Over the past two months Audiotube has worked hard to build out its editorial section. Our editorial team have been busy booking interviews with some of the industry’s most celebrated independent artists.
In the past two months alone we’ve interviewed Hadouken!, Ginuwine, teenagersintokyo and InMe to name but a few. So be sure not to miss out on all our great exclusives. Keep checking our news section for all the latest updates.
In the meantime, take a look at our eight most recent interviews, if you haven’t already!
Razorlight have suggested that Noel Gallagher should help produce their fourth studio album.
Johnny Borrell’s band, who are currently working on the follow-up to 2008’s ‘Slipway Fires’, have said that they are huge fans of the guitarist and songwriter, who recently split from Oasis.
“Maybe we should get Noel to produce the new Razorlight album. We’re looking for a producer,” bassist Carl Dalemo told The Mirror. “We need some northern cred!” he added.
Meanwhile, Razorlight’s new drummer David ‘Skully’ Sullivan-Kaplan insists that he is fitting in well with the band, revealing that they are already working on new material.
“Within a week it felt like I’d been here for years,” he said. “These guys are great, the music is great, they were very patient, encouraging and enthusiastic. It couldn’t have been a better fit, really. It’s been really fun and we’re already working on new material and playing new stuff live.”
John Mayer’s Battle Studies will be released on November 17th, 2009 on Columbia Records.
The seven-time Grammy Award winner’s fourth studio album was co-produced by Steve Jordan and debuts three years after his critically acclaimed 2006 album, Continuum. Incorporating the warmth, melodies and simplicity of 70’s and 80’s California rock/pop, Battle Studies is a confessional, relaxed and liberated album recorded in a private home in California where Mayer lived and worked over the course of six months before wrapping at the famed Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.
The album’s first single, “Who Says” challenges conventional standards of what one can accomplish or undertake - despite society’s constraints. Battle Studies also showcases universal themes on “Heartbreak Warfare,” “Assassin,” and “War of My Life,” while flexing guitar chops on “Rock Song,” and a reinterpretation of “Crossroads.” The famously collaborative guitar player also invited one of music’s brightest new talents, Taylor Swift, to appear on “Half of My Heart.”
“I approach music like a director doing a period piece,” says Mayer. “Where Continuum was R&B and Soul, Battle Studies was written with the timelessness of Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young in mind. The melodies and message are concise and from-the-gut with the efficiency of simplicity.”
A John Mayer North American tour is currently being planned and will follow the release of Battle Studies in early 2010, details to be announced soon. In the meantime, two rare performances by John Mayer Trio (John Mayer, Steve Jordan, Pino Palladino) have been announced for December – December 29th in San Diego at the Copley Symphony Hall and a New Year’s Eve show on December 31st in Las Vegas at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Music-news.com September 30th 2009
A charity has been sued by Michael Jackson’s estate, which says it wrongly implied the singer supported its work.
Lawyers say the Heal The World Foundation used websites and trademarks suggesting the late pop star endorsed donations to the organisation.
The legal action, filed in the US Federal Court, says Jackson’s own Heal The World charity is no longer active.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Jackson’s estate are entrusted with protecting his image and name.
Merchandise
They are suing the charity for unfair competition, trademark infringement and other violations and are also asking a judge to prevent the use of Jackson’s name.
Jackson’s estate is also seeking to block the use of words and phrases associated with the late pop star, including ‘King of Pop’ and ‘Thriller’.
Legal papers also said the foundation and a related body, United Fleet, have registered a number of Jackson-related trademarks, applied for a further 41 and sold merchandise using them.
Jackson’s estate, managed by lawyer John Branca and music executive John McClain, have already struck deals to market official merchandise including a coffee table book and calendars.
The Heal The World Foundation, formed last year, which is billed as a “universal charity organization designed to improve the conditions of all mankind”, could not be reached for comment.
BBC News September 30th 2009
Dizzee Rascal has said he was partial responsible for his near fatal stabbing six years ago.
The east London rapper was left hospitalised with six stab wounds after a group of four men began hounding him in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, in 2003.
“It was all in slow motion. It was partly my fault. I got off my bike doing the bravery thing when I should have just sped off, but I don’t like to walk away.” Dizzee Rascal told The Daily Star. “I don’t like to be picked on. Growing up where I did you learn to fight.”
Dizzee Rascal added that he has only just begun to move on from the incident.
“Getting stabbed, it’s not glamorous,” he declared. “It was a bad time. I had internal bleeding in my chest so I was coughing up blood all the time, I was on a drip that was getting on my nerves.”
“I didn’t want to make a meal of getting stabbed. And 50 Cent had already done it. I didn’t want to compete with getting shot nine times.”
It’s been a rather stressful two weeks for InMe - also known as Dave McPherson, 26, (lead vocalist and guitarist), Greg McPherson, 25, (bassist), Ben Konstantinovic, 22, (guitarist) and Simon Taylor, 25, (drums) – one that has involved a car crash, a line-up change, an album launch and a selection of live dates but judging from Dave McPherson’s chirpy nature you wouldn’t have guessed.
Despite being extremely busy touring the UK and promoting the band’s fourth album ‘Herald Moth’, Dave McPherson recently took time out to talk to Audiotube about the new album, the inspiration behind it and their plans for the future…
1. So where did the name InMe come from? What was the inspiration behind it?
Well we used to be called Drowned when we were kids but there was a band called Drowned when we got signed so we had to come up with something. I had a few suggestions but no-one really liked them and Joe Morgan, the old bass player, came up with the name InMe, basically the concept being that all the music and passion comes from directly within us.
What came about was a really cool logo; I really liked the logo so we stuck with the name. For me the name doesn’t really mean that much, it just developed into what the band is. There are lots of bands out there with silly names that don’t mean much but I think eventually the name has meaning through what the band is all about.
2. You formed in 1996 when you were just 13, was music always a huge passion of yours?
Yeah, from a very young age I went through my dad’s record collection. He would always play piano every morning and I think music definitely runs in my dad’s side of the family, his mum used to be an opera singer. When I was eight my mum asked me what I wanted to be when I’m older and I said I wanted to be a rock star and my mum laughed. But as it turns out, well; I’m not exactly a rock star but not far from it. From a very young age I knew that I wanted to do music.
3. Your line-up has changed several times over the past 13 years, how did you feel when Joe Morgan left after ten years in the band?
I’d say there were setbacks but we had ten great years and we achieved a lot. I think creatively we’d hit a standstill between each other. I think it had to be done in order for InMe to carry on. We immediately brought Greg in and he’s my brother as well so there are a lot of similarities between the two of us. I think I just wanted to take the music in a different direction. It was a sad moment but it wasn’t angry or anything, he wanted to go to university and me and Simon just wanted to continue, there wasn’t a big fight or anything. But it was necessary.
4. So you released your fourth album ‘Herald Moth’ earlier this month, what can you tell me about the album? Is it darker than your previous work?
Well I think with Daydream Anonymous - that was the first album that Greg was involved in - we kind of established a new sound, a bit more progressive I think, more complex, more technical. We were open to try lots of different things and with the fourth album I think we just wanted to multiply that by ten, be a lot more technical, a lot darker, that’s why it’s called Herald Moth.
The Herald Moth is the moth in the UK that can survive for the longest and the theme throughout the album is surviving against challenge and adversity and it’s also the name of mine and my brother’s old progressive, death metal band and musically we were kind of heading a little more in that direction. And finally our second album was called White Butterfly, which was our lightest moment, very easy listening and this album [Herald Moth] is a lot darker, a lot meaner and spikier and I think people consider the moth to be the ugly cousin of the butterfly and it kind of put a concept through the album which was nice.
5. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Just life in general really. Musically I’m into quite dark stuff generally, metal bands and classical music as well, so musically it had that theme anyway. But lyrically I became… I let life bog me down for a good couple of years and I lost my idol, my granddad, and that kind of really hit me hard and I turned into a bit of a weak man and I think subconsciously I wanted to make an album that would make me feel stronger to deal with these issues and it has and I feel like I’m the most positive, upbeat I’ve ever been.
6. How’s the reaction been so far?
Overwhelming to be honest. It’s nice because we finished this album in mid February and we had to sit on it for ages, we really wanted to hear what other people think of it, your art and it’s lovely to hear people discussing it and the reviews in the magazines, obviously we get some bad ones but that’s funny anyway. It’s nice to see the audience singing back the lyrics because sometimes bands get stuck in a trap where after one or two albums they haven’t changed. Is nice to see the fan base accept that change and where we’re going rather than staying in one place.
7. So your drummer and guitarist were recently involved in a car crash, are they ok? I bet Ben is gutted to be missing the tour?
Ben, we’re waiting to see what the injuries are to his wrist. There’s ligament damage, the tissue’s all damaged and I think it’s fractured; it certainly looked pretty bad when we saw it. Simon just had some chest injuries from the air bag and the seatbelt. They were going down a road at about 30/35mph and then they were just going past a junction when this other car just pulled in front of them without warning and that car totalled but the main thing is that they were damaged too badly and they get to live another day.
Simon was ok to do the tour and at the end of the day the show’s got to go on. It was gutting for us because we really wanted Ben out there with us. For the past two weeks it has been something else but we have been a three piece for 12 years so it’s quite easy to slip back into that. We had a couple of songs that were integral to having Ben play on them but then on the plus side you can throw in a few tunes that weren’t there.
8. So how is the tour going?
Yeah every show is going amazing. We’re just giving it our all every night and running around like lunatics and the feedback’s been great and it’s nice to see the fan base is still there and still coming down to the shows, even on a Monday. People are coming out on a Monday and rocking out, it’s awesome. I’ve been telling people after the shows to make sure that we keep it rolling, to come and meet us and hit the dancefloor. We’re all best mates so you couldn’t really ask for more.
9. So your sound has been described as everything from post grunge to emo to alternative rock, how would you describe it?
That’s a tough one. I’d say rock metal really, that’s the thing, I don’t really like genres, I don’t like to limit myself to anything so if we want to do a dub step song or anything, or something completely electronic or even something classical, it will essentially have us singing on it, it will be a song but I think it’s important not to limit yourself. That’s when you get trapped in it, there are bands that get trapped in certain genres and if they were to release something a bit different, people might not accept it. Even in one album we can do completely different genres. But if I had to choose I’d say melodic rock.
10. Do you think your sound has changed over the past 13 years?
Yeah we sound like a completely different band. Vocally I’m a lot more confident with my voice these days and lyrically I think I got thrown into the limelight pretty young, at 19, and didn’t really have enough experience, life experience as well as vocal experience. I don’t personally listen to my first album and I barely listen to White Butterfly.
11. You’re signed to an indie label; do you think this allows you more opportunities than if you were on a major?
I think we’re valued more, we’re less disposable. It’s less financially orientated, creatively we have 100% freedom to create whichever music we make so I think that hopefully the listener will hear that and see that there’s not always an ulterior motive to put music out by numbers that you don’t actually believe in. Also, financially, the bigger labels just throw money away, bands get driven everywhere, fancy hotels and things like that, that’s not really what it’s about. It’s about investing more where it should be invested. It’s a lot more creative like this because you have to think about every avenue a bit more and not just throw money at something and expect it to happen.
12. What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We’re looking for a support slot in Europe because in October we’re going to release our album in practically every corner of Europe so I think we’d like to get into that and maybe travel as well. I think after this tour I’ll probably do some solo shows as well. I think it would be nice to rest a bit and then come back with a new single.
13. Do you have plans to perform at any festivals next summer?
That’s the plan. I think we’ve got a bit more of an integrated campaign this time, too see things through. It would be nice to do Download, Reading or Leeds, or any festivals. We did Scarborough beach festival a couple of years ago and it was awesome. My attitude is put us anywhere and we’ll play it but it also depends on the management.
Pop trio N-Dubz scooped two awards at the Mobos in Glasgow winning best UK act and best album.
But group JLS also picked up a pair of awards for best song and best newcomer.
Keri Hilson was awarded best R&B/soul act while best hip hop act was won by rapper Chipmunk who had four nominations on the night.
The ceremony paid tribute to Michael Jackson, with La Toya introducing her brother Jermaine who performed on stage in memory of their sibling.
Jermaine said: “My brother was everything to me. He was a wonderful artist and a wonderful human being.”
“I’m here to do what I can, it is part of our responsibility as a family to continue his legacy and keep it alive.”
Best international act and best video were won by Beyonce and Sean Paul was named best reggae artist.
Yolanda Brown won best jazz artist; best gospel act was Victizzle; best African went to Nneka while best DJ was won by Trevor Nelson.
But there was no success for Dizzee Rascal or Tinchy Strider, despite each being nominated for three awards.
Accepting the award for best song for Beat Again, JLS’s Marvin Humes said: “The band’s success would have been inconceivable just a year ago. “
“I just want to say thank you to all our supporters who are here tonight.”
“I never thought we would be here. I never thought we’d get nominated, and I never thought we would win two awards.”
Speaking after the awards, N-Dubz’s MC, Dappy, said rapper Tinchy Stryder should not have been overlooked.
“There’s no-one like Tinchy, nobody’s doing what he’s doing, nobody’s got his swagger,” he said.
“I’m really upset. He should have won something.”
The awards were co-hosted by Radio 1’s Reggie Yates and US R&B act Keri Hilson, with the winners chosen by public vote.
BBC News September 30th 2009
U2’s world tour costs £470,000 a day to stage - even when the band has the day off.
Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton’s current ‘360 Degree’ tour – which features a huge stage called ‘The Claw’ – is so expensive to run it is yet to make a profit, even after 33 concerts.
The ‘Get on Your Boots’ rockers have played across Europe and North America since kicking off the run of concerts in Barcelona, Spain, on June 30.
The band’s manager Paul McGuinness estimates the group have spent more than £40 million so far entertaining fans.
He told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: “The engineering problems are enormous and costly. Whether we’re playing or not, the daily overhead is about £470,000.”
“That’s just to have the crew on the payroll, rent the trucks and everything else. There are about 200 trucks in total, including merchandise and catering.”
But with the group touring until late next year, they are still expected to make a substantial profit by the time the shows come to an end.
Empire Of The Sun’s Nick Littlemore has revealed that he has been writing songs with Elton John during his five-month absence from the band.
Earlier this month Empire Of The Sun mainman Luke Steele admitted that he hadn’t seen bandmate Littlemore for five months. Now Littlemore has revealed that he has been off globetrotting, working on the new album with his band Pnau.
“We’re making a studio album with Elton John co-writing on some tracks for the next Pnau album,” he told NME.COM. “We met Elton in Australia and his manager has now become our manager.”
Explaining why he hadn’t been in touch with Steele he said: “I’ve been working with Cirque du Soleil in Montreal and writing and recording the next Pnau album in London, Atlanta and New York with [Pnau bandmate] Peter Mayes.”
“I was recording in Atlanta and swimming with my phone in my pocket,” he said about not giving Steele a call all this time. “I’ve never managed to replace it.”
Littlemore added that he would be playing live soon. “We’re fully in recording mode and will be playing New York, Miami and Mexico in November,” he said.
“Mexico is a festival called Sonofilia [which takes place in Guadalajara on November 21] which will be huge. There will be new Pnau music some time next year.”
The frontman has recruited Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, REM collaborator Joey Waronker, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Mauro Refosco, and long term producer Nigel Godrich to perform his solo material live.
Yorke’s new outfit have announced they will play two Los Angeles shows at the Orpheum Theatre on October 4 and 5.
“In the past couple of weeks I’ve been getting a band together for fun to play ‘The Eraser’ stuff live and the new songs etc, to see if it could work!” the singer wrote on Radiohead’s Dead Air Space blog.
He added: “We don’t really have a name and the set will not be very long cuz… well… we haven’t got that much material yet! But come and check it out if you are in the area.”
The Radiohead frontman is yet to reveal whether his new band will be playing further dates.
As previously reported, Yorke had been considering names for his solo career from comedian Adam Buxton, with Thombola, Thomosexual, The Duke Of Yorke and T.Homme, all considered.
Over the past two months Audiotube has worked hard to build out its editorial section. Our editorial team have been busy booking interviews with some of the industry’s most celebrated independent artists.
It’s been a rather stressful two weeks for InMe - also known as Dave McPherson, 26, (lead vocalist and guitarist), Greg McPherson, 25, (bassist), Ben Konstantinovic, 22, (guitarist) and Simon Taylor, 25, (drums) – one that has involved a car crash, a line-up change, an album launch and a selection of live dates but judging from Dave McPherson’s chirpy nature you wouldn’t have guessed.
Pop trio N-Dubz scooped two awards at the Mobos in Glasgow winning best UK act and best album.
