The Stone Roses sending V Festival back to its roots?

Courtesy of jeroen020, The Stone Roses album cover

The Madchester rockers are set to show the teens of the 21^st century what they've been missing out on. Ready to headline next years festival, The Stone Roses will prove that the essence of rock is still evident at the part Staffordshire-based event. Perhaps the Jarvis Cocker inspired festival has found its old sound again?

Ian Brown, John Squire, Gary “Mani” Mounfield and Alan “Reni” Wren announced their reunion last month, following 15 years apart. They will begin their world tour in home town Manchester in June. Although official dates for their tour are yet to be confirmed, they are due to play other summer festivals T in the Park, Benicassim and Fuji Rock.

The 1989 album, The Stone Roses, revolutionised its generation and is highly regarded as one of the greatest British albums of all time. However, times really have changed since the 'Waterfall' performers were hitting their peak.

The festival began in 1996 when Pulp front man; Jarvis Cocker, announced he wanted to play two outdoor venues in two days; one in each the north and the south. The idea was pursued and soon included more acts on the bill, and the option of camping.

Courtesy of NRK P3, lead singer of Pulp, Jarvis Cocker

The first year of the festival showcased the likes of Pulp, Paul Weller and The Charlatans. This year's acts included headliner Eminem and other urban artists Rihanna, Dizzee Rascal and N-Dubz. The difference between a generation?

The Virgin sponsored festival has been widely known as a strong commercial platform for music in recent years and has cemented its place in history with notable performances from various acts such as Scissor Sisters, The Prodigy and Oasis.

The thought of an artist like Eminem headlining, what used to be a predominantly rock festival, would still be unthinkable to many rockers. Is it right to abandon your roots and side with the commercially popular for such a prestigious event?

Local Stoke-on-Trent music venue, The Sugarmill, once a stage to superstars Coldplay, Muse and Snow Patrol, is home to the growing Indie rock scene. Dan Nixon, 29, Promotions Manager at The Sugarmill, sheds some light on the announcement: “I don't think V Festival is trying to make a point by choosing The Stone Roses.

“I think they are the biggest act to have reformed in the last 10 years and it's a promoter's job to get the best possible act appropriate for their venue. If it was an R&B act or something more commercial I think it would have been the same.”

Frequent V Festival goer, Abigail Jones, enjoys the range of acts available: “I think that it's good that the festival is changing to adapt to the changing music culture. It's always good to experiment and I think that nowadays they've got the balance of musical genres just right.”

Amit Chadda, Subject Leader for Music and Media at De Stafford School and former Staffordshire resident, has accepted the festival's vibe: “I have always felt that V Festival has been marketed as a fairly commercial, 'safe', family festival - showcasing a range of acts spanning a wide range of genre/style...not to say that V is any less 'real', 'cool' or Rock 'n' Roll than Reading or Glastonbury.”

Courtesy of waldopepper, one of the UK's top music festivals

Many fans would think The Stone Roses would be better suited to Reading & Leeds, or even Glastonbury when it's back in 2013 after its year's break. Perhaps the promoter's choice will be extremely significant in V proving its worth amongst all popular music genres.

Glastonbury Festival organiser, Michael Eavis, caused an uproar in 2008 when Jay-Z was booked to headline the Somerset gig. The US rapper proved all his critics wrong when he performed an outstanding set, opening with a mock cover of Oasis' 'Wonderwall' to global appreciation. He opened the door for a range of festivals to suggest there are no boundaries to who can perform.

With no mainstream festivals competing around the West Midlands county, Staffordshire has benefited greatly since its first involvement with V in 1999.

Dan recognises the local advantages of the event: “It has contributed to the attraction of Staffordshire as it's great to have such a well respected festival in the local area.”

Abigail also sees the positives in the location: “As the smaller venue of the V festival, it is going to be more difficult to attract festival goers to the Staffordshire site rather than the Chelmsford site, however, with not a lot of other festivals on the same scale as V nearby, I think the event really speaks for itself.”

Courtesy of Chris Boland, Ian Brown

Amit remembers his 2002 visit to V Festival: “When I went to V I saw some incredible performances from - who I consider to be - some of the best/biggest bands and musicians that occupy the space of our crazy music industry.

“I didn't see any skinny jeaned, sweep overed, hipster loving bands that all sound the same...just 'real' music in a friendly festival environment. I saw Alanis Morissette, Gomez, Athlete, Badly Drawn Boy, The Chemical Brothers, Elvis Costello, Sigur Ros, Turin Brakes, Damien Rice, Manic Street Preachers...bloody amazing, huh?”

The 'Fools Gold' stars are expected to bag around £1million for the gig so why wouldn't they take the opportunity? It doesn't really seem to matter for them how they re-enter the world stage, because, as we all know, it will be out of this world regardless.

Staffordshire's greatest music festival will play host to one of the most influential alternative rock bands ever to have graced the earth. Whether headlining alongside Kanye West or Kasabian, how could anyone miss the biggest reunion of the millennium? Sorry Steps...

For tickets and information on V Festival 2012 visit the official website.

Written: 28/11/11

Rob Tamplin: Pocket Full of Stones

Black Rivers/All Things Fall Apart by withstonesinhispockets

Quick-fire Questions

Courtesy of Rob Tamplin, Rob Tamplin

Who is your idol; musical and/or otherwise?

I have several idols, and they're all grumpy old white 
men. I mimic them perfectly.

Who would you compare yourself to?

I couldn’t possibly be that cruel.

How did you find the performing arts in general?

I like Les Miserables an inordinate amount.

Where is your ideal place to live?

Urban while I’m young, rural when I’m old.

Whose life would you love to have?

Stephen Moffat's life. I want to write Doctor Who.

Whose life would you hate to have?

Salman Rushdie's life.

How do you enjoy producing covers compared to writing your own songs?

Not very much.

How would you describe your music?

Bits nicked from bands I like.

What is your biggest personal achievement; musical and/or otherwise?

So far, probably writing a novel, which I'm putting the finishing touches to at the moment.

Have you got any ambitions not relating to music?

I’d like to get my novel published. And then write another one and get that published.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

Pretty much in exactly the same place, but with white hair.

What has drawn you to writing music?

Necessity.

Rob's passion in life is creating artistic media. He writes music, he writes stories, he takes photos. His mind is always pondering on his next creative output.

What was your childhood like?

I had everything I could possibly have wanted or needed. However, I took it all way too seriously.

Courtesy of Katy Shotter, Katy Shotter

Despite never being schooled in music he has always shown a keen interest in the field. Regrets which are still changeable include not being able to read music or being able to play something 'properly'. As a child he received piano lessons from rising R&B star Katy Shotter's mother, but was never able to really apply himself to the instrument...unlike his fellow student!

The band name; With Stones In His Pockets, came from a line in the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song 'The Curse of Millhaven' which goes, “They found him next week in One Mile Creek, his head bashed in and his pockets full of stones,” which he misquoted for his band name. Previous names 'Post-Mortem' and 'Above the Rule of Law' had been beaten...

They formed about a decade ago and the other two members were still learning to play. Rob felt the weight on his shoulders and was up to the challenge as he was reasonably competent at guitar, writing songs, or at least riffs to turn into songs. He wanted to be the legendary Pete Townshend, so it suited him fine.

The Montreal based Constellation label was a huge influence on Rob with the music of A Silver Mt. Zion, in its various iterations, pinnacle to his style. Back when he was part of his three piece band he tried to make his guitar sound like post-rock outfit Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Although trying to capture their entire orchestral scope with a single guitar proved difficult, he managed to simplify it. He tried playing just the bass note on the E or A string and a melody line on the B or G string, and heaped on distortion, reverb and delay.

“And that started to sound a lot like the kind of chords they use in house and techno music – quite sparse, but always melodic. Being in a very small band, but trying to cultivate a massive sound influenced me a lot - the lack of sonic texture forced me to always try and do something interesting.”

Bands and styles influence Rob on a subconscious level so he can't tell who's influencing him at any one particular time. I suppose everyone could agree with that. He's completely unaware of where his ideas come from; he has no technique that enables to tell what he's doing. Is it necessary, or even possible, to have any control over your inspirations?

A modest Rob believes that he's not a particularly talented guitarist - so what is it that keeps him going so strong? Well, he feels he can write songs better than he can play them so that's got to be his biggest strength. His debut album Falls The Shadow was recorded in as little as three days with little time for retakes, so perhaps Rob is no perfectionist but his love for the music takes over.

Are You Awak'd? by withstonesinhispockets

“Someone once told me - and I don’t know if this is true - that John Frusciante believes that ghosts feed him his ideas from the ether. You might scoff - like I did when I first heard that - but I can tell you it’s fucking true! Not necessarily ghosts from the ether...but when I’m really on it, where are those ideas coming from? Certainly not from my conscious mind. They feel like they’re coming from somewhere else, which is why I don’t feel like I have any real ownership of some of my songs. 'Speaking in Tongues' from Farewell Happy Fields, or 'Tree Song' from Falls The Shadow. Where have they come from? Not me, I couldn't write songs like that.”

Have there been difficulties to deal with over the years? 
With Stones in His Pockets is built on difficulty.

Courtesy of Rob Tamplin, Falls The Shadow by With Stones in his Pockets

Rob was adamant that his trio of musicians could do it themselves with him creating all the texture and music needed with his guitar and pedals. Maybe that could be their 'thing' he wondered – how do they make all that sound with just the three of them? If Muse could do it, why couldn't they? A pretty rough gig coincided with the band going through some troubles, causing the split. With Stones in his Pockets stopped dead for a few years...

Going solo proved almost impossible – he hates playing live solo, really HATES it.

“I’m fine in a band, but when it’s just me and an acoustic guitar, the tension gets to me something chronic. It’s not stage fright. It’s stage hate.

“The difficulties and flaws continue to this day with the fact that the latest album was recorded in just three days by a band who barely knew the songs. But I like the difficulties and the flaws...or at least thrive on them.”

The London music scene has always been key to Rob's entire creative output. Although his sound is not too similar to beloved London acts such as The Clash or the Sex Pistols, he feels that his music is heavily influenced by the Capital.

“There's a sense of being at the mercy of things much bigger than you – indefatigable, unknowable, uncontrollable things. That's the feeling I get from London, and that's inherent in my music, and everything else I do.”

The unfortunate riots of the 2011 summer occurred just before the recording of Falls The Shadow, and despite the songs being years old they all tied into an underlying theme that chimed very much with the time.

Rob performing at Amit Chadda's album launch

Rob feels that when the climax of the album kicks in – the heavy bit of 'Burning Billboard Blues' – it's supposed to convey the kind of “nameless terror you feel when you know the things you're seeing are going to change the futures of everyone around you – and not necessarily for the better.”
 

“The album is borne of that kind of anxiety, of seeing violence and destruction, and you can’t stop it because you're eating your dinner in front of the telly. All the songs are full of paranoia; they're all snapshots of something huge and broken down.”

He believes his biggest musical achievement is the song 'I Believe You Like I Believed Nixon, and Look Who Was Right There'. He believes he'll never write anything as good or as effective at summing up the whole With Stones thing ever again. Despite his love for the half hour track it didn't make it onto the album – it just didn't fit apparently.

Courtesy of Cafe du Monde, Daman Albarn

He thinks of the 31-year-old Damon Albarn when Blur went on hiatus. Rob's 28. He's convinced it's too late to have any high ambitions for his music. With the release of Falls The Shadow, he's realised his one musical ambition of the last ten years. He will look to whether he wants to pursue his musical ambitions as he is unsure where he can realistically take them...perhaps the Pyramid Stage is no longer attainable.

Tell me an interesting fact about yourself.

Back in 2007 I lived for two weeks in a hospital in Croydon as part of a medical research trial. I met a lot of nice people and got the best sleep of my life. It’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever done.

His recently finished novel; Belong, is a historical/detective/horror story set shortly after the Second World War. Focusing on the theme of intolerance, it looks at the start of immigration in the UK.

“Even though there are monsters, most of the horror comes from the characters' - and humanity's - territorial nature and usury of each other.”

How would you define music?

If you're making a noise, and you intend for it to be music, then its music. It's all in the intention, not in the result.

You can access Rob Tamplin's work by clicking the links below:

Listen - Sound Cloud

Like -  Facebook 
Follow - Twitter

Falls The Shadow is out now on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon MP3!

Fusion!

Hi everyone! Below is a magazine front cover titled 'Fusion'. I produced this fictional magazine as part of an Editing & Production module. It's an Indie music magazine, similar to the likes of NME and Q, but if I were to produce it I would provide a more 'folky', 'underground' twist.

Please let me know what you guys think of it! Thanks :)

Mumford treasure their greatest week

The Cave by Glassnotemusic

Courtesy of Kmeron, Marcus Mumford

Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, Ted Dwane. These are the four names that everyone will hear for years to come. After releasing the strongest debut album I have ever grown to love, I can only imagine that the decade will be dominated by Mumford & Sons.

I'm pretty sure that they will be quite pleased with their past week. For a band that formed in late 2007 I doubt that anyone could have predicted that they would be flying so high right now.

As if nominations at the BRITS for British Breakthrough Act and British Group were not enough, they also received Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Song. Oh, and within two days they performed live at the Grammys with Bob Dylan and picked up the British Album of the Year award. Now that's what I call a good week.

So, how can four country-dressed boys from West London bring folk back to the mainstream audience?

The exploding banjo rants along with the heart-wrenching mandolin rhythms have created the perfect balance to attract a much wider range of listeners than most. The lads from London have revolutionised the city's music scene showing the world that although N-Dubz and Chipmunk are amazing...they have some other talents too.

Courtesy of Kmeron, Ben Lovett

They really have taken the world by storm over the last two years with their overpowering folk-rave. Their debut album Sigh No More has been incredibly successful worldwide; achieving number one spots in Australia and Ireland. Following their performances and involvement at the award ceremonies, their album has shot to number two in the UK and, more impressively, the US.

The album held true British anthems such as 'Little Lion Man' and 'The Cave' (in player above), which have achieved great success, with the former up for a Grammy award. However, it was the beautiful ability for the album to flow so naturally with such a solid structure throughout and not a weak point anywhere to be seen.

With their powerful and memorable performance at last year's Glastonbury Festival they stamped their place in British music forever. Their nominations at the BRITS were expected by many, and few could disagree with their presence.

They have extended their tour to include several dates in Scotland and Ireland in order to showcase new material for a smaller venue of fans. An intimate headline slot at London's Dingwalls for the Shockwave NME Awards this week will be a great opportunity for fan feedback. They will need to go beyond what is expected of them if they are to produce another world-beating album like Sigh No More.

Laura Marling Devil's Spoke Normal by user2199337

Courtesy of The Queen's Hall, Laura Marling

Folk has been the talk of the musical town recently with singer/songwriter Laura Marling picking up an unexpected British Female Solo Artist award at this week's BRITS. Her follow-up album I Speak Because I Can has touched hearts stretching outside the UK and although she has not been as commercially successful as Mumford, it shows that the genuine musical talents are being noticed in this country. Apologies Cheryl.

Mumford have officially stamped their mark on making folk an incredibly dominating genre in popular music. And I can't see it changing while they're still around. Bring on album number two.

Below are all the nominations for the BRITS 2011 and the 2011 Grammy Awards involving Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling. In bold italics are the winners of each category.

The 2011 Brit Awards

British Female Solo Artist

Cheryl Cole

Ellie Goulding

Laura Marling

Paloma Faith
Rumer

British Breakthrough Act

Ellie Goulding

Mumford & Sons

Rumer Warner

Tinie Tempah

The XX

British Group

Biffy Clyro

Gorillaz

Mumford & Sons 
Take That

The XX

British Album of the Year

Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks

Take That – Progress

Tinie Tempah – Disc-Overy

The XX – XX

The 2011 Grammy Awards

Best New Artist

Justin Bieber

Drake

Florence & The Machine

Mumford & Sons

Esperanza Spalding

Best Rock Song

Neil Young – 'Angry World'

Mumford & Sons – 'Little Lion Man'

Kings of Leon – 'Radioactive'

Muse – 'Resistance'

The Black Keys – 'Tighten Up'

Rufus releases the stars for the perfect Kenwood picnic

Rufus Wainwright - Natasha by bearofaman

Rufus Wainwright @ Kenwood House, London, July 3 2010

Courtesy of Ella Mullins, Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright knows just how to put on an inspiring show for an outdoor summer's evening.

The crowd were in awe of his presence from the moment he stepped onto the Kenwood House stage.

Last night, Rufus managed to light the stage throughout the night with the help of his breathtaking pianist. Playing songs off of his recent masterpiece; All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu, and classic hits such as 'Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk' and 'Going to a Town', he created the extravagant sounds of an orchestra using just himself and a piano.

Beautiful support from Guillemots singer gone solo; Fyfe Dangerfield, set the scene for a succulent picnic performance.

The crowd grew accustomed to Rufus' intriguing stories as he created a warming atmosphere for the evening.

At times he did became too comfortable with the performance and was forced to restart songs. Nevertheless, Rufus had the affectionate personality to maintain the audience's concentration and still look and sound amazing (even if it was being recorded for radio!)

The spectacle remained superb despite the restricted views from the distant grass.

The gig was a return to Kenwood for Rufus after two years, and he still continues to produce that emotional spark with the audience.

The night was a great success and he received a fully deserved encore from his thousands of fans. The fitting hit Shrek cover of 'Hallelujah' left everyone hungry for more. Until next time, Mr Wainwright.

To find out about future Rufus Wainwright performances visit Ticketmaster or his official website.