interview

I'd wager to bet that there aren't too many musicians who had a more unlikely life and career than the bel canto pop singer, Harry Nilsson.  Legends and myths have built up around it; he had a three and a half octave range, he suffered from crippling stage fright and never performed live, John Lennon masochistically made him destroy his voice. Some of it is true, some of it not.  Finally, someone has decided to do the research and tell his story properly.

It's been a busy few weeks for indie pop band THUMPERS.  Whilst putting the finishing touches on their debut album, the band have been in session for BBC Radio 6Music, been featured in The Guardian and The Sunday Times Culture magazine, performed at a host of festivals, and released The Unkinder EP.

My favourite album of 2011 was Viscera by Norwegian experimental singer-songwriter Jenny Hval.

Until their recent signing to Crammed, Amatorski were entirely self-reliant, releasing their debut LP, tbc, on their own back in 2011. A commendable achievement in itself, but the record went on to reach No.5 in the Belgian charts – an unprecedented achievement.

Neil Nathan may chuckle at the notion, but make no mistake about it – he’s the D.I.Y. bastard step-child of Jackson Browne and David Bowie.  Ask anyone who has seen the singer-songwriter perform, or any one of the artists he has taken under his wing and produced – it is a new era of folk and glam rock with Nathan at its forefront.

Craig Charles has been a fixture in British entertainment for over thirty years. From his beginnings as a performance poet in the rich musical scene of his native Liverpool, he’s gone on to do stand-up comedy, acting, writing, presenting and DJing.

Now in its second year, the Association of Independent Music awards seeks to reward the invention and industry of those without major label backing. This year, legendary figures such as Edwyn Collins and Mute’s Daniel Miller were given recognition, as well as breakthrough artists like Mercury winners, Alt-J. The ceremony was held in The Brewery in Clerkenwell, London, and No Ripcord was there!

“The only agenda we have is to make the best music we can.” No Ceremony/// have a perhaps unfair reputation as a reclusive and non-conforming band. The second part is certainly true.

Brisbane-based indie-poppers Last Dinosaurs have established quite a following in their native Australia since the band's formation back in high school in 2007.  Their popularity in Australia has undoubtedly been helped by some very positive reviews of their début album In A Million Years, released in March in Australia and earlier this month in the UK.

“We're three very different people,” David Stoltzenberg of Hamburg natives, Pool, explains how the band started out. “We have spent our whole youth together since we started our band at the age of thirteen. We're not only making music together, we also live together! We're all listening to very different music; have other esteems - but still the time has made us understand each other. Our commonalities have maybe brought us together but it's the differences that keep us together.”