Interview: Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip
Written by: Hugh Platt
While we’re sitting down at one of the many tables in the guest area, Music Towers’ interview with Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip keeps getting interrupted by a seeming never-ending stream of small children asking Scroobius Pip to pose for photos. Perhaps it is his – and I speak as a connoisseur of facial grooming – magnificent beard that makes him so easy to spot. “The beard is seeming to make a comeback,” Scroobius looks up from the pad he is scrawling on for the little girl asking for an autograph. “It’s got to be done.... [Read the Rest]
Interview: Rosie & The Goldbug - the dark side of pop music
Written by: Hugh Platt
“Back then we were very piano-orientated. We’re now more bass-and-drum-orientated,” says Rosie Vanier, she of the band’s name. She’s talking about when Music Towers first encountered her band, when they were the only real shining star at a lamentable corporate battle of the bands-type affair, where Music Towers described their performance as “vaudeville brand of gothic ephemera as a more than welcome change from the indie-boys-with-haircuts-and-guitars”. “It’s a lot more focused around Pixie and Plums being in the band, with the... [Read the Rest]
Bag O Singles
Written by: David Harrison
CDs build up on the kitchen table until I can find a time to ignore all those people who pay me to work. In a desperate attempt to find something new and exciting for Beef Warehouse’s set at Latitude here are the kitchen table files. Nelson – You Can’t Stop Saw these guys at the ICA last week. I was wondering why these good looking posers weren’t hounded out of town. Upon realising it was a French band I understood why the pint size poser was cool. On the strength of that bought the single: BORING indie stabby schmindie. Try again Nelson,... [Read the Rest]
Interview: Simian Mobile Disco - a duo in demand
Written by: Hugh Platt
“I saw a few reviews of the records that were all ‘after all the hype …blah blah blah’ – what?” James Ford splurts incredulously. “The press created the fucking hype themselves!” Ford is talking about The Age of the Understatement, debut record from The Last Shadow Puppets, which he both produced and played drums for. Ford is very much the indie producer of the moment, having taken production duties on Klaxons’ Mercury-winning Myths of the Near Future and Arctic Monkeys’ Favourite Worst Nightmare among others. Now he... [Read the Rest]
Taking Stock of Glastonbury
Written by: David Harrison
Lets take stock of the 5 days in that Beavis’ guys field this week: Found Some new friends One orange torch One big smelly but well fitting coat A Tent (there were a few available) Someone called Shuan gave me £60 to buy/steal my megaphone then buggered off without it. Someone gave me £50 for helping them up on stage Lost or Stolen One Bakerlight Handset that had been rewired as a headphone for mixing made by my missus she is very very angry about it. One Mini-KP Kaospad a bunch of leeds and rechargeable batteries Maybe a very tasty bunch... [Read the Rest]
Seconday Ticketing - Touts gone wild
Written by: David Harrison
The days of that yellow-toothed bloke shouting ‘BUY AND SELL TICKETS!’ outside gigs haven’t gone yet, but there is a lot more profitable way to do it these days. The last two years have seen the growth of a tout market that has become so big, it is considerably larger then some of the companies that actually put on the shows it is touting for. This ‘tout market’ has even got a proper ‘legit’ name these days - Secondary Ticketing. Secondary Ticketing was apparently worth up to £200m in 2007, with the primary ticket... [Read the Rest]
Interview: The Parlotones - rock’n'roll South African-style
Written by: Hugh Platt
Khan Morbee – it’s the kinda name that makes me think of men in animal furs and war paint, swinging fake weapons about and hollering ‘BATTLE METAL!” at each other. Calm down though – Khan Morbee is actually the frontman of South African indie-rock-types, The Parlotones. There’s not a Lordi-esque jockstrap in sight, just rousingly accomplished indie rock’n’roll. “Myself and [Neil Pauw, drummer] were introduced by a mutual friend who knew we liked similar bands, we got together and ‘jammed’ a few times soon realising we needed... [Read the Rest]
The Cure: gimmicking the number 13
Written by: Hugh Platt
The Cure have a great back catalogue. At their shows earlier in the year they literally excited Music Towers so much we forgot to write a review. Now they’ve decided it’s about time they add to their already-stupidly-impressive songsheet with a new album, due out on September 13. Did you see that? September 13. It’s their thirteenth studio album as well, so the band have decided that on the 13th of every month between now and the release of the album, they’re going to release a new single. Wowsers. The first single, ‘The... [Read the Rest]
I have a band, a myspace page, now what
Written by: David
So you have written some bitchin’ songs, made a MySpace page, and maybe even bought a domain name. You’ve had a few local gigs – but what now? Well, it’s going to cost you a bit of money, and a lot of time. Web Presence 1. Organise your mailing – even if it is just one from your Outlook Express. Allow people to get on it. You can use a lot of third-party solutions such as Yahoo Groups / Wufoo / Icontact Zookoda - whatever service you feel is suitable for your costs or project. 2. Don’t over-plug your projects - people get very bored... [Read the Rest]
Love Music Hate Racism
Written by: admin
Most of us here at Music Towers are like the Wicked Witch of the West – the prospect of going out in the rain makes us curl up and melt. So when the weathermen predicted dark clouds over London last Sunday, step forward our new guy, Tom Gibbons, for the Love Music Hate Racism Carnival: Despite a stinking hangover, yours truly dragged his arse to Victoria Park in London on Sunday, to check out the 30th Anniversary of Rock Against Racism – an Anti-Nazi League ‘music festival’ which has renamed itself Love Music Hate Racism. Upon entering... [Read the Rest]