INTERVIEW: DONALD JOHNSON (A CERTAIN RATIO)

One ratio is certain. ACR are 40 years old. And to celebrate, the band – via their latest record label Mute – have released ACR:BOX – an absolutely engorged collection of 50-odd B-sides, alternative takes, remixes and new recordings, overseen by ACR’s Martin Moscrop at Abbey Road studios. For real completists, there is also a […]

The Idles boys were back in town, so we (Max & Simon) though it best to have a quick catch up with them, our last meeting was the December of 2016 ahead of their Night and Day Cafe show. Almost 18 months later we’re back stage at Gorilla before they entertain Manchester on a much […]

INTERVIEW – IDLES (Joe & Bowen)

INTERVIEW (IN A CHIPPY): THE CHARLATANS

Four minutes in a chippy with The Charlatans? Well, two of them anyway. We sat down for a “speed-interviewing” session with bassist Martin Blunt (MB) and keyboardist Tony Rogers (TR) to discuss (very quickly!) the great North by Northwich Exhibition they’ve curated and the new EP. What’s been the highlight of curating your own festival […]

We chat to the studio’s co-founder to find out more. The clever swashbucklers over at Pirate Studios have recently launched a new talent competition Pirate Prodigies Programme, designed to kick-start the careers of three lucky acts. On top of the incredible prize of promising to ‘break’ each winner (in a purely music industry way of […]

PIRATE STUDIOS LAUNCH INCREDIBLE NEW TALENT COMPETITION

BIT OF A CHAT: RUSSELL MAEL OF SPARKS

Some questions are easy to answer, some not so, but some are so easy to answer they are referred to as a no brainer, and this was the case when I was asked if I’d be interested in talking to Russell Mael, one half the sibling duo Sparks ahead of their first album in eight […]

Sean Pecknold is a director and visual artist from Seattle, now based in Los Angeles. Starting out in stop-motion, the multi-dimensions artist has spent a life-time expanding his poignant perspective – letting the colours of his understated world run from rich animation into grand, live-action. Here, he speaks to his beginnings in videography, how geography has […]

INTERVIEW: SEAN PECKNOLD

INTERVIEW: CHRISTINE FRANZ – FILM MAKER ‘SLEAFORD MODS – BUNCH OF KUNST’

One of the least likely stories of the last few years in music has been the rise of Nottingham swear-punk duo Sleaford Mods from sweat-dripping bars to major festivals and big shot venues. When Berlin film-maker Christine Franz began to follow the band on tour in early 2015, neither she nor they could have seen […]

I meet Tom Hickox in Ye Olde Cock Inn, an old, country-style pub whose exterior belies its location just a short walk from Didsbury village. This part of town was of the singer’s choosing, returning to his student base where he spent three and a half years studying English Literature. “I haven’t been in here […]

INTERVIEW: TOM HICKOX

INTERVIEW: MARISSA NADLER

Despite wide critical acclaim and praise from friends, I was definitely a ‘johnny-come-lately’ to Marissa Nadler and found myself stunned by the quality of her most recent record ‘Strangers’. The album, for me, confirmed Marissa’s position as a classic story teller as I became obsessed with finding the answers to each question prompted by her […]

Björk recently named Jofriður Akadottir as one of her favourite new artists in a piece for The Guardian. In that article, Björk admitted her obsession for Jofriður’s innovative techno band Samaris and praised her other work. For someone who has just entered her 20’s, Jofriður has released a hell of a lot of music. She […]