Indiana

April 2014

SINGING for the Queen, appearances on BBC TV, regular plays on Radio 1, Glastonbury... and now Indiana’s had a pizza named after her.
“We were on holiday in France snowboarding and I had a pizza that I haven’t been able to shut up about,” says the 26-year-old, whose boyfriend recently opened a new pizza bar in Hockley.
“He said ‘We’ll make it and call it the Indiana.’”
It’s goat’s cheese, walnuts and honey, which sounds disgusting.
“No, It’s really good!” insists the rising music star who’ll be playing the Rescue Rooms tonight.
Entrepreneur boyfriend James - Long Eaton’s Alan Sugar - opened Suede Bar in Heathcoat Street last month but he’s also heavily involved in Indiana’s career. He was the one who encouraged her to enter the Future Sound of Nottingham competition, which saw her play her debut show in the Old Market Square two years ago.
Since then she’s signed to Sony, had regular support from Radio 1, played Glastonbury and performed for the Queen with The Script.
Of late she’s been on tour with Bipolar Sunshine.
“It was great,” she says.
“There was loads of tour banter. I had my own tour van, which was useful when the venue didn’t have a dressing room.”

She shared the van with three band members, her tour manager and sound engineer.
It was an eight date jaunt around the UK.
“It was really hard,” she says of being away from her seven-month-old daughter, Etta, and five-year-old son Harvey.
“He loves that I have an interesting job but he misses me. Although he won’t miss me too much when we have a massive mansion with horses,” she laughs.
Indiana’s new single, Solo Dancing, released on April 20, has been B-listed on Radio 1.
“Every time it’s played it jumps up on the iTunes chart,” she says.
“It made it into the Top 100, which is really good for pre-orders. Most people buy singles when they’ve been released.”
Those turning out to see Bipolar Sunshine seemed to know the song.
“I had to win over the crowd every night. At the start they were all chatting and thinking ‘who is this girl?’ but by the end... especially when I played Solo Dancing, there’d be cheers; they were probably thinking ‘oh it’s that girl!’
Since the tour finished last weekend she’s been rehearsing for tonight’s home city gig.
“Next week I’ll be back in the studio working on the album and I’ll be doing a session for Radio 1.”
The album she’ll have to finish by the end of the month.
“It’s been hard deciphering which songs will go on it because I’ve got so many now.”
And the new material?
“A little bit more of the same and... I don’t want to say up-beat. You could perhaps move around to a couple of them.”
Surprisingly, she won’t be putting her first few singles on the album, such as Mess Around and Smoking Gun.
“If people have already bought them, then by putting all new material on the album means they get better value for money.”

The album is due to be released between July and September, after a string of major summer festival appearances that will be revealed next week.
As a mum of two in her mid-twenties, what was her reaction to the sudden death of Peaches Geldof?
“It broke my heart”, she says.
“I was never a fan and I thought she was quite annoying when she was younger but it seemed like having children was the making of her.
“She looked like she had a good life and on her Instagram photos she looked really happy.
“It breaks my heart that her two beautiful sons don’t have a mum.”
She adds: “It haunted me a little bit. Maybe because I had a baby recently.”

Indiana plays the Rescue Rooms tonight supported by April Towers. 7.30pm to 10pm. £10, alt-tickets.co.uk. There will be an after party at Suede Bar which, says Indiana: “Everyone’s invited to.”

Saint Raymond

March 28 2014

ANY birthday for a teenager is usually a big occasion but when Callum Burrows turns 19 on Sunday he’ll be taking it easy.
“It’s going to be a bit of an anti-climax because I’ve got a show in Southampton that night,” says Bramcote’s rising music star, better known as Saint Raymond.
“The party will probably happen tonight because I’ve got a day off tomorrow.”
Is he worried about turning 19?
“It’s game over, isn’t it!?,” he jokes.
“I’ve got until Sunday to enjoy it while I can.”
Tonight is a sold-out gig at the Rescue Rooms, one of the last few dates on his current headline UK tour. It finishes in Norwich on Monday.
“I’m quite looking forward to getting home and chilling out for two days before getting back on it,” he adds.
That means more writing, a couple of shows in Ireland, then back to the US.
“I didn’t really have any expectations for this tour but it’s been really good. Sometimes you worry that no-one’s going to turn up but every show’s been really busy.
“We’ve been building towards Nottingham really. I’m really excited about that. I don’t want to wish the tour away but I’m so excited about the Nottingham show. And that it’s sold out is kind of crazy. I’ve wanted to play there for so long.”
Next stop, Rock City?
“That’s the dream,” says Callum, who believes he’s played every venue in Nottingham.
The current tour has meant him swapping the comfort of his bed at his parents’ home for a bunk on a tour bus.
“I don’t mind it,” he says.
“There are seven of us on the bus and we play football, Xbox, watch films and a lot of nothing... just chilling out before the show.
“All of us get a bit rowdy. We put music on at stupid o’clock but you can take yourself to bed whenever you want. You’ve got your own space.”
He adds: “After the gig we’ll travel to the next city at around midnight and wake up in the car park of the venue.”
As well as London band The Mispers, who have been supporting him on the UK tour - “and showing me how to party” - Saint Raymond will be joined by Nottingham’s Amber Run at the gig tonight, a last minute addition.
The quintet played their own headline show at Nottingham Contemporary on Wednesday (see review right).
Says Callum: “Me and Joe (Keough, singer) had a drunken chat and said ‘let’s do it’. I really like those boys.”
When Jake Bugg, the one for Callum and others to chase, played his sell-out gig at the Capital FM Arena last month, Callum couldn’t make it because he was back in Los Angeles.
“We’re just starting to piece the album together really,” he says of his debut, which he hopes will be released after the summer festival season is over.
“The songs are there, I’ve just got to get them done but it’s coming together nicely.”
The hold up is finding the right producer.
“When that’s all sorted we can get cracking,” says the Notts County fan, who had his first session for Radio 2 this week.
Is he fussy?
“Well I struggle to decide what socks to wear in the morning, put it that way,” he admits.

London Grammar

January 31, 2014

THE story of how London Grammar guitarist Dan Rothman hooked up with singer Hannah Reid while the pair were studying at the University of Nottingham isn’t as sinister as it might appear.

Biographies of the band frequently recall how the economics and philosophy student had spotted a photo of her on Facebook holding a guitar and sent her a message.

“It wasn’t quite as creepy as it sounds,” laughs Rothman.

“I did know her beforehand. It was only when I saw the picture of her with the guitar that I knew she did music. She wouldn’t have told me otherwise, because that’s just what she’s like; she’s quite shy.”

This was in 2009 when both Londoners were in their first year. Reid was studying English. In the year below on the same course was a Northampton drummer called Dot Major.

“None of us knew each other before we came to Nottingham,” says Rothman.

“I was introduced to Dot by my girlfriend. She said there was a guy she knew who was into music. He was actually a drummer in a really heavy rock band called Twelve Titans and they were terrible,” he laughs.

“They were touring around doing toilet gigs in Northampton until he came to university.

“I went round his house and we started playing some music together. I basically asked him to join the band.”

Rothman and Reid were playing gigs around Nottingham as a duo before Major joined.

“I remember we did one at a place behind Oceana though I can’t remember the name of it,” he says of a place known to many as Gatsby’s but then called Central and now a karaoke bar.

“They had a stage downstairs but we were told to go upstairs to this little room where there was a tiny stage and a bar. It was part of the flat owned by the woman who ran the venue so you could smoke up there. It was bizarre.

“We ended up playing to about five people in this room and one of them was the spitting image of Simon Cowell. Afterwards we found out that he actually was a professional lookalike.”

As a trio, London Grammar played Lenton student bar the Bag O’ Nails, The Bodega and Rock City’s basement.

The Rock City show was for CRS, the community recording studios in St Ann’s.

“I don’t know how it happened,” says Rothman.

“I think Hannah met someone from there and we were invited down. We met a guy called Trevior (Rose, who runs CRS) and he was an absolute legend.”

“It’s fair to say that Hannah and I felt reasonably out of place there; these two very middle class university students in quite a rough area.

“We hung out, played music and they invited us to a gig with them at Rock City.”

He adds: “Trevor was really supportive of us in those early days. He’s a wicked guy.”

During the final year at uni for Reid and Rothman, London Grammar were playing gigs in London as well as locally.

“The break came when we played a gig at The Wheelbarrow in Camden,” he says.

“We were soundchecking and a guy who was an A&R for Mercury/Universal said he thought we were amazing. After that the word spread.

“We had a video on YouTube (Hey Now) that attracted a couple of other A&R and we eventually signed a development contract with Ministry of Sound.”

Rothman and Reid graduated in 2011 and moved back to London.

“We got spotted as we were finishing our degrees but because Dot was in the year below, he was finishing his while we were recording the album. He’s incredibly smart so he was able to manage that.”

The first EP Metal & Dust, released last February, built up the hype surrounding the band, meaning the single, Wasting My Young Years, hit the Top 40 on its release in June.

As well as a summer of festival dates, including Glastonbury, Bestival and Leeds and Reading, the trio featured on Disclosure’s No. 1 album, Settle.

When their debut album, If You Wait, was released in September, it went straight in to the chart at number two.

Their debut UK tour was a sell-out and included the Rescue Rooms.

“It was weird because I’d seen so many bands there when I was at university,” he says.

“And playing Rock City... I think about the bands I saw there. To think we’ve sold out both of those venues makes me realise just how far we’ve come.”

So far this year, London Grammar have played shows in Australia and the US and appeared on TV in New York. They’ve also picked up a Brit nomination for British Breakthrough Act.

“Nottingham is where I found out about music and for all of us it feels like our second home,” says Rothman, whose stepsister is studying at uni here.

“Although we live in London now we never really enjoy the London shows. There’s so much pressure on us, from the press, the label and our management all being there.

“But Nottingham is like a hometown show without the pressure.”

London Grammar play Rock City tonight supported by Dan Croll and Kyan. The show is sold out.

Oslo, Hackney

DHP Family, which operates four live music venues in the city, has expanded into London with the opening of the £1m Oslo

IT started life as a railway station but the two-storey Victorian building in Hackney is now home to the first Nottingham-owned live music venue in London.

Oslo, which sits next to Hackney Railway Station, is the sixth venue owned and operated by DHP Family, the city centre company that is best known for Rock City.

It also owns Rescue Rooms, The Bodega and Stealth, and a venue in Bristol called Thekla, promotes national tours for the likes of New Order, James Blunt, Nick Cave and Ed Sheeran, runs its own ticket agency, and manages artists.

The focus of the business, started with the opening of Rock City more than 30 years ago, has always been in Nottingham, where they also run the annual Splendour music festival.

Oslo, which opened at the weekend, marks their first venture in the capital.

“We had a storming opening night, the place was packed downstairs in the bar and upstairs,” says DHP Family chairman George Akins.

“We’ve brought something new to this part of London; great music, great food and great drink all in one place – and it’s gone down really well.”

The name is a dedication to George’s mum, who was born in Oslo.

“There’s a bit of family heritage in there, which we like; family has always been important to us.

“And she loves it. It’s the only venue of ours that she wants to come and see. She’s been telling all of our Norweigian family about it.

“Hackney is now twinned with Oslo, which was a complete coincidence.”

They opened an office nearby last year as part of the tour promotion side of the business.

“We book a lot of bands into London already so it made sense for us to have an office there. This is taking the next step and doing what we do in Nottingham so well, in London.”

The 600-capacity Oslo will operate as a live music venue, nightclub, bar and eaterie.

“It’s like the Rescue Rooms... but with food,” he says.

“Hackney is an up and coming area. It’s very cool, it attracts a lot of fashion businesses... and we saw a good opportunity there.”

Bands booked to play in the next few weeks include Dry the River, Chrome Hoof, Long Eaton’s Indiana and an NME show.

“We’re confident we can keep the momentum going and make Oslo one of the hottest venues in London.”

DHP Family is now handling tours for Ed Sheeran, James Blunt and Flaming Lips and recently won Live Promoter of the Year for the second year running.

“We’re putting on more gigs than ever before and they’re bigger shows. We’re putting Jake Bugg, You Me At Six and Frank Turner in to the Capital FM Arena.”

Among the festivals they organise is Splendour. So who do we have headlining this year?

“We’re still working on it but we’ll be announcing a few names for Dot to Dot next week.”

For more about Oslo go to facebook.com/oslohackney, on Twitter @oslohackney and oslohackney.com.

DHP Group

January 2013

THEY rounded off 2012 by picking up an award for National Promoter of the Year, beating industry giants Live Nation, SJM and Metropolis. It was an acknowledgement of how far the DHP Group had come in just a few years of running tours around the UK, something that isn’t so well known about this independent Nottingham company.
DHP (Daybrook House Promotions) is probably better known for being the parent company of Rock City, the iconic Talbot Street venue now in its 33rd year. Then there are the Rescue Rooms, Stealth, the Black Cherry Lounge and the Bodega, plus Thekla in Bristol.
“Rock City is still the flagship venue and the venues are the biggest earners for us, but everything else is growing, particularly the tours,” says chairman George Akins.
Unless you’ve read the finer detail on your gig tickets for venues across the city and seen “DHP presents...” above the artist’s name, you may well have never heard of them. But DHP puts on around 1,200 gigs in the UK every year with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Ray, Rufus Wainwright, the Human League, Flaming Lips and New Order.
A promoter hires out venues for a tour, organises the publicity, sells the tickets and guarantees the artist a fee.
“As the promoter you take the risk because you are guaranteeing the artist their money,” says George.
“They get that come what may.”
DHP began promoting shows in Nottingham, building relationships with bands who had played smaller venues like the Bodega and the Rescue Rooms, bringing them back to the city as their popularity grew to play Rock City and the Capital FM Arena.

Says George: “We did that with the White Stripes who had first played at the Social (now the Bodega) when few people knew who they were. In 2005 we put them on at the arena.”
The same year they also promoted Incubus and System Of A Down at the arena.
“We then moved out of Nottingham. Our first significant tour was Dropkick Murphys around the UK, then we did Human League, the Flaming Lips, Garbage, Imelda May...
“Last year we did nine shows for Ed Sheeran, a couple for Lana Del Ray, 11 dates for the Human League, some for Rufus Wainwright and New Order.
“This year we’ll be doing more with Lana Del Ray, the Gaslight Anthem and the Flaming Lips.”
As a festival promoter, DHP is responsible for Splendour at Wollaton Park, Hit The Deck (Nottingham), Dot To Dot (Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester) and Gathering (Oxford).
“We have more city festivals than any other company. Gathering is a new one that we did in Oxford in October and that sold out. We’ll expand that to another city this year. Hit The Deck we’ll expand to another city as well. Dot to Dot is essentially an indoor festival for new artists with a couple of names as headliners. It’s an important stepping stone for new acts.”
In Nottingham it’s held at Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, the Bodega and Jongleurs, with a 4,500 capacity. Hit The Deck festival in April is the rock equivalent.
DHP also runs a ticket agency, Alt Tickets, and relatively recently moved into artist management with Dog Is Dead.
Although DHP had tinkered with developing a band with House of Brothers, Dog Is Dead were their first “proper” signing and led to a major label deal, Radio 1 playlists, sell-out shows and TV appearances.
“I first heard about them from my manager at the Bodega, who phoned me up and said ‘these kids have brought about 70 people down with them for a support slot and their sound-check was really good. You should come and have a look’.
“At the time I was looking for a band for DHP to manage and develop and I was blown away by their songwriting. We didn’t actually sign a deal with them for a year or so because they weren’t yet 18. They committed to a gap year before going to university, then they committed to another gap year... and went from playing Junktion 7 to Glastonbury to Skins, Atlantic Records, selling out the Scala in London, the Radio 1 playlist...
“We’ve got a great band there that are going places. We expect them to sell out their show at Rock City in March.”
The band have been a part of the wave of Nottingham artists enjoying national acclaim, along with Jake Bugg and Natalie Duncan.
“There will be more from Nottingham this year. And we are looking at developing other acts. We are in a unique position to do that because we manage venues and promote shows nationally. We had the money to put out their first three singles before they signed to Atlantic.”

Who will be getting the Dog Is Dead treatment from DHP in 2013?
“We’ve been looking but we haven’t decided yet ,” he says.
DHP employs around 300 staff and HQ is on the corner of Talbot Street, behind Rock City, but there are plans to move into the Lace Market.
The company was started by his dad, entrepreneur George Akins, who made his fortune in bookmakers, amusement arcades and property.
The entertainment arm of the business came in 1980 when George senior transformed the variety venue Heart of the Midlands into Rock City. At the time, George junior (who also has a son named George), was just five.
“I think it was inevitable that I’d work in the family business. It just happened sooner than I’d expected,” he says, recalling the time he was called back from a jolly in Australia to begin managing the venue. He was just 19. His older brother Sean looks after the property side of the business, Bildurn.
George, 37, says: “It was just Rock City at the time, but we started expanding pretty quickly after that, with The Rig (now Black Cherry Lounge) in 1995 and RKO, the sports bar (now Rescue Rooms/Stealth) in 1996. I did my first festival in 1997, which was City in the Park at Wollaton Park with Saw Doctors.”
These were the pre-Splendour days and more followed with the Corrs and Bryan Adams headlining, then Green Day for Distortion.

“It didn’t really work for us back then but we teamed up with the city council six years ago for Splendour and that’s become a successful annual event.”
It returns this summer but he’s staying tight-lipped on possible headliners.
The glass trophy awarded to DHP at the end of last year for National Promoter of the Year is hidden away in a drawer.
“Don’t say that,” he laughs. “Say it’s pride of place in my office.”
It’s an industry award voted for by agents, bands and record companies.
“It’s the first time we were nominated and we won it. And to have someone from outside London or
Manchester winning was quite significant.”
For more about the DHP Group go to www.dhpgroup.co.uk or on Twitter: @DHPGroup.

Wedding Present

November 2012

FOR a failed chat a couple weeks ago, David Gedge was in France. And he’s back there when we eventually catch up but the Wedding Present have since been to Spain. Earlier this year they played across North America and Asia.

It’s been a good two decades since they were at their peak but the indie heroes have never stopped touring and recording worldwide.

“We tend to do Europe every couple of years, then North America and Japan,” says Gedge, 52, who lives between Brighton and Los Angeles.

“We went to Australia for the first time this year and we’re possibly doing some concerts in Brazil next year, which will be the first time we’ve played there.”

In the UK the Leeds band are best known for the albums George Best (1987), Bizarro (1989) and Seamonsters (1991) but elsewhere it varies.

“At the moment our biggest shows in Europe have been in France. Two years ago with the Bizarro tour it was in Germany.

“In America it varies from state to state. We’ve played to a couple of thousand people one night and the next to 30 people in a bar.

“Everywhere in Australia was rammed because we’d not been there before and there was a demand.

“Turkey was a weird one. We’d not been there before so we put together a hit friendly set. It was Kennedy, Brassneck, My Favourite Dress... but it was when we played an obscure b-side from my other band, Cinerama, that the place was jumping. When we played Brassneck it was like ‘yeah, whatever’. It’s because Bizarro wasn’t a hit over there.

“So, I’m surprised wherever we go and that keeps it interesting.”

He adds: “In America they don’t know George Best at all. So they’re like ‘whose this soccer guy?’ Seamonsters is the one they know best over there. In Britain I’d say it’s Bizarro.”

This year the Wedding Present released a new album, Valentina, on their own label, Scopitones.

“We started out on our own label,” says Gedge, who has an American girlfriend.

“In between we were on RCA, Island Records, Cooking Vinyl... and now we’re on our own label again. It’s more work because you have to be involved in the business side of it but I don’t mind that because you have more control.”

It means he is free to release a 64-page book for the new album, called Valentina: The Story Of A Wedding Present Album. It’s a behind-the-scenes account of the making of it, complete with lyrics, photographs, commentary, extra tracks and a 30-minute documentary film.

“It wasn’t my idea to be honest,” admits Gedge.

“Someone from Harper Collins asked if we’d be interested in it and I’m always interested in doing different stuff. It’s why we did Ukrainian music, the monthly singles, Cinerama, a comic...”

A comic? Are you a comic book nerd?

“I wouldn’t say it quite in those terms,” he laughs.

“I’m quite interested in the culture.”

They’ll be playing Valentina in its entirety at the Rescue Rooms next week along with Seamonsters, their classic 1991 album, produced by US post-punk giant Steve Albini.

“I think it works quite well, although it’s a bit to confusing to people,” he says of the gigs, where they’ll be supported by all-girl Japanese rock band Toquiwa.

He says: “Of all the support bands we’ve ever had I think they go down the best because they’re so entertaining.”

The Wedding Present play the Rescue Rooms on Wednesday, November 14. Tickets are £16.50 from www.alt-tickets.co.uk.

Joe Bonamassa

March 2012

HE has memories of that first visit to Nottingham. Just a few. But it was in 2005 that Joe Bonamassa and his band made that short leap on to the small stage at the Running Horse pub in Alfreton Road.

Few outside blues circles had heard of him. Those that had, knew of a twentysomething New Yorker with a reputation for stunning guitar playing ability. So good that by the age of 12 he has joined blues legend BB King on stage.

“The stage was the size of  dining room table,” says the 34-year-old.

“We did it though. It was like 125 people and about 4000 degrees in there.”

Since then he’s steadily worked his way through Nottingham venues, on each visit increasing in size, from the Rescue Rooms to Rock City, the Royal Concert Hall and now the Capital FM Arena.

It’s unusual for a blues man to play arenas.

“Well, BB King plays them. And Clapton plays them. He’s kind of a blues guy.”

He adds: “But to describe my music as strictly the blues is a bit of a stretch. It’s a blues rock hybrid that crosses over with some different styles, you know.

“And that’s the beauty of being a solo artist. You can do anything you want. And my fans dig it. That’s all I care about.”

The original date for his debut at the Capital FM Arena was pulled at the last minute in October due to an illness.

“I had a like a virus infection that killed me,” he explains.

“I know there’s the old showbiz adage ‘the show must go on’ but there is a certain point where you go ‘I cannot take people’s money when I’m this poorly’.

“I think I know my fans well enough to know that they’d rather I reschedule and get a real show as opposed to watching me die a slow death up there.”

Bonamassa was playing the guitar at the age of four. His dad ran a guitar shop in New Hartford, New York and still deals in Gibson guitars.

The shop is the only place Bonamassa has worked.

“To define it as work would mean I would have had to have gotten paid for that. Which I didn’t. Dad would always use the barter system: ‘How about all this heat and light that I provide?’”

He adds: “I never had a regular job. That feels really strange to say.”

He’s from a long line of musicians. Both his dad and grandfather were guitarists.

“My great-grandfather had pretty good success as a trumpet player. They all made a living out of it. None of them travelled internationally but they had success locally.”

Inevitably it was the family record collection of blues, rock and folk, that would inspire him.

By the age of seven he had mastered Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn licks and was a professional guitarist from the age of 11.

When he opened a show for BB King a year later, the blues legend described him as “one of a kind”.

Bonamassa, whose hobbies outside of music include watching Formula 1 and collecting watches, is still gorging on classic music.

“The last great record I bought was John Hiatt’s. I thought that was great all the way through. And I like the Black Keys. I think their take on the blues thing is awesome. But that was the last stuff that really blew me away.

“But my iPod, which I have on shuffle all the time, has Free, old Clapton, The Meters, Robert Cray, Miles Davis... anything that moves me.”

It’s an hour before showtime when we catch up. He’s on stage at 8pm with no support and plays a two and hour and 20 minute set, with an interval.

“I get my game face on as soon as the intro music starts. We run Two Minutes To Midnight by Iron Maiden. That’s been my tradition for the past few years. And as soon as the guitar solo comes on, I shut off. It’s time to go to work. We can be talking about collective bargaining agreements before then and I’ll be unphased.”

EG teamed up with the Capital FM Arena to run a competition for one person to win tickets to see his show, meet him backstage and get one of his guitars signed by him.

“I think we need to define what my guitar means,” he says wryly.

“Sometimes people think they will be able to walk up to my rack of guitars and take any one of them. That isn’t necessarily true.

“I’ve a few Les Paul ‘59s in that rack and I’m sure they’d want to take those.”

The winner was to be drawn and notified today through Twitter. If you entered check out @EG_Nottingham and @CapitalFMArena to see if you’ve been drawn from the hundreds of entries.

He adds: “It may say Epiphone on it and it may come in a cardboard box but it’ll definitely be signed.”

The three Les Paul guitars are his favourites. But why is that? Gibson must have improved on their guitars since 1959.

“You would think,” he says.

“They have and they haven’t. There’s something magical about the ‘59. It’s like if you were a Ferrari fan and you were driving an old Spider. It may leak , it may splutter, it may cost you a million dollars in maintenance to keep it running but the sound of the engine and the smell of the oil... there’s nothing better.

“The guitars now are arguably easier to play and they’re more conducive to wear and tear... every now and then, I’ll be on stage with my ‘59 and the knob with fall off. But when it’ s dialled in there’s nothing better.”

Joe Bonamassa plays the Capital FM Arena on Monday April 2 starting at 8pm. Tickets are £30 to £50 from the venue, call 08444 124624 or go to www.capitalfmarena.com

WHAT THEY SAY

“Joe Bonamassa is the new messiah for guitar music lovers.”

The Sun

“Bonamassa's guitar playing and singing are still on a strong upward curve.  Forget derivative – this couldn't be anyone but Joe.”

Guitarist

“Bonamassa's precision guitar playing is

something of a revelation.”

Classic Rock

“In the beginning ‘God' aka Eric Clapton created British blues. Like some Les Paul-toting Jesus, Joe Bonamassa is continuing his hero's legacy.”– Total Guitar

Nina Smith

February 2012

My Nottingham

I’VE come full circle in terms of the place I call home. Although I grew up in Bakersfield, I was born in Sneinton and last month I moved into a flat just by Sneinton Market with my twin sister Katie.

Before that I was in Colwick and West Bridgford, which I loved because I could spend hours just sat by the river daydreaming.

Where I am now is an ideal location because it’s opposite a recording studio I use, near to a friend who makes my videos and I was always in the city centre anyway, either playing gigs or with friends, so it was a no-brainer to move there.

I’ve played all over Nottingham in the past few years: Rock City, the Rescue Rooms, The Bodega, Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham Contemporary and the Royal Concert Hall. That was my biggest show yet, supporting Belinda Carlisle.

It was a bit of a last-minute panic, as I was only asked to do it the day before but it was an amazing experience.

I had to race into town to buy a new outfit and I found one in Ark. That’s where I’ll usually do my clothes shopping. Either there, H&M, Topshop or Mimm in Hockley.

The gig was incredible. The audience seemed to enjoy it and even Belinda was dancing in the wings for a few songs. She was lovely and told me how much she liked my voice. I sold loads of copies of my EP, Lonely Heart Club, afterwards.

It’s a far cry from a show I did a while back at a community hall in Sherwood. It was a charity gig and we were half way through our set when the organiser stopped us and took the microphone. I thought it must be an emergency but she said: “Whoever ordered a sausage sandwich, it’s now ready for you to collect.” So funny. We had to laugh, then just carried on.

I hope to play Splendour again this year. I’d say it’s my favourite event of the year. Not just for playing. I went last year just to see friends playing in bands. It was a really good day. And night – we were literally the very last people to leave Wollaton Park. We were playing football with a milk carton and even the security staff joined in.

It’s odd I know but I don’t actually go to many gigs. I never have. When I was a teenager I was always out clubbing but I rarely saw bands playing.

I think the last one was at the end of last year when Swimming played Broadway. It blew me away. It was an audio-visual event where we listened to them from the next room through headphones. That was a bit special.

Other local bands and musicians I’m into are Just James, Cecille Grey, Parks – they’re proper men playing proper music – and Rob Green. His voice makes me melt. Ronika is a real ball of 80s hotness. I’m determined to touch her wild mane of blonde hair.

When I’m out it’ll usually be in Hockley, at Broadway, Bad Juju and Jam Cafe, which feels like a second home. I’ll tend to drink spirits. Vodka and Coke is a regular order but I do like cocktails. There’s a really nice one at Bar JuJu called Porn Star. It’s huge! It looks nothing like a porn star but it’s really strong. Which is how I like my men.

It was in Hockley that I last saw a comedy show. I don’t normally go and watch comedy, my sister Katie fills that void. She’s all the comedy I need. I did see Alan Carr at the Arena last year and he was quite good but a couple of weeks ago I did find myself at a comedy night in the Lord Roberts. It was actually really good. Quite camp and a bit stupid – which is also how I like my men.

I eat out a lot because I’m always on the move but it’ll be sandwiches mainly. If not it’ll be a fry up. I’m craving them at the moment.

If it’s a takeaway then it’ll be the nearest one to whichever bar or club I’ve crawled out of. Don’t ask me to remember which ones.

I know, I eat a lot of junk food. I should be rolling on to the stage but I’m always on the go so never put any weight on.

I did try a gym once when my friend got me a free pass for Virgin Active. But I just ended up going on the sun bed and using the pool.

I was a bit of a feral child so when I was growing up in Bakersfield I spent a lot of time in Colwick Woods. But my favourite outdoor place is the Arboretum. I love it there. Especially in the summer, obviously.

In fact, when the sun’s out I’ll tend to move out of the Hockley bars and head for Saltwater in The Cornerhouse. The roof terrace there is perfect for a sunbathe with a cocktail. And it attracts quite a few hotties. Which is really how I like my men.

Nina Smith plays The Pearl in West Bridgford on Tuesday as part of a Valentine’s Night special. For details: www.the-pearl.co.uk.

The Lonely Heart Club EP is available on iTunes. You can find her on Twitter @NinaSmithMusic and Facebook www.facebook.com/NinaSmithMusic.

Hugh Cornwell

May 2010

My Weekend

The weekend begins for me, like any other day when I’m at home -- with a cup of hot water and lemon. Then I’ll do a few back exercises and go out for a walk or a bike ride.

I also keep fit by swimming. I taught myself to swim a few years ago, so that’s my desire these days. I try to go a few times a week to do 30 lengths at my health club. But I prefer to swim in the Atlantic in Spain. It’s actually colder but much fresher.

Sunday is always a good day to tidy and maybe visit my mum.

I am forever eating out when I travel so I like to cook at home when I get the chance.

That said I have been known to have the occasional takeaway. I know a great Greek takeaway in London with a kleftiko to die for. Otherwise it will be an Indian.

I don’t go to the cinema that much but I do watch quite a few films wither on planes or DVD. Of late I’ve seen Crazy Heart and A Single Man and I loved them both.

I was lucky enough to have been given the complete Sopranos box set for my last birthday. I’d never seen it before. I’m working my way through that at the moment. Last night I watched the episode, Il Bidone by Fellini - a masterpiece!

I started to write fiction recently and, for whatever reason, it has made it difficult for me to read other people’s books. That said I am halfway through Don Quixote and I’m determined to finish it. Not that anyone ever has.

My listening pleasure at the weekend is silence. I don’t listen to the radio and the sort of music I’ll play on CD is bebop jazz. But on the whole I prefer silence.

It’s the same with gigs. I used to go to them all the time but these days it’s a case of only if I’m dragged to one. That can be the case with either gigs, comedy shows or theatre.

My idea of a perfect weekend? Watching a test match.

Hugh Cornwell and band play the Rescue Rooms next Friday May 21, where they’ll revisit The Stranglers’ debut album Rattus Norvegicus IV, followed by his latest solo album The Hooverdam. Doors at 7pm. Tickets are £15 from Rock City box office, call 0871 310 0000 or visit www.alt-tickets.co.uk

Duke Special

May 2010

My weekend


If I’m not working at the weekend I’ll try and find time to go swimming with my kids. I’ve three, aged seven, ten and 13. Then we’d go to a park or something in the afternoon.
In the evening there’s nothing better than watching a film or going out with friends or going to see some live music. Sometimes I’ll just wander in to a venue and see what’s on.
Sunday we’ll see the family and try and eat something nice. I’m the master at making something from whatever’s in the fridge. Which is very hit and miss but I’ll have a go.
I did cookery at school until I was 16 and really enjoyed it. It’s among my list of things I’d like to do when I have a moment.
I hate soaps and reality TV. I like programmes which are artistically presented and there’s been some thought given to the aesthetic of it. I love The Wire and Dexter. But I generally prefer watching films rather than television. It’s more poetic.
I recently joined Love Film so I’ve ordered loads of Buster Keaton movies that I haven’t really explored before and films that make you think, are inspiring or just downright weird.
I love what the Coen Brothers do and Jim Jarmusch. Actors I enjoy are William H Macy and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I recently got a box set of Bogart films.
I do see popcorn movies because of the kids. Well, I wake up half-way through them anyway. I find being in a comfortable chair and a dark room condusive to catching up on some sleep.
There have been some stand-out kids films, like Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story and How To Train A Dragon, which I went to see recently and enjoyed.
I recently finished a biography of Kurt Weill because I was due to visit the Kurt Weill Foundation. It was an incredible read that filled in a lot of the gaps in my knowledge of him.
I don’t follow any bands in a fanatical way. I just know what I like when I hear it. I keep my antenna open. Yesterday I was listening to Beach Boys and Ryan Adams.
I do love Magnetic Fields. I think Stephin Merritt is an amazing songwriter. The balance between sweet and sour is perfect for me. The way he writes a love song but just in the closing line says ‘maybe I’d like to pitch you off a cliff’. He’s really great at off-setting what could be quite saccarine or sentimental with something very dark.
I play a little bit of five-a-sde football and I love walking but I find exercise a little boring. I have to be distracted. If I go for a walk I have to have a destination in mind or there has to be something beautiful around you.
I find gyms so boring. The idea of a treadmill is heart-breaking.

Duke Special appears at the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham on Saturday May 8. The show is sold out. For returns call 0871 310 0000. His triple album The Stage, A Book & The Silver Screen is out now.

The Primitives

April 2010

THE idea to get back together was sparked by the death of their original bass player.

“We lost Stevie D,” says The Primitives’ singer Tracy Tracy.

“We met up at his funeral and got talking about doing something as a tribute to Steve. It snowballed from there really.”

Their first reunion gig was at the end of last year at an exhibition showcasing Coventry bands.

“We really enjoyed it and it seemed better than the first time round.”

How?

“We’re a lot wiser, we can pick what we want to do and everything’s sounding fresher.”

She laughs: “Hopefully I’m a better singer.”

The Primitives became indie darlings with the release of their debut album Lovely, which featured the Top 20 hit Crash.

Even Morrissey gave them his blessing and could often be seen wearing a Primitives’ Stop Killing Me T-shirt.

The bleached blonde Tracy, like Wendy James from rival band Transvision Vamp, became an indie pin-up.

She’s still a looker, judging from the new band photo.

“There’s no airbrushing involved but it’s all lighting and make-up,” she laughs.

In 1992, after two more albums, Pure and Galore, and extensive tours of Europe and the US, The Primitives called it a day.

She has worked on various music projects since.

“I’ve always flitted in and out of music, nothing with any great success but I’ve always loved music. I think once you’ve been in a band you can’t stop.”

Crash was given a new lease of life when a revamped version featured in the Jim Carrey film Dumb And Dumber.

“I think we had better songs than Crash. We weren’t all about Crash but that one hit the limelight. It was actually Through The Flowers that got us our first radio play and our first TV appearance.”

In fact, it wasn’t Crash but Really Stupid that Mojo magazine named as one of the top 40 UK indie singles of all time two years ago.

“That was pretty amazing. It was like ‘we weren’t really that bad then’,” she laughs.

Aside from the tour there is talk of a covers album. They’ve already recorded versions of Suzi Jane Hokom's Need All The Help I Can Get and Toni Basil's Breakaway.

“It’s not written in stone but because it’s sounding nice and fresh it’s like well, why not? We’re just going to go in to the studio and see what it sounds like. We haven’t even got to the stage of talking about record labels.”

Despite various internet biographies of The Primitives saying Tracy is Australian, she, like the rest of the band, is from Coventry.

“I lived in Australia for five years with my parents. Even at the exhibition about Coventry bands there was a card saying ‘Australian-born Tracy Tracy’ so I had to tell them ‘no, I’m not’”.

These days she’s living in Spain.

“It was a case of getting the CDs back from my parents,” she says of the preparation for the tour.

“But once we got in to rehearsals it all came together.”

Gig

Who The Primitives, Lucky Soul

Where: The Bodega Social Club, Pelham Street

When: Monday, 8pm

Tickets, £10, 0871 310 0000

Web: www.thebodegasocialclub.co.uk

Sandi Thom

March 2010

SHE believes the British Secret Service may be responsible but in her new flat on the River Thames, Sandi Thom is unable to get a signal on her mobile.

It’s why she’s walking to a nearby cafe, away from the MI5 HQ, to talk. And she has plenty to say because not only does she have a new home, but a new record label, a new album and a brand new sound.

Well, an old sound that’s new to anyone who may have enjoyed her first two albums Smile...It Confuses, which followed the single I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker to the top of the UK charts, and The Pink & The Lilly.

Merchants and Thieves, Thom’s third, is a blues album.

“It’s a lot to do with the fact that I’m an independent artist now,” says the Scot, who was signed to Sony BMG but now runs her own label.

“I call the shots, there’s nobody harassing me to meet deadlines or to write a particularly commercial song. It’s refreshing to make an album that you like listening to.”

She quickly adds: “I enjoyed writing the first two albums but it’s good to move on.

“And it’s good for people to know about me. It’s a lot darker than the other two albums. There’s a lot about loss and regret. I’m a deep person,” she adds, laughing.

Being dropped by a major label helped her as a songwriter, she says.

“I’d gotten to the point where life was just a little too sweet. And when you get to that point it’s hard to sing sad songs with passion and honesty.”

The blues, she says, has always been one her favourite music genres.

“The first CD I ever stole off my mum was a blues compilation. I remember hearing Black Magic Woman and that’s how I discovered Fleetwood Mac. I love Peter Green’s style of playing. So there’s always been that in me, it’s just that now I’ve been given the opportunity to do what I want to do it’s come out more.”

She namechecks Robert Johnson and Delta blues but the current prince of blues, Joe Bonamassa, has been as big an influence as anyone.

“He’s a friend of mine and on a tour last year he lost his voice so he needed someone to stand in for him. Because of that I got the chance to support BB King and Steve Winwood and be part of this blues world that I’d never been a part of before. It was that which cemented my change in direction.”

Bonamassa appears on her new single This Ol’ World, due out next month. It’s taken from Merchants and Thieves, which is to be released in May.

Prior to then she has a tour that includes Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms, a swift return to the city for Thom, who supported Bonamassa at the Royal Concert Hall in November.

“When I did Joe’s dates, the reaction at first was like ‘What?’,” she remembers.

“Then we got on stage and the reaction was brilliant. The cool thing I’ve found from entering this new world of the blues is that they’re the most dedicated fans I’ve ever come across.”

She adds: “There were so many people who didn’t know who I was, which was really refreshing.”

There aren’t many female blues players around so you could be a the blues pin-up?

She laughs: “That’s sweet. I’d quite like to be the next British blues pin-up.”

Gig

Who Sandi Thom

Where Rescue Rooms, Goldsmith Street

When Friday April 23, 7pm

Tickets £12, 0871 310 0000

Web www.rescuerooms.com