Jake Bugg: The Biography

May 2014

The first book about Nottingham’s most successful musician also throws the spotlight on the city’s burgeoning music scene. Manchester journalist and author of Jake Bugg: The Biography David Nolan reveals why he wrote the book and why he thinks the city could be on the way to having its own Madchester...

Why write a book about Jake Bugg?

I was commissioned to do it by the publishers, John Blake, who are very keen on catching things at the right moment. The last two books I’ve done for them have been about, at the time they were commissioned, relatively unknown people: Ed Sheeran and Emilie Sandé. There’s an art to that. If you don’t get it right you end up with a warehouse full of books that no-one’s interested in.

So you’re a fan?

Yes. The hallmark of good music to me, most of the time, is that it’s played by a skinny lad with a guitar. I turn down offers to write books because I’m not interested in the music or I feel there’s no story there. With Jake, I like the music and it’s a great story.

The story being, that he’s the first major music star from Nottingham in a long time. If ever. And that he was leading a scene that is now enjoying recognition nationally. How long was it before you realised that was going to a major part of the book?

I was unaware of the whole Nottingham story at the very beginning. I am now. It runs through me like a Blackpool stick of rock. As soon as I came to Nottingham last summer and started talking to people, that was what came out; ‘We’ve been waiting for this for such a long time’. In addition to that people said to me ‘Please don’t let this be a flash in the pan. Don’t let Jake Bugg be another Paper Lace.’ I was asking people like you, Dean Jackson, Mark Del, George Akins... when this book comes out, is it all going to be ancient history or is this the start of something? And you all said ‘this is the start of something’. And the names mentioned were people like Indiana, Saint Raymond, Kagoule... you were all on the money. It made me wonder if this is the last time it will happen. This could be the last city-wide music explosion that will happen in this country.

Why?

Because these days you can just as easily access music from Idaho as you can from Beeston. All the walls that existed years ago have come down. It’s hard to imagine it happening again, like it did in Liverpool in the early 80s, like it did in Manchester in the late 80s, which was the last one.

You think Nottingham is going to do a Madchester?

It looks like you might. The success of the music scene has exceeded everyone’s expectations. And Jake’s success is international. There are fan sites and Twitter accounts from fans in Indonesia, Brazil, France... to think that this is the same lad Gaz Peacham at the Maze remembered tipping up with a guitar on his back using a boot lace as a strap and thinking ‘he looks about 12 this lad but if he wants to play he can play.’ Even you guys at the Post, who have supported him right from the start, must be thinking ‘even we didn’t think he was going to be this big!’ So it’s a great story. From after school gigs at the Maze to Splendour and the Arena... and beyond. For a writer it’s a great story.

What has been the reaction to the book?

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had tweets from Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Poland, France... asking ‘can I get the book?’ That has completely taken me by surprise. It didn’t happen with the Sandé and Sheeran books.

And can they?

Of course. I’ll take one round their house if they want. With Amazon and Kindle, that book is a click away. It’s the same as music.

Did you approach Jake about the book, to tell his own story?

I approached one of his managers Jay (Hart) and initially he seemed interested but then backed off from the idea. I think it’s deemed to be a bit uncool to be in your own book anyway. And if he had been involved it would have changed the dynamic. It would have become like a ghosted autobiography. With an unofficial biography, I can write what I want. And I have.

What do you think is the key to Jake’s success?

There’s a musical history lesson with Jake Bugg, in terms of where he’s drawn it all from. People always mention Bob Dylan and Donovan but I can hear Glen Campbell, John Denver, Bruce Springsteen... and that is the secret of his success. He’s pulled it from sources than no-one else has. Three years ago if I’d have said the next big thing will be a teenage rockabilly, Johnny Cash, folk hybrid, you’d have spilt your pint.

Had you been to Nottingham before?

I’d been to the BBC with work before. Apart from that all I knew was that there were an awful lot of roundabouts.

And how did you find the city when you visited last summer?

I like that can walk everywhere. Everything is just 15 minutes away from the centre. And everyone was so open. If you had come to Manchester to write a book about the music scene, there’d be a gang of us at the train station sending you on your way. Because it’s a very insular scene.

What is your background?

I left school at 16 with no qualifications, was an apprentice journalist at the local newspaper, went on to magazines, radio, then television. I was a journalist and news editor at Granada, a producer and director, and worked on Tonight With Trevor McDonald until I left to write books. I got into it by accident. I did a documentary about the famous Sex Pistols gig at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in 1976 that everyone claims to have been at. And someone suggested doing a book about it. Now I write, do a bit of lecturing and training. and still some TV documentaries.

Jake Bugg: The Biography (John Blake) is out now, priced at £14.99.

WE gave Jake's dad, David Bugg, 40, from Clifton, a copy of the book and this is his verdict...

It's quite surreal seeing your son's life documented in so much detail, from the age of around 13 when he became interested in music.

I have to say it's a fantastic book and well written. There's a lot of detail about the Nottingham music scene and rightly so. We have a very diverse scene and it is doing remarkable things out there.

It's not just about Jake but also the environment where he learned his craft.

And all the key players are mentioned like the Post and Zoe Kirk, the BBC and Dean Jackson, and all the bands he was playing with during the early years.

There is some information in there about Jake that I didn't know. The first few chapters made me realise just how determined and hard working he was when he was 14 and 15. A lot of the gigs he was doing when he was that age, I was unaware of.

He didn't know how I'd react if he said he was playing in a pub in Nottingham city centre so he kept me out of the loop. There was a chance I'd say no. The idea of my 15-year-old son playing in a city centre pub on his own, in a room full of people drinking alcohol, doesn't sit well with me but I probably would have been OK with it as long myself or his mum went with him.

His work ethic during that period really impressed me.

Reading it was quite emotional at times. Mine and Jake's lives touched and parted on a number of occasions as he embarked on his music career. His mum and I split up when he was quite young but I was just around the corner and I'd still be a dad to him. But there were things about his music career that I wasn't aware of.

The part in the book where Dean Jackson told him to get some CDs together to take to the workshop at Abbey Road... I didn't know Dean had told him to do that. But Jake came to me and asked me to do the CDs for him. I thought it was to send to A&R people. It's interesting to see where I fitted in with the chain of events.

There are things that are missing from Jake's story, such as his passion for football. He had no interest in any music up until he was 12 or 13. He was playing for quite a few teams and he'd got medals, trophies and certificates. At one point he was being scouted.

Then, all of a sudden, his uncle Mark gave him a guitar and the football just stopped.

He was writing and playing in his room but it was all hidden. I had no idea until he came to me to record him. And straight away I realised how much effort he'd been putting in to this new direction in his life.

I had a 32-track at home that I was using to record my own music. I recorded him doing three covers: If You're Going To San Francisco (Scott McKenzie), Empty Chairs (Don McLean) and Vincent (Don McLean).

This was before his voice had broken. I've a copy of that recording and no one will ever hear it. I think Jake would kill me.

I had another 16-track that I gave to him there and then so he could learn about recording.

There are a few mistakes in the book, such as him being named after the boxer Jake LaMotta. That's not true. When we first fell pregnant with him, my cousin Carl Duffy and I were great friends and his son was named Jake. We asked if he'd mind if we named our son Jake.

And he was never Jacob. It has always been Jake. It was annoying me so much that I had it changed on Wikipedia.

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Future Sound of Nottingham Final 2013

June 7 2013

Winners: The Gorgeous Chans with Nusic's Mark Del (PHOTO: RIOT PHOTOGRAPHY)

THE Gorgeous Chans will open the main stage at Splendour after winning the Future Sound of Nottingham competition at Rock City.

The nine-piece band will be lining up alongside fellow Notts artists Jake Bugg, Dog Is Dead and Indiana, plus Squeeze, Maximo Park and KT Tunstall, at the festival in Wollaton Park on Saturday, July 20.

“We still can’t believe it,” says 19-year-old saxophone player Liam Webber. “It’s not quite sunk in that we just played Rock City, let alone that in 12 days we’ll be playing Splendour.”

The band beat the Loophole Project, Tasha Dean, Frankie Rudolf, Huskies and Sam Jones at the Talbot Street venue on Sunday night, by winning the most points from a combination of votes from a panel of judges and crowd reaction.

Along with myself were Jake Bugg’s manager Jason Hart, rising Notts music star Harleighblu, BBC arts reporter Geeta Pendse, Confetti boss Craig Chettle, Left Lion editor Jared Wilson and Anton Lockwood from DHP, which runs Splendour.

Although the judges voted North Notts acoustic rocker Sam Jones the winner, with the GorGorgeous Chans in second place, the noise level reached by the crowd when asked to cheer for their favourite act, combined to give them first place.

“Our fans are just the best,” says Liam of the band’s large following who had turned out to see them.

The band also features Brandon Hill, Oscar Price, Olli Wilson-Smith, Ephraim Staton and Daniel Potts. For the Rock City show they were joined by Elliot Labbate, Rob Upton and Tom Bond.

“We’re all students,” says Liam.

“Brandon’s just finished secondary school, Ephraim’s going into his third year at university and Rob is halfway through a PhD or something!”

They met at school and would jam together until forming The Gorgeous Chans about a year ago.

“Vampire Weekend are a big influence, as is Paul Simon’s Graceland album,” says Liam.

They missed the Andy Murray Wimbledon win as they were setting up for the show during the afternoon.

“Ephraim was gutted,” says Liam. “We were soundchecking when Murray won, and whispers of it just sort of buzzed around the stage.”

The night included an appearance by Saint Raymond, the 18-year-old from Bramcote who has toured with Gabrielle Aplin and reached No. 25 in the iTunes chart.

After the show The Gorgeous Chans celebrated with a burger.

“And then we went home... we were absolutely shattered,” says Liam.

This week the band released their debut EP, Jaguar Club as a free download through their Bandcamp and Soundcloud websites. They’ll be working hard to perfect their set for Splendour, he says.

“It’s going to be amazing and hopefully we’ll get to meet KT Tunstall. We’re all hoping that Jools Holland will be playing with Squeeze as that would be pretty cool. It’ll also be great to see Georgie Rose and Harleighblu play.”

The band have only been to Splendour as music fans in the past and highlights for them included Madness in 2009 and Paolo Nutini at the first festival in 2008. He adds: “We just can’t wait to be on that stage.”

Competition organiser Mark Del from Nusic says: “‘The Gorgeous Chans nailed it. Their performance was absolutely epic; full of fun, vibrancy and just the right amount of sonic chaos.

“Just like The Afterdark Movement last year they’ll bring the necessary energy to get people off their bums and dancing early doors.”

He adds: “Winning the public vote and coming second in the judges’ vote is the very definition of being a worthy winner. To win over both the public and the experts shows you’re doing something very, very right.”

The annual competition to put a local artist on the Splendour main stage is run by Nusic with the help of Confetti and the Julie Cotton Foundation.

“We are proud to be a part of it and support what Nusic are doing,” says Mark Cotton, who set up the foundation as a tribute to his wife, who died of cancer in 2001.

“It gives us a chance to create and develop opportunities for local youngsters to work on and experience a professional live event in terms of production.”

Mark Del, who set up the competition five years ago, adds: “To see six Nottingham acts living the dream for that one night, getting inspired to push on and pursue their musicals dreams, and all in front of hundreds of enthusiastic local new music lovers... that’s why we do what we do. It’s job done for another year, roll on Splendour.”

Splendour is at Wollaton Park on Saturday, July 20. Tickets are £37.50, but city residents pay £27.50, under-17s from the city just £15, under-17s from the county £27.50 and under-11s go free. For full details go to www.splendourfestival.com. 

Georgie Rose How

February 2013

WHEN I was little I used to take a harmonica around with me everywhere. I don’t know why. My great-grandad played harmonica at the local pub in Mansfield but it wasn’t his. My mum bought it for me when we went on holiday to Wales.
When she was young she used to fold paper over a comb and make that sound like a harmonica. Maybe, subliminally, it’s why she bought me one.
My parents aren’t musical. My dad works in the pharmaceutical industry. My mum is my roadie. She takes me to all my gigs.
She remembers that my grandma used to sing Patsy Cline and Ella Fitzgerald but not professionally.
I used to sing in the back of the car and my mum said I had a nice voice but I was really into sport more than music – mainly tennis and football. I scored 126 goals in a season once.
My uncle was a professional footballer. I know he had a trial at Man City but he got injured and went to America to play. There’s a photo of him with George Best when he played against him over there.
When I was 16 I started playing the electric guitar, playing along to Pete Doherty and BabyShambles songs.
The first gig I ever did was in a pub called the Railway Inn in Mansfield doing Elvis covers.
Elvis was one of my biggest influences. My mum introduced me to his music and Dusty Springfield, Karen Carpenter, Fleetwood Mac and Al Green.
By then I’d switched to an acoustic guitar and started writing my own songs.
My first gig in Nottingham was a year ago at The Maze as part of the Acoustickle night. I contacted Parisa (Eliyon, promoter) and asked if I could play. She gave me a chance. And she said she liked my set. Parisa also introduced me to a few people.
I’ve played about 80 gigs since then. I love it.
But I’ve not done much recording so I’m looking forward to going in to the studio next week to record an EP. It’ll hopefully be released in the spring on Farmyard Records.
I’ve already been played on XFM. They made my track, Stranger, the Song of the Week.
Mark Del from Nusic sent it to them without me knowing and when I was on my way to London someone sent me a text saying it had just been played on the radio.
The same weekend, he sent Billy Bragg a message on Twitter with a link to one of my songs and he said that he really liked it.
When I was in London I met KT Tunstall, which was great because her album was the first I ever bought. I was doing a gig and she just happened to be there. She came up to me after to congratulate me and said she really enjoyed my music.
There’s a lot of talent in Nottingham at the minute. I love Harleighblu, she has a great voice. And the Gorgeous Chans are really cool.

Georgie Rose How plays the Rescue Rooms in Goldsmith Street on Friday, February 15, with Bitter Strings and OneGirlOneBoy. It’s the official Jake Bugg after show party, following the Clifton chart-topper’s sold-out Rock City gig. Doors open at 10pm. Admission is free. For details of her other shows in the city go to www.facebook.com/IamGeorgieRose or follow her on Twitter: @GeorgieRoseHQ.

Indiana

December 2012

IF there was a Nottingham Sound of 2013, Indiana would be the name at the top of it. The 25-year-old from Long Eaton recently signed to Sony and has already had her debut single, Blind As I Am, played on Radio 1. Added to that her producer and co-songwriter is a Grammy nominee. And yet her first gig was just eight months ago.

But Indiana didn’t start her journey with a handful of music industry connections. Nor did she have much experience as a musician.

When her sister dumped her piano at her house for storage, she decided to have a play and teach herself.

She then stumbled across the remix by Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard of a song called Gabriel and loved it so much that she filmed a video of her own version.

“I don’t even like it,” she now says. “It’s rubbish.”

But it was good enough to attract the song’s composer John Beck (a Grammy nominee who wrote Tasmin Archer’s No. 1 Sleeping Satellite and Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Record On) who saw it on YouTube and got in touch, asking to work with her.

“We’ve written 13 songs together so far and they’re all recorded and produced,” she says, describing the sound as “quite dark” with a touch of “retro 80s synth”.

Most of them will be aired for the first time tomorrow at Nottingham Contemporary, with her debut headline show.

She admits: “The most I’ve ever done is half-an-hour. It was meant to be an hour but I’m doing 45 minutes because I’m still a newbie. An hour... I think I’d lose my voice.”

Her first gig was in the Old Market Square in April as part of the Future Sound of Nottingham, the annual Nusic competition to win the opening slot on the main stage at Splendour.

Although there was a buzz about her brief performance, she hadn’t the fan base to get enough votes to win through to the final at Rock City. But she played anyway, invited as a special guest. And she appeared at Splendour - such was the belief by organisers that she needed to be heard.

The hype about this new Nottingham talent even spread to the capital.

“Just the other day, John was talking to a publisher in London and he asked ‘how is it going with Indiana?’. John said ‘Oh, you know Indiana then?’ and the publisher said: ‘everybody knows Indiana.’”

Her first single for Sony was Blind As I Am, released as a download. She filmed a video for that and has another finished for her next single, Smoking Gun.

Next week she’ll be doing a fashion shoot for fashion magazine, Drama

“It’s like a taste of things to come. My label said I can expect next year to be full of stuff like that.”

With the advance for her three album deal with the label she has bought a Mini Cooper and will soon be setting up a home recording studio.

And she recently re-launched herself  on Twitter, changing from @I_Am_Indiana to @raiderofarks, continuing the tongue-in-cheek Indiana Jones theme.

“To be honest I forgot my password and email,” she laughs.

“It was all part of an accidental masterplan.”

Indiana will be at Nottingham Contemporary tomorrow supported by Saint Raymond and her sister Joella (“she’s a lot more Taylor Swifty”), starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 from reception, call 0115 948 9750 or book online at www.alt-tickets.co.uk.

Indiana

July 2012

I CAME to this area to be with the love of my life. I know that sounds cringey but it’s true. I moved earlier this year from Loughborough.

My mum isn’t very musical, she’s a hairdresser. She taught hairdressing for a number of years and is now the assistant director of Bedford College.

My dad died when I was 17. He was really into his music and played guitar. I was heavily influenced by his tastes growing up. I miss him a lot, I wish he was here to see what I have accomplished so far.

He and I were huge Oasis fans and he used to borrow my Eminem albums. He also liked Rod Stewart. My mum really loved Simply Red and I remember my dad saying it sounded like sick sliding down a wall.

I have two older sisters. Jo is the eldest and also a musician. She was classically trained and also plays piano. She writes too. I remember me and my friends singing her songs when we were at school.

My other sister Nic was always the sporty one and she plays hockey.

I was heavily into Oasis thanks to my dad. They were the first band I ever saw live. But I also loved NOFX and Less Than Jake, and I listened to Slipknot, Korn, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine and Marilyn Manson. I was a little greb.

When I was about 10 I started having violin lessons. After about three months my teacher told me to stop coming because I wasn’t picking it up. I was pretty rubbish.

I didn’t start creating my own music until my sister used my house as storage for her old Yamaha upright piano. I kept sitting down and playing about and started teaching myself piano. Then I started writing.

At first it was poppy and sounded all right but once I started delving deeper in to my emotions and the things I’ve been through, like losing my dad, I noticed my voice changing.

It was like I was chanelling this raw emotion. My voice is completely different to how it sounded two years ago.

I think I always wanted to be a singer but I didn’t really take it seriously until about a year ago when my voice started changing. It was then I had a realisation that this was what I should be doing.

My first gig was in April, in the Old Market Square as part of the Future Sound of Nottingham competition, to see who would open the main stage at Splendour.

A lot has happened since then. I was a guest at the final at Rock City and I was a nervous wreck before it but it was unbelievably awesome. I will never forget it.

I have a manager who works for Simon Fuller’s artist management company. I met him for the first time the other day, which was bizarre.

I’m in talks with a lot of record labels and I’m down in London every week meeting with them.

And I’ve a gig in September with Natalie Duncan and Nina Smith at the Theatre Royal, where I’ll be accompanied by an orchestra. I can’t wait!

Nina is cool. She’s such a talent. Her voice is so crisp and sweet. Beautiful.

I’ve recorded about eight songs so far. I’ve been writing with John Beck, who wrote Tasmin Archer’s No. 1 Sleeping Satellite and Corinne Bailey Rae’s Put Your Record On. He’s been Grammy nominated.

I know him through YouTube. My boyfriend, James, played me a song John had written called Gabriel. I fell in love with it – I even named my cat Gabriel – and recorded an acoustic version which I posted on YouTube. John saw it and got in touch.

And I’m lucky to have a keyboard player who has performed at the X Factor final at Wembley and also with One Direction.

I’d describe my music as progressive, emotional, dark and disturbing electronica.

So far I’ve played gigs at Rock City, The Bodega, ALEA casino and the Rescue Rooms. To be playing Splendour today is surreal and I’m pretty nervous.

Indiana will be on the Courtyard Stage at Splendour today in Wollaton Park from 2.30pm. You can follow her on Twitter @i_am_indiana and listen to her music on Facebook, Soundcloud and YouTube.

Nottingham music 2011

December 2011

DESPITE a consistently rich local music scene, chart success has been, to say the least, disappointing. You have to go back decades to find the last time a homegrown band or singer made any impact on a national or international scale.

And even then it’s hardly credible: Su Pollard, Paper Lace, erm, Alvin Stardust. It’s perhaps only sixties blues rockers Ten Years After who you’d really want to shout about.

There have been others but the connections to the city start to hang by a thin thread. Stereo MCs moved to London before they were Stereo MCs. Ditto Tindersticks. And yes there was that bloke from Air Supply... it’s hardly Madchester.

But this year has seen a real change in the fortunes of our music scene.

Even The Guardian wrote about it with the feature: “Nottingham’s music scene: soon to be heard?”

“The most exciting thing about the successes of 2011 are the implications for 2012,” says Mark Del, a champion of local music who set up Nusic to promote Notts artists.

“With Dog Is Dead, Jack Bugg, Natalie Duncan and Shide Boss all signed to majors I predict at least one top-ten album and maybe even that hallowed number one.”

He adds: “I think girl power will continue. There’s a growing momentum behind Nina Smith and Opie Deino. And I will be dumbfounded if Ronika and Harleighblu don’t make some serious moves in 2012.”

Following all the names familiar to local music fans are the new kids, such as Kappa Gamma and Kagoule, who won the chance to support Dog Is Dead at Rock City last weekend, plus Great British Weather, Frankie Rudolf, Rob Green, The Bystanders, Saint Raymond and Boots Booklovers.

Says Mark: “There is a lot of talent in the colleges and cul de sacs of suburban Notts.”

He concludes: “2012 will quite simply be the most incredible year of all time for the Nottingham music scene. Sorry about sitting on the fence there.”

Here are the ones to watch...

DOG IS DEAD
AT the weekend the South Notts indie quintet played a headline show at Rock City at the end of a year that has seen them sign to Atlantic Records (the home of Bruno Mars, Plan B and Ed Sheeran), support Bombay Bicycle Club on their UK tour, play major festivals such as Latitude, Bestival and Leeds/Reading, get airplay on Radio 1 and despite the free Burberry clobber look scruffy at Milan Fashion Week. A follow-up to their debut single for Atlantic, Hands Down, is expected within weeks, with the album due in the spring, following a headline UK tour.

JAKE BUGG

THE 17-year-old from Clifton was another major label signing for Nottingham this year, snapped up by Mercury Records, who flew him to Nashville last month to record his first single for the label. His single Someone Told Me was playlisted on Radio 1, he was at Glastonbury for BBC Introducing and last week he opened for Example at his sold-out Rock City show. Jake, whose influences include Donovan, Don McLean, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. continues his residency at the Glee Club from January 13.

SAM BEETON

HIS song Under The Fence was played on Radio 2’s Graham Norton Show – twice! And yet he’s as yet unsigned to a major label. Instead the 23-year-old from Carlton has been self-releasing his music through his own Record Club, which has over 2,000 paying subscribers around the world. And he’s continued to model for Burberry, hanging out with the likes of Paul Weller and Kanye West. He will release Under The Fence as a single on January 9 – and a Radio 2 playlisting is imminent.

RONIKA

SHE has been dubbed “the Madonna of the Midlands” with three EPs this year of 80s-influenced dance pop that has earned her attention from the Mirror, the NME and the Guardian who described her as “destined for pop greatness in 2012”. This year Ronika, who lives in Carrington, has played Madrid and New York. Her next local gig is at the Bodega on March 23.

SPOTLIGHT KID

ANOTHER band self-releasing material – their second album Disaster Tourist came out in the autumn – and yet they earned a slot at Glastonbury, were playlisted on Radio 1 and had the Guardian writing about them this year. And they’re one of only a few bands in the UK making music rooted in the “shoegaze” movement of the early 90s.

LIAM BAILEY

STARTED the year at the head of the pack contributing vocals to the Chase & Status Top 5 hit Blind Faith, while already signed to Polydor Records. Prior to that the Beeston soul man had released singles on Amy Winehouse’s Lioness Records label, 2am Rough Tracks and So Down, Cold. But after just two singles, You Better Leave Me and It’s Not The Same, he and Polydor parted company. The album, Out Of The Shadows, which he’d recorded with Salaam Remi (producer for Lauren Hill, Nas, Amy Winehouse), was never released.

But Liam’s not finished just yet.

His single When Will They Learn? was played on Radio 1 just last week. He’ll be at the Bodega on Wednesday for Soundhism’s Christmas party, 9pm-3am.

NINA SMITH

THE 25-year-old released her debut EP this year, Lonely Heart Club, a collection of acoustic soul/pop tunes. Lead track I Won’t Forget You was played by Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music and on Absolute Radio. A dance remix of Lonely Heart Club by Kumarachi had a few airings on BBC 1Xtra. Nina has also supported Finley Quaye and Alesha Dixon this year.

She says: “It’s been a great year for us. We’ve seen so many acts get signed, perform on the festival circuit and get, well deserved, national recognition. For me supporting established acts, getting national radio play and receiving great press for my first EP has made it a wonderful year. Bring on 2012!”

Nina joins Liam Bailey, Royal Gala, 1st Blood and others at Soundhism at the Bodega on Wednesday.

NATALIE DUNCAN

LIKE Bailey, moved to London before being signed to Verve Records, the home of Jamie Cullum, DJ Shadow and Diana Krall. She was featured on the BBC 2 three-part series Goldie’s Band: By Royal Appointment, in which the drum’n’bass star put together a band of unsigned musicians to perform for Prince Harry. This week she started work on her debut album.

SHIDE BOSS

AFTER winning Channel 4’s Hollyoaks Unsigned Music Show, a spin-off of the teen soap aimed at finding Britain’s best new talent, the 22-year-old was signed to Karman, part of the Sony group.

“We entered the show on the last day with no real aim but to get our song It’s Alright out there,” he says.

His debut EP, Ni Sohniye, a mix of pop, R&B and Asian beats, is out now on iTunes.

Dog Is Dead

December 2011

IT has been quite a year for Nottingham music with major label deals, a Top 5 single, national radio airplay, major festival slots, support slots on big name UK tours, coverage in the national music press and even an appearance in a teen soap.

Leading the charge are Dog Is Dead, a five-piece from West Bridgford, who will round off their impressive year of success with a headline show on the main stage at Rock City this weekend.

The indie band have been steadily gaining momentum in 2011, beginning the year by signing to Atlantic Records.

Since then they’ve supported Bombay Bicycle Club on a UK tour, played major festivals such as Latitude, Bestival and Leeds and Reading, had airplay on and played sessions for Radio 1 and BBC 6Music, and appeared on the Channel 4 soap Skins.

We meet in the boardroom at DHP’s offices in Talbot Street. DHP is the company which owns and runs Rock City, the Rescue Rooms, Stealth and The Bodega, books bands for Splendour and promotes numerous UK tours. Three years ago they turned to music management and signed up Dog Is Dead.

At the time they’d been together just a year.

Rob Milton, Joss Van Wilder and Lawrence ‘Trev’ Cole had met at West Bridgford School.

“Me and Rob were in our first band when we were 13,” says Joss, their keyboard player.

“Then me and Trev were in probably the greatest band ever, doing Kings of Leon and White Stripes covers that were better than the originals.”

Trev, as he became known to save confusion with original drummer Lawrence Libor, nods in agreement.

Continues Joss: “We played a Tollerton event and had to stop half-way through because we were drowning out the steel band.”

“And when we came back on and played two songs, I realised by the end of the second song that I hadn’t plugged my bass in,” laughs Trev.

The band were called Oh Henry! - which is very West Bridgford.

“No,” insists Joss, “it’s taken from the Canadian chocolate bar.”

Eventually Trev, Joss and Rob started playing together and played an end of year show at school.

“But our first proper gig as Dog Is Dead was when our friend had a mini-festival in his back garden for his 16th<” says Joss.

“That was a great gig because it was packed out with all out friends. After that we experienced the real world of gigging playing to two people.”

By now Trev’s ability with a saxophone had meant Rob was now playing bass. Trev had learned the piano from the age of six but the sax became his primary instrument at the age of 10.

“When I realised that the piano and cornet weren’t very cool,” he says.

Adds Joss: “And when they realised I couldn’t play guitar they got Paul in.”

“I knew Trev from a play we did when we were both 15,” says Paul Roberts, who lives in Stapleford.

“He was with the Playhouse Youth Theatre and I was with the Arts Theatre.”

Paul appeared in ModCrop at the Theatre Royal when he was 16 but under his real name of Rob White. Like Trev he changed it for Dog Is Dead in order that there be only one Rob in the band.

They have been together properly as a band for four years. After finishing their A levels, they decided to take a year out to see how things developed.

Not that they were really giving up university places...

Joss admits: “We weren’t really concentrating. We were more intent on trying to become rock ‘n’ roll stars. So we didn’t really do very well.”

Adds Trev: “I definitely flunked my A Levels.”

Within the year they were playing Splendour and DHP came on board.

Eventually they’d all work at DHP venues.

“It was so we could get time off whenever we needed it,” says Joss.

“It made doing the band a lot easier.”

Naturally Dog Is Dead were given prime slots at Splendour, opening the main stage two years running. This year they were higher up the bill on the second stage.

They were all able to quit the day jobs once they signed to Atlantic in March.

Say Paul: “Before that we’d do the odd London show and support slots were at DHP venues. But since Atlantic, we’ve toured with Bombay Bicycle Club.

“We were playing 2000 to 3500 capacity venues on that tour,” says Rob, Dog Is Dead’s singer, bassist and chief songwriter, who rolls in late, complaining of a dodgy eye.

“That was my first real set of gigs,” says Daniel Harvey, who joined the line-up in August when their original drummer   quit to study drama at university.

At 19 he is the youngest (the rest are all 20) and the only outsider (he’s from Doncaster).

“It was through a mutual girlfriend I had with Paul,” he says of the connection.

“Not a shared girlfriend. Our girlfriends are friends so it happened that way. I’d just finished my first year at Leeds uni where I was doing maths. I left uni to do this.”

Quips Trev: “And moved to the university of rock n roll.”

“We thought we’d break him in nice and easy,” laughs Rob.

Says Daniel: “Actually my first proper gig was at Fashion Week in Milan.”

Milan?

“We played a set for Burberry,” says Trev, “and they said we could pick two items of clothing from their exclusive range. Together they were probably worth £500 or £1000 and we still felt underdressed. The place was just full of beautiful.”

Laughs Joss: “The girls could tell we didn’t belong there. I wear my shirt all the time but the trousers... I can’t get into the pockets.”

“You can always trust Joss,” sighs Rob. “No matter what he gets given he’s the first with a list of complaints.”

As if to prove a point he proceeds to moan about his bobbly designer jumper. We all agree it’s supposed to be that way.

Dog Is Dead don’t really fit in with fashion weeks or swanky private parties

“It was a laugh because it was so flashy,” says Trev, about a record label do in the summer.

Agrees Paul: “It was this big posh building with a swimming pool on the roof. It was free beer and free wine but we all wanted Jägerbombs and they were like a tenner each!”

They are more at home messing around amongst themselves, posing with imaginary washboards for publicity photos and TV interviews.

“It’s from the Fast Show with the bloke ‘Where’s me washboard?’,” says Trev, by way of explanation.

Following last month’s debut single for Atlantic, Hands Down, they’ve just put out a Christmas single as a free download, a cover of The Waitresses Christmas Wrapping.

On New Year’s Eve they play Club NME in London, then go back to recording their debut album with producer David Kosten (Everything Everything, Bat For Lashes)

In February Dog Is Dead will embark on a 24-date national UK tour but the immediate focus is on tomorrow’s gig at Rock City, their biggest hometown show and the biggest ever by a Nottingham band at the venue.

“Anyone who grows up in Nottingham and is in a band hopes to one day play the main stage at Rock City,” says Rob.

“It’s our biggest headline show here by a long way and there’s a lot more pressure on us to make it special. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Dog Is Dead play Rock City December 17 supported by Kagoule and Kappa Gamma. Doors 7pm. Tickets are £7.50, www.gigantic.com/nottinghampost