New Music Interviews
10 Questions for Drummer Billy CobhamMonday, 14 April 2014
Drummer Billy Cobham has been an innovative and influential figure since the 1960s across jazz, Latin, funk and the areas of fusion between. He has played with Horace Silver, Miles Davis, Randy and Michael Brecker, and in 1971 was a founder-member of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, widely considered to have been the greatest jazz-rock fusion group of all. Read more...
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theartsdesk Q&A: Eels' frontman Mr ESaturday, 12 April 2014
Mark Oliver Everett, AKA Mr E, is the voice and brain behind US alt-rock heroes, Eels - a band that has been described as "frank, thunderous, and unusually uplifting”. That's some achievement given their overriding themes of loss and angst. But this band's unique approach to life's set-backs gives them a very wide appeal - their fans range from arthouse hipsters to the audience of Shrek (whose soundtrack interprets “My Beloved Monster” rather literally). Read more... |
10 Questions for Zara McFarlaneMonday, 24 March 2014
Zara McFarlane’s rise to jazz eminence has taken the scenic route, especially in these days of the super-educated jazz prodigy. From a Jamaican home where reggae was always in the air, via a love of musical theatre, and a degree in pop performance, McFarlane studied jazz and improvisation at the Guildhall. With the support of Gilles Peterson, who signed her to his Brownswood label, she released a debut album, Until Tomorrow, in 2011. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Singer Belinda CarlisleSaturday, 22 March 2014
Belinda Carlisle (b. 1958) grew up in Los Angeles, one of seven siblings. In her late teens she was lured into California’s nascent punk scene, becoming briefly involved with one of its premier bands, The Germs. She went on to form The Go-Go’s with singer-songwriter Jane Wiedlin (and eventually a long-term line-up consisting of Charlotte Caffey, Gina Schock and Kathy Valentine, the last leaving last year in acrimonious circumstances). Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Saxophonist Julian SiegelSunday, 16 March 2014
Julian Siegel’s urbane, generically layered voice has, as both reeds player and composer, forged a unique and revered position in the jazz world. He leads a quartet of pioneering drive and technique, featuring pianist Liam Noble, bass player Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo. Their 2011 album Urban Theme Park was widely praised for its improvising ambition, diverse sound worlds and smouldering virtuosity. Read more... |
10 Questions for Fringe Magnetic's Rory SimmonsWednesday, 12 March 2014
Trumpeter and composer Rory Simmons is one of the most innovative and diversely talented musicians on the contemporary jazz scene, genre-hopping with startling agility across its many cutting edges. Fringe Magnetic, Simmons’ acclaimed 11-piece band, has been blending the compositional rigour of classical music with the freer playing style of jazz for nearly five years now. Read more... |
10 Questions for Drive-By Truckers' Mike CooleyMonday, 24 February 2014
For almost 20 years, Drive-By Truckers have been one of Americana's most consistent and enduring voices – and, since 2001’s breakthrough double album Southern Rock Opera, probably the quintessential southern roots rockers too. Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1996 by Alabama natives Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, the five piece specialises in catchy melodies with more than a hint of the southern gothic, vivid characters and wickedly witty lyrics. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: DJ Kerri ChandlerSaturday, 15 February 2014
Kerri Chandler is quite simply one of the most revered figures in dance music, as much now as when he emerged from the New Jersey club scene onto the international stage nigh on a quarter of a century ago. True to the spirit of the disco, he has only ever released three albums in that time, but has made over 100 12” singles, and maybe twice that number of remixes of other people's work, as well as untold performances as one of the most consistently popular DJs in house music. Read more... |
Simple Minds and Ultravox, NIA, BirminghamSaturday, 30 November 2013
Age can do interesting things to musicians who have once been regular fixtures in the media and who reappear in the public consciousness some years later. Time, it has to be said, has been kind to the two remaining members of Simple Minds’ original line-up. The band’s guitarist, Charlie Burchill, may look like Stan Smith, the star of the cartoon American Dad but he looks good with it. Jim Kerr also seems to be ageing gracefully. Read more... |
Tenacious D, second best spoof rock bandTuesday, 26 November 2013
“There is a misconception that we have called ourselves the greatest band on earth.” Jack Black, the self-styled “lead singer” of Tenacious D, is all for dispelling a persistent rumour about a band which has, if he’s honest, done practically nothing to make him a famous name in Hollywood. “People have marketed us that way,” he explains. “You won’t find it anywhere in the albums. You won’t find it in any of our songs.” Read more... |
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