From the category archives:
Following their biggest gig to date at this weekend’s Reading & Leeds festival, we chat to hotly tipped Sunderland outfit Frankie & The Heatstrings about working with Arctic Monkey’s producer James Ford, filming their debut video at Newcastle’s Star & Shadow cinema and the logistics of setting up their own DIY record label, Pop Sex Ltd.
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Let’s be honest, the summer was rubbish wasn’t it? The weather could never make up it’s mind, nobody could afford a third holiday and the less said about the World Cup the better. So now, as Autumn rears it’s miserable head, what is there left to live for?
Well here’s something. Those lovely folks at Haibt are taking over Hoult’s Yard this Sunday for an all day ensemble of food, drink and great tunes. They’re even bringing a few of the premier purveyors of modern house music with them, notably Aeroplane, Chris Christon, Trus’me, Dixon, The Revenge as well as Habit regulars Si Quick and Mark Johnson.
For those of you new to the Habit brand, they’re the guys who’ve been taking over the Tyne Bar in Ouseburn Valley every so often and putting on some truly memorable evenings. They can also count World Headquarters, Cosmic Ballroom, The Other Rooms and The Sage amongst the list of venues they’ve left their distinctive mark on.
So, with beer, BBQs and beats firmly in our minds, we caught up with Scott Udberg, one of the club’s founders, to chat about the party and all things Habit. [view more…]
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Middlesbrough’s music scene often gets overshadowed by its larger north-eastern neighbours, which is somewhat unfair when the town is arguably at the height of its game right now, with the likes of Jimmy & The Sounds and Our Secret Sins offering some serious chart-baiting tunes.
Aiming to redress the balance, this Friday Middlesbrough’s Town Hall Crypt will be paying homage to some of its finest musical offspring with a free showcase featuring three of the region’s finest outfits.
Inspired by the likes of Stephen Fretwell and Fleet Foxes, Cattle & Cane offer a decidedly rustic sound at odds with the town’s industrial landscape, while Chased By Wolves bring a subtle slice of sparse alt-folk with pleasingly offbeat harmonies.
Headliners, The Woven Project, meanwhile opt for a more prog approach with their instrument-rich tunes sharing similarities with the likes of Radiohead, The Unbelievable Truth, Pink Floyd and Tom McRae.
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Hard work doesn’t always equal success in the ever fickle music industry, but Newcastle’s Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire have proved that persistence and a fine ear for a tune can pay off.
Produced by ¡Forward, Russia!’s Tom Woodhead, debut single A Fire Born In Dallas found their post-hardcore and prog influences welded together to create a sound that was both vulnerable and self-assured, while their latest self-released offering, The Sea / Warden Rock – available now on iTunes and Spotify – finds them breaking out from their Fugazi and At The Drive-In influences to create a sound that surely crowns them one of the region’s most unique outfits.
With a hard-won slot at this year’s Split festival alongside the likes of The Futureheads, Maximo Park, Frankie & The Heartstrings, Hot Club De Paris and Errors, it seems Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire have more than enough firepower in their sonic arsenal to kick some of the music world’s feted young pretenders into touch.
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Working at the, ahem, cutting edge of the live music industry we’re used to witnessing performances in some pretty unusual locations. The Tunstall Hill Sessions, however, top the time we saw Bon Iver play in a portaloo by inviting some of the region’s very best musicians to record a session at the foot of Sunderland’s famous mount.
Inspired by the likes of the Black Cab Sessions, the idea is to capture musicians in intimate settings and display them in high-quality video format.
Artists that have appeared so far have included Maximo Park’s Duncan Lloyd and upcoming Sunderland acts Coal Train and The Lake Poets. Tune in below to catch all of the action…
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On Thursday evening Newcastle’s Cumberland Arms will be raising a whiskey to the music of rural America, with a night of traditional and modern folk music helmed by New Hampshire songwriter, Jeff Warner.
Having grown up listening to the stories and songs of music historian father Frank and the odd array of musicians his parents met during their folksong collecting trips throughout North America, he is arguably the country’s foremost performer of traditional song, with songs from the lumber camps, fishing villages and mountain tops of America connecting 21st century audiences with the everyday lives–and artistry–of 19th century Americans. [view more…]
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A lashing of rain and a North Sea ferry load of dust did little to stop thousands of curious bodies coming to Hartlepool’s Tall Ships extravaganza last weekend.
The races saw an estimated one million visitors descend on the North East seaside lovely pulling in a joyous £16m for the local economy.
Toss in a stellar performance from Echo & The Bunnymen and a memorable catalogue of magic from Doves, you maybe forgiven for saying this was Hartlepool’s finest hour.
But should we have believed all of the hype? We caught up Mayor Stuart Drummond (AKA ‘H’Angus the Monkey) to see if the Tall Ships delivered. [view more…]
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