OTHER

CONTENTSISSUE N

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INSIDE THIS ISSUENOTTS: A MUSICIANS’ MECCAGIG GUIDE

Venue GuideBucket ListSociety 101: The MusicSocieties of UoN

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2your one-stop-shop for every gig in Nottingham this semester

FEATURES & INTERVIEWS10 Songs For Every OccasionChasing DeerHouse Here, House There,House EverywherePhilip GeorgeSome Like It Rough:Introducing Rough TradeKalli Ashton

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Post-Night-Out GrubSolitude is Bliss

Coasts

2015: SUMMER OF MUSICBritish Summer Time

ReadingV

GlastonburyNo Tomorrow

Y Not

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... & THAT’S A WRAPANDY HOE: THE MAN,

THE MYTH, THE LEGENDWith Special Thanks To... 44

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inc. interviews with JP Cooper & Bondax

Callum Burrows is fast becoming one of music’s most sought after artists. Capturing the hearts of the East Midlands’ people, local lad Saint Raymond has gone from strength to strength to become a dominant force in the music industry. Having recently checked off a huge entry in his lifelong bucket list in the form of a sold out headline gig at Rock City, plus the release of his debut album ‘Young Blood’, what can possibly be next for this 20 year-old powerhouse? Whatever it is, I wouldn’t dare bet against him in achieving it, as ‘no’ doesn’t seem an option at this moment in time. Read the homecoming gig and album review...

photo by Shaun Gordon, www.shaungordon.photography

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GIG GUIDE Capital FM Arena StealthRock City Rough TradeRescue Rooms The BrickworksThe Bodega

SEPTEMBER21stThe Beards

22ndBetween The Buried & MeRyan KeenRhodes

23rdDanko Jones

24thState ChampsLa SharkD.I.D (Dog Is Dead)

25thBen OttwellShadow ChildRoute 94

26thPeter Hook & The Light

27thThe ViewSweet BabooDarkstar

28thThe WombatsUnknown Mortal OrchestraKid Wave

29thSpock’s BeardRaglans

30thFleshRhodesGirl Friend

OCTOBER1stMonica HeldalDIY Pres. NEU Tour

2ndPeaceGabrielle AplinMenace Beach

3rdWalk Off The EarthMentallica & MegedethRam Records

4thGeorge The PoetSummer Camp

5thWheatus

6thJoe Driscoll & Sekou Kouyate

7thMallory KnoxGrave Pleasures

8thAnti-Nowhere LeagueTwo GallantsAlexanderLeftfield

9thSleaford ModsThe SmythsGengahr

10thScopyonsBlossoms

11thYears & YearsRuts DC

12thThe Japanese House

13thASAP Rocky & Wiz KhalifaBoyce AvenueBoxed InBugzy Malone

15thThe Sisters Of MercySpector

16thCradle Of FilthCoastsClay / Kassassin StreetBondax

17thEcho & The BunnymenUK Foo FightersPalace

18thJane Weaver

19thCiaran LaveryHonne

20thHot ChipAnti-FlagJess & The Bandits

21stRide

StormzyHabitats

22ndKeston Cobblers Club

23rdRockinghamQuadrophenia NightDavid McCabe

24thRockinghamOhasis vs. Blurd

25thJoe BonamassaRockinghamReel Big FishDarwin Deez

26thThe CribsFoxesSundara Karma

27thYoung Guns

28thKilling JokeHot 8 Brass BandMy Baby

29thBlackaliciousShelter Point

30thKunt & The GangRadkeyBlonde

31stThe Computers

NOVEMBER1stThe Garden

2ndJess GlynneThe Coronas

3rdSolo 45

4thSonic Boom SixDexters

5thFoalsEx Hex

6thImagine DragonsSkindredMoulettes & NizlopiAmenra

7thY&TBig Country

8thCrobotDinosaur Pile-Up

9thEvery Time I Die

10thCatfish & The BottlemenStriking MatchesDJ Format & Abdominal

11thEverything EverythingTom Robinson

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TOP PICKS:The WombatsRock City - 28th SeptWheatusRescue Rooms - 5th OctASAP Rocky & Wiz KhalifaCapital FM Arena - 13th OctBondaxStealth - 16th OctDarwin DeezThe Bodega - 25th OctBlondeStealth - 30th OctSkindredRock City - 6th NovImagine DragonsCapital FM Arena - 6th NovThe ProdigyCapital FM Arena - 24th NovGnarwolvesThe Bodega - 15th DecAmber RunRescue Rooms - 18th & 19th Dec

Free Entry?Join The Mic for £4 this year and get free guest-list entry to review and inter-view your favourite artists.

Email themic@themicmagazine.co.uk with the gig you want and we’ll do the rest! Join The Mic Members Facebook group to keep up to date with the gigs that are available and find people to go with.

Capital FM Arena StealthRock City Rough TradeRescue Rooms The BrickworksThe Bodega

Gigs are announced daily so for the full gig guide, scan this handy little QR code to stay up to date ...

Rolo Tomassi

12thAlabama 3The Milk

13thParadise LostCast

14thThe 1975The Complete Stone RosesBitter Strings/DelamereFahran

15thFrank Turner & The Sleeping SoulsLucy Rose

16thFrank Turner & The Sleeping SoulsTitus Andronicus

17thTalib Kwelli

18thWe Are The Ocean

19thThe FratellisLonely The BraveOh Wonder

20thThe VaccinesPublic Service BroadcastingMy Life Story

21stThe SelecterBeans On ToastCause & Affect

22nd

Scouting For GirlsFrom The Jam

23rdZebraheadVennart

24thThe ProdigyClutchMax Jury

25thApocalypticaUncle Acid & The DeadbeatsBoat To Row

26thHappy MondaysSystem 7 + Mirror System

27thKrept & KonanFlight Brigade

28thFerocious DogTobias Jesso JrHeadsticks

29thMotionless In White

30thEton Messy

Broadmarsh

VictoriaCentre

MarketSquare

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The Capital FM Arena is Nottingham’s big ticket venue hosting an array of mighty acts from the world of music, comedy and even ice hockey. Slightly smaller than other arenas in the UK, the FM gives a more intimate feel to such big bands and therefore doesn’t leave you feeling lost in an ocean when standing in the crowd.

Recently hailed by Frank Turner as his favourite UK venue, Rock City holds a comfortable 2500 people and regularly attracts incredible bands. Tickets are slightly more expensive than the smaller clubs but with it comes the more established bands and bigger production that is lost at the smaller places.

Rescue Rooms is Stealth’s partner-in-crime, with the two clubs joining together to make a mammoth club. It is also one of Nottingham’s busiest gig venues, showcasing anything and everything. It also holds quite possibly the best night in Nottingham: Stealth vs. Rescued, 5 rooms of everything from hip hop to house to pop on a Saturday night.

The Bodega is a petite 250 capacity venue, where all the hard-working, up-and-coming bands play on their road to success. As our society sponsor for 2015/16, it’s also great for a night out as it has the intimate dance floor and another downstairs bar, with quite possible the most beautiful little smoking area.

With black walls and a maze of rooms, you’ll find yourself going to the loo and discovering your new favourite DJ on the way back (and probably in a room you never knew existed). Stealth supports the thriving drum and bass and house scene like no other and plays host to some of the biggest names in the underground world.

Rough Trade Notts is the latest addition to the Rough Trade family and with its prestigious name comes an array of big artists playing intimate acoustic gigs, all while you enjoy a beigel and a beer. Selling everything from records to books and CDs, you can happily spend an afternoon getting lost here.

With amazing food & drink and 2 for 1 burgers on a Tuesday, I’d implore you to turn up for a gig early and have a beer or a snack. Spanky Van Dykes has got that warm feeling of a shabby-chic pub and is located in between three of the busiest venues so is always a good predrinks as well as being a small gig space in its own right.

You can’t help but feel a little badass when at the Brickworks; hosting the finest of house and drum’n’bass nights, the Brickworks is like something out of Skins with its metal pipes running across the place and cold, stone walls. The warehouse space only has one room of music, but thankfully it’s often great music so that’s not a problem.

This is the most beautiful café we’ve ever seen and having been recently refurbished, Malt Cross prides itself on nightly music, occasional workshops (wouldn’t you love to learn to screenprint?!) and you can even get a tour of the sandstone caves below it.

Chameleon is hidden above Cardzone on Angel Row (Aka the road with both McDonalds and Nandos on). Part of the magic of this place is going down an alleyway and up the stairs to find a tiny caff with a gig room about the size of one of the larger rooms in Halls (you know, the ones with the double beds).

Also check out these incredible venues across Nottingham:

CHAMELEON

Venues Capital FM Arena Malt Cross

Rock City Filthy’s

The Bodega Chameleon Arts Cafe

Rescue Rooms Maze

Stealth Spanky Van Dykes

The Brickworks The Contemporary

Rough Trade Jam Cafe

NOTTINGHAM MUSIC BUCKET LIST

festivals No Tomorrow Splendour

Dot To Dot Detonate

Everywhere Hit The Deck

THE BUCKET LIST Visit every one of Nottingham’s clubs Join one of UoN’s music societies

Complete 5 nights in 5 days Snap a selfie with Andy Hoe

Try a Club Sandwich at Jam Cafe Visit Tilt for Cocktails & Blues

See a gig in Portland’s new venue Learn how to play a new instrument

Whip your t-shirt off for Baywatch Try Pelican Club for a spot of Jazz

Go to a gig you’ve never heard of Reach the Capital FM Arena barrier

Last an entire Crisis All-Nighter Rent a CD from the CD Library

Do your bit at an Oxjam Festival Go to a Stealth vs. Rescued

Try a Rescue Rooms’ Karaoke Night Attempt the Mooch Terminator

Find the Coco Tang Prohibition Bar Sample every post-night-out takeaway

Try Oscar & Rosie’s metre long pizza Get your glitter on for Cirque du Soul

Get everyone into Crisis’ photo booth Partake in a Never Mind The Bodega

Support a UoN musician Buy a coveted ‘super early bird’ ticket

Repent your sins at Pop Confessional Tune into URN for the latest music

Visit Robin Hood at the Castle Meet a band after a show

Interview a band or artist Try your hand at an Open Mic Night

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- Band Society (BandSoc):Meet likeminded musicians and maybe, just maybe, you could follow in the footsteps of London Grammar. Go along to BandSoc and link with musicians to not only form bands, but also run events throughout the year - including the end of year spectacular that is ‘Battle of the Bands’.

- Bass Society (BassSoc):For the bass addicts amongst us, Bass Society encompasses the full spectrum; from jungle to house, reggae to dubstep, garage to trance, if there’s a heavy beat behind it, someone at Bass Society will appreciate it.

- Blow Society (BlowSoc):Blowsoc is the University’s society for wind players and percussionists, running 8 ensembles which rehearse weekly from a 70-strong Wind Orchestra to the revered Moonlighters Big Band! Blowsoc also boasts an exciting social calendar + an unforgettable Easter break European tour.

- CD Library:The CD Library have a massive collection of CDs, any of which you can borrow for just 50p a piece. They buy in new music about once every eight weeks, trawling through the latest reviews, sales charts and genre publications to bring you 50 of the latest and best albums.

- DJ Society (DJSoc):Want to learn DJing, improve your productions or just jam with likeminded people? Of course you do! Attend sessions to brush up on mixing skills/tricks or learn from the beginning. They’ll be putting on house parties and club nights in Notts, giving you the oppurtunity to play out.

- Folk Society (FolkSoc):Do you have a driving passion for all that is folk? FolkSoc gives you the chance to explore both folk music and folk dance. Regular socials are held fortnightly and they revolve around live gigs in Nottingham, “folk sessions”, ceilidhs (barndances) and rapper sword dancing (YouTube it!).

- High Society (HighSoc):Rumour has it, The Mic was born from members of HighSoc. As the lovechild of such an epic society, we feel it necessary to say “if you only join one society this year, make it HighSoc.” High Society is all about alternative/indie music - as broad as that could possibly be!

- Music Society (MusSoc):Mussoc is comprised of student-run auditioned and non-auditioned music ensembles. There is an something for everyone, including Sinfonia our Symphony orchestra, Coro Sorelle our all female choir and Collegium Musicum our early music ensemble.

- Musicality:Musicality is a thriving, Gold Award society at the University of Nottingham. It unites all aspects of musical theatre including singing, acting, dance, production, direction, composing, costume... and pretty much anything else you can think of which is theatrical!

- Punk Society (PunkSoc):PunkSoc accommodates the music tastes of everyone in the punk rock, alternative, ska and harcore scene. A friendly group of people who enjoy going to and hosting gigs. Expect weekly socials, regular gigs and excellent collaborations with other music societies.

- Rock Society (RockSoc):RockSoc is primarily a social society, where students that enjoy rock and metal music and the alternative culture associated with it can get together and experience both rock and non-rock events in a relaxed environment, getting the chance to meet likeminded people.

- University Radio Nottingham (URN):URN is the University of Nottingham’s multi-award winning student radio station. They broadcast live from University Park Campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Get involved with URN, you’ll get all the training you need to make it on-air in a professional studio.

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TUE 13 SOUTHAMPTON JOINERSWED 14 BRISTOL START THE BUS

THU 15 BRIGHTON GREEN DOOR STORE

SAT 17 MIDDLESBROUGHWESTGARTH SOCIAL CLUB

SUN 18 GLASGOW BROADCAST

MON19 EDINBURGH SNEAKY PETE’S

WED 21 BIRMINGHAM HARE AND HOUNDSTHU 22 LONDON DINGWALLS

FRI 23 LEICESTER THE COOKIE SAT 24 MANCHESTER DEAF INSTITUTE

SUN 25 LEEDS HEADROW HOUSEWED 28 CARDIFF CLWB IFOR BACH

THU 29 NOTTINGHAM SPANKY VAN DYKES

OCTOBER 2015

GIGSANDTOURS.COM / 0844 811 0051DMASMUSIC.COM

AN SJM CONCERTS, PCL, DHP AND FRIENDS PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

10 Songs for Every Occasion Sean Paul Temperature The Black Keys Lonely Boy Disclosure When a Fire Starts to Burn Wilkinson Dirty Love David Guetta Hey Mama Major Lazer Powerful Jason Derulo Want You to Want Me Foo Fighters The Pretender Linkin Park The Catalyst Friend Within The Renegade

R. Kelly Ignition Pulp Common People DJ Pied Piper Do You Really Like It? Meridian Dan German Whip Snoop Dogg Young and Wild and Free Robin Thicke Blurred Lines Peace Lovesick Red Hot Chili Peppers Can’t Stop Kanye West Mercy Walk The Moon Shut Up and Dance

Sigur Ros Fjogur Piano Hudson Mohawke Deepspace Horrible Crowes Ladykiller Foals Spanish Sahara Dry The River Bible Belt Keaton Henson You Amber Run Shiver Ben Howard Depth Over Distance Of Monsters & Men Organs Wolf Alice Bros

The Gaslight Anthem American Slang The Lumineers Stubborn Love Coasts Oceans The Cure Friday I’m In Love Twenty One Pilots Holding On To You Theme Park Jamaica Funeral Party Finale Bon Iver Calgar Death Cab For Cutie I Will Follow You into the Dark Two Gallants Despite What You’ve Been Told

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Recently, we at The Mic caught up with up-and-coming Warwickshire 5-piece Chasing Deer, following the release of

their debut EP ‘Rewriting History’. Speaking on behalf of the whole band, vocalist Rob and drummer Adam gave us an insight into their plan to infiltrate the music business and bring a fresh approach to pop rock as we know it.

If you’d like to introduce yourselves, who you are and where you’re from?Rob: I’m Rob and this is Adam from Chasing Deer. We’re a 5-piece pop-rock band from Warwickshire in the Midlands. We write and perform our own original music.

To those who aren’t aware of your music, in 3 words how would you describe your sound?Adam: Fun, Energetic and Upbeat!

How did you guys meet?Adam: I found Rob on a ‘Join My Band’ website. He put up an ad looking for

musicians and I joined the band originally as an acoustic trio with Rob. We went through a long audition process and eventually now we’ve got a 5-piece and a much better band!

Who do you draw influences from?Rob: Adam mentioned we all come from different musical backgrounds. All the songs we have are all very different; we’ve got a bit of heavy metal in there, a bit of classic pop, traditional jazz…everything really all coming into one song. We describe ourselves as pop/rock because we have to give a genre!

Has music always been at the forefront of your minds or did any of you see yourself in a different position as kids?Rob: Yeah, well I’ve done music since I was 6, so that’s a good long stretch of music! Adam’s done it for 8 or 9 years on the drums and then the rest of the band have done it since they were little as well. We all want to be musicians; it’s what we’ve always wanted to do.

12AN INTERVIEW WITH... AN INTERVIEW WITH...

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So, your debut EP “Rewriting History” is available now. How long did it take to craft?Rob: It’s taken us the best part of a year really. We’ve been really busy in the last 6 months, and with the new line-up, which we’ve only had for about 2 months. But yeah, it’s taken us a year and we’re really happy with it all.

How do Chasing Deer go about writing a song, does one person take the lead or is it a mish-mash of ideas until something sounds good?Adam: Normally one person will come to practice with an idea and then we’ll look at developing them together. Whether that’s just a riff or a lyrical phase, we all put our own ideas into it and craft it into a song.

Looking forward to the future, are there any plans for a full album?Adam: Well we’re already full steam ahead writing our album, due for a 2016 release, which will build on our sound and image so it’s quite exciting really.

Will it just be you 5 or will you get in some featured acts, I read on your website you like to collaborate with other musicians?Rob: We have both a 3 and 5-year business plan, we take it very seriously being our main career goal. We’ve got a list of people that we’d really like to work with. You’ll probably find we’ll have a couple featured artists on the album, we do like to work with people and guest musicians so if anyone’s interested, get in touch with us via our website! We like something that’s different, we’ve got a guitar, bass, drums and keyboard lineup so any different instruments, we like to work with that. We’re open to pretty much anything.

Chasing Deer’s debut EP ‘Rewriting History’ is out now! Look out for Chasing Deer this year, they may well be christening Portland’s new stage.

You can read the full interview online at www.themicmagazine.co.uk.

CHASING DEERCHASING DEER

House here

Reborn, and revolutionising the music scene, House music in all its many forms is taking over the world. We all hear of

stuff like Deep House and Tropical House, but what about it makes all the hippy dippy movers and shakers crazy about it?

Originating from the dance, electronica and garage vibes in the 80s and 90s in Chicago, its soulful ambience and slower rhythms make it vibrant. The complexities of the constant evolving style are what makes House so distinct from other dance music in 2015, perfect for swaying the night away. The genre started off last year with chart-topping artists like Disclosure, Duke Dumont, Chris Malinchak, Kygo and Nott’s own Phillip George, and has become the epitome of British summertime. Not only are they becoming jams of lyrical genius, but house tracks are perfect for you to have the right amount of fun without carrying someone home.

The sub-cultures within may be hard to define, but so what? Music is music, embrace the diversity, and leave the technical terminology for those behind the turntables. Years ago, there was a time when I gave a shit about how “mainstream” an artist was, but who the hell cares? Mixing things up with artists not previously associated with the Dance scene can also something entirely new to the table. One of my favourite tracks to this date has to be ‘Summertime Sadness remix’ by none other than Lana Del Rey and Grammy Award winner Cedric Gervais. A House mix of one of my favourite artists really got me intrigued by

the style, being more of a 00s kid I didn’t really get to experience the evolution of the genre as much as I would have liked. There’s plenty more to explore; the likes of Galantis, Sigma, Dillon Francis, Jabberwocky are all worth looking into with a simple search on Spotify.Guitar music may be ‘dead’, but there’s plenty still out there to love. As for House, I’m definitely not complaining about its return. The genre makes a refreshing change to my usual atmosphere, and I would encourage everyone to try it out at least once.

By Gabriella Ahmed, @WhatGabbyDid

House thereHouse everywhere

“The complexities of the constant evolving style is what makes House music so distinct in 2015”

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By Gabriella Ahmed, @WhatGabbyDid

So, you started off this year with a bang with “Wish You Were Mine”. How’d that opportunity come about?

Well it was just me messing about in the studio about 2 ½ years ago, and yeah, I put it on Soundcloud, I didn’t have any followers or anything large, I was completely anonymous, no one really knew who I was, it just started like that. After the first year, it got literally 100 plays, then the second year it had been uploaded, it just started creating views y’know what I mean? Just started getting loads and loads of views, went from 1000, to 4000, to 8000, just kept doubling and doubling, it all started getting mental. I mean there was no opportunity there, it just happened organically over the internet, it’s really strange.

It had a sample of a song by Stevie Wonder in it right? To get the approval of one of the world’s greatest artists, is just something in itself.That’s still pretty crazy now looking back at it all, I actually met Stevie Wonder, about 6 months ago in LA. I mean prior to that, I was the guy with two part-time jobs, folding clothes in Next, 4 months later I’m meeting Stevie Wonder, it was weird. It was the weirdest moment, but yeah it’s like all these opportunities, all the things that have happened just from me messing around in a studio, it really doesn’t make sense.

You like thinking outside the box with your music, what do you reckon makes you unique compared to other House producers out there?You know what, it’s really difficult for me to say, but I think a lot of producers forget about the groove. They forget about the good feeling of dance music, and a lot of people just copy everybody else, even my music, people probably see bits as similar ‘copied’ of myself or from so and so. But I think a lot of people miss the point of it a bit and a good DJ set, and I think I can, I can bring that to the table, I can bring good hooks, and proper producing as well, instead of a lot of great stuff out there. There’s a lot of stuff under the radar, and I can bring something that’s legit, something that’s real and can relate to people emotionally and be deep. And at the end of the day, I want to make music that relates to people in everyday life as well as the dancefloor, and just think I can bring something positive to the table,

Interview with:Philip George

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rather than what standard producers do. I think people just get lazy these days, but obviously I’ve got this style going on at the moment, which I quite like, quite mainstream, but I produce different types of music as well, and I can’t wait to showcase that. There’s a lot of stuff which I’m excited to show people, there’s just a broad range of music really, but yeah tough question to answer (laughs).

It’s all about the music for you and it’s definitely refreshing to hear that. If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be and why?Ooo I get asked this a lot actually, but I never answer it fully, which is really bad because I just name people. For me as an artist, I love finding new singers, finding fresh talent is really cool for me because there’s some amazing singers out there, better singers out there from say people in the charts. But yeah someone who I’d probably work with, I don’t know this is a really hard question! Do you know what, I’d love to work with, just because he had a sick voice, the old Michael Jackson, young Michael Jackson? I reckon that’d be really good because his voice, even to sample his voice is great, but to work on a fresh song, that young voice he had, like just after the Jackson 5 kind voice. Forget this newer stuff like Thriller etc, which was still really cool, just before that, that would have been awesome. The soulful one.

So what’s next for you, what have you been up to? Are we seeing a debut album soon?Yeah I’d like to be able to put together an album after a few singles, but my main priority is to get a few singles out there, and just basically make a stamp that I’m here for the next few years, and really just make an imprint on a few people and hopefully be successful in the rest. We’ll just see what happens really, then yeah put together a portfolio and create an album. But there’s so much going on at the moment, and it’s really exciting times to see what’s gonna happen next, so yeah, looking forward to it.

We’ve still got a bit of summer left, any festivals or party places abroad you’re hitting up? We had you in Notts’ own main stage at No Tomorrow earlier.Yeah that was sick, really excited, as long as the weather’s nice. Not a fan of rain at all,

but festivals are the best thing in the world, you can’t beat them. You can’t beat the atmosphere, you can’t beat the production of the music, there’s just so much to look at, so much to listen to and when the weather’s good, you can’t get music better than that really! That’s life, and to be playing at these big festivals, V Festival, and Creamfields etc, it’s just amazing. Looking forward to it.

Philip George’s new single with Anton Powers ‘Alone No More’ is out 2nd October on 3Beat productions.

Follow Philip on Twitter @philipgeorgeuk, Facebook /philipgeorgeuk and Soundcloud /philipgeorgeuk.

You can read the full interview online:www.themicmagazine.co.uk

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London… New York…and… Nottingham?! The iconic Rough Trade label opened its doors to a new store in the trendy area

of Hockley, Nottingham last November as just the fourth of these stores worldwide and boy are we lucky. Stephen Godfroy, co-owner of Rough Trade, credited Nottingham’s musical culture and independent music retail heritage as the driving forces behind the decision to set up shop here. Don’t be fooled though, Rough Trade is far more than your bog-standard record store; the store still sells records like it did when The Specials were promoting their earlier work: come to the store with a CD you’d like them to sell and if they like it, then you may see it on the shelves. What’s so delightful about Rough Trade is that it’s a no-half-measures sort of place; want to buy a CD? Well not only does the store boast more artists and genres of music than you could care to name but you can also escape the digital bubble and actually hold, yes hold, your CD or vinyl or just shove on the headphones at the listening station and try before you buy. Don’t fancy a CD? That’s fine then, how about coffee? Even the café is fantastic and rocks the hip, 90s aesthetics to perfectly accompany an afternoon spent drinking beer, eating beigels or reading one of the many books available for purchase at the store.

Sometimes you may fancy going out but not necessarily fancy a loud bar or the heaviness of a meal, well then come here. Open from 10am-11pm daily and often celebrating an incredible selection of gigs (some tickets free with the purchase of a CD), film screenings and live music, this certainly has the makings of a great night and you can make it to bed in time to make lectures the next day – see, everyone’s a winner.

What Rough Trade does is beautiful. They see music not as something to milk money from, like many of its more commercial counterparts, but instead as something to be shared and enjoyed. As a result of this, it has built up an iconic name, such that the artists it hosts are by no means ‘nobodies’. Since opening, everyone from Frank Turner, Frnk Iero, The Cribs and Little Comets have performed – all acts who have then gone on to play to sold-out crowds. So if you find yourself strolling through Hockley, or at home with no plans for the evening, then get on down to Rough Trade and support your local music scene, and in return you may find yourself watching some big names in an incredibly intimate setting.

By Irini Kounoupias, @IriniKounoupias

Some like it :Introducing Rough Trade NOTTINGHAM

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Billed as the UK’s response to Carrie Underwood, Nottingham

born Kalli Ashton’s roots in American soil explain her burning

passion for country music.In the shortest period of time imaginable,

Kalli has already achieved more than some musicians hope for in

a decade. Following thereleaseof her single ‘Worth

Your While’ and ahead of her debut EP ‘Wings’, we at The Mic managed to grab 10 minutes outof her hectic schedule to find out

her story.

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Welcome Kalli. Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?So I’m a pop-country artist from

Nottingham, I’m a singer-songwriter and I’ve just brought out my first ever, debut single that I’ve written myself.

Very nice, where in Nottingham are you from?I live in Beechdale at the minute, so not too far from Nottingham city centre really.

What’s it like growing up as a musician in Nottingham, do you find it easier to get opportunities what with the number of venues, it’s a fairly musical city when you think about it?Yeah, well in all honesty I’ve only just started taking it really seriously this past year. I’ve always sang, from as long as I can really remember, but I’ve only really started doing gigs and getting myself out there music-wise just over a year now. So yeah, it’s fun.

Were you singing with your Dad before or something, he’s a country artist as well isn’t he?Yeah, my Dad’s a country artist as well. My grandpa’s from West Virginia, he was in a big country band and so my Dad’s followed suit and then I’ve kind of carried on from my Dad really.

So, in this last year then, can you tell us a bit about your musical journey? So from starting out – I know you were on Open Mic UK as well, tell us a bit about how that came about?Yeah! Open Mic UK is what started it all off really. So I auditioned in October last year, and I got all the way through the area finals. So that was a really good stepping stone and from then, I worked with bands, did a few gigs that way and then I just fell into writing music after then. Obviously, before then I was singing loads of covers and things like that but I knew I wanted my own music out there too, so I’ve gone into song-writing and then released my first ever single.

So your first single ‘Worth Your While’ has been out a few months. You’ve already received great feedback and praise, it featured on BBC Introducing and was

played all across the nation wasn’t it? Did you expect that?It was quite a shock to be honest. I can’t remember really, it must’ve been about April time, I’d literally submitted it to BBC Introducing and a week later they were playing it on the show, so it was so fast – they just sent me a text message and said “Oh, by the way, we’re playing your song on BBC Introducing at a certain time”. It was such a surreal feeling, especially listening to my voice for the first time ever on radio. But then, after BBC Introducing, the Mark Forrest show on BBC Local Radio got hold of it so it’s been played a couple times on the Mark Forrest show nationally.

I was going to ask this question a bit later but as it ties in nicely, would you like to tell us a bit about your Rocket Fuel campaign? I’m guessing that’s what’s going to springboard you even further now from your debut year?

Yeah, Rocket Fuel’s been quite good actually, I’ve already started to get a bit of a fan base going with that so, my aim really is to raise a certain amount of money to be able to release my EP ‘Wings’ later on this year; the aim is to get it released by the end of September. ‘Wings’ has got my debut single on it, as well as five brand new tracks as well, so I’ve been working on my studio with that – Rocket Fuel’s just been helping me raise that money, building a family and just to help me get my EP out to everybody but also to promote it to industry professionals.

For those reading who aren’t aware, if you head on over to Kalli’s Rocket Fuel campaign, you can buy exclusive items such as handwritten song lyrics and a signed EP once it’s released, all the way up to a day writing and producing a song with Kalli herself.

Especially in this first year, it’s nice to get the personal touch as well I presume, before you grow and grow even more!Yeah definitely! I think especially, all the items in the store are all so personalised, so that’s what I think makes it a nicer experience really.

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Coming back to your EP ‘Wings’ then, have you got any track names yet? Is it all recorded and ready to go or are you still very much open to ideas?The tracks are more or less done now, I’ve been writing tracks since the start of the year so it’s a case of getting all the instruments down and then me laying down the vocals. The tracks were all put down; my vocals are all down so they’re all pretty much in mastering at the minute. I’ve got one more track to do next week and then, hopefully it’s all pretty much ready to go once it comes out of mastering. It’s just being able to produce it and get the physical copies out as well as MP3 versions; like what I said, promoting it to the right people in the music industry as well.

That’s great! After the EP’s released, will you be doing some shows around Nottingham or will you go further out and do shows across the whole of England?Yeah, I’m happy to do gigs wherever. Obviously I’d love to still do gigs around Nottingham with it being my hometown; it’s really nice to have that local support there. I know Nottingham Post are doing a write up about me soon as well so that’s really helped having that local support. I’ve done gigs in Leicester and it’s nice to branch out and get a bigger fan-base that way but yeah, Nottingham’s always a great place to perform anyway!

If you were to headline a gig right now, who would your three support acts be? They can be anyone, past or present, dead or alive?

Oh gosh! Erm, well one would definitely be Carrie Underwood. Gosh, this is such a hard question. You know, funnily enough, I wouldn’t mind Dolly Parton. I think because I’m so country, it’s so hard to think. You know what, I would actually quite like Little Mix.

Those are 3 great choices! Definitely a gig to watch!Yeah haha, quite a mix! The pop and the country kind of blend together a bit.

That’s great, that definitely sums you up in a bubble of pop, country and the fact anyone can listen to and appreciate your music. I presume that gig would have to be in Nashville then?Oh I’d love to, that’d be great!

Thank you for your time and it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you. Best of luck for the future and hopefully we’ll see you soon around Nottingham!Brilliant, thank you!

Kalli’s new EP ‘Wings’ is due for release soon. Follow @Kalli_Ashton and check out her Rocket Fuel Campaign at www.rocketfuelhq.com/kalliashton.

Read the full interview with Kalli online at www.themicmagazine.co.uk.

By Luke Matthews@ekulmatthews

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POST-NIGHT-OUT GRUB

AntalyaUpper Parliament Street (Opposite Frankie and Benny’s):If you’re a carnivore then come here for a smashing doner kebab, or conversely if you’re one of those kids who came to uni to ‘find themselves’ and ended up going vegan then come here for a fantastic falafel that comes with a hearty dollop of houmous and salad (because you know, we’re trying to be healthy here).

Stealth Smoking AreaStealth smoking area, Masonic Place:Not only is Stealth home to some of the dirtiest drum and bass of the midlands (as well as the dirtiest walls… that black paint isn’t fooling anyone), it has its very own jerk barbecue in the smoking area courtesy of 3C’z and my God it’s the best chicken burger you’ll ever eat. I’d almost go as far as to say it’s worth paying the entry just to buy the burger, and for £3.50 it’s a bargain. Plus, you don’t have to leave the club for it, so you can leave a sensible 15 minute digestion time and get back to dancing.

McDonalds7 Angel Row or 13 Exchange Walk or 31 Clumber St:I get it, some people are creatures of comfort and you’ll be pleased to know that Nottingham is littered in Maccy Ds (restaurants and rubbish), and the cheapskates among you may already know that you can show your student card and get a free cheeseburger, med chips or McFlurry. Particularly decent is a trip to the one on Angel Row while waiting for a bus after a night at Rock City or Rescue Rooms.

Arco10 Lenton Boulevard:If you’re living in Lenton then there’s nothing wrong with walking – or just getting your taxi to detour- to Arco on Lenton Boulevard. Even your most fickle of friend will find something to tickle their fancy, whether it’s their jaw-dropping selection of the greasiest pizzas or their kebabs, there’s certainly something to hit the spot and ward off the hangover in time for you to make your 9am tutorial.

Maryland Chicken24 Lower Parliament St:When coming out of Oceana drunk-eyed and delirious it would be hard to miss the luminous sign of Maryland Chicken who claim to be the ‘fastest growing fast-food chain in the UK’. Also in close proximity to Market Bar and other local watering holes like Baa Baa’s, a trip to Maryland will be an appropriate end to many nights – they even sell healthy grilled options of their burgers!

TescoIf you’re a Broadgate Park resident or in Halls and just really fancy a good walk then at some point you have to make a twilight trip to the 24 hour Tesco where the world will be your oyster and you can treat yourself to whatever strange post-night out craving you may have. My suggestion? Pick up a packet of Betty Crocker Brownie mix, Cookie mix and some Oreos and make some Slutty Brownies: ‘http://www.thelondoner.me/2011/06/slutty-brownies.html’.

By Irini Kounoupias@IriniKounoupias

So let’s set the scene: it’s a Tuesday night. You’ve just spent much more money than you ever planned on the doubles at Market Bar (whoever said credit cards were for emergencies only clearly hasn’t been the sober one in a club before); it’s reaching the point in the night

where you can’t fully devote yourself to the Beyonce on the speakers because your stomach is rumbling. Fear not! There are many good post-night out establishments in Nottingham. Here’s a run-down of some of the best:

Think you know a better post-night-out meal that puts these to shame? Tweet us @TheMicNotts + #TheMicGrub with your hangover saviour and we’ll feature them in our Christmas issue!

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S o l i tude i s

The idea of a solitary artist retreating into their basement and creating eclectic art is one that proves easy to romanticise. In

the case of music, technological advancements have entailed a great deal of freedom for talented multi instrumentalists to articulate their ideas and share them with fans. Two such musicians are Kevin Parker and Ruban Nielson; both virtuoso’s of psychedelic songwriting.

As the frontman of Tame Impala Kevin Parker has established himself as a household name in the world of psychedelic rock due to his use of captivating hooks, dreamy falsetto and fuzz smeared guitars. With his 2015 release ‘Currents’ Parker illustrates just how far he has come from the dreamy John Lennon tinged soundscapes of his debut ‘Innerspeaker’. His production on this latest album is as captivating as it has ever been; in the first track ‘Let It Happen’ he engineers more and more skipping into the song’s synth lines before throwing an entirely new

progression over these looping keys. As a result what could have remained a simplepsychedelic pop-romp becomes an almost eight minute long show of force, all of its instrumental elements alluding to what is still to come in the track - ‘Currents’ certainly feels an appropriate name for the album. Parker’s bass playing is also noteworthy. In his first two records he performed McCartney styled lines which perfectly complimented his psychedelic tracks. But, in his latest release the artist brings more funky, groove oriented basslines to the table than ever before; ‘The Moment’ has an air of Joe Jackson about it, and his playing punches through the dreamy aesthetic to provide a pop song you can really sink your teeth into. Above all else the Australian’s most laudable trait is his perfectionism, in interviews he has described how he can spend weeks agonising over one drum sound on a track. His commitment to his art is indisputable and it felt hard to argue when collaborator Mark Ronson cited Parker as his favourite current rock artist.

B l i s s

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Ruban Nielson fronts New Zealand psyche-rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra and likewise has proven himself adept at crafting kaleidoscopic pop music in his home studio. In no way a newcomer to the alternative scene, Nielson’s band have enjoyed critical acclaim from as early as their self titled debut ‘Unknown Mortal Orchestra’. The album’s follow up, ‘II’, featured a great degree of refinement, and in my view greatly benefitted from it - very much comparable to Parker’s sophomore effort ‘Lonerism’.

‘Multi Love’, the third full length from the band, features enticing basslines and a lathering of well engineered synths just ‘Currents’ does. This more groove oriented album proves a marked change from the dynamic fingerpicked electric guitars which drove many of the songs of ‘II’. That’s not to say that Nielson’s instrumental prowess isn’t present throughout the album. The frontman records the vast majority of the parts on his albums himself and his articulate use of synths and complimentary Prince-esque guitars make ‘Multi Love’ a vibrant and engaging listen. Moreover Nielson produced the album, lovingly assembling every element of the record. The result of this solitary process is a record that manages to distinguish itself in a relatively homogeneous genre. So many of the sounds used are so decidedly Nielson’s own; boxy sounding, almost hip-hop beat, styled drums litter the album, whilst the wah bass and the over flanged guitar floating in the periphery on ‘Ur Life One Night’ are touches of genius.

The record also features an enticing personal underpinning to a number of its tracks. ‘Like Acid Rain’ highlights the recreational drug use that underpins the music of what is arguably the majority of rock bands; ‘Jesus doesn’t know my name, He charge me fifty bucks a gram (woowoo)’. The way in which Nielson polymerises dark source material and extensive pop appeal is thought provoking and unsettling in equal measure. Moreover, an intriguing relationship is alluded to in the record. Prior to the release of the appropriately named ‘Multi Love’ Nielson found himself engaged in what was effectively

a three way relationship between himself, his wife and another woman. The psychological toil of this polyamorous dynamic is conveyed in numerous tracks, most notably the eponymous ‘Multi Love’.

Both three albums into their careers, Kevin Parker and Ruban Nielson have really hit their stride as accomplished musicians, songwriters and producers. They have taken on numerous musical tropes of past eras, whilst forging on into the future with attention grabbing songs that sound out of this world. If you have the chance to catch either of their bands live in the foreseeable future, do so.

By Gabriel Burrow, @gabrielburrow

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Saint Raymond’s debut album ‘Young Blood’ is out now. Featuring singles ‘Fall At Your Feet’, ‘Everything She Wants’ and ‘I Want You’, it

smashes everything you can possibly need in a debut out the park. From start to finish, each track leaves you pleading for more; even going as far as

to say that each song is single-worthy in it’s own right.

Kicking things off is a crash course in how to create the catchiest, most infectious music. With mighty cheers of “Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh!”, ‘Letting Go’

takes us on a contrasting rollercoaster of downbeat verses and huge chorus’ of anthemic proportions. Title track ‘Young Blood’ follows suit with plucky guitar riffs,

highlighting Burrows’ indie influences. ‘I Want You’ and ‘Wild Heart’ play on similar ideas, with these two returning some of the loudest cheers at a Saint Raymond gig -

it’s not hard to hear why!

Straying away from the stereotypical Saint Raymond ‘mighty chorus’ is ‘As We Are Now’, a transcendent blend of perfect harmonies that pay homage to

Burrows’ youthfulness. With a heart-in-throat feel, you can really grasp the emotion that this barely-out-of-his-teens musician has poured into the lyrics.

Another piano driven track that tugs on the heart strings is ‘Carry Her Home’; reflecting the scrambled head of a love-struck teen in the big

steps towards holding on to life, it’s a struggle not to feel each and every emotion on display.

Saint Raymond has loved, he has lost and he has allowed us to share this with him. Through cataclismic highs and spiralling lows, every

emotion has been squeezed into just 12 tracks. Nottingham should be proud to have this young, fluorishing talent fly.

Burrows has worked painstakingly hard to get this album out and every blood, sweat and tear shed was worth it a million

times over. Days of playing to crowds of half a dozen are long gone - onwards to the festival main stages.

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Barely twenty years old and only 3 days my senior. One of us is playing to a sold out crowd of roughly

2,500. The other? Documenting every second of it.

The first moment that it clicked just how big Saint Raymond had got was the summer of 2014. Not that long ago? Too right. I was wading aimlessly through the bustling crowds of Reading Festival when as far as the eye could see were posters so big, New Horizons barely had to squint to read the small print. Posters and posters and oh wait … more posters round the corner, all with Callum’s giant mug cheekily grinning back. “Who was this kid?” I tirelessly thought to myself. I’d missed his set as I’d only attended Reading for the Sunday and soon before long he’d slipped my mind completely.

That was until every so often he’d creep back into the limelight; whether it was whilst I scrolled the home screens of Fifa 15 or I’d been dragged along to an Ed Sheeran gig because my other half proclaimed it was a matter of life or death – to be fair to her, I hadn’t seen a better gig that year, but that’s beside the point. This smirking guy was there again, commanding the stage like he owned it. Who was I to argue? His music was infectious, it bribed your soul and then commanded your feet like a voodoo puppeteer. For as long as I’ve been going to gigs, a support act has never energised a crowd more so, it’s no wonder Ed personally selected him for the tour … but I wanted to know more.

Tickets had sold out well before the date and the guest list was heaving with friends, family and those who’d helped in his rise to fame. Burrows was a Nottingham lad, born and bred and he’d the cocktail of

returned to finally complete his boyhood dream of headlining the infamous Rock City stage. Along with him came Brighton indie-rockers Fickle Friends, a stupidly likeable 5-piece with songs like ‘For You’ and ‘Swim’ that stick like glue in your subconscious. They’re the bubbly crossover band that should be in your guilty pleasures, yet persist in winning over your fingers-tapping-on-the-desk heart nonetheless.

Already, everyone in attendance had a glimmer in their eye in anticipation for what was to come. Everyone was upbeat; everyone was ready to jump and leap and ricochet off the neighbouring fan because everyone was there for the same reason: to have fun and go mental. Amber Run, also from Nottingham as ex-‘Uni-of’ students, teased the crowd with Bastille-esque riffs and raspy tones. Lead singer Joe Keogh unleashed his eloquent vocals and everyone in the crowd stood to attention as the stage became theirs for the next 40 minutes. The lights were subdued, the crowd grew magnetised to a faultless performance right from the off, especially with fan-favourite ‘I Found’ setting the bar as high as it gets. I would warn you to expect big things from these guys, however I reckon at the time of you reading this you’ll already be number one fans. Also, any band that incorporate Jason Derulo lyrics in a song’s bridge deserve a knighthood.

Playing your very own show to a sold out crowd at the venue you grew up loving from an early age, as far as moments in an artist’s career go, they don’t come much bigger than this. Following his faithful band and stepping out onto the stage for the very first time as a headliner, it was like Christmas come early and you could tell it was hard for Burrows to hold back

SAINT RAYMOND @ ROCK CITY, FEBRUARY 2015

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SAINT RAYMOND @ ROCK CITY, FEBRUARY 2015the cocktail of emotions he must’ve been mixing. Unlike many other young stars, he held his nerve and kicked things off with ‘Letting Go’; a song which reflects the times in life when it’s do or die. As the lyrics state, in love and in life, Burrows had to seize this opportunity and he has, without a shadow of a doubt, earned every second of it.

Tale of love and devotion ‘Everything She Wants’ closely followed, with indie anthem ‘Brighter Days’ hot on its heels. Saint Raymond couldn’t have expected just how engaged the crowd was – not a lyric slipped the tongue of every screaming teen and avid fanatic in attendance. Saying little between each song, Burrows let his iconic sound do the talking.

Fifa soundtrack highlight ‘Wild Heart’ came to a mighty roar from the crowd, yet it was set-list titans ‘Young Blood’ and ‘Ghosts’ that left a ringing in every fan’s ear; I couldn’t quite work out if the booming speakers or the crowd’s singing won in the loudness race, but it sure was close. I think Burrows caught sight of this and rode the vibes effortlessly by treating us all to a song written only last week titled ‘Movie On My Mind’. “You’re the words on my tongue to my favourite

song” echoed out and summed up what we were all feeling. Visually, it was a spectacle. Aurally, it was perfection. It was little to no surprise that the traditional encore followed, including a tug at those heartstrings with ‘As We Are Now’ and ending on an impeccable performance of latest hit ‘Fall At Your Feet’.

I managed to grab Burrows that same day before he went on stage and when I asked him “At what point do you think you’ve made it?”, he struggled for an answer. If I asked him now, I reckon his perspective may have changed slightly, as for the next two hours, Burrows gave Saint Raymond his all and Saint Raymond returned the favour in exquisite style. As far as shows go, I doubt many come quite as explosive, ground-breaking and jaw-dropping as this. Not only did hit after hit come streaming out of the speakers, Burrows’ music seemed to unite the crowd as if Davina McCall had summoned us all together for an episode of Long Lost Family. No, I’m not plugging ITV, I’m simply stating that before February 11th, everyone shared an individual love but only then could everyone share it together and rejoice in Burrows’ success. Kudos Callum. Kudos Saint Raymond. See you at the Pyramid Stage.

By Luke Matthews@ekulmatthews

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“I couldn’t quite work out if the booming speakers or the crowd’s singing won in the loudness race, but it sure was close”

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Many people will have first heard of you when A Rush of Blood was played on Made In Chelsea - was that a breakthrough moment for you?Yeah Made in Chelsea is a great platform for new bands to get heard by a large audience. We were lucky enough to perform live on the show too which was awesome. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for bands to get on mainstream TV anymore, so we really appreciate what they’ve done for us.

You signed a record deal last year, how have things changed for you since then? Do you feel that creatively you’ve still had the same control over your music?Yeah we’ve still had pretty much all of the creative control. We were lucky that we were at a stage when we got signed where we’d already written most of our debut album, had a pretty solid fan base and had done a lot of touring already so there was a formula that was working and the label didn’t really want to change that. I think that was a big thing for us, we wanted it to still feel completely like it was our band and our project; we didn’t want to be doing something we didn’t fully believe in.

You’ve earned your stripes on the touring circuit (the continuous sold out London shows are a testament to that), how do you cope with the downtime on tour? What are you looking forward to with this one?Yeah we’ve been really busy with touring over the past year, we all love it though. You want to be in a band so that you can play your songs live to people and there really is nothing better. When we’re not on tour we’re usually doing promo things so we don’t really get too much downtime at the moment, but when we do it’s a good time to chill and catch up on sports. It feels like ages since we’ve done a proper UK tour, we did a ‘Coastal Tour’ earlier this year, but we haven’t hit the major cities since last October so it’s been a year. We can’t wait to get back out on the road, I think we’ve improved massively in the year since we last toured the UK so I can’t wait to take the new and improved show on the road and play some new songs.

How was Reading & Leeds? Is this a festival you’ve been to as punters?

Yeah it was awesome, it’s the last big festival of the UK summer so it’s like a big party. The weather wasn’t great, but the show at Reading was probably our favourite show of the whole festival season combined. The crowd were amazing and we had loads of fun. We’ve all been to Reading before and I used to go as a kid growing up, so it was pretty surreal to see yourself on the line up and actually play. We managed to catch a couple of acts too like Kendrick Lamar and Bring Me The Horizon who were great, so we had a lot of fun.

Have you had any WTF/surreal moments since being in a band?We had a bit of one at Reading and Leeds because we were on just before Manchester Orchestra on our stage. They were the first band we ever went to see live as a whole band, so it was pretty cool to be playing just before them at a festival. Other than that, Rio Ferdinand was backstage at Glastonbury; I think we’d be more star struck around footballers than bands.

Your debut album is out on September 25th, are there any bands or sounds that you think have influenced your sound?A whole bunch of things have influenced our sound; the album is influenced by dance music pretty heavily and we wanted to get across that euphoric feeling you get when you’re at a festival with all your friends listening to great dance music but try to bring that in to a live band, guitar led environment. In terms of bands that have influenced us it’d have to be things like The Smiths, The Cure, Foals, The Police, stuff like that. The album is about our journey as a band over the past few years and all the ups and downs that go with that, so it’s pretty much influenced by everything we’ve experienced in the past couple of years.

Have you got any silly pre-show rituals? Not really, none of us are superstitious, though we do have a pre-show playlist to get us in the mood which has got stuff like ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Childish Gambino and Kendrick on. People are sometimes surprised when they come by the dressing room and we’re listening to stuff like that, but it helps us get in the mood.

By Irini Kounoupias, @IriniKounoupias

THE SUMMER OF MUSIC2015

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photograph by Shaun Gordon / @SG_photography / www.shaungordon.photography29

Have you ever thought that you want the massive names drawn by major festivals, but prefer not to stew in the filth of 100,000 people for a weekend? British Summer Time offers music lovers the opportunity to be selective in which bands they want to see by offering a mix of

acts over two weekends. This year was no different and hosted the likes of Taylor Swift, The Who and the two main acts I ended up seeing; The Strokes and Blur.

Don’t get me wrong, I have had so many great, and as many surreal times at festivals. Nothing is quite like a chance encounter at 3am between a pair of strangers, one dressed as a wizard, the other as spider man, both off their tits. However, BST’s top tier day festival experience certainly had its merits. When compared to the likes of Reading and Leeds the toilets were pristine, and the floors of some friends in London were still a whole lot preferable to a £15 “water resistant” tent that ended up being only a fraction more appealing than a night under the stars in a deckchair.The festival did have its downsides; the food and drink inside were just as expensive as you would expect from a festival in Hyde Park with a captive audience. On top of this the extensive sponsorship of the festival, with adverts playing between sets rather than the obligatory ‘Chelsea Dagger’ sing along, felt really pretty obnoxious. This corporate influence was most prominent in a sizeable VIP area, which separated off a significant area immediately in front of the main stage - bore off, no, seriously.

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The StrokesEvery time the Strokes play in the UK it is treated as potentially their last show in blighty. Band members are involved in distinguished side projects; Julian’s experimental debut with the Voidz is a great listen and Albert Hammond Jr’s solo pursuits have produced a number of well-crafted alternative rock singles. This combined with sporadic touring habits makes seeing the band for us Brits a struggle. I even met two fans who had come all the way from Cyprus for the show!

The band started their set in style with the eponymous opening track of their debut, ‘Is This It?’, and proceeded to reel off a flurry of their best staccato slices of magic. They adeptly balanced tracks from throughout their discography, although I personally was sad to miss out on some of my favourites from their most recent release ‘The Comedown Machine’ - seeing the likes of ‘Tap Out’ live would have made my night. That being said they certainly lived up to their reputation as an impeccable live act, the band perfectly locked articulate guitars in with drums played with almost robotic perfection. Likewise Julian Casablancas delivered his vocals as well as ever, belting out each chorus with unparalleled conviction.

The other bands on the day also delivered. Beck performed a thoroughly enjoyable set compiled of many of the most danceable songs of his lengthy career. He played only a handful of the more subdued songs of his new Grammy award winning records and as a result was able to focus on his enigmatic showmanship - hip shaking featured extensively. Future Islands and Temples rounded out the lineup to make the day a highpoint of my summer.

BlurBlur are a band that I have mixed feelings towards. I really enjoy many of their songs; ‘Coffee and TV’, ‘Girls and Boys’, the obligatory ‘Song 2’ - the list goes on. However, I’ve never fully developed an appreciation for their more sentimental side. For me ‘The Universal’ is at its best in a British Gas advert. As a result at times I didn’t find myself quite as overwhelmed as some of the band’s most adoring fans, who bellowed out the lyrics to all these songs - literal or metaphorical lighters in the air. The band were at their best when their exuded all the sass that they certainly posses. Alex James smoked cigarette after cigarette as he coolly laid down his truly exceptional basslines, Graham Coxon always has the perfect guitar tone for every situation and Damon was well, Damon. Songs such as ‘Go Out’, the first track released from their new record, really stood up to almost any live performance I’ve witnessed in terms of sheer cool. Moreover the band had a few tricks up their sleeve. They had an ice cream van on stage, in keeping with the dual meaning of ‘The Magic Whip’ album title, and gave free ice cream to those lucky enough to have made it to the front row - a lovely touch.

Earlier in the day both the Horrors and Metronomy delivered all that audiences have come to expect from them; the former layer upon layer of post-punk reverby goodness and the latter impeccable southern pop-rock. Despite rain putting a slight downer on the early evening Metronomy managed to elevate the crowd’s spirits with amusing inter-song chat and their bassists infectious optimism, not to mention his incredible playing.

Overall, British Summer Time undoubtedly impressed. I was able to see some truly exceptional acts for about half of what it would have set me back to attend a fully-fledged camping festival. Any reservations I have; the commercialised feel, the potential cost of staying in London to name a few, are somewhat outweighed by getting to pick and choose from an exceptional roster of bands and have a great weekend in a city with so much else to offer. If no festival lineup tickles your fancy next summer, BST is worth considering.

By Gabriel Burrow, @gabrielburrow

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So why go to a festival?Because it’s everything and anything you want it to be. There is no set experience, you can go anywhere and discover something new. Just by wandering around you’ll uncover everything from musicians to comedians to poets. I’m not going to lie, I bought a Reading ticket to see some of my favourite bands live on stage - but that was just a tiny fraction of the line-up. For the majority of the time, I was discovering something I’d never heard before and absolutely loving it.

But do I have to Camp?Yes. It’s not a proper festival experience if you’re not camping. You’re going to get wet, you’re going to get muddy but trust me, it wouldn’t be the same without it. Take some warm clothes and anything to start a fire with and you’ll be laughing. By the end of the weekend, those are just muddy clothes that are covered in victory stains!

What about Food and Drink?Take as much as you can carry. Festival food is wallet buckling, but it hits the spot and most of the time it’s unavoidable in the day; especially when there’s a van selling just about anything you can think of. If your hangover’s left you

craving a German Bratwurst - there’s a tent.

Just one tip a Welshmen gave me, don’t go to the effort of carrying booze, it’s easier to head off site and buy it when you’re all set up.

What clothes do I take?Cover all of your bases. Bring items of clothing for sun, rain and it’s the British summer so probably snow too. But if worst comes to worst you can pick up some amazingly cheap vintage clothes at Reading, so if the weather does take a U-turn you can just pick things up as you need them.

When do we find out set times?Don’t make the mistake of leaving without your set times. A Reading guide costs £10. Check out a set time checker like clashfinder.com to find what you want to see and when. It pays to be organised, otherwise you might end up missing something amazing. Or, alternatively, just do what I did, go with someone super organised.

A festival is whatever you make of it. If you go in looking for a good time, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

By Ryan Boultbee, @TheRazelDazelPhoto courtesy of Adam Elmakias,www.adamelmakias.com

Let’s just say, after 5 days of living in your own filth, very little can get in the way of you and that much needed shower. In my case it was a goldfish-like memory and a 4-digit burglar alarm code. An absolutely unforgettable weekend ended hopelessly with a homeless looking student rattling off incredibly creative cursing combos at his own front door.

I finally got pushed into popping my festival virginity this summer. Reading was my first, but I can promise you it won’t be my last. Rather than boring you guys with how Frank Turner could of easily headlined over The Libertines, that Metallica were actually a bit iffy and both the Wombats and Munford and Sons were unmissable, I thought I’d give you my beginners guide to Reading Festival, that way you guys can experience it for yourselves. As a sidenot, if you really have to you apply the following to Leeds Festival, please do so ... but it is frowned upon.

Just like any 90’s kid, V’s been through the same changes we have. From the rock-fuelled nineties to the invasion of the

pop-queen noughties, 2015 saw one of the UK festival heavyweights pop it’s adult cherry. Having finally made the big boy step into it’s 20’s, was it finally V’s moment to shake off the teenage immaturities and grasp adulthood with both hands? Was it f*ck.

Who said 21st’s were meant to be the best birthday. The brains behind this year’s Virgin Media Festival were evidently given a short, sharp brief of ‘let’s get wasted and invite everyone’. With homegrown headliners including Scotland’s answer to ‘how to go from nobody to tickling Tay-Tay’s Foo-Foo in 5 years’ Calvin Harris and V Festival regulars Kasabian, Richard Branson’s Summer Bash was bubbling up into a potion that even the great Severus Snape would struggle to muster.

Arriving for my third year on the bounce to a flood of likeminded festivalgoers, I couldn’t quite contain my excitement. Some pissed-up 40 something, evidently escaping his declining marriage for a weekend, treated us all to an interpretive rendition of Martin Garrix’s ‘Animals’ as we queued to enter the campsite – definitely one of those ‘you should’ve been there’ moments. After a good hour or two, we were finally in. With a sweat on, tent up, beer down, it was time to “Gimme a D-I-S-C-ohhhhhh” … only silently. This, coupled with 5 other drunken friends, was the perfect way to start the weekend.

Ignoring the blazing heat and raging hangover, heading to the arena in a full crocodile onesie was one decision in my life I will never regret. Within minutes, the 6 of us (3 crocodiles vs. 3 Steve Irwin’s) were bombarded with selfies and the occasional interview from

a local newspaper; just your average Saturday afternoon really. Beating our way through the paparazzi, we headed into the crowd for a mega dose of The Proclaimers, Scouting For Girls and Gregory Porter – an unlikely mix but a sensational 3-way nonetheless. Shortly after we were treated to a set from Sigma with a guest appearance from Ella Henderson performing my sound of the summer ‘Glitterball’. Between acts, we’d wrestle to the next stage and by the end of the early afternoon, the crocodiles were up a healthy 8-3 lead.

Other notable performances came from Indie legends The Kooks, the deepest voice in Hertfordshire George Ezra and Irish hit-makers The Script; coupled with a sensational backdrop of thunder, lightning and rain, it was a surprising spectacle! Rounding off what ended up being an incredible day of live music came Stereophonics, a band I cannot emphasise enough have more ‘oh! I know that one’ songs than you can ever imagine. I also managed to catch the last 20 minutes of Calvin Harris’ bass-fuelled set to a roaring crowd of EDM badman’s and ‘that drop was siiick’ whores. Personally, I’d much rather see a live band headlining a main stage and keep the dance music to the tents, but that’s just me.

Onwards and upwards to the Sunday. Much like the Saturday but minus the crocodiles, I started the day in style. Fuse ODG blessed my ears with the sound of African-inspired hits, Annie Mac kept the dance flowing with an all-out show-stopping performance on the main stage and the remaining members of Pendulum splurged tune after tune onto my mosh-pit-battered body. I couldn’t begin to imagine throwing any more shapes; how could I? I was all out of moves. Yet on came DJ EZ, Andy C and Nero to well and truly spread the icing on my Sunday dance cake in exquisite style. Finishing on the highest of highs without even pricking myself on some edgy kid’s needle, Kasabian polished the weekend off with a phenomenal set of mesmerising lights, occasional entertainment and sensational music. Dare I go as far as to say Kasabian are one of the frontrunners for Best Headline Act? I think so. Cheers V! I dare you to do your worst for your 21st.

By Luke Matthews, @ekulmatthews

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Glastonbury is the UK’s #1 music festival. End of story? It should be. All 135,000 tickets are sold every October, early on

a Sunday morning. For this year’s event, tickets were snapped up in a record 25 minutes. For some there is the unbridled joy of receiving the email confirmation an hour or so later – to be honest, you’re never sure you’ve been successful until you’ve seen the confirmation. For many others though, the rest of Sunday is spent either trying to remember when in April the resale is, complaining about Emily Eavis and how unfair the booking system is (it’s not, it really isn’t) or saying how bad the headliners will be, how expensive it is (it isn’t) and that they really didn’t want to go anyway. Whatever the response, Glastonbury Festival is the UK’s best festival, bar none!

The festival’s actual title is the “Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts”. And this is where it trumps every other festival on these shores. It’s more than music, much, much more, with dozens and dozens of stages, spread over 900 acres of the Vale of Avalon, featuring some of the world’s best music, dance, theatre, circus, spoken word. Gates open on Wednesday morning, and a tented city springs up, and it’s a 24-hour existence until late the following Monday morning. There is always something happening…

For many, many thousands there, that Kanye is headlining The Pyramid Stage on Saturday night is of no consequence whatsoever. The doomsayers suggesting that it’s “not Glastonbury” if the world’s leading hip-hop artist is performing, have, most probably, never been to Glastonbury and never will go. Myself? I didn’t see Kanye. I also haven’t watched his show using the BBC’s most excellent iPlayer service, which captured whole sets across a number of stages. Instead, while Kanye was doing his ‘thing’, I watched, and photographed, Spiritualized play an incredible gig in front of thousands on The Park Stage. Then, I jogged over to an overflowing Glade Stage to see Public Service Broadcasting deliver one of their best ever sets. And while I was doing this, I, sadly, missed George Clinton’s ‘Mothership’ on the excellently run, and ever-so-friendly West Holts Stage (which, by all accounts, was packed out too). Indeed, at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, there is something for everyone – come sunshine, come rain.

1 tip for people for Glastonbury 2016:*Get up early one Sunday morning in October. Get on the internet. Get a ticket. And go. You’ll probably make new friends and you’ll definitely have fun. That’s a promise. Glastonbury Festival has something for everyone!

Article & photos by Shaun Gordon@_SGphotography

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photos courtesy of Johnny S Photography www.johnnysphotography.com

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A part of me feels like an overzealous grandmother watching her only grandchild flourish in the big wide

world. No Tomorrow is Nottingham’s newest baby, ploughing its way onto the festival calendar just last year to a sold out crowd of boozy students celebrating the end of exams.

Fast-forward one year to 2015 and No Tomorrow continues to defy its critics – in just one year, it doubled its capacity and upgraded itself to 2 days jam-packed with the latest talent. This year witnessed several up-and-coming chart-ticklers in the form of ex-X-Factor songstress Karen Harding, Khaleesi’s right-hand man Raleigh Ritchie (that’s Grey Worm to you non-Targaryen folk) and dance vocal powerhouse K-Stewart. Pretty impressive, huh? It didn’t stop there; to pour the satisfying potion into the cup of “wanting more” was drum & bass legend DJ Fresh, the UK’s most famous hat-wearing guitarist James Bay and bring her, pay her, watch her babe Hannah Wants. If you missed this weekend, you missed out on a hell of a lot.

The weekend kicked off in style with Mancunian music maestro JP Cooper christening the main stage. With a set similar to that of a fans’ wet dream, those who arrived early were rewarded greatly; the only downside is that those still pre-drinking missed an absolute spectacle. JP could’ve easily slotted midway up the bill to a crowd ten times the size; nevertheless, someone had to open and it was opened in exquisite style. Set-list mammoth ‘Satellite’ had everyone up jumping and enjoying the midday summer vibes.

Considering No Tomorrow’s diverse musical tastes, the second stage / dance tent hosted standout acts including chart-toppers Gorgon City, Stealth regulars Eton Messy and man of the moment DJ EZ. Ignoring the fact his set cut out 4 times, DJ EZ had the tent bursting at the seams with shape-throwers and wavy-garm-wearers galore. Couple flawless mixing of current and classic tracks with world-famous drops and you’ve got a recipe for a crowd eating out of the palm of your hand.

Despite the wealth of global talent on show, No Tomorrow organisers didn’t fail in showcasing some local talent. ‘Wish You

Were Mine’ producer Philip George proved to be Sunday’s turning point for getting the crowd bouncing after an incredible soulful set from delicate singer/songwriter SOAK. If you’re unfamiliar with the name MNEK (unsurprisingly pronounced em-en-ee-kay for those who are convinced it’s em-nek), I’m sure you will be after his show-stopping main stage set. As the mind, voice and producer behind some of 2014 and 2015’s biggest tracks, it’s hard to go a week without hearing a song that MNEK hasn’t graced. Having writer/producer credits for Gorgon City, Sub Focus, Kylie Minogue, The Saturdays and Duke Dumont to name a mere few, people finally heard the real deal on Sunday as he played a selection of original hits to a heaving crowd.

Before the weekend, it was a shame to hear a few people slating John Newman’s credibility as a headliner. On the back of two sold out tours, highly praised festival performances, a number one debut album and a stream of hits, I was anticipating great things. It’s worth noting that I met John last year and although it sounds cliché, I can’t honestly think of a more humble and down to Earth guy – the sheer enjoyment he gets being on stage puts all other “routine” headliners to shame. To the roaring sound of an ever-growing crowd, Calvin Harris’ collab ‘Blame’ bellowed out and within 5 seconds, everyone’s opinion changed. Every doubt in every mind changed; people forgot their criticisms and lapped up the moment. Hit after hit screamed out to roaring applause. Every so often we’d be treated to some new tracks from his upcoming sophomore album ‘Revolve’, including the latest fan favourite ‘Come and Get It’, as well as ‘Lights Down’ and ‘Tiring Game’. Eleven tracks later and an encore of the two tracks that spring-boarded his career ‘Not Giving In’ and ‘Love Me Again’, it was all over. With the obligatory thank you and a promise to return, No Tomorrow was over for another year.

How can 2016 possibly top such a fantastic year? Who knows, but if it is anything like the upgrade from 2014, we’re in for a real treat. If you’re still on the fence, head over to YouTube and search “Leo Lightfoot Festival: No Tomorrow 2015” to persuade you otherwise.

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We caught up with JP Cooper just after his set at No Tomorrow. You can read the full exclusive interview below.

Welcome JP Cooper. Incredible set just. How’d it go?I think there were some issues

because of the wind, so they opened the doors late so I think people are still trickling through. But it was nice, kinda my first festival of the year, so it’s good to just settle in with the band, get used to that sort of quick, in and out. It was good, I enjoyed it!

What do you think of the festival?Beautiful site! Obviously the sun’s shining on us so we’re very lucky and yeah – it’s good, I’ve not actually been out there yet, I think I’ll catch Kwabs’ set in a bit so yeah it’s good.

What does JP Cooper have planned for the Summer then?So it’s festivals most weekends. I’ve actually just started recording my album so for the next 5 weeks really, basically I’m gonna be locked away apart from at the weekends when I actually get to come out and see people. So yeah, it’s all good, a lot of festivals I’m opening up the main stage: Latitude, I’m on one of the days there; a couple surf festivals in Cornwall; I’m getting out to Denmark; getting out to Amsterdam, it should be cool yeah! A few European festivals which is new for me.

Do you have a strong following in Europe?It’s started to pick up, I’ve only really done like Paris and Amsterdam so far. My last couple of gigs were nice and busy, so there’s quite a lot of demand, hopefully get out there more throughout the Summer, hopefully Italy in Autumn too so it’s good.

So moving onto your album, you’ve released a hefty amount of EP’s, will you pick your best tracks from those to go towards the album? That is if you can pick your best, all of them seem like bangers to me really!There’s gonna be more new songs than songs I’ve already released. There’s gonna be some of the favourites that people like to listen to, but a lot of it’s new material. Yeah, I’m excited to share that really, it’s starting to creep into my set a little bit. Yeah, it’d be nice to finally share it really.

What’s your favourite song to play? I’m a massive fan of ‘Closer’ and ‘Satellite’. Satellite’s great, it’s got nice little vibes. It’s weird, it tends to be the new ones, I put a new one out there and once I’m settled with it – at first it’s a bit scary but definitely excited about squeezing in some of the new ones over Summer.

Out of everyone on the festival bill, who’d you most like to collaborate with and why?Erm … let me have a look at the bill haha!

I reckon you and Kwabs might gel together quite nicely?Yeah! I think that could work together well as our voices are very different in a lot of ways. He’s got that bottom end to him whereas –

As you’re very much an acoustic artist, are you tempted to dip your feet in the dance scene?I quite like a bit of dance really, I’ve got quite a soulful/house track collab coming out with someone soon actually. I wouldn’t mind doing something with MNEK actually, that’d be interesting with the production tips! I’ve actually written with Gorgon city before, that was great. MNEK would be cool though.

That would be incredible. Right, thanks for your time, I really hope this Summer goes well man, you deserve it!Cheers guys, thank you very much, enjoy your weekend.

By Luke Matthews, @ekulmatthews

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Dance music heavyweights Bondax stopped by to discuss the infamous ‘Bondax and Friends’.

Hey guys, what’ve you been up to recently?We’ve just got back from Columbia,

South America. Then we went to some North American cities. Touring whilst finishing off the next record.

You recently did an album called ‘Bondax & Friends’ album. Tell us a little bit about that.That was a weird one. We were planning to do a super exclusive mix, but then our label said to put an album out with some new music. It was a good experience because we got to find new people and music that really excited us. The music was a lot more edgy, especially for an album. But there was a lot of different styles there, which may have confused a lot of our fans. Still, it was a way for us to show our taste in music at the moment.

Okay. Well I really liked a track on it called ‘Dusk Funk’ where you worked with Ayah Marar. How did that collaboration come about?That’s a good question actually. We made a funky French beat, not sure what to do with it exactly. We’d been in touch with her after loving her work and she laid down a vocal for it. Whilst most of the other songs were made in the studio, that one was completely remote

over the internet. And what came out was pretty cool. I guess it was the start of us bringing funk into our music. And now for our music, most of the instruments are played live. It’s a big step out, considering how we used to sequence sounds on Logic.

Okay. We’re a bit pressed for time so I’d like to return to how you collaborate with other artists. Is it just a case of getting in contact with them?Yeah pretty much. Just letting them know that we like what they do and then going from there. And it’s usually after working on a track for a couple of days in the studio and then finding the right fit. And while we can sing and write lyrics between us, it’s nice to have another person to give their perspective. It’s the best sessions really.

Excellent. And finally, what’s next for you?The album which we’ve been working on. The studio sessions have been really different this time so we’re very excited. We’re finishing it off by next month and it should be out early next year.

That’s good to hear and I look forward to it. Thanks for your time.Thanks!

By Preyesh Champaneri

You can catch Bondax on tour next month.

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Late on a balmy Sunday evening celebrating the

tenth anniversary of the Y Not Festival, Bobby Gillespie’s Primal Scream can be heard proclaiming to the gathered thousands that they should get their rocks off.

Indeed, the masses had fun all weekend, and were now having more; dozens of people sitting on the shoulders of friends, and probably strangers too, singing along, waving their arms in the air… definitely the place to be.

By this time, over 15,000 music revellers had enjoyed, arguably, the strongest line-up ever at this Derbyshire-based festival, in pretty good weather too.

With ten stages, beer and cider tents galore, a funfair complete with dodgems, helter skelter and a ferris wheel, and not forgetting well over a hundred bands and performers.

At Y Not there is something for everyone: younger teenagers, older music buffs, and families too. The youngest were perhaps the ten-week older twin boys, complete with little hats and ear protectors, cradling in the arms of a very proud new mum and dad, taking a break, catching some sun. The oldest, well… who knows? Certainly not TV’s Mr Motivator, Derrick Evans, who at a youthful 62 years, rolled back the years and shook everyone’s Sunday morning into life with his vibrant multi-coloured leotard and snake-hip moves.

Trust me on this one, once seen, never forgotten…

Main stage headliners Snoop Dogg, Basement Jaxx and Primal Scream all delivered and were complemented by established artists, including Johnny Marr, Super Furry Animals, Public Service Broadcasting, Pulled Apart By Horses, Nick Mulvey, Bo Ningen, Young Guns, Slaves and Beans on Toast, as well as emerging talent, such as Allusondrugs, Black Honey, The Sherlocks, and DJ Cameron Rawson who was entertaining into the small hours in the Silent Disco.

And amongst all this talent was a huge presence from the Nottingham area. Sam Nahirny, of Nusic (nusic.org.uk) summed up the weekend perfectly.

“The Nottingham music representation was vast. From the Top 20 pop of Indiana, to the many different takes on acoustic singer-songwriter in the Hog and Barrel. And that’s not forgetting the anthemic indie of Saint Raymond you could find on the main stage. Notts showed the land that shall not be spoken of how it is done!”

By Shaun Gordon, @_SGphotographywww.shaungordon.photography

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What 5 songs would you take with you if you were stranded in the middle of the ‘ocean’?There’d definitely have to be a 1D song in there, probably Steal My Girl, something from the Erection Section...highly likely to be Hero by Enrique, Baywatch obviously....and possibly a couple from my early DJ days, before I sold my soul to the Pop Music Devil....maybe Pasilda by Jose Padilla (one of the original Cafe Del Mar DJ’s) and Big Love by Pete Heller.

The demand for tickets is always high, with the majority of Friday nights being a sell-out, you’re sure to have students messaging you with desperate pleas; we were wondering what are the 3 most outrageous things students have offered you for a dip in the ocean?The only thing I ever seem to get offered is a lifetime of gratitude, or tears if they can’t get in.....although we do get quite a lot of non-students trying to buy their way in on the door, I’ve been offered anything from £10 to £200....and always turn it down.

For all those new freshers who have not yet experienced the infamous Ocean Fridays, how would you sum up the night in three words?Messy. Pop. Madness.

What is the weirdest thing you have ever seen? We used to have a student a few years ago who literally used to strip off on the dance floor EVERY week, and then proceed to run out of the building before the doormen could get to him....the amount of times I’ve seen his bare arse running up Maid Marian Way....I’d probably still recognise it now. That....and the crowd reaction the night I unveiled the actual real life Hoff hiding behind the screen upstairs....that was literally just madness...the whole building was going mental.

Why do you think Ocean is so popular?I don’t know, I think it’s a combination of everything really, the fact that it’s all students for sure, everyone seems to know everyone, everyone knows the music we play, we’re a bit more lenient than some places when we’re letting you ‘enjoy’ yourselves...and also the

fact that nowadays I seem to know half the students that come in, and vice versa, they know if there’s a problem that they can come to me directly and I’ll do my best to resolve it.

If you could choose a song to be the soundtrack to your life, what would it be?My ‘old’ school friends would probably say “When Will I Be Famous’ by Bros, (I had the hair and everything)....I’d rather go for something like Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).

If you had to choose someone to play you in a movie, who would you choose?Anyone better looking and slimmer, any of the ones my wife likes....she has quite a list!

Which is better, an Ocean Wednesday or an Ocean Friday?Now that is the question I can’t give an answer to...they’re both VERY good, but quite different for me, I do different roles on them, that I can’t really compare, on a Wednesday I’m outside on the front door all night, and on a Friday I’m in the DJ Box playing questionable Pop Music all night. :-)

I think we all know which he prefers though ...

By Heather Silcock, @heathersilcock

COMMUNICATIONSSECRETARY/ TREASURER

Name: Irini KounoupiasCourse: Biochemistry &

Molecular MedicineYear: 3rd Year

Music Tastes: EverythingFavourite Club Night:

DetonateBest Music Memory:

Queueing from 5am to be in the front row of Bruce

Springsteen at Hyde Park

MEET THE COMMITTEE...

General SecretaryName:Heather SilcockCourse:PsychologyYear:3rd YearMusic Tastes:Little bit of everythingFavourite Club Night:ShapesBest Music Memory:Seeing Chic at Bestival last year

CO-EDITOR IN CHIEFName:

Anna NicklinCourse:

English with PhilosophyYear:

3rd YearMusic Tastes:

GabrielleFavourite Club Night:

OceanBest Music Memory:

- Seeing Arctic Monkeys- S Club’s ‘final’ concert

(which ended up not being their final concert in the end)

CO-EDITOR IN CHIEFName: Gabriel BurrowCourse: HistoryYear: 2nd YearMusic Tastes: The weirder, the betterFavourite Club Night: StealthBest Music Memory:Seeing Atoms for Peace in London. Comfortably the most impressive live performance I have been to and seeing Thom Yorke and Flea in person was incredible

PRESIDENTName: Luke MatthewsCourse: Mathematics

Year: 3rd YearMusic Tastes: Dance / Pop / Rock

Favourite Club Night: INKBest Music Memory:

Going VIP to Reading and chilling with Matt and Max from YMAS.

ADVERTISING DIRECTORName: Ryan BoultbeeCourse: Architecture & Built EnvironmentYear: 2nd YearMusic Tastes: The KooksFavourite Club Night: Acoustic RoomsBest Music Memory:The first ever album I brought, The Darkness’ One Way Ticket to Hell & Back. Picked it up in woolworths then splashed out the pocket money with a pick’n’mix to finish.

...with special thanks toThe Committee:

Anna Nicklin (Co-Editor in Chief)Gabriel Burrow (Co-Editor in Chief)Heather Silcock (General Secretary)

Irini Kounoupias (Treasurer / Communications Secretary)Luke Matthews (President)

Ryan Boultbee (Advertising Director)

Contributors:Gabriel Burrow

Gabriella AhmedHeather SilcockIrini KounoupiasLuke Matthews

Preyesh ChampaneriRyan BoultbeeShaun Gordon

Photographers:Johnny Stephens (www.johnnysphotography.com)Shaun Gordon (www.shaungordon.photography)

Musicians/Interviewees:Andy HoeBondax

Chasing DeerJP Cooper

Kalli AshtonPhilip GeorgeSaint Raymond

Sponsors:

And to all labels, venues, managers, promoters and PR companies who provided us with gig, interview and promotional opportunities.

We look forward to meeting you all in Welcome Week!

Our next magazine (Issue no. 40) is due for release on Friday 4th December.

Join The Mic for just £4 for the year.

For any review, gig or interview requests, email us at themic@themicmagazine.co.uk.

/TheMicNotts @TheMicNotts www.themicmagazine.co.uk

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