Category: Blog

James Bay

This year’s dead cert. He’s won the Brits’ Critics Choice Award, and looks like the love child of Jack White and Johnny Depp.

He’s originally from Hertfordshire and writes big, emotional songs. Which, for the record, always do the business. His debut album “Chaos And The Calm” comes out on March 23rd and his UK tour is already sold out.

Listen to: “Let It Go”

Oh Wonder

This London based duo are Anthony and Josephine.

This is an interesting one. Their vision and plan is to put up one track every month for a year online, culminating in an album release on 31st August 2015. They’ll the perform their first live shows in September.

Hype Machine favourites for a long time now, they definitely have something pretty special about them. Keep an eye on Oh Wonder.

Listen to: “All We Do”

Rag ‘N’ Bone Man

Rory Graham is Rag ‘N’ Bone Man.

By far, this is one of the most interesting musical projects around right now. He’s a fusion of blues, rock, soul and hip hop, which makes it exciting, in terms of his creativity and originality.

He ‘s on tour in March and plans to release his debut album later this year.

Listen to: “Lay My Body Down”

 

 

5 years ago, running 12 miles across Wessex farmland on a damp Saturday morning wouldn’t have been on the cards. Oh, and don’t forget the 20 odd obstacles, that shouldn’t really be classed as “fun” along the way. Arctic Enema anyone? I have resisted physical exercise for 20 years. I was the fat kid at the back of the x-country trail. Smoking a regal, and walking AROUND the hills. I didn’t understand why you want to actually run it?

But Tough Mudder has a way of capturing the imagination. It’s become the multi-million dollar human challenge leader.

“Are you tough enough?” The simple strapline that makes me want to be. It’s tapped into the complicated human ego. But it’s more than that. It’s also about helping others and team work.

In the weeks leading up to it, I began to run for the first time ever. Only 5kms to start with. That was enough to leave me walking like John Wayne for 4 days anyway. But as the weeks passed and I’d done my 5th run, I knew I would make it round.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t float around the course like Mo Farrah. By mile 10, there were some dark times. But the encouragement of others and the sheer energy of thousands of people , all willing to help each other and aiming for the end, was enough to pull me through.

By the time, I reached the penultimate obstacle “Everest”, I had nothing left to give. I was cold, wet and filthy. I’d been electrocuted by 10,000 vaults more than once. I’d crawled through cow poo(not sure that was actually part of the course) and been fully submerged in ice cold water more than i’d care to remember.

But i’d done it. And I was bloody proud.

For more info on Tough Mudder and to find one near you, click here:

www.toughmudder.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saint Raymond

This is 18 year old Callum Burrows. From Nottingham, he’s the most likely to make an impact, out of all the East Midlands gang, currently exciting the music industry big dogs. All round nice dude. I interviewed him recently and he was very humble about all the hype.

 

Song to check out: “Young Blood”

 

Catfish & The Bottlemen

“To Llandudno!” Would be an unlikely statement from my lips. But it’s something I would say if this band were playing in their hometown. I went to see them play their first London show and they were rock stars in the making. Lead singer Van has the potential to be a stand out front man. They make big sounding indie rock and roll. Debut album is due Summer 2014.

 

Song to check out: “Homesick”

 

Jungle

When a friend played me “The Heat”, I REALLY hoped this wasn’t going to be another band who make a few tracks and then disappear. And hope no more. They signed to XL, and have a debut album due for release in May/June 2014. From West London, they’re an act straddling the traditional boys in a band thing with an awesome electronic set up. Add to that some elements of funk and that makes it one of the most interesting new bands around for me.

 

Song to check out: “Busy Earnin’”

 

Trampolene

 

A band who moved from Wales and set up in a dodgy flat above a pub in North London. I like the story already, but what makes it even better is they’ve made some heavy sounding songs, that still have the popular potential. Lead singer Jack, is bonkers.  That’s not always a pre requisite for creative stardom. I have, in my experience, found the old saying “You don’t have to be mad to work around here…but it helps…” usually applies to some of the best songwriters and musicians.

 

Song to check out: “Alcohol Kiss”

 

Charlotte OC

 

Her Colour My Heart EP was one of my favourites of 2013. Originally from Blackburn, Charlotte is about to sign her major label deal over in the States. 2014 will see her record her debut album and also play her first festivals including Field Day in London. There’s also some interesting remixes with the EP. Check out Yarin Lindor or Field Marshall’s versions of the tracks from the EP.

 

Song to check out: Cut The Rope

I haven’t written for a few months but I’ve been busy…

I’m just about to finish collage. I did a 3 month introduction to music production course over at Point Blank studios near Old Street. I’d been saying I wanted to do it for almost 5 years.  But it’s also something I would have loved to have done at any point in the last 15 years.  10 years of wanting it and 5 years of saying I’ll do it. And all it took to get started was a 30 second phone call! The course was good for anybody else thinking about taking something similar. Financially, educationally, socially; it can be scary. But god it feels good to have done it.

www.pointblanklondon.com

Fancy learning more about digital photography? I did a weekend introduction course at London School of Photography in July. I had a basic understanding of my camera, but I wanted to create better pictures and find out if aperture was actually a thing. It was. They do loads of courses there from introductions to a Photoshop masterclass. They’re are all pretty good value for money.

www.londonschoolofphotography.co.uk

I’m already thinking about what’s next. And Citylit might be it. From creative writing, to comedy and jewellery making; they seem to do it all. Class sizes are bigger which means there’ll be less equipment for everybody. But they’re relatively cheap and always get good reviews.

www.citylit.ac.uk

 

 

I went to Secret Garden Party last weekend. Got lucky and grabbed a photo pass. The festival theme was superstition. So I’ve picked 13 photos and put them on the XFM site.

It’s still one of my favourite festivals. Maybe even my favourite? A weekend in the beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. Good music, good food. Lots of different things going on from Pig Racing to impromptu secret DJ sets. Disclosure and Chase & Status both popped up unannounced. The giant paint fight on the Sunday is always incredible. They also build a ship every year and sail it around their lake which the site is built around. They have parties on the boat for the first few days then burn it on the Saturday night! Did i mention naked trampoline?

From the 15^th of July, XFM is running Warchild week. If you’re a regular listener you know we’ve done a lot of work together, you and us, raising money for their incredible work around the world. I spent some time the other day, learning about some of the projects the money has been spent on, specifically in Africa and The Middle East.  It was at points a really tough listen, but the solution, which we’re now all a part of, is truly humbling. I thought I’d include one of the stories I heard, in the hope that you get an idea of why we’re dedicating a week to Warchild, and why their work is so important, now more than ever.

 

As a side, you raised nearly £25,000 during the Mumford and Sons competition alone. All of which is going straight to the projects you’ll hear about in the next week on XFM.

 

This is Anne Theresa story…

 

In Goma, eastern Congo, rebel and government forces are routinely using rape as a weapon of war.

 

Imagine the fear a parent would feel by sending out their daughter to collect water, knowing she faces the possibility of rape.

 

Anne Theresa is 15 years old. One day, on her way to collect water she was met by a group of soldiers. She said:

 

“One of the soldiers told me to go with him, I was afraid he was going to kill me.  He asked me if I was wearing underwear, I answered yes.  He told me to take them off, which I did.  He raped me and then he gave me back my jerry can and ordered me to collect water for him.  I didn’t, I ran home.  I told my uncle what happened and he told me that we had to go to hospital.”

 

Anne Therese suffered so badly that she would wet herself uncontrollably.  She stopped going to school because the other children would laugh and make fun of her. She had terrible nightmares.  Whenever she saw a man, especially a soldier, she would remember what happened to her as clearly as if she was reliving her ordeal over and over again.

 

Hopefully, you’ll be able to give what you can during Warchild week. Don’t worry if you can’t. Just listening, and passing on these stories to people who can help is enough.

 

More info here: www.xfm.co.uk and www.warchild.org.uk

“You can’t call yourself a DJ unless you can mix on vinyl.”

 

It wasn’t meant for me, but I overheard it recently and it’s stuck with me.

 

In 1996, I walked into a HMV and saw Technics 1210s spinning their hypnotic perfect circle at the back of the store. I was already in love with dance music. I’d divide my time in clubs, between dancing (badly) and standing near the decks to watch the vinyl spin and hopefully grab the name of whatever tune was going off.

 

That trip to HMV, was my first touch of actual decks. The start/stop click. The pitch controller slide. The pretty little needle torch. It was very seductive and still is. But it was 1996.

 

I spent hours learning to mix(badly) on vinyl back then. Paul Van Dyk mixes really well with Gouryella by the way. Anything normally does if you do it 20,000 times. The more you practice the luckier you get right?

 

However you decide to build or programme and eventually play out your set is YOUR choice. For me the chance to play and pre-build moments in a set on Ableton is far more exciting and constructive than just going from one record to another on vinyl.  You can be a DJ without ever touching a piece of vinyl. Other people’s opinions of your craft, are none of your business.

 

Practice, Play, Presentation. What will sound the best for the audience? What can I do to enhance their experience? How can I utilise all my skill for maximum benefit?

 

If I ask myself those questions, the answers will never involve vinyl.  And that’s fine by me.

I’m being bullied. Not by trolls lurking on twitter, and everywhere else in the internet. In real life.

Every couple of days as I walk my dog, a group of 5 teenage boys appear. As I approach them, they begin shouting “Gay Dog” and “Bender”.

However, life has got even more Peep Show lately with the addition of “Gay Cock Dog.” That’s now the weapon of choice.

Now as yet, I haven’t reacted. I’ve taken the highest moral ground I could find and pitched my tent.  I have supplies and matches and plenty of water, I think I’ll be safe up here for a while. Is there another solution? I think not.

*Edit

On my last circle of the park, one of them has broken ranks to ask for my autograph. The belief amongst my tormentors is that I’m a famous author. Excellent twist. Did not see this coming. May sign autographs as yet unknown famous author.

**Edit

Have just read an interview with Snoop Lion in the Guardian Magazine, who believes that the only solution is to “match hate with love.” He’s discovered this after studying the teachings of the Rastafari Movement. We will now attempt to love the tormentors to death. A 31 year old man and a Jackapoo, loving a group of young boys to death…to be continued.

Vietnam has been open to proper tourism for less than 20 years. And there are still some places where it feels even less. We spent some time in the North on the Chinese border, where there are around 8 ethnic minorities who still live as a traditional life as possible. Sapa and Bac-Ha all take about an hour by road from Lao Cai.

The journey to the North at the moment is via sleeper train that takes around 8 hours, and costs less than $40.

The journey will be cut to 3-4 hours in the next few years when they finish the highway from Hanoi. And even shorter in 5-10 years when the airport opens in Lao Cai. Beautiful country.

 

I haven’t got any plans for an extraordinary Valentine’s Day this year. I haven’t tried to go the extra mile for a few years. I’ve made that mistake before.

A couple of years ago, I thought it’d be a brilliant idea to take my girlfriend to Dans Le Noir for dinner on Valentine’s day.

“Bloody excellent.” I said to myself as I confirmed the booking. And that was the last time I had anything positive to say about that Valentine’s day.

The idea is that you eat completely in the dark. Not even a crack under a doorway gives a slither of light into the dining room.  The result being the sense of taste is heightened with the lack of visual stimulation.

You pick either a meat, fish or vegetarian menu. You’re then led into the dining room by a waiter. The waiters are apparently blind, I say apparently because, I spent a long time debating whether or not it was appropriate to ask someone if they were ACTUALLY blind, or if that was just a rumour. Part of the food theatre even?

Anyway, never let the truth get in the way of the good story and all that.

So we’re in complete darkness. Now, I like the dark. It’s not scary. I’m not reduced to a quivering wreck at the thought of the unknown that potentially lingers.  The problem is I like darkness when it’s peaceful. This was not that sort of darkness. This was bloody noisy. Conversations crossing the room all caught by my ears. High pitched cackles, low pitched thuds. NOISE.

Turns out the sense of hearing is also heightened in the darkness. I think I’ve been close to a breakdown, but never actually had one. But I can honestly say the noise in that room and the voices stuck in my head were awful. I thought I was going mental.

While I tried to play it cool, my girlfriend told me she wasn’t doing well.

“I’m freaking out. I don’t like this.” She said that as she tried to spoon something off the starter into her mouth. “Bugger. I’VE DROPPED IT AGAIN.”

At this point I’ve been jamming a fork in my cheek for 5 minutes with not even a bean, managing to land in my mouth.

“I hate this.” I said, almost defeated.

“I need the toilet.” Shouted my girlfriend. This was quickly followed by sobbing, and I’d imagine tears. I don’t know, I couldn’t see them. “I’m REALLY hating this.”

At that point, I knew we’d both been beaten by the dark. It was time to leave.

You can’t just leave though. There’s the exit strategy the restaurant have in place for health and safety. And of course, the big reveal.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN EATING?

I wanted to say something like…

“To be honest most of the food ended up on the floor, as you can probably tell from the stab marks in my cheeks.”

Instead, I went for a grip and grin and something like….

“Ahhhh duck! Incredible. Thank you so much.”