#John Peel Centre for Creative Arts

[grantgoddard]

The day the (reggae) music died : 1981 : Bob Marley, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Matumbi

 “Bob Marley has died!” I exclaimed. Having switched on the car radio before starting the engine, one of Marley’s songs was playing on John Peel’s ‘BBC Radio One’ ten-to-midnight show. I knew immediately what that meant. Peel was a longtime reggae fan, though I had not heard him play a Marley track for years. There was no need to await Peel’s voice announcing the sad news. I had read that Marley was ill but had not understood the terminal gravity of his health.

Peterlee town centre was dark and desolate at that late hour. I had walked to my little Datsun car across a dark, empty car park adjacent to the office block of Peterlee Development Corporation, accompanied by my girlfriend who was employed there on a one-year government job creation scheme. We had attended a poetry reading organised by Peterlee Community Arts in the building, an event she had learnt of from her marketing work. It was my first poetry reading. Only around a dozen of us were present, everyone else at least twice our age. But what we heard was no ordinary poetry.

Linton Kwesi Johnson had coined his work ‘dub poetry’ in 1976 and already published three anthologies and four vinyl albums, voicing his experiences as a Jamaican whose parents had migrated to Britain in 1962. Peterlee new town seemed an unlikely venue for a ‘dub poet’, a deprived coal mining region with no discernible black population, but working class Tyneside poet Keith Armstrong had organised this event as part of his community work there to foster residents’ creative writing. Johnson read some of his excellent poems and answered the group’s polite questions. It was an intimate, quiet evening of reflection.

Due to my enthusiasm for reggae, I was familiar with Johnson’s record albums as one strand of the outpouring of diverse innovation that Britain’s homegrown reggae artists had been pioneering since the early 1970’s. Alongside ‘dub poetry’ (poems set to reggae), there was ‘lovers rock’ (soulful reggae with love themes sung mostly by teenage girls), UK ‘roots reggae’ (documenting the Black British experience) and a distinctly British version of ‘dub’ (radical mixes using studio effects). One name that was playing a significant writing/producing role spanning all these sub-genres was Dennis Bovell, alias ‘Blackbeard’, of the British group ‘Matumbi’. His monumental contributions to British reggae are too often understated.

Until then, there had been plenty of reggae produced in British studios and released by UK record labels such as ‘Melodisc’, ‘Pama’ and ‘Trojan’, but most efforts had been either a rather clunky imitation of Jamaican reggae (for example, Millie’s 1964 UK hit ‘My Boy Lollipop’ [Fontana TE 17425]) or performed by ‘dinner & dance’-style UK groups such as ‘The Marvels’. I admit to having neglected Matumbi upon hearing their initial 1973 releases, cover versions of ‘Kool & The Gang’s ‘Funky Stuff’ [Horse HOSS 39] and ‘Hot Chocolate’s ‘Brother Louie' [GG 4540]. It was not until their 1976 song ‘After Tonight’ [Safari SF 1112] and the self-released 12-inch single ‘Music In The Air’/’Guide Us’ [Matumbi Music Corp MA 0004] that my interest was piqued as a result of the group’s creative ability to seamlessly bridge the ‘lovers rock’, ‘roots reggae’ and ‘dub’ styles. Both sides of the latter disc remain one of my favourite UK reggae recordings (sadly, these particular mixes have not been reissued).

In 1978, Matumbi performed at Dunelm House and, after attending the gig, it was my responsibility as deputy president of Durham Students’ Union to sit in my office with the band, counting out the cash to pay their contracted fee. They were on tour to promote their first album ‘Seven Seals’ self-produced for multinational ‘EMI Records’ [Harvest SHSP 4090]. It included new mixes of the aforementioned 12-inch single plus their theme for BBC television drama ‘Empire Road’, the first UK series to be written, acted and directed predominantly by black artists. Sensing my interest in reggae, the group invited me to join them for an after-gig chat, so I drove to their motel several miles down South Road and we sat in its bar for a thoroughly enjoyable few hours discussing music.

As part of my manic obsession with the nascent ‘dub’ reggae genre, I had bought albums between 1976 and 1978 credited to ‘4th Street Orchestra’ entitled ‘Ah Who Seh? Go Deh!’ [Rama RM 001], ‘Leggo! Ah Fi We Dis’ [Rama RM 002], ‘Yuh Learn!’ [Rama RMLP 006] and ‘Scientific Higher Ranking Dubb’ [sic, Rama RM 004]. They were sold in blank white sleeves with handwritten marker-pen titles and red, gold and green record labels to make them look similar to Jamaican-pressed dub albums of that era. However, it was self-evident that most tracks were dub mixes of existing UK recordings by Matumbi backing various performers, engineered and produced by Bovell for licensing to small UK labels. I also had bought and worn two of their little lapel badges, one inscribed ‘AH WHO SEH?’, the other ‘GO DEH!’, from a London record stall. During our conversation in the bar, Bovell expressed surprise that I owned these limited-pressing albums, and even more surprise that I recognised Matumbi as behind them. They remain prime examples of UK dub.

It was Bovell who had produced Linton Kwesi Johnson’s albums, and it was Matumbi who had provided the music. Alongside a young generation of British roots reggae bands such as ‘Aswad’ and ‘Steel Pulse’, Johnson’s poetry similarly tackled contemporary social and political issues with direct, straightforward commentaries. It was a new style of British reggae, an echo of recordings by American collective ‘The Last Poets’ whose conscious poems/raps had been set to music (sometimes by ‘Kool & The Gang’) since 1970, and whose couplets had occasionally been integrated into recordings by Jamaican DJ ‘Big Youth’ in the 1970’s. Of course, MC’s (‘Masters of Ceremonies’) had been talking over (‘toasting’) records at ‘dances’ in Jamaica since the 1960’s, proof that the evolution of ‘rap’ owed as much to the island’s sound system culture as it did to 1970’s New York house parties.

In Peterlee, Johnson read his poems to the audience without music, his usual performance style. It was fascinating to hear his words without any accompaniment. For me, the dub version of Johnson’s shocking 1979 poem ‘Sonny’s Lettah’ (retitled ‘Iron Bar Dub’ on ‘LKJ In Dub’ [Island ILPS 9650]) is brilliantly effective precisely when the music is mixed out to leave his line “Me couldn’t stand up there and do nothin’” hanging in silence. Sadly, memories of Johnson’s performance that night were suddenly eclipsed by the news of Marley’s death. I drove the eight miles to our Sherburn Village home in stunned silence. I was sad and shocked. It was only then that his sudden loss made me realise how much Marley had meant to me.

Despite having listened to reggae since the late 1960’s, I admittedly arrived late to Bob Marley’s music. Though I had heard many of his singles previously, it was not until his 1974 album ‘Natty Dread’ [Island ILPS 9281] that I understood his genius. At that time, I was feeling under a lot of personal pressure which I tried to relieve by listening to this record every day for the next two years. At home, my father had run off, leaving our family in grave financial difficulties. At school, I was struggling with its inflexibility, not permitted to take two mathematics A-levels, not allowed to mix arts and science A-levels, not encouraged to apply to Cambridge University. Back in my first year at that school, I had been awarded three school prizes. However, once my parents separated and then divorced, I was never given a further prize and the headmaster’s comments in my termly school reports became strangely negative, regardless of my results.

Feeling increasingly like an unwanted ‘outsider’ at grammar school, Marley’s lyrics connected with me and helped keep my head above encroaching waters rising in both my home and school lives. I knew I was struggling and needed encouragement from some source, any source, to continue. For me, that came from Marley’s music. While my classmates were mostly listening to ‘progressive rock’ albums with zany song titles (such as Genesis’ ‘I Know What I Like In Your Wardrobe’), I was absorbed by reggae and soul music that spoke about the daily struggle to merely survive the tribulations of life. After ‘Natty Dread’, I rushed out to buy every new Marley release.

During the months following Marley’s death, I was absorbed by sadness. It felt like the ‘final straw’. The previous year, I had landed a ‘dream job’, my first permanent employment, overhauling the music playlist for Metro Radio. Then, after successfully turning around that station’s fortunes, I had unexpectedly been made redundant. I was now unemployed and my every job application had been rejected. That experience had followed four years at Durham University which had turned out to be a wholly inappropriate choice as it was colonised by 90%+ of students having arrived from private schools funded by posh families. I felt like ‘a fish out of water’. I loved studying, I loved learning, I desired a fulfilling academic life at university … but it had proven nigh on impossible at Durham.

“This is what I need This is where I want to be But I know that this will never be mine”

Months later, my girlfriend awoke one morning and told me matter-of-factly that she was going to move out and live alone. She offered no explanation. We had neither disagreed nor argued. We had been sharing a room for three years, initially as students in a horribly austere miners’ cottage in Meadowfield whose rooms had no electrical sockets, requiring cables to be run from each room’s centre ceiling light-fitment. Now we were in a better rented cottage in Sherburn, though it had no phone, no gas and no television. Her bombshell announcement could not have come at a more vulnerable time for me. I had already felt rejected by most of my university peers and then by my first employer. At school previously, I had passed the Cambridge University entrance exam but had been rejected by every college. At Durham, I had stood for election as editor of the student newspaper, but its posh incumbent had recommended a rival with less journalistic experience. A decade earlier, my father had deserted me and his family, and now the person I loved the most had done the same.

I just could not seem to navigate a successful path amidst the world of middle- and upper-class contemporaries into which I had been unwittingly thrown, first at grammar school, then at Durham, and now in my personal life too. Most of those years, I felt that circumstances had forced me to focus on nothing more than survival, whilst my privileged contemporaries seemed able to pursue and fulfil their ambitions with considerable ease. I had to remind myself that I had been born in a council house and had attended state schools, initially on a council estate. My girlfriend had not. I had imagined such differences mattered not in modern Britain. I had believed that any ‘socio-economic’ gap between us could be bridged by a mutual feeling called ‘love’. I now began to wonder if I had been mistaken. I felt very much marooned and alone. My twenty-three-year-old life was in tatters.

Fast forward to 1984. I had still not secured a further job in radio. I was invited to Liverpool for a weekend stay in my former girlfriend’s flat. We visited the cathedral and attended a performance at the Everyman Theatre. It felt awkward. I never saw her again. It had taken me months to get over the impact of Bob Marley’s death. It took me considerably longer to get over my girlfriend ending our relationship. 

“That clumsy goodbye kiss could fool me But looking back over my shoulder You’re happy without me”

#Bob Marley #career #commercial radio #Durham University #Grant Goddard #lovers rock #Metro Radio #music #Peterlee #Peterlee Community Arts #radio #radio station #reggae #Sherburn #Strode's School #student

[whatsonmedia]

Music Monday: Latest Tracks & Tour Dates to Ignite Your Week!

Get ready for an electrifying musical journey curated by none other than Adam Humphries! This week's selection is an enchanting mix of diverse and talented artists, from the bold lyrics of KHOMPA to the raw energy of The Matinee to the artistic brilliance of Soda Blonde. Feel the soulful power of FERAL FAMILY's latest track and the heartfelt tribute from GIRL SCOUT. Brace yourself for an auditory feast that'll leave you begging for an encore! Let's dive into this musical adventure together! KHOMPA releases darkly-hypnotic boundary-pushing drum-triggered - 'Tre Trigger Contro Tre Trigger' Now if I had to select a handful of words in which to describe this interesting number it'd it this; mind-boggling, artistic, eye-catching, near tribal and almost like a,bizarre acid trip. KHOMPA is a multi-talented musician who can create an incredible musical sonisphere using a drum machine. What's even more fascinating is that he sets the tone without a single word. Fantastic melody where the sound is allowed to become strong  Listen https://open.spotify.com/track/11daze3bYBEh1U49pm2lpm?si=15d3adeae3a34975 Watch  https://youtu.be/KDhNSGuda14 Vancouver's Americana group of the year The Matinee to release new album 'Change Of Scene'! Now I have mentioned this lovely number before but this time I am focusing more on the song itself. Bad Addiction is a track which was written with melodies and lyrics which draw on life experiences lived. A way to describe this is almost explanations of a person's own actual life, a sort of 'this is me, this is my story'. What is sweet about the lyrics is that they are completely heartfelt and the emotions are carried on the sleeve with no fear whatsoever  Watch  https://youtu.be/7OcPviGHsRg?si=-EH52XH34Bco0l6x Stream Soda Blonde's sophomore album - 'Dream Big' now! Irish rockers SODA BLONDE has released their EP Dream Big and it's certainly a corker of an album. One of the ways I can use to best describe it is a musical soap opera that's packed with pleasantries and satisfying little numbers. As a front woman O'Rourke's voice carries a vast range of emotions which don't go completely OTT. Dream has the hint of togetherness about it, something that comes through in the music  Listen  https://open.spotify.com/album/7bS2zXbqKUJF661ufAXKn0?si=Hch6RxR8R0C-OUeyPn0FxQ FERAL FAMILY — share new single: “This Side Of Me” || + announce self-titled debut album (coming 2024) Hailing all the way from Yorkshire the FERAL FAMILY have unleashed their latest song This Side Of Me, and it is something electrifying and energetic. Frontman, Jamie, has a deep, husky voice similar to that of Ian Curtis, just cuts straight through the music and gets your attention. Side of Me has a sort of addictive listening to it and has the attitude where once it begins you cannot ignore it.  STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/feralfamily/this-side-of-me FERAL FAMILY - 2023 LIVE DATES Sat Sept 16th - John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, Stowmarket, Suffolk,  (supporting Floral Image) - TICKETS https://www.johnpeelcentre.com/event/floral-image/?instance_id=885 Fri 28th - Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield - TICKETS https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mcs-presents-feral-family-bloodworm-paid-by-cash-tickets-708664874717?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1 GIRL SCOUT — share new single: “Bruises” // + new EP ‘Granny Music’ coming 29 Sept After watching the video all I can say is that I am utterly impressed by Girl Scout, it's very much like watching your own private Live Lounge performance. Front woman, Emms Janseen, is totally at ease with herself as a singer and just grabs your attention with minimal effort. Just amazing. The album, Granny Music, is just an absolute corker of a gem and makes you want to listen a few more times over.  STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE https://girlscout.lnk.to/bruises WATCH THE LIVE PERFORMANCE 'Bruises' VIDEO HERE https://youtu.be/HivWXZgpOpo GIRL SCOUT - UK DATES​ 26 Sept Rescue Rooms, Nottingham UK** 27 Sept The Cluny, Newcastle, UK** 28 Sept The Caves, Edinburgh, UK** 29 Sept Stereo, Glasgow, UK** 30 Sept Gorilla, Manchester, UK** 2 Oct Rough Trade East In-Store, London, UK 4 Oct Castle & Falcon, Birmingham, UK** 5 Oct Thekla, Bristol, UK** 6 Oct The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK** 7 Oct Hangar 34, Liverpool, UK** 8 Oct The Bullingdon, Oxford, UK** 11 Oct Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, UK** 12 Oct Scala, London, UK** 13 Oct Patterns, Brighton, UK** ** with Coach Party Read the full article

[strange-spaghetti]

“John Peel‘s record collection: V is for Van der Graaf Generator” The Space interview with Peter Hammill of Van Der Graaf Generator. Produced by Eye Film and Television for the John Peel Centre for the Creative Arts.

#!!! #John Peel #Van der Graaf Generator #Peter Hammill #PIG! ^_^ love her #Sheila Ravenscroft

[realindevelopment-returns]

Produced by Eye Film and Television for the John Peel Centre for the Creative Arts

#caberet voltaire #john peel

[b-sidemusic]

LIVE REVIEW: JUSTIN SULLIVAN, TOM MOTH & PATRYK @ THE JOHN PEEL CENTRE, STOWMARKET

There aren’t a lot of things that’ll draw me to Stowmarket on a school night, but my good friend’s insistence that I’d fall in love with a new musical experience got me into my boots and out of Bury. Justin Sullivan, frontman of New Model Army, was going to be playing solo – and I was going to get a chance to interview him beforehand*.

The John Peel Centre for Creative Arts has been outdoing itself with the gigs recently (who says great things can’t be run by committee?), so I was pleased to see a good turnout for this sit-down show.

Before the main event we were treated to two very different support acts. Patryk, one half of local duo Take Us To Shore, regaled us with some heartfelt acoustic tunes including ‘Porcelain Heart’, which I’m assured will soon be available on his forthcoming EP. The music reminded me, a little uncomfortably, of my own teenage angst, making me cringe for a minute. However, once I settled in and got the fuck over myself, I remembered why I liked this kind of thing in the first place.  The songs are classic youth emotion, delivered with sincerity. Patryk was serious but vulnerable, with a great voice, and very much worth checking out.

Next up was Tom Moth, an unusual musician who I’d been looking forward to seeing. Moth is the harpist for Florence and the Machine, and his solo stuff is even further off the beaten track. The experience was a little surreal: a normal, slightly stressed-out looking dude fiddled with technology, then sat down at a massive instrument and produced strange magic music. The complicated harping was layered onto groovy electronica (reminiscent, my friends tell me, of Ozric Tentacles).

I cleverly positioned myself where I couldn’t see the strings on the beautifully lit-up harp; as far as I was concerned, Tom Moth was moving his hands unrealistically quickly and somehow making noises straight from the realms of the faeries. The overall effect was the soundtrack for some beautiful, dystopian sci-fi. Superb stuff.

As Justin Sullivan took the stage, the atmosphere in the room changed palpably. New Model Army (and Sullivan himself) attract individuals who really fall in love with, and commit to, the music. Fans book weeks off work to see a whole tour and make lasting friendships with each other, and even with the musicians.

Straight away, I started to see why. Sullivan launched the gig with a gut-wrenching version of NMA’s ‘All Consuming Fire’. Stripped back to acoustic-only, the song seemed even more poignant. The set continued on in the same vein: song after song serving as raw, uncomfortable reflections of the weird reality we’re currently living in. There was anger behind each carefully chosen word, and each word was delivered with honesty. ‘You Weren’t There’ was sung to a backing track, and lifted up with uniquely emotional harmonica bursts.

Dotted into the set were what Sullivan calls “story songs”: modern versions of the tales-set-to-music we imagine bards singing by a campfire. The one that stood out the most to me was a simple, moving song based on ‘The Heart of the Sea’ – a story about whalers shipwrecked, adrift and resorting to cannibalism to stay alive. The same tale served as the bones of the story for Moby Dick, but you’ll be pleased to hear that Sullivan’s version wasn’t nearly as difficult to get through!

A fantastic addition to Sullivan’s set was the reappearance of Tom Moth, who sat down at his harp and (after a small tuning session) added an extra layer to the music that elevated it into the ethereal.

Arguably the evening’s emotive climax was ‘Eyes Get Used to the Darkness’ – the vehemence left me genuinely open-mouthed – but proceedings wrapped up with the superb ‘Winter’ – another damning review of the present state of things – and a sing-along of the soulful ‘Autumn’.  Even for the uninitiated, this was truly a night to remember.

Words and Photo: Francine Carrel

*Francine’s interview with Justin Sullivan will be published right here in the next few days!

#live review #stowmarket #john peel centre #new model army #justin sullivan #tom moth #patryk #suffolk #florence and the machine #francine carrel

[musicheritageuk]

BBC Music day rock plaques!

To celebrate this year’s BBC Music Day, more than 45 blue plaques were unveiled celebrating iconic the venues, studios, rehearsal rooms and the music from across the country. Among the artists recognised are David Bowie (with not one but two new plaques!), broadcaster John Peel, and Delia Derbyshire who composed the Doctor Who theme tune.

All of the plaques were voted for by listeners to BBC’s local radio stations and were erected by the British Plaque Trust. Trust Chairman is former BBC Radio One DJ - and writer of a pro-UKIP pop-song - Mike Read.

Please see below for a list of relevant classic rock plaques unveiled! We've omitted the plaques erected to celebrate Asian music, classical, folk and pre-1950s popular music to keep it relevant to our interests, but you can see the complete list over at the BBC which also includes some small video snippets around some of the new plaques.

BBC North East & Cumbria:

Where Led Zeppelin made their debut. The Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Where ‘Summer Holiday’ was written for Cliff Richard. The Globe, Stockton-Upon-Tees.

BBC Yorkshire:

Iconic (and tiny!) venue The Shed. Bawbury Village Hall, York.

BBC East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire:

Where the Spiders from Mars departed for adventures with David Bowie. Paragon Station, Hull.

Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and T. Rex have all performed here. The Gilderdrome, Boston Lincolnshire.

BBC North West:

Where Factory Records was founded. Alan Erasmus's flat, West Didsbury.

Deaf School, Talking Heads, The Clash, The Police, Ramones, Echo and the Bunnymen, Wah and Heat all played here. Erics, Liverpool.

BBC West Midlands:

Home of Delia Derbyshire, the Radiophonic Workshop pioneer who realised the Doctor Who theme (and influenced the course of electronic music), 104, Cedars Avenue, Coventry.

Birthplace of John Bonham, Led Zeppelin drummer. 84 Birchfield Road, Headless Cross.

Jeremiah Patrick ‘Jerry’ Lordan, songwriter of hits for The Shadows and Cliff Richard. Three Tuns, Bishop’s Castle.

A plaque for Ian Fraser ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, the Motörhead founder and singer, whose song 'Ace of Spades' has been adopted by Port Vale FC. Port Vale FC.

Birthplace and childhood home of Nick Drake. Far Leys.

BBC East:

Art school of Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University.

Home of Steve Marriott of The Small Faces and Humble Pie. Beehive Cottage, Moreton.

The last gig of Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention. Byfield Village Hall.

NME’s best small venue. Norwich Arts Centre which opened in 1977.

The village where John Peel grew up. The Village Hall in Great Finborough.

Concert venue which has welcomed The Who, Robbie Williams and Oasis. Watford Colosseum, Watford.

BBC London:

David Bowie’s recording studio. Trident Studios, Soho, London.

The first British black male artist to sell 1 million records and get a number one, Emile Ford.  The Buttery, North Kensington, London.

BBC South East:

The Manish Boys featuring a young David Bowie often played here. Royal Star Arcade, Maidstone.

Celebrating Rick Parfitt of Status Quo. The Square, Woking.

Where ABBA won the Eurovision song contest. The Dome, Brighton.

BBC South:

John Lennon and Paul McCartney played their only gig as The Nerk Twins here. Fox and Hounds Pub, Caversham.

Status Quo, XTC, Gerry Rafferty, Duran Duran, Steve Winwood, Beverley Craven and Radiohead all recorded here when it was known as Chipping Norton Recording Studios. Blue Horizon Studio, Oxford.

BBC West:

The home of ska, reggae and blue beat in Bristol, Bamboo Club which hosted gigs by Bob Marley, Ben E King, Desmond Dekker, Percy Sledge and Jimmy Cliff. Bamboo Club, Bristol.

Home of The Who founder and bassist, John Entwistle. Royal British Legion, Gloucester.

Where Buddy Holly played. The Gaumont, Salisbury.

Image: TonyMo22 shared under creative commons license.

#bbc music #British Plaque Trust #Plaque #Blue plaque #plaques

[maybachmediacollection]

Rock Star Jack White's Auction To Help John Peel Centre

Rock Star Jack White’s Auction To Help John Peel Centre

Rock star Jack White is helping to raise funds for a music venue set up in memory of his early musical champion DJ John Peel.

The ex-White Stripes frontman is auctioning guitars, a Stripes’ drum kit and memorabilia associated with his label, Third Man Records.

Part of the proceeds of the sale will go to the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts in Stowmarket, Suffolk.

Online Nashville Auctions are…

View On WordPress

#Auction To #Help John #Jack White&039;s #Peel Centre #Rock Star

[tommyshooter-blog1]

Watch "The Fall - Live @ Norwich Arts Centre. John Peel Centre of Creative Arts, 10 10 2012" on YouTube

Classic John Peel statement here & he's totally correct imo ✌️

#Youtube

[thepunklounge-blog]

Celtic punk band SIR REG release video for FOOL (Fight of Our Lives)

If you haven't checked out Sir Reg before today you are missing out.  It's that simple.  But worry not, we are here to show you the light! This six-piece Celtic punk band out of Sweden, led by Irishman Brendan Sheehy, should be making everyone's "best of..." list this year without a doubt.  If The Dubliners and The Dropkick Murphys had a love child, Sir Reg would be it.  They are not quite street punk and not quite folk punk.  Their style gives them room to be a standalone force in the Celtic Punk world.  They have something for everyone and we are wicked happy to share with you the first official video from the new album The Underdogs dropping September 21st... so keep an eye out for our official album review of that coming out bright and early Friday morning! Like what you've heard?  Check them out at one of their upcoming shows: Fri 28 Sep 2018 Get Shamrocked Fest 2018 Murrieta, CA, US Thu 04 Oct 2018 John Peel Centre for Creative Arts Stowmarket, UK Sat 06 Oct 2018 West End Centre Aldershot, UK Mon 08 Oct 2018 Corporation Sheffield, UK Tue 09 Oct 2018 The Slaughtered Lamb London, UK Fri 12 Oct 2018 McChuill’s Glasgow, UK Sat 13 Oct 2018 Arlington Arts Newbury, UK Sat 03 Nov 2018 Katalin Uppsala, Sweden Sat 17 Nov 2018 Mastmagasinet Kristinehamn, Sweden Fri 23 Nov 2018 The Porter House Uster, Switzerland Sat 24 Nov 2018 Club Baronessa Lenzburg, Switzerland Fri 14 Dec 2018 Sandnes Rockeklubb Stavanger, Norway     Read the full article

#bestof2018 #celticpunk #musicvideo #newmusic #sirreg

[rrbondgalleries]

NC500 Galleries and Studios

NC500 Galleries as well as Studios

“The north coast of Scotland has constantly provided imaginative ideas, and is the home of numerous musicians, manufacturers and also various other regional skill that comprises a dynamic creative neighborhood.”

“As you take a trip round the NC500 there are numerous opportunities to see not just exactly what motivates, yet watch the work, fulfill the developers, and even take a while to take part in workshops and events.You will find a fascinating variety of galleries and also studios showing the very best of art and modern craft including glass, porcelains, jewellery as well as fabrics; all run by those eager to share their different imaginative endeavours. Often these places will take you a little off the beaten track, but make the initiative to seek them out, requiring time to absorb and enjoy the distinct experience that each has to provide. Much removed from impersonal online or high road stores, you might locate you possess piece of something unique to take with you as a suggestion of what inspired your journey.”Along the eastern shore … The North Shore 500’s stunning eastern coast takes in the Black Isle, Easter Ross, Sutherland and also

Caithness. This outstanding coast stretches from Inverness– the funding of the Highlands as well as the official beginning and also end point of the NC500 course– as much as John o’Groats in the north. In the process, ensure to see … Golspie Gallery– Golspie, Sutherland Most definitely worth a stop on the NC500 path is the beautiful seaside village of Golspie, East Sutherland, house to the

conveniently accessed, brilliant as well as

sizable Golspie Gallery.Offering an outstanding variety of top quality craft as well as art, this is far more compared to a shop. You may see silver, pearl or glass job forming in the jewelry workshop, or the century-old handloom being used to weave magnificently developed and up to day devices and also homewares. There is constantly a vast choice of regional and also Scottish art, fabric art and print-makers function to select from, along with an altering event programme. Watch out for fascinating events, including imaginative workshops. You can also work with workshop room by the day as well as release your own internal musician! Magnificent items of in your area made furnishings and lots of porcelains that would enhance any type of residence. Initial and various. For additional information: https://www.golspiegallery.co.uk/ Timespan Museum and also Arts Centre– Helmsdale, Sutherland Mapping the past, today as well as the future, Timespan is Sutherland’s only public contemporary art gallery, as well as serving as a cultural hub for imaginative development. The centre deals with researchers

and also musicians to preserve the society of the North Highlands as well as

advertise the location’s vibrant art scene. For more details, check out www.timespan.org.uk North Coastline Glass– Tain, Ross-shire The North Coastline Glass gallery is a rare and also distinct find. This acclaimed glass workshop is located in the old district of Tain, a stunning town on the east coastline of Scotland.Established by internationally popular glass artists/designers, Brodie Nairn & Nichola Burns, this dynamic studio creates glass jobs to the highest creative thinking and craftmanship. With focus on elegance as well as strong contemporary style, North Shore Glass is currently strongly developed as one of Britain’s a lot of exciting and vivid warm glass studios.Works can frequently be seen on TELEVISION and also film sets in addition to nationwide public as well as company glass collections/art installments. Even more details below: https://northcoastglass.com/Patricia Niemann– Berriedale, Caithness Trained as jeweler, designer as well as studio-glass maker, Patricia makes one-off pieces of great modern jewellery, along with wearables and also objects on a sculptural scale. Patricia’s impacts include the human body, makeup, theater as well as the much north of Scotland, as well as her preferred products are unusual gems, pearls and rare-earth elements, as well as blown glass, all-natural fibers and found objects. To learn more, browse through Picture: Patricia Niemann, Bespoke ring in 18ct white gold with Beryll and also Ruby in Marquise cut by Patricia Niemann Throughout the Black Isle … Just north of Inverness, the Black Island is,

as a matter of fact, not an island, yet a peninsula, bordered on 3 sides by stretches of water. Whether you’re simply beginning or regarding

to finish your NC500 journey

, don’t miss … Aurorabearealis Art & Craft Workshop– North Kessock, Black Isle Situated on the north shore of the Beauly Firth, this innovative center in North Kessock is the studio gallery of both

musician and craft manufacturer & Susan Phillips(Aurorabearealis) as well as wild animals photographer Charlie Phillips.Charlie is a well-known, award-winning professional wildlife photographer, and also a marine charity Whale and Dolphin Preservation Area Police officer(he examines dolphins for a living!) Susan practices various crafts; hand-making a varied range of products for the gallery, jewelry and bead crafts, felting, fabric and fabric job, art, cards and even small artist bears.”Appearance as well as patterns play a big role in the ideas behind my work– I like old peeling off paint, decaying timber and also rusty steel along with patterns in nature, such as tidemarks on a sandy coastline or the flotsam

as well as jetsam left behind. I find it tough not to see photos in such surfaces. I have actually located myself working increasingly with wool and textile, as a musician I particularly like making use of woollen to develop wall art making use of the textiles and also fibers to add texture, as a Craft Maker their seemingly endless applications motivate me to keep discovering whatever from jewellery and fashion accessories to sculpture and vessels. I also enjoy the difficulty of utilizing recycled fabrics in my job and typically blur the lines between art and craft making use of art materials with my textiles and craft supplies in my art work.”Susan, Aurorabearealis. Picaresque Books as well as Gallerie Fanoosh– Dingwall Bookworms, rejoice! This captivating shop and also gallery in Dingwall is house to an eclectic as well as extensive

selection of publications on all kinds of subjects. Antiquarian publications as well as initial editions can be located right here, in addition to a vast option from Dingwall’s very own author, Sandstone Press.In the adjacent Gallerie Fantoosh, you’ll locate a mix of modern-day and also special arts and crafts, glass, porcelains, jewelry and also accessories. For more details, check out http://www.picaresquebooks.co.uk/Along the north coast … The halfway point of the North Coastline 500 path, much of the musicians as well as craft manufacturers along this stretch of coastline are influenced by the Northern Isles. While you’re driving the much north of Scotland, make sure to stop in past … Caithness Horizons Museum as well as Art Gallery– Thurso, Caithness This impressive area history gallery is the home of a wide variety of archaeological as well as agricultural artefacts, in addition to a gift store as well as on-site coffee shop. Occupying the previous Thurso City center, Caithness Horizons is a much-loved site on the town’s horizon, offering a wide range of details and also events associating with lives sciences, photography, art, agriculture, as well as far more. For more details, visit Along the west coastline … Tough, wild and windswept, the west Highlands are house to some of one of the most breathtakingly beautiful coastal scenery worldwide. Enjoy your trip along the barrette bends of the NC500’s winding west coast roads, and ensure to stop at … Sòlas Gallery– Gairloch, Wester Ross This contemporary gallery hosts changing exhibitions from springtime to fall, including paintings, jewelry and also ceramics, every one of which are made and also made in Gairloch. Browse undisturbed in this amazing place including the job of artists Rob Howard as well as Lyn Beckett when you leave, keep an eye out for the

red signs to Sòlas to the south of Gairloch, near the

harbour as well as alongside the Old Inn. For more information, see Solas Gallery, Sundown Over The Hebrides From Gairloch Wester Ross Rhue Art Gallery: West Shore Simply north of Ullapool, Rhue Art Gallery is embeded in stunning landscapes on the coasts of Lochbroom, keeping an eye out over the Summer season Isles. Initially opened up

in 1980, Rhue Art Gallery is the work area of popular musician James Hawkins, thought about to be among the very best contemporary landscape painters in Scotland. An attractive display area has lately been added, showing changing exhibitions by nationwide and also global artists, all whose job is affected by the natural environment.More information right here http://www.rhueart.co.uk/ Rhue Art: Beinn Alligin From Ob Gorm Mor Beth Robertson Fiddes— Ullapool, Ross-shire Beth specialises in large-scale works based upon Scotland’s west coast as well as the Hebridean islands in the far-off waters. Influenced greatly by the sea, the passing of time, and also the rock formations of the shoreline, Beth’s job has been exhibited in galleries throughout Scotland. To learn more, visit Sawyer Art Gallery at Inverewe Home The National Trust fund for Scotland’s– The Sawyer Art Gallery at Inverewe House is displaying an interesting, innovative as well as diverse collection of works this season– much of which is yet to be produced! The majority of this year’s artists will certainly invest a long time citizen in the garden, developing works influenced by the Inverewe Yard and also Estate, a National Trust for Scotland home. Image: Inverewe Gardens, Kathy Sutherland, Water Lily Share Article

The post NC500 Galleries and Studios appeared first on galleries.

from galleries http://www.rrbondgalleries.com/nc500-galleries-and-studios/

[pollyhaynesuk]

Fab night doing sound at @johnpeelcentre - great sets from @themightysmallmusic & @lordtensheds // busy weekend, today brings a solo and band set at @suninndedham kicking off at 1.15pm so get down early so you don’t miss it! Then tomorrow I’m off to @westfieldlondon to start my @buskinlondon journey. Have a awesome weekend people, hopefully I’ll see some of you over it! 😍😍😎😎🎶🎶 (at John Peel Centre for Creative Arts)

[dobryibober]

Батько незалежної музики: John Peel

Джон Роберт Паркер Рейвенскрофт (1939 – 2004), відомий у світі музики як Джон Піл, був англійським диск-жокеєм, радіоведучим, продюсером і журналістом. Він увійшов в історію, як найдовше діючий діджей BBC; його радіомовлення тривало регулярно з 1967 року до самої смерті у 2004 році.

Музичний смак Піла називають еклектичним, з притаманним йому чесним та доброзичливим стилем мовлення. Все тому, що він довіряв інтуїції, відкривав різноманітну нову музику, шукаючи її серед маловідомих джерел. Недаремно він став одним із найвпливовіших людей в сфері британської музики. Попри успіх і відомість, Джон був скромною людиною. 

Він жив зі своєю сім’єю в маленькому селі Great Finborough біля Stowmarket, де досі мешкає його вдовіла дружина Шейла. Він брав участь у місцевому житті та був шанованим членом місцевої громади. Про це свідчить існуючий в селі Центр мистецтв імені Джона Піла (John Peel Centre for Creative Arts).

Піл був один із перших радіоведучих, хто почав ставити в ефіри композиції психоделічного та прогресивного року, а також міксувати в передачах такі жанри, як: поп, реґґі, інді-поп, інді-рок, альтернативний рок, панк, хардкор-панк, брейкор, ґріндкор, дес-метал, британський хіп-хоп, електронну музику, джанґл і танцювальну музику.

На Radio 1 регулярно виходило шоу під назвою Peel Sessions, яке складалося з чотирьох пісень записаних уживу в студії BBC. Це була чудова можливість для невідомих груп здобути  прихильність національного масштабу та прокласти дорогу визнання. Молодь мріяла потрапити в поле зору Джона Піла.

Іншою популярною особливістю його шоу були річні компіляції Festive Fifty  (укр. Святкові П’ятидесятниці). Пісні визначали безпосередньо слухачі радіо, голосуючи за ту чи іншу композицію. За результатами обирали 50 композицій, що були здебільшого інді та рок треками.

Піл був вдумливим слухачем радіо та колекціонером платівок ще з підліткових років. З того часу він мріяв стати ведучим власної програми, аби ставити музику на свій смак і заохочувати людей слухати її. Одного разу завідувач школи, де навчався Джон, прокоментував його шкільний звіт наступним чином: «Можливо, цілком вірогідно, що Джон може сформувати своєрідну кошмарну кар'єру, зважаючи на його ентузіазм до записів, які мало хто слухає, та його захопленням у написанні довгих і дотепних есе».

До того як стати батьком незалежної музики, життя запропонувало Джону різні ролі на кшталт: військового національної служби Британії; продавця бавовни; подорожуючого страхового посередника; фотографа Джона Кеннеді та Ліндона Джонсона; репортера газети Liverpool Echo; комп’ютерного програміста; неоплачуваного ведучого спортивного радіо KTCK; ведучого даласької радіостанції KLIF у пік Бітломанії, як експерта з Ліверпулю.  

Джон Роберт Паркер Рейвенскрофт повернувся до Англії на початку 1967 р. і знайшов роботу на піратській радіостанції Radio London, секретар якого запропонував йому взяти псевдонім «Джон Піл». Перше шоу Піла стало осередком андерґраундної сцени Великої Британії. Він ставив класичний блюз, фолк, психоделічний рок, із акцентом на нову музику з Лос Анжелеса й Сан Франциско. Музичний контент програми був особистим, іноді сповідального характеру. Щиру манеру викладу Піла одразу відчули слухачі. Вони надсилали листи, вірші та записи з власних колекцій. Так програма стала майданчиком для комунікацій.

Піл отримував найбільше пошти, ніж будь-який інший ді-джей станції. Радіо закрилося в 1967, а Піл почав вести власну колонку під назвою «The Perfumed Garden» для підпільної газети «International Times" (з 1967 до  середини 1969). Підписники газети були переважно слухачі з осбливим смаком, які підтримували незалежні локальні проекти, вигото��ляли зіни та робили власн�� підбірки пісень.  В 1967 році на BBC започаткували Radio 1 і запросили туди працювати Джона Піла: «Я був одним з перших лотів на Радіо 1, і я думаю, це відбулося головним чином завдяки тому, що ... Радіо 1 не мало чіткої ідеї стосовно того, що вони хочуть робити, тому їм доводилося вивозити людей з піратських кораблів, бо не було нікого іншого».

Перша програма Піла «The Night Ride» зосереджувала увагу на  інклюзивності треків, переважно екзотичної музики з усього світу, яку можна було знайти в BBC Sound Archive. Найпопулярніші випуски увійшли до альбому John Peel's Archive Things (1970) за підтримки  BBC. У програмі також звучало читання поезії та численні інтерв’ю з різноманітними гостями: The Byrds, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon і Yoko Ono тощо. Програма тривала 18 місяців і її закрили в 1969 р. Його шоу мало особливий формат завдяки суміші живих виступів і записаних пісень.

Піл завжди перебував в опозиції мейнстріму. Звісно він підтримував еру панк року, і це не подобалося керівництву BBC. В 1976 він відкрив для себе перший альбом нью-йоркської групи Ramones. Попри попередження, він вирішив поставити їх в ефір: «Ну я зіграв перший альбом Ramones – відчуття були ідентичними, коли я вперше почув Літтл Річарда – інтенсивність лякала! Отже, я зіграв п’ять чи шість треків на наступному шоу, і відразу ж отримав листи від людей, які вимагали, щоб я ніколи більше не ставив подібного. Щойно таке відбувається, я одразу дію в зворотному напрямку, тому я ставив їх ще і це було чудово! Це був класичний випадок зміни курсів у середині потоку, а через місяць середній вік слухачів знизився на десять років і весь соціальний клас змінився –  чим я був дуже задоволений».

Пілу довіряла молодь і надсилала величезну кількість записів, компакт-дисків, касет. Одного разу під час радіоефіру він промовив, що голодний. Тоді промоутери юного артиста Біллі Браґґа надіслали пакунок з грибним пловом та диском спеціально для Піла, щоб той поїв страву та прослухав диск. Кажуть, що це сприяло розвитку кар’єри співака...

Протягом 37-ми років Піл залишався на BBC Radio 1, де понад 2000 виконавців записали понад 4000 сесій. Багато класичних Peel Sessions були випущені в форматі альбомів, на його власному лейблі «Strange Fruit». Також у Піла був лейбл «Dandelion Records» (укр. dandelion – кульбаба). Діяльність власних лейблів Піл коментував наступним чином: «Це не було фінансово успішним. Фактично, ми, якщо я правильно пам’ятаю, втратили гроші на кожному треку. Я цілком любив це, але це було жахливо поблажливо. Не так поблажливо, як це могло би бути, якщо б у мене не було ділового партнера, правда ... Мені сподобалося мати лейбл. Це дозволяє вам випускати речі, які вам сподобалося, в ті часи, не турбуючись про те, чи працюватимуть вони комерційно. Я ніколи не був хорошим бізнесменом».

В 1970 р. Піл із дружиною переїхали жити в солом’яний коттедж, який згодом прозвали Peel Acres у селі Ґрейт Фінборо, графства Саффолк. У наступні роки Піл транслював більшість своїх шоу зі студії в будинку, залучаючи час від часу Шейлу та їхніх дітей до ведення ефірів.

Між 1995 і 1997 роками, Піл вів шоу про дітей «Offspring» на BBC Radio 4. У 1998 воно переросло у документальне шоу Home Truths, що нагадувало журнальні хроніки, та було присвячене повсякденному життю  британських сімей. Піл зажадав, аби шоу було вільним від знаменитостей, оскільки розповіді про реальне життя цікавіші.

Піл помер у віці 65-ти років внаслідок серцевого нападу 25 жовтня 2004 року, перебуваючи з дружиною в Перу. У пресі написали: "день, коли музика загинула".

Коли Джон помер, почали приходити подарунки від груп, шанувальників і прихильників з усього світу. Згідно заяви BBC: «Радіо втратило оригінальний голос, музиканти втратили чемпіона, шанувальники втратили героя, а британці втратили свого улюбленого дядька. Смерть Джона Піла була оплакана підлітками, їхніми батьками й навіть їхніми бабусями та дідусями».

Джон попросив, щоб окрім його імені на надгробку були також слова: «Teenage dreams, so hard to beat» (укр. Підліткові мрії, так важко перемогти) з пісні «Teenage Kicks» гурту The Undertones.

Джон Піл нагороджений Ордером Британської Імперії за служіння британській музиці (Order of the British Empire – британський орден лицарства за внесок у мистецтво та науку, роботу з благодійними організаціями й державну службу).

У 1997 році The Guardian попросили Джона Піла перерахувати 20 найкращих альбомів на його думку. Першу позицію посів альбом "Trout Mask Replica" групи Captain Beefheart , раніше Джон описав його як "витвір мистецтва". У топ-20 також увійшли альбоми: The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, Pulp, Misty in Roots, Nirvana, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, The Four Brothers, Dave Clarke, Richard and Linda Thompson і The Rolling Stones.

Довший список його улюблених синглів оприлюднили у 2005 році. Платівки зберігалися у дерев'яній коробці, про яку знято фільм "John Peel's Record Box". Зі 130-ти вінілових синглів 11 належали The White Stripes. Повний список груп, які брали участь у Peel's Sessions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peel_sessions

http://www.johnpeelarchive.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/

Цитати Джона Піла про незалежну музику:

"І на мене посипалися записи всіляких упертих хлопців із місць на кшталт Лінкольншира — часом доводилося дивитися на карту, щоб зрозуміти, звідки прийшов запис. Здається, що «провінційний» звучить принизливо, але я провінціал і в деякому сенсі пишаюся цим. Мені подобається ідея DIY (зроби сам), коли басист продає мопед, а ти в цей час розібрав декілька телефонів-автоматів, то можна нашкребти достатньо грошей для того, щоб випустити платівку. Багато хто так робив. Вражаюче, але чимало цих платівок були дуже якісними".

"Ще один момент, який мені подобається: більшість цих людей практично позбавлені амбіцій. Випустили платівку — і все, про  більше вони і не замислювалися. Ми якось зателефонували одній групі, яка брала участь в Піл-сесії, і запитали: «Як щодо ще однієї?» Вони відповіли, що одна сесія з нами була межею їхніх мрій".

"У музичних видань тоді був дуже дивний період, тому що більшість журналістів займалися оглядами самих себе. І це мало говорило про музику! Я читав фензіни, але лише як путівники, щоб потім самостійно займатися пошуками. Якщо приходило два фензіна з Честерфілда, в яких йшла мова про те, що якась група хороша, то вона, можливо, дуже хороша. Якщо тільки хлопець, який випускав цей фензін, не грав в цій групі".

#john peel #джон піл #bbc #music #indie music #radio 1 #bbc radio #ukrainian #ua #rock #post punk #long read #читати #музика #блог #українською #україна #український блог

[theglobetrottergp-blog]

I absolutely LOVE Byron Bay, the place I was lucky to call home for 2 years. In fact, it’s probably my favourite place in the entire world and that’s saying something given that I’ve been lucky enough to travel to 37 countries so far! But I won’t bang on about why it’s so amazing as you can read about that here in my other post ‘Why Byron Bay is my favourite place in the World.’ Instead, I want to tell you what the best things to do in Byron Bay are and how to make the most of your visit. Be warned, the list is long so you might want to allow longer than a weekend to visit Byron Bay if you want to get a real feel for the place!

Before I crack on and tell you about the must-see Byron Bay attractions, have you considered your accommodation in Byron Bay? Only I found an amazing luxury tree house which I talk about in my post ‘5 of the best treehouses on AirBnB‘ that you should most definitely check out!

Just imagine waking up here?!!

Ok so for the best things to do in Byron Bay, here we go..!

Fun things to do in Byron Bay, Australia

Beach time

You can’t possibly visit Byron Bay without some beach time! There are several to choose between from small secluded coves to long stretches of perfect white sandy beaches with aquamarine water. Park up your beach towel and chill out with a good book, it’s time to relax!

Shopping

When you’re done relaxing, it’s time to hit the shops. Now Byron isn’t a big place so don’t go expecting any huge shopping malls! But it has small-town charm and you will find some beautiful shops selling unique homeware, interesting gifts, gorgeous beachy clothes and beautiful bookstores. There’s even a hippy shop selling everything tie-dye! If vintage clothes is your thing, you will find an abundance of great treasure troves.

Diving at Julian Rocks 

Just a 10-minute boat ride from Main beach, is Julians Rocks. Warm and cold currents meet here creating an amazing opportunity to see a huge variety of marine life. Between December and May, there is a good chance you’ll get to see leopard sharks. Dive or snorkel, it’s your choice!

credit to Jeremy Bishop

Walk up to the Lighthouse 

An absolute must-do activity in Byron Bay! This walk, which starts from Main beach, will take you through the woods (keep your eyes peeled for wallabies,) up over some cliffs to watch the waves crashing against the rocks, down to some beautiful coves and then back up to the Lighthouse – Australia’s most eastern point! The views are just beautiful in every direction you look! A must-see in Byron Bay! Top tip: If you’re an early riser, head up for sunrise at the lighthouse – it’s spectacular!

Markets

I used to LOVE the markets in Byron Bay. In fact, it was one of my favourite things to do in Byron Bay! They take place once a month on a Sunday so you’ll have to time your trip well but if the market isn’t in Byron, it’ll be in another local town! The markets are always teeming with people. There are so many colourful stalls selling quirky items. You’ll find delicious eateries and lots of live music. It’s a great way to spend the morning.

Live Music 

Byron Bay is host to some awesome live music. Despite being a small town it attracts both local musicians and big names alike. When I lived in Byron, I loved Sunday afternoons at The Beach Hotel where the music starts in the afternoon and carries on late into the evening. All the locals would head straight to the pub, conveniently set right on the beach, straight from the popular markets I mentioned above. It brought the whole community together – young and old. Frequently in the afternoons, the children were encouraged to get up on stage and join in with the bands! I loved this relaxed, local friendly vibe!

For bigger bands and an adult only venue, there’s the Great Northern Hotel which hosted some awesome bands when I was there. For more local music, The Railway Bar (a converted railway station) never disappointed.

Splendour in The Grass Music Festival 

Once a year in the Summer, Byron Bay hosts one of the biggest music festivals in Australia, Splendour in The Grass. Spread over 3 days, it sees huge acts – my favourite I saw there was Lana Del Ray! Other artists who’ve featured recently include Vance Joy, Queens of the Stone Age, Two door cinema club, Stormzy and Royal Blood. Read more about it here.

Byron Bay Bluesfest

TheBluesFest is yet another amazing music festival right in Byron Bay! Set over several stages on Easter weekend, this contemporary blues & roots festival has seen acts such as Bob Dylan, Hozier, Paul Simon and John Legend perform! On the line up for 2018, you’ll find Lionel Richie, Lauryn Hill, Seal and Sheryl Crow!

Sea Kayaking with dolphins 

I absolutely loved this – what an absolute giggle! Mostly because I’m truly terrible at sea kayaking and my friend was even worse! At one point we actually ended up being towed past the waves out to sea by another Kayak. Hey, here’s a top tip: if you see a dolphin, don’t both lean the same way to get a better look… You guessed it, Splash! On the plus side, our giggles as we tried (mostly in vain) to get back into the kayak, actually caught the attention of the dolphins who came over to investigate! Maybe sometime I’ll have to tell you the full story! (By the way, I’m now a lot better in a kayak, thank god for that!!) Check out Go Sea Kayak for more info!

Take a surf lesson 

Ok so I was equally bad at this and for me, it resulted in yet another wild dolphin encounter! Whilst all the others were practising their new found skills, I was still trying to stand up! A curious dolphin made it’s way over – maybe it thought I was in trouble?! But dolphins or no dolphins, you have to try surfing in Byron Bay! It’s actually famous for its great surf!

Whale Watching

As you might have gathered by now, Byron Bay is not short of dolphins! But it also gets its fair share of Humpback whale sightings between June and October. You can take a tour with Whale Watching Byron Bay or if you’re strapped for cash or short of time, just keep your eyes peeled at the Lighthouse – I saw whales breaching and splashing about from there. In some ways, it was better than the whale tour as it was so unexpected!

Credit to Thomas Kelley

Visit one of the many amazing restaurants

Byron Bay’s food scene is amazing. Breakfast, lunch or dinner – Byron will have something to suit everyone! From Thai food to seafood or pizzas on the beach, you can’t fail to have a good meal in Byron! My personal favourites include;

The Treehouse – outdoors and lit up with cute fairy lights in the trees, great acoustic live music and delicious pizza, all a stone’s throw from the beach.

The Balcony – Always a great menu, I remember the seafood paella was particularly good. Wash it down with some lovely wines or cocktails and indulge in some people watching from your prime balcony position!

TopShop – no not the British clothes shop, this is a great cafe with a real local vibe. Take away, sit inside or lounge on the grass outside, anything goes. I highly recommend the chicken pesto on sourdough with a banana smoothie. So addictive – it was not good for my waistline!

Visit Bangalow

Just up the road is a small town called Bangalow which I loved to visit on my days off. Great cafes, vintage clothes shops and a bookshop that I never got bored of browsing! They also have a great farmers market on the weekends.

Visit the Arts Factory

The Arts Factory, primarily a budget backpackers hostel, is also a great place for finding live music, workshops (such as didgeridoo making and African drumming) and the Byron Bay Brewery pub on site is also home to an alternative cinema The Pighouse Flicks where you can chill out on comfy cushions on the floor whilst sipping a glass of wine!

Join in the Drumming Circle

On the 1st Sunday of the month, after the markets, head to where Main beach meets Belongil at sunset for The Drumming Circle! A group of people who love music who join together to jam together. A random mix of drums, guitars, banjos, ukeleles, even saxophones! If you, don’t have an instrument, make one! (I frequently saw people drumming on bins even!) Or dance. Or just find a rock to sit on and enjoy the music and people’s creativity!

Have a Barbeque on Wategos Beach!

One of my favourite things to do in Byron Bay is to enjoy a beach BBQ. Wategos beach, perfectly nestled in the hills and home to several millionaire mansions, is a great place for a chilled out BBQ on the beach! Take a dip in the sea, have a surf or watch the beautiful sunset with a few beers and throw a shrimp on the barbie!

Take a Yoga Class

Byron Bay is a great place for alternative healthy living and has a great colourful hippy vibe. So there is nowhere better to take some holistic classes such as yoga or pilates. You can even do some Yoga on the beach!

Credit to Simon Rae

Take a Massage

If you are not relaxed enough already, there is an absolute abundance of places to get a massage in Byron Bay! Or if you feel like splashing the cash, there are also lots of beautiful retreats in the surrounding areas for the ultimate R&R! My favourite place for a massage was conveniently a 2-minute walk from the beach, the  HollisticMassage Centre.

Visit The Byron Bay Hinterland 

Some people get so caught up in the beautiful beaches, coastal walks and other great things to do in Byron Bay that they forget entirely, to visit the Hinterland which has its own charm. Beautiful rainforest, quirky villages such as Nimbin which appear stuck in the 70’s and impressive waterfalls. Definitely, pay the hinterland a visit when you are in Byron Bay.

Go horse riding on the beach

An alternative way to explore the beaches in the surrounding area is to go by horseback. They cater for all levels of experience and only go out in small groups. What better way to experience the beautiful beaches than on a glorious sunset horse ride?!

Credit to Yudi Susilo

  So there we have it, 20 of the best things to do in Byron Bay, Australia! Do you have any other suggestions? Are you planning a trip to Byron Bay? If so please tell us all about it in the comment section below!

If you loved this article, I’d be eternally grateful if you could share it with your family and friends!

        20 of the Best things to do in Byron Bay, Australia - from swimming with leopard sharks to sunset beach horse treks I absolutely LOVE Byron Bay, the place I was lucky to call home for 2 years. In fact, it's probably my favourite place in the entire world and that's saying something given that I've been lucky enough to travel to 37 countries so far!

#Australia #Byron bay #things to do in byron bay

[dramatistsguild]

DG National Report: Florida-West by Dewey Davis-Thompson

@dramatistsguild @deweydt 

Wake up West Florida, drama is brewing! This fall offers more than ever for Dramatist Guild members. Free tickets, new localized ambassadors and events. First, let's welcome the ambassadors. No longer "youth" ambassadors, and no longer restricted to "intern" duties, Tampa's Jaime O'Brien still covers social media, so send events to [email protected] In Sarasota, Arthur Keyser is by no means a youth, and began writing at 80. Now he is on fire. Arthur's full-length play, Before Steepletop, was the winning play at The Players Centre for Performing Arts 2017 New Play Festival. His full-length play, Harry’s Angel, has been published by ArtAge Senior Theatre Resource Center and will be produced at Magic Curtain Productions Theatre in Orlando. Arthur reports that Connie Schindewolf’s Mammoth Bones, had its premier at the Players Centre for Performing Art. Her play Mammoth Bones won the Players’ 2016 New Play Festival. Also in Sarasota, Larry Parr reports that in October Hi-Hat Hattie was performed in Wichita, Kansas, starring Karla Burns. Hi-Hat Hattie also runs in December at the Aurora Fox Theatre in Denver, Colorado. Next spring, Cell Theater in Albuquerque presents The I.C.E. Storm, a 10-minute play, and Ensemble of Cincinnati will roll out Parr's His Eye Is On The Sparrow, The Story Of Ethel Waters. In Naples, new ambassador Shawn Ryan has been instrumental in setting up The Southwest Florida Stage Writers Group. Playwrights, librettists, composers and lyricists of all levels of experience are invited to meet other writers, get feedback on writing samples and keep up-to-date on local theater activity. The first meeting was in Naples, but future meetings will also be held in Lee County. For details and to RSVP, contact Shawn Ryan: [email protected]. Our new ambassador in the central swamp-lands, Chuck Dent has served as the President of Playwrights' Round Table's Board of Directors since 2008, and has in that time produced hundreds of 10-minute plays, one-acts, and full-lengths, including Miss, winner of the Charles M. Getchell Best New Play from Southeastern Theatre Conference.

Orlando playwright William Newkirk's play Miss also won Best Full-Length Play at the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival in September. Meanwhile, St. Pete's Roxanne Fay was named a Hawthornden Writing Fellow, and recently spent a month in residence at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland, working on two new plays closely tied to the myth and legend of that country. All of the local ambassadors are working to expand the Playwrights Welcome program to more west Florida theatres. So far about a dozen theatres have agreed to offer free tickets to Dramatist Guild members who show their ID card. Details are available on the DG website and a list of all the theatres is at samuelfrench.com/playwrightswelcome along with restrictions for each theatre. DG Footlights is expanding to Florida! Starting in November at Florida Studio Theatre and then rotating between venues across the region, Footlights offers DG members the chance to present a staged reading of a full length work to a local audience. For more info, or to submit your play for consideration, please email me at [email protected]. In other news, DLDF and the National Library Association present Banned Together, a nation-wide celebration of theatrical works that have been censored or pilloried. In Tampa we teamed up with Theatre Tampa Bay and a cast studded with local luminaries Lynn Locher, Angela Bond, Karla Hartley, Jim Sorensen, David Warner and Chris Romeo. With DG member Tom Sivak as Music Director and ambassador Jaime O'Brien as Assistant Director, the production was hosted by StageWorks on September 25.  Special thanks go Creative Loafing, Theatre Tampa Bay and John Burchette support. And finally, in December we shall be graced with Dramatists Guild President and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Doug Wright at an event on December 10 at Florida Studio Theatre in cooperation with the Hermitage Artists Retreat. Keep your peepers peeled for more details in your emails.

[email protected]

[b-sidemusic]

INTERVIEW: “MUSIC COMES FROM DESIRE” - A WORD WITH JUSTIN SULLIVAN

Justin Sullivan is a man who knows how to engage his fans. He’s the frontman of New Model Army, a band who inspire loyalty and a fervent following. He’s currently enjoying a tour on his own, performing stripped-back versions of NMA songs, revisiting some of his 2003 solo album (‘Navigating by the Stars’), and experimenting with some new material. The online feedback has been superb, and the energy at the gigs is electric.

B-Side’s Francine Carrel spoke to Sullivan before his solo gig at the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts in Stowmarket (read the review here), and found him happy to chat for nearly an hour: about music, performance, spirituality and the human experience.

B-Side: Hello, Justin! We’re looking forward to this evening’s performance. This is part of a whole string of solo gigs, right?

Justin Sullivan: Yes, it’s a tour. Every now and then I do a solo gig, and every time I think: “Oh, that was good… that wasn’t so good…”, and so I think the best way forward was to take it on tour. When you tour something you’re always much better after a few shows than at the beginning.  This is my first tour ever alone alone. I’ve played as part of a troop and I’ve done a lot of shows in duos with Dave from New Model Army and with Dean [also from NMA]. But doing it alone alone is something I always felt I wanted to do.  Although, actually, tonight is a special night, as I’m here with Tom [Moth – harpist for Florence and the Machine, with his own repertoire of impressive solo stuff], who’s the brother of our bass player Ceri.

B-Side: The timing of this tour is interesting – New Model Army are doing extremely well at the moment, with the ‘Winter’ album being very well received last year. Why is now the time to focus on solo stuff?

Justin: We released ‘Winter’ in August last year, and toured through the autumn and spring, so, by this summer, the Winter thing was kind of over! We then did festivals through the summer, and now would usually be the time to sit down and work on the next project. But, actually, we’ve released 32 songs over the last four years – we’ve been very productive, and everyone feels like it’s the moment to step back for a few months. For me, it’s the moment to do this tour.

B-Side: We’re in the John Peel Centre tonight – am I right in saying that (venerated Radio One DJ) John Peel gave New Model Army airtime at the beginning of your careers? Did you know him personally?

Justin: We’re one of many, many, many bands that owe a lot to John Peel! He was the first person to play our very first singles. We did a session for him and he was very supportive of the band in our early years. I do remember being in a car parked on a cliff in Cornwall, listening to us being played on John Peel. I was terribly excited.  The first time I met him – when we did the sessions we never actually met, we recorded and it got played – he came to do a DJ spot at Bradford Uni, so I went along to talk to him and say thanks. By this point we’d signed to EMI, and he said, “I really like your band and I’m sorry I can’t play you any more.” He was just extremely generous and knowledgeable.

B-Side: All the things he’s known for!

Justin: Yes, exactly. All the things he’s known for.

B-Side: NMA are notoriously difficult to fit into a genre. Would you say your solo stuff is easier to categorise? Folk, maybe?

Justin: See, it’s not our problem to think of a genre, it’s the journalists’! So you tell me, after you’ve seen the show. I will play some New Model Army songs, remember.  The thing about New Model Army is, everyone who’s ever been in the band has come from a different place, musically. We once had a meal, I remember, where we tried to agree on one album in the history of music that we unreservedly loved. And we couldn’t agree on one. And I think that’s unusual for a band. We take from everywhere. I come from a Northern Soul background myself but, growing up, I always loved folk melodies; I wasn’t so much into blues melodies. At the same time, Dean and Marshall are very much blues guys. There’s then the whole heavy drums thing, which I’ve always been into.  But then when I strip the songs back to me and an acoustic guitar… is that folk, because it’s one bloke and a guitar? Well, maybe, I don’t know.

B-Side: How about (2003 solo album) ‘Navigating by the Stars’?

Justin: ‘Navigating by the Stars’ I don’t think is a folk album, actually. Maybe in a way.  The features of the album were the wonderful bass playing of Danny Thompson, who’s a folk legend, but also the producer, Ty Unwin, who’s best known for film and TV music. He’s orchestral. We met in a place where they fixed keyboards, and we started talking.  I said, “Do you know a lot about recording technology?” He said, “Yes, that’s what I do.” So I asked if he knew about classical arrangements. He said, “Yes, that’s what I do.”  So I said, “Do you like Arvo Pärt?” (an Estonian composer). He said, “Yes, I majored on him when I was in music school.” So I said, “Do you want to produce an album?” – and he said, “Yeah, all right.”  OK, so some of the songs… are they folk? Folk melodies, up to a point. But there’s a lot of classical stuff on it, especially the title track. As both fans of Arvo Pärt, we were kind of taking that as a starting point.

B-Side: Have you found the writing process any different for your solo stuff?

Justin: Pretty much the same, actually!   I was reading Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography the other day, and I didn’t realise this: he was writing ‘Born in the USA’ at the same time as he was writing ‘Nebraska’. And he just went “that song belongs in ‘Born in the USA’, that song belongs in ‘Nebraska’…” and it’s a bit like that. Sometimes I write songs that I think are more solo, sometimes they’re more New Model Army.  A lot of the time with New Model Army we actually write by starting with drums and then we build songs up starting with the drums. We’ve always done that – maybe that gives us a particular feature.  Some of the songs I’m going to play tonight didn’t even have an acoustic guitar on them originally. But it’s interesting – you can take anything and reduce it to vocals and acoustic guitar.

B-Side: Do you get a lot of input from other people?

Justin: Yeah. I’m up for input from everybody, all the time. I can’t work alone, anyway. I have to have someone to bounce off. I have too many ideas: half are good, half are bad, and I need someone to tell me which the bad ones are.

B-Side: The touring itself must be quite different when you’re away from the rest of the band?

Justin: Yeah, kind of… with the band, there’s more people and it’s louder. Apart from that, it’s the same principle.  I’ve found that with the band I’m standing on stage and it’s a bit like steering a truck downhill. All the power is from behind me; all I’m doing is roughly steering. When I’m playing solo, I’ve got to generate all the energy. In some ways it’s harder work. I feel more mentally and physically tired.

B-Side: Do you still get nervous before certain gigs?

Justin: Yeah, I do. Not before every gig, but certain gigs. When I’m trying stuff I’ve never done before, or in a new environment.

B-Side: Do you have any venues that stick out as an amazing place to play?

Justin: There are certain venues which are basically amphitheatres. Wherever you look, there is a face, and that is very exciting. You can see everybody. It’s wonderful. But it does mean that there’s nowhere to hide.

B-Side: Are there any gigs that really stand out to you as being the best or the worst?

Justin: A few! It’s quite nice that, after three or four thousand gigs, the really great, special ones that I’ll remember forever still come around every now and again.  Terrible gigs? We’ve played a few. The moment I remember was when we were playing Das Fest, a big free festival in Karlsruhe [a city in Southwest Germany]. There were about 80,000 people all up this hill in front of the stage. We were at the end of five shows and I had no voice. I remember walking out on stage in front of 80,000 people and this [strangled noises] – this croak came out! It reminded me of Sampson in front of the temple with his hair cut off.  I wished the ground would swallow me up.

B-Side: You started in the 80s – have these live performances changed over the years?

Justin: No, that’s the thing about live music – recorded music has changed quite a lot, and music technology has certainly changed a huge amount, but the basic principle of standing on a stage and singing at people hasn’t changed since 1000BC. The idea of a minstrel round a campfire singing to people with everyone joining in the chorus is a principle unchanged since time immemorial.

B-Side: Do you have an opinion on the new phenomenon of people filming a whole show through a phone or iPad?

Justin: [Big sigh.] I always think, “Just watch the concert!” They’re thinking more about the filming than the moment. They’re recording the moment to enjoy later, but they won’t enjoy it as much later as they would in the moment. But honestly I don’t think much about it. I’m not in the business of telling the audience what to do.

B-Side: You guys are very European in your outlook, and you spend a lot of time on the continent. Is that going to get harder after the… er… events of the next couple of years?

Justin: Oh, god yeah. We don’t know what’s going to happen yet, but we’re dreading it. It doesn’t make any sense, and everyone knows it doesn’t make any sense. It reminds me of the Vietnam War: everyone involved knew it was a mistake, but they couldn’t stop. They went deeper, at every stage going, “this is a mistake!”  I feel at home anywhere in Europe.  I remember doing a tour of North America years ago – I like America, it’s very interesting, but it’s very alien. We came back to Estonia of all places, and I remember getting out of the plane going, “Ah… home!” Estonia is more home to me than America. I don’t hate America, but it’s alien.

B-Side: Would you ever consider settling abroad?

Justin: I’m easy. I don’t really want to live anywhere for more than two weeks. I get itchy feet. I’ve been in Bradford for 40 years, and it’s a good base, but I don’t want to stay there – or anywhere – all the time.

B-Side: Which bands and artists inspire you?

Justin: My first love was Motown and the Northern Soul thing of the 60s and 70s. Beyond that, the whole post-punk thing, where all the rules about how you had to make music were kicked into touch. The Banshees and all that stuff – it was a wonderful era of creative freedom. I was always a big fan of Kate Bush. Neil Young remains, to me, the only guy from the 60s who is still really relevant. Bruce Springsteen really can write.  At the moment, I’m really into this whole wave of music around the Sahara – from Morocco, across North Africa, Egypt and back round Niger and Nigeria. It really centres on Mali. I’m a big fan of Hindi Zara, from Morocco.

B-Side: What are your tips for aspiring musicians?

Justin: There’s one big one: do it because you love it. If you do it because you want to be someone else, you won’t be – you’ll still be yourself. Worse than that, if you become successful you’ll be yourself surrounded by mirrors. That’s what fame is – being surrounded by mirrors 24/7. If you’re not at peace with what you’re doing, if you don’t love what you’re doing, then you’re in trouble.

B-Side: New Model Army have been very well known for a long time, but never “on the front page of all the magazines” famous. Has this been the best of both worlds?

Justin: Yeah, I think so. Somebody said to me, “In the early 90s you were on the edge of being a really big band – where did it all go wrong?” And I thought – well, here we are in 2017, making the music we like, putting it out there in the way we like, where we want, when we want… how much better can it be?

B-Side: So you’ve managed to keep a decent work/life balance?

Justin: Mainly. In the middle of the 90s, we were a little bit adrift and a guy called Tommy, our tour manager in the 80s, came aboard and said “I’m going to manage you – we’re going to do everything ourselves. I’ll run the record company, I’ll run the management, leave it to me.” And this served us incredibly well until he very unexpectedly died in 2008. We were then left saying “Oh, god, what do we do now?” In the end we started doing it ourselves – which does take up a lot of time. There’s a lot less money in the industry, as well, so we can’t just pay people to do the boring stuff.

B-Side: You’re on Spotify, and I’m guessing some other streaming services: what do you think of the rise of these services?

Justin: Apparently, they’ve saved music, indirectly, because record companies get paid by Spotify. Unfortunately, artists do also get paid, but it’s pretty relative. I got a cheque from Spotify last month for £14. YouTube pay a third of what Spotify pay.

B-Side: So the artists make most of their money from touring?

Justin: Yep.

B-Side: How about selling physical copies of music?

Justin: Because our audience is older, they do like physical things – and, of course, there’s the revival of vinyl. This does make some money. We don’t make as many physical copies as we used to, of course.

B-Side: Your last album, ‘Winter’, is very dark. Why?

Justin: Yes, it is. It was written through 2015, when Brexit was coming – it was before the referendum, but we kind of got the feeling of what was coming. Then came the rise of the right wing, and Trump, and everything… we had the feeling, and now it’s upon us. And, on a personal level, 2015 wasn’t a very good year for any of us.  I have to say, though, that Michael and myself particularly, share a love of bleak. I spent some time on the East Coast recently – Felixstowe, for instance – and it’s very bleak, and I liked it!

B-Side: What’s in the pipeline? Another solo album?

Justin: Eventually, yes, but it takes a lot of time and energy. And New Model Army, right now, is in a very good place as a very strong unit – and so I think that there’s at least another album to make there before I step too far outside it. These solo shows are just a quick thing, I’m not looking to do a whole year of it.  New Model Army have some Christmas shows coming up where we’ll be doing all kinds of interesting things – two sets, stripped back stuff – and then there’s a big project in April that I can’t tell you anything about!

B-Side: Boo, cliff-hangers! Moving more into the abstract, then: the ‘Navigating by the Stars’ album, in particular, is very evocative in its description of the outdoors. Do you have a favourite place in the world?

Justin: I love the sea, which is obvious from the album. I actually think the north coast of Cornwall is the most beautiful place on Earth. I’ve been all over the world, but I don’t think there’s anywhere more beautiful.  The thing about ‘Navigating by the Stars’ – around that time, just afterwards, I did a trip across the Atlantic on a freight ship. Everyone assumed I wrote the album on the ship, but it was quite the opposite. Music comes from desire. If you’ve got the girl, you don’t really need to write about the girl. If I’m on the ocean, I don’t need to write about the ocean, I just enjoy being there. It was the desire: the dreaming, the imagining the ocean, that made me write about it. I wrote most of the album in Bradford!  I’ve known a lot of musicians who’ve got a dream place they want to be; and they get there, to their nice place in the country with their studio in the barn – and then they just stop. They’ve already got what they want, so what do they have to write about?

B-Side: Right, dream dinner party! Five people, alive or dead. Who do you pick?

Justin: Like most of the population of Britain, I’d have David Attenborough. Jaz Coleman, from Killing Joke, would be entertaining. This is difficult! Mary Renault, the author. Anyone from the English revolution - Oliver Cromwell? Oh, and Betty Davies! She’s a wonderful storyteller.

B-Side: Are you a big reader?

Justin: I do read. I’m not as big a reader as some people think – I’ve had a long, long association with the poet, artist and novelist Joolz Denby, and she reads the books and tells me what’s in them, so I can go around pretending I’m well read!  I do read, though, and I really enjoy reading when I do read. I keep coming back to Mary Renault, her books about Ancient Greece. It’s historical fiction – I also enjoy Hilary Mantel. The history is interesting, but people are people in every generation. I like anything that’s a good story, written well, I’m quite simple in that sense.  Recently, I did an interview with an American punk rock website, and they asked me “what was the lyric I most admired”, or something like that, and the answer they got was not the one they were expecting: it’s ‘Jolene’, which is an entire story, with very strongly drawn characters, and a whole situation, in 12 lines. I love story songs. I don’t write much about myself – I like songs that tell stories.  I also love radio plays, even more than films. You are doing the work of making the pictures, therefore you’re more personally, emotionally involved in it than you are when the pictures are just coming at you. That’s especially true of the modern fantasy films, with CGI – they look real enough, in a way, but they don’t feel real.

B-Side: Sounds like you’d be into the Norse sagas!

Justin: I don’t know them well, but I expect I’d like them if I listened. The thing about a lot of the Norse and old Greek gods is that there are gods for different occasions, and different human attributes. I think that’s much more real and natural. We are complicated monkeys, but we have a certain number of emotional responses. This idea of dividing the world into good and evil doesn’t quite work, it’s not really our experience.

B-Side: Are you religious, then?

Justin: I am religious. I come from a religious family, and I grew up very religious. I was in a lot of cults as a teenager. My father was very religious, and he was in loads of cults as well – but he was in them all simultaneously because he thought they were all the same. So he’d go to Quaker meetings, and to Mosque, and to the Catholic church. I’m exactly the same now. I think they’re all the same.  There is another world which is not the physical world going on all around us – it’s so obvious to me that I don’t need to do anything about it, or go to any particular group to worship. It’s just here.  The way that this common human experience of the spirit world has been divided into different cults over the years which then war with each other over who’s the true cult… it’s all nonsense, really.  We live in, theoretically, a very secular age – but I don’t think people are any different, and people’s recognition of that other world is the same as it’s always been. The problem is that it gets channelled off into cults.  The truth is that everything is very basic, it’s made of the same thing: everything is one. If we go back to art, I’m very fond of Van Gogh – and the reason for that is the background and the foreground are all made up of the same brush strokes. There’s this sense of everything being made of the same thing. That, to me, is the basic truth of the world.

New Model Army’s European Christmas tour kicks off at Kentish Town Forum in London on 14th December.  For tickets and info, visit www.newmodelarmy.org

Words & Photo: Francine Carrel

#interview #Interviews #the john peel centre #stowmarket #francine carrel #new model army #justin sullivan

[underlinethesky-blog]

Looking forward to this rager with @renegadetwelve and Shoot The Glass on Saturday! Tickets still available for their Friday show if your neck can handle a Double Bang! (at John Peel Centre for Creative Arts)