New Beats Media

M83 at the Arches

Sarah Henderson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:28:37 +0000

I have been looking forward to this gig for as long as I can remember, the fact I had ticket number 4 only proved this fact further.

The doors opened at 7 and the gig started promptly at 7.30 with opening band Porcelain Raft playing, I have listened to a few of their singles but that did not do them justice at all. These are definitely a live band and M83 did an excellent pick for support.

But unfortunately this is where the night went a bit downhill, it seems The Arches single roomed venue was a new thing for Anthony Gonzales and his tech team. Literally 1 hour later, M83 entered, obviously spirits had already been dampened by the extended wait but this seemed to all dissolve once the first note of intro started and carried on, they came out with some of their top hits which got the crowd moving like we were at an underground rave, despite the few tech issues that could still be heard the masses didn’t seem to care at this point.

Unfortunately this absolute belter of an opener ceased and they followed it up with an extremely lengthy set of songs from their new (and much overlong) album, arguably they were a mass of good songs but that’s all they seemed to be, a mass on songs which even had the most die-hard fans growing bored.

They understandably clawed it back when they brought out the super hit Midnight City this was a sure fire way to get everybody forget about ever feeling uninterested and reminded again why they came.

Unfortunately the lengthy wait between bands also meant they didn’t make the 10pm curfew so had to end a few songs short of their regular set.

All in all a good gig but I have a feeling they can do 100 times better. It hasn’t put me off seeing them again and I believe the 2000 fans tonight would agree.

How do they get the talent?

Chris — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:36:15 +0000

Have you ever wondered how fashion stylists find models for their fashion shows or how independent film directors and producers bring their story to life and bring you that piece of multimedia art known as film? If we take film as the example, there is so many people to recruit, you will need Actors, Actresses, Film Crews and not to mention the stylists and costume designers. Even after you have got all them in place you still need to present it to the world and promote the feature. The whole process from start to finish is an exciting process and it starts with placing the right talent to an idea. This process fascinates New Beats Media and we have tracked down Raj the Creative Consultant at iStarNext to tell us all about the new, slicker way to recruit talent.

For people who are not aware of iStarNext, could you briefly explain what you do?

We provide a platform for upcoming young stars to reach professional companies who are on the search for the next big talent.

Who uses iStarNext? Who does it appeal to?

The audience is widespread, basically anyone who has a talent or looking to recruit a person with the talent.

So your looking for talent, how easy is it to place an advert on iStarNext?

It’s a very easy step, simply place your talent call on the dedicated Talent Call website, but we are stringent with who we approve, we only work with the real players.

With this being such a great resource for the advertisers surely it costs?

Not a dime for the advertisers.

What makes iStarNext different? Why should they use you?

It a social talent network, so gives people the ability share their talent with others. Our customers know we only use credible advertisers and we ensure to help talent progress.

What makes iStarNext tick? What inspires you to succeed?

Seeing young fresh talent being given an opportunity to show their talents. This is something that is very important for us and strives us to keep on improving iStarNext.

From your answers it is clear to see you value honesty and helping people succeed very highly, you strengthen this idea with your ambitions to help fund worthy projects with your own money. This very commendable and sometimes what an exciting project needs. Can you tell us more about this?

We can see the British film industry needs more support, and this is our way of showing that support. If funding from iStarNext can generate new opportunities for the youth, then that’s valuable.

You have 20+ years experience in fashion, film and entertainment, how did you end up with building istarnext?

We felt our passion to help and our experience was a perfect match. We got thinking creatively and thought, social media is big, and theres a big demand for fame, so we put the two together along with our passion and ambition to improve the opportunities in the industry and came up with what you see today.

So it’s a new year, what has 2012 have in store for iStarNext?

We are focused on growing istarNext’s into Europe’s leading social talent platform improving opportunities for young talents and making a real refreshing difference in this industry. Other plans include expanding into Indias huge market to hopefully become a leading supplier of talent to the Bollywood film industry.

Sum up iStarNext in 3 words.

Its all in our strapline “your talent shared”.

So we know about the company now for the man that gives iStarNext the creative edge.

How would you describe your sartorial style?

I’m suits man, think Ozwald Boateng and Jasper Littman.

Who do you consider the most stylish actor?

It’s got to be Steve McQueen with his tailor cut suits, watch the The Thomas Crown Affair and you’ll know what I mean.

Whats on your ipod?

Coldplay, 50cent and Jay Sean.

Who is your favourite actor?

Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Robert Carlyle, I also think Cameron Diaz is great actress.

So there you have it. To get quality talent it is as easy as placing a free advert on iStarNext. So if you are shooting a new video and need dancers or backing singers or if you are shooting a film and need actors then get over to iStarnext.info to place your free advert now.

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Rap Is Power Promotional Video

The Beat — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:47:32 +0000

Introducing Rap Is Power and his promotional video for his eagerly awaited new mixtape L.O.V.E (Living Our Vision Everyday). The mixtape will be launched on the 14th of April and is set to be a huge hit with current and new fans. R.I.P is set to take the rap scene by storm this year and will definitely see all his hard work and long hours turn into a successful mixtape launch. 2012 will be the year R.I.P makes his name as one of the best up and coming rap artists not only in his home town of Duval, Jacksonville but the world. So sit back and get to know Rap Is Power.

More About Rap Is Power

Rap Is Power : Column #1
Rap Is Power — Duval’s Prodigy
R.I.P.(RapIsPower)
R.I.P website

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Chatting to Exit Ten

Gena Hollyoake — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:50:55 +0000

Releasing an album after a good 3 year gap must be both an exciting but nerve-wracking process for any band. Moving forward with your sound and keeping hardcore fans happy is by no means an easy feat but Reading’s own Exit Ten prove that with hard work, determination and a major dose of musical talent, you can blow everyone out of the water. As the boys were on tour with their super new album Give Me Infinity, New Beats Media thought we would catch up with Ryan Redman and Joe Ward to talk tour, egos and Joe uses the word ‘groovy’…!

How has the tour being going so far?

Joe: Yeah, it has been really good and it is obviously very fun to play our new songs. That’s the point of the tour and we like playing the new songs.

Ryan: Yes, I concur. It has been awesome.

How are you getting on with the Fei Comodo and Never Means Maybe boys?

Ryan: Yeah, we love each other to be honest. I really want to say something mean but they are just really safe. We always knew it would be alright to tour with them.

Joe: We kind of always wanted to tour with the Fei Comodo boys.

Ryan: It is the same with their band and ours, and the Never Means Maybe boys. There are no egos, no one thinks they are rock Gods.

Joe: Even though we obviously know we are rock Gods (laughs).

Have you had the reaction you wanted to new album Give Me Infinity? Especially live?

Ryan: I just wanted people to like it to be honest, I wasn’t hoping for a massive reaction.

Joe: It isn’t stuff that people can go really mental to or anything like that. It’s more like listening and appreciating it, I think. We obviously didn’t write it just so people like it.

Ryan: Yeah, we haven’t got any – not that I am saying we have never done this before – but we haven’t got any like ‘woah woah’ sections, things that bands put in to make people sing along. People have been singing the choruses and the string sections though.

Joe: Yeah people have been singing the string sections and doing the classic lad thing, like fist pumping and singing along. That’s pretty cool!

Do you have a favourite track from the new album?

Joe: We did start playing this live on tour but it is quite down tempo, but probably Eyes Never Lie. Along with Lion, it is one of the more emotional tracks and has a good journey within the song.

Ryan: I quite like Drama but we haven’t been playing that live. Maybe that is why we like these tracks more, because we don’t play them live.

Your sound has changed a little with this new album. There are less harsher vocals and things appear to be slightly tamer. Are you trying to stay away from the metal genre?

Ryan: It is sort of interesting you say that because I screamed in like one song from the old album. If anything I would say the vocals are cleaner on the old album. It is sort of a weird thing as I would say this album is heavier and darker, the only thing has changed is we aren’t doing thrash anymore.

Joe: Yeah there are no beat down bits.

Ryan: I completely agree that it has changed but… We are definitely doing the metalcore sound but we have never been a metalcore band. It has always felt like the new album in its entirety has existed in a small part of everything we have done. Like even the first little EP we did, then when won a battle of the bands and did a demo after that. We also feel like Perish In Flames and Something To Say would fit in with this album. It is not much of a departure, it has always been a part of what we are and it’s just that after 3 years since the last album, this is what felt right.

Joe: If you find an old track called Deny, we recorded that and you can hear so many things in that, it is so melodic. I sort of feel like it is almost cool to sing again now, whereas we have always carried on doing it. Then it was tough for us because we were always the lightest band on the bill and we were always thrown on these metal shows. Now we have carried on and have changed our sound a little bit, but we still don’t fit in with any other bands, which is kind of cool in a way but in other ways it can work against you.

You released Curtain Call as a teaser before you released Give Me Infinity. Why did you choose that track? Does it best represent the album?

Ryan: It was meant to come out earlier but nothing goes to plan. It was meant to be more of an introduction, whereas the other tracks were the ones that would really epitomise the album.

Joe: We couldn’t release Suggest A Path straight away as people may have got scared a bit. Some of our old school, core fans may have been scared so we thought keep it groovy and we thought Curtain Call was quite a groovy track.

A lot of bands seem to be teaming up with other people at the moment, for example You Me At Six feature Oli Sykes on their new album and Deaf Havana have Portia Conn on theirs. Have you ever thought about teaming up with someone?

Ryan: The thing is You Me At Six and Bring Me The Horizon are big bands and I feel that their teaming up is for industry reasons rather than creative reasons. With Deaf Havana, you said they were doing something with an up and coming artist, so you can be less sceptical about that.

Joe: I think that if we were to team up with some people it would be an orchestra or something like that.

Ryan: Yeah, it would be more artistic based. It’s also difficult though because at the end of the day, the limelight is mine (laughs).

As you said, you are quite unique and do not fit in a specific genre. Who are your major influences?

Ryan: It is a real big mix as we have come from being quite big metal fans, as a band but more recently we like Elbow as a whole band. We have always really liked Tool and Radiohead.

Joe: I think because our taste is so different, we have totally different styles in music and that is why our sound is so different.

Ryan: We are all aiming for the same place though. We could do, you know, all over the place music but that wouldn’t suit us. We aspire to guys like Elbow as they write honest music and yes it is pop music but it didn’t come from ‘let’s write a pop song’, it came from working for over 15 years and finally writing that album. All that experience lead to them writing to those songs.

What does the rest of 2011 hold for Exit Ten? Do you have any resolutions?

Ryan: Europe and festivals. We want to do as many festivals as possible. As for resolutions, just get massive with the band and have a good time.

Joe: Stay positive, I guess. It is hard sometimes but I always try to stay positive.

So there you have it! It turns out Ryan and Joe from Exit Ten are down to earth, honest and incredibly ambitious guys, with a genuine passion for what they do. Why shouldn’t they though? With an amazing album under their belts, they have plenty of ammo ready to take 2012 by storm. They say ‘we won’t move mountains any time soon’, well we betcha they do!

Attention - The New Folk Is Here

James Hobson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:43:28 +0000

Photos taken by Design House

This month, from Manchester’s soil springs Brit Rock band The Words’ debut album, Truth and Faith.

The album is a surprising one, and by that I mean surprising in a good way, it’s a good solid fashioned rock music release. Honest lyrics, homely imagery and understated but mature guitar work.

On the cd you will find none of the kind of disjointed danciness or quirky rhythmic noises you might expect from a 2011 release. The album isn’t trying to be anything, its not trying to trick you, it’s the kind of album that accompanies a pint in the local over the pool table, or in the background of an inner city back garden barbeque gathering on an orangey yellow summer afternoon. It may seem funny to say but its not even trying to be ‘cool.’ Wait, hold on, it’d be better to say fashionably unfashionable. Or even unknowingly good. What I mean is when you listen to it, you don’t picture a bunch of silver spoon Topman fops pretending to be deep and brooding with fringes a falling and blazers a size too small. There’ll be no lingering stares into the camera lens in the video, none of that. But you may say that maybe a band needs at least a little of this, a little forced mystery, a little feigned emotion maybe to capture the hearts of the music downloading public. At least at first… But listening to this album with its solid simple construction, northern accents and easy feel you are more reminded of traditional music. It is as though this music is becoming ingrained into the nation’s psyche as being the new folk. Folk re-imagined for these decades of supermarket and coffee chains, of foreign footballers and recession. More akin to the likes of that great British band The Levellers. Once the instance happens where you imagine it in this context, you cannot shake the sentiment, the album comes alive to you and you only see it for what it is. Unpretentious, simple and good. Its as though as British people we should factor music like this into our lives on the medical pretence that it’s good for you.

Photos taken by Design House

Zooming in onto it now, strong tracks on this album are Siren, a racy nostalgic number, Demons, a slower acoustic number rendered memorable by its consistent bright strumming and windy lyrical waltzing, Head Over Heels, a reminiscent dance, embellished with some original guitar riff – action and the authors particular favourite, Stand Up Sit Down. A good raucous British romp complete with violin and banjo and chant-along chorus. An excellent song.

As for weak points, I wont waste your time pointing out single songs and picking them apart, but my only criticism would be that some of the ballad singing work doesn’t seem to gel with the rest of the piece, but, you can decide for yourself when you inevitably google them after reading this.

At the end of the day, you can’t really go wrong with this one. It’s got a kind of timelessness, which is rare. You will listen Stand up sit down over and over again, and it will remind you of how great Britain can be. Bands like this are a large part of what remains of our national identity and are to be treasured. A good, proud album, come of hard work and a long time. But of course, it won’t tell you so…

Time for me to stop typing, thanks for reading.

I didn’t even mention Oasis once…

…damn.

Maya Yianni at McQueen

Dizz — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:10:43 +0000

A handful of people collect around a dim stage; it’s early, a Wednesday night, and people sip their drinks nonchalantly. Maya Yianni fits effortlessly into the crowd, seemingly inviting them up on stage with her as she steps up, casually and without nerves, chatting into the microphone with as much ease as if she was standing right here, beside you. It is the same effect when the first notes begin to spiral out, not the notes that might be expected of a 5’2″ petite blonde. They are not sweet notes, they are not small notes; this is a big voice that zaps the nonchalance from the room within two bars. It’s a voice that fills the room, and yet remains exquisitely unimposing, paired with only a bare minimum of acoustic that allows every syllable to shine, every lyric to hit with equal notice.

The twenty minute set is a blend from quick to slow, jazz and soul and folk mixed into one voice that scales through an immense range with as much ease as if she had just got up on stage for a quick chat. Highlights included Foolish and He said; both tunes with realistic overtones, lyrics that tell a story about a common friend, that ease you into conversation.

Now is the time to catch this girl before the quiet venues get too cramped, as her voice is one that draws in the outsiders, will eventually draw in a big crowd. Simple and yet silencing, Maya Yianni sings with no pretension, as if she is just waiting for you to be there to listen, so she can say hello.

GlobalFaction: Unifying Hip-Hop’s Voices of Dissent

Alex Wilson — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:03:49 +0000

In 2006 a London-based team founded a digital-media production house called GlobalFaction. The intention was to erect a platform — a soapbox — in a corner of the Internet on which conscious lyricists and artists could take a stand against today’s social and political climate. With GlobalFaction as their pedestal and the World Wide Web as their loudspeakers many UK rappers and poets have been doing just that, and thus their independent declarations of dissent have been forged into a revolutionary movement; a Speaker’s Corner for the Hip-Hop community in the 21st century.

Music videos make up a large majority of GlobalFaction’s output, and have helped publicise the scene’s next big things; such as Logic, Kyza and Skriblah Dan Gogh, as well as some of their higher-profile associates like Lowkey, Akala and Klashnekoff.

Since the rise of the music video in the 1980s, the format has been largely subservient to its music, adding little meaning and simply supplying visuals to create a digestible format suitable for television. What makes GlobalFaction’s music videos so special is how they add whole new depths to the original track’s meanings, or extend the meaning’s parameters.

For example; in the video for Lowkey and Shadia Mansour’s track Too Much, Lowkey raps about the emptiness of monetary wealth, compared to true human values; “money can buy power but it can’t buy respect… money can’t buy you love, but it can buy sex”. GlobalFaction shot the video in Cuba — a context the lyrics themselves make no explicit reference to – and during the intro and outro textual information about the embargo imposed on Cuba by the US (which restricts trade between the two nations) is added. Thus GlobalFaction reinterpret Lowkey’s concept — of monetary wealth vs. true wealth — within a Cuban context, and thus speak volumes about the country’s spirit and integrity in the face of oppression.

In another of Lowkey’s videos entitled Hand On Your Gun, GlobalFaction take a different approach and supplements the lyrical themes with even deeper levels of detail. The lyrics take aim at the arms industry, and the video adds further textual information telling us that “Barclays (…) is amongst the top 10 largest investors in US arms companies”, and “HSBC (…) has loaned £27 billion to the industry”, while “Lloyds TSB (…) serves as principle banker to BAE systems” (one of the world’s largest military contractors). The video thus becomes an educational document and, once having reached the masses, itself becomes a devastating weapon in the hands of those making a stand against the West’s invasion of the Middle East.

GlobalFaction also realise that dissent without a supporting community is powerless, and are therefore associated with live events such as the Speaker’s Corner night at the Brixton Jamm in South-East London, and also brings artists together to collaborate on their Youtube show called Beats, Rhymes and Revolution.

This production house is potentially a very powerful force; an online – and sometimes physical – community of revolutionary thinkers with something to say and the talent to say it. They are bringing together the UK Hip-Hop scene’s individual voices of political and social dissent, in a grand step forward in the movement for a truly global faction.

Lowkey Finally Releases The Soundtrack To The Struggle

Alex Wilson — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:46:11 +0000

On the 16th of October 2011 an album was released, the importance of which is, I believe, unsurpassed in the world of hip-hop. The artist is Lowkey – an idol to some, and unknown to the others. The album is Soundtrack to the Struggle.

Soundtrack to the Struggle has, in Lowkey’s own words, been “a quarter century in the making”, and thus the music, the vocal delivery, and the lyrical content’s devastating attack on social and political structures, is the maturation, the ripening, the distillation of a career in which one man has tried to be heard – independently, and without the support of a record-label who, he fears, would stifle his dissenting voice.

The album’s devastating lyrical attack aims its crosshairs at the US’s invasion of the Middle-East, the perpetration of torture and war-crimes by the West, racism, Israel and Palestine, state-sponsored terrorism and many other issues of worldwide injustice. He also delves into more introspective and personal topics such as mental illness, the respect of women and the struggle of being an independent artist. There’s even a track on the album, called Terrorist Part 2, in which he makes an anticipatory defence against the various criticisms that are certain to bombard him as a result of the issues revealed throughout the album.

Whilst there is already a growing trend towards politically conscious rap artists (some of whom are featured on the album), what makes Soundtrack to the Struggle so devastating to the systems that it attacks is just how astonishingly good the music is. Lyrical content aside, this album has provided an answer to something I have long been searching for. As a fan of music across many genres I have always longed for hip-hop that transcends the parameters imposed by genre. Now, Soundtrack to the Struggle has made a very big step towards this with its epic use of strings, choirs, guitars, horns, synths and orchestral percussion, along with a huge variety of vocal styles from a selection of guest singers and rappers, as well as influences from a range of musical genres from across the world. Despite its dynamic range of influences, the album manages to retain a strong sense of cohesion and structure. All this is supported and enhanced by its very impressive production. From the elegiac poignancy of Haunted with its washy dreamscapes, to the epic call-to-arms that is Blood, Sweat and Tears or Million Man March, to the summery and celebratory sound of Too Much, the production continuously provides as much musical interest as Lowkey does lyrical interest. And, perhaps most importantly, what Lowkey has very intelligently done is to make sure that almost every track is insanely catchy, giving the messages contained within the lyrics the legs to spread and to stick.

Since the release of Soundtrack to the Struggle, I have been so exciting about its success, and the implications of this success. The hip-hop world has been abuzz with anticipation for some time, but now it seems that Lowkey is erupting into the mainstream to some degree. The album has received BBC radio-time and had amazing success on Amazon and iTunes, and even sat on top of an Eminem release in charts. And, with a media buzz, various gig-dates around the country, singles and many videos (produced by the excellent GlobalFaction outfit), it looks like Lowkey’s music is finally reaching a mass audience. And, more important, so are the topic’s that the album touches on; topics that I hope educate, inspire, and deeply touch every single listener, as they become the soundtrack to their — our – struggle for a better future.

Saso Release New Album : Exitudes

Nick Withers — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:35:56 +0000

After a five year hiatus, Irish band Saso, known best to some as “those guys from the Coors Light advert*” return to their dark musical roots with their fourth album Exitudes.

A slow, languishing album, it never reaches the particular heights that would highlight any one song as a potential single, instead weaving between styles to present an album that is vaguely haunting and supremely powerful.

The first song, Billion Hands is an eerie piano-based hymn featuring echo-y, subdued vocals over a steady drum beat and a muffled, repetitive piano pattern. Its full, mysterious sound trickles nicely in to the next song on the track — the surreal waltz that is Carousel. At only 2:14 this is one of the shorter tracks on the album, but is no less powerful. The long, high notes the vocals lounge upon are comparable to that of Muse singer Matt Bellamy, only without being washed out by pseudo-techno guitar riffs and a self-aggrandising attitude. One of the best songs on the album, this track really does conjure up images of an old battered carousel, broken and weathered but forever turning in some nightmarish, deserted, Terry Gilliam–esque fairground.

The tone turns up a little as we move on to the third track, as the acoustic guitars come out and the drums take on a more rhythmic feel. It’s here that you realise this is a band not content with a single sound, and we settle in to some more traditional indie fare, first with the acoustic funk of From Limbo and then the dark tones of Secret Ministry. That’s not to say that these songs are to be held to a lower standard than the others on the album — each contains the kind of dark lyricism rarely found in contemporary music — more that these may be more accessible to some who perhaps haven’t been exposed to this style of music before, and don’t have time to listen to the whole album.

We get a break in the middle of the album with the instrumental piece Silent Earth. In keeping with the tone of the album thus far, the piece begins very slowly, introducing each instrument gradually and building on some of the hooks developed in the previous songs. Though it does a nice job of ending the first part of the album and bringing in the second half, some may find it a little unnecessary and choose to skip over it. If there’s a weak link in this album it’s Silent Earth.

The second half of the album builds the tone up some more, starting with the acoustic ballad Idle Spirit that crashes in to life with a nice crescendo two thirds in to the song. By this point the band have taken you a thousand miles from where we started with Billion Hands, without you even noticing you were going anywhere.

Tracks like Man Overboard and Facts are the high point of this album — sounding a little like some of the quieter songs by bands like Incubus and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but still keeping the calm, Jeff Buckley style vocals that make this band stand out.

When we reach Cardboard Cutout we go back to the kind of slow, surreal hymn that the album began with, and the haunting sound continues in to the penultimate song Sooner Or Later — a repetitive, almost threatening track built on minor chords and echo-y vocals that builds to a powerful ending.

Saso don’t leave us there though. The album ends on another instrumental track, Pull The Plug, a confident, sad piece with a simple structure that wouldn’t be out of place on a film score, sounding vaguely reminiscent of Hans Zimmer’s final piece for Inception. It’s a steady, strong song that never tries to build to an obvious end point, leaving you wanting more from this truly excellent album.

What Saso have done here is something that is often unheard in the days of downloads. They have created an album that is actually more than the sum of its parts. Each song has its own merits and style, and most — if not all — are wonderful on their own. But for the full Saso experience this is an album that has to be listened to in totality, in a dark room, in one sitting. And it’s an album that has to be listened to again and again.

*2007’s Type A Jitters from the album I Can Do Nice.

Advertise on New Beats Media

The Beat — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:08:44 +0000

We are now making it even easier for you to reach a wider audience by offering various types of advertising solutions on our website and social media networks. We will discuss each package on an individual needs basis and will aim to work towards your budget to ensure everyone has the same opportunity. So if you want to promote your business, venue or music get in touch with us.

Here is a brief look at what is available..

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Branded Page — Featured Artists Page (FA) Visible on all pages
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Twitter Background Takeover — Must comply with Twitter Specifications

Visit the official Advertise With Us page for full details of the opportunites available including Advert placements or Email us now to discuss further.

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Ocean Vibe From East London

Margo Gontar — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:28:52 +0000

Courtesy of Ben Browning Photography

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome : Films of Colour. They are — Andy Clutterbuck on vocals and guitar, James Hatcher on guitar, Jack Allinson on bass and synths, and James Rees-Flynn on drums.

They are back with a new single called Capital & Persinette. Side A to the single is the warm and charming Capital, with its visions of holidaying in the sunny London. The Side B Persinette presents the listener with a darker and evil sound, filled with hysteric, depressive and spontaneous drama filled tempo changes. You can really see this in the official video for both songs.

Simon Williams, the Fierce Panda Records honcho, has confessed his love of these lads and described them as the best band he’d signed since Radiohead and Coldplay. There is a big “Coldplay” vibe in these tracks, with Films of Colour really producing some extra drive with their drums. The tracks are heavily laced with the sound of Indie Rock, it reminds me a lot of the ocean and a peaceful wide open space. It is like you are diving into the Pacific Ocean.

So hold your breath and jump in and enjoy the depth that Films of Colour create.

Access To Music + OxjamBrum Present: Introducing Take Two

Gena Hollyoake — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:50:34 +0000

If you are in the Midlands and up for a good time with some great, local pop-punk bands, head on down to Unplug in Digbeth (next to HMV Institute) tomorrow night at 6:30pm. OxjamBrum will be bringing you a selection of top artists and for £3 entry, along with some tempting drinks promotions, it really is a bargain! All proceeds will go to Oxfam — how much more of an excuse to you need?
Kicking the evening off will be Access To Music’s very own band The Late who are going to show us why they have been named as one of the best bands to come from the Birmingham Access To Music College.

The Late are followed by Tamworth’s fabulous Call Atlantis. The band are currently working away in the studio (as we speak!) so if you want to hear what they have been up to, Unplug is the only pace to be. With new album L’Espirit De L’Escallier coming this Fall, you would be mad to miss out on the opportunity to hear some exclusive previews from the album.

Spearmint 6 will then be bringing you their refreshing pop-punk sound and proving why no-one does pop punk quite like the Midlands. They state that they ‘engage every member of the audience with a high energy performance and a commanding presence’, so get involved!

Kerrang! Radio’s new favourite band Patchwork Grace are also playing for OxjamBrum tomorrow. They are currently making quite a name for themselves within the alternative music scene, not only in the Midlands but throughout the UK. After gaining a fair amount of airplay from Kerrang! Radio, this band is sure to be going places soon. Catch them now, for just £3 and get one step ahead of your friends.

Last but certainly not least are Derby’s very own Down To A Science. This band are always on the road and constantly adding to their solid fan base so OxjamBrum have been really lucky to get the guys to come down and play for us tomorrow. If you are a fan of Paramore, The Starting Line or You Me At Six, you will love love love Down To A Science.

So what are you waiting for? Get down to Unplug in Digbeth tomorrow and let’s raise some money for a fantastic charity!
More information can be found here!

Interview : Memphis May Fire

Gena Hollyoake — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:48:11 +0000

To see Memphis May Fire’s Matty Mullins on stage, one could assume he has a certain persona.

He comes across as passionate, confident and fierce as his deep roar fills the room but then changes things up as his beautiful, clean vocals break in to reveal a softer, more emotional side. This so called ‘persona’ is exactly what he is like in person. The enthusiasm and belief he has in Memphis May Fire, together with his genuine interest in their fans, is astounding. Through stopping the interview, to chat to fans and taking the time to ask their names, he proved himself to be a real rarity within the music industry and someone who deserves New Beats Media’s utmost respect.

We caught up with Matty to find out how their European tour has been going and ask why Memphis May Fire’s sound has changed so dramatically over the years.

How’s the tour going so far? Are you pleased with the reception from the UK?

Yeah, it has been really good. The past couple of days have been awesome –London was amazing and yesterday in Glasgow was unbelievable. We didn’t really know what to expect as it is our first time over here, so the crowds have been amazing, the kids have been really cool, it’s been nice.

Had you met / heard of The Colour Morale and Dream on Dreamer before the start of this tour?

Yeah, we toured with The Colour Morale, last year with The Chariot, and Dream On Dreamer are a fairly new band from Australia so, we knew of them but we hadn’t met them until we got here. They are cool.

The tour is pretty epic in length. Do you not get fed up of each other?

Oh no. Well, Memphis May Fire have their own van, whereas the other two bands have to ride together in the other van. So we have our own van and we have our own hotel rooms every night, but even if we had to be together all the time, they are really cool dudes, nobody causes any trouble and everyone is really respectful. That is like the main thing that we always want when we are on tour, we just want to be on tour with bands that are respectful because we don’t really party that hard.

Within the band we have been touring together for years so we all know how to not p*ss each other off, I guess.

Your EP ‘Sleepwalking’ had a sort of southern rock feel to it but your latest release ‘The Hollow’ definitely has a more mature post-hardcore sound. Was it a natural progression or did you guys make a conscious decision to change things up a bit?

It was definitely natural and I think progression is definitely the word that you are looking for. Basically what happened was the band was kind of doing the southern rock thing, like 4 years ago. They tracked the EP Sleepwalking in Seattle, where I am from, and then their singer quit. They went through a bunch of auditions, I think like over 180 auditions, and they didn’t really find the person that they wanted. Then they finally contacted me and we hit it off, right off the bat. I moved to Texas and I had about two weeks to write all the lyrics and record everything for Sleepwalking, so I guess when I jumped in with the band, I was somewhat influenced by what they had already been doing, kind of the southern rock thing. But over time, touring and what with me being from Washington (like I’m not from the South I don’t have any southern roots at all), together with being in the band for a while and feeling like I could express myself more and that I could be me, I started to play more of a part in the writing process, as me and not just as someone in Memphis May Fire. The music got heavier, my vocals became more like something that I wanted to do and naturally we got better. We wrote an album that we are really proud of. Sleepwalking, we were happy with but it was really rushed and the EP we did by ourselves, whereas The Hollow is definitely the album that we have always wanted to do and from now on we are going to continue to progress and it is going to sound like that.

Were you nervous about changing your sound?

Yeah I mean, I guess it wasn’t even really a conscious decision. It was like ‘this is what we wrote, this is how it sounds and if some of our fans don’t like it, then they don’t like us because this is us now’. This is Memphis May Fire 2.0, I guess you could call it, and this is how we are always going to be.

Do you have a favourite track from ‘The Hollow’?

Oh Jeez… I don’t know, it’s my favourite record that I have ever done in my life and I am pretty happy with every song. That’s what is cool about the record, we get tweets and Facebook messages from fans all the time, saying ‘play this song’ and nobody has one favourite song. I can’t pick a favourite song.

Who came up with all the track names on ‘The Hollow’ and do they relate to the song?

The lyrical content on The Hollow is something different for me as I wrote it in a different way to what I have done before. From track 1 all the way to track 10, it’s like each song tells a story from the perspective of somebody different, not me and something that they went through, whether it’s divorce or being cheated on or war. One song is from our guitarist’s perspective on our previous interactions with the music industry. I wanted to write songs for other people, and songs that they could relate to because if I just wrote about myself, I didn’t feel like everyone could always relate. So I wrote this record for the fans and I think everybody has a favourite track. The song The Abandoned is about growing up without a Father, but I grew up with a really great Dad and my Dad and I have a great relationship, but I have seen so many of my friends grow up without a Father, and I have seen how it affected their life, so I wrote that song for them and it turned out really well.

What does the rest of 2011 hold for Memphis May Fire?

We have been on tour non-stop and we will have done 9 months in total this year. We finish this tour and then fly back to the States on October 9th. Then we basically get off the plane, into our van and start another tour. It is called the Rock Yourself To Sleep Tour and it is sponsored by Motel 6, so they give us a free hotel every night, which is really cool. It is us, Attila, A Skylit Drive, Sleeping With Sirens and Alesana. It will be a good tour, we are really happy about it.

For people who are foolish enough not to have seen Memphis May Fire live, what can someone expect from your set?

Our live show is what defines us as a band and it always has been. We will never write a record that we cannot pull off live. It’s funny ‘cos once a week we get questions from Alternative Press Magazine and we send answers over to them. One time they asked us ‘Do you think that bands are in it more for the music or in it more for the fame?’ and honestly, in 2011, I have seen more bands that will just play to back tracks, lip-sync and do it for the fame. That is not what we are all about, we always write a record that we can pull off, and we do. With our live shows, we always put in 100%, whether there are 10 kids in the room or 1,000 kids in the room, it doesn’t matter to us so I guess you could always say it is always worth the ticket price!

Interview : Dream on Dreamer

Gena Hollyoake — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:05:47 +0000

Melbourne Post-Hardcore six-piece Dream On Dreamer recently embarked on their first ever European tour, in support of their latest release Heartbound. After mixed reviews and some sites even going as far as labelling the band ‘generic’, New Beats Media decided to get to know them a little better and hopefully silence these critics.

We caught up with front man Marcel Gadacz for a quick chat and after he had finished brushing his teeth, we were ready to go!

How is the tour going so far? Are you pleased with the reception from the UK?

Yeah, it has been really good. It has been a great experience for us and all of the shows have been fun.

Have you been out partying after the shows? Where did you go?

Not so much really. We always, you know, just hang out together. In Glasgow we went out to a few pubs and chilled but there have been no major parties yet.

Do you have a particular favourite city on the tour so far? Obviously after tonight it will be Leicester!

Ha, yeah of course! Well, my favourite city so far was London because the show was really good at The Underworld. Germany will be good and Paris because the gig is on a boat, which should be pretty cool! A lot of bands who have played there have said really good things about it, so we’re really stoked and I think it will be a lot of fun.

You guys have quite a mix of nationalities amongst you, what with you being German and Aaron an American. As you are based in Australia, do you miss your folks back home?

Yeah I do. I have just been to see them for two weeks before this European tour so I got to spend two weeks with my family, which was cool. You always miss your family and stuff but I have been living in Australia for four years now, because of the band. We Skype every weekend but I can’t just go and over and see them for that often because it’s a 25 hour flight to Germany from Australia so it makes things really hard.

There are some great post-hardcore bands coming over from Australia at the moment. You have the likes of The Amity Affliction, Hands Like Houses and of course you guys. Has the metal scene always been pretty strong in Australia or do you think it has recently flourished?

I think it has changed from being like a metal-core scene, with the likes of Parkway Drive, to something that is more modern, I guess. The music has always been around but it’s just that not many bands do it right or they don’t do it professionally, instead they just do it for fun. Some bands don’t really have the opportunity to step it up to the next level but there’s some cool bands coming out of Australia.

Your sound has been compared to the likes of Saosin and a more melodic Parkway Drive but who are your main influences?

It’s really weird because we all bring different influences to the band, we don’t agree on one band. My influences are Modern Life Is War, like all the hardcore bands and stuff. But then I get influenced by bands like Tool, I love Tool. I also get influence from a lot of bands who actually have something to say, I don’t listen to any of the scene bands because it’s just not my thing, but a few of us obviously do. I mean, I listen to it and I respect it but I just can’t get into it really. We even get influence from hip hop and stuff, but to name a few bands and to sum it up, it would probably be Thrice because everyone agrees on them, Poison The Well, As Cities Burn, Architects and probably Thursday or something like that.

Your band name is Dream On Dreamer. What’s the weirdest dream you have had? It can’t be too rude.

It can’t be rude? Well, when I dream, I dream sexual dreams. That’s all I ever dream about.

Okay, I am going to ask these questions to see how Australian you are…

I’m not Australian!

Yeah but you live there! So can you surf?

No, I can’t surf for sh*t.

Do you love a good barbeque?

Yes, in the summer. Even when I was living in Germany I did.

Do you own a wobble board or a boomerang?

I got a boomerang as an accessory kind of thing at my house in Germany, so I guess I have that. I don’t have one in Australia though.

For anyone who hasn’t had the honour of seeing you guys play live, what can we expect from a typical Dream On Dreamer set?

I think like a really energetic and passionate set, not just music. We are not like a rubbish brutal band who are just all gorey and stuff. We don’t act tough and sh*t, we are just passionate and do our own thing. It doesn’t matter if it is like 50 people or 500 or 5000, we always thrash out. It is just us expressing ourselves and doing what we love.

Your new album ‘Heartbound’ is out now. Would you like to describe it in 3 words?

I’m going to use the same word again and say passionate. Is lyrically a word? It is really lyric dependent maybe and I guess… Wow, 3 words. Help me out with that?

Good? Amazing? Unique?

I hope it is unique! I hope. You can’t really be unique. Well, you can be but it’s really hard. I’d say yeah, maybe unique.

So there you have it! It is plain to see that Dream On Dreamer are passionate, with the drive and determination to plough on and make something of themselves, despite the critics. It was really refreshing to see that Marcel was completely down to earth and spent forever talking to us after the interview had finished. Here at New Beats Media, we are confident that after this European tour, Dream On Dreamer will be a well-known and respected name on the circuit.

Their latest album ‘Heartbound’ is available now!

Hopes Die Last Gig Review

Gena Hollyoake — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:32:44 +0000

This gig was, in theory, one that had the perfect line-up. Coming all the way from Australia, Hands Like Houses have been making waves on the UK circuit for a while now and everyone was pretty eager to catch them live. So when The Elijah and Violet were added to the line-up too, it was a gig that only a fool would miss. Did it live up to expectations though? Pah, of course it did!

Derby band A World Defined kicked things off and had a fair crowd considering they were first on the bill. The band had a great sound and despite technical difficulties, pulled off a decent set. Those who are looking for a band to fill that big Alexisonfire shaped hole in your heart, give A World Defined a listen. They will definitely help ease your pain.

Starting in complete silence, The Elijah took to the stage next, beginning their set with the soft, angelic vocals of clean vocalist Michael as their music slowly started building in preparation for the sudden roar of screamer, Dan. Throughout the set there was a real contrast between the instrumental and the screamo in each of their tracks, but they make it work to create a sound that is utterly addictive. For those who have not heard of this band, the best way to describe them would be to imagine if somehow Emarosa and While She Sleeps had a lovechild, and well, that lovechild would be called ‘The Elijah’. What is most impressive about this band is just how focused all of the members are. You can tell that their tracks are packed full of emotion and every member portrays this to such a degree, it is impossible as a spectator not to feel their raw passion. The set was intense and moving, and as I looked around to see posters advertising the likes of Kasabian, who played at The Victoria in 2004, I know that in a few years, people will be looking at the posters and thinking ‘Wow, The Elijah played here in 2011’.

Aussie band Hands Like Houses pulled out all the hits that every fan knows and loves. Lion Skin was a particular winner with almost everyone in the basement singing word for word, joining Trenton Smith as he serenaded everyone with his powerful, clean cut vocals. Despite keeping fingers crossed for a most unlikely appearance from Mister Johnny Craig himself, sadly he was a no show. Probably had things to do and people to see but Hands Like Houses rocked it without him anyway. The band kept saying ‘We can’t believe that we have come halfway across the world and you are all singing our songs back at us’. Well you had better believe it boys; the UK can’t get enough of you.

Local band Violet were the main support act and confidently started their set, with lead screamer Jonny having no qualms about getting right up close and personal, in people’s faces within the crowd. They started their set with a heavy track to shake the room up a bit but showed their versatility with a range of tracks throughout their set. They ended with the extremely popular release Perspectives, which had an incredible response. It is clear that this band is extremely well loved and supported in their hometown and judging by their Facebook, everywhere else for that matter.

Headliners Hopes Die Last appeared and despite a somewhat dwindling crowd, put in an enthusiastic performance. They were loud enough to make your ears burst but that’s the reason people love them.

All in all it was a fantastic gig and all bands are most definitely worth having a listen to or checking out live. However my band of the night, without a doubt was The Elijah and I am now a fan for life.

Interview with Haydn from The Stow

Stephen Almond — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:53:57 +0000

After impressing us with their energetic single, Give A Damn, when we reviewed the track back in June, The Stow have been featured by several well-respected music websites including: MTV’s ‘The Wrap Up’ and NME. While Give A Damn captured the imagination of music fans across the country and received airplay on music televisions channels, local radio stations throughout the UK and was even featured on Sky Sports’ popular Saturday morning programme, Soccer AM.

We recently caught up with The Stow’s frontman, Haydn, to find out more about the five-piece band from Walthamstow, who are growing in popularity daily.

Hi Haydn! Thanks for taking the time to speak to us today. Could you start by telling us a bit about The Stow?

We’re made up of five members: myself vocals/songwriter, Shi vocals/songwriter, Dave on bass, Gus on drums and Matt on guitar. The band came together because I used to be a solo artist rapper called, Esteem. I was a cliché rapper, who would talk about the usual stuff like girls and bling, and it wasn’t me. I loved live music and I was working alongside a saxophonist called, Yolanda Brown, and our former drummer, Will, when the idea to create a band came about.

How would you describe The Stow’s sound?

For me, personally, I think we make pop music because we fuse together so many different genres. Other people say there is no such thing as pop music, so we often get described as indie hip-hop. We’ve been called, ‘the British N.E.R.D’, quite a lot of times, so I’m happy to go with that.

‘Give A Damn’ is the lead single from your excellent ‘The Covers EP.’ Tell me about the track…

Give A Damn comes from people asking us what we’re actually all about. We’ve just got to the stage where we just want to make good music, still enjoy what we are doing and for people to enjoy our music. The track is just our way of saying, ‘This is who we are, this what we do and if you enjoy it, then come along.’ I write about 95% of our tracks and everything we say in them is normally based on real things that have happened to us. At one point, someone who was trying to manage us told me that I was the worst singer in the band, so I was thinking, ‘Wow! Thanks for that.’ I don’t mind things like that because you can always take positives and negatives from things. Most of what he said I disagreed with, but there were parts that made me think, ‘Well, yeah, I can take that on-board and learn from it.’ You can always learn from everything, so that’s what the track is based on.

I know the video for ‘Give A Damn’ was recently premiered on the television channel, Flava. What was it like seeing your video on tv for the first time?

That was amazing. At the moment, it is on Flava, AKA, NME, Virgin On Demand and Starz. When AKA was Channel U I sent three videos into them that didn’t get played, so it was a nice feeling when the Give A Damn video was played. We’re just hoping that it can get more airplay and then more people will see it and we can build some momentum. I can’t wait to hear it on radio that would blow my mind. To be listening to the radio and to then hear your track come on, when you haven’t been intentionally trying to find it that would just be crazy. We’ve had some good feedback from radio stations. I contacted some the other day and I’ve already had ten replies from them saying they are going to playlist the track and they really like it. To hear positive stuff like that is great because the only reason we make music is for people to like it, so when you are hearing positive things like that all the negative stuff can go and jump.

People probably expect ‘The Covers EP’ to be full of cover versions of other tracks, when in fact all four tracks on the ep are original songs. Why did you decided to call the ep, ‘The Covers EP?’

Initially the cover versions we were doing online were getting a lot more love than our own stuff, so we structured a way to do our new songs around the arrangements of the covers we did online. The original plan was to put our online covers on the ep, but because our own material came out better than we could ever have envisaged we decided to just use our own material. We felt that using the cover versions would have devalued the ep. We also had to keep costs down and to use the full-scale productions of the cover versions would have been too expensive. We kept The Covers EP title because it was inspired by the online cover versions. Tinie Tempah’s Written In The Stars inspired Lifeline, Love Goes was inspired by Katy Perry’s Firework, Angels is the only song which is a traditional cover. It was originally a House Of The Rising Sun song, which was an old school folk/rock song, and we made it into our own.

Which of the cover versions you uploaded on YouTube was your favourite?

My personal favourite is the Kanye West Runaway one. We did one of Pink’s F****n’ Perfect, which should be online within the next couple of weeks. I really like that one and think it will go down pretty well with people.

How important do you think social media sites are for up-and-coming artists to showcase their work and increase their fanbase?

Online is as important as mainstream media, especially for up-and-coming artists. It is where your fanbase is going to be. People just need to type ‘The Stow’ into Google and they can find out whatever they need to know. Nowadays people are less likely to go to a shop and buy a magazine or newspaper to find out about artists. Having a strong online presence is crucial, but it is hard because the market is saturated now. Trying to get that right connection and buzz is hard because there are so many people trying to get their music heard, but you just have to keep pushing. Some people get lucky and get a million views right away, but for us we’ve just got to keep trying. I remember on the night we uploaded the video for Give A Damn we got 1000 views in the first night and we were so delighted because we’d never had anything like that before. It is just little things like that and knowing that people like your music that makes it all worthwhile.

You write your own music, but do you produce your own tracks as well?

Yeah. Our band is funny because we can’t beg, steal or borrow anyone to come in and do anything for us, so I do pretty much everything: producing, writing, promoting us and other stuff. We’ve been unable to find anyone to produce for us, so we do everything. I’m very strict, though. I want everything to be live. 99% of Give A Damn is live. We haven’t been able to find anyone who wants to get involved with the project. People only want to work with you when they think you’re at a movement rather than wanting to build a movement to breakthrough, which is sad. Indie hip-hop bands all need to work together to create a movement that is so powerful that record labels wouldn’t be able to reject us. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to work like that and they just want to do their own thing, which is fair enough and you can’t knock them for that, but sometimes they need to look at the bigger picture.

You have already had the opportunity to support VV Brown on her UK tour in 2009. How did that come about?

Basically the Metro newspaper were running a competition for unsigned artists. We had to submit some music online and get our fans to vote for us, then we had to perform in front of the Metro judges and a couple of other industry people, so we did that, and it went down really well, and we won and got to go on tour with VV.

What was the experience like?

At the time it was great because we had a lot of exposure in the Metro. Literally every Friday we were in the Metro up and down the country, stuff like that I’d kill for now. Back then we were at the start of our career and we didn’t really know what was going on, so we just took it all in and enjoyed it, it was amazing. It also showed us that this is what we could be doing in life and it has pushed us on the most. We just thought, ‘Wow! We could be performing night in night out to 400 or 500 people showing us love.’ We get a lot of love in London, so that’s okay, but outside of London gig wise the crowds are more receptive and you don’t have to be some major superstar for a crowd to show you their appreciation and that’s what we seen on tour, people actually like what we’re doing — young, old, black, white, green whatever. That’s when we really realised that we can actually do this for a living.

Did you manage to meet VV Brown?

Yeah, she’s sound. VV’s cool. I still speak to her little sister, Jade, who is a singer/songwriter. She’s really good and I speak to her all the time. She’s a lot different to VV; her music is more of that Bob Dylan kinda stuff. VV is obviously up and down the country and all around the world, so we don’t hear from her as much as her sister. We actually saw her at a gig the other day and she showed us love and was as nice to us, as always. She’s really cool. During the tour, she always went out of her way to get us to go and chill with her and her band.

Do you have any live shows coming up in the near future?

Unfortunately, Shi has ripped her Achilles tendon, so we’ve had to cancel a few gigs. So far, this year, we’ve done about sixty gigs. Before Shi got injured, the guys had a break from gigs for a month, while I sorted the video out and talked to radio and stuff like that. We’ve got our own night coming up October 6, similar to the thing we did at Cargo, at Camden Monarch. We’ll have a few guests on the bill with us and it’ll be a good night.

What can people expect when they attend a show by The Stow?

That’s our thing! That’s where we come to life. Live is our passion. We’re here to entertain, so we want to try and make people have fun, we want people to dance and enjoy the show. We want people to come away from our shows and say, ‘They gave us a great performance. They were dope.’ We really work on that. We’re working on our acoustic set. We want that to stand out just as much as our full set and I think we’ve almost got it, so I’m looking forward to that. I’ve been watching Ed Sheeran, so I hope our set can be as good as his. With me being a rapper, I’m used to moving around on stage and with an acoustic set I sort of feel restrained just sitting down, so we’ve been working on making it more fun and exciting. On BBC Introducing, we did a piano version of Love Goes and it sounded really nice, so we’re trying to get that into our set now. A lot of our songs are quite high energy and people can dance to them, so we’ve got a couple of slow songs now to make the show more intimate, and you can just feel the love from the delivery of the song and the words. All of those things don’t come naturally though, you have to work at them.

Who have been your biggest musical influences?

I’m a weirdo. I’m eclectic in my music. I listen to everything and anything from Arctic Monkeys to Jay-Z. I went to see the London Symphony Orchestra one time because my friend asked me to go and see the orchestra, so I said, ‘I’d go’, but I didn’t think I’d enjoy it and I was blown away by the cacophony of sound — I could have stayed there all night, happily. I just love music and the way it can draw feelings and emotions out of you. You can be at a wedding, funeral, birth or any event and music can take you anywhere. There’s a sound you can play whatever your emotion that can take you anywhere.

Which current artists do you rate highly?

I love Ed Sheeran. I’m more for the smaller artists, though. There’s a guy called, Big Ben, who is a rapper, who I love. There’s also Lyracis — who is going to be crazy and I’ve heard some of his stuff and it’s beyond a joke — I think he’s going to be huge. He’s got a great team around him too. Wretch 32 is my hero. I’m loving his stuff and I’m looking forward to hearing his album. Rizzle Kicks came from nowhere and I’m loving their vibe. There’s a lot of UK talent and there’s enough artists around to hold it together for a long time.

Clearly you are passionate about making good music and doing it your own way. How important is fame and fortune to you?

Fame, I couldn’t give a flying monkey’s about. I have no desire to be famous. On stage, I am not nervous, but I am really kinda shy and introverted off-stage. Going into crowds after I have performed I hate that because I just cringe. I’m always unsure what to talk about with people. I was talking about this with my friend the other day and he was saying, ‘But you have to go into the crowd and do stuff like that.’ It’s not that I don’t appreciate their support, but after a show I always feel really on edge and kind of embarrassed that people might think I’m showing off when I go into the crowd. The adrenaline you get from performing live and seeing people reciting your songs is amazing. I remember we did a show at Cargo in Shoreditch in the winter, when the weather was really bad and it was snowing like crazy. All of the trains were off and we were travelling to the venue and I was saying to the other guys, ‘It’s going to be empty, no one is going to come’, and we arrived at the venue and we’d packed out the main hall. I couldn’t believe it and it was an amazing feeling to see that people love what we do and made the effort to come and support us. The adrenaline from things like that, you just can’t beat it.

You are the rapper in the group. Could any of the other group members give you a run for your money?

I’m alright in that department, thank you. I’ve got that one on lock. That’s my domain. Haha. Everyone else in the group can play a musical instrument and I’m the only one who can’t, which is embarrassing. Dave likes to try rapping now and again. When we were on tour we had a video of him, which was really funny, but we lost the video. He’s really clichéd. Think Ali G and that’s him.

Finally, what can we expect from The Stow for the rest of this year?

The idea is to release another two videos. There’ll definitely be another one before the end of the year. Hopefully there’ll be a couple of remixes of the songs. I’ve already done one of Angels and I’m doing one of Lifeline with Big Ben and hopefully Rodney P. We’re also working on new material because we want to put out a new ep in January. Once Shi is back we’ll be back on the gig scene and hopefully we’ll be going on a support tour by the end of the year. Hopefully we’ll get ourselves a manager sorted out too. We’re just going to keep working and keep things moving.

The Italian Misfit : Giacinto Palmieri

Aga Mytkowska — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:50:27 +0000

“Italian misfit” as he calls himself, Giacinto Palmieri is one of a few foreign comedians and non-native speakers performing stand up comedy in London and other British cities. As Aga Mytkowska found out, his shows led him to a big success and having many English and foreign fans in the country.

Giacinto, why did you leave sunny Puglia in Italy and come to England?

I moved in March 2001. I just wanted to do an experience abroad and I had always liked London, so I gave it a try. I came here without a job, arrived on a Monday and got a very good job offer on the Friday of the same weak. It felt great.

When and how did your journey as a comedian start?

Three years ago. One evening I discovered one of those comedy clubs in the function room of pubs and I was mesmerized. I was simply amazed by the level of energy and creativity. But at first I really struggled to understand the jokes, even if I had been living in the UK already for six years back then. Comedy is full of topical and cultural references, puns and exaggerated accents. So I started going to comedy clubs as a challenge and as a way to improve my English comprehension skills. With time I started to understand more and more and so to enjoy it more and more. Meanwhile I wrote a short satirical piece, a mock anthropological study on the British tradition of the corporate Christmas party. I wanted to send it to a friend called Adrian but by mistake I sent it to the MD of the company I was working for, called Adrien. He liked it very much so, instead of firing me, he read it in front of everybody during the actual Christmas party, getting big laughs in response. He said that he had received it from an employee, but he thought it was better not to say who that employee was. I was flattered by the response but I also felt deprived of the rightful recognition. So I thought: why not start writing this kind of stuff as a stand-up material set and perform it myself? I put two and two together, the discovery of the comedy clubs scene and the discovery of my comic writing instincts. The only thing I needed was the confidence to perform, so I joined a stand-up comedy course, after which I started doing my first open spots.

What is your profession and how do you manage to find time for your hobby?

When I started I had a permanent job as a software developer. Now I have moved into contracting and one of the reasons is that I hope it will offer me more flexibility. Fortunately comedy is an evening activity and you don’t really sit down and write. Ideas can come at any moment, even at work.

Where do you perform and how often?

Outside festivals I perform short sets at comedy clubs. The frequency is very irregular. The biggest chance to perform longer sets in a regular way, however, is offered by festivals such as the Edinburgh Fringe.

What was your first performance and what memories of it you have?

It was the showcase of the course I attended. It was at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden and the MC was some sort of very camp drag queen. A weird evening, but the audience were of course made mostly of friends and it went well. It’s from the second gig onwards that things start to become tough.

How many times did you participate in Fringe Festival?

This year was my third year. For a non-professional like myself, it’s a unique opportunity to perform every day for almost a month and to learn from the other comedians. And it’s also good fun, although the competition is very tough and you have to work very hard on promotion.

Do you perform in Italian too?

It’s an interesting question. I performed in Italy only once but in English, as part of an international conference on translation. Now I have two invitations to perform comedy in Italy in Italian but I’m quite scared, to be honest. Not only is all my material in English, but after living for ten years in the UK I’m afraid of having lost the common ground of experience with those who live in Italy. I could try Italian material in front of my Italian friends in London, but their frame of reference is different from that of an Italian audience in Italy. And I think in Italy people are more used to character and sketch comedy than proper stand-up. So, I don’t exclude I’ll do it, but I see it as a very difficult challenge and this, of course, is a bit of a paradox.

Do you always perform on your own?

When you perform in comedy clubs you always share the bill with other comedians. I performed solo only during the festivals. This year, however, I shared the Edinburgh Fringe slot with other two comedians, actually comediennes, and really enjoyed it. I think there is a lot to learn from working with other people.

How do your ideas come to the light and what influences your comedy?

I found my first source of inspiration in the experience of being an Italian in Britain. Being a foreigner helps you to see things with fresh eyes and that is a very good source of humour. Regarding my influences, my comedy education consisted in watching people on the London live scene, trying to learn from comedians who were just two or three steps above me and who were playing the same type of room as me. It’s only recently that I have started watching the DVDs of the great masters and to go to proper theatres to see the big names.

What are your performances about?

At the beginning there was a lot of material about cultural identity but now they are more and more about language. There are very few comics who are non-native English speakers, so they can see many things with fresh eyes but not the English language itself. So I decided to focus more and more on how surprising, wonderful and weird the English language can be for those who have to learn it as their second language.

How long do you prepare for a performance, new and old one?

The only way to prepare for a performance is to do more performances. You have gigs where you know that you need to give your bests shots and gigs where you know that you can experiment a bit, for instance with trying new material, so you use the latter gigs to prepare for the former.

What is your best and the worst memory of a show you did?

My best memory is performing in front a packed Hackney Empire in the final for the New Act of the Year 2010 competition. It’s such an amazing theatre with a great place in comedy history, performing there was a great experience. My worst memory is reading a very bad review of my show at the Fringe two years ago. When performers say that they don’t care about reviews they are lying.

What do you think about the English humour?

I love it, it tends to be more based on language and puns than other national humours and I think that plays well with my interests and my mindset.

Who is your favourite comedian?

It depends on the moment. Probably at the moment it’s Dylan Moran.

What do you like so much about performing?

Of course being at the centre of other peoples attention and making them laugh is very exciting. Seeing that something that was born in your brain can produce such a pleasurable effect on other people makes you think you’re connected, it’s a great sensation.

How do you deal with the stress before performances?

I tend to cultivate it, for instance by drinking coffee or a Coke instead of more “relaxing” alcoholic drinks. You need to feel a bit stressed to do your best, but it’s a difficult balance, if it’s too much it can harm your performance.

What are your plans for the future as a comedian?

I’m going to do a new solo show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia. I’m very excited about it!

The Leadmill Reach Top Three

Hannah Hassack — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:17:42 +0000

Award Nomination Is Music To The Ears For Sheffield’s Most Esteemed Live Music Venue

Sheffield’s most time honoured live music venue is now at the forefront in the running for one of the industry’s most prestigious awards.

The Leadmill – which celebrates its 31st birthday this year –constituted one of the nine venues originally nominated for the Live UK Music Award and has now made it through to the final round of voting, which will conclude at the awards ceremony on the 6th October.

Short-listed as one of the final three establishments nominated for the Best Venue Teamwork (+800) award, The Leadmill is competing alongside Nottingham’s Roxy City and Brixton Academy with Koko – both greatly esteemed London venues.

Live UK is the only music industry publication focused solely on live music, read by the industry’s most influential people, and the award is an outstanding achievement for one of Sheffield’s most highly regarded music venues.

Rupert Dell, General Manager of The Leadmill, said “We are so very proud to have made it into the final three nominees for this award. We pride ourselves on hosting outstanding gigs every time and feel this accomplishment sums up just how passionate we are about delivering fantastic live events.

To be nominated alongside other such widely appreciated and successful venues is an incredible achievement. All our thanks goes to those who attend our gigs, the staff for their amazing efforts and everybody who has played a part in helping us to achieve this acclamation – as one of the top 3 Live Music Venues in the UK!

We’re so excited and this nomination is testament to the huge efforts the team puts in, as well as the loyalty of those who continue to support and enjoy The Leadmill.”

The winning nominee for each category will be announced at the award ceremony, which takes place at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London on the 6th October.

This Autumn The Leadmill are offering another outstanding line-up, hosting gigs from Benjamin F Leftwich, The Pierces, Miles Kane, The Twang, Pop Will Eat Itself, Billy Bragg, British Sea Power, The Pigeon Detectives, Death in Vegas and many more.

See here for their full line-up and to purchase tickets or for updates on The Leadmill events visit their Facebook or Twitter pages.

The Low Suns : Never Gonna Care

Katherine Bayly — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:27:23 +0000

The Low Suns are a five piece band whose influences range from Jeff Buckley, The Flaming Lips, 1940s Gospel and sci-fi soundtracks. Now, that may sound like quite a varied mix but the music they produce is something inspiring.

The Low Suns formed after band members and childhood friends Ali and James returned from L.A. Shortly after, unknown to them, they met their singer, folk musician Jack Berkley, in a pub in London. Expressing boredom for the folk scene in London, The Low Suns formed to push music to the max.

Never Gonna Care is their debut single recorded in their hand-made London studio. It’s an anthemic track full of electronics, heavy bass and eerily distant vocals. The chorus is especially passionate with the influence of gospel shining through making it one of the most interesting and exciting tracks I’ve heard in a long time. Never Gonna Care is a great example of their many talents to transform music which seems to involve a million different genres and roll it into one.

Combining rock, gospel and electronics, their debut single is definitely introducing a new sound into the music industry. At times, they do have some resemblance to Embrace with the pumping drums and bass blended with the explosive vocals. However, they do sound remarkably different through their use of the repetitive electronic underlying beats that keep the melody flowing in a cleverly subtle way.

Never Gonna Care is a song that’s bound to get your adrenaline pumping, particularly the bridge towards the end with the powerfully sung lyrics, ‘It won’t stop raining, won’t you stop this raining…’ The soft verses explode into a memorable chorus that will have you singing your heart out wherever you may be. The Low Suns are one not to be missed.

Introducing : Hiatus and Shura

Lucy Meek — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:16:18 +0000

Since Hiatus (Cyrus Shahrad) and Shura (Aleksandra Denton) teamed up as a musical duo they’ve gone from strength to strength: reviews are popping up on countless music sites and the video for their latest single was recently the most shared video on NME.com. Lucy Meek has had a listen to their latest EP – Fortune’s Fool – to see how things are sounding.

Track one – also titled Fortune’s Fool — is a moody dubstep number. Hiatus’ has used a glitchy guitar riff and tinkling beat to compliment Shura’s brooding, haunting vocals. The lyrics are very personal and heartfelt (and, interestingly, reminiscent of Des’ree’s song Kissing You), the rambling nature of her words creating the impression of a heartbroken teenager writing a love letter. Overall the song is likeable: it’s inoffensive and quite relaxing, and would be well-placed on a chillout playlist for background music when entertaining.

Having said that, it’s still missing a certain something to make it special. Anyone with the right software and a bit of spare time can make average-sounding dubstep these days. The accessibility is a positive thing — plenty of people are making quality music right out of their bedrooms – but it does mean that Soundcloud and the rest of the internet is saturated with slow, moody dubstep tracks, and this one doesn’t particularly stand out. It’s enjoyable to listen to, well made and certainly not a bad song, but a bit lacking in originality.

River, on the other hand, was quite a surprise. The second track is completely different to the first in style – Hiatus has done away with the clicky rhythm of Fortune’s Fool and instead opted for guitars and drums. The music is deep, complex and interesting, ebbing and flowing, and the multiple layers of sound work beautifully together. Where Fortune’s Fool was very vocals-heavy, River repeats the same sample of Shura’s lyrics over and over. Her voice is quirky and lends itself to being sampled – the vocals are what make the song. If you like laid back, trip-hoppy beats you’ll probably like this – think Zero 7 or Morcheeba.

Overall the EP is definitely worth a listen. Groundbreaking it isn’t, but if you’re looking for something relaxing to listen to on a Sunday afternoon it could be right up your street. Fortune’s Fool might be a little underwhelming, but River picks up the slack to make it a nice, well-rounded release for the duo. Watch this space…

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