Issue 2

The Retro Baralternative live music and clubnights

LIVE MUSIC AND/OR CLUB NIGHT EVERY NIGHT.

HOME TO SOME OF MANCHESTER’S FINEST PROMOTERS -

UP THE RACKETRED@RETROROCK N’ ROLL HELLKATSWOTGODFORGOTBOMB IBIZATNS RECORDSSLIT RECORDSTHE REAL COLLECTIVEMID-LIFE CRISISREFUSE TO LOSEPOWWOWMY OH MYSPENDING DADDY’S MONEYPOGODISCO (UN)OBSCUREARE FRIENDS ECLECTIC?LEAF PROMOTIONSJUST ANOTHER INDIE LABEL + MANY MORE.

EVERY MONDAY - QUIZ NIGHT WITH QUIZMASTER FLASH!CASH PRIZES AND DRINK GIVEAWAYS. £1 ENTRY PER TEAM MEMBER.

UPSTAIRS BAR OPEN UNTIL 2AM SUNDAY-THURSDAY, 3AM FRIDAY & SATURDAY.

The Retro Bar, 78 Sackville St, Manchester, M1 3NJ - 0161 274 4892

CURRENT DRINK OFFERS2 BOTTLES OF BECKS - £3.HOUSE DOUBLE W/MIXER - £2.40.DOUBLE VODKA W/CAN OF RED BULL - £3.50.BOTTLES OF WINE - £5 (4-7PM)

FULL FOOD MENU - SERVED 9AM-3PM.

THURSDAY 2ND - POWWOW - Club-night playing Alternative/Indie/Electro until 2am, with live bands TBC. 9pm onwards, £3.

FRIDAY 3RD - Disco (Un)obscure - A suped-up, psychedelic ride through the last 50 years of rock n roll, punk, garage, blues.

SATURDAY 4TH - Refuse To Lose - Clubnight playing Punk-Rock and Indie-Rock until 3am. 10pm start, £4.

FRIDAY 19TH - Up The Racket - Indie/electro clubnight with live performance from S.C.U.M. 10pm-3am, £5.

SATURDAY 20TH - TNS & Rock N’ Roll Hellkats present... Christmas Panto - Clubnight playing Punk & Rockabilly with live bands TBC.

COMING SOON : NEW YEARS EVE - IGNITION! Bomb Ibiza, TNS and SLiT Records combine again to bring in the new year with Punk and Ska all night long!

JANUARY 4TH - The Real Collective present... The Steal + guests. 6.30pm, £5.

secondcityuk.com | 3

CHEERS! Ok, so Issue 1 came and went. After a bit of printing problems on our behalf (hey, we’re learn-ing), it fi nally turned up out of the blue. Not perfect - again my bad - but we were needless to say very happy with what we had in our hands.

And it seems so were you. The response we’ve had in this fi rst month has been overwhelm-ing. All very positive and constructive, which reassures us that we are doing something worthwhile and appreciated. We want to support the unheard, the unsigned and the underground. A lot exists and happens within this city - we’re simply giving an outlet for those who are drowned out by the larger media hype, the bigger promoters, the superclubs, etc.

At the end of the day, money talks. Hell, this magazine is fi nanced by advertising revenue; without it, it wouldn’t exist. Simple as. On that note, we wish to thank our advertisers for enabling us to do this.

So, Issue 2... What’s new? Well in addition to all the features that went down a treat last month, we’ve added the gig previews pages. Here we highlight some big DIY gigs where the promoters have gone out on a limb to bring us the best acts from around the globe in some of our intimate ven-ues.

Also, we’ve included some Club Listings for your use. Are you fed up of always going to the same club or bar, seeing the same people and dancing to those same old songs? We’ve handpicked some of the more diverse nights in town for you to check out. Go on, go somewhere different!

We took our camera out and about on Hallowe’en and snapped and quizzed a few citizens in our General Public page. Are you on there? This month also sees us welcome our fashion writers. They’ve done a splendid article on Vintage Fashion for you, full of tips and recommendations so be sure to check that out.

We will again be growing and expanding come Issue 3. We’re looking at fi lm and comedy pages, and as always we welcome contributors so get in touch. Remember to spread the good word of Second City. Extra points if you get someone to advertise with us!

Feel free to send us your suggestions and general feedback and we’ll see you in the New Year. In the meantime, get involved at www.secondcityuk.com, and see what else is on offer in Manchester over the festive period. Ciao for now!

Alston + Scott4 | secondcityuk.com

Each month we’ll be fi nding out what’s going on in the music scenes across the country. This month, Tom Evams tells us what’s going on in the capital...

As usual down in The Big Smoke there are loads of great gigs going on and anyone down there will be spoiled for choice throughout No-vember.After Grooverider’s release from prison in Du-bai he continues his famous partnership with Fabio with more comeback DJ sets, this timeat Hidden (formerly Studio 33) on the 7th.Former Family Affairs star Ebony Bones will be playing at Rhythm Factory on the 8th.If you fancy something more chilled out then the Mercury nominated Laura Marling plays two nights at The Scala on the 11th and 12th.Local lad James Yuill brings his unique brand of folktronica to the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on the 13th.Emmy The Great will be playing in-store at the Rough Trade shop on the 13th (wristband hold-ers get a free 7” and poster). On the 19th White Denim will be at Dingwalls. New wave Dubliners Fight Like Apes continue touring their debut album And The Mystery Of The Golden Medallion at The Barfl y on the 20th. After releasing Tape Song (17/11) The Kills take to the Astoria on the 20th for the penultimate night of their UK tour. Following on from theircritically acclaimed fourth album Dear Science, TV On The Science are at Shepherds Bush Em-pire on 19th.MGMT bring their tour to a close in Europe at The Forum and Shepherds Bush Empire on the 27th and 28th. And fi nally Swedish songstress Lykke Li ends a very successful year in the UK with a show at Koko on the 28th.

‘cops on fi lm

in other news...- Yorkshire-based, but UK renowned web gurus Drowned In Sound have a new monthly resi-dency at The Deaf Institute. DiScover Manches-ter is on the last Tuesday of each month, and promises to bring some great new bands to us.

- Local metallers Veils were late additions to the Slayer gig at The Apollo at the end of Octo-ber. Well done lads!

- As we went to press last month, Beat The Ra-dar became Akoustik Anarhky’s latest signing.

- The new Across The Pennines compilation is due soon. For those not in the know, ATP release CD-R’s of bands from across the North-West to the North-East. Previous releases have includ-ed tracks from That Fucking Tank, Wild Beasts, The Longcut and Rolo Tomassi. Bring on No. 7!

- For daily news updates, current listings and a great deal more, head to secondcityuk.com.

Salford’s favourite rockers The Shadowcops haven’t been up to their usual antics. No, they’ve been behaving, mostly in the studio, but also taking time out to fi lm a music video for inclu-sion on their debut album. The shoot was for the track ‘Folie a Deux’ and SC were on hand to witness the fi lming. We might even be in it if we’re lucky!The album ‘A Big Pot Of Hot’ is due for release late January 2009 on TNS Records. Stay tuned for a launch party date...


6 | secondcityuk.com

LOCALLABELAKOUSTIKANARKHY

Second City sits down and apologises for disturbing his dinner. A friendly “Don’t worry mate, I’m used to eating on the go,” comes the response, barely audible over MGMT on the sound system. The softly-spoken Noel Vazquez is a founder of record label akous-tik Anarkhy - a modern standard-bearer in the great tradition of Manchester’s inde-pendent labels. It’s fitting that this interview takes place at the Star and Garter because it was here his journey began 9 years ago...

Akoustic Anarkhy started life as a clubnight Noel and Raymond Ray founded in October 1999. A night where they could “call the shots” because they “didn’t like what was going on at the time”. Instead of moaning about that fact, the pair decided to do something about it. Initiative, it seems, is the mantra of aA!

“The label essentially came from coming across Autokat, who are still signed to us.” The night was free entry and they had no money but they put out Autokat CD-R’s be-cause they thought people should hear them.

“Then we put out a single by Loose Cannon called ‘Out To Lunch’. It was the first vinyl single and that’s where the label started getting recognition. People started taking it seriously, rather than just picking up the odd CD-R’s”

“(‘The Driver’ by Autokat) took us out of Manchester a lot more. People bought it in America and France. We grew again off the

back of that one song really.”

They started putting on nights at the Garden’s Hotel to make the money to release a compilation. “Not a lot of money mind, but when you compound it over six months, you’ve got enough to release a compilation album” .The CD, titled ‘Whores On The Door’, featured bands who’d played the clubnight previously.

The Longcut and Nine Black Alps had just begun making a name for themselves when they appeared on a later compila-tion called ‘Beyond Entertainment’. A milestone for the company no doubt, but they didn’t let up there.

Now 30+ releases old and their latest offerings, such as the Lamacq-endorsed ‘Marbles’ single by its a buffalo and Cats In Paris’ album ‘Courtcase 2000’ show that aA is still unearthing Manchester’s best new talent.

“You can have an idea about what you want to do,” Noel enthuses. “But it takes time and a lot of patience, a lot of pissing around just doing stuff before you under-stand the mechanics of running a label.”

The its a buffalo single ‘Marbles’ is out now.www.myspace.com/akoustik anarkhy


Preston is known for a few things. The water frame, one of the most important inventions in modern history was pat-ented there. Benjamin Franklin – he of Founding Father fame – owned a lo-cal property, and Wallace & Gromit call it home. But since it was grant-ed city status in 2002, not

much has happened in the area. Failsafe are set to change all that…

Formed at the turn of the millennium under the name Duck Hunt, the band under-went the standard line-up changes until settling on a sound that led to 2005’s de-

but album ‘We Start To-day’. Released on Deck Cheese Records, it helped secure the band support slots for touring acts as diverse as Paramore, Cap-down, Idlewild and Flog-ging Molly. They entered

northern rockers failsafe talk to us about their new album, times on tour and their hometown...

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Flogging Molly. They entered the NME radar earlier this year with special notation of their live performances and the hype con-tinued to build ahead of their second album, ‘The Truth Is…’

“We are so excited about fi-nally releasing the album,” ex-plain the five-piece. “It’s been a long time coming, but we are really happy and proud of it, so we feel it’s been worth the wait. We’re really enjoying play-ing the new songs live as well.

“We have close relationships with both labels (Small Town/Fond Of Life Records) and so far both they’ve been really great to work with. Although both are relatively small independent labels, we still feel like we have taken a step for-ward signing with these labels as they both gave us proper record deals. In a short space of time we can already see things happening.” It’s been a busy summer for the guys. Main supports on My Awesome

Compilation’s UK tour and a festival in the Czech Re-public being just the start. “We’re just back from a bit of a European tour. We went to Germany, Holland, Belgium and Austria. We did the whole tour with a band from France called Uncommon Men From Mars who are awesome. Most of the gigs were the usual club shows, but the last

A l l this and be-

ing heralded by the like of NME, Kerrang! and the rest, the guys have a growing list of highlights so far…

“There have been a few occasions that are hard to

moment, as we have been lucky enough to have lived out a few of our dreams. But playing Leeds festival, playing the Acade-my 2 in Manchester because that’s the venue we spent most of our youth! Record-ing a session for the BBC at Maida Vale studios and get-

getting air play on MTV2 and Kerrang! TV all rate highly in things we have achieved.

And despite the snowball-ing hype and media inter-est in the band, they’re still very much small town guys. “Our home town is impor-tant to us, for the simple rea-son it is where we call home! When you spend so much

t i m e away on the

road, it’s always nice to spend some time in familiar surround-ings - not to mention we get good support from Prestoners and it would be wrong to not men-tion the Chorleyites! We played our album launch in Preston the other week and it was great. We wanted to “keep it real” with the artwork, taking shots of places we know and can relate to; it’s a cool personal touch. We even got Matt’s brother to do the artwork

for us. He’s

done an awesome job!” So what’s their soundtrack to all this time on the road?

“At the moment we actually play our friends’ bands in the van more than ‘big bands’. The new albums by The Living Day-lights, Crazy Arm, and Mouth-wash, and we’re still rocking the likes of Sonic Boom 6, Freefall Felix and a band who very much came from the underground and deserve all of their success - the new King Blues album “We’ve only ever really toured

w i t h bands with the

same mindset as us - doing it for all the right reasons. Bands who write and play music they believe in and not what’s trendy and having a great time whilst doing it.” So what’s next for Failsafe then? “We are currently planning some tours for the New Year, as well as writing new ma-terial when we have time off for the next album, but let’s not beat around the bush - WORLD DOMINATION!”And so it begins…

+ FAILSAFE ARE : James Norris (Lead Vocals & Synth), Simon Hum-phries (Guitars & Vocals), Matthew Cogley (Guitars, Synth & Vocals), Andy Sprake (Bass, Vocals, Keys) and Rob Catlow (Drums, Vocals).+ The album ‘The Truth Is...’ is out on Small Town Records on November 10th.+ They play Satan’s Hollow on + myspace.com/failsafemusic


Hey there! I’m Daniel, but most people call me by my last name - Alston. Take your pick. I’ve just gradu-ated with a degree in Journalism & Broadcasting, and am now plying my trade as a freelance journo anywhere I can. Anyway, this is the part of the mag where me and Scott each have a page to rant, rave, recommend or repent. Or all four if we feel like it.

So I’m sat here now typing this. Totally unprepared, as it was last on the ‘to do’ list before sending this whole thing to print. As such, I have no idea what I’m going to ramble on about, or what my next word will... be.

My Grandfather passed away in the publishing stag-es of the fi rst issue, losing his battle with cancer a week before his 77th birthday. It’s to him I dedicate this issue, as he always encouraged me to keep do-ing things I enjoyed. RIP Grandad.

I interviewed Kentucky rockers Cage The Elephant this past week, and ended up getting sidetracked with their guitarist Brad in deep discussion about bands like Pavement and Gang of Four. So much so, that since then I’ve rediscovered some forgotten classics in my CD collection.

The sort of albums you loved so much when you fi rst bought them, that you overplayed them, learnt every word, every solo, every drumfi ll inside and out. You put it back on your shelf, and it goes un-listened to for years. Then in a moment of sudden genius, you reach for it, press play and fi nd it just as mindblowing as on that fi rst listen. You still know every word, yet you fi nd new meaning in the lyrics, a new way of relating to the songs.

Albums and songs like these stick with you through life. They mark your highs and lows along the way. They’re the CDs you put on when you’re feeling full of energy or when the weather’s a bit shit.

This month I came across a concept I was familiar with, but hadn’t participated in for a good few years. Of The Compilation Ilk is a service set up by a cou-ple of music lovers in Manchester that encourages people to send in a mix CD or tape of their ‘all time fa-vourite tracks’, with handmade artwork. In exchange you receive someone else’s mix CD/tape. It’s a simple process, but one that opened my eyes to types of mu-sic I wasn’t aware of 4-5 years ago.

Being in this frame of mind, going through personal forgotten anthems and such, I decided to give it a whirl, for old time’s sake. So I went about making a 20-track CD.

Only after an hour of chopping and changing, I real-ised I couldn’t do it. There were too many songs to whittle it down that much. So I made two separate ones. They’re heading off in the post this week, so come next issue I’’ll let you know what I got in return. In the meantime, I suggest you give it a go too! myspace.com/ofthemakingilkWho knows, you might discover your new favourite band thanks to a complete stranger.

Here’s ten from my selection:

Thin Lizzy - The Cowboy Song (Live)At The Drive-In - Enfi ladeDinosaur Jr - Just Like HeavenBob Marley & The Wailers - Is This Love?Rival Schools - So Down OnMillion Dead - I Am The PartyCave-In - InspireThe Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin’Biffy Clyro - The Go-SlowHundred Reasons - Avalanche

What are your favourite tracks of all time?Let me know at : [email protected]

[email protected]


Hello and welcome to my new column here in Sec-ond City Magazine! My name’s Scott and I’ve been in and out of bands for the better part of 10 years. I have a HND in Popular Music and mainly concentrate now on promoting band nights in Manchester while oc-casionally whoring out what talent I do have to oth-er bands in session roles.

My rant this month comes from a conversation I had with a fellow musician who told me; “it’s hard to be a musician nowadays, there’s nothing to rebel against!” What he’d been smoking, I don’t know! I’ve never seen a period of time where music is so ripe for revolution. With so many of music’s chosen few dropping the ball with their second albums, the in-dustry must already be looking around for the next big thing. Unfortunately the Industry has changed so much in such a short space of time with the in-ternet’s rise to glory, the bigwigs want quick fi xes instead of long-term investments.

Reality TV: That Simon Cowell fellow is a bit of a gen-ius in my eyes. One day he takes a step back and has a look at what is going on around him. He sees sales are declining and he needs to create another form of revenue because, as a businessman, sales are his forte. For years pop acts have been crafted for success. He just put that process on the television - giving viewers the chance to ‘bond’ with the artists before they have even released a song. Initially I thought it peaked with Girls Aloud but Leona Lewis has proved there is still life left in the old horse. As a musician does it not rile you up to see these people made into celebrities and then capitalising on that to sell a few units? The allure of celebrity seems to have over-shadowed the need to be heard.

Celebrity: I hate that word with a passion. I mean se-riously can anyone tell me what Katie Price; Paris

Hilton; “the fat one from Atomic Kitten” etc actually offer the world? Aside from creating a generation of insecure young girls who aspire to these pho-toshopped hussies because they advertise an easy life where success is gained on appearance and nothing else. Where are the anti-celebrities? The positive role models who don’t fl ash a bit of tit in the tabloids? The ones who promote hard work and determination? They are out there, See KT Tunstall or Amy MacDon-ald, but the world seems like a very idle place at the moment, and being a Big Brother Muppet just seems like the easy option. The media are to blame because they need to create these celebrities in order to sell. Where is the counter-culture because I want in!

Credit Crunch: Is it just another fantastic ploy by the government to get more money out of people who are struggling as it is? Why are petrol prices going up? Did we not just have some big war to get oil out of Iraq? House prices, mortgage payments; it all adds up. £1.50 for a loaf of bread? Come on, I’m sure there have been giant leaps in the fi eld of bread-making but it can’t have changed that much since bread cost 70p. What have “The Peoples Party” actually done for the people? What’s the other option? The return of the Three-day week seems very plausible.

Unfortunately I can’t tell people what to rebel against. It’s up to the artists themselves to view things as injustices and feel obliged to do something about it. The above are just three things that I see. Next month I will look at the dreaded second album, the ‘Sophomore Slump.’

I look forward to hearing any opinions, views or criti-cisms you may have.

Send them to [email protected].

Have a nice month and I’ll see you then!

[email protected]

11

It’d probably be quite easy to say that their name sums up their sound. But in Everything, Everything, there literally is elements and shards of... everything.Modern indie, punk, funk, r&b, soul, even moments of barbershop acapella. Four lads from the North East and Kent forming a band dur-ing their time together study-ing in Manchester, simply put.And now, at the time of going to

print, hype is building with the homemade video for debut single ‘Suffragette Suffragette’ - out early De-cember- and even Zane Lowe is giving them airplay. Gigging across the country before Xmas, there’s a very cer-tain buzz that their blend of everything and anything will see them in good stead for 2009. Ready to explode at any time, catch them in the small venues while you can.

Post-rock isn’t for the impatient or the pas-sive. Long songs, little or no vocals; it can be wasted on the wrong ears. But for those that are fans of the genre, then Arficeden will be the audio equivalent of Christmas. Epic riffs and build-ups create walls of sound that just simply engulf you. Crescen-dos and breakdowns so great you crum-ble and melt into the controlled chaos. Check out the tracks ‘Japan’ and ‘Pond Life’ on their Myspace to get about a tenth of an idea of how good they are live.MYSPACE.COM/ARFICEDENFOR FANS OF : EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, 65 DAYS OF STATIC... POST-ROCK IN GENERAL.GIGS : 1th JAN - DRY BAR

“Like Santana covering Swans.”... Yeah, we can’t really top that desciption of the noise Go Lebanon emit. It’s jazz. It’s am-bient rock. It’s art-punk. It’s bloody great. Dual guitars, melodic basss and peaceful-then-frenzical drumming, coupled with in-frequent droning vocals and careful use of a trombone. Aye, exactly - but don’t be afraid of this confusing mix. Go listen to Go Lebanon.MYSPACE.COM/GOLEBANON

Previously a four-piece pop-punk band, Delayed Promise are now down to three and playing more pop-rock sorta jams. With vocal duties split between bass-ist Helen and guitarist Andrew, there’s vari-ety where others have fallen into monotony. Gentle, flowing radio-friendly tracks sus-tained with feeling makes them instantly acces-sible, so why aren’t you listening to them already?M Y S P A C E . C O M / D E L A Y E D P R O M I S EFOR FANS OF : JIMMY EAT WORLD, PARAMORE, WEEZER.GIGS : 14TH DEC - DRY BAR / 12TH JAN - THIRSTY SCHOLAR


General PublicWe quiz you, the lovely people of Manchester. This month, we were in the Hallowe’en mood, and wanted to know your favourite scary movies...

Name : LukeFavourite Scary Movie : I’ve got a short attention span, so I don’t really watch fi lms. I don’t think I’ve ever sat through a full fi lm be-fore!Favourite Chat Up Line : I’m kind of old school, so I’d use a classic like ‘You look nice tonight’ or ‘Can I buy you a drink?’

Names : Rachael and HenryFavourite Scary Movie : Rachael : I hate scary mov-ies. They’re awful!Henry : Scream. The fi rst one.Favourite Chat Up Line : Henry

: ‘Oi you, come here!’Rachael : ‘Get up them stairs!’

Name : FrancescaFavourite Scary Movie : To be honest, most scary movies are pretty shit. The Exorcist has maybe disturbed me though.

Name : EmmaFavourite Scary Movie : I don’t really like scary movies, but I do like Saw.Favourite Chat Up Line : ‘Is your name Gillette? ‘Cos you’re the best a man can get!’

Where do I start? With two nights of gigs and two nights of

drinking/taking in the culture this was always going to be messy/

eventful. It was amazing to have gigs outside of the UK and we

were obviously very excited, but didn’t really know what to expect

from it. It turned out to be every bit as crazy/bizarre/messy as

we’d imagined...

Wednesday: We were joined on the trip by TNSRecords, Tim ‘Bev’ Bev-

ington, Phill ‘One Eye’ McKie and the infamous Mikey Wong. We arrived

at the airport and hit the beers early. Mikey soon let the side down by

ordering a Ribena on the plane rather than 3 cans like the rest of us!

Those who know us will know that we always do a few ‘tour chal-

lenges’. As no one had set anything proper we decided to set our own,

so Mikey’s Ribena meant that none of us were allowed to drink anything

else non-alcoholic until back in England. I think this challenge has per-

manently damaged me and I would not recommend it!

We landed in Prague and were picked up at the airport by our tour man-

ager, Johan. We were taken to our apartment and then out on the piss

to the Chapeau, where we would play the following night. Somehow

we ended up in the Cross Club on the outskirts of town with a crazy

American called Eban, who decided to take us under his wing.

Thursday: The next day we decided to take in some culture. Unfortu-

nately, the fact we are complete dicks meant that this was short-lived.

Re-creating the YMCA is never going to go down well in a Cathedral, but

it probably went down better than Big Hands’ impersonation of Jesus.

So after being kicked out of a church by men with guns we made our

way back home to get ready for the gig. On the way we also saw a beggar

who was balancing some rats on a dog?!

We arrived at the Chapeau club, and as our support band Cotam played,

the venue was filling up very nicely and some of the Czech crowd even

wanted to talk to us. Then it was our turn. I was unsure how we

would go down as Cotam were a bit metal so we thought that might

be the crowds thing, rather than our own brand of idiot-punk, but as

soon as we kicked into the first song they all surged forward and began

jumping around like maniacs. Awesome! Gig-wise, this was my favourite

thing of the tour; the attitude of the audience. You just don’t see many

crowds going this crazy to a band they have only just heard over here.

It was very nice to see. Our stage banter was understood even less than

it is in England, but we got an encore. The Czech kids were snapping up

the merch too.

WITH... REVENGE

OF THE

PSYCHOTRONIC MAN

MANCHESTER’S PUNK-ROCKERS SPILL ALL ON THEIR VERY EVENTFUL VISIT TO THE THE CZECH REPUBLIC


On The Roadmyspace.com

/revengeofthepsychotronicman

Friday: We were woken up on Friday with the bombshell that Mikey Wong had pissed

not one, but two beds. A drunken Matt had fallen asleep in Mikey’s bed and woken

up after rolling into a puddle of Wong-wet. After waking Mikey up and demanding he

changed beds, Mikey informed him that a similar situation had arisen in the second

bed too.

This evening’s gig was on the outskirts of Prague at Kino Piluto. However, when we

were informed of the strict 10pm police enforced curfew in the area at 9.40, whilst

Cotam were still playing, we began to think we had travelled a very long way to play

just one gig. So we blasted out our speed-core punk rock, perhaps even faster than

normal. The gig was going great; the crowd was good and we were buzzing, until two

massive and angry looking policemen started staring at us from the side of the stage.

We played on regardless and almost managed to finish the set before the bastards pulled the power. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty proud of getting only our second gig

abroad shut down by the police! So on that bombshell, we headed into Prague for

our heaviest night out. It is very much a blur, but we were offered a ‘midget hand

massage’ from a seven foot man, who later informed us that he ‘had no midget’?!Saturday: So with the gigs out of the way, we could concentrate on the drinking. We

met up with Damian, who used to run the Castle pub in Manchester, but now lives

in Prague and went to watch football. We then went to watch Liverpool’s, Zombina

and the Skeletones at the excellent Matrix club. Zombina seemed very surprised to

see fellow scouser, Mikey Wong in the crowd. The rest of us were more surprised

that he had managed a ‘dry’ night.

Sunday: We had to be out of our apartment by 11, which was a nightmare, but then we

had until 8pm to kill time so, you guessed it, we carried on drinking. It was around

this point that Phill decided that he was incapable of making his own decisions and

handed all his decision-making over to me, stating that he would do anything I told him

too. He was soon drinking Malibu.Anyone who is familiar with our band will know that on our last UK tour the Shad-

owcops set us a series of tour challenges, which ultimately resulted in Matt getting

their guitarist, Mike Pollitt’s name tattooed on his arm. This tattoo was also spelt

wrong (it said: I Live for Pollitte). Therefore it was decided that Phill would also be

getting a shit Mike Pollitt tattoo and as I was in charge of his decision-making, he

couldn’t say no. After a failed attempt by me to draw a caricature of Pollitt, Matt

(who had already drunk nine pints to everybody elses three) drew a shit cartoon of

someone shouting ‘I live for Polite’ on the back of a flyer. So to cut a long story short, Phill now has the worlds worst tattoo. We also bought some puppets.So after one of the biggest piss ups ever, it was all over… or was it?We managed to get a hammered Matt to act sober enough to get through customs, but

on return to England he had his passport confiscated for no apparent reason and was forced to wait for ages whilst they decided whether he was allowed into the country.

Does mean he is now an asylum seeker?We tried to break Prague, to be fair, Prague probably broke us. But we’ll be back! Andy Psychotronic (Bass/Vox)


INCOMINg...touring and overseas bands playing manchester this month.

Zach Hill

streetlight manifesto

myspace.com/streetlightmanifesto

myspace.com/zachhillmusicLamb & Wolf present...That’s a bag of drumsticks. He’ll probably need that many for each gig. Zach Hill is a somewhat modern-day icon behind a kit. Best known for his work with Hella, his techniques and methods are often talk of fellow drum-mers. With four albums in six years with Hella, as well as countless others with his bands - Crime In Choir, Holy Smokes, Goon Moon and Team Sleep (with Chino from Deftones) to name but a few, he’s already amounted a sizable catalogue.This tour is in support of his debut solo release - an album which features Marnie Stern, No Age and LCD Soundsystem no less. Go see what all the fuss is about.Thursday 4th December @ Sacred Trinity Church, SalfordZACH HILL / HOT BONE (feat. Insistent Foot Routine) /WU LF WU LF. Doors at 7.30pm, £8 entry.

Bomb Ibiza present...Hailing from New Jersey, this is ska with brass turned up to the max. Streetlight Manifesto feature ex-mem-bers of Catch 22 and Bandits Of The Acoustic Revolu-tion and were main supports on Reel Big Fish’s UK tour earlier this year.Full of latin and jazz melodies, but still maintaining the bounce and vibe of third-wave ska, they currently have two albums under their belt, with last year’s ‘Somewhere In The Betweeen’ receiving rave reviews all round.This gig is likely to sell out, so get on ticketline now!Sunday 7th December @ Satan’s HollowSTREETLIGHT MANIFESTO / RANDOM HAND/ DAN POTTHAST (MU330). Doors at 7.30pm, £10 advance tickets.

death is not glamorous

kitty, daisy& lewis

The Real Collective present...Possibly the most explosive thing to come out of Norway since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer/Tore Andre Flo/John Carew - depending on where your footballing beliefs lie.This isn’t football though, this is pure punk-rock and DING are making a fl ying visit to the UK for the benefi t of your ears. Much in the vein of bands like Lifetime, expect melodies and energy in abundance.They’re on Sheffi eld label Dead And Gone oddly enough, but there’s no gig over in Steel City for them this time around.After a few LPs, demos and splits, they’re gear-ing up for their fi rst album - due for release around the time of this.Death may not be glamorous, but neither is not living. This gig will remedy that.Wednesday 10th December @ Retro BarDEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS / DOWN AND OUTS/ OFFSHORE RADIO / HAIL BRETHREN / HAMMERS. First band at 8pm sharp, £5 entry.

myspace.com/deathisnotglamorous

myspace.com/kittydaisyandlewisHot Club present...Imagine having played Glastonbury twice, sup-ported Razorlight and Jools Holland, been on Blue Peter and released an album, all before doing your GCSEs.Well that’s what Kitty of K, D&L has done, and the others in the band are still under the age of 21. Nuts.What’s more is that they don’t play anything the kids of their age play. Busting out 50s rockabilly jams, this isn’t the sort of stuff you expect from such youth. Where’s the angst?!Doing it with full-on maturity, they’re competent musicians and have rightly paved their own way for success. Hotfoot it down to this, and get a Sailor Jerry’s while you’re there.Friday 28th November @ The Deaf InstituteKITTY, DAISY & LEWIS / DEAD KIDS + GUESTS & DJs.Doors at 9pm, £7.50 advance tickets.

Wednesday 10th December @ Retro BarDEATH IS NOT GLAMOROUS / DOWN AND OUTS/ OFFSHORE RADIO / HAIL BRETHREN / HAMMERS. First band at 8pm sharp, £5 entry.

Coming from a strict Christian upbringing, this tasty five-piece from Kentucky are far from caged and far from Christian values. Brothers Matt and Brad Schultz and three fellow Southerners are indulging in rock and roll as if raised by it. Raucous guitars and a blatant disregard for authority, are rooted within their Southern charm and a sound resembling that of Kings Of Leon, with the added funk of Rage Against The Machine, and an attitude seeming to match, making them quite notorious on the music scene.

Doting on the intimate gig setting of Club Academy, charged lead singer Matt Schultz makes the other band members slightly subordinate, stealing the attention with his entertaining moves and anecdo-tal interjections. Stumbling around the stage like a foal that hasn’t quite got his legs working yet, his frequent trips and entanglements in wire add to his rock and roll allure and his leaps off speakers and technical equipment, like an excited child in skinny jeans, showed there’s no uncertainty that he would be the life and soul of any party.

The newly-released ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’ sees Schultz in his element, preaching a more realistic message that ‘money don’t grow on trees’, rooting the band in their working class background and similarly the crowd-pleasing yet defiant ‘In One Ear’ with lyr-ics; ‘all the critics who despise, just go ahead and criticise’, sticking a satirical two fingers up at their critics.

It’s clear from seeing them live, their incorporation of iconic rock legends into their performance, and at a glimpse it’s hard not to see Matt Schultz’s parallel to Iggy Pop, with his onstage antics being the focus of attention. The similarity being completed with their Stooges cover ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, showing off his raspiest voice and most notably showing his relent-less energy. The classic track is perfected with Matt’s self-assured stage-diving, causing angry stewards to contend, and the classic ‘we want more’ chanting. By the end you can feel each Mancunian radiating heat. Their declaration of ‘we like to party’ epitomises their take on the long-established sex, drugs and rock and roll philosophy., a trade-in from their Christian up-bringing . All the same this band is a long sip of pure Southern comfort.

WotGodForgot provide an awesome line-up at the Retro Bar’s Basement Club. The night begins filling up late which means a lot of people miss the support bands.

First Black Precedent in particular im-press with lots of Sonic Youth-isms and har-monies straight out of the Jealous Records play-book.

APOF proved just headliners as their first three songs segued seamlessly, but it was their single ‘A Star Is Born’ that really stirred a lot of people, and they didn’t let up from there. Park’s sound was very remniscent of the band Ride and they come right out of the Oceansize, Longcut, Day For Airstrikes era of Manchester bands.

There is definitely a Shoegaze revival going on at the moment and the bands on this night should be right at the forefront, as they show that a genre (wrongly) construed as boring can be a very animated and invig-orating experience.

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WIN!

Those lovely people at TNS Records are giving us our fi rst competition prizes and allowing you the chance to win copies of all 3 of their current releases.

All you have to do to be in with a chance is answer the following ques-tion:

What does TNS stand for?

Send entries to [email protected]. Winner(s) will be notifi ed by January 12th.

As soon as the bassline hits, there’s a feeling this track might just be in your heads for weeks after.And when it does kick in, ‘Embers’ does not disappoint. Soaring indie-pop in the vein of Coldplay and Starsailor. Subtle-but-guiding harmonies of the violin yield all the conotations you’d expect; ambience and euphoria add-ing to an air of folk.The bass here and in the accompanying track, ‘Picking At The Bones’ remind us very much of Public Image Ltd. and there’s certainly elements of post-punk within. Even the most radio-friendly of music - which this won-derful sampler defi nitely is - can sometimes be hard to pigeon-hole. So rather than wrongly label this young Mancunian four-piece, we’re leaving it open.They’re garnering much interest from Steve Lamacq and DrownedInSound, and on this evidence, Air Cav make nothing less than great music.

FOR FANS OF : Coldplay, Starsailor, Public Image Ltd.


Emo. This word will scare a lot of people off and will probably have pricked up the ears of people that won’t really dig this, but fuck it. THIS is Emo. No gothic image, no false talk of suicide, no inaudible roars and no bullshit. This is good, honest emotional rock. Hail Brethren are a Manchester band with DIY ethics. They’ve formed, gigged and released this in the blink of an eye, and it’s fair testament to their hard work that it’s come out this damn good. Heartfelt shouts over the top of some great instrumental foreplay – occasionally dipping into post-hardcore and return-ing via hardcore-punk. Highlights of this white vinyl 12” include the smashing ‘Redefine The Point Of Wak-ing Up’, ‘Synthetic Friendship’ and even the acoustic number ‘Apparently’ that threatens to follow suit and break down a door or two, but never follows up. Majestic stuff that will surely please fans of a genre currently lacking in action, while hopefully also help-ing to reclaim the tag stolen by American pop-punk bands that are feeling blue. If you’re not already ac-customed to vinyl, go dig out your Dad’s record player, buy this and suck it up.

FOR FANS OF : Rites Of Spring, End Of A Year, Hell Is For Heroes.

The latest offering from TNS Records comes in the form of a split between the experi-enced ska-core of Harijan and the compara-tive newcomers The John Player Specials. A meeting of like-minded souls from Manches-ter and Wigan over the matter of reggae and what-not. Nice.Harijan serve up the first 3 tracks, with opener ‘Portland Street’ being the stand-out track on the split. Dark, singular blasts and snarling vocals dropping your guard before the brass and upstroke onslaught. An inces-santly catchy number with plenty of hooks, all leaving you powerless to avoid joining in after just a few listens. ‘Hallux Vagus’ slows things down, before ‘Bees N’ E’s’ returns to the powerful ska-core that is sure to appeal to fans of the now-defunct Capdown and Lightyear.All still around the age of 18, The JPS haven’t let youth or inexperience stand in their way. Soulful reggae vibes and cracking lead vocals make for a Northern King Blues, with ‘Weak In Your Eyes’ certainly echoing moments of ‘Under The Fog’. UK ska label Do The Dog have just snapped these boys up for their roster, and from this evidence, that’s no surprise.Warm, harmonious tracks such as ‘Renegade’ are ready-made anthems, and the addition of a second guitarist will bolster their sound in the future.6 tracks here to whet your appetite for the inevitable albums that will follow. A great mini-showcase of two of the most exciting bands within the North-West ska scene.

FOR FANS OF : Lightyear, Capdown, The King Blues.

want your album/ep reviewed on these pages?

email [email protected] for an address to send us a copy, and we’ll

review it for the next issue.

all reviews also posted on www.secondcityuk.com

MARTIN COGLEY P H O T O G R A P H Y

LIVE MUSIC EVENTS

COMMERCIALPRODUCT

BAND PHOTOGRAPHY

WWW.MARTINCOGLEY.COM

capitulating in its own success.Opener ‘The Lion’s Share’ is hypnotic and crunching at the same time, drifting and then chugging along in grand vigour.‘Bank’ is a more US punk-edged number, a hugely addictive chorus backed up by intelligent politically-charged lyrics and non-formulaic song structure.Swami are perhaps one of the better rock bands on the underground circuit at this moment in time. Sure to win fans in the punk, hardcore and alt-rock scenes as well, they seek not only to get their message and music heard, they do it with total aplomb. Loud, proud and defiant, with the added bonus of being chock-full of riffs.As well as the 5 tracks, there’s also 2 extra demo tracks, which are in no way inferior. They’re playing the North constantly, so check them out and buy this at a gig.

FOR FANS OF : Minor Threat, Propaghandi, MC5.

Following their comrades Random Hand swiftly out of the Yorkshire town of Keighley, Sounds of Swami are ready to rock your proverbial socks off, leaving you barefoot whether you like it or not. After 18 months of playing gigs, ‘Vent’ is the first EP offering from the lads, and it’s been worth the wait! Recording with the highly-respected Tim G at Big Tone Studios in Manchester, the diverse rock buffet has offerings of punk and hardcore, with side dishes of effects pedals and spazzing out. ‘Identity Crisis’ is the most prominent evidence of such variety, as it goes off on several different tangents before

secondcityuk.com | 27secondcityuk.com | 27

date was packed out, despite it

being on the same weekend as

Leeds/Reading festivals, which

was a perfect affi rmation of the strength of the scene.”

myspace.com/standoutriotSOUNDS LIKE : “Streetlight Mani-festo having a steamy relationship with Gogol Bordello”GIGS : 4th Dec @ The Attic / 11th Jan @ Retro Bar

Stand Out Riot : 32 limbs de-ployed to maximum effect. With an arsenal of instru-ments and rip-roaring songs, they’re inviting you to the ‘Carnival Militia’…

“It’s all very exciting,” explains frontman Francis Hunt. “We’ve spent the best part of two years writing, practising and saving the money up for this album, which has now been recorded, and should be out towards the end of November. The album itself is 8 tracks, and it’s defi nitely our strongest stuff yet. It’s all being produced by the legend

that is Tim G in his brand new Big

Tone Studios, and the artwork has

been lovingly designed by Steve at

Combination13, so that’s looking

awesome as well.”

Since setttling on a setup and name in 2005, they’ve released three EPs, played a hefty amount of gigs

and even performed at the

Royal Albert Hall.

“Most importantly though,

we’ve just had loads of fun, and

never let the band become more

than a hobby; because if it was

our job, we’d probably just lose

enthusiasm and get sick of it

- and of each other!”

And they attribute much of

their success to the underground

scene in Manchester.

“The Manchester ska scene is

bigger and better than ever at the

moment. This year has seen new

releases from local bands and

new bands emerge. My personal

highlight of the year though has

to be the Ignition Festival, where

(local ska promoters) Bomb

Ibiza teamed up with TNS and

SLiT - two other local punk pro-

moters/labels - to host a 3-day

festival over the summer. Every


No words seem to categorise the human life form that is Gideon Conn. Those who have seen his shows before will know what an experience it is to watch a submissive, somewhat nerdy-looking

man rolling across the stage, furiously strumming an electric guitar. His performance has been called “scary”, “perverse”, and “breathtakingly brilliant”. However there’s something about this artist

that doesn’t quite add up. His mannerisms portray that of a shy (on many levels autistic) teenage boy and yet his fantastic vocals and unusual guitar techniques are above other-worldly level!

Amazingly, Gideon Conn is no different off stage. When approached after his performance at Urbis’ “Future Savings Garden Party” he treated the interview with precisely the same blend of awk-

wardness and professionalism as he had his gig. After quietly setting out two chairs backstage he explained that he was a “songwriter by profession, and hoping to make a career out of it”, although

it was by this point clear that he had already succeeded in doing so. The reception he was given by the audience spoke for itself. “I wanted a band in the summer of ‘05,” he said, fumbling with the strap of the large mushroom helmet he was wearing. “And my manager went on his honeymoon

and he said ‘have a band formed by the time I get back’. So I phoned Nick, our drummer -he said yes and gradually the rest of the band turned up. “

When asked who his main inspirations were, Gideon happily began describing his love of Anthony Bordain. “There’s a programme I like a lot called ‘Anthony Bordain- A Cook’s Tour’. Except he doesn’t

really cook much, he just eats a lot of strange things. It’s very good. There’s also an author who I like called Michael Connolly…does he have anything to do with my work? Possibly not.”

Gideon’s genre has been labelled by many as “Folk Rap”, but the artist himself thinks differently. “Each song has its own personality, it’s like a little creature. Always changing, always developing until it’s found

its own place in my repertoire. I don’t think it’s really fair to char-acterise it as just one thing.”

Obviously, Gideon being such a subdued creative soul in the flesh, it seems odd to think of him as captivating the audi-

ence as he does. But surprisingly he has an uncanny gift for drawing the attention of the crowd with his wacky vocal

style and amazing clash of hip hop and alternative folk. “I just like performing,” he says quietly while staring down at the floor. “I like doing what I do and I think

if everyone is given at least one chance to prove themselves they really can make a difference. It

doesn’t matter what, just get out there and be yourself before it’s too late.”

Despite his almost ethereal personality, Gideon Conn is without a doubt a major-

ly talented, first class act and one to be seen immediately. It is therefore, my advice that you hop into town, onto

a laptop, or into a café and watch one of his shows post haste!

You will not regret it.

mysp

ace.c

om/g

ideon

conn

Weird? Eccentric? Mysterious?

Interview by Kate Ashton-Butler


And when asked whether they feel restricted by setting these rules for themselves, they simply respond by saying, “Nope. Creativity flourishes when you have boundaries.”

A ballsy move, but one that has al-ready been gladly welcomed by many, including the latest influx of new students to the city.

So for those new to Now Wave, what’s already happened so far?

“Holy Fuck were noisy, friendly and awesome. The XX were bril-liant, sparse and original. S.C.U.M. were confrontational, thrilling and visceral. Those Dancing Days were fun, cute and moody. Errors were tight, energetic and Scottish.”

Nice summarising. And they’re just a few of the latest names to be bandied around both the high-brow music press, with plenty more to follow.

As with any promoter involved with putting bands on, publicity can sometimes be key to whether they draw a crowd or not. If they have the right media push ahead of a gig, it can pay dividends for all involved.

Now Wave insist that although such timing is beneficial and obviously preferred, it isn’t brought into calculation when booking the bands.

“It’s very important for us to choose what we consider to be good. We don’t take into consid-eration what press they are getting, etc.”

Another challenge they have put before them-selves is the fact that they are doing the night


every Wednesday.

“It is very difficult. Especially where live music is concerned, as you only have one week to promote each event. That’s why we are pleased that the people who come to the night really enjoy it, and see it as a clubnight with live bands rather than just a gig.”

But with a veritable amount of experi-ence promoting previous and other current nights, it’s no surprise to see this one doing so well in its early stages. And sticking to the ethos of the night, the guys’ current music tastes are very modern indeed.

“My favourite DJs at the minute are Beyond The Wizzard’s Sleeve and Optimo,” tells Wesley. “And as for bands, I’d have to say The XX and TV On The Radio.”

“I’d have to go with Oldboy and Tiga as my favourite DJs,” says John. “Band-wise,

I’m going to have to go for Deerhunter and Abe Vigoda.”

Although only still in its infancy, there already ap-pears to be big plans afoot for Now Wave.

“Big things are indeed coming in 2009. Bands that are too big to play The Deaf Institute. We’ll be incorporat-ing visuals into the night, and possibly hosting some sort of all-dayer or a festival. Watch this space!”

myspace.com/nowwave

NOW WAVE TAKES PLACE AT THE DEAF INSTITUTE EVERY WEDNESDAY. 10PM-3AM, £5 ENTRY.

LIVE ACTS :

28th Nov - Little Boots & Heartbreak.

3rd Dec - Abe Vigoda & Televised Crimewave.

10th Dec - Vivian Girls, Hot Pants Romance & Elvis In Disguise.

MONDAYSevery monday : revolver @ the roadhouse - 60s garage, rock n’ roll, motown, 60s pop and northern soul. 11pm-3am, £3/4.

TUESDAYSevery tuesday :sex with robots @ the roadhouse - electro, rave and big beats. 11pm-3am, £FREE.missionary @ subspace - electronica, drum and bass, hip hop. 10pm-3am, £4/5.

WEDNESDAYSevery wednesday :now wave @ the deaf institute - electro and indie rave. 10pm-3am, £5. jager bomb @ k2 (mmu) - indie, rock, dance and punk. 9.30pm-2.30am, £3/4.

THURSDAYSevery thursday :uberwang! @ the phoenix - alternative, pop-punk, dnb and pop (with bands once per month). £3/5, 9pm-2.30am.thurs 11th december :bomb ibiza @ satan’s hollow - ska, punk, two-tone and ska-core. 10.30pm-2.30am, £2.my oh my @ retro bar - modern indie and electro. 10pm-2am, £2/3.thurs 18th december :favour the alternative @ satan’s hollow - punk, metal, ska and pop-punk. 10pm-2.30am, £2.


CLUBNIGHT LISTINGSTIRED OF ALWAYS ENDING UP IN THE SAME CLUB, WITH THE SAME SONGS? THEN TRY SOME OF THESE ON FOR SIZE...

MONDAYSevery monday : revolver @ the roadhouse - 60s garage, rock n’ roll, motown, 60s pop and northern soul. 11pm-3am, £3/4.

TUESDAYSevery tuesday :sex with robots @ the roadhouse - electro, rave and big beats. 11pm-3am, £FREE.missionary @ subspace - electronica, drum and bass, hip hop. 10pm-3am, £4/5.

WEDNESDAYSevery wednesday :now wave @ the deaf institute - electro and indie rave. 10pm-3am, £5. jager bomb @ k2 (mmu) - indie, rock, dance and punk. 9.30pm-2.30am, £3/4.

THURSDAYSevery thursday :uberwang! @ the phoenix - alternative, pop-punk, dnb and pop (with bands once per month). £3/5, 9pm-2.30am.thurs 11th december :bomb ibiza @ satan’s hollow - ska, punk, two-tone and ska-core. 10.30pm-2.30am, £2.my oh my @ retro bar - modern indie and electro. 10pm-2am, £2/3.thurs 18th december :favour the alternative @ satan’s hollow - punk, metal, ska and pop-punk. 10pm-2.30am, £2.


CLUBNIGHT LISTINGSTIRED OF ALWAYS ENDING UP IN THE SAME CLUB, WITH THE SAME SONGS? THEN TRY SOME OF THESE ON FOR SIZE...

FRIDAYSevery friday :risk it for a biscuit! @ odd bar - disco, funk, punk and new wave. £FREE. fri 5th december :sin city @ retro bar - goth, alternative 80s, ebm and new wave. 9pm-3am, £4.fri 12th december :club clique @ mint lounge - indie and electro. 10pm-3am, £5/6.micron @ spektrum - house, techno and rave. 10pm-5am, £8/9.voodoo @ retro bar - surf, 60s garage, new wave and r n’r. 10pm-3am, £4/5.

SATURDAYSevery saturday :shoplifters @ bar odder - remixes, covers and stolen genius. 9pm-3am, £FREE.across the tracks @ subspace - funk, soul and disco. 10.30pm-3am. £FREE/4/5.sat 6th december :contort yourself @ the roadhouse - electro, punk-funk and dance. 11pm-3am, £TBC.refuse to lose @ retro bar - pop-punk, gruff, hardcore, indie-rock. 10pm-3am, £4.sat 20th december :rock n’ roll hellkats @ retro bar - psychobilly, rockabilly, punk and r n’r. 10pm-3am, £4/5.

SUNDAYSevery sunday :rolling sunday revue @ the ram & shackle - folk, blues, acoustic and open mic. 5pm onwards, £FREE.sun 7th december :your mama’s cookin’ @ odd bar - rockabilly and early r n’b. 8pm-12.30am, £FREE.



- S t y l e -Vintage fashion is all the rage at the moment and we are constantly seeing classic pieces coming back into fashion. The high street retailers have reconstructed these old classics to recreate similar former fashion garments. But what if you want the real thing? Well then you need to seek out the local charity shops, boutiques, dress agents and specialist vintage shops. Here you can take home a bit of that real fashion history and have something truly unique that your friends wont nip out and get the next day!

These second hand shops sell great items of clothing for a frac-tion of the original price and it’s a thrill fi nding your dream garment as when you fi nd your treasure it feels great. Often older pieces are hand-crafted, having more time and effort put into the item as nowadays production tries to cut out time and waste.

Charity shops sell a huge range of products from bags to hats, jewel-lery to winter coats so you never know what you might come home with. If you fi nd a good charity shop you’ll fi nd quality in quantity and you can have that feel good factor of helping a good cause. You’ll soon fi nd out that “one mans junk is another mans treasure”. The charity shops you should look out for are:• Oxfam• Barnardos• Scope• Age concern

hannah lumb, olivia coffee & claire hermone.

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If you’re looking for vintage shops in Manchester head towards the Northern Quarter:

• Oldham St to fi nd a collection of vintage shops like Oxfam Originals, Pop Boutique, Abakhan fabrics and much, much more.• Tib Street for Rags to Bitches.• Church Street for Affl ecks • Tariff Street for Rockers England.

You’ll fi nd plenty of Vintage shops and boutiques to get you started here so get searching for that perfect clothing that’s waiting for you. If you’re really interested in the subject, read “It’s Vintage Darling!” by Christa Weil = it’s all about how to be a clothes connoisseur!

Good luck in your treasure hunt!

Tips on dressing vintage:• Start in your comfort zone. Wear a high street dress you feel comfortable in and dress with a vintage scarf, bag or accessory. Once you feel more comfortable in spotting and wearing vin tage clothes, move on to more daring items.

• Be selective. Vintage shopping can be time con- suming and you may come out with nothing. Be patient and you will eventually come away with great unique pieces.

• Make sure it fi ts. Don’t compromise on your size and personal preferences. It may be a great top but if it doesn’t fi t and fl atter your shape it won’t look right!

• Watch out for damaged or delicate garments. Some pieces can have stains or holes so make sure you check the piece fully before buying. Also if its delicate, it may not be practical for everyday wear.

How to update a great classic:• If you’re feeling creative, sew beads or trims on to freshen up the garment.

• Shorten a frumpy dress/skirt and wear with tights and boots for the day and heels for the evening.

• Belt a loose t-shirt or dress to nip in at the waist.

Fleetwood Mac


- SCOTT BRAY -Following on from last month’s look at the initial rise of the fairer sex in music, SC takes a look at some of the most influential female-fronted bands and artists.

Mainstream bands like The Carpenters, Jef-ferson Airplane and Fleetwood Mac have all featured female musicians but alternative music has always been a haven for female musicians to be creative. Nico, Moe Tucker, Kim Gordon, Kim Deal and Courtney Love are just a selection of females who have found fame in the Alternative Genre.

When Kate Bush topped the charts with Wuthering Heights she became the first fe-male to top the UK charts with a self-penned song. Her influences ranged from New Wave to Prog-Rock to Celtic folk and all manners of literary works. She would often appear on stage in a leotard performing expressive dance routines and she produced all her own records. Kate Bush was an original that paved the way for acts like Enya and Bjork who fol-lowed her.

With its ties to the art scene and many ac-tivist groups the early Alternative scene wel-comed females, it even spawned a very female sub-genre known as Riot-Grrl.

The Velvet Underground were one of, possi-bly the first Alternative bands. Featuring the Nazi Germany born model Nico on vocals and the ‘unconventional’ Moe Tucker on drums/vocals, The Velvet Underground reached noto-riety for their droning, unconventional songs and for depicting the darker side of life. Andy Warhol’s decision to promote them brought the world of Art and Music worlds together paving the way for bands like Blondie, Talking Heads and Sonic Youth.

Patti Smith was another key figure in the early Alternative scene coming from the beat poet scene that spawned Hip-Hop. The former Creem magazine writer began reciting her po-etry over the three-chord rock ‘n’ roll supplied by her band Her 1975 debut album, Horses, opens with the line ‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine’ and tracks like ‘Pissing in the River’ and Rock ‘n’ Roll N*gger’ were a mill-

where they would write about things like mu-sic and politics. Certain feminist magazines began proclaiming ‘Revolution Girl Style Now’ and through these zines a lot of bands started forming.

When K records held the International Pop Underground Convention it brought together a lot of the girl bands, who called themselves Riot Grrls, for its girls only ‘Love Rock Revolution Girl Style Now’ day one. With bands such as the pixies and L7 on other days it was clear something was hap-pening.

With it’s roots set firmly in the punk D.I.Y. culture and choosing to focus on more fe-male orientated subject matter, like moth-erhood and rape, the Riot Grrl movement attracted disillusioned girls (and boys) all over America. The bands tended to protect the girls at shows by telling ‘moshers,’ to do it at the back of the venue and thus became viewed as sexist towards boys. Though they viewed themselves, as Molly Neuman once summarized: “not anti-boy, we’re pro-girl.”

The success of alternative music in the nineties led to the tagging of any band that seemed to feature a girl as Riot Grrls. Once the media got a hold of the term, bands with no politics such as Hole, PJ Harvey and even No Doubt seemed to fall under the Riot Grrl header. The policies were misrepre-sented because ‘it was easier to focus on the fact that these were girls who were wear-ing barrettes in their hair or writing ‘slut’ on their stomach’ and Riot Grrl, it was suggest-ed ‘dragged feminism into the mosh pit. The Riot Grrl movement ended almost as quickly as it started with most of the bands choosing to split up and pursue other ven-tures. Simon Fuller saw the popularity of the movement and used it as a blueprint for his latest project, The Spice Girls, which leads us through to modern day.

Debbie Harry


lion miles away from the tales of romantic love and protest songs of her predecessors. Despite having only one successful single, the Bruce Springstein penned ‘Because The Night’ her influence is audible on artists like PJ Harvey and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The New York scenes most influential export was Debbie (Deborah) Harry. With striking features and silky voice, Harry enjoyed a lot of mainstream success fronting Blondie. One of the first bands to be tagged as New Wave (A ‘safer’ punk rock) they experimented with rap, disco and reggae and continue to be in-fluential in the modern day as evidenced by bands like No Doubt and Paramore. Blondie made it more acceptable for women to be in rock bands and acts like the Runaways, The Go-Go’s and the Bangles began appearing playing blondie-esque pop/rock.

In the early nineties rock fans who were second-wave feminists began producing a number of zines, homemade magazines-


1) What have you been up to in the last 5 years?Well, I left Mansun in 2003 then in 2004 I put the unfinished fourth album ‘Kleptomania’ together and released that on Parlophone, the band’s label. Then in 2005 I moved over to France and recorded and wrote with Skin from Skunk An-ansie for her solo album. Then i took a couple of years out before getting back into producing a few artists and finally getting back to doing my own project!2) What advice would you give to a young Paul Draper?Go solo!3) You, Who Do You Hate?I’m pretty fair, I fucking hate everyone! No, not really. I did when i was younger, but I don’t really hate anyone now!4) What happened to the money that was thrown in the train station in the Taxloss video?There must be 5000 fivers that have been spent some-where. I’ve often had people come up to me with a Taxloss fiver. We got some fans out of it who never spent their fiver. It had a sticker on each one saying it’s a taxloss, and it was!5) What would you class as your proudest career moment(s)?Hmm... I dont really think of it like that in terms of achieve-ments, just in terms of songs written I guess. The best one I think I wrote was ‘Keep Tellin Myself ’ from Kleptomania.6) And low points?The end was pretty bad - I was just glad to get out. I’d taken it as far as I could by that point.7) Vans or tour buses?Tour buses. I liked touring on a bus. Doing people carriers and hotels was ok but a bit too ‘Westlife’ if you know what I mean.8) What are your top 3 films? And top 3 albums?One Flew Over The Cockoo’s Nest. Battleship Potemkin. Be-ing John Malkovich.Parade - Prince, Abbey Road - The Beatles, Songs for the Deaf - Queens Of The Stone Age.9) If we saw you in a pub, what should we buy you?Pint of Guinness.10) What new bands do you like at the moment?This year has been terrible for new bands, probably the worst ever. There’s no money around to invest in new talent I guess with the download generation.

11) What would you ask God?I don’t really believe in God, just something in case there’s something else. Keeping my options open I guess.12) How do you go about writing songs?I put loads of bits of hummed melodies and chords into my dictaphone. Then I come back a few days later and keep the best bits and edit them down. Then I always keep a book of words and I find a theme from the book and work it into the melody until it means something to me and fits with the music feel-wise.13) Do you have a guilty pleasure track?‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins. It’s in the tom fill.14) What would you have done if you didn’t get into music? I’d have liked to be an architect.15) Which pin-up would you skin-up with?Kate Moss16) What are the ingredients to your ideal Full English? All in. The lot.17) Are any of the characters in your songs based on real people?Oh yeah, they’re all based on real people that I’ve met at some point.18) If there was a movie made of your life, what song would be playing over the flashback-montage scene? The end of ‘Legacy’ by Mansun where it repeats ‘Nobody cares when your gone’.19) What are your future plans?Finally getting down to my first post-Mansun project. I’ll be writing and producing it, so you can get info on it from my mailing list. (www.pauldraper.info)20) What is the punchline to your favourite joke?“Its my brother getting his balls out of the wheel barrow”

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