetite for death and destruction and a rather realistic vision of war - it just wasn’t what people wanted at that point.

“But it sort of regenerated itself. It’s the most extraordinary beast, Band of Brothers. It still feels like it only happened last year, because people are still so connected to it. It’s ten years ago now, and people are still watching it for the first time, or for the 100th time, and people still want to come up to me and talk about it. Armed forces in Afghanistan watch it as inspirational tools, soldiers are actually taught it for lessons in leadership. And the manoeuvre that Winters perfected the day after they landed at Normandy, when he took the four 88s shelling the beach- that’s taught in West Point.

“I was filming in Crete about five years ago, and the US Navy landed, and they’d been watching it. It’s got an extraordinary reach. And I did feel pressure. There’s a huge responsibility - as there always is if you’re playing somebody who’s alive - to represent him well. And as Tom Hanks said, as we started the whole endeavour, on our first day at boot camp, “Don’t think of this as making a piece of TV. Think of this as an historical document. That’s what we’re going to try and recreate here.” It was brilliant.”

So how do you follow playing the starring role in one of the greatest TV shows ever made, well for Damian Lewis it has consisted of some minor movie roles, a cancelled TV show [NBC’s Life], a stint on the London stage and even a guest spot on Have I Got News For You but now it seems he has found a role to rival that of Maj. Richard D. Winters, in his portrayal of Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marine platoon

sergeant who was rescued by Delta Force after being held by Al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war for eight years in the new hit TV series Homeland.

“After my experience on Life, which I loved, but it was at quite a lot of personal cost, from a family point of view - that sounds a bit melodramatic, we’re all still together!

- but it was long hours working with Helen sitting in the house with the kids. I wasn’t prepared for quite the workshop hours you work on some American TV shows.

So I said to my agent ‘Only if it’s extraordinary, and if it’s on Cable TV, so it’s a five-month commitment rather than a ten-month commitment. [American Cable series tend to be 12 episodes as opposed to 24 on American networks.]

“Unbelievably fortunately, this thing came my way, and I very nearly said no to it, for all the reasons I’ve just explained. But it was really compellingly written. The pilot - which was all I read - had political ambition, it was psychologically detailed and specific, dark in places, and so ambitious. It was tapping into conditions that interest me - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and men returning from war, and bipolar disorder in Claire’s character.

“While tackling these rather serious issues, it also managed to be a page-turner. And it also managed to be a political show at the same time, posing the question ‘In our pursuit of terrorists, have we gone about it in the right way?’ It just seemed brilliantly representative of a slightly uncertain, paranoid world we live in now. It’s a bold claim for one hour of TV, but I spoke to them, and they convinced me that these were all themes that they wanted to pursue. And they sustain it. They’re brilliant, and I’m unbelievably lucky to be working with them.

Thank God I said yes to it.”

Band of Brothers saw Lewis take on the role of an American Hero but one that rarely did wrong, he seldom drank or cursed and the viewer always knew or understood Winter’s motives or his reasoning. However, the role of Nicholas Brody is a more complex one as the viewer is unsure of where Brody’s allegiances lie.

“Ambiguity is a complex thing to play. It can leave you being a little unspecific, if you’re not careful - if you’re consciously vague, and you then allow the audience to project onto you. But if you’re doing it well, the reverse is true - you commit yourself to decisions totally, and it’s just about how adroit you are with your changes, that is in the end what creates the ambiguity. You have to be lightning quick and nimble, there’s a mental and imaginative agility in the performance which is really fun.

It’s a challenge - there are so many things to play, and if you try and play everything at once, then it’s a bit of a pudding, so you have to make specific choices and then THE BANTER | 55

Television

just change on a sixpence.

“Another thing that really appealed to me is it’s very subversive. It’s very controversial to have a US Marine, who is as great a symbol as anyone or anything you can think of that upholds our Western freedoms and our beliefs, and goes and fights on our behalf all over the world. To have one of those people ‘changed’ is very controversial.”

Homeland sees the return of Claire Danes to a TV series after a 17 year absence since her starring role in the cult classic My So Called Life, the Romeo and Juliet star plays as Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer who believes the returning hero Nicholas Brody isn’t what he seems.

“Claire is whip-smart, and extremely committed and focused. Quite disconcertingly, sometimes. She can be in this extraordinary scene, and the director says cut, and before you’ve turned around, she’s walking back to her chair and just out of character. She plays ‘Words with Friends’ endlessly, which is that interactive Scrabble game. She’s always got about five or six games going on with different people around the world. It’s her way of relaxing. She’s got half the crew doing it with her as 56 | THE BANTER

well. She’s just lovely. I love being in scenes with her, it’s thrilling.”

It isn’t just Claire Danes that is returning to the small screen, Homeland also marks co-creator Howard Gordon’s return to the small screen after his involvement with worldwide hit 24. Many have described Homeland as 24 for grown-ups.

“I think the parallel with 24 is inevitable, because Howard is a co-creator on this, and had run 24 for the last four or five seasons - he took over from Joel Surnow.

“It’s not really 24. It’s far more of a psychological, political drama - I think the paranoia plays much more strongly.

Just the style in which it’s filmed is very different. It takes its time, it allows it to breathe, whereas 24 was a highoctane, crack-like experience.

“It made me just feel extraordinarily uneasy, watching 24, it was a very uncomfortable feeling. I think Homeland is too, because of the subject matter, but there’s an enjoyment in just being able to sit in things a bit more. I think this allows you to do that.”

Life has its ups and downs You can talk confidentially online or by phone whenever you need to.

Whatever your worry, it’s better out than in.

www.childline.org.uk ChildLine is a service provided by the NSPCC. Registered charity numbers 216401 and SC037717. 7244/11

Feature

SIMPLE PLEASURES Y

oung Scot, the national youth information and citizenship agency and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the national body that looks after all of Scotland’s nature and landscapes, have teamed up to launch ‘Simple Pleasures’ a campaign, specifically for young people.

Aimed at inspiring more young people to enjoy and experience Scotland’s outdoors, the young people’s ‘Simple Pleasure’s’ campaign was launched by Scottish Television presenter Cat Cubie.

The SNH ‘Simple pleasures, easily found’ campaign hopes to inspire local people to make more use of a series of green places in the middle of the city, taking in parks, woodland, waterways and miles of paths.

The campaign has now been adapted for young people, after research contacted by SNH highlighted that more than 93% of 11-17 year olds in Scotland enjoy spending their free time outdoors, with 69% stating they would like to spend more time outdoors. The research findings challenge the perception that all young people spend most of their time indoors, playing computer games and watching TV. Peter Rawcliffe, SNH People & Places unit manager, said: “It may seem like young people are glued to their mobiles and computers nowadays, but in fact we found that 84% of young people spend time outdoors every week, and about 70% would like to spend more time outdoors. They enjoy doing lots of different activities - from taking the dog for a walk to 58 | THE BANTER

playing sports to mountain biking or camping - but they also value simply taking time out to relax ‘away from it all.’ The social side of being outdoors is really important to them as well. So this project will be a great way to share online information for young people by young people, getting them outdoors more often.”

Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive, Young Scot, said, “Young Scot are delighted to have teamed up with SNH to promote Scotland’s amazing outdoors to young people. The campaign is an excellent opportunity to connect and inspire young Scots to explore the huge variety of green opportunities and experiences that are available right across the country. Being outside and enjoying the outdoors, is not only beneficial for young people’s physical health, but by connecting young people to nature, it can help improve their overall well-being.”

Cat Cubie, Television Presenter and weather reporter, said: ““Exploring our great outdoors is one of my favourite things to do. It’s so easy to pop a pair of trainers or boots on and go for a wee adventure, without even leaving your own neighbourhood!

I’m delighted to be supporting the Simple Pleasures campaign as I think it’s brilliant to be encouraging young folk to get out and about and enjoy everything our beautiful country has to offer.

Going for a wander in your local area is perfect, not only if you want to explore and learn about nature, but equally if you fancy something fun to do with mates, want a little exercise or perhaps just need somewhere refreshing to think!”

RaisingAwareness Bringing Positive Change in Male Cancer Awareness For more information visit

www.cahonasscotland.com

jennifer davidson

sports development volunteer

STAR APPEAL

Rolling out the red carpet for volunteers throughout Scotland If you would like to be a star in your community visit louise anne geddes www.volunteerscotland.org .uk contact us on 0141 941 0886 or text Volunteer to 80800