Too Cool Music News

The latest rock and pop music news, interviews and vinyl finds - spanning all decades - by reporter Simon Robb

[toocoolmusicnews]

Just interviewed ’70s glam rock legend of The Sweet, Andy Scott, about his childhood, blowing up a guitar amp at the band audition, topping the UK charts and still touring 40 years on.  

Full interview to come. Watch this space, crazy people!

[toocoolmusicnews]

Playing Circa Waves - I've been listening to this Liverpool-based band for a while now, since before they were signed to Virgin. Picked up their first album in #Ape #Brighton - love it! #CircaWaves #indie #rock #vinyl #record #album #recordplayer #vinyllover

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Making a Great Escape to Brighton

Simon Robb talks to the one of the head honchos behind Europe’s biggest festival for new music, now in its tenth year.

The perfect launch to the UK’s festival season, Brighton will be transformed into a Mecca for new talent from May 14 to 16.

“The ethos behind the festival was to set up an international event that gave bands and businesses the chance to escape their market places and reach new audiences,” says Kevin Moore, the general manager behind The Great Escape music festival.

Celebrating its tenth year, more than 400 acts that are starting to make waves in the industry will be descending upon the city from across the globe.

It is easy to forget that we have an incredible outlet for new acts in East Sussex, bursting at the seams with indie, rock, electro-pop, acoustic, rap, spoken word... too many to mention.

Kevin agrees, “Brighton continues to be the perfect setting for The Great Escape,” he says.

“With its hugely strong independent music scene and network of venues, it really is the best city to host an international music showcase event.

“And it’s by the sea, not many other festivals can say that!”

Each year the festival shines the spotlight on a particular country, and with it being the tenth birthday celebration Kevin and his team have decided to put this year’s focus on the UK.

“I’m hugely excited about seeing emerging homegrown talent such as Laura Doggett, Stormzy, Låpsley, LA Priest and George The Poet,” he says.

The festival is also to welcome back artists that left their mark in previous years, including British rock outfit Django Django, indie band The Cribs and American rockers Alabama Shakes.

From only a few thousand music fans attending in 2006, the event has since attracted up to 18,000 in its last year... word is clearly spreading fast and this year could expect to see even more!

When it comes to The Great Escape, Kevin has his fingers in many pies. Not only does he oversee the day-to-day running of the festival, he also bridges everything from production to promotion to finance, as well as managing partnerships with organisations like Arts Council England and UK Music.

Kevin sums up his role: “Ultimately, it’s my responsibility to ensure that we’re properly prepared ahead of the festival – since The Great Escape has 400 plus artists and 30 plus venues, you can imagine it can get quite hectic in the run up.”

But to be so hands on in the process, it must all begin with that initial love for music. Those formative years of listening to vinyls, watching Top of the Pops and seeing your first big stadium artist in the flesh. I ask Kevin why he is so driven to see it through.

“Music has always been a big part of my life since childhood,” he says. “I love that no matter how you’re feeling or what you’re doing or wherever you are in the world, you can always find a song that fits the moment perfectly, and I don’t think there’s any other art form quite like it.”

To become more inclusive and embrace those nurturing early experiences for young music lovers, Kevin says the team have introduced a new event called Great Day Out for those 14 years and up. 

“It’s great to cater specifically for younger fans who are hungry to discover new music. 

“It is supported by Arts Council England, which we’re really excited about,” he adds.

On top of that, record labels will be holding stalls to sell their music ware in the first ever Brighton International Label Market at the recently revamped Open Market in London Road.

Kevin also promises some ‘juicy surprises’ to make this year one to remember.  

So now for the really important question – who else is going to be there?

Just to give you a taster: disruptive electronic musician LA Priest, West Coast R&B singer Kelela, futuristic soul singer Nao, Birmingham four piece Swim Deep, Las Vegas native Shamir, and bluegrass Finnish metal band Steve ‘n’ Seagulls.

[toocoolmusicnews]

Villagers star shares the love

Villagers’ leading man, Conor O’Brien, talks about the joys of creating his latest album single-handedly and performing it live in his upcoming UK tour, reports Simon Robb.  

“I didn’t plan on recording everything on this album. I just started writing and recording ideas on my little home demo setup and it kind of developed itself very naturally,” says Conor O’Brien from his home in the coastal town of Malahide, north of Dublin.

Conor says that after eight months of producing and mixing from the loft of a converted farmhouse, he was pleased with the results and did not want to change a thing.

“I didn’t necessarily need to re-record it in a proper studio,” he adds. To be released on April 13 by Domino Records, Darling Arithmetic will be Villagers third album.

If you are not familiar with the indie folk scene, then you would be forgiven for not catching ear of Villagers, but this Irish act has already achieved two no.1 albums in Ireland... so shame on you!

I ask Conor if he feels the pressure to live up to his previous success with Becoming a Jackal and {Awayland}.

“I get completely lost in the creative process and take it day by day when the music is finally out there in the world, so it’s difficult for me to think in those terms,” he says.

Formed in 2008, the band is no novice to the folk world and came to prominence when their first album was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize.

Now looking forward, Conor has taken a completely different approach with his latest album by writing all the music and playing each instrument himself.

Experimenting with melotron samples and brushes, the album promises the subtlest palate of instrumentation to back Conor’s supple vocal.

“I don’t have a real Melotron unfortunately, but I did use a lot of original melotron samples on this album. 

“It’s one of my favourite ways of creating textures; feeding a melotron sample through a big dark washy reverb and seeing what comes out the other end. 

“I love the imperfection of the sounds; the way certain notes go a little bit out of tune. It makes it all feel that little bit warmer.”

It is unusual effects like this that make Conor’s music unique in a genre that is usually reduced to  nothing more than a guitar and vocals.

Developing his ideas in the loft of an old farmhouse seems like a lonely process, but one that Conor completely immersed himself in. 

“It definitely makes a difference to work alone. 

“I enjoy it very much, probably because I’ve done it since I was very young. “It’s the greatest feeling in the world to sit down alone with a cache of undeveloped ideas in my head and time and space away from the rest of the world to play with them. I absolutely love it.”

The theme of the album is love, but Conor admits that it is a ‘slippery’ one to define. 

He says: “The main influence that springs to mind was my desire to keep things as simple as possible this time around. 

“In the past I’ve certainly been guilty of trying to squeeze a hundred ideas into one song, so I thought it would be interesting to just work with one idea and let it develop at its own pace.”

Although Darling Arithmetic is yet to be released, Conor has been treating fans to some of the tracks at recent live shows and has been pleasantly surprised by the response. 

“It’s been really heartwarmingly amazing,” he says. 

“I was pretty nervous during the first show - some of these songs feel extremely personal and intimate when performing them for strangers in a room, but the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive; a much more collective experience than I could have ever hoped for.” 

Coming to Brighton on April 17, fans will finally be able to hear the album that has been two years in the making.

I ask Conor how he finds UK audiences compared to those in Ireland and across Europe.

“Well, obviously it’s a different experience depending on where we play in the UK but overall I really enjoy the audiences here,” he says.

And fortunately, he is no stranger to Brighton.

“Yes - I’ve been there many times. Brighton is one of my favourite places in the world, no joke.”

Villagers will be performing, along with some guests, at The Old Market in Upper Market Street, Brighton on April 17, 7.30pm. 

Tickets are £14. To book, visit http://theoldmarket.com/

[toocoolmusicnews]

I’ll be interviewing the drummer of The Gaslight Anthem, Benny Horowitz, in the lead up to their June gig in Brighton.

Watch this space for the full interview. 

[toocoolmusicnews]

The last time I saw Lil’ Chris

I interviewed Lil Chris (aka. Chris Hardman) this month last year when he popped by a small makeshift music studio in Storrington to record what would have been his latest album.

I was pleased to see that he hadn’t changed much – appearance wise – since his days on Channel 4′s ‘Rock School’ with Gene Simmons of Kiss fame. He still sported his trademark cap and flashed that familiar cheeky grin as he spoke candidly about his upbringing.

His complete honesty when discussing his struggles with fame and money during the height of his career was an eye-opener to me; he initially seemed to be the type of person who took everything in his stride. Living out of hotels, playing gig after gig and buying whatever he wanted sounded like a teenager’s dream come true to me.

He sampled his new album for me, which I recorded with my iPhone. I think the song was ‘Your Mama is a Porn Star’, and it was of course entirely tongue-in-cheek, but it was surprisingly catchy too.

Walking away from my conversation with Chris, I was pleased that my first impression of him was proven wrong. He turned out to be a funny, polite, patient and easy going person. We talked about how much we both loved big stadium bands like The Darkness, and I had hoped to see him on stage the next time he decided to make a local appearance. However, I did not have the pleasure.

It was a shock to hear of his death this afternoon and I know that Chris will be terribly missed by his fans and those that knew him personally.

Rest in peace…

If you want to read my interview, click here

If you want to see the video I took, click here

[toocoolmusicnews]

I'll be interviewing Conor O'Brien of Irish folk outfit 'Villagers' on his new album and upcoming UK tour ... article to follow soon

[toocoolmusicnews]

Just saw Prides at The Haunt in Brighton and everyone stormed the stage during the last song, 'Messiah'. It was A. Ma. Zing!

Check out my interview further down

[toocoolmusicnews]

Luck of the Irish

As indie rock outfit, The Coronas, conquer the Irish charts, leadsinger Danny O’Reilly tells Simon Robb how they plan to take on the UK by storm.

On first impression, you may think that The Coronas have simply named themselves after a popular brand of lager, but you would be sincerely mistaken.

Okay, maybe it was my first impression, but I was thankfully corrected. 

It is in fact an homage to Cameron Crowe’s semi-biopic drama, Almost Famous – about a young journalist who documents a rock band’s journey from obscurity to mainstream fandom.

“We’re named after a typewriter in our favourite movie,” says leadsinger Danny O’Reilly. “We all love the music in that film.”  

Although unintentionally, the name has become more resonant for the four band members this year as they cross the void from the Irish charts and into the UK market.

Danny speaks with great fervour about their recent move to London.

“It’s funny because we’re playing the 3Arena in Dublin, but to be honest the gig I’m more looking forward to is KOKO in London.

“We’re living in London now and it feels like a cool achievement to get to KOKO."

After playing a few tracks for Island Records, the label swiftly snapped up the Dublin lads and released their fourth album in Ireland last year.

Shooting straight to number two in the charts, Danny is now excited to promote ‘The Long Way’ over here in the run up to its UK release in May.

“It was nice that Island Records is not looking to re-release an old track of ours,” says the 29-year-old. 

“They’re treating us as a new band and that’s how we want to be treated, because we’re new to the scene here.”

They may be fresh to the Brits, but Danny and his band mates have already left a huge footprint on Ireland’s music scene, having snagged Best Irish Album at the Meteor Awards in 2010, leaving U2 and Snow Patrol in the dust.

On tour, they have supported the likes of The Script, Justin Timberlake, Pink and Sir Paul McCartney.

“We only found out a few days before that we could support Paul McCartney,” explains Danny. 

“It was an amazing experience – we got to meet him and he shook our hands. He gave us ten minutes of his time, which he didn’t really have to do, and the best thing about it was we got to see him play.

“In the sound check he would turn to the band and shout out a song – he’d say Penny Lane and they’d just start playing along.”  

In October 2014, The Coronas played three sold out headline shows in London, Glasgow and Manchester. 

And in March this year, they will embark on their full UK headline tour.

“Thankfully we’ve gotten to a place in Ireland where we can be self sufficient, I suppose, and it gives us that chance to try and make things happen over here, so we’re now based in London full time, but we do fly back once or twice every month,” says Danny.

With folk sensation Mary Black as a mother, there is no doubt that Danny would have been surrounded by music whilst he was still in the womb.

“I grew up going to her shows, and even though it’s a totally different genre of music, I always had music around me.

“My mother encouraged me to write my own songs and that’s one regret that she had, because she never really wrote her own music.”

Raised in Dublin, Danny and his fellow band mates have known each other since before they could talk – well, at least two of them. 

“We’re really lucky – we live in the one house in London now and we all get on really well, but we’ve been friends our whole lives,” he says.

At just a week old, Danny met his future bass player Graham Knox when he was a only day old. 

“Our parents were best friends,” he adds.

Danny also went to primary school with drummer Conor Egan and met lead guitarist Dave McPhillips at university.

“We all pretty much started the band before we could even play,” he laughs. “It’s great that we now all live together throughout everything we’ve been through.”

Signed to independent label 3ú Records, the band released their first album ‘Heroes or Ghosts’ in 2007 using Danny’s material that he had written since the age of 18. 

“We were just learning for ourselves and winging it. We were recording before we’d done any extensive touring. 

“There’s a nice naïvety to our first record and I suppose there’s a charm to it in some way. Thankfully ‘San Diego Song’ got an awful lot of radio play.

Whilst his friends at university were taking a year out to travel the world or pursue a Master degree, Danny thought it might be worthwhile to give the band a shot. 

“We thought we’ll see how this band goes and we haven’t had to get a real job for the last seven years,” he laughs.

The Coronas will be performing at the Komedia on Tuesday, March 31, 7.30pm.

To book tickets, visit www.komedia.co.uk/brighton/ Check out their latest music video for ‘Just Like That’ at http://bit.ly/1zJHBbi

See my article in this month's etc Magazine: http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?eid=5d05729f-5bf1-488b-96fd-9ed7a63e1e01&pnum=184

[toocoolmusicnews]

RIP Demis Roussos - a great musician who started out in one of the best ever progressive rock bands, Aphrodite’s Child. Have their stuff on vinyl and will be playing their album ‘666’ tonight in his honour.

[toocoolmusicnews]

Playing with Pride

Lead singer of Scottish synthpop band Prides speaks to Simon Robb about his sprint to success, signing to Island Records and headlining his second UK tour.

Although he refers to the band’s success as ‘accidental’, lead vocalist and piano player for Prides, Stewart Brock, has been signed, released an EP, closed the Commonwealth Games and is now about to headline another UK tour – all in the short space of a year.

“We were signed quite early, so it’s taking us time to find our feet,” admits Stewart.

All hailing from the riverside city of Glasgow, the three-piece band have only been Prides for a short time, but have all struggled to battle their way into the music industry for many years.

Originally from Stoke-on-Trent, Stewart started his love affair with music at the age of four. Now 28, he says he cannot see himself doing anything else.

“I met Lewis Gardiner [drummer] at UWS [University of West Scotland], which is where we started and we have been writing songs for ten years now,” he says.

“We have been in a couple of different bands along the way. We’ve even done a few UK tours, but nothing to the scale of what we’re doing now.”

Prides is currently touring the UK, targeting eight venues, including The Haunt in Brighton.

Their Glasgow gig has already sold out, which is a feat for a band that is yet to release their debut album.

“Starting out just as two singer/songwriters we accidentally picked up the interest of a few labels and got signed,” he says.

Now with their third member Callum Wiseman (guitar, piano and vocals), the band are ready to take on the UK.

“It’s been amazing,” he says. “We’ve been writing a long time and they’ve left us to our own devices.

“I’m starting to see people’s reactions now we’ve put it out to the world and it’s been surreal.”

Releasing their first music video for single ‘Messiah’ before the summer, the synth-doused, bass-bleeding track is ear catching, and the video itself features two priests on a road trip to destruction.

It is addictive to watch and all the more addictive to listen to. “It’s a little bit off the wall,” says Stewart.

“We didn’t want to tread the path of a generic video.

“The two guys who are the priests are actually the directors. We got introduced to them and pitched some ideas. They’ve done all the videos for us so far. They always come forward with really interesting ideas.”

Last August, Prides performed ‘Messiah’ at the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in Glasgow, opening the band up to a new league of fans.

“It’s the biggest thing we’ve been a part of so far,” he says.

“New people found out about us, which was a massive thing for us.”

Fans have been an integral part to Prides’ journey, which is why they always make time to interact with them.

“It’s been important for us to try and meet as many people as possible and we’ll always hang out after shows, and get back to people on Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s stupid not to,” he adds.

With the latest tour under way and an online following that is beginning to burst at the seams and into the venues, Prides has a lot to look forward to in 2015.

“I’m really excited to get the album out, but I’m also really looking forward to the summer because we want to get out and do as many festivals as we can.”

Asking Stewart about his proudest moment to date, it went without saying that the Commonwealth Games was at the top, but there was certainly another contender for him.

“On a more personal level, we did get to support Blink 182 at Brixton Academy, which was all our teenage dreams come true.”

Prides are coming to The Haunt in Brighton on February 11. Tickets are available from www.pridesband.com or www.thehauntbrighton.co.uk

Article appears in the January edition of etc Magazine: http://etcmag.net/playing-pride/

[toocoolmusicnews]

THE CORONAS

Just before Christmas I interviewed Danny O'Reilly, the leadsinger of Dublin band The Coronas, who are about to take on the UK by storm.

Their latest album 'The Long Way' with Island Records shot to no.2 in the Ireland charts last month. It's due out in the UK May time.

Full interview to come in the new year :)

Follow me on Twitter peeps: @simonrobb85

[toocoolmusicnews]

Charlie Landsborough coming full circle

Following a hit single, 27 albums, continuous gigs and a devoted fan base, Charlie Landsborough takes a moment to chat to Simon Robb about his catapult into fame and latest tour.

It has been 20 years since Charlie Landsborough emerged from the fodder of struggling country artists with ‘What Colour Is The Wind’, and the song still gets regular play time on national radio.

The Liverpudlian was born in Wales, but grew up in the Mersey where his family derive.

He says: “With my unhappy knack for doing things wrong and being in the wrong place at the right time and vice versa, just prior to the Merseybeat boom I got cheesed off with life and I tried to join the Merchant Navy and couldn’t get in for one reason or another, so I tried the Royal Navy and that was closed, so I went to the Army and asked them to send me to Hong Kong, which was as far away as I could imagine,” he admits.

“But they sent me to some remote part of Germany and all these Merseyside people were singing and getting signed up by people from London. I missed the boat completely.”

Before disappearing into Europe, Charlie was in a ‘primitive’ band - as he calls it - where he had to borrow a guitar and a friend used a simple snare drum.

“One of them said tell Charlie not to let us down tonight we’re playing with the Silver Beatles, which is what The Beatles were called back then. I didn’t turn up for whatever reason and I missed meeting them.

“When the whole thing kicked off later I was miles away from all the action.”

Upon leaving the army, the music scene had changed dramatically. Working with new bands in Germany, he was asked to play Motown and other current trends that had emerged without Charlie’s knowledge.

“I was over there living rough for quite a while just playing with this band.”

Returning to Birkenhead, Charlie went back to playing the local pubs and clubs over the next 20 years as The Beatles broke world records and stormed the US, before dissipating into their solo careers at the turn of the ‘70s.

As he began to create original material, Charlie gradually built a reputation in the field for writing music.

The big breaks did not come easy, however, and he refused to let rejection from music labels and record producers deter him from his dream.

Charlie pursued his career until his life took a u-turn in 1994 when he appeared on Dublin’s RTE’s Kenny Live Show and played two songs on acoustic.

Shortly after the performance, his single ‘What Colour is the Wind’ shot to number one in Ireland’s charts.

“I had a great time in Dublin and I picked up my son from school the following week and he said, dad you’re in the Irish charts. So I said, what am I 98? I would have been delighted with that, but he said, no dad you’re top of the charts.

“My whole life was transformed.

“So when things were most bleak I was closer than ever to doing what I always wanted to do, which was to secure a life in music.

“It’s a bit of a musical fairytale really.” Admittedly, Charlie said it has always been about the music and not the money on his long, arduous journey to success.

“I was painfully shy as a lad, and had to force myself to go out because I loved singing so much, but it’s always been about the music. All I wanted was to write music and look after my family,” he says.

Now, living the dream, Charlie has released a plethora albums (with number 27 out now to buy), and continues to tour the length and breadth of the UK.

“I’m at the place now where I just keep doing what I’m doing. I don’t try to stagnate musically, I’m always trying to write new stuff. You’re only as good as the last show you did and last album you made,” he says.

The new dates see Charlie playing tracks from his latest album ‘Here There and Everywhere’, a collection of Beatles’ songs, as well as much loved favourites from his past and previous albums. “I’m a great fan of The Beatles. The album I did was a bit of a departure for me because all the tracks are Beatles songs. There’s an affinity there, they’re my favourite band of all time and what they did, in effect, was prove that you didn’t have to live across the Atlantic Ocean to write songs, you can write them on the banks of the Mersey,” he imparts.

[toocoolmusicnews]

PRIDES

I’ll be interviewing Prides later this month for etc Magazine and Sussex Sounds as they set out on their UK tour. They released an amazing single ‘Messiah’ earlier this year, which if you haven’t heard you must (watch it at the link below).

I’ll also be seeing them live at The Haunt in Brighton early next year too. 

The interview will be posted on Tumblr too, so don’t fret!

Sorry, I haven’t posted any interviews in a little while, I’ve actualy begun work at a new newspaper (but with the same newspaper group). I have many to share with you and will start sticking them up as and when I can.

Thanks for all your patience!

http://youtu.be/6uM_9qXcI2w

[toocoolmusicnews]

Just got the most amazing impromptu present from someone. A signed Jethro Tull album by Ian Anderson. Thank you John! #vinyl #JethroTull #IanAnderson #Signed #instacool

[toocoolmusicnews]

Creepshow (1982) soundtrack on clear blue vinyl. I'm salivating... #vinyl #soundtrack #horror #Creepshow #retro #WaxworkRecords #record #Creepshow

[toocoolmusicnews]

Thanks Island Records for the goody bag! Really chuffed about the new #CatfishandtheBottlemen album #goodtimes #goodies #nice #instacool #IslandRecords #Passenger #freebies