The Monograph - Issue#08 by The Monograph Music Magazine

THEM ONOG RAP H .C O. U K

e are more than chuffed to be publishing and distributing issue 8 of The Mono’, which we think is bigger and better than EVER. Once again I’ve been taken aback by the talent and skill of all the new photographers and writers joining our ever expanding team. A huge thank you also to the continued support from our older team members, venues, promoters and bands. I am beyond excited about starting to push this magazine further into the East Midlands and we are starting this new direction by having the magazine making its debut in Derby this month. I cannot wait to get introduced to new bands and happenings from further afield. It’s hard work, but so so worth it. We want to encourage anyone reading this magazine to support the wealth of music the East Midlands has to offer, there are plenty of hidden gems out there. You never know when you will stumble onto something incredible. Nothing out there you like? Why not start making your own music? Maybe we will write about it!

appy New Year! 2014 promises to be a great time for local music, with more homegrown talent poking through and more nationally noted names visiting our area. Which area? Well, as eagle-eyed readers might have spotted, The Monograph is venturing out beyond its birthplace of Leicester into surrounding counties, so if you want to hear about the music of the East Midlands, this is the place to come. We’ve welcomed a few more writers on board since our last edition, and we’re always looking for talented, enthusiastic scribes to join our ranks, so if you’d like to contribute to matters musical don’t hesitate to get in touch. Remember, this magazine is free – all we ask in return is for you to support your local music scene, wherever that may be, by turning out to a few gigs and buying the odd record. You may not have heard of the performers before, but they could be the next big thing; if you’d been asked a year ago if you fancied hearing a certain Leicestershire prison officer performing pop songs and you’d declined, well, just think how you’d feel now…

dine Tash Walker

Alex Scoppie

TEAM MONOGRAPH

MAGAZINE DESIGNERS: Jon Dodd, Tash Walkerdine COLUMNISTS: Gabby Miller, Alex Scoppie, Mark Lisle, Raegan Oates, Tiernan Welch, Alex Bowers COVER PHOTOGRAPHER: Scott Choucino FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING: Scott Choucino & Tash Walkerdine PHOTOGRAPHERS: Scott Choucino, Gareth Dakin & Paul Barrett - Rococo Imaging, Adam Tanser, Rob Gurney WRITERS: Alex Scoppie, Mark Lisle, Liam Sexton, Raegan Oates, Gabby Miller, Jessamyn Witthaus, Glyn Allen, Sophie Sparham, Charles Joe Gray, Alex Bowers, Maria McDonald, Rebecca Lunn, Adham Fisher, Laura Wilding, Tiernan Welch, Dan Faulkner ILLUSTRATOR: Alice Bowsher

CO-EDITOR: Tash Walkerdine - t.walkerdine@themonograph.co.uk CO-EDITOR: Alex Scoppie - a.scoppie@themonograph.co.uk FEATURES EDITOR: Raegan Oates - r.oates@themonograph.co.uk REVIEWS EDITOR: Jessamyn Witthaus - j.witthaus@themonograph.co.uk EVENTS & ADVERTISING: Mark Lisle- m.lisle@themonograph.co.uk CO-FOUNDER: Jon Dodd - j.dodd@themonograph.co.uk PRINTED BY: Morton’s via Print & Digital Associates FONTS: NEVIS & LATO

SPECIAL THANKS TO...

Angus Wallace - Far Heath. Danny Lint, Nigel Roberts - Leicestershire Luthier, Sue, David & Laura Walkerdine, Nik Sharpe, Gaz Birtles, Warren McDonald- The Donkey, Alice Bowsher, Geoff Rowe - Dave’s Comedy Festival, Kelly Hill Leicester Music Festival, Tom Hodgson - Pi Bar

6 8 10 11

Team Picks: Matt Henshaw Escape to New York Spotlight

The Darkness

The South

Whose side are you on?

Getting... Technical with Royalties

Kasabian

Michael Kiwanuka

The Interrobang: Clubs

40 The Non Music

Fanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide to...

Through the Looking Glass

43 McBusting with excitement

44 Hello Derby 45 The Soundcheck 60 Venues Map 62 WIN! A Day at

2014 Festivals

The Monograph asks...

The Power of Likes - Social Media

Far Heath Studios

MATT HENSHAW

’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that Matt Henshaw is a shining example of what can be done if you have enough belief in your cause. In this case, it’s his music. Swiftly followed by his passion for organic gardening and helping his cat reach internet stardom. to be in a band, out playing every night. Maybe I’m not as wild as I once was, but there’s something I can do with songs I’ve written and just played to the bedroom walls. So I thought why not just get out and do it. Leicester seems to have an open mic night every day of the week. I sort of started one week in July, and went to five in three nights. Through that I met everyone, and made loads of good friends. I think Leicester is a very warm place for musicians. No one is snide, and they respect you and encourage you.

In a signed band straight after leaving school, Henshaw got caught in the strings attached to being handed the rock and roll lifestyle at such a young age. Sitting here now, nursing his second cup of tea in a row, he tells me about his own brand of catchy but intelligent acoustic rock that bears a resemblance to Oasis in their more delicate moments. In a short time he has become a not-to-bemissed performer in Leicester, and is not lacking in plans for his future. Jessamyn Witthaus: So, how long have you been writing your own music and performing? Matt Henshaw: Well, I’ve been writing forever really. Ever since I picked up the guitar when I was eleven. It just naturally seemed right to start singing and writing stuff down. I was in a band when I finished sixth form, we got a record deal and did tours and stuff. Then I went away from it but carried on writing bits and bobs, sort of for personal catharsis. Then I decided I felt the need to get out and play stuff by myself.

JW: Do you have an album or EP in the works right now? MH: I’m thinking about, possibly for the new year. I’ve got three producers that I’m thinking of working with. Probably starting in January. I’ve got a backlog of stuff recorded, bits and pieces with other musicians that I’ve just uploaded for free on YouTube. I just want to get the lay of the land and see what people like, what sort of sound I want to go for and what are the best songs to choose. It’s all been well received so that actually makes it quite confusing. I really like working with other people, I like collaborating. If you get a good repartee with a producer, who has ideas to add to mix then it should be good.

JW: So you were living the dream being signed at quite a young age, why did that come to an end? MH: Yeah, it was a good deal. We got signed right out of sixth form, and it all lasted until I was 21. We played with some big bands such as Snow Patrol and We Are Scientists. At the end of it, I was drinking too much, that’s why for five years now I’ve been off the booze, with plenty of tea. In a clichéd fashion, stuff just sort of went away. I thought I would never bother with music again, but here we are.

JW: Tell me about your style of writing, who are your influences and inspirations? MH: I really love soul music and blues. That’s come from starting in the 90s with Blur, Oasis, Paul Weller, Kula Shaker, Supergrass, Ocean Colour Scene. Then working my way back through their influences, it all goes back to The Beatles and Sam Cooke, those are my biggest loves. I also have a real fondness for what was coined as “blue eyed soul” in the sixties. People like the Small Faces and the Spencer Davis Group, white guys who were appropriating black music in Britain. They say that you pick up your major influences in your formative years, and I was talking to someone the other day about how I sing and who I sound like. Before I played the guitar I used to sing along with records, figuring out what I like. This friend of mine said I was somewhere between Paul Weller and Liam Gallagher. My mum always used to listen to Wet Wet Wet so there’s a bit of Marti Pellow thrown into there too. People forget, but they were also a soul band back in the day, the same kind of “blue eyed soul”. So, fair play to my mum.

JW: Did the experience being part of a band teach you lessons that you value now? MH: Oh yeah, it’s like the second time around with a sober head and a more mature character. It’s easier to fish out who is for real now. I wish I had known then what I know now, it might have gone differently. I have no regrets though, I’ve learnt a lot. Now I’m just going to press on with the right people. You just need to meet the right people, that’s massive. No one man is an island. JW: Tell me about how you got involved in the Leicester music scene, you seem to have become quite established in a short space of time. MH: I came to Leicester to work at the university. When it came to the end of my contract I didn’t want to renew it. I didn’t want to pursue a career as a research assistant any further. I thought, I used THEM ONOG RAP H .C O. U K

JW: You recently vocalised on social media the fact that you were boycotting the new Tesco on Queens Road in Leicester, do those values or personal politics ever cross over to your music or become subject matter? MH: Hints of it. Some of my songs do have a political twang, also stuff I’ve not recorded yet. I do think though that when things get overly political, they can become twee. It’s difficult to rhyme revolution and establishment unless you’re Bob Dylan or John Lennon. It is something that I do want to become more engrossed in. However, if alternative political ideas start to affect my creativity and the process of writing songs I will stay away from it. The thing is, going back to Sam Cooke, he wrote a beautiful song that was still very much about political protest in A Change is Gonna Come. If I can get even halfway close to that I’ll be happy, until then I’ll keep writing the You Send Me’s and Cupids, until I have the intellectual capacity to write a really good song about politics.

food that comes in a plastic wrapper. I love Leicester market, and buying stuff you can cook yourself. In the new year, aside from recording and chasing pennies for making music, I’m starting a project with schools involving an urban organic gardening project. Bringing them little seed boxes that kids can grow. I think botany is really important and should be on the syllabus. I’m quite passionate about it. Next summer I’m also hoping to be part of the zeitgeist movement media festival. That’s all about alternative political ideas through the arts. JW: Your cat has become a bit of a phenomenon, do you ever worry that he will become more famous than you? MH: I’d love it. People with famous internet cats make a lot of money. Lots easier than driving around and singing! I’ve always been in an animal loving household. Then a cat came along called Tippy, and after seven or so cats you think you’ve seen it all, you think there’s no face or twirl you haven’t seen. But he’s just like a breath of fresh air, all I have to do is go into a room and he makes me laugh. He’s gathering quite a following on Facebook and twitter. When I broke my foot a while back, I started writing short stories about his life and the other cats I’ve had.

JW: I’ve heard you do a lot of organic gardening and cooking, tell me about that. MH: It’s something that happened when I stopped drinking. I’m lucky enough to still have both sets of grandparents, and as they got older I took to going to see them and sorting out their gardens that had got overgrown. They had old books about gardening that were just going dusty on shelves. So I went down with my iPod, and just spent days not drinking, losing weight and getting healthier, and I kept it up. I love it, I was actually out doing a bit of weeding this morning, clearing away autumn leaves. With Tesco and places like that, it’s sad when people only know

JW: Lastly, what advice would you give to young musicians starting out and navigating the music scene? MH: Go steady on the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll aspect of it. Try and learn as quickly as you can how to become a good judge of character. Don’t take it for granted, just do it for the love of it. If you ever find yourself forgetting why you do it, take a step back. That’s what I had to do, I had forgotten so I went out of the loop for a while. Yeah, so I guess that’s a few strong words.

Words: Jessamyn Witthaus Photo: Scott Choucino

tarting anew can be hard for a lot of bands. Having dedicated years to your credentials as an act to have to start from scratch due to a change in lineup S has been the downfall of many a group. But for Derby’s Escape to New York, formerly known as Rugosa Nevada, the transition couldn’t have been more natural. The indie quartet kicked off their new lives with a headline slot at the Derbyshire festival Y Not in 2012 to a packed-out tent before claiming slots at Reading and Leeds festival and supporting Funeral For A Friend. They then retired to the studio to perfect their indie, alt-rock sound and have now reappeared with their first single, the atmospheric Growing Pains, and EP, A Long Time Between Monsters, which is scheduled to come out in the new year.

on guitar and, two weeks later, they were playing festivals under a new name. “It was the most natural thing to happen,” said John, “we wanted to change our sound so we got Ben in and we haven’t looked back since. We were 20 or 19 years old when the band started and, as we got older, we just started having different ideas and interests for the band.

I spoke with drummer John Bullock about the band’s changing identity, the future and their healthy reliance on film trivia for song, EP and band names.

“Within two weeks everything had completely changed. Dan’s voice is a bit more gravelly than our old singer’s. We changed everything up and now it all feels right. Luckily it worked”.

Rugosa Nevada had made quite a few waves in the local scene in their four years together, having released two well-received EPs, toured the country and played a number of high-profile festivals, including Leicester’s now defunct Summer Sundae.

Without looking back, the band prepared for their first shows with ‘gruelling, 12 hour practices’ and started a new chapter on the Allotment Stage at Y Not festival. Quite a feat, you’d think, to grab such a prestigious gig to kick off proceedings but as the old saying goes; it’s who you know.

But with a contrast of ideas on where the band was going, they came to the agreement to release their old singer/guitarist of his duties and put then-guitarist Dan Burchell into the spotlight. Ben Gurer was brought in

“We’d played the festival a few times before as Rugosa Nevada and had got to know the organiser, Ian Evans,” said John, “he contacted us and got us on the bill.

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“It was a great show. We’ve been to Y Not a lot of times and it’s always a good laugh. There were a lot of people that we knew who came to watch us so it was really good in that sense.” Their previously established relationships also came in handy for their next two gigs, as the head of BBC Introducing Nottingham, Dean Jackson, was able to get them a slot on the BBC Introducing stage at Reading at Leeds festival.

Their infatuation with film seeps through into their recent single as well; the video for Growing Pains, produced and directed by the band’s bassist Drew Davis, sees a young lad playing in the forest whilst being stalked by a group of creepy figures. As they approach his tent, rather than running for the hills, the kid, who is singer Dan’s nephew, does the proper thing and dons some savage war paint and chases off the ghouls. It’s a thing of true quality that offers up another dimension to a band that has talent coming from all angles.

“Reading and Leeds was really cool. We knew Dean from when we’d been Rugosa Nevada and he was happy to put us on the bill. All in all, it was a perfect start for us.”

“I came up with the idea for it as I was walking the dog with my girlfriend and thought it would be a good spot for a sort of ‘Son Of Rambow’ style video,” said John, “with Drew directing the video and us doing our own recording, we feel like a proper DIY band.”

The band have done only a handful of gigs since, including a support slot behind Funeral For A Friend, but are hoping for a tour in the new year, which they hope will include a stop in Leicester, and big release show for the upcoming EP.

The song itself isn’t bad either; a well-executed four minutes of cascading guitars, mellifluous vocals and beautiful melodies that flows through with ease before steadily coming to an end.

“We’ve only done about eight or nine gigs so far but we’ve applied to all of next year’s festivals and can’t wait to do a proper tour. We’re hoping to do a release show for the EP in Derby as well which will be sweet.”

Despite having an array of talent coming from all corners of the band (singer Dan cooks a mean burger as well apparently), John insists that they’re keeping their feet firmly on the ground and keeping their hopes and aspirations as modestly sized as they can.

Once the first gigs were out the way with, recording the songs was the next step, and new guitarist Ben Gurer’s experience from studying recording at Confetti in Nottingham didn’t half come in handy. They also had access to their own practice room in the centre of Derby, which is where they would record their material.

“We’re really hopeful for the future but I don’t want to say that this will happen or that will happen because obviously none of us have any say in it at all. I’d say my dream would be to play on Jools Holland. He normally has a great selection of bands playing and I just love how intimate it all is.”

Another factor that has come to their aid on more occasions than one might expect is their fascination with movie trivia. Their upcoming EP, A Long Time Between Monsters, takes its name from a quote by film producer John Carpenter as he was doing the editing for the 1982 horror film The Thing.

If they can build up some momentum with the launch of their EP and keep on utilising the strings they have available to them, they could be on Jools’ stage alongside whatever Afro-funk or Austrian-blues band he has on that week in no time.

Their name itself was taken from another 1980’s John Carpenter film, Escape From New York, which they decided to tweak a little bit to avoid a lawsuit and a song on the upcoming EP, The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller, was the originally planned title to the original Star Wars film, A New Hope.

To find out more about Escape To New York, visit www.escapetonewyork.co.uk

John continues, “Film trivia’s a big thing in the group. We get into lots of heated discussions about it and it’s a hot topic when we’re not talking about music. We struggle sometimes with song titles so throwing in some film references just seems to be the easiest thing to do sometimes.”

Words: Charles Joe Gray

THE CHARLOTTE RETURNS Tim Sturgess has just taken on the iconic former venue that is Leicester’s The Charlotte (or The Princess Charlotte, depending on how old you are). Alex Scoppie caught up with him and asked him what it means to him to be in charge of this institution. Alex Scoppie: Everyone knows The Charlotte, and since its closure it feels as though Leicester’s music scene has lost a little something. When we heard there was going to be a Christmas gig there a lot of people thought it might be coming back. Tim Sturgess: The thing is with The Charlotte, there’s quite a lot of mixed opinion on it because a lot of people have very different memories of it. Don’t get me wrong – a lot of people want to see it back open again, but there is a minority who want to keep it closed. Ever since announcing this one-off gig I’ve had to delete a load of negative comments on Facebook, saying “keep it closed.” AS: Do you think that’s because of what happened when it was open as a venue before? TS: I’ll give you the history of it in terms of my involvement – Andy Wright ran it during its glory days from 1989 until it closed as a venue back in 2009. After that I was offered the chance to reopen it on a six month lease, so it was only ever going to be a little window for it to be reopened, but at the time people wanted that and it went really well. Since the planning permission for the student flats came through it’s basically been a building site, and now it’s been offered to me again, but this time as a pub rather than a venue. AS: So it’s student flats on top now, but the ground floor is going to be a pub? TS: The original stage is still there now, and the core of the old Charlotte is there, but it can’t be used as a venue any more because of those flats above it, apart from this one-off gig at the end of December 2013 because the students are away. It would be rude not to!

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AS: So do you think if the students are ever away, perhaps during their holidays, could it be used as a venue again in the future? TS: Perhaps, but that’s really down to the council’s Noise Control team, who look at temporary event notices. Anyway, the pub won’t be the size that it was, and there won’t be the chance to have live music there week in, week out. However we are hoping to have regular acoustic nights in there, and there is a large beer garden out the back, where the original stage will be, so we are hoping to have full bands gigging out there during the summer. AS: And what about all the memorabilia from The Charlotte’s glory days, the posters, tickets, photos, will they be kept in the new pub as decoration? TS: No, everything’s been stripped. But I am looking at putting some bits back in there, newspaper reports and so forth. It’s a hard one, because it’s a whole different kettle of fish now that it’s a pub. We’ll be concentrating on cask ales, real lagers, a good selection of beers, aimed at the more mature market. AS: So now it’s going back to being a pub, as it was originally, will it still be called The Charlotte or are you calling it The Princess Charlotte as it was before? TS: Well, to be honest I think people will call it what they want to call it. It also depends on how old you are; to a 55-year-old it will always be The Princess Charlotte. The Charlotte (or The Princess Charlotte) is due to re-open as a pub at the end of January, 2014.

Words: Alex Scoppie Photo: Rococo Imaging

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE T

here’s a lot of people in The South, nine at the last count, so interviewing them is a bit like herding cats. Made up of several members of nineties chart titans The Beautiful South, this group of veteran musicians has been playing that band’s many hits under this new guise for the last three years. The Monograph caught up with them for a quick chat before their 02 Academy gig in Leicester, with original Beautiful South vocalist Dave Hemingway admitting he’s more cautious than when he was in the past… Dave Hemingway (Vocals): I’m really careful these days, about everything. I broke me ribs, I broke me collarbone, me leg, in separate events. Not touring events you understand – stupid events. Damon Butcher (Keyboards): We’ve got a wheelchair in the bus now so when he comes along with his leg in plaster we can just push him on. Monograph: Well assuming you don’t injure yourselves, what else are you up to in Leicester today? Alison Wheeler (Vocals): There’s not much time for anything else really, once we’ve done the soundcheck and pottered about it’s more or less time for the gig. Hemingway : The good thing about Leicester is that five of the band are from here. Three are from London, including Ally, and I’m from the middle of nowhere, so when we’re done most of us all can just walk home. M : That’s wrecked one of my questions, because I was going to ask about Hull being named City of Culture 2017. Hemingway: I’m the only Hull boy left in the band now.

The City of Culture was quite surprising I must admit. But thinking about it retrospectively, it’s a beautiful city, it’s where I grew up and it’s full of great, working class people. I love the fact I’m from a working class background and unfortunately it’s seen as a bad thing these days. M: How do you think that’s come about? Hemingway: Well because the country’s run by toffs and bankers and wankers. And the salt of the earth people, whether from Hull, or Leicester or wherever, they’re just trying to make a living, and what’s wrong with that? M: So if the Prime Minister came out and said he liked your music, as he did with your former band mate Paul Heaton the other day, what would you say? Hemingway: He shouldn’t come out and try to appropriate working class people’s music for himself, because he can’t just come along and say he likes The Jam, or The Smiths, because he’s not worthy of it. These are guys who’ve lived a proper life. He tries to jump on the bandwagon of great people who’ve made fantastic music because he thinks they’re cool. They don’t know anything about song writing, or about music, they just want to use it for themselves. Butcher: He’s just ingratiating himself isn’t he, to the great unwashed? He’s saying “I’m a normal bloke, and I like that sort of music.”

keep it from becoming chaotic, with so many of you in the band? Wheeler: Well, if we were all young free and single it would be a bit easier, but because we’ve all got family lives and commitments it does make things hard to organise. To get us all together in one place can be difficult, whether it’s touring or recording.

Hemingway: Yeah, but he’s not a normal bloke is he? At all. None of these guys are. Alison: Looks like we’ve opened a big can of worms here! Hemingway: Sorry, but I’d rather answer questions about things that matter. Not just the same old s**t, like, “What’s your favourite colour?” M: I have actually got that as a question for later on… Hemingway: It’s blue. Powder blue… I mean, look – we’ve just lost one of the greatest men that’s ever lived, Nelson Mandela, and there’s nobody left to look up to any more. Who’s left to look up to now? Nobody. Nothing for people to aspire to. And I’m really sad about that. M : So, you think it’s important that people should have world leaders they can look up to? Hemingway: Yeah, but where are they? I mean, who have we got? Politicians? I don’t think so. M: But Mandela was a politician. Hemingway: Yeah, but a great one. He spent 27 years in jail and the day he came out, he was humble, and he made this speech that was fantastic, he didn’t have a go at the people who’d imprisoned him, he just said “Right, OK, I’m out now and I’m going to put things right.” And he did. This was a great man, a great human being. M: So is that the answer? All politicians should spend a few years in jail before they can be great? Hemingway: Well I would, I would put them in jail. Look at them now, all jumping on the bandwagon of him now, just for show, just by association. The people who know, they know he changed people’s lives. Sorry, I’ve said too much about this. Let’s talk about the tour and about the music. M : OK… Touring is what’s kept you together as a group , it’s what you love, it’s how you make a living. How do you

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M: I’ve seen you before in Leicester, when you played the Donkey, and I remember being impressed by just how much sound you put out. Hemingway: What I like about the band is that you can be really quiet and soft and intimate, just with piano and vocals, or you can be loud and over the top and oomph it up sort of thing, with the horn section. It’s nice to have that option, where you can switch between the two. Wheeler: The feedback from the fans is that they all love their own favourite different parts – the horns, or the guitar, or keyboards – and I think visually that’s quite nice, and it’s quite rare to have that selection all on one stage. M: With so many of you it must be easier playing on larger stages, what’s the biggest you’ve played recently? Wheeler: We supported Robbie Williams at a 90,000 capacity venue (Croke Park, Dublin), but that day I had laryngitis so I couldn’t sing! I had to cut all my songs out – I could just about manage backing vocals but it was a shame. Hemingway: It was a shame because people don’t realise what a fantastic singer Ally is and she never had a chance to show it on what was probably the biggest stage we’ll ever get to play. We’re never going to get that stage again. M: Well you’ve still got your back catalogue of songs, plus on your recent album, Sweet Refrains, it’s obvious that what made the Beautiful South’s songs so great – good pop tunes with underlying dark, cynical barbed lyrics – is

still there. How do you still manage to get that sound, is it a group effort, are you all pitching in to come up with songs? Steve Nutter (Bass): Phil, our guitarist actually did a lot of the writing for the album, he brought his ideas along to the rehearsal room and all of us chipped in our own stuff and it basically took shape around that. We didn’t want to move too far from the sound of The Beautiful South, we wanted to sound – well, one of the reviews said it best – familiar, but refreshing. Tony Robinson (Trumpet): It’s mainly Phil and Damon who are the core song writing elements I suppose, as it’s difficult to write songs by committee. In The Beautiful South it was quite a regimented formula – Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray came up with the goods. Butcher: It’s a challenge really to come up with material that is as strong as the back catalogue certainly, as it’s so well-known and loved by so many people. We’re getting children of fans turning up at our gigs, twenty-odd-yearolds and they’re obviously into it as much as their mums and dads were. Nutter: You see forty something couples singing along at our gigs and they’re reliving their youth through the songs we play, you see them giving little glances to each other, and that’s really sweet. But then their kids say “We used to go on holiday and dad would play your albums during the car journey, so I know all the songs.” And they do, word for word. M: Well you certainly seem to be attracting to your gigs, I notice you’ve managed to sell out several venues on your current tour, which is pretty good going. Gaz Birtles (Saxophone): I think the band’s kind of found its level now, and there’s been a few gigs on this tour where I’ve listened to the band and turning round and looking at them I’ve thought, “You know what? We actually sound as good as, or better than, The Beautiful South. We’ve got a better back line complimenting Damon, the keyboard wizard, better than the original players – no disrespect to them, they were good players, but they were quirky, if you like, as opposed to muso’s, you know? Dave Anderson (Drums): Also, some of the gigs we’ve done have been in places where people have come up to us and said, “We can’t believe you’ve come to our town, thank you for playing here,” and that feels really good, and that’s the market we want to tap, there must be loads of places like that, and they’re good enough gigs, the venues are good and the audience is there, you’ve got to respect it. Birtles: In The Beautiful South days, places were always full, but it was always business, it was like, “hang on, we’re actually playing Sheffield Arena now, we’ve gotta get our s**t together,” and there was always that underlying air of, “we HAVE to, we’re getting paid to do it.” Gigs like Wembley Arena, you’re walking on stage a nervous wreck. With this, we are getting paid to do it – not a lot, but it’s more… fun. I’m enjoying this more than when it was The Beautiful South.

Robinson: Yeah, I agree. Another example, back in The Beautiful South we played Glastonbury once, just before R.E.M. were due on the same stage – so, you know, no pressure! – and we were backstage, we thought “shall we have a beer? Yeah, why not?” Everyone else was getting ratted! So yeah, “We’re at Glastonbury, let’s have a beer!” And then, “Let’s have another beer!” But halfway through the afternoon I went and stood at the side of the stage to watch whichever band was on before us – The Charlatans or somebody – and I was like “Ooh, actually we’d better be at our best here.” And we went on and played our best, but I’ll admit I was quite tiddly and there was a film camera right next to me and I was like, “Not today mate.” And we still pulled it off, but that was the pressure back then. And a lot of the young bands these days can’t hack it. M: Speaking of which – you’ve been together as a band for a quarter of a century now, do you have any advice for young bands who are just starting out and wanting to make a name for themselves? Robinson: It’s like Gaz’s lad’s band, By The Rivers, are doing right now, you’ve just gotta go for it. I did it with my band, Munch, we lasted 18 months. But whatever you do, you’ve got to give it your all. And in all fairness, The Beautiful South could have done a damn sight more, touring-wise. Hemingway: The longest full tour we ever did was six weeks, on the road non-stop, whereas now on our current tours we stop at weekends. M: So you’re saying you could have done more, and you perhaps should have? Hemingway: Yeah, and I don’t like this weekend nonsense to be honest, I think we should do a big one next. M: Is that the plan then? New tour, new songs, new album? Hemingway: Oh yeah, we’ve got a lot of new songs, a lot of really exciting new songs, although we’re not playing them live to people just yet because they’re not quite ready just yet, you know? But I’m very excited about the next record, and I’m saying that as a fan of The Beautiful South and of this band. I think our first album as The South was brilliant, and the new one will have some fantastic songs on it. We’ll continue to play old songs and new ones and see what works and what doesn’t. But I’m proud of The South’s first album, and I’ll be even more proud of the next one. M: How are the new songs from Sweet Refrains going down live? Birtles: They’re sitting alongside our older songs very nicely, and you can see people singing along to them at the gigs, so we ask them after, “How does it compare to the old stuff?” and they always say, “It’s the same as, it’s a continuation.” And that’s a good feeling. Hemingway: It is, and the thing is we’re not going to change drastically, we’re going to keep doing intelligent pop songs, that’s all we’ve ever done, whether as The Beautiful South or The South. We’ve got a wry twist of lyric, and hopefully we’re gonna continue with that. Words: Staff Writer Front Article Photo: Scott Choucino Live Photo: Rococo Imaging

ver since the first shouts rang out for social change they’ve been accompanied by the sounds of the protest song. As a nation we’ve sung our way through the abolition movement, women’s suffrage, human rights, civil rights, anti-war, feminism, sexual revolution, the anti-Tories and the gay rights movement. And now in the decade of hated austerity measures you’d think the airwaves would be awash with angry songs of protest in the UK. However, looking at the charts, listening to the radio all seems well in the world and in the bubble of popular music. Leaving me wondering where have all the protest songs gone? Where are the musical champions of the people? Before you ask, “What about Billy Bragg?” (and I challenge anyone to write a protest article without mentioning him), what about him? His last effort, Tooth and Nails, with its softer approach to political activism isn’t going to send the government running with their regressive policies. His days as a modern day political hero are numbered because a good protest song needs more than empathetic words, it needs to move us to action. It needs a purpose, to change something. With the recent passing of Nelson Mandela I can’t help thinking back to the song Free Nelson Mandela, calling for his release. If a protest song doesn’t call for direct action or changes then it can’t be called a protest song. Through successive generations we’ve always had high profile champions of the protest song. In the 30s there was Florence Reece with Which Side Are You On?, written after her harassment by mine owners, calling to arms the union movement and rewritten later for the 80’s miners strikes and covered by Billy Bragg. Willy Guthrie in the 40 and 50s with This Land is Your Land. A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke in the 60s written to support the civil rights movement. Later, parts of it were paraphrased by Barack Obama in his 2008 victory speech. Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ In The Wind and of course John Lennon and Yoko Ono leading Give Peace

“F**k Tha Police” a Chance in 1969. Then there’s Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves in the 70s, all about the violence of the Jamaican elections. In the 80s there was The Specials’ Ghost Town, inspired by the bleak mood on the streets (and tension within the band), and F**k Tha Police by NWA. In the 90s

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when Bush Senior sent troops to Kuwait rappers Ice Cube and Paris released “Bush Killa”. Unfortunately this is where it begins to taper off. Look past 9/11 and anti-war songs and the protest song start to disappear in the UK charts and to be frowned upon as antipatriotic (not just in America). You now sell more records singing about the Poppy Appeal or about your partner being away fighting the war rather than opposing it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have issues with our troops, my issue isn’t with the people left to clean the mess up, it’s with those that make it. My issue is where have the songs singing about it gone? As a nation are we becoming increasingly apathetic? In an age celebrating bling over all else, opposing something and speaking out isn’t an attractive position to be in and record companies desire artists with universal appeal. Artists to promote brands. Artists to support campaign for products that aren’t always ethical in themselves, so the artists need not have an overtly social conscience. Also, how can people write about politics if they haven’t gotten a clue about what their own politics are? In a world where X Factor reigns and most people sing in the hopes of a lovely sparkly new yacht, who out of the pop world wants to align themselves to an opposing view? We’re in a society where people aim to please. However, as bleak as it might sound all is not lost. There are still some artists trying to lead the way and making protest music, but their challenge is getting it heard. It isn’t in the mainstream and most rely on their personal websites and

Words: Raegan Oates

distribute through homemade media. Unfortunately, in the UK it’s just not finding mass distribution. There is hard work being done through these guys in social media, but on the other side of the coin with everything being so instant do we now need a song to make an idea move or travel? A tweet takes seconds. Do we require a soundtrack for the revolution when there are thousands happening every millisecond? Do we need music to get a message across? Spoken word is no longer the quickest means of getting messages to the masses. In a digital age it’s no longer an indispensable means of mass political communication. Everything is instant. Therein lies another issue: with our

we becoming accustomed to it? People used to think that music could change the world. I used to think that music could change the world. Nowadays I’m not so sure that it still can, however I still can’t help but optimistically hold out for a soundtrack for the needed revolution. Like Father Christmas - I want to believe in him, I’m just not sure if I’m a little too cynical for it. Does it mean then we should stop making this music and assign it as a relic? No, of course not. Even though there is little access to the music that speaks about issues that matter, I still believe that it should always be there because deep down I do believe that “One person can make a difference and every person should try,” so maybe that’s the message. Maybe if we keep trying and reach just one person it could be the one right person that goes onto to make a truly inspirational difference in our world. Either way we need to keep making it, but the issue still remains the same: how are we ALL going to be made aware of it and where can everyone listen to it?

Does it mean then we should stop making this music and assign it as a relic?

impatience and desire for the instant we don’t wait for ideas to take hold. We lose interest quickly and onto the next issue. Also do we become tired of these struggle as they go on and on? If seeing masses of dead bodies in Syria on the news doesn’t move certain people, what hope does music have? We see death, disease and despair every day. Are

Photos: Rococo Imaging

Features Editor: Raegan Oates Raegan Oates is our Features Editor. Starting as a staff writer for Fd2d magazine she quickly worked her way up to Music Editor. With 5 years of writing and editing experience behind her she joined The Monograph Team in early 2011. She has worked for a number of magazines and occasionally contributes to The Leicester Mercury.

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With Rococo Imaging

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WITH ROYALTIES T

he first thing that happens when most people discuss royalties, at least in my experience, is a tense intake of air. I think this is due to the knowledge that royalties are one of the most confusing topics around, especially for bands who are just starting off. So for their benefit, I am about to attempt to sum up in a few words royalties and what they mean. Wish me luck!

First of all let’s tackle the umbrella term that is ‘music publishing’. This covers all the areas of confusion, including the following; royalties, licenses, rights and copyright. These little buggers are all the parts that make up the opportunities for you, if you’re a musician, to get paid. But what’s what?

for record labels; if they want to put your music onto a CD, they will have to pay MCPS (The Mechanical Rights part of PRS) for doing so. This royalty will also come into effect if your track is used on something like a Kerrang! compilation album.

SYNCHRONISATION To start with, in the eyes of the law every piece of music has two types of copyright within in. Firstly, each track has a copyright for the composition. This is the melodies, lyrics, bass line and drums that make up the track, it’s the musical side of things. This is the part that protects someone sampling your melodies in another song.

This is the term given to the underlaying/overlaying of a song onto visual content. So for example, your song put behind a car advert, or put underneath the final advert of a major TV series, or used in the open titles of a video game.

The second type of copyright is the sound recording, sometimes known as a ‘master’ recording. This is the physical end product, and this form of copyright comes into play when you make copies (CDs, tape, vinyl and digitally) of your recording. As well as this, the master recording is important as it can generate you a nice pay-out if you own it. A lot of the time, record labels will take ownership of a master recording during a record deal, which can leave bands earning less on publishing deals such as adverts when compared to owning the rights independently.

PERFORMANCE ROYALTIES These are when your track gets played either live at a gig, on the radio or on TV. For radio and TV this is especially important, so as soon as you get your finished track, get in touch with PRS (Performance Rights Society) and PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited), and get registered! These two organisations are the ones who radio stations and TV channels pay for licenses, and then in turn, PRS and PPL pay you, depending on the amount of times your tune is played.

So hopefully that might have maybe, just about, possibly... cleared up some conundrums that you might have about music publishing. If anything, I hope it’s given you a good base to go and do some research for yourselves. For new bands just starting up, or bands that are making good headway towards a record deal, make sure you’re aware of the laws and regulations surround your music - you don’t need to be an expert, but try to understand it, hopefully it’ll pay off for you in the future, or at least prevent you from being ripped off in the future!

DISCLAIMER: I’m not an expert, so do consult a music lawyer if you have any in depth questions, or if you’re lucky enough, let your manager do it!

Words: Mark Lisle A Northerner at heart, Mark is a recent graduate of DMU Radio Production and now works in Radio. His speciality for the past 3 years has been recording bands for radio play, along with promoting and managing gigs around the city. He loves Leicester, however he says “t’ pies just ain’t same ”

MECHANICAL ROYALTIES These are the royalties earned when your music is used by someone else. DVDs, CDs or a TV show. This also counts

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THE INTERROBANG?!

CLUBS

lubs are Joe (Guitar), Dan (Guitar), CJ (Vocals/Guitar), Ben (Bass) and Chris (Drums/Percussion) and they’ve spent the last 6 months working hard behind the scenes putting together an EP for release at the end of January. Recorded down in Oxford in Foals’ studio and produced by Kit Monteith from Trophy Wife they’ve been busy sorting out 4 brand new tracks for their fans listening pleasure. Having only played four gigs in the last 12 months and in the process of being signed, this band must be doing something right, and CJ modestly attributes it to having, “played gigs at the right times and with the right people.” Unfortunately sworn to secrecy, they’re unable to make an official announcement, and can’t spill the big news of their signing to us just yet. “Fingers crossed we’ll have the news for you very soon,” says CJ, “it’s very exciting but you’ll have to wait. We’re currently in the process of putting a decent team of people around us and it’s just a case of crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s. Even Chris breaking his arm hasn’t stopped us, apart from inviting a few classic Def Leppard jokes.” How are some things going to change for the band once this all goes ahead? Can they at least tell us that? CJ explains that they’ve had a bigger vision for the past few months and that they will be branching out rather than looking at it locally. “We’ve really fallen on our feet, we have put the

work in but we’ve just been genuinely nice to people” They’re pretty positive about the industry, which is refreshing, but how have they avoided any horror stories thus far? “Well,” says CJ, “We’ve been careful. We’ve not jumped at anything. If people rush in then there are a lot of false promises made. When we first started out we were trying to get anything we could but we haven’t rushed in. We haven’t taken the bait. “There are a lot of people in the music industry these days trying to make a quick buck. You get offered a lot of things that are billed as something that they’re not but you learn quickly in this industry. The internet makes it easy for charlatans to get in touch and offer you all sorts. We had the option of working with a couple of people but we took our time and chose the best.” Does that include Kit then? “Absolutely! Creatively we’ve gone down a totally different route to what we thought we

“There’s a fine line between believing in your music and being arrogant. You need to believe in your music and I don’t think we’d put anything out that we didn’t believe in.” would go down but in the best possible way. If you get the right producer they can help you produce things that would never have even crossed your mind.” Working with Kit Monteith seems to have had an inspirational effect for Clubs, and CJ’s enthusiasm spills over when he talks about their time in the studio together. “He’s really opened our eyes. It’s like going into an Aladdin’s cave when you go into their studio, they’ve got all these toys from the 70’s and mini keyboards. We used this old crappy Casio kid’s keyboard that was made the year that we were born.” Joe joins in, “He put a peculiar spin on it. I don’t think a lot of people would have seen it quite like him.” According to Clubs their new songs have come out exactly to plan. “We always have these blasé ideas, but working this way we pulled it back and seen what’s possible.” How do they keep their feet on the ground when things are coming along so well? “There’s a fine line between believing in your music and being arrogant. You need to believe in your music and I don’t think we’d put anything out that we

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didn’t believe in.” Even though success doesn’t seem far off, the guys realise that in the current market everyone still needs a back-up plan. CJ wisely explains “The industry is disposable, access to music is disposable. You can listen to something at the click of a button, then you won’t listen to it for quite a while. Then you might disappear. There are still lots of bands with longevity but it’s increasingly hard to maintain that. You do get found out at a point if you’re not putting the effort in, if you’re not trying to do new things. If you do the same old, same old then you won’t stay.” Talking of longevity how do they feel about Kasabian announcing their gig at Victoria Park? Are they hoping to be picked for the support slot? Joe tells us, “I was never a massive fan of Kasabian but then they did that gig at the O2 and it was insane. I wouldn’t listen to them day to day but they were so good,” CJ adds, “I think it’s going to be amazing. Anything that helps support the Leicester music scene.” So what do they think of what’s going on musically in the city at the moment? CJ explains, “The problem is people in general are really quick to bad-mouth it and dismiss it, but if

“The industry is disposable, access to music is disposable. You can listen to something at the click of a button” you want to go out every night and find something to go to and do, you can. Look at the City Of Culture bid, we didn’t get to the final four for no reason. The problem is that we have the infrastructure but it’s just a bit saturated.

grow it has to get more out-of-town bands, from outside of Leicester. Although that again shows that people are willing to go out and pay to listen to music that’s made in Leicester - it was so busy. We opened one of the stages and played to a sizable crowd.”

“There is so much on that there comes to a point that people say the music in Leicester is bad because there is so much of it. You have to go and find the good stuff. We saw Royal Blood at the Cookie. We played with Splash. The good thing about the Kasabian gig is it will be a catalyst, but then it might illuminate everything else that is going on. People might be willing to go out and find stuff more, rather than the only band they ever listen to from Leicester being Kasabian.” Speaking of the City of Culture bid, what do the band think about losing out to Hull? Dan says, “I went to Hull when the Freedom Festival was on. The day I got there I read that Summer Sundae was axed so I thought, well that’s not good”. CJ tactfully intercedes “They probably need it more. Leicester’s got loads going on. It’s the fact that we already have got a lot in place and Hull needs the boost.” How did Clubs take the news of Summer Sundae ceasing, and what do they think of its replacement, Simon Says? “It’s really sad,” says Dan, “We went for two years in a row.” CJ joins in “I saw Warpaint play to about 40 people there. I’ve seen so many ridiculously good bands there. It was the first festival that we went to, and it had the nicest vibe.” However, they do think that Simon Says has the potential to grow into something special. The issue CJ sees though is, “Just where you can go next with it? In order for it to

How important is keeping your local fans happy? Dan tells me they keep in touch via “daily phonecalls,” while Chris adds, “Things like competitions help, and you’ve got to have time for people. It’s always good to make time for people. It’s something they all feel passionately about.” CJ tells us, “If someone takes the time afterwards to come up and say they enjoyed it then you need to take a few minutes to talk to them. We’ve always had time for people and that’s the main thing. Bands these days have to be careful not to have an air of arrogance about them.” With their signing on the way it looks like the New Year will be an exciting one, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of musicians. Speaking of the New Year, does the band have any resolutions? “Practise more!” they all tell me, with CJ adding, “And stop worrying so much. We’ll have an hour-long debate about the colour of t-shirts. It’s just because we want everything to be right and that’s why this EP has taken so long, we just want it to be right. We’re pernickety.” We look forward to hearing their announcement and listening to the EP, and we wish the band good luck for 2014.

Words: Raegan Oates Photos: Scott Choucino

“

eet and Greet. VIP package. Golden Ticket. Call it what you will. Nowadays buying a ticket to meet another human being, who just happens to be particularly talented at playing an instrument, is becoming an increasingly popular pastime. These exclusive packages, which are usually advertised as a ‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’, are extortionately priced and with a quick Google for Meet and Greet you’ll find prices from around £180 and upwards for most listings on Live Nation, or £500 in the case of 30 Seconds to Mars. Each one offering some kind of wonderful experience that can only come from meeting your heroes. However, I want to know if this is just another method of exploiting fans for record company gain?

order to finance a tour, however this money is recoupable from the royalties an artist earns, creating a constant, vicious cycle of earning and burning money, leaving the musicians among the worst paid people on a tour.

What exactly are you getting for this ludicrous sum of money? Well 30STM are willing to offer you all of the following: A meet & greet with the band, an individual photograph with 30STM, an exclusive poster signed by all the members, exclusive stage-side viewing, exclusive merchandise package and guaranteed to go on stage for the song Up In The Air. Note that this doesn’t include a ticket to the show. You have to purchase a general admission on top, putting the cost at around £560 (including booking fee and P&P) for an evening in their company. Seems a little steep, doesn’t it? After all, these people are artists who have spent years perfecting their craft and are now lucky enough to travel the world, doing what they love for a living and earning millions of pounds for it, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, as any musician will tell you, touring is no longer a financially viable method of making money. The majority of record companies will provide ‘tour support’ in

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In order to bring down the tour support costs the band may decide to take their own gear instead of renting it, drive themselves instead of hiring a driver, tour without their own backline techs and so on, but the biggest earner by far, with the best connection to their fans, is the meet & greet. There are always fans somewhere who are willing to pay incredible prices to meet their heroes, and it’s these kinds of super-fans which pretty much keep the band moving financially. Meet & greet packages mean that the band earns more, the record company loans less and the fans get to meet their heroes; basically, everyone is kept happy. While there is a tiny little angry voice inside my head screaming about selling out and that music is a passion, not a commodity, the more mature, wiser and knowledgeable part of me sees this as almost a necessity to keep some bands moving. Since the explosion of digital media in the last ten years, the music industry has had to roll with some serious punches and do what it can to evolve, grow and still remain profitable, all the while investing in new formats, bands and trends. M&G tickets to shows are just one part of that series of changes, and despite any personal feeling towards the idea; they do work for a reason. However, you could save yourself a lot of money by hanging around the Burger King at your nearest service station after the show. No musician can resist a post-show burger at 1am. Words: Liam Sexton Illustration: Alice Bowsher

7-23 February

2014

WAKEY,

WAKEY!

Wake up to the biggest comedy festival in the UK!

ACTS INCLUDE: Rich Hall Shappi Khorsandi Sean Hughes Lee Hurst Tim Vine

Rob Newman Jason Manford Paul Chowdry Ava Vidal

Tickets and full information: www.comedy-festival.co.uk or 0116 242 3595 25

Brrr! Feel that arctic blast burn its way through your bones! Around this time of year there’s only one way to enjoy live music – indoors, and preferably as part of a big crowd, pressed together as much for warmth as for a communal love of noise. What wouldn’t you give to be under a burning sun, laid on lush grass, mildly intoxicated and listening to your favourite hip new sounds?

chunks of the summer to have off in Tenerife, leaving you tied to your desk doing their work. You’ll doubtless know all the big names in the increasingly rammed festival market – the V’s, the T’s, The Glastos - but the current state of the economy, and importantly, your own wallet postChristmas, might dissuade you from splashing out too much right now.

The festival season might seem a distant, alien world, but the smartest among you should start planning your musical excursions already, as early bird ticket deals are being offered left right and centre and your colleagues (especially those with offspring) will already be block-booking precious

Fear not however! For there is a veritable banquet of field-based musical hedonism on offer right on your doorstep, and much of it is a lot more affordable than Farmer Eavis’s Jurassic Park. We’ve pulled together a quick list of 14 of the top local festivals for the coming year...

OFF THE TRACKS

HANDMADE FESTIVAL

Where? Castle Donin gton, Derbyshire When? 23rd – 25th May (Spring) and 30 th August – 1st September (Summ er)

Where? Various locations, Leicester When? 2nd – 4th May first local fests of A relative newcomer, and one of the at various venues 2013 in the year, Handmade launched couple of bars, a a ding inclu re cent around Leicester city where Big Loud Rock acts church and even a former library, Promised Jetpacks blew like Nine Black Alps and We Were stages curated by the With es. the dust off the bookshelv sters, Handmade’s Mon y Scar Big and likes of ArcTanGent early treat for 2014. sophomore is shaping up to be an

HIT THE DECK FESTIVAL Where? Rescue Rooms, Rock City, The Forum, Stealth Nottingham When? 20th April A cosy indoor affair split between two cities, Hit The Deck begins in Bristol on the Saturday but ends up in Nottingham for its Sunday finale. So far the only band announced is New York rockers Brand New, but more big names are expected imminently. Tickets are reasonably priced, particularly the early birds, so get moving.

INDIETRACKS

Now in its 26th yea r, this small but well established fest, divided into spr ing and summer ses sions, has been punching above its weight for some tim e, and with promised headliners including Big Country , Jesus Jones, The Moulettes and Neville Staple, 2014 loo ks like it will be continuing that tradit ion.

IVAL SIMON SAYS FEST Leicester Hall, Where? De Montfort ced un no An Be When? To

the remains al talent, founded on A bubbling pot of loc on Says Sim l ura ug last year’s ina of Summer Sundae, ter and ces Lei s ian sic mu the best showcased some of sonable rea offer at an extremely Leicestershire had to hin the wit y cit ating heart of the price. Based in the be ld De Mont, r-o ea 0-y 10 the and walls of welcoming grounds time around. ger and better this SS promises to be big

NO DIRECTION HOME FESTIVAL

Where? The Midland Railway Centre, Derbyshire When? 25th - 27th July

Where? Wellbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire When? To Be Announced

Sure, other festivals might have idyllic country settings, cool bands and barrels of ale – but only Indietracks has all of the above, plus steam trains! You can ride the locomotives or visit the centre’s museums while you’re not taking in one of the dozens of new and established acts. Last year they had Camera Obscura, The Lovely Eggs and The Pastels – who knows who they’ll attract this summer?

To be honest, we’re not 100% certain whether NDH, little sister of the sublime End Of The Road Festival in Dorset, will even take place this year. After debuting in 2012 with brilliant performances from Richard Hawley, Andrew Bird and The Low Anthem among many others, they announced a year off in 2013. But rumours abound, and fingers are crossed for this charming, folksy, family-friendly fest to make a return soon.

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LEICESTER M

SIC FESTIVA Where? Wel L ford Road St adium, Leices When? 25th ter – 26th July

DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL Where? Various locations, Nottingham When? To Be Announced

This imaginat ively titled, br and-spanking announced at new festival the end of la was st year and al Green, Billy ready has Pr Ocean, Aswad of essor an d Soul II Soul The prospect on its debut of a weekend bill. m us ic Tigers’ ground festival at th e enormous is certainly an intriguing on bird tickets no e, and with ea longer availa rly ble you may ASAP. want to inve stigate

Winner of the 2013 Best Metropolitan Festival, Dot To Dot has been swelling in size since its inception back in the noughties and now has camps in both Manchester and Bristol. But Nottingham is where it all started, and over the years bands like The XX, Foals, Mumford & Sons and Metronomy have all cut their teeth here. Whatever’s in store for DtD in 2014, it should be massive.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FESTIVAL

Y NOT FESTIVALyshire

Where? Heather, Leicestershire When? 8th – 10th August

Derb Where? Pike Hall, gust Au d 3r – t When? 1s

ium Festival, Best ted for Best Med Recently nomina st Toilets Award and the coveted Be ing Grassroots Event is a rapidly expand ls Awards, Y Not e. It sid try by the UK Festiva un co ict str ep in the Peak Di de ed stl ne e t Th fes ng little t year, hosti an seven stages las to ts Je ry featured no less th te The Mys , Toy, Drenge, and Horrors, The Cribs . name but a very few

Now in its fifth year, SFF has come from nowh ere to be one of Leicestershire’s biggest music events, offering a crowd-pleasing mix of pop, rock and dance. Their tier one tickets have already sold out for this year, which considering it’s over half a year away and no acts have been confirmed yet is pretty remarkable. Best get booking soon.

DEERSTOCK

EORY BEARDED TH l, Derbyshire

Where? Newton Cross Country Course, Nottinghamshire When? 25th – 27th July

Hal Where? Catton th May 25 – nd 22 n? Whe

le the most peop ting to feature e, tim e Proudly purpor on any dress beards at ct. wearing fancy you might expe as y az rke as is ry eo Th w d ne de Bear old, BT has a ly seven years ell as Now a spright tton Hall - as w Ca ly – the love lers, ng ra St e home for 2014 Th of mes in the form some classic na Doctor & The d an SM U er rt Peter Hook, Ca Medics.

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Formerly based in East Bridgford, this year sees Deerstock relocating for its third outing. due to noise complaints. Catering for just 500 people this wee gem picked up nominations for best small festival and best family festival last year. This year a total of 40 bands are set to play, with Karl & The Marx Brothers, Ferocious Dog and Lauren Faith all having confirmed to date

IVAL SPLENDOUR FESTttinghamshire

ll, No Where? Wollaton Ha y Jul th 27 When?

Derbyshire border

Where? Donington, Leicestershire/ When? 13th – 15th June

said this was going to be OK, so at the start of this piece we could we leave out how but vals, about smaller local festi n it takes place whe d worl the in val festi the biggest rock hear the jumbo jets just down the road? So loud you can’t ous with the cream nym syno passing overhead, Download is with Avenged ption exce no is up lineof rock and this year’s and even the goddamned Sevenfold, Aerosmith, Linkin Park unced so far. Quo among the gigantic names anno

e from local triumphant headlin Following last year’s ing, but if any one do e som e gg will tak wunderkind Jake Bu strious headliners dour. With former illu dayer can, it’s Splen d Scissor Sisters, an scal, Pet Shop Boys including Dizzee Ra 14 are a little on 20 for ls prestige. Detai it certainly got the peeled. moment, but keep ‘em the scant side at the

Words: Alex Scoppie With more than 100 published reviews to his name, a weekend hospital radio show, a dusty journalism qualification and a constant ringing in his ears, Alex has a proven dedication to both music and writing, though not to common sense or planning. He can often be found in the pub, asleep.

New writer Alex Bowers spoke with Simon Bailey from Birmingham’s O2 Academy and owner of artist management company, Second City First to discuss the topic – to what extent are bands and artists being judged by their social media accounts? I play in a band that is signed up to a variety of social networking sites. Their purpose to the band is primarily to announce things like record releases, new songs, videos and shows. This time last year we were involved with a management company who told us that in order to be considered for decent tour support opportunities, record label rosters, and other things that would generally be appealing to a band, we needed to up our social media game. Therefore, with this in mind, and with rumours circling about artists and organisations buying Facebook ‘likes’, I wanted to get an insider perspective on the matter...

to work with acts that I like. This is important to me unlike some promoters. I have turned acts down before whose music I’ve not been a fan of. I think it’s important to keep that integrity.”

Alex Bowers: To what extent does an act’s online presence affect your decision to book them? Simon Bailey : “I guess online presence is key these days. It’s a quick and easy way to gauge the artists public status and of course you can see how actively (or inactively in some cases) the band are promoting themselves and their live shows. Likes, followers, plays on Youtube/Soundcloud are all things I would look at, although these days it’s hard to tell how accurate they are what with bots being available to buy likes or plays etc.” Of course, it’s important for promoters to remember that there’s a reason they’re doing their jobs also, we got into it for the love of the music. So with that in mind, I always try

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AB: Do you feel that there’s too much emphasis on social media within the music industry? SB: “I definitely do. I’ve heard of bands being told by record labels to come back to them when they have so many likes or plays. This is quite a depressing thought. The job of the label or the promoter is to promote the act and help them reach a wider audience. If an A&R or promoter really loves an act they should be confident that they can promote them in the right way.” In the past, labels used to develop bands and it would be a long time from signing on the dotted line until the point where you actually released your first record. And you’d tour extensively during this period to build a live following. These days, the industry seems to expect the artist to do all the development work themselves, obviously with the artist funding it out of their own pocket. Then the label swoops in after all the groundwork is put in and recompenses the band with a paltry advance.” Of course, with limited resources, fledgling (and some not so fledgling) bands are forced to resort to social media

THE POWER OF LIKES!

How social media is changing music

channels to try and promote themselves as it’s a free/ cheap option. When the statistics tell you that one post on Facebook/Twitter will reach a tenth of your audience it’s clearly apparent that you need to have an “audience” in the tens of thousands to have any sort of impact. I’m not sure how sustainable the current music industry model is. In my opinion, this is making bands a casual consumer product that is discarded from the consumers memory as quickly as the next hype band comes along.”

It’s clear that organisations within the music industry are (understandably) concerned with the risk factor, accepting that promoters do take into account - followers, likes and plays and record labels have turned away bands due to them not meeting acceptable social media engagement standards.

… so, where does that leave us? Well, first off, slightly concerned to have confirmed that buying likes and plays is something that is actively being engaged in by bands and artists. However, if like Simon Bailey says, individuals and organisations within the music industry feel that an act’s online presence is an easy way to analyse their popularity, and with Facebook and Twitter limiting the reach of an act’s post to the point where it will only reach a tenth of their fanbase, then it is to a certain degree understandable. If select bands and artists genuinely feel that buying their way to getting an A&R’s attention is the best way to go about getting noticed then by all means go for it, but I’m sure that plan will meet an abrupt end when the A&R turns up to their poorly attended show at The Lexington.

Social media does go some way in providing information that could prevent a poorly attended show, or an A&R jumping the gun and signing up an act with a killer debut single, to which only 50 people have listened and none of the 50 have purchased. Social media now provides detailed statistics for acts - numbers of fans, location of plays, age demographics of viewers/listeners, download figures, and so on. All of which to an external party is either music to their ears, or a way of cutting through the bulls**t. The music industry is just that: an industry. It needs money to survive and it cannot afford to continually lose money. Therefore, if it can use social media as a tool to provide information that will help to eliminate the risk element, then sure, why not? So, artists and bands, turns out you are being judged on your social media accounts. It’s just business, it’s nothing personal. Words: Alex Bowers Photo: Rococo Imaging

THE DARKNESS I

’ve had some strange conversations in my life, but none more so (in a teetotal state) than with Frankie Poullain, resident bassist for The Darkness. Ahead of their Leicester show in December, I grabbed a quick chat with him to talk about future plans, Dadaism and what a typical Darkness fan might look like. Jessamyn Witthaus: First of all, tell me why you’re in Loch Ness today? Can we expect an entire album about mythical creatures? Frankie Poullain: Because we are the Dark-Ness monster! No, it’s because we’re playing a sold-out show here tonight at the Iron Works. It’s actually really refreshing being here after driving through the slog of the central part of the UK. We just had lunch and Ed (Graham, drummer) enjoyed the finest haggis he’s ever had. There’s a manufacturer called Cockburns that make very good haggis. JW: So you reformed in 2011 after quite a long break, how did that come about and why? FP: Well it’s just because we’re all unbearable, but at least we all understand that. Bringing someone in, it would just be completely unfair for them to have to suffer us. We’re all insufferable people. JW: So you understand each other and all your little quirks? FP: Big quirks, ginormous quirks... JW: Your most recent album, ‘Hot Cakes’, how did it differ from previous material? Was it more serious? FP: Let me think about that one… When it comes down to subject matter I think we just write from the heart. Most

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of our songs are actually quite heartfelt, but they’re just flavoured in a slightly different way. They’re flavoured with a sense of fun, so it’s almost like a personal song that in anyone else’s hands could become quite dark. With Justin (Hawkins, singer) what distinguishes him as a person is that he enjoys the catharsis of basically being a bit of a dick. He loves that, and celebrates that. He has a sense of the ridiculous and I guess back in the day they would have called him a Dadaist if it was the 1930s. JW: Why did you decide to cover Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ on the album? It’s a very different version to the original. FP: Well there’s a classical sound to it, almost Baroque. Sometimes Radiohead did that with the arrangements and the mood was very classical music. So we thought it would be good to do that, to take a song like that and do it with a sense of fun. No, actually not even with a sense of fun it’s just a reinvention isn’t it. So it’s hard to reinvent a song without sounding much worse, but I think with this song it just heightens the drama. Takes away maybe a little bit of the gravitas but injects a lot of energy into it. JW: Some people can be quite protective over songs like that, what kind of reaction did you get from Radiohead fans? FP: Well yeah, to some people it’s precious. But I guess they’re also precious regarding their entitlement to be miserable bastards. A lot of people guard their misery and their depression like it’s a precious thing, but I think our whole approach to that is to have the catharsis of just being a dickhead and having a sense of the ridiculous, and that’s something to be celebrated as opposed to be scared of.

JW: You have got a very unique sense of humour, the only way I can describe it is a sort of explicit exuberance in your material. Do you all share that sense of humour? FP: That’s a really nice expression. I think people in general, and especially close friends, have a kind of thing they tap into that they’re almost too embarrassed to express with other people. It’s quite personal. So I guess what we do is quite difficult, we try to take those feelings and share them with other people. JW: How do feel about people who hear the humorous aspects of your songs and dismiss your music as a novelty that doesn’t have musical talent behind it? FP: Like I said before, it’s a process of flavouring that we use. So it’s not really the essence of what we do. That’s OK though, a lot of people are cynical. We’re still attracting crowds, and we feel very fortunate to be able to do that all over the world. We’re certainly not worried. I mean sometimes we’re misrepresented and that’s kind of frustrating. But we’re kind of on the edge, we walk this tightrope and we can easily be misunderstood. JW: Do you think you guys have mellowed over the years, or that you ever will? FP: I think we’re going to crank things up if anything, certainly next year. The next album is hopefully going to be more of a Darkness album than anything before. We’re all kind of in the zone, for sure. Justin is firing on all cylinders and he’s still in great shape. His voice is better than ever in fact. JW: You have a very unique sound and image; do you think it translates better to a live format? FP: Well we find it liberating to dress up, so that frees us. A lot of people I guess that restricts them and they feel self-conscious, but we’ve lost that self-consciousness. It’s probably because we’re shy, that’s where it comes from. People compensate don’t they, so if you’re shy you dress up. It’s like Lady Gaga dresses up because she’s insecure, it’s compensation. JW: Do you think the style of your music is still relevant now that the music industry has become quite slick and serious in a lot of respects, as opposed to when Permission to Land came out in 2003? FP: It was serious back then as well. There will always be self-important mediocrities populating the music scene, because of the way it’s run. People are basically desensitised by the job they do and just get it wrong every time. As soon as you do something purely for money, for marketing reasons, that’s when things become quite ugly. It’s quite an ugly period for music now, and in a way you can argue that it always has been since the early 70s. Maybe that’s when idealism disappeared. So nothing much has changed really, we just have to come out with a great album next year which we’re really looking forward to doing. The pressure is on but it’s great because we love pressure. There’s always going to be an appetite for good time rock and roll, done with a twist. JW: So can you tell me anything about the new album or is

it all top secret? FP: We’re definitely widening the scope of influences, not just 70s and 80s now. The 60s rears its head. There’s also a track that’s a little bit industrial, which makes you think of the 90s I guess. But it still sounds like The Darkness because there are those distinctive features that we’ve got a band. JW: Have you got quite a loyal fan base that has followed you throughout the years? Did you get a very positive reaction when you reformed? FP: You get the fans that you deserve. We travel all over the world and we never play to empty rooms so that’s great. We’re building things up now in places like Colorado and the Midwest that we’ve never really been to before. It’s not particularly fashionable now what we do, but we just keep doing it and don’t care much about fashion. JW: How would you describe a typical Darkness fan, in a nutshell? FP: I don’t really believe that typical exists, but to just to play along with your question I’d say they would probably be a sex maniac, with a nervous twitch, two heads and probably quite thick ankles. Oh and curvaceous hips and a hairy chest. Just one ear pierced probably. Just one eyebrow, and probably quite pendulous breasts as well… JW: So moving on, what are the most important things you have learnt in almost a decade in the industry? FP: That we know nothing. Each time you think you know something, you end up falling flat on your arse. I think being dumb is something that we celebrate. That’s what rock and roll is all about, the celebration of being dumb. Well, one thing. JW: So lastly, you’re performing in Leicester at the O2 in December, what can we expect? FP: A culmination of overground and underground. There will be a lot of oddities, a lot of songs that we haven’t done before. A new song, which is one of our most original that we’ve just written, and a couple of b-sides people haven’t heard before. Also there will be some stage manoeuvres and idea we haven’t done before and some new costumes in everything from jet black to bright pink. But all combined in a way which will all make sense eventually. Words: Jessamyn Witthaus Photos: Scott Choucino

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The Darkness Photo: Scott Choucino THEM ONOG RAP H .C O. U K

â&#x20AC;&#x153; We always wanted to do a gig in Leicester. It will be ten years since our first album in March. It just had to happen.â&#x20AC;&#x153;

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he Monograph Magazine was lucky enough to be invited to De Montfort Hall where local icons Kasabian were announcing their upcoming gig in Victoria Park to the press. Scheduled for next June, there will be 35,000 tickets available at £40 a pop. The timing is significant, as well as the location. The gig will mark the ten year anniversary since the release of their debut album. If you mention Kasabian to anyone in the Leicester area, you quite often get a rather jaded acknowledgement of these local boys done good, and their roots in our city. They’re almost part of the musical furniture. However, a gig on such a scale right on our doorstep is definitely reason for a more animated response, as I’m sure the inevitable scramble for tickets will show. It was very much a home comforts family affair today, with small children and partners accompanying the band who seemed at ease and relaxed in their home city. I was fortunate to sit down and have a few words with Tom Meighan and Chris Edwards, enigmatic frontman and bassist respectively. Jessamyn Witthaus: So tell me, do you remember your first ever Leicester gig? Tom Meighan : We were seventeen, foolish and naive, but amazing. JW: Did you feel a sense of duty to support the Leicester City of Culture bid as a recognised name, or is it something that’s more personally motivated? TM: Well, we got asked to support it. It seemed like the right thing to do. I’m gutted it didn’t work out, it would have been amazing because we put a lot of effort and time in and then they just gave it to Hull. Plus, they found the bones of the King. Just typical. Chris Edwards: Could be that they lose them bones now as well… Losing city of culture and then losing the bones. It’s like blimming hell, give us a chance! JW: So tell me about the upcoming gig in Victoria Park, why did you decide to do that? TM: We always wanted to do a gig in Leicester. It will be ten years since our first album in March. It just had to happen. JW: I’ve got to ask, do you feel that Chris Karloff is missing from this anniversary as he was there at the start? Or have you moved past that now? CE: I think we’ve moved way past that. It took us a couple of years to almost get him out of our system. I know it sounds horrible but we had to move on straight away. We’ve moved on and then moved on again since with different guitarists. We’re a long way down the line from where we were in 2005. TM: He’ll know it’s been ten years since the record,

and have a little smile to himself with friends in New York when the time comes round. JW: So how is the Leicester gig going to be different to other big gigs that you’ve done? Will you get local support bands? TM: We don’t know yet. We’ll throw some names around, and know who by January. CE: Because it’s in June and it’s festival season it depends on who is available and who we want. We’ll probably have three or four support acts. What will make it special for us, even though we’ve played bigger gigs, is that it’s Leicester. We’ve always wanted to put on a show for the Leicester people. JW: I noticed you had lots of family with you today, how important is it to have them with you, and does it make a difference? CE: It can be good and bad. We’ve been in a studio for the past three weeks recording the new album, and we go back down to London today. It’s nice to see the family for an hour or so, but sometimes on a gig day it’s not the right environment for kids. We could be playing a dirty club gig. TM: It’s nice to seen the young ones, but it can also be mind bending. CE: I don’t want to be making sandwiches before going on stage for 80,000 people. We need to be focused and spend time with the lads. We’re a band after all. I don’t want to be a father ten minutes before I go on. I love the kids to bits but I just don’t want to be doing that. JW: So tell me about the new album, any snippets of information you can tell us? TM: It’s art. It’s really the best thing we’ve ever done. I know I say that for every record but it’s really like we’ve started again and we’re a new band. It’s fantastic. We’re still in the studio now, and it’s going very well.

You can read more about Kasabian here: www.Kasabian.co.uk Words: Jessamyn Witthaus Photo: Scott Choucino

Calling all music lovers!

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“I just love guitars. I miss guitar music, so that’s kind of coming back.” B

efore his show at the Cookie, I grabbed a quick chat with Michael Kiwanuka, while the bass notes and harmonies of the first act warming up drifted out of the green room. Jessamyn Witthaus: So first of all tell me a bit about your style of music; you studied both jazz and pop at university for a little while, how did you come about doing the music you perform now? Michael Kiwanuka: I always played and listened to this kind of music since I was a teenager, but I didn’t think I could make a job out of it, nobody really played it. I thought it would be easier to be a guitar player. University was mainly because of my mum. She didn’t know how I could make a living being a guitar player or musician. Then I never really liked university, so when I dropped out at first I started writing tunes and did it for fun. JW: Did you learn any fundamental things at university that you took away with you? MK: I learnt some stuff. Mainly the things I use to help now, whether it’s live, in the studio, writing; it’s not from university, its records and other singers, doing loads of gigs. I was in loads of bands as a guitar player so that helped, just learning how to play in clubs. I was in a band at school too. All those things, you don’t need to school for. I learnt loads of little things at university, but not much. JW: Why do you feel compelled to perform at small venues and do gigs like this?

MK: Two reasons. My music is pretty intimate, so it suits smaller places. Big places are great too; singing in big places is fun. So I love it for the intimacy. Two, I like small homegrown things, not just venues but also labels, anything creative where it’s home grown. Usually those are the small things. JW: So tell me about the new record label? MK: I’m launching a new label, which is called Movement Records, on the 6th December. I’m going to be playing a couple of tunes at the launch, there’s also a singer called Emily King coming over from New York. She’s a soul singer, who’ll also do a few tunes. The real spearhead is my friend Christian, who mainly set it up. I set it up with him, but he really did it. His is the first release on the label in January. We’re performing in London, and people are starting to hear about it. So really we’re just looking for singers now. JW: Lastly, any future plans you can tell me about? MK: I’ve been recording the next album, so that will be out next year. Also some other releases. JW: Any snippets you can tell me about the new album? MK: It’s not about anything specific. I don’t really want to give anything away. There will be more guitars, but not guitar solos. I just love guitars. I miss guitar music, so that’s kind of coming back.

Words: Jessamyn Witthaus Photo: Adam Tanser

Nope

most bands rely on ticket sales and merch sales at venues as a large chunk of their income; if the punters aren’t there, the tours just won’t happen. I’m not saying we should shed big salty ones for our rich rock stars but turfing out £20 to see the next big thing at the O2 isn’t going to kill you once in a while, and on a three band bill that’s still pretty good value for money.

Words: Glyn Allen

Surely this issue’s hot topic is a no-brainer? Musicians aren’t registered charities (Bono and Geldof would probably like to muddy the waters but that’s a different issue entirely), you or I wouldn’t be prepared to do an honest day’s graft for a vague promise of a few warm beers and a limp sandwich at best as payment, so why is it so ingrained in us that we can go to a gig and pay naff all for it?

The entry price for live shows at smaller capacity shows (arenas and stadiums are a law unto themselves) appears to have stagnated for several years so, in real terms, bands are charging less for the pleasure of a good night out, so you have no excuse not to get off your butts and fill our local venues to capacity. If you can be arsed.

It works on several levels, so let’s start at the bottom. Even at your good old-fashioned pub venue punters are regularly turning their noses up at paying for an evening’s entertainment - “three bands for a fiver? What a rip-off!” These muppets then promptly spend thirty quid on a few Peronis whilst trying to squeeze your girlfriend’s arse in the downstairs bar. Such people are clearly the enemies of music. I once promoted a show where the singer’s clueless girlfriend was mystified at the door price despite the fact she was on the cheap entry list.

Just to clarify, I take major exception to the exorbitant booking fees/service charges/bulls**t that ticket companies try to justify when they’re just turning into legalised touts. £7 to post a ticket out or a fiver to print at home? I sense another heated debate on this one!

Rob Cronin via Facebook “Saw Trail of Dead at The Cookie for a tenner and would have willingly paid £100 for that gig. So, without sounding like I’m sitting in the fence, gig tickets are worth what you’re willing to pay. £35 to see Massive Attack at De Montfort Hall was worth it for me, but I couldn’t understand all the people who had paid that much and stood and talked through the whole gig until they played Teardrop and Unfinished Sympathy. I wouldn’t pay that much if I only liked, or knew, two songs.”

It’s a mentality partly born from it being seen that a show in a bar is just background entertainment where, in reality, national and international touring bands are finding their feet mostly at great loss to themselves just to get out and play to their fans. Even at this size of venue, bands should be charging a tenner for their services because as soon as you load up the van with diesel and drive to another town you’re incurring costs you may never recover. We happily pay £10 for a cinema trip, much more for theatre, restaurants, console games etc but due to music being free to steal off of the internet it has devalued the live gig even further and most of us are complicit to some degree. Surely the same doesn’t apply to bands playing theatres/ arenas? Since the collapse of the traditional music industry

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Yup

Words: Laura Wilding

I have a deeply uncool confession to make. And naturally, the most appropriate place to make it seems to be a magazine (#confessionalmediaculture). I LOVE BILLY JOEL. I was brought up listening to him, so there’s all sorts of nostalgia, but basically I just think he’s f**king brilliant. So, when I found out that he was playing in England this year, I leapt on Google like a thing possessed - only to find out that tickets were EIGHTY POUNDS. That’s ridiculous. This is the extreme end of the spectrum, I’m aware, but it’s pretty standard to pay between £25 - £35 for gigs at Rock City or the O2. My question is, what are you really getting for that? The venues aren’t small enough to feel that it’s personal, which is what I want in a gig. That doesn’t seem to be valued as much by other people though. I’m 5’1”, so I’m always going to miss out on a lot of the visuals, but it seems to me that unless you’re 6’8”, you’re effectively paying a premium to look at the backs of heads (or in my case, into armpits. Lush). The more people there are (and consequently, the more I’ve paid to get in), the less I can see and hear so the money is basically wasted.

The town was pretty cut-off from London, so I never went to any huge venues - a few in the Underworld and Brixton, but I’ve never been to the London O2 or to Wembley or anywhere that big. Perhaps it’s because it wasn’t my formative experience, but when I go to larger venues now I just don’t feel any sense of community and I enjoy it less. I’ve always felt that the tiny sets I saw at home were more fun as I could actually see and hear everything I wanted to, and for less than a quarter of the price. I have friends who feel the opposite and have recently seen the Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Pulp (I was jealous of that one, I’ll admit), Arctic Monkeys and RHCP for what (to me) seem like painful amounts of money. They’ve had some amazing times together and with their friends, don’t get me wrong - but I don’t really grasp why you go to a gig for that. I see bands to see and hear the bands - I hang out with my friends in pubs and houses, and don’t have to pay for their company! If anyone can find Jarvis Cocker and convince him to play in my living room, I’ll cheerfully bankrupt myself. But until that day, I’m seeing sets in pubs and listening to CDs.

Adam Behagg via Facebook ‘Its ok paying £30 for the likes of Kasabian , Radiohead etc .. Its the booking fees you have to pay that makes me mad - I was at De Montfort hall to buy tickets and was told I had to pay a booking fee !!! Wtf ??? Oh for the days when u could see a top band at the Uni , Poly or Charlotte for a couple of quid !!!”

Where I grew up on the coast, we had an awesome local music scene. There was a lot of local creativity, and three gig promoters in the area who would work their bums off to bring in tours from the rest of the UK and Europe. Every Friday night I’d see three or four bands in the Lido maybe not huge names, but the place was always packed and people always had a good time for the princely sum of £3.50.

Jonny Hewitt via Facebook “Local gigs put on by local bands are really well priced, and it encourages me to snap up a t-shirt and/or album aswell that way, but apart from bands I absolutely adore, prices in general are too high. Surely its about getting as many punters in as possible who will then spend more inside on keepsakes (not drinks though)”

Illustration: Alice Bowsher

ts been a funny year. A year of significant highs but prolonged lows. On one hand we have remained plunged in a seemingly never ending recession, however a ‘Brit’ won Wimbledon. The death toll in Syria reached 120,000 but One Direction made a film. Hundreds were injured in the Boston Marathon but ‘Amazeballs’ made it into the dictionary. Swings and roundabouts, right? You may also remember 2013 as the year that everyone else started watching Breaking Bad or the year you all did BitStrips for that week? But I’m not here to talk about that; no, it’s my job to talk about 2013 in terms of music and more specifically the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of the year. That said, regular readers will by now know that I’m not even a fan of music and prefer vampire movies to Vampire Weekend, white pudding to White Denim and a Bic shave to Nick Cave, so bear with me.

Despite no one buying music anymore it appears to have been a rather prosperous year for the industry with some of the heavy weights returning with new albums. If you’ve been outside this year then Daft Punk will no doubt have been your favourite band of the summer. Consisting of Niles Rodgers and Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk proved that they were in fact ‘clever punks’ with Random Access Memories achieving Multi-platinum sales. The band have however come under scrutiny from those who ‘liked them first’ as now they’re ‘boring’, ‘overplayed’ or ‘s**t because they get played on Radio One’. Other records of note have been The Next Day by David Bowie, Booie?...Boughie...Bowzer? The record was released with virtually no notice which pleased executives and fans, but confused critics as no one was able to go on the internet to find out what everyone else thought about it before sharing their opinion. This carefully constructed approach ensured great sales and minimal piracy, but as no one knew whether they were supposed to like it or not it was shockingly overlooked in many of the years’ awards ceremonies. Like he’d have come anyway. While Eminem’s daring and provocative sequel to 2000’s Marshall Mathers LP should place him among my pile up of ‘winners’ in 2013 he is in fact a loser in my book for wasting a perfectly good opportunity to use a sequel tag line like, Marshall Mathers LP 2: Judgement Day or Back In The Habit. But I guess we have to trust in his judgement as the album has been a huge success, selling something ridiculous

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like a million copies in an hour. But this is hardly surprising, given Slim’s unique ability to identify with and remain relevant to his audience and I’m sure that The Marshall Mathers LP 2 will be full of important issues that the rest of us shmos can relate to such as his continued ambivalence towards the music industry which has made him one of the most successful, loved and wealthy men in music. That and his daughter Hayley and wife/ex-wife Kim whom I’m sure will barely get a mention... But it wasn’t just established artists who have had success in 2013, and hate or despise her, it has been nigh on impossible to ignore the antics of Miley Cyrus this year. It doesn’t matter whether she was slagging off, twerking or cutting her hair, Miley has never been far from the headlines. Her outbursts have made her hugely popular with the tabloids, and while her Twitter-based feud with Sinead O’Connor may not have attracted she same media attention as Biggie and Tupac, one can only hope that it ends in the same way. Speaking of Twitter, walking hashtag Olly Murs still hasn’t gone away and has spent 2013 wearing hats indoors, talking about his penis and has even managed to ‘write’ a ‘book’, which no doubt tells us all the goss about how he got so f**king ‘cheeky’. Olly says his 2013 album Right Place, Right Time is “impossible to pigeonhole”. Really, I found it fitted neatly into the category of ‘s**t’. Whilst we can all accept that his music is unlistenable, he miraculously remains a constant, proving that all you needed to be successful in 2013 was mediocrity and being from Essex. I struggle with Olly Murs in a big way as his success to me is truly baffling,

2013’s so I’ve looked into this further and can only deduce that his secret ingredient must be how successfully he wears those hats. Whether it’s a trilby, a beanie the size of a yamaka or a full-on pirate hat, rest assured he can pull it off and I think that deep down we must all just be jealous. Like Olly Murs, Calvin Harris is a triumph to the phrase ‘less is more’. As well as being tall, Calvin Harris is known for being involved in every successful song of the last few years, having worked with Rihanna, One Direction, Cheryl Cole, Kylie and Rita Ora to name a few. While this is impressive, he did only manage to have sex with one of them. All things considered it’s fair to say Calvin had a pretty good 2013, even ending it by setting a record for having had nine top 10 hits from one studio album. Harris boastfully announced he’s the ‘new Michael Jackson’ by having more hits than him. On one album. In the top then. In the UK charts. 2013 has also been a big year for my man Kanye. There was his engagement to and impregnation of an actual slug, as well as his ‘pioneering’ and clearly semi-autobiographical album Yeezus. Though well received and applauded as a ‘game changer’, it has been somewhat overshadowed by a series of idiotic errors including the photo that everyone took of him walking into a sign, the infamous Zane Lowe interview and comments which bordered on anti-semitism. But in fairness Kanye is having the last laugh, you know - by being more influential than Nelson Mandela. In addition to unbridled arrogance, bulls**t was in high demand this year and therefore it’d be impossible to talk about music in 2013 and not mention Bastille. Actually no, its quite f**king easy. Next up, Lorde who ends the year as one of the favourites at the coming Grammy Awards and tipped for huge success next year. Lorde’s mature and polished sound is a far cry from her winning Eurovision song contest in 2006 entry Hard Rock Hallelujah. Whilst on the subject of mediocrity, London Grammar have been described as “this year’s XX” which isn’t very nice. Their unique brand of minimalist synthy pop is cool enough to fit neatly into any wanky playlist (which on closer inspection will probably just be the Drive soundtrack) but is also incredibly boring.

WINNERS & LOSERS

Brand has had a memorable year also which began as normal with most people largely indifferent towards his opinions. Unsatisfied with this, the millionaire Victorian chimney sweep has since educated us all with his utopian neo-futurist nihilistic views, which require us to go against common sense and not vote, disregarding both the struggles of our forefathers who fought and died for this right and the option of simply spoiling your ballot to make your point. It really is handy to have someone brighter than us to decide how we feel about all the important stuff. On the complete other side of the academic spectrum is f**kwit Tulisa Contostavlos whose downfall really must now be up there alongside the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson. Since calling me a c**t on Twitter, Tulisa enjoyed success as an X-Factor judge until her arrest and charging in relation to possession of cocaine. That said, if the video I watched is anything to go by, I’ll wager it was pretty poor quality blow. Increasingly popular is the sort of music which appears on the surface to be edgy but which is ultimately vapid, formulaic and forgettable. This brand of music is perfect for the sort of people who feel its important to like music, but lack the conviction to ever discover any. Last year Ed Sheeran ticked this pointless box and this year’s equivalent can only be Mr Jake Bugg. People seem surprised that he’s only 16 or something, however when he goes around acting like a brat picking on easy targets like One Direction it kind of hits home. Now this feud is hardly Blur vs Oasis, in fact it’s barely Poundland vs Poundstretcher, but Bugg’s churlish aggression towards Harry Styles lacks the sophistication and swagger which he feels it has. While I’m at it, even though Harry Styles may have been dubbed Villain Of The Year by the NME – he did have sex with Taylor Swift, so he certainly earns my respect. So that was 2013. A year when people ate cronuts, we were shocked a depressed celebrity chef used drugs and a monkey was seen wearing a coat in Ikea.

Words: Tiernan Welch Tiernan does not like mainstream music. He does not like the urban scene, the pop scene or the underground metal scene. Tiernan doesn’t like ‘the next big thing’ or even the classics. In fact Tiernan Welch is such a music snob that he doesn’t even like music.

Though not a musician, and in fact barely a person, Russell

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ow, I like to think that I know a little about music. I go to festivals (real ones with new “cool” bands, not just V), I sometimes listen to BBC 6 Music and once upon a time I even subscribed to the NME. However, I recently saw the headline “McFly and Busted to form supergroup and tour as McBusted”, and I believe the exact word that got posted from my Twitter account were “Oh My Christ. McBusted. #excited”.

I’ve always believed that you should listen to what you want to. If something puts a smile on your face, or brings back a certain memory, or for no other reason than you just like the freaking song, then listen to it. What music you listen to doesn’t define how cool you are. Your attitude to everything around it does that.

Busted were cut short at the height of their career. They took the American pop-punk influence from the likes of Blink 182 and Good Charlotte and brought it to the UK pop charts. Suddenly boy bands weren’t just all singing all dancing pretty boys but they were boys with guitars playing catchy tunes with rock overtones.

So, my iPod goes on shuffle and blasts out Abba occasionally, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. As I once said to a good friend of mine “There are two types of people in this world – those that like Abba and those that lie!”

Pop stars who were being quoted in Smash Hits as saying they were influenced by the likes of Green Day and even Bruce Springsteen. Like them or not, they made a whole new generation of kids want to pick up a guitar and play - kids who otherwise might have never bothered. With Busted cut short at the height of fame, McFly were their natural successors. Busted’s James Bourne co-wrote McFly’s debut album and they were being promoted by the same management team so many fans automatically switched over. McFly undoubtedly garnered more success due to Busted’s break up and have carried on trying to wave the flag for British pop-rock through the years.

So, back to McBusted. Their original announcement saw them playing 11 arena tour dates, which sold out so insanely fast that they’ve been adding more and more, and at the time of writing they’ve got a whopping 34-date tour coming up! What’s more, most of those dates are sold out! Three sold out dates at London’s O2 Arena alone is almost 60,000 tickets and then add on the other 31 dates, that’s a band that’s quite in demand!

Although, if we’re honest they went a little off-the-rails with their recent urban attempts and barbershop quartet styling, but we’ll forgive them for that. There are however a huge number of people who were teenagers in the Busted days, who hold their music as the soundtrack to their school days, who perhaps even resented McFly for even trying to be like Busted. There are also the McFly fans who are too young to have ever seen Busted live, who simply know about them because of the connections between the two bands.

So WHY are they so popular? I can hear the cynics and the music snobs already, “because stupid little girls who know nothing about music want to jump around to pretty boys pretending to play guitars”. Yes, OK, they’ve had huge financial backing, their image is perhaps somewhat contrived and they just happen to be above average in the attractive stakes, but they’re also half decent musicians and songwriters in their own right. Check out their album credits and they even, shock horror, write their own stuff. In an interview back in their early days Tom Fletcher said of McFly’s song Room on the Third Floor that “If the song had been released by Oasis everyone would be raving about it and hailing it as one of the best songs of the year”. Ok Tom, don’t get ahead of yourself, but it reaffirms the fact that once stuck with that boy band label you can’t shake it off, no matter how good any one of your songs may be. Numerous comments have been made that it’s a desperate attempt by the two from Busted for money and fame, but really surely McFly are the real winners from this? Matt Willis has a successful West End stage career and has even just been cast in Eastenders, and James Bourne has enough song writing credits behind him to keep him rolling in royalties, as well as spending time on clothing brands and writing his own musical. Compare all that to McFly who, whilst celebrating their 10 year anniversary, are now left plotting tours of theatres and smaller venues, not the arena tours they used to.

The fact of the matter remains that this is sheer marketing genius from the band’s management company to take a band whose career is on the way out and join it with a band who broke up 10 years ago after only two albums and have lost their lead singer, to create a huge 34 date sell out UK tour. Yes, maybe it’s a money-spinner. Yes, maybe it’s a chance to resurrect their fame. But it’s also just 6 good friends on stage putting on a great show to put a smile on people’s faces, and what’s so wrong with that? I know I’ll be there having a good time!

Words: Gabby Miller With questionable beliefs like “just because I sometimes sing along to a boy band it doesn’t mean I’m clueless about music” Gabby decided to waste a law degree on a career in the dependable field of entertainment. Having been Press & Publicity Officer at De Montfort Hall for over 5 years she’s been part of some great shows in the city, from Adele to sold out festivals. Oh, and she got to meet Jedward.

HELLO DERBY S

o a few months ago back in June Derby’s local Evening Telegraph wrote an article entitled ‘When Music Legends Came to Derby…’. This involved a list of bands such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sex Pistols that had performed in our little ol’ city over the years and hinted towards the fact that the Derby music scene is in fact dead. This is a big fat lie. Sure, it’s fair to say we don’t get many stadium tours and we weren’t the birth place of some cool, trending scene but the city is very much alive with wonderful sounds. Here’s a summary of what’s going on.

THE VENUES Derby has loads of cool venues spread out across the city. The Hairy Dog is a great pub with a good space for gigs. They deal with all genres, focusing on rock, punk, metal and indie but also branching out to reggae, ska and hip hop. From established bands, to those just starting out, this place has everything. Covered in colourful posters, The Flowerpot is the main hotspot for folk and blues as well as well-known classic tribute bands. Despite its size, The Sitwell is perfect for all-dayers and deals with mainly classic rock and metal, while across the other side of the city, by the train station sits The Victoria Inn. This place is the home of metalcore and has had many bands play on its stage throughout the years. As well as all these, there’s lots of smaller gigs always going on across the city, the newly opened Venue, host ‘Radar Love’ which showcases new music every Thursday, whilst Bar One and The Bless host smaller indie and acoustic evenings. And if those places don’t seem appealing (which is highly unlikely), wait until the summer, where Derbyshire plays host to some amazing festivals; Y Not, Bearded Theory and Bloodstock. Pretty sweet, huh?

THE SCENES & THE BANDS So as you can guess, the city is home to a pretty good metal scene, especially in terms of the screamo and hardcore community. If you’re looking to go to a show where you’ll probably throw-up and lose both shoes then check out Violet, who mix the heavy side of things with pop, giving their music a cool melodic slant. The boys have toured all over Europe and are set for big things in 2014 with the release of their new album, so watch this space. A World Defined are another band hot on their heels and the guys in Skies In Motion have had some big gigs these past few months. Those that are fans of metalcore should check out With Silent Eyes, who recently shot a new video. Keeping it classical, Hellrazor are keeping all things thrash with brilliant numbers such as Toxic Mutants. Meanwhile, in the punk scene, Ephemeral Foetus are taking over with their hardcore, crust infused tunage, whilst after only being together a year Declaration of War have formed from past bands and made already made an impact on the midlands. For those that like their punk injected with ska, Addictive pHilosopHy have had a new organist and are gigging left right and centre. Turning the distortion down, Three Minute Heist combine catchy riffs with blues melodies, whilst Whitemoor mix synths with indie to create beautiful vibes. So there it is, a quick summary of a huge scene. If you want to find out more, venture out, listen and discover. Words: Sophie Sparham

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Map from: OpenStreetMap

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clear that he is a guitarist at heart, and it shows in his awareness of music and the ability to let his lyrics and vocals breathe.

Michael Kiwanuka Photo: Adam Tanser

MICHAEL KIWANUKA @ Cookie Jar, Leicester 30/11/13 Words: Jessamyn Witthaus / Photo: Adam Tanser Secret gigs, or those with a very special guest star, have a habit of getting people all a twitter. It’s like Christmas; you don’t really know what you’re going to get, but if it’s so carefully wrapped up it must be good. Flat Five Production’s sold out gig on a bitterly cold Saturday night at the Cookie Jar is no exception. With Joe Mac and By the Rivers already confirmed, and the eager crowd mostly unwise to the fact that Michael Kiwanuka is in the building, the stage is set for the great reveal. Joe Mac is first on the bill, a rather cautious singer and guitarist from London. His vocal style and finger picking lend themselves to his almost delicate songs. The music is pretty, but overall lacking in some gumption or commanding presence. Next up are By the Rivers, down to just three members, performing stripped back versions of the tracks that seemingly everyone in Leicester knows (including the people in this basement). Despite some over excited crowd members, they deliver a lovely bare bones style set that reveals their talent for vocal harmonies and proves that they’re not just bouncy reggae boys who can’t be serious. So, it’s finally time for the main event. Kiwanuka’s first song is heavy on the harmonica, and as he plays his eyes are totally closed. He is clearly lost in the music, the guitar an extension of himself. This is new material, but it’s still the trademark vocals that can go from a whisper to full pelt on a knife-edge, and symbiotic accompanying guitar. At ease with the crowd, he explains how he “loves cowboys” as he goes into a song titled Run Like The Wind. At once flippant and serious, he finishes the song and appropriately mentions his love of small gigs and the spirit of community. As he plays several new tracks, they clearly have a more introspective and romantic vibe than those on his

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debut album. He explains that despite his slow songs, he’s not a sad man, actually quite the contrary, but they keep coming out slow and he’s not going to change. As the first notes of I’m Getting Ready drift into the audience, the reaction from the crowd is immense, cheering and singing along. His music may be slow and sometimes quiet, but it seems his fans are not. It’s clear that he is a guitarist at heart, and it shows in his awareness of music and the ability to let his lyrics and vocals breathe. His style is at once old fashioned and harking back to a bygone era in a way that is neither forced nor imitative, but modern. His conviction in his music clearly resonates with people. On Tell Me A Tale he encourages the crowd to sing back to him, and it’s quite a special moment being surrounded by a chorus of voices in the low light. A surprise comes in the form of a new song written for the film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down next year. Again with the harmonica, it’s another quietly beautiful track. Showing his community spirit, he brings up Joe Mac for the last few tracks of the evening. Kiwanuka is the real deal, with soul and a certain brand of musical integrity that is rare to find.

Reviews Editor: Jessamyn Witthaus Musical sponge; happiest at any sort of gig with a pint of cider. Not afraid to ask the difficult questions during interviews, and constantly searching for the best description for the twiddly bit in the middle of a song. Seeking a time machine to go and watch Bob Dylan at the Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975.

THE SOUTH

@ O2 Academy, Leicester 07/12/13 Words: Alex Scoppie / Photo: Rococo imaging With so many of the South’s line-up hailing from these here parts, it’s understandable the Academy is so full – tonight feels like a homecoming gig, with family and friends of the rhythm and brass sections chatting among themselves as support act David Wyatt and his formidable backing band take their seats. Blues trooper Wyatt is a cheeky scamp whenever he’s on stage, and the big crowd spurs him on even more, happily inviting the entire room to The Donkey’s after-party. His voice is sharp and he and his band are tight yet relaxed - perhaps a little too relaxed; the song Change Is Coming gets stuck in a seventies groove and despite its name is in no hurry to develop. For the main event, all nine of The South emerge with a swing in their step, launching into the confrontational Second Coming, before slipping into the saucy postcard sentiment of Stick It In And Turn It. The result – an instant party atmosphere, all the more impressive considering these are new songs written since the split of The Beautiful South. “I’m from Hull, cultural capital of the world,” deadpans original Beautiful South member Dave Hemingway, “and we’re gonna play you some old songs and some new ones.” Like their frontman, the band are under no illusion as to what the audience is here for, and before long the Beautiful South’s cast iron song roster is wheeled out. Pretenders To The Throne has a well-worn weariness and One Last Love Song a bittersweet communality, conducted by Hemingway, who bemoans the state of the modern charts before launching into his own (only) number one hit A Little Time, he and Alison Wheeler providing a standout vocal duet. A cheeky fan’s request for Happy Hour is countered with full-throated new number If I Laugh. It’s a jaunty little tune, weighed down by lyrics about the grim realities of being a nightclub bouncer – and it demonstrates the band’s

uncanny ability to catchily combine the two, even without the aid of a certain Mr Heaton. Keyboardist Damon Butcher underpins each song with rolling chords and organ swells, while the horns of Leicester lads Messrs Birtles and Robinson provide the infectious hooks, and the combined percussive talents of Karl Brown and Dave Anderson propel the whole on. Alison Wheeler has solo vocal duties for a sweet cover of Dream A Little Dream, which unfortunately fizzles instead of sparkles, despite Steve Nutter’s turn on double bass, but things are quickly brought back on track by Prettiest Eyes, a classic about growing old gracefully, and highly appropriate it is too. As one might expect, the general age of the crowd matches that of the band, but the enthusiasm for each hit is exuberantly youthful, sparking off more dad-dancing than a dozen wedding receptions. The raunchy 36D elicits a particularly abandoned response, and is the closest the band come to rocking out, with Alison admitting, “I’m always knackered after that one.” From the state of the crowd, she’s not the only one. Don’t Marry Her and Perfect Ten continue the Carry On theme to the end, and the band kick off their encore with a hastily rehearsed but competent enough cover of Fairytale Of New York, Hemingway happily playing the role of Scrooge for the Christmas classic. Poor Tony Robinson’s trumpet talents are seriously strained by his pi**-taking band mates on the intro of You Keep It All In, before The South sign off with Good As Gold, dedicated (a little bizarrely) to the recently departed Nelson Mandela. Though they themselves weren’t quite a perfect ten (an easy eight more like), thanks to their on-the-money musicianship, easy wit and solid gold back catalogue The South will never be short of an appreciative crowd, and they certainly left one of those tonight.

Midnight Wire Photo: Scott Choucino THEM ONOG RAP H .C O. U K

MIDNIGHT WIRE @ Basement, Leicester 13/12/13 Words: Mark Lisle Photo: Scott Choucino Midnight Wire, a local, but not so local band. I’d heard the name before, but never seen them live, so I was looking forward to it. Arriving back in Leicester after a UK tour, the lads seemed in high spirits for a home town gig, which are few and far between for the band from what the fans told me. The Venue was set out differently to the usual Basement layout, the stage was now on the left of the room, rather than the central back position that it usually holds, and what a difference! Suddenly this venue that I sometimes find claustrophobic was now open and welcoming. A few Christmas decorations covered the amps and a charming merch table put me and the rest of the crowd in good stead for the oncoming indie medley of bands. Violet Cities, Give Me the Sun and Over The House opened the show. A great line up to support the main act, all three brought their own character to the show, whilst joined together by a passion of classic indie influences. Tracks from the bands showed classic hints of bands such as The View, Maccabees and The Klaxons, along with some great

musicianship, they went down a treat! Then, Midnight Wire came on, and there was a huge difference from the previous bands. You could tell they were straight off the back of a tour. Immediately the crowd came forward, reacting to the aura of confidence the band put out. Immersive riffs and lively bass lines had everyone up dancing; I’ve not seen a local gig be so vibrant in years. The song ‘Shake It Baby’ not only was a great sing along, but also gave front man Alex a chance to drag up some audience members to partake, one of which was his dad! All in all, a cracking little gig!

RAPTUSOUND @ St Martin’s Coffee House, Leicester 23/11/13 Words: Maria McDonald Photo: Scott Choucino St Martin’s Coffee played host to an acoustic homecoming show of local band Raptusound with support from Ellie Hutton and artist Beth Hutton. St Martin’s Coffee is the perfect setting for the gig with its dimly lit, relaxed atmosphere and welcoming staff who are clearly very proud, and rightly so, of their coffee house. Ellie Hutton starts the evening off, singing about young love and the ups and downs of it, Ellie quickly gains the audience’s attention, and not a single word is uttered whilst she sings. Her soft voice, along with her simple yet effective lyrics, has the audience hanging on to her every word, the perfect opening to the evening. After a quick talk from landscape artist Beth Hutton, the evening’s headliner’s take to the stage. Raptusound. Almost at the end of an acoustic tour of the UK, the band’s

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harmonious mix of soft drum beats laced with bass and guitar are beautiful finished by singer Christopher’s soothing yet powerful voice has everyone in the room tapping their feet or their coffee cup. The evening was absolutely perfect, the setting, the music and the art work all made for a fantastic event that will hopefully be more of in the near future.

KARIMA FRANCIS @ Cookie Jar, Leicester 07/12/13 Words: Jessamyn Witthaus Photo: Rob Gurney It’s a sit down and listen carefully sort of night at the Cookie Jar on a bitterly cold December evening, with tables of flickering candles ready to set the mood. On the bill is a range of acoustic complexity, as well as a rare chance to see Karima Francis as the main attraction of the evening. With two albums released so far, with several years in between, Blackpool native Francis’s visit to Leicester marks her coming out of a period of hibernation to perform her only gig of the year. First to take the stage though is Laurie Coltas. Coiffed and buttoned up, his own material has more than a passing Sixpence None the Richer vibe. Near the end of his set, the familiar chords of This Charming Man begin with aplomb. Then, suddenly, he’s singing the Friends theme tune. Several people near me actually clap along in time, but I’m left wondering what I just witnessed. The next act of the night, Charlie Hole, is in a similar vein. Both are vocally adept, musically confident, but lacking a certain gravitas. Punctuating the evening’s other acts like a breather in between heavier emotional material. The TGC Project is also on the evening’s bill, the brainchild of guitarist Andrew Mills and a variety of musical comrades. This time though it’s just him and Daniel Heath, who juggles guitar, mandolin and violin. With Spanish guitar, haunting melodies and a brief dalliance into Ice Cream Man by Tom Waits, this is a musical hot pot of talent and topics of reference. But in no way is this comedy, or novelty. A cabaret medley it certainly not, as each section of music is laced with its own particular emotion. Almost like one reasonably well planned out jam, it’s a type of performance that bucks the trend for a collection of straightforward songs of several minutes. The crowd seems appropriately impressed at such talented hijinks. When Karima herself takes to the stage, the mood in the venue shifts almost tangibly as soon as she begins to

sing. With a new album in the works, she explains that there will be a lot of as yet unheard material in this set. Her voice is somewhere between the growls of Janis Joplin and the expertly negotiated tumbling melodies of Tracy Chapman. Like both, her material is clearly of a personal nature. A new song, titled Wildfire, is a particular highlight. She quite openly explains that it’s about her mother, and this ability to lay her emotions bare is a running theme. More familiar songs such as Arrest You and Glory Days seem to come to life in a whole new way in this live setting. From just listening to recordings, they in no way do justice to her scope and range. Her vocals almost seem at breaking point in some songs, not through over exertion or straining to be heard, but through the depth of emotion required. Her new material may have a harder edge to it, but she doesn’t seem to heading for an angry third album with reckless abandon. Her material carefully contains her emotions, a safe and expressive enclosure for them to live in, never quite let out at full pelt. The result is beautiful music, perhaps not easy listening, but remarkable nonetheless. With promises of more live performances next year, I hope that this talented young woman reaches the audience she deserves. In particular, the kind of people who will take the time to sit down and listen.

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BY THE RIVERS @ Firebug, Leicester 26/12/13 Words and Photos: Adham Fisher According to the behaviour of a large number of people, sports and shopping are supposedly therapeutic antidotes to the anticlimax that is Christmas. For many others, there’s an acoustic gig from By The Rivers and friends at Firebug. One third of Juniors kick off the evening, with upbeat, sharp seventh chords and a vocal that, while fascinating, almost borders on anguish at times. One song, with the lyric “tears me apart, piece by piece,” sounds a little like my Christmas. Their songs are good, though, make no mistake. Starting her set with a cover of Jason Derulo’s The Other Side, Rosie Doyle eases into the rhythms, adding two vocal harmonies and letting the guitar and djembe rock gently along. More relaxed than Juniors and continuing her own songs in this style, Rosie’s band is only recently formed and they intend to do much more next year, if you want to look out for them. They end with Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. “I forgot my set list in the back room,” says Nancy Dawkins, and a laugh goes around setting us, and her, at ease. She strums her way through her own material and also gives us Laura Marling’s Typical and Freedom from the Django Unchained soundtrack, in which her voice shows great sustenance and power. She can afford to completely let go one day and I’d like to hear her when she does. The first (and last) piano of the night is provided by Martin Luke Brown, as are the first falsetto and first selfharmonisation. His is a most interesting act, his voice and those set off by his pedal rise into an almost electronic sounding chorus not quite in the Daft Punk range. Blending this with jazz, languid and labouring piano sounds most unusual, but it is fresh and works very well.

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If he hasn’t recorded his version of We Found Love he must, as that is the best cover so far without question. Half the time he lets his true voice shine through the piano but it is much more entertaining with the pedal. His last song is “a song about being, like, full of love. It’s called Full Of Love.” The audience clearly feels that way for him. Good ideas, good talent. The upstairs venue is pretty much full when By The Rivers start, so much so that people had to be turned away. At least the first eight rows all boogie as Nile and Jordan drop ska pressure on Son House’s Grinnin’ In Your Face. But this is relaxed, accommodating dancing, the band’s extended family showing their support, singing their songs back to them with applause and cheers resounding. Nile holds the reggae tempo on his guitar, alternating and harmonising vocals with Jordan, who during Don’t Stand Alone sits to play his melodica with both hands and sings with the pipe in his mouth. Nile’s rhythm becomes so energetic at one point he breaks a string, borrowing Juniors’ guitar for the remainder of the set. Finishing the encore and the night with some Jackson Five, they mingle with their fans knowing they have provided a great late Christmas present. They will now focus on their tour in May 2014, and great things can be expected if it’s half as good as this.

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THREE MINUTE HEIST @The Hairy Dog, Derby 13/12/13

WILD BEASTS @Rescue Rooms, Nottingham 27/11/13

Words: Sophie Sparham

Words: Dan Faulkner

After just signing away their souls to Sound Hub Records, Three Minute Heist present us with a night filled of blues and burlesque at Derby’s very own Hairy Dog. The smooth criminals that are 5 Days of November are first to take to the stage, grabbing the crowd’s attention with their slick performance. Their steady beat and catchy melodies give out a combination of indie vibes mixed with classic rock ‘n’ roll, which gets the night rolling. Between bands, burlesque dancers entice the crowd. Yes, it is slightly strange to have this act at a gig, but the change is welcomed and even one of the headliners took the role of collecting the undergarments from the performance area. – What a hero. Suited and booted, five piece, Three Minute Heist take their audience on a trip down the Mississippi river with their chilled out, blues rhymes. Bringing new ideas to an old school sound, the band perform a mix of favourites such as ‘Oh Brother’ and ‘Gambling Man’ whilst also throwing in new tunes like ‘Empty Bottles’, which is no doubt soon to become a classic. Everyone is dancing as the band finish with the astounding ‘Blues In the Blood’, even Spiderman who jumps on stage and covers the audience in silly stri- cough, cough webs. An amazing end to an amazing year.

Kendal howlers, Wild Beasts took to a dark and intimate stage to impress upon us that their unique brand of art rock is still thumping. Hayden Thorpe’s immense vocal range immediately encapsulated the audience and the room slowly began to get loose as the band played more familiar material. Wild Beasts harbour a unique and distinctive sound which is truly mesmerising in a live setting. The interplay between the guitars sang with melodic charm and was tied up tight with strong bass and drum grooves, the whole thing sat beautifully on a carpet of thick and luscious synth pads. Despite not touring or playing live in over a year the band played through their 3 album back catalogue with elegance and ease. Fan favourites ‘Hooting and Howling,’ ‘Bed of Nails,’ and ‘Devil’s Crayon’ were articulated with precision and effectiveness. There were some sloppy breaks between songs giving the set a more informal vibe and these were acknowledged by the band in amongst sipping wine and telling stories of their recent studio experiences. In short, Wild Beasts did not disappoint. They executed their material with soul and showmanship. The band provided a stunning backdrop more than serving to intensify the spectacular vocal performances from both singers. I left the venue with just one thought... are there any tickets still available for the Oxford show?

THE DARKNESS O2 Academy, Leicester Words: Maria McDonald Photo: Scott Choucino Almost at the end of a 2 month tour, The Darkness descended upon the O2 Academy in Leicester with their Outreach Programme show. Support acts The River 68s and LostAlone got the crowd ready and rearing to go for the Lowestoft rock band, even when singer LostAlone Steven announces the band are from Derby, the boos and jeering chants do not dampen the energy in the packed O2 Academy, regardless of the geographical rivalry. Although The Darkness have gone through a turbulent time since their BRIT Award winning days, 2 members leaving (and later re-joining), personal problems and a break-up, their strong and loyal following were still there ready and waiting when the band finally reunited in 2011; the sea of tour t-shirts spanning their whole career cement that fact. After walking out to new song ‘Second Fiddle’ the band rip through the first part of their set, with riffs and extraordinarily high vocals that echo back to the glam rock era of the 70’s, outfits included. Lead singer and jumpsuit enthusiast Justin Hawkins announces that the band will play their debut and 4x

platinum album Permission To Land in the 2nd of ‘the bloody Christmas song’. There is a sense that the whole set has been building up to one song and as the riff of ‘I Believe In a Thing Called Love’ thunders through the speakers, there’s not a person in the building who isn’t jumping around and singing back every word, still as well-received as it was back in 2003. The Darkness may trigger memories of nostalgia and of days before the charts were filled with Simon Cowell minions but if handstands and clapping with feet, ‘jostling for position’ (moshing) and modern glam rock are your thing, make The Darkness top of your list of bands to see in 2014.

Derbyshire is often overlooked for musical output within the East Midlands. However, one Derbyshire based band that could put an end to the county’s hushed mumblings is Escape To New York. They have traded in the more straightforward rock approach adopted by their previous band, Rugosa Nevada, for a glimmering, ethereal, progressive sound - think Cave Painting, or to a lesser extent, Incubus - and from this reviewer’s perspective it has paid off rather well. Growing Pains is a gem of a tune, stretching just over four minutes this self-recorded track charms and captivates the listener throughout, offering floating guitar melodies, effects-laden vocals and almost danceable grooves from the interplay between the drums and bass. The melodies and grooves that this track houses are what make it such a strong opening single from ETNY. The guitar melodies are positive, relaxed, compliment the surrounding instruments perfectly, and I defy anyone to

not tap your feet or nod your head when the drums first kick in. Vocally, Growing Pains is very strong, demonstrating a great sense of the importance of melody, and these flow alongside the instrumental backdrop perfectly. Dan Burchell’s voice is multi-layered, heavy with delay and reverb, but not to the extent that the lyrics are inaudible and subsequently become impersonal and lack emotion. Considering this is a self-recorded record, the band have really hit the nail on the head with production. Particularly towards the end of the track when things start to build and crescendo, nothing gets lost, each instrument sits perfectly within the mix, and despite the last minute or so becoming frantic as the song reaches its pinnacle, everything still feels very composed and comfortable for the band as they play off John Bullock’s driving tom rolls and cymbal crashes. Escape To New York have created something special with Growing Pains, it is a track that emphasises the importance of strong production, catchy hooks, and accomplished melodies. For a debut single, it is impressive, and will intrigue, excite, and charm listeners.

WHITE GIANT Shadows

THE SILVER FACTORY Anywhere But Here

Words: Rebecca Lunn

Words: Alex Scoppie

This is the debut single from the Loughborough quartet who formed barely a year ago; produced by the busy Jamie Ward (Dark Dark Horse, Maybeshewill).

Since signing to Elefant this Leicester indie four piece have had an extra spring in their already buoyant step, evidenced by this, their follow up to mini LP If Words Could Kill and their most immediate tune to date.

Despite their youth and relatively short time on the music scene, the boys are already a tight unit. From their recent live shows, they’ve already come far, getting better and gaining confidence each time.

Staying on just the right of twee, Anywhere But Here is a straight-ahead pop song with heavy nods to The Byrds and The Fannies, but The Factory’s no frills song structuring and deceptively high tempo drumming, courtesy of Paul Hobbs, brings a breezy zing to proceedings.

ESCAPE TO NEW YORK Growing Pains Words: Alex Bowers

Each of the three songs on this single have their distinct identities, yet the overall sound is utterly coherent. First song Need To Know skips along on a limber, Alt-J style rhythm, and it’s impossible not to want to get up and dance to it.

Lead singer Marc Johnston and Fran Feely’s harmonies are tighter and more voluminous than on previous efforts, and Fran and Matt Vinall’s guitars have been beefed-up too, so that the final three chord coda reaches giddy, glimmering heights.

Here Alone rocks out more, and is probably the most sing along of the three. Third and final song Shimmer does exactly what it says on the tin, and takes it down a notch from the faster pace of the other two. It then builds on clean, shimmering Interpol-esque guitar lines, and the lush textures of Errors; anthemic in places but never getting overblown or bloated. White Giant are ones to watch for sure, and given their prolific work rate, it’ll be fascinating to see where they go from here,

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The band are never going to win awards for wheel reinvention, being stuck firmly yet comfortably in either the late 60s or the early 90s, depending on your viewpoint, but they have a keen ear for jangly melodies and would sound perfect in a hot marquee with a cold cider.

GUNISHMENT xSOULSBYCHRISTx Words: Alex Scoppie This magazine first clocked Leicester hardcore heffalumps Gunishment in a New Blood special over a year ago, and their much-vaunted debut xSOULSBYCHRISTX finally sees them nailing down their ferocious live sound on a record. Opening statement Amp Fix plunges into a storm of whirling drums and a fast, gritty riff that strain against each other, Merryn Western’s bellowed rant gripping you by the gizzard toward the song’s more cohesive second half. Simple Facts starts with a melodic and borderline radio friendly guitar line courtesy of Jon Wesson, before hurtling off, the blistering drums of Bacon Chamberlain raising the tempo and rage until the track’s spasmodic finale.

Even harder is the relentless M4C4CK, a minute-long monstrosity about conformity (I think) signed off with the briefest snatch of a guitar solo. Too short, tout suite. The band bow out with Radio Dubstep, a snarling attack on passing trends and a salute to the punk ethos, Merryn’s dismissive “ah, f**k it” belying the amount of precision fury laid down here. This EP is basically bottled lightning. It’s very fast, very violent, loud as hell and should not be listened to by anyone with a weak heart or bladder. Everyone else should shut up and strap in.

SIOBHAN MAZZEI Waiting Awake

AXIS MUNDI Sci-Curious

Words: Glyn Allen

Words: Alex Scoppie

The wonderfully named Siobhan Mazzei has, up until now, sadly dipped under my radar despite being seemingly an ever-present in recent months on the Leicester gig scene. Her debut album should see her reaching even more ears as it’s a beautiful slow-burning mood piece of some of the finest song writing to trouble these old ears in many a moon. Highlights? Where to start? Album opener ‘Ghost In A Shell’ showcases her vocal range to a tee; there’s elements of the Irish lilt of Dolores from the Cranberries but thankfully none of the pseudo-grunge dreck of some of that band’s output. ‘Escape’ is full of reference to disaster natural and man-made not to mention dark mentions of poison injections. Not all is cuddly bunnies and holding hands in Siobhan’s world it would appear and that’s a credit to the maturity of the tunes on offer here that never shy away from less cheery themes when needed. It’s very much a folk-influenced record but without reliance on cliché or tweeness; ‘Second Best’ veers close to black self-loathing with the familiar theme of lost love achingly to the fore. There’s no let up in quality as the album draws to a close with the double whammy of the title track and ‘White Powder’ the former briskly strummed guitar meets insist vocals whilst the latter is a total ‘something in the eye’ heartbreaker.

Without any questionable doubt the most gob-smackingly arresting band ever to emerge from Hinckley, Axis Mundi continue their world domination campaign with the bass’n’synth heavy exploration of outer and inner space that is Sci-Curious. Picking up Enter Shikari’s fumbled baton and taking extra inspiration from early Prodigy, Billy Talent and even The Beastie Boys, Axis Mundi dare to mix genres recklessly, and even if they haven’t figured out exactly they are it’s one hell of a laugh hearing them figure it out for themselves, as they bring such a mix of styles to the party. Emo-rave is a genre that really shouldn’t exist, but the earnest zeal with which t’Mundi leap into such ridiculously melodic gems as E-Bomb and Science Junkie, coupled with their crisp production, pulverising beats and wobbly dub, make them an irresistible combination. And that’s before we even get to the futurist conspiracy theories that permeate the lyrics. We’ll be honest - there hasn’t been a local band’s album that’s caused as much debate, dropped jaws and raised eyebrows in Monograph Towers as Sci-Curious, and even if it does get a little exhausting and ridiculous by the time the electro-skank of The Gospel According To Science struts into view, the sheer volume of ideas on display is admirable.

Easily the highlight of an already outstanding record it could have been trite and mawkish with lines about regret and missing someone but something about the minimal guitar parts and just the right amount of vocal production in the background make it the kind of song to silence even the noisiest of rooms. It’s f**king beautiful and only a heart of stone wouldn’t agree.

GRACE PETRIE & THE BENEFITS CULTURE Love Is My Rebellion

STYLUS BOY Hospitality For Hope Words: Alex Bowers

Words: Glyn Allen

For Grace’s third album the sound has been slightly beefed up with the addition of bass and drums from the above mentioned Benefits Culture, who add an intimate folksy/country swagger to her heart-tugging politicised and personal lyrics. As a band it’s wonderfully reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies in places. Love and loss features regularly in the themes of this record with the at first cheesily titled You Were Always Gonna Break My Heart, Honey being a much subtler beauty than on the surface of it. As you’d expect political protest songs are to the fore with ‘We’re All In This Together’ lambasting Ian Duncan Smith and expressing “liberal concern” for Nick Clegg whilst toying with the obvious rhyming slang for Jeremy Hunt. Labour fare just as unfavourably with red Ed just another shade of blue. We’re screwed, basically. This air of despair carries on through Protest Singer Blues with Grace deftly pointing out “there’s no answer blowing in the wind”; maybe Dylan et al changed little for this generation? The death of Thatcher holds no happiness here either with a bitter, pyrrhic victory at best with her legacy still hurting us on a daily basis in the morose Bonfires In The Streets. Lyrically, musically and one suspects as a person Grace has matured incredibly on this album. Any unfair and lazy comparisons to Billy Bragg have long since been superseded. This isn’t easy listening in any form as it’s a restless story of personal heartbreak and political disappointment that takes guts and honesty to lay down on tape. Anyone who’s ever referenced relationships with their record collection will struggle to reach the end of The Best Thing I Never Had without a bit of a cry. I tried several times and failed. Thankfully, we have some lifting of spirits on I Climbed A Mountain, a much more positive, if pragmatic number: “If you think the best days of your life have gone you gotta make some better ones.” Grace Petrie has given us one of the most powerful, sad, yet uplifting records of 2013. Her cover of Mr Brightside seems so long ago now!

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With a name like Stylusboy, this Coventry based folk/pop outfit could easily be mistaken for a bedroom dubstep producer found in between Skrillex and Sub Focus on Annie Mac’s iPod. However, don’t judge a book by its cover. They are in fact a duo, comprising of 1: a man and 2: a woman. Rachel Grisedale and Steve Jones create a charming mix of pop songs on Hospitality For Hope that would fit seamlessly into a Marks & Spencer autumn collection advert, where someone like Emma Bunton or Carol Vorderman runs through a park kicking leaves into the air and laughing for no apparent reason. Over its 10 song duration, Hospitality For Hope is a record that charms and soothes the listener. The production is warm and soft and the song writing is composed and confident. If catchy choruses, strong vocal harmonies, and the band Paper Aeroplanes appeal to you, then you will more than likely appreciate this debut album. Although what Stylusboy have produced with Hospitality For Hope isn’t necessarily ground-breaking or boundary smashing, it is certainly done well, the duo clearly know their genre and are fully aware of their song writing strengths and they stick to them with charming results. Stand-out tracks from this release are Lantern and Chasing The Light, both displaying perfectly what Stylusboy are all about - harmonies, choruses, melodies and beautiful instrumentation.

THE KIRKLAND TURN Madness and Faith Words: Rebecca Lunn This is the first, full-length release from the husband/wife/ cousin trio and is nine tracks long, divided into thirds. The album opens with 61 Years, a sparse, gently strummed vignette. The album builds gradually, and the second third is by far the strongest segment. Brandy Chasing gathers pace with a beautiful brass section and a full, sing along refrain. The standout song for me is Skateboards, slightly reminiscent of Josh T Pearson’s former band Lift to Experience, with a somewhat uneasy current running through it. On Up The Drainpipe, Katie and Ian’s harmonies complement Daryl’s lead vocals beautifully. Daryl’s voice is a powerful thing indeed, and to his credit he doesn’t let it overwhelm the band’s stripped-back, folky sound. Imagine the strength of Jeff Buckley’s voice, though without the high notes – think of a good brandy in front of a roaring fire on these dark, cold nights. All three members are adept musicians and fans of Jim White from the Dirty Three will appreciate Katie’s skilful, less-is-more approach to the drums. Penultimate track X-Ray is the one song where the vocals threaten to dominate the rest of the band; though this is a minor quibble with an otherwise promising debut.

WE THREE AND THE DEATH RATTLE WTATDR

KEVIN HEWICK The Heat of Molten Diamonds Words: Alex Scoppie

Words: Glyn Allen

After what seems like ages of being a big noise as a live act, We Three finally get around to hitting us with us a slab of full-length fun; as you’d expect a lot of the material contained here has been perfected over the last few years on stage with new tracks thrown in for good measure. WTATDR understand that brevity can be a positive and knock out just over half an hour of sassy, scuzzy bluesy fun with opener Down Out And Deep Fried setting the template of filthy riffs and theremin squalls. You could argue that the rest of the record never veers too much away from the basic elements of drums/guitar/and the glacial cool of singer Amy’s vocals but it simply has no need to pretend it’s something it ain’t. On the surface WTATDR appear to be having a blast but there are darker lyrical allusions at work; Split Lips or the wonderfully titled Bipolarcoaster give hints that rock’n’roll can have its pitfalls. Inpatients makes reference to religious imagery with “a congregation of inpatients” and finding god on the bathroom floor. Arguably, the mid-section of the album is its strongest part with previous singles Alligator and Hey Detonator sandwiching the menacing Kills-esque swagger of Double Or Quits, the latter featuring a veritable ark of animal references amid the boy/girl vocals. The aforementioned Hey Detonator’ riffs and clatters into the skull like those old legends Girls vs Boys at the height of their powers and is WTATDR in a nutshell: fierce, fiery and in your face. WTATDR clearly understand the fine line between cliché and cool and are quite determined to walk it in cowboy boots, with a Harley Davidson no doubt idling outside a desert diner as potential transport. Not quite a classic album but with plenty going on to warm the heart of the most jaded indie hipster/cynic and to be commended on capturing the raw live energy on disc.

Stalwart Leicester troubadour Kevin Hewick has been producing great albums for decades, and doesn’t show any signs of hanging up the mic and six string any time soon, thankfully, with the release of the confrontational Molten Diamonds. It’s a determinedly old-school story-telling album of two halves, each of just three songs, each climaxing in a quarter hour epic, and each, it must be said, sounding a bit like Neil Young. The first is a riotously indignant call to arms, the second is sombre, reflective and eventually redemptive, yet both sit comfortably next to each other. There’s an urgency here that hasn’t been heard on Hewick’s work for some time. On album opener Americanta he rails like a songwriter a third of his 56 years against the mid-western mind-set that’s enslaved the planet, and this rebellious edge continues into the wistful Young Man’s Dreams Of Revolution. The glorious, sprawling Another Jerusalem then doffs its cap to William Blake, George Orwell, Guy Fawkes and, erm, The Magic Roundabout in an unfolding fantasy uprising, pausing at the end to take stock of the desolation and wondering what comes next. As it turns out, it’s a lip-trembling tribute to Kev’s recently departed song writing partner Jackie Leven, containing the heart-rending line: “The last time I ever hugged you there seemed far less of you to hold.” This sudden shift from the political to the deeply personal kicks off Diamonds’ second section wonderfully. Things improve even more on the breathy, melancholic Almost Unseen, on which Kev sounds almost exhausted, contemplating thwarted dreams over a direct, haunting, acoustic refrain. The final stretch of Seeking A Religious Experience sees the rebirth of happy Kevin, all major chords, positive messages and a dollop of gospel, interlaced with regular brief guitar solos that bear a pleasing similarity to those of Grant Lee Buffalo. The churlish might suggest it jars with what’s come before, but Kevin deserves to have his cake and eat it by this stage. Stirring and occasionally surprising, The Heat Of Molten Diamonds is a great record, not just of two halves, but in two times: feet firmly planted in the past, face proudly head butting the future.

Lucy Rose Photo: Rococo Imaging THEM ONOG RAP H .C O. U K

MUSIC VENUES LOUGHBOROUGH

1. Loughborough SU 2. Town Hall 3. The Organ Grinder 4. The Kelso 5. The Orange Tree 6. Swan in the Rushes 7. The Old Pack Horse

Map from: OpenStreetMap

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1. Assembly Rooms 2. Bar One 3. Quad 4. The Bless 5. The Flower Pot 6. The Hairy Dog 7. Sitwell Tavern 8. The Venue 9. The Vic Inn 10. Brunswick Inn

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THEM ONOG RAP H .C O. U K

Map from: OpenStreetMap

DERBY

LEICESTER

Map from: OpenStreetMap

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1. Curve 2. De Montfort Hall 3. Embrace Arts 4. Lock 42 5. O2 Academy 6. O Bar 7. Pi Bar 8. Basement 9. The Cookie Jar 10. The Criterion 11. The Donkey 12. Firebug 13. The Music Cafe 14. The Musician 15. The Shed 16. The Soundhouse 17. The Y Theatre 18. De Montfort SU 19. Phoenix Square 20. Sophbeck 21. Sumo 22. The Ale Wagon 23. The Exchange Bar 24. The Hind 25. The Looking Glass 26. The Orange Tree 27. The Charlotte 28. The Font 29. Natterjacks 30. The Bowstring

SEE OUR GIG GUIDE ONLINE AT: 61

A DAY RECORDING AT

Far Heath Recording Studios have given us an amazing prize to give away! You can get your hands on this amazing package, the prize includes: - 8 hours recording and mixing. - A song of your choice with Engineer/ Producer Angus Wallace With over 27 years of experience under his belt, Angus is one of the top producers in the Midlands! HOW TO ENTER: - Go to The Monograph on Facebook. - www.facebook.com/TheMonograph - Comment on our Facebook competition status (which will be highlighted at the top of our wall) with a band name or musician. - The Most comments (by 28th of February at Midnight ) of any band name or musician wins!

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FRIDAY 25TH JULY 2014

Professor Green

Soul-II-Soul

Aswad

SATURDAY 26TH JULY 2014

Union J

Billy Ocean

The Real Thing

LEICESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL, Welford Road Stadium, home of the Leicester Tigers

BIG HEADLINE ACTS STILL TO BE ANNOUNCED

0844 581 6910 www.theticketfactory.com