Which Nottingham musicians to follow on Twitter

May 2012

May 29 2012 is Nottingham Trending Day on Twitter. Follow @NottinghamTrend to find out more about the campaign. Meanwhile, here are the Notts musicians with the biggest number of followers...

JayMcGuiness

@JayTheWanted

380,530 followers

Born in Newark, Jay studied at the Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama (MADD) in Carlton then auditioned for, among other things, a new British boy band. The Wanted are now one of Britain’s biggest alongside One Direction and JLS, with No. 1 singles and albums and sell-out tours.

Joel Peat

@LawsonJoel

25,855 followers

He is guitarist with Lawson, a new guitar band who supported The Wanted on their arena tour earlier this year. Joel grew up in Ravenshead and following his A levels moved to Guildford in Surrey to study at The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM). But he quit after a year to try and make it with Lawson, the band he’d joined while at college. After three years of touring the UK gig circuit, Lawson were picked to open for The Wanted on their theatre tour. At the end of that they signed to Polydor. As well as another tour with The Wanted, Lawson have played shows with Avril Lavigne and recently returned from Los Angeles where they finished recording their debut album. That’s due for release late summer.

Dog Is Dead

@Dog_Is_Dead

6,185 followers

After signing to Atlantic Records last year, the Rushcliffe quintet have supported Bombay Bicycle Club, 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. They’ve even played at Fashion Week in Milan for Burberry.

So far they’ve released two singles for the label, Hands Down and Two Devils. A third is due next month.

They play Rock City on Sunday as part of the Dot to Dot festival.

Liam Bailey

@liambailey

6,101 followers

The soul singer, who grew up in Beeston, released two singles on Amy Winehouse’s own label before signing to Polydor. He guested on the Chase & Status Top 5 hit Blind Faith and joined the duo on their UK and European tours. Despite finishing his album for Polydor it was never released. They parted company last year. Songs he’d recorded with Amy Winehouse were also lost when his laptop was stolen. Since then his single When Will They Learn? was played on Radio 1, as was Breathe by Delilah, which features Liam’s vocals.

He’ll be joining Natalie Duncan and other Notts musicians at Nottingham Contemporary on July 6.

THePETEBOX

@THePETEBOX

4,617 followers

THE award-winning beatboxer has played shows from as far afield as Mexico and Africa. He’s supported dance troupe Diversity on a sell-out tour and his videos have been seen by millions on YouTube. The Australian-born Sneinton resident recently released his debut album Future Loops.

Jake Bugg

@jakebugg

4.412 followers

He signed to Mercury Records last year and has since released three singles with an album due in October. Although he is a big fan of Donovan and Don McLean, the 18-year-old has been drifting across genres with his singles, from classic Bob Dylan (Trouble Town), tender country (Country Song) and raw garage rock (Lightning Bolt). He’s been playlisted on Radio 1, opened a show for Example at Rock City, toured Europe with Michael Kiwanuka and Country Song is currently being used to soundtrack the TV ad campaign for Greene King IPA. Last week he appeared on Later With Jools Holland alongside Jimmy Cliff and Paloma Faith.

He’ll be at Rock City on Sunday as part of the Dot to Dot festival.

Sam Beeton

@sam_beeton

2.926 followers

The 23-year-old from Carlton is an old hand at this pop music lark having been signed to major label SonyBMG at the age of just 17. He released one single, toured with Sandi Thom, James Morrison, Scouting For Girls and Paolo Nutini and even played a show with Katy Perry.

After a period of stagnation on the label, Sam set up Sweet Luigi Records, through which he has released an EP every month via a subscription service. Two of his songs, Under The Fence and The Storyteller, have been played on Radio 2 and he performed the latter on BBC 2’s The Review Show. He’s also an occasional Burberry model.

Ronika

@ohronikagirl

1057 followers

SHE has been dubbed “the Madonna of the Midlands” for her 80s-influenced dance pop, that has earned Lowdham’s Veronica Sampson attention from the Mirror, The Sunday Times, the NME and the Guardian, who described her as “destined for pop greatness”. Last month Radio 1 played her latest single Automatic. Chic’s Nile Rodgers tweeted that he thought the track was “dope”. She’s due to hit the chart soon guesting on the new single by dance producer Herve.

* follower numbers correct 4pm May 25 2012

THePETEBOX

April 2012

How did you get started in music?

I started learning and played piano from being a kid, then upon discovering Nirvana picked up a guitar and started writing songs. I started playing the drums to be in a band with my brother John (also a member of Swimming) when I was about 15.

Where did the beatboxing come in?

I learnt about the concept from my cousin who had a few beatbox moves down but it was when I heard Rahzel that I realised beatboxing could be deeply skilful and musical. I was quite obsessive about it. I was fascinated by the mechanics of it and endeavoured to learn and create arrangements and shows focussing on beatboxing from then on.

But these days it isn’t just beatboxing is it as you use guitars and a loop pedal?

Making sounds wasn’t enough I guess and I wanted to turn what I was doing into music. That’s when I got the loop pedal. That saved my relationship with beatboxing because I was getting bored with it. I record and loop beatboxing to create the bed of the tracks, then I will sing lines over the top and sometimes add a guitar if it suits. I'm trying to create the kind of arrangements a band would. I record a full spectrum of sounds with my voice into my loop pedal, including basslines, brass sections, synth lines, textures and beats. Then I place perhaps more focus on the melodies that define and drive the tracks.

You’ve played Glastonbury, Bestival and V, toured with Diversity, played shows with Jay Sean and Foreign Beggars... any highlights?

I’m proud to have been part of all those shows but there's nothing quite like playing to an audience that's just there for you, so I'd say a few of the bigger festival appearances I've had have been highlights for me. Reading 2009 and V Festival 2011 were perhaps the highlights. I've also preformed at and seen the Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Monaco Grand Prix. That was pretty nuts.

Your cover of the Pixies’ Where Is My Mind? has had more than 1.8m hits on YouTube. How did that happen?

I recorded my version of it at the start of last year not really thinking too much about it. Simon Ellis filmed it in his kitchen and I uploaded it thinking it might get a few views. I saw it as a one-off but then it went mega viral and amassed half a million views in two weeks. A few famous people started posting about but the best thing that happened really was when the Pixies themselves posted in on Facebook, Twitter and their own their website. The thought that they've not only seen it but endorsed it blew my mind. The Pixies and Nirvana were the reason I started creating music. The success of the video sparked the whole idea to make a live, studio, video album.

And that is Future Loops, your debut album. Does it feel like it’s been a long time coming?

I guess so because I've been making music for a while now. Although it's actually only taken about six months to make it.

Unlike a regular album release, you’ve recorded each track in one take on video, filmed by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Simon Ellis. Why do it that way?

There have been a lot of beatbox albums but they don't seem to capture the experience that people get from seeing beatboxing live. Making it a live, studio, video album was the best way I could think of to do that. You can see exactly what I'm recording, looping and playing live, so you know exactly what's going on. The fact that it's live I think keeps that point of interest that beatboxing carries. It's also a documentary of the exact takes that make the record. The listener can witness the moments that make up the record as they occur.

Why Simon Ellis?

A lot of your readers will know of his amazing, award winning film-making abilities. I knew he would really think about the visual side of things and he’s created a totally immersive experience. The look and style of each video is not only beautifully done but actually evolves and develops with the music.

Is there a particular style on the album?

I'm not too sure! It is a beatbox album but I'd say style-wise it's more of an indie album. I play my guitar a lot and some of the tracks have more soulful toplines. Some of them delve further into the more classic dance driven beatboxing and some have jazz type brass sections.

Are there other covers on there apart from Where Is My Mind?

I've done it half and half. I'm known for my reinterpretation of songs live and wanted to take that further onto my record so there are covers of Nirvana, Crystal Castles and The Beach Boys. I also wanted to put some of my tracks on there.

Will Future Loops be available as a regular CD and download?

You can get the physical CD/DVD or download it through iTunes and all other digital stores.

You are launching Futureloops tonight at Nottingham Contemporary. Tell me more...

We're presenting a screening of the album. The idea is the audience will see and hear the album as intended - projected onto a big screen and played through good, loud speakers. No-one's made an album in this way and we wanted to make an event around the whole idea of the album itself.

What's next for you?

I go on a tour to promote the album starting on May 29, including the Dot to Dot festival on Sunday June 3. I’ll be playing a few cool festivals over the summer, working on some new material with Swimming and then starting on a second album.

THePETEBOX and Simon Ellis present Future Loops at

Nottingham Contemporary tonight from 7.30pm to 1am. The screening takes place in The Space from 8pm, followed by an aftershow party in the Cafe Bar featuring Si Tew and DJ Joff. Tickets are £8 or £15 with a copy of the CD/DVD album, available from the gallery, from gigantic.com orthepetebox.com/futureloops.