My band, Galaxians, will be on the bill for the awesome British Wildlife Festival in Leeds this March. Spanning three days, it’s the sixth annual weekend of exciting music from all over the world (and Leeds).
Sonic intensity: that’s the Flower-Corsano Duo. Add Group Inerane – a band of Tuareg musicians from Niger – and there’s an explosive mix of improv-thrash-jazz, desert psychedelia and West African Rock all in one evening.
There’s a swathe of excellent gigs happening this autumn in Leeds, and not without good reason. Here’s what’s coming up in October.
Don’t fancy spending another Sunday hungover down the greasy spoon? How’s about a green-themed afternoon quiz in an amazing coffee shop-cum-art gallery? Here’s something a bit different: there’s jam scones, art and £60 worth of theatre tickets up for grabs – all raising funds to help tackle climate change.
Seven years in the running, I Love West Leeds Arts Festival (1-24 July) will be hosted in airstream caravans, converted garden sheds and even a swimming pool! I asked director Jane Earnshaw about some the things we can expect to find at Leeds’ quirkiest little festival.
My first Croon piece was published last week – a preview of British Wildlife 5.5, an all-day event at The Brudenell Social Club. It is, obviously, a little out of date now (it happened on 18 June), but here it is nevertheless.
I’ve started writing for a site called Croon. It’s a really good idea – it aims to fuse the different online aspects of a local music scene (message boards, band websites, ticket outlets, videos and so forth) into one location.
My first piece for the Leeds Guide, a monthly glossy magazine and website dedicated to covering what’s on around Leeds.
Recently, along with my friend Lee McCrae and my former Uni teacher Simon Warner, I was invited to work on a pretty interesting project – and, weirdly, got a co-producer credit on a US alt-country album as a result.
“Well, it’s been a while, Leeds”, Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch announces by way of introduction. The sea of bodies at the O2 Academy is not hesitant in agreeing, as sections of the audience begin to shout, confusingly at first, ‘1998! 1998!’ “I suppose that some of you might not have been born back then”, he replies, forlornly. “I’m always the oldest in the room”.
