Professor Green Interview

Stephen Manderson aka Professor Green has been credited with giving the UK’s hip hop scene a much-needed boost, managing to cross over from being an underground grime artist to having two highly charting albums and finding a celebrity girlfriend. 

You have just got back from Australia. How was it?

Australia was wicked, the shows were incredible. The crowds over there, they’re not spoilt, so they really go for it.

How far along is the third album?

I don’t ever really stop recording. I don’t get that much time to do it but over Christmas and New Year when everyone was taking time off I just knuckled down and got about eight songs done.

Have you approached this album differently from the first two?

I think I’m more comfortable and confident in what I do. I am not anywhere near complacent though. I just think I have kind of found my voice and I enjoy the process a little bit more because of that, but nothing that much has changed.

How does it feel when fans say your music has helped them through a rough patch?

It’s quite scary. It’s a lot of responsibility isn’t it?

It’s a weird one, when Read All About It [the song is about his childhood and his father’s suicide] first came out I remember a girl who tweeted me saying it inspired her to reach out to her father. Whether he replies or not is fine, because of me she has made that effort. She didn’t ever want to be in that position where she hadn’t taken that last chance, whether it ends up hurting her more or not, at least she has made that effort. I never expected anything to affect anyone in that way.

I will be honest with you, making music is quite selfish. I’m not out here trying to save the world. For me it’s quite cathartic, which in a sense is selfish – it helps me figure out a lot. Putting things on paper helps me make sense of what’s going on inside, talking to people has never really been that much help to me. Even though it’s helping people, it’s still quite a selfish act.

Bad for Lazarus - My Muddle

 

Putting Bad For Lazarus new single ‘My Muddle’ into a genre isn’t easy and that’s because it really doesn’t belong in one, apart from ‘fucking awesome music’.  The band themselves are made up of a tapestry of ex-members of Nine Inch Nails, The Eighties matchbox B-Line Disaster and UNKLE so maybe that goes someway in understanding the musical mayhem pouring from them. The band say they sound like Motown Hell “because we like Motown and we like Richard Hell” and that’s probably as accurate a description as you are going to get. The adrenaline of punk meets the groove of Soul, add in some determined heavy guitars and rock vocals and you have the start of what the band have created.

It isn’t a song to symbolise how shit the economy is or one you are likely to hear in Starbucks but one to turn up loud and one that’s going to make you smile. It’s unadulterated, undiluted, beautifully chaotic fun. Check out the video exclusively at NME before it’s release on 7^th November, I double dare you

http://www.nme.com/nme-video/bad-for-lazarus---my-muddle/1911386920001

Producers at The Wardrobe - 15th March 2012

Supergroup Producers may look like four ordinary men, no trendy haircuts or sunglasses indoors, but the combined knowledge about music production and recording they hold is immense. Luckily for Leeds College of Music students they dropped in for a question-and-answer session ahead of their gig at the Wardrobe to regale them with stories about working with Paul McCartney and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of analogue verses digital recording.


The band was set up to have fun and that is clearly evident when they take to the stage. Although they obviously love having an audience, you get the feeling that if it was an empty room they would still play as scrupulously as this is a band that has nothing to prove. They have already cemented their place as industry greats with over 200 hit songs between them, countless awards and accolades with Trevor Horn even receiving an CBE for services to the music industry last year.


The gig is impossible to fault, as producers the sound they create is so slick that you could shut your eyes and you would think you are listening to the record. The four of them, supported by three female singers, move seamlessly through some of the songs from their back catalogue of productions and throw in a few new ones written for the album that’s released in May.

The range of styles showcased highlights how truly amazing musicians they are, with the young and energetic Ash Soan being the perfect drummer to bridge all these different styles impeccably. From the ethereal tones of I’m Not In Love to the reggae feel of The Dean and I both courtesy of Lol Crème and 10cc, there is some diva dance with Grace Jones’s hit Slave To The Rhythm and they even chuck in some Euro pop with All The Things She Said originally sung by tATu.

The new material is a heady blend of country, soft rock and funk. Full of melody and harmonies the songs have the feel of a lazy sunny day that is full of contentment and positivity.

Throughout the set you can see the friendship that has developed after working with each other through the years. They may not be the most virulent of bands, there are a few memory lapses, the gig was over by 9pm and Trevor Horn did have to tape his glasses to his face to stop them falling off but there is no denying the talent ingrained in them and it’s inspiring to watch them play live.










Published in Yorkshire Evening Post 

Emeli Sandé Interview

Having already penned songs for Cheryl Cole, Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle, Emeli Sandé has already made her name for herself as a remarkable songwriter. Now she is making a name for herself as an exciting artist with her debut album Our Version of Events going to straight to number 1 on itunes, UK tour planned in April and the receiving the Brits Critics Choice Award. When we get to speak to her she is effortlessly friendly as she talks about her song writing process and performing with X-Factor.

Has everything that has happened to you in the last six months sunk in?

Not really, it’s all been happening so fast, it’s hard to really take it in. Last night I got to go home to my family home up in Aberdeenshire, moments like that I can really stop and take things in.

How did you feel the first time you saw an advert for your album?

It was quite bizarre. We were driving through London and there was one of these massive ones at Shepherds Bush. It’s crazy, I don’t know how to feel about it all, it’s almost like it wasn’t me.

You were met with some resistance from your record label when you wanted to become a recording artist, how did you deal with that?

It was difficult but I was really lucky that I was surrounded by people that really believed in what I was doing, they never really let me get disheartened by anything. Also just really believing in the music I was doing and believing in myself. It was tough at points but mainly it was the team around me.

Michael Kiwanuka at Brudenell - 18th February 2012

The Brudenell is already at full capacity when The Staves take to the stage, no one wanting to miss a minute of this night. The Staves are three sisters whose voices are as beautiful as they are, with brunette hair tumbling around their shoulders the way emotion tumbles gracefully out of their songs. There is a gentleness about them, from the way they play their instruments (guitar, ukulele and tambourine) to the folk music that seems to float out of them, and they have the audience spellbound.

As Michael Kiwanuka appears there is a flash of humbleness in his eyes that all these people are here to see him sing. Only twelve months ago he was a session guitarist and now he has millions of fans eagerly awaiting the release of his debut album. As soon as he launches into his first song you can hear what all the fuss is about, his voice so warming and smooth it wraps itself around you.

The upbeat numbers like Tell Me a Tale so thick with funk they are practically sticky, the slower numbers set in a dreamy rhythm of soul. His set is laden with songs that even though you are hearing them for the first time they sound familiar. All of them carry an undercurrent of sadness but it doesn’t stop them at the same time being euphoric and joyful. There are flickers of his Ugandan roots in his intonation and the use of a Hammond organ at times gives his set a gospel feel.

Near the end of the set he plays Rest, a song that just makes you want to be close to the one you love, lie in bed all afternoon and just enjoy the simpler things in life. For someone that is only at the start of his musical journey his performance holds a maturity that if developed 
properly could well cement him alongside the soul legends he is compared to.






Published in Yorkshire Evening Post

Spector Interview

Last year saw Spector deliver knockout shows at a handful of festivals and support the likes of Killers and Florence and the Machine, dazzling audiences with their powerful pop and vigorous performances. This year is set to be huge for the London based five piece as before their debut album has even been released they are being featured on ‘ones to watch’ lists everywhere. The band is obviously working really hard as when we chat to drummer Danny Blandy about the album he tells us he has been up since 6.30am so to be gentle with him.

Is the album finished?

No it’s not, we are meant to hand it in at the end of the month so hopefully the label will think it’s finished then. We have got two more things to record and then we have got to sort out all the mixes of the other things, tidy them up a bit.

Surely they would wait until you have finished it.

I really don’t know, I hope so; we only have ten days to get it done.

You have worked with a number of producers on it, what was the reasoning behind that?

In the beginning it wasn’t a conscious choice to do that but with peoples schedules being what they were there wasn’t a time when we could be somewhere two months straight. We had two months to record the whole thing at short notice. It kind of ended up us picking different people to do different songs; it’s worked out really well. It’s been interesting to work with a range of different people. I really enjoyed working with all of them; there’s not been one that I didn’t enjoy.

Band of Skulls Interview

Atmospheric Indie rock trio Band of Skulls first started their musical career as ‘Fleeing New York’ but a name change along with a more focused attitude led them to receive critical acclaim for their debut album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey. Hoping to echo that success with their follow up, Sweet Sour, we chat to bassist and vocalist Emma Richardson about dealing with doubters and their eye-catching album artwork.

Do you approach song writing as trio?

Yeah all three of us write and with this record especially its been easier to work together. We trust each other a little more, we are able to show each other ideas and back down when someone says, “this might not fit here” or “this verse won’t work so lets scrap it”. You have to take it on the chin and get used to taking opinions from the other members. It ended up with the songs being the best they can be. It’s a good way to do it as we push each other; it’s almost a competition to write something better than you did before, better than someone else.

Do you have a musical hero you would like to work with in the future?

If dreams can come true Tom Waits would be an amazing person to collaborate with. I would quite like to meet Jenny Saville the painter. I went to Wimbledon school of art a while back, I still draw a lot and I have got an exhibition in London coming. I did four large oil paintings for this album cover and they are going on show with some of the work from the first record as well. I never thought I would get a show of my own.

Rupert Stroud - Chasing the Night

Now that more music than ever is being downloaded and the tangibility of a CD is becoming less frequent, it is really refreshing to get an album that has had so much thought put into the artwork. Rupert Stroud’s second album ‘Chasing the Night’ is wonderful in the continuity of its presentation. The website, the album sleeve, even the styling of the photographs has a 50’s jukebox feel to it.

Rupert has the label of singer/songwriter but there is much more than the expected acoustic guitar and driving vocals. Producer Will Jackson (The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs) has effortlessly blended a mix of country, rock and folk, all linked together with Rupert’s strong voice that fits perfectly with the instrumentation used and lyrical sentiment. Hurt, hope and happiness are all on show.

On songs like ‘hate to say’ there is an emotive and tender quality to the vocals, enriched by the fact they are not overly produced or manipulated. When the songs call for it Rupert is able to reflect the darkness in the lyrics with melancholic, echoing harmonies such as on ‘no love lost’.

Rather than having as many instruments thrown onto the songs in the hope they might bring something to it, it seems as though each instrument has been specifically picked for each moment. Whether it’s a handclap on human politics or a female vocal on ’40 days and 40 nights’ each ingredient is in exactly the right place and in the right amounts.

This is a project where every element has been well thought out and a clear sense of identity has been imprinted on every aspect. 

Michael Kiwanuka Interview

You may have seen Michael Kiwanuka’s name before, it has been on practically all the ‘ones to watch’ for this year, just missing out the Brit’s Critics Choice Award. With a sound that draws comparisons to Bill Withers and Otis Redding, a tour with Adele under his belt and an album due out, 2012 is set to turn this captivating performer into a big star. We caught up with Michael to see what he makes of the attention he has got so far and the pressure it brings.

Originally you lacked the confidence to sing your own songs, why was that?

I didn’t really think that I could pull it off. I sang a bit at home and stuff but I wasn’t that confident to sing out properly. I thought if I am struggling to sing out and be at the front of the stage, it’s better to give songs to other people. It wasn’t natural at first, but I definitely enjoy it now and have the confidence to do that, but at the beginning it was quite hard, I didn’t intend to do it at first.

You aren’t a natural showman?

Not really, I didn’t necessarily want to be at the front of the stage. What I do love, I love music so much and you can experience emotion through music when you write your own music and sing your own music. Because I love playing and singing those songs, believe in them, I guess its easier to watch as I am not uncomfortable, I am lost in the music. If I was to get up there and do stand up or just show off, I would run away and hide, the music helps me through it.

Album and gig of 2011 for YEP

Bright Eyes @ Leeds O2 Academy – 13^th July 2011

The pulsating lights give fleeting images of the stage just as the lyrics give you fragmented glimpses of front man, Coner Oberst, psyche. He has been compared to Neil Young for his poetic style, they are both storytellers, letting the lyrics paint the picture and using the instrumentation as decoration. Anger often fuelled by hypocrisy, is counterbalanced with a child like love for the beauty in life. Oberst celebrates the differences in people not the similarities in songs that urge you to be yourself.

Miles Kane, Colour of the Trap – released May 2011 on Columbia Records

Miles Kane debut album Colour of the Trap filled the void that the Arctic Monkeys fourth album should have occupied. Co-written by Alex Turner, the Trap contains the same effervescent, raw and passionate songwriting that got the Arctic Monkeys where they are today. A hedonistic attitude seeps out of every track and draws the listener in with drums that pound like an excited heartbeat. It’s finished off with introspective and sometimes suggestive lyrics that elevate the album from a riotous compilation into an evocative, excellently executed musical offering. 

Published in Yorkshire Evening Post 

Shed Seven Interview

In 2003 Shed Seven split up after releasing 4 albums and being an integral part of the Britpop scene in the 90’s. Although they were never as widely acknowledged as Oasis or Blur, they did collect an army of fans so when they reformed for a tour in 2007 they had to add more dates and sold out everywhere. The tour that had just been “for our own amusement” went so well that in 2009 they decided to do it again, getting into a routine of touring every 2 years. This time round they are celebrating 15 years since their most popular album ‘A Maximum High’ and 27 years since Shed Seven formed, a thought that front man Rick Witter finds quite crazy. We get to spend some time with him about looking like an idiot and how we will all be listening to music in the future.

Do you expect the same kind if turn out that you got when you toured in 2009?

We obviously question it ourselves, there is only so long you can keep going out and playing your old stuff. Right now I think a lot of the people who like Shed Seven just like coming down and hearing us playing the old stuff. For them I think it’s a bit of a party night out which is why we like to do things at Christmas time because people are finishing work and Christmas is a nice time of year.

We have found ourselves a bit like The Pogues who seem to tour every Christmas, we decided to do it every other year because we don’t want to do too much. We love playing live so much that we don’t want to ruin it for people and be everywhere; we still want it to feel special. It’s really nice to know we have a strong set of fans that really love to hear our old stuff its quite mental really.

Have you changed as a front man since you formed in 1990?

I have definitely changed over that space of time. I don’t know whether it’s more since we reformed and came back in the mid noughties, but I think there is suddenly no pressure on us anymore. We get to decide on what we are going to do, how long we are going to play for and what we are going to play. We always did have that but we always had a record company behind us suggesting other options. These days it’s entirely our call and because of that all of us as musicians have just relaxed. It shows when we play live because we are just more into it. It’s less pressure and more fun. Certainly myself I find I am having more of a joke with the crowd and putting more into it without feeling like I am looking stupid, it’s a bit of a strange thing explain. Without making myself look like a complete idiot, I can make myself look like a complete idiot.

The Ting Tings Interview

After their first album We Started Nothing was released in 2008 it seemed the whole music world went crazy for the Tings Tings unique sound. They were nominated for a host of awards and the album went on to sell over 2 million copies. There doesn’t seem to be a unified genre the band belong to though, are they pop? Are they Indie? Are they synth pop? To see what the band think and to find out about the new album we talked to Jules de Martino who provides drums, lead guitar and vocals for the band.

You and Katie were in the band Dear Eskiimo and the relationship with your record label broke down, were you tempted to leave the music industry?

That band was a band that we wanted to be in, me and Katie and another guy. We formed a band that we were serious about. We made a record and got signed and we were very conscious about what we wanted to be. We were into Portishead and we wanted to kind of be into that trippy, laid back style of music. Going through that process meant a hell of a lot to us and we were very precious about it. Then everything went wrong, not just in terms of losing the record deal, when the band spilt up we lost friends, me and Katie didn’t speak. It was the classic cliché band stories that went wrong and it put us off being in a band for life. Then me and Katie hooked up and started doing a bit of writing, like artists always do. We were living in a mill in Islington, with a load of other artists and without wanting to be in a band the Ting Tings were created. If you can image that feeling of going around the world, having a successful album, playing great shows and not having any of that corporate stuff. That was the feeling of euphoria we had with this band and it all makes sense again.

Lianne La Havas Interview

Lianne La Havas is tipped to be huge next year when her debut album is released. She has already captivated audiences with a recent appearance on Later with Jules Holland and been chosen to support Bon Iver on their US tour. We catch up with the 22 year old soul singer as she is running for a bus in raining London.

What the first song you wrote?

It was called Little Things, it was a made up love song that I wrote when I was 11. It was never recorded so I have never had to listen back to it, but I can remember it, I always thought it would be quite a funny Eurovision entry but that’s as far as it goes.

Guillemots Interview

The Guillemots first gained critical acclaim in 2006 with their debut album ‘Through the Windowpane’ which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.  The band started to collected fans all over the world with their unique sound and diverse live shows. Before setting off on a UK tour to bring their latest album ‘Walk the River’ to their dedicated fans, guitarist McLord Magrão took some time to talk to us.

Did you have a clear vision of where you wanted the latest album to go?

We don’t want to repeat ourselves with things we do, we always try to approach things in different ways and the main thing is we always try to challenge ourselves, give a new goal to where we go with music. Not that we have ever had discussions about it. We always talked about bringing out a live album, to reflect performing live as a band, trying to capture the band sounds. With ‘Walk the River’ we were like, let’s really try to capture playing together and see how that comes across.

As a band you have varied backgrounds, do you think that has helped you gain more varied influences?

Yeah I guess so, we all have different tastes of music and different ideas of music but, at the same time, we have a lot in common when it comes to music. We have always been interested in loads of things, there are always things that I didn’t know about and other members didn’t know about, being from different countries we have access to different music. We introduced music to each other and it’s always been good to learn about new things, new ways of doing things. I guess we kind of complement each other.

What’s the band’s approach to song writing?

In general it’s a mess; we don’t know where we are going with things. We each write things in different ways, one way that we do it quite often is that we improvise for a long time, then we go back and try to combine all these things together and start to give it a structure. In general, to start with, it’s just seventeen minutes of us playing the same thing over and over again. Then we think how we can change it into a song and then comes the arrangement for that. Sometimes Fyfe writes songs and then we try to develop his songs and turn it into something we are all happy with, that has that Guillemot sound through it. Other times we just start messing around with stuff, electronics or sound and some loops, and then we go “this can be a verse, this can be a chorus” and see what happens.

Miles Kane at Leeds Met University - 15th October 2011

Strobe lights cut through the smoke that’s starting to fill the room as an audible excitement signifies the arrival of the main act tonight. Miles Kane makes his appearance and the band launch straight into their first song. The audience immediately around the stage start to jump animatedly and their enthusiasm spreads in waves until the whole crowd is moving by the end of the second track.

There is something warmingly authentic about Miles Kane and the music he is producing. He has all the ingredients of a classic rock n roll front man; the cheeky charisma, the confidence in himself and the assured hip sway when the tempo drops for the slower numbers. Talking is kept to a minimal, instead Miles Kane allows the music to speak for him and you can feel the emotion in each guitar solo. You get the impression the band could play each song without thinking about it they are that tight. Even a new song that was only written a week ago is perfectly executed.

The tribal style of drums on ‘Kingcrawler’ are phenomenal and the crowd explodes into activity as drinks are launched around the room and some eager fan attempts to crowd surf. You can tell Miles Kane is thoroughly enjoying the gig, at one point he stands at the front of the stage, arms open, head back and eyes closed just absorbing the audiences cheers. The encore of ‘Inhaler’ sees the already exuberant crowd bouncing from the walls and singing the chorus as if it was a football chant. 

Marcus Foster - Nameless Path

If I had been told Marcus Foster was in his 50’s when I first listened to Nameless Path I would have completely believed it. Marcus’s voice carries an air of blues to it that is normally reserved for gentlemen approaching the twilight years of their life.

There is a delicate juxtaposition, Marcus’s vocals could easily lend themselves to heavy rock with the amount of grit present in them but that is exactly the element that gives songs like ‘You my love’ truthfulness. It’s a voice that has unsurprisingly been compared to Tom Waits and if you think David Grey you wouldn’t be far off.

Mixed in with the sadness though there is an underlining sense of nourishment and self-preservation. A narrative style of song writing combined with a distinctive voice has lifted Marcus Foster into an area that is very exciting.  

In ‘Shadows of the city’ and ‘Movement’ Marcus’s full range is given free range as he screeches and wails like Ben Harper or Paolo Nuttini.

On songs like ‘I was broken’ you can feel the heartbreak on every note, there is something undeniably true about the musicality, it’s a song every girl is going to wish was written about her.

Borrowing guitar solos from rock, tempos and instrumentation from folk songs and the melancholy from blues Marcus Foster has created a perfect blend of timeless songs.

James Taylor Quartet Interview

British jazz band the James Taylor Quartet are enjoying 25 years in the music industry and what better way to celebrate than taking their high energy show around the country.  Ahead of a show at the Wardrobe in Leeds we got some time with James Taylor, who’s amazing Hammond organ playing leads the quartet and is regularly called on by other musicians.

What attracted you to the Hammond organ in the first place?

When I was growing up I was into the Small Faces and they had a great keyboard sound. I didn’t even know what it was but a friend of mine told me about this mad instrument with speakers that rotate and I kind of got fascinated with it before I saw one. Then I went to see one, to play one and that was it I was hooked.

Miles Kane Interview

After having a taste of success with The Rascals and Last of the Shadow Puppets, Miles Kane has stepped from the safety of a band into the spotlight as a solo artist. His solo album ‘Colour of the Trap’ was co-written with Alex Turner and features a guest vocal by Noel Gallagher.  When we get to speak to him he is faultlessly polite as he discusses guitar bands, going solo and meeting girls.

For people who haven’t heard the album what is it like?

Well it took quite a while to get the right sort of foundations for it and find out where to go with it. There were lots of ideas and lots of songs knocking about. There are lots of different inspirations on there, some fast songs and some slow songs, weird songs, pop songs. I guess that comes from listening to great records, I get all my inspiration from listening to music and life.

Was it hard coming from a band to going solo?

Yeah defo, it was sort of. At the beginning it was hard; I’m not going to lie. I have always been used to, what ever it is, jamming in the room before you go in the studio and that sort of thing. With this it was down to you, getting the songs together then you would go in the studio. One of the best weeks of my life was at the start of this when I went in with Gruff Rhys and it was just me, him and a drummer. We recorded three tracks in a week, doing that week was a completely new experience and it kick started it. I will always thank him for that, he’s a mate now and I have learnt a lot from that guy. Then I went in and did the rest of it with Dan Carey, this producer, and that again was a great experience, he played bass, I played guitar, got a drummer in that he knew. We would get the song and just sort of play it fast, play it slow. That’s the thing I learnt on this record, what ever the song or the idea, if you write a song and it’s slow on the acoustic you can sort of beef it up and make it a stomper if you want, there is no sort of limits to songs, that’s what I learnt I guess.

Ed Sheeran Interview

Ed Sheeran describes himself as a singer songwriter but he also employs soul melodies, the lyrical style of rappers and hip-hop tempos to create songs that are transcending musical genres. ‘No.5 Collaborations Project’ was the last of his independent EP releases that consisted of collaborations with grime artists. It reached number 1 in the iTunes chart without involvement of a label or any promotion. Instantly the labels started to make him offers and within days he was signed to Atlantic. His debut single ‘The A Team’ was the highest selling and highest charting debut single of 2011. Ed Sheeran’s album ‘+’ was released in September with a UK tour following shortly after.

What can people expect from the album?

It’s just literally a collection of my favourite songs that I have written over the past 5 years and put together on the alum and recorded them in kind of a DIY way. I am really looking forward to putting it out.

You just did 8 performances at Glastonbury, how did they go?

They were good; they were all on different stages and to different numbers of people. The first one was in a tent that was 75 capacity which I did on a stool without any microphones and then the next one was in a tent to 5000 kids so they really differed.

The SB:TV video was quite a turning point for you, how did that come about?

It was through Twitter, I saw a re-tweet saying what film should I watch today from SB. I tweeted back and put Precious, SB was like “cool, I have heard your stuff and I really like it, lets make a video”. We did the video and it kind of blew up a little bit.

The Duke Spirit Interview

The Duke Spirit has collected fans all over the world with their effervescent live performances and unique blend of squealing guitars, churning riffs, and powerful drumming. Having spent the past eight months nurturing their third album, the Duke Spirit are now ready to unleash it onto the world. We catch up with lead singer Liela Moss ahead of a free acoustic show at HMV Leeds to celebrate the release of ‘Bruiser’.

What can people expect from your new album Bruiser?

I think its pretty obvious sound wise that this is much more focused and profoundly more atmospheric, as a band we are much more galvanised. Things have been bought into a shaper focus on this record, certainly there are moments were there is more space whereas previously we had lots of smashing guitars, its still got a lot of force but perhaps more melody. The record is nursing, it’s sort of traumatic but medicinal at the same time.

We knew we wanted to strip away and make it feel learner and meaner on this trip so that’s what we have done. Rather than having lots of layers of things, which you can get carried away with making music, you want to keep adding. You want to keep playing but we resisted that and we joke that we put these songs on a diet, chopped out anything that wasn’t truly satisfying.

Free Acoustic show at Leeds HMV what was the motivation behind that?

As a fan of music it’s the sort of thing I would have done when I was first getting into music and seeing al lot of gigs before I was in a band. I would have loved that diversity of seeing a band you are going to see that night but see them playing a few shows acoustically. Seeing them in a slightly skewed perspective makes the gig more powerful and weirder. I think its weird seeing bands play in stores but a good weird.

Bombay Bicycle Club Interview

Bombay Bicycle Club burst onto the music scene in 2006 after winning Virgin Mobile’s “Road to V” competition and opening V festival that year as the prize. In the years that have passed the band have gathered critical acclaim, a legion of fans and a host of award nominations and the band are still only in their early 20’s. When we chat to lead singer Jack Steadman he is understandably tired after having just played at a host of festivals but still he manages to talk enthusiastically about the best moments so far and the latest album ‘A different kind of fix’.

How was opening V festival all those years ago?

We didn’t really take it seriously at the time; we were just 16 years old. We entered the competition as a joke; we never thought we would win. When we got there we were just excited to have backstage access, meeting all these people and getting free drinks. It’s difficult to think about, you kind of pretend it’s just any other gig.

Do you think that maybe you were a bit too young for that kind of exposure?

Probably for us, it’s just weird because most people look back to their teenage years they would probably be quite embarrassed. It’s strange to have those years with lots of people interviewing you and filming you. If I listen to the songs we were writing then it’s quite embarrassing.

Even after road to V we weren’t going to quit school and pursue our dream, we were very sensible about it. We were in no rush to do anything quicker than we wanted to. We very much took our time and it was a slow and gradual process for us.

How is the new album different from your first?

Its electric, I guess the biggest difference is we are a lot more confident with the production side of things. Before all we were doing was just writing songs on the guitar and someone else would record them because we didn’t know how to. We have different styles involved and we are doing a lot more on the production side as well.

It’s always good to have another set of ears. I would never like to work without a producer because I think it’s an incredibly important part of writing an album. Having that person there, for us we need someone, we need an authoritative figure. We are unsure of ourselves and not very confident at it so we need someone who can say which parts are good and which parts are bad.

Gary Numan Interview

SYNTHPOP hero Gary Numan sprang to fame in 1979, fronting Tubeway Army. He went on to become one of the biggest stars of British electronic music, scoring No.1 singles with Are ‘Friends’ Electric? and Cars, and chart-topping albums with Replicas and The Pleasure Principle.

Thirty years on his dystopian visions, icy vocals and memorable keyboard riffs still resonate. The 53-year-old father-of-three recently collaborated with US art rock group Battles and is about to release a new album, Dead Son Rising. Next month he’ll be performing in Leeds.

Your latest album is co-written and produced by Ade Fenton. What can people expect from it?

Dead Son Rising is a side project collaboration that started out as something quite different to the way it ended up. Initially it was a batch of songs that I didn’t use on the last two or three albums but still liked and so wanted to finish off and release. But, the end result has almost none of those original songs; in fact at least 95% of it is entirely new. With my conventional studio albums I have a clear aim from the outset, a clear direction that I want to follow and this gives those albums parameters that the songs have to fit into. I didn’t have that with Dead Son Rising and so it enabled me to be more varied and more experimental. I’m not saying it’s a better way to go about making albums; it’s just different to the way I usually do things. It is not the huge gathering of riffs and soaring choruses of my last three or four albums, although it has moments of that, but it is strange in places. Lyrically it covers a wider range of subjects than I usually look at and musically it’s definitely a step sideways.

How is the latest album different from Jagged?

My album Splinter will be the follow up to Jagged and I think the progression will be more obvious between those two. Dead Son Rising has given me the chance to move away a little from what I’ve been doing, but still want to do in the future I hasten to add. Jagged was, as will Splinter be, an album of huge grooves and choruses as epic as I can make them, with great chasms between the loud bits and the quiet bits, a very wide dynamic range. Dead Son Rising is more eerie, overall it has less in your face power but far more variation than Jagged.

The Wanted Interview

Last year when The Wanted played Party in the Park they were a band at the very start of their pop career, in fact it was the same day that their debut single went to number 1 in the UK. In the year since the band have embarked on a gruelling schedule including releasing their debut album that went platinum, a UK tour, releasing a book, performed on the X Factor and a host of other shows and are just putting the finishing touches to their second album. When we catch up with what has been called the “best looking boy band around” they have just finished a radio tour and are just about to start rehearsals for T4 on the beach. Max George has a few minutes to talk about the new album and who is the messiest in the band.

Do you ever get any time to yourselves?

No not at the minute, I don’t even know when we have got a day off. We have the new single coming out soon so it’s just really hectic at the minute.

It’s barely been a year since the first single came out, has the success sunk in yet?

No not really, we still feel the same as we did a year ago like. It still feels like it’s the start and that we have a long way to go yet. I don’t think we really have got that far, we don’t feel any different and don’t feel like super stars or anything like that, we just want to keep going and be the best that we possibly can.

You were put together through an open audition, how was that experience?

 It was all right. We all got on at the auditions and that took nine months, over that time we got to know each other so by the time us five were picked we were all getting on anyway. We got pushed straight in a house and we got on fine straight away. We are best mates.