With the success of last years festival in the Cultural Quarter, all eyes are now on 2012 and the dream team leading it to bigger and better things, and this could include you! Oxjam are on the lookout for anyone who is passionate about their local music scene to organise a gig for Oxjam. Oxjam is a great opportunity for anyone to bring a national music festival to a local level and to raise money for Oxfam through music. 

Oxjam is Oxfam’s amazing month-long music festival, running throughout October, with hundreds of events happening across the UK. It’s all run by volunteers who know and love their local music scene, all raising money to help fund Oxfam’s global work. Anyone can be part of Oxjam and your event can be whatever you want it to be, whatever your music tastes and whatever you’re into.

Oxjam will give you all the help and support that you need to put on a successful event. For starters you’ll be sent the Oxjam toolkit, which is full to the brim with ideas and advice from music industry experts. Plus, if you pledge to raise £500 or more you’ll receive an invite to their exclusive training events run in partnership with the O2 Academies. 

Further details can be found on the Oxjam website  www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam.

This year, to celebrate five years in the making, White Noise Festival returns with a plethora of musical goodness in White Noise Jubilee. Curated and headlined by Diet Pills, Speaking In Italics, Maybeshewill, Codex Leicester and By The Rivers (acoustic), the event takes place from Thursday 31st May all the way to Monday 4th June and its spiritual home of Firebug Bar on Millstone Lane.

Weekend wristbands will be available priced £10, with day tickets also on sale for £5 very shortly, and with prices kept to an absolute minimum, organisers ensure that the festival is once again accessible to everyone. To top it all of, every single penny raised from the event will go to local charities.

For more information please visit the official White Noise website at www.whitenoisefestival.com, and see below for the line up announced so far.

THURSDAY 31ST MAY

Diet Pills
Mangle
Mess Yourself
Meatpacker

FRIDAY 1ST JUNE

Speaking In Italics
Surrender the Coast
Atlantis
Muletta Smiles
+ More TBC

SATURDAY 2ND JUNE

Maybeshewill
These Furrows
Herra Hidro
&U&I
Sisterland
You Slut
Haus
Laser Beast

SUNDAY 3RD JUNE

Codex Leicester
Dark Dark Horse
We Three and the Death Rattle
Wayter
Club of Rome
Parliament of Bats
Logfox
Fisters

MONDAY 4TH JUNE

By The Rivers (Acoustic)
Little Night Terrors
Special Guests TBC
Joel Owen and the Antoine Band
Preacher and the Bear
Muted Fnord
The Demons of Ruby Mae
The Ramshackle Parade

On 25th April Bombay Bicycle Club ride into town, hitting the De Montfort Hall stage on the back of the success of their third album ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’. Having recently won the Artrocker Magazine Band of the Year Award and being nominated for NME Best British Band, tickets are selling fast.

I caught up with Suren de Saram from the band to talk about their upcoming visit to Leicester and the release of their new EP, ‘Leave It’.

How are things going with the new EP?
Really well! We put together a few re-workings of songs off the new album, using it to have a bit of fun with the songs and play around with them. We came up with a reggae version of our song ‘Lights Out Word Gone’, we were just messing around and somehow got to this reggae groove which we thought was kind of cool. We were a bit concerned for this one though because the idea of four middle class white guys making a reggae song is obviously pretty ridiculous and maybe it’s not the most authentic thing, but there’s an element of charm to it. We also did an Afrobeat version of ‘Shuffle’ and a nice stripped back version of Leave It.

Shuffle is a catchy song, what’s it about?
The piano loop that you hear throughout a lot of the song is sampled off an old jazz record. It’s the perfect example of Jack getting more into electronic music and sampling during the making of the album. When he first sent us the demo of Shuffle we all found it funny as it sounded so different to anything we’d done before, but we all grew to love it eventually. The song doesn’t really have any meaning it just comes from Jack mumbling nonsense on the demo.

Do you agree that the new album is more of an abstract piece of lyrics writing?
Yes. It has to do with getting older and becoming more self conscious. The older songs are very much heart on sleeve whereas for the new album the vocals are more like just another instrument and texture, with more effects on them.

How was the tour in Asia?
It went very well. We went to Taipei, Jakarta and Singapore with Metronomy and The Naked and Famous, and then did our own show in Tokyo to finish it off. The crowds in Asia were very polite. We had a few fans give us gifts like sweets, chocolates and flowers. It was Jack’s birthday on the day of the Singapore gig so we stopped halfway through the set and we led the crowd through an amazing version of happy birthday, complete with sparklers and cake. Quite the celebration.

Did you enjoy the American Tour?
Yes. We were supporting Two Door Cinema Club. It was a good tour for us. Also it was Jamie’s birthday while we were in New York and we went to this place called The Box, which is a kind of cabaret fetish club. We saw some things there that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. There was also this bar in Columbus that was full of hot college chicks and every drink was $1. We enjoyed that too.

How does it feel returning to the States with your own headline tour?
We’re very excited. We’ll be going to the west coast for the first time which is cool. This is the first album that we are actually touring a lot and this US tour is going to be the longest tour we have ever done, it will definitely be a test for all of us! Hopefully we won’t end up killing each other.

What can Leicester expect when you come to play here?
Lots of energy and rocking out with a couple of quieter, more reflective moments. Very little chat.

Finally what’s the most outrageous lie that you’ve ever told in an interview?
A lot of interviewers seem to be under the impression that we are banned from some venues. I don’t know if this comes from a lie one of us told or if it was something that got misunderstood. We didn’t get banned from any venues but we got banned from one or two hotels for being naked in the reception, too loud and ripping stuff off the walls. That was a while ago though… Our rock and roll days seem to be over already.

In light of recent events regarding the cancellation of some rather large festivals around the country and with Glasto taking it’s holibob, it seemed as if the UK would suffer a fairly bleak year for summer music events. Nothing however could be further from the truth in Leicester, with Summer Sundae, White Noise and Strawberry Fields going from strength to strength, and a myriad of new festivals springing up every weekend it seems.

Latest on the list and in the calendar at Mono Towers is A Lost Weekend Festival,  coming to Rutland over the weekend of 20th – 22nd July. With the beautiful banks of Rutland Water, the festival will take place at a carefully chosen site at Sykes Lane outside of Empingham, just off the main A606.

ALW will attract up to 4,000 festival goers to the event this summer and with the absence of this year’s aforementioned Glastonbury and Sonisphere festivals, A Lost Weekend will certainly provide a gap in the summer music event calendar.

Acts confirmed so far include English pop/rock band The Hoosiers whose debut album ‘A Trick To Life’ made it to No1 in 2007. Dodgy, who rose to fame in the 90’s with hits such as ‘Staying out for the Summer’ and ‘Good Enough’. Other acts and bands confirmed are Wilko Johnson, Hugh Cornwall, Toploader, The Blockheads, The Selecter  and The Boobytraps, who will headline The Osprey stage.

Festival Director Richard Garton comments: “The line-up has evolved into what we believe is an amazing live event for an amazing location, we will be showcasing artists across all music genres, & rest assured there will be something for everyone.”

A fully licensed outside bar service will be provided by local brewers The Grainstore Brewery. Festival organisers are looking for volunteer assistance to help out with duties such as artist reception and administration, stewards, car parking attendants and festival ambassadors. Anyone interested in getting involved should contact the organisers through their website. In return for volunteering some of their time, free weekend passes are on offer!

Weekend tickets to include camping are priced at just £75. Day tickets are also available. For full festival details including line-up, onsite facilities and ticketing, see www.alostweekend.co.uk or search out the event at Facebook.

In the meantime, get yourself into the spirit of the festival and join the organisers at The Grainstore Brewery on Sat 28th April, for a drink and a taste of the event. The launch night is free!

The festival is dead, long live the festival!

The Monograph is excited to announce that Monograph.TV the online video platform for Leicester music television is now live! Working in partnership with Enter the Treehouse, Monograph.TV delivers rich media direct to you our readers! Full of interviews, documentaries, exclusive sessions and music videos all from Leicester and with an iPlayer style interface, Monograph.TV broadcasts unparalleled coverage of Leicester’s heaving music scene.

Already online are interviews with Young Knives, Newton Faulkner and Blood Red Shoes. Alongside this Monograph.TV showcases local starlets in the shape of Charlie and the Martyrs, Joel Owen and the Antoine Band and SuperEvolver. Also available is a back catalogue of exclusive video sessions for your viewing pleasure from Dutch Uncles, Mama Rosin, The Heartbreaks and Gallery47 to name a few.

In addition to hosting its own programmes, Monograph.TV is a platform to broadcast music videos from bands and artists based in the city. For more information about Monograph.TV and to start watching today, log on to www.themonograph.co.uk/tv

Electronic duo Basement Jaxx will play an exclusive DJ set on May 10 at the O2 Academy to support the University of Leicester’s Cardiovascular Research Centre appeal, with all funds raised from ticket sales going directly towards the new unit at Glenfield Hospital.

Members Simon Ratcliffe and Leicester-born Felix Buxton are currently working on the follow up to their 2009 albums ‘Scars’ and ‘Zephyr’, with fans being able to catch a preview of new Basement Jaxx material during their headline set.

The Grammy and Brit award winning double-act will be supported by Leicester dubstep maverick Boy Kid Cloud and local heroes I Am In Love.

All of the artists will be performing for free to help support the appeal, which aims to raise the final £1 million needed to complete and equip a new £12.6m Cardiovascular Research Centre at the Glenfield Hospital, the regional centre for secondary and specialist cardiac care.

The event has been organised by the University’s Development and Alumni Relations Office in collaboration with the Students’ Union and the O2 Academy.

The idea was suggested by Felix’s uncle Hugh Stevenson, a member of the University’s Development Board. Ave Vinick, Deputy Director of Development at the University, comments: “We are very grateful to Basement Jaxx for offering to come to Leicester and perform on behalf of the Cardiovascular Research Centre Appeal.

“Their support and that of their fans will speed the pace of research into heart disease and help to improve the health and life expectation of patients in communities in Leicestershire, across the UK and worldwide.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.o2academyleicester.co.uk

Photo: Andrew Whitton

The festival at the heart of Leicester’s eclectic music scene has announced the latest additions to the 2012 line-up. Joining the likes of Public Image Limited and Asian Dub Foundation on the bill are Lianne la Havas, Patrick Wolf, Gold Panda, The Black Seeds, Ghostpoet, Lewis Floyd Henry, Stay+, Team Me and Dog Is Dead.

Since the release of her debut EP Lost and Found last year, Lianne la Havas’s success has spiralled and Summer Sundae is just one in a string of festival dates for her. Patrick Wolf will be bringing his eccentric and inventive take on pop to De Montfort Hall and its surrounding Gardens, and attendees will be wowed by The Black Seeds’ extravagant 8-piece live shows.

Following his sell-out performance at Leicester’s Sumo in February, Ghostpoet will be returning to the city with his languid style of rap, whilst graffiti artist-turned-one-man-band Lewis Floyd Henry is a force to be reckoned with, and six-strong Norwegian indie outfit Team Me have had nothing but positive reviews of their 2011 debut album, To The Treetops! Dog Is Dead may not yet have released their debut but last year saw them gain extensive radio play and establish themselves as one of summer’s essential sounds.

The Drowned in Sound stage will play host to Gold Panda and Stay+, both of whom are at the forefront of electronic music and are unafraid to challenge the listener by exploring multiple genres in their work. 2012 looks set to be one of Summer Sundae’s most diverse and exciting line-ups so far.

And finally, Summer Sundae Weekender has also released their most exiting announcement - discounted tickets for customers in the Leicestershire area! Available when buying tickets via the Summer Sundae Weekender website, this special discount is applicable to customers with a Leicestershire postcode when applying a special discount code: SSW12LEIC

With this discount the £105 Adult Weekend ticket becomes £95, the £70 Young Persons (14-17) Weekend ticket becomes £60 and the £35 Child (5-13)Weekend ticket becomes £30. There’s no need to leave the little’uns at home though, as under 5′s are still allowed in free of charge.

These special discounted tickets are also available in the following local outlets:

De Montfort Hall Box Office
The Lansdowne Leicester
The Orange Tree Leicester
The O Bar Leicester
The Orange Tree Loughborough
Rockaboom Leicester
Sheehans Leicester
Intasound Leicester
O2 Academy Leicester

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.summersundae.com.

The 2012 Summer Sundae Weekender Line-Up so far:

ADAM ANT & THE GOOD THE BAD & THE LOVELY POSSE, AKALA, ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION, BILLY BRAGG CELEBRATES WOODY GUTHRIE’S 100th BIRTHDAY, THE BLACK SEEDS, CASHIER NO 9, CLEAN BANDIT, DAN MANGAN, DATAROCK, DEATH IN VEGAS, DJANGO DJANGO, DOG IS DEAD, FRANCOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS, FRIENDS, GHOSTPOET, GOLD PANDA, GOODNIGHT LENIN, GRACE PETRIE, HEY SHOLAY, HIP HOP SHAKESPEARE, JACK BEATS, JONATHAN RICHMAN, JUAN ZELADA, KATY B, THE KING BLUES, LAZY LESTER AND FRIENDS, LEWIS FLOYD HENRY, LIANNE LA HAVAS, LUCY ROSE, THE MAGIC TOMBOLINOS, MAYBESHEWILL, OCEAN COLOUR SCENE, OLUGBENGA (METRONOMY DJ), PATRICK WOLF, PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED, RACHEL SERMANNI, REVEREND AND THE MAKERS, STAY+, SWAY, TEAM ME, TIM EDEY AND BRENDAN POWER, tUnE-yArDs, THE TWILIGHT SAD, UNCLE FRANK, WILLY MASON, Y NIWL
Plus more to be announced!

After the thrilling crash of the first wave of artists set to perform at this years Summer Sundae Weekender, including Public Image Limited, tUnE-yArDs, Francois and the Atlas Mountain, Katy B & Leicester’s very own Grace Petrie, the second promises to be bigger and better.

Ocean Colour Scene, Adam Ant & The Good The Bad & The Lovely Posse, Billy Bragg – who will be celebrating Folk idol Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday - The King Blues, Friends, Death In Vegas & Uncle Frank (Appearing, we suspect, with more clothes and less roses on this occasion…) are just some of the many noticeable names gracing the festival this year.

The first announcements for the Drowned In Sound tent again looks equally promising with Django Django, The Twilight Sad, Maybeshewill, Hey Sholay & Clean Bandit set to bring some cathartic noise to the festival. But when the bands are done and the night is young the late-night entertainment can begin, courtesy of dbe and Superfly. DJ Duo Jack Beats and Metronomy bassist Olugbenga (The G is silent!) will be appearing alongside DJ/Producer Pasquale, dbe maestro Jake Twell and some of Superfly’s finest residents to keep the music pumping until the small hours.

With such a varied line-up this years Summer Sundae Weekender is set to cater for everyone – regardless of taste – ensuring that it will be as amazing a weekend as ever, creating many memories for many people in the process.

Information on tickets can be found on the Summer Sundae Website HERE

The 2012 Summer Sundae Weekender Line-Up so far:

ADAM ANT & THE GOOD THE BAD & THE LOVELY POSSE/ AKALA/ ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION/ BILLY BRAGG CELEBRATES WOODY GUTHRIE’S 100th BIRTHDAY/ CASHIER NO 9/ CLEAN BANDIT/ DAN MANGAN/ DATAROCK/ DEATH IN VEGAS/ DJANGO DJANGO/ FRANCOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS/ FRIENDS/ GOODNIGHT LENIN/ GRACE PETRIE/ HEY SHOLAY/ HIP HOP SHAKESPEARE/ JACK BEATS/ JONATHAN RICHMAN/ JUAN ZELADA/ KATY B/ LAZY LESTER AND FRIENDS/ LUCY ROSE/ MAYBESHEWILL/ OCEAN COLOUR SCENE/ OLUGBENGA (METRONOMY DJ)/ PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED/ RACHEL SERMANNI/ REVEREND AND THE MAKERS/ SWAY/ THE KING BLUES/ THE MAGIC TOMBOLINOS/ TIM EDEY AND BRENDAN POWER/ tUnE-yArDs/ TWILIGHT SAD/ UNCLE FRANK/ WILLY MASON/ Y NIWL

Once upon a time in 1985 the term ‘indie’ was short for ‘independent’. Unlike the independence sought by Alex Salmond and his band of delusional Scottish Nationalists, ‘indie’ eventually become a reference to any record label distinct from the “big four”. Fast track to 2012 and ‘indie’ is an umbrella term encompassing any guitar-based music fitting into its loosely marked boundaries.

Nick Clegg. Ed Miliband. George Osborne. Three more notoriously unpopular political figures in the British Isles. Only on forming an indie three-piece could they plummet further in public opinion. So unfashionable are indie bands right now that they are less welcome than the plague. This is the predicament facing Little Night Terrors: three young musicians hailing from Blaby, the same south Leicestershire suburb that spawned arena giants Kasabian.

Like a phoenix emerging from it’s own ashes, Little Night Terrors are the modern incarnation of The Displacements, who bowed Down and Out in late 2008. Consisting of brothers Andy and James Stone alongside bassist Dan Holyoak, LNT have compiled a collection of commendable tunes in recent years.

Witches, their latest EP, recorded in Sheffield with Alan Smyth [Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Reverend & The Makers] follows on from their encouraging debut Fangs.

The title track is like a Fratellis-style funfair, containing the line ‘the gentleman will smile and don a hat/the witches stir the lies with their black cat’. Concocted under the influence of absinthe in true Rock ‘n’ Roll style, it’s enjoyable – catchier than a fishhook.

What’s Your Persuasion Baby? is the unmasked marvel of Witches. Grungy, heavy and gothic in patches – twisted in its manifestation. This is the ‘original element’ The Displacements lacked in Lazy Bones, according to NME.

Equally likeable, Heaven is sure to inspire the Hard-Fi terrace chants with sing-along choruses. Two Weeks begins with an impressive Hold Steady tone before blending into a slightly generic three-chorder. A set-booster nevertheless.

Year 2012 will witness the London Olympics, the end of the Mayan calendar and, if Andy Stone has his way, the release of a full-length LNT record. Only time will tell if the Little Night Terrors head in the direction of Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong or The Vaccines. For now, cackle.