Mr Egg Issue 3

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'The views expressed within these pages are those of the reviewers and individual members of the general public and in no way re-

flect the opinions of Mr Egg or its advertisers.'

THIS ISSUE

Page

3. 20 years of Basingstoke music family tree

4. hammer and tongs review

6. xerath interview

10. house party punk review

13. Hairspray review

15. sik mix review

16 . Natasha watts interview

20. Johnny Marvel

21. 50’s and 60’s by QMC Music 50’s and 60’s by QMC Music 50’s and 60’s by QMC Music 50’s and 60’s by QMC Music

22. Diary of brassneck

23. Grandpa eggs music quiz

24. Gig listings

26. competition

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Twenty years of the Basingstoke Musical Family TreeTwenty years of the Basingstoke Musical Family TreeTwenty years of the Basingstoke Musical Family TreeTwenty years of the Basingstoke Musical Family Tree

Basingstoke is not normally seen as a hotbed of talent. A handful of well-known peo-ple in the entertainment industry have come from Basingstoke, notable examples being Tanita Tikaram and Liz Hurley. In fact, Basingstoke is full of musical talent, and I have been amazed over the last 15 years or so, at the range and quality of local bands, musicians and DJs. Despite a gen-eral lack of venues, there is a group of highly talented people who have made the most of what is around and continue to delight us with their music. After a recent reminisce it felt right that perhaps we should aim to pull strands together and show how different people have been connected over the years, and how various bands and musicians have evolved. Some are no longer in Basingstoke, many still are. My own memories go back around 15 years but I am aware that the history goes back further, and perhaps the last 20 years would cover most links. And who am I? I am Helen, perhaps known by some as partner for a number of years of Sweeval Weardley of Psychestra, which reminds me of the musician joke ‘What do you call a musician without a girlfriend?’ Answer: ‘Homeless’. Sorry, that just came to me! Anyway, along with Sweeval, Jane and Pog, Naomi and John McGarvey, I helped to organise the Optophonic parties, held in Brookvale and Moose halls. I have also twice been the landlady of Robbie Fraser (best tenant I ever had – do I get a drink for that Robbie?) and saw the formation of Charlie’s Mushrooms. You all have your own pieces of the puzzle and I am in the process of gathering infor-mation to construct the Basingstoke Musical FamilyTree! Please let me have any snip-pets, posters, pics, demo tapes etc (which will all be returned) and I think you will be amazed at the extent of it. It should be ready in the New Year. I was at the New Inn on Sunday and saw some of the Lucifer Jazz team performing. They had a guest keyboard player, and they were going to play a song that several seemed to not know well. They spent a minute or two checking out the music, playing it softly, and then on the count of 4 all came in and played it wonderfully. Only true musicians can sound almost as good when they jam as when they are thoroughly re-hearsed – yes we definitely have loads of talent in Basingstoke!!

Can You help Helen out? If you have any snippets, posters, pics, demo tapes etc

(which will all be returned) that can help build the musi-

cal family tree then please send an email to [email protected].

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Hammer and Tongs 6/11/9 Review by J

photos by wheels

Rob Hayes opened Lozza’s occasional Fri-day slot at the HAT. His set was well re-ceived, but as I was a little late and only managed to catch the end of the last tune I can’t pass much comment. Sorry Rob!

Next up are Burning Idols, a breezy acoustic ska band. I’d seen them a few months back as a three piece at an open mic, but today Stoos ener-getic guitar is embellished by the fluid lines of bassist Dave (they are missing their drummer tonight). Their songs have positive vibes leap-ing out of them, and are immediate and melodic. The voices of Jim and Anny seem made for each other, al-most Gram and Emmylou-like in the way they bring out each others character. Burn-ing Idols would be ideal for a sunny summer festival, but for now lighting up a grim winter evening will do fine.

Gig ReviewsGig ReviewsGig ReviewsGig Reviews

Merry Christmas to all Mr Egg readers from 100% Music

Please visit the site below for your free music downloads

http://www.onehundredpercentmusic.com/merryxmasmregg.aspx

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The 4th the 5th were making their debut, having only been together for a few weeks.

They played a short but im-pressive set, endearingly ram-shackle, with harmonies and weaving guitars, and a combina-tion of acoustic and effects-heavy electric, given plenty of room by restrained drumming. The tunes tend towards an an-themic melancholy, but thank-fully without over-emoting. They are releasing an EP soon which should be well worth a listen.

The Stanley Blacks are from Guildford and have been gigging full time recently. This showed in a highly polished sound, big and bouncy as their lead singers’ mop of hair. I’d caught them at the Light Lounge a year or so ago, but the more intimate setting of the Hammer suited them. They have a very Strokesy sound, but by then the ale had kicked in and critical faculties had faded somewhat, so I just enjoyed their set for what it was, well crafted indie rock. Songs like ‘Whiskey Eyes’ did not out-stay their wel-come. I’d quite happily watch them again. Overall a good mix of styles put together by Loz and a fun gig. It wasn’t a particu-larly well attended night, (it’s a good enough venue, just a little too far out of town maybe) but it is important that these kinds of nights continue. Local bands need the opportunity to play, and to play with out of town bands.

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Xerath is a new cutting edge band combining crushing Meshuggah style riffs with epic orches-tral composition. Their sound can be described as taking influence from Strapping young lad, Meshuggah and Dimmu Borgir to create a distinctive sound they call "orchestral groove metal" (or chug-score!) Their debut album ‘I’ is out now and available at record stores and online. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to ask them a few questions. Hello Xerath! Let’s start with the introductions… Who are the current members of Xerath and what are your roles in the band? The current line up consists of Mike Pitman on drums, Rich Thompson on vocals, Owain Williams on guitar and Nik Wolf as bassist. We’ve had a bit of a shimmy around because Andy Phillipshas taken a back seat role in the band as more of a management thing. Basically Andy took on a really good job working with our label as a graphic designer. He’d been having second thoughts about a life within a touring band for a while now and this tipped him over the edge. There were no hard feelings as the last thing we’d want is for a band member to be unhappy! Andy’s contribution is completely invaluable so its great he’s staying with us on a management basis, he works directly with our label so he’s a great point of contact for any questions we might have, or demands haha! Nik is a guy Mike met a couple of months back. Mike was going to help Nik out with a bit of drum-ming for his own project, and it turned out he was a sick ass guitar/bass player so it couldn’t have fit better really. We’ve rehearsed quite a bit with him and we sound better than ever. You can catch him on the tour! - Are there any bits of kit or software that you use that you would recommend to other mu-sicians? Well the first piece of advice would be to try and pick software that is relevant to the music you are playing and then make damn sure you got the power in the PC or MAC to run it. You don’t want your work crashing on you. We use stuff like Eastwest Orchestra blended in with thou-sands of weird samples we source from all over the place to get the desired effect. We make our own samples on occasion which usually just involves us with microphones up our butts trying to make volcano noises with our bowels. Live, we play along to the orchestral backing tracks straight from the album, and we have a click fed through to Mike so he can keep us all in time. We use an Alesis hard drive sampler to do this. It’s an annoyingly expensive way of doing it, but its gotta be done!

An interview with by stoo smith

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- What other bands music are you listening to at the moment? Anyone you would recommend to our readers? Well all the guys in the band have quite a range of musical interests. From a songwriting point of view it’s great to have an eclectic taste as you can draw ideas from just about anywhere, even if you’re playing the heaviest of heavy metal! Rich, for example, has been listening to a lot of soul/funk bands like Tower of Power, Average White Band and Weather Report, alongside some down tempo stuff such as Zero 7, and some Daath (progressive death metal). As you can see it’s all over the place, and it’s much the same for the other guys! As for what I would recommend? Tower of Power baby! Especially for you drummers out there. Check 'em out. Are there any up and coming local or unsigned bands we should keep an eye out for? Or are they all rubbish? To be fair, a good percentage of UK metal unsigned bands are pretty lame, everyone is just trying to rip off everyone else (especially American bands) and it kinda all just sounds the same. However there are some really good bands to watch for such as Ancient Ascendant, and our chugging brothers TesseracT who have been making a name for themselves for years now. Check these bands out and be proud to be British! I saw you’d recommended Chimp Spanner in a previous interview. I have a sneaky suspicion it could be one of you lot? Haha! Unfortunately none of us are involved in Chimp Spanner, we don’t know the guy personally we just came across him one day using Lastfm. In fact we asked the dude to come audition for us, no reply! Son of a bitch ;). He’s definitely a talented guy though, just hope he can get a band together instead of just keeping it a bedroom project, too many of those around! - Are your lives dedicated entirely to Xerath or do you have other projects, hobbies or jobs, etc? Our lives are "mostly" dedicated to Xerath. Avant style metal is not going to be enough to support you to pay bills etc so jobs inevitably have to play some part in our lifestyle but generally we all have hobbies. One other project is Primer, a progressive rock band setup by Rich, in which he plays drums and sings, Owain plays lead guitar, Mike plays Bass and sings, and a good friend of ours (and house-mate!) Nariman, who plays electro acoustic guitar. (He also plays with the amazing prog death metal band Ancient Ascendant, google them now or die horribly) I guess that’s the two main things going on at the moment, though because we have a home stu-dio we can have as many projects as we want really! Though Xerath certainly takes priority for now and the near future of course! - I will have to check out Primer (I’m a big fan of anything progressive!). Do you have recordings or is this still a work in progress? Speaking of paying the bills, I heard a rumour that you also play in a function band for pay? Is this true or just slanderous lies?

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Yes Primer is a full functioning band with recordings, promo pictures, instruments and every-thing! You can find some recordings at www.myspace.com/primeruk. Haha yes this is completely true. Rich, Mike, Owain and our good friend Billy (Andy’s brother) all play in a funky function band called Planet Head Jam. We’re a hit with the working class of Basingstoke. Check us out! We're available for weddings, parties and bar mitzvahs. http://www.myspace.com/planetheadjam. - Which previous bands were you each in and what, if anything, do you think you may have bought from those bands into Xerath? Well there has been a Xerath before this one with Mike and Owain that oddly enough played metal with synthy orchestra arrangements on it! The sound was more black metal and al-though elements of song structuring and the occasional riff made it over from the first at-tempt I think Xerath as it stands today was a very direct attempt to not play what we had been doing before in bands! Also Rich and Andy were in a progressive extreme metal band called Chaos Incarcerated, it was quite technical music and for Xerath we want to focus on groove rather than being as compli-cated as possible, so when it comes to writing Rich has to change his mindset somewhat and at-tempt to keep things simple! - Ah yes... I remember Chaos Incarcerated! You have definitely struck a good balance between complexity and groove that keeps the music accessible. Didn’t one of you play in Vae Victus? Yes, Mike used to play with them, very long time ago! Interestingly, Tom, the bassist from Malefice was in this band too. It seems we have a weird compulsion to be in as many projects as possible! - We're you pleased with the first album? Do you have plans for the next album? The first album, in terms of sales figures and our own satisfaction, has done well. It’s a home recorded demo essentially that had some cosmetic and audio tweaking and was all done on a tiny budget so I think all of us in Xerath felt a sense of pride with its ongoing success. We’ve been writing for the second album for a while now, and we can say with no doubt that it’ll kill the first record. The grooves are better, the orchestration is better, and it will be pro-duced better. We'll be touring the first album for a while but we plan to release it around May/June. - How about a gig in Basingstoke? We’ve played Chicago's in previous bands and that seemed to go well. Our going rates are a free bar tab and some nice trashy divorcees and then we’re available to any gig in our home town!

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- I will see what I can do! Of course, you are about to begin your UK tour. Are you all ready to go? Any plans for festivals next year? I’m definitely going to Bloodstock, seeing as Devin Town-send is playing. And I’m pretty sure you would go down well with the metal-heads at the Euro-pean festivals! Yep! We’re all geared up and rehearsed for the tour, we can’t wait to get out there and destroy. It’ll be great to be playing night after night rather than sporadic gigs here and there. After that there will be more UK tours and we'll head into Europe for some shows too. We’d love to play some festivals next year, we played Blood-stock and that was a great experience (we HAVE to get on the line up next year, I’m going to stalk Devin and make him be my friend), and it would be even better to get on the bill of a European festival. We go to Wacken pretty much every year and the atmosphere is just brilliant. Hellfest is great too! Shit, I hope they all book us! STOO: THANKS GUYS! I WILL SEE WHAT I CAN DO! WELL, WHILST I WORK ON SOME TRASHY DIVORCEES AND FREE BAR TABS YOU CAN CATCH XERATH ON THEIR UK TOUR AND VARIOUS OTHER GIGS. GO TO WWW.MYSPACE.COM/XERATH OR WWW.XERATH.NET FOR GIG DATES AND MORE INFO. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! BY STOO SMITH - [email protected]

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White Hart - House Party Punk

30th October

Review by Punk Princess Photos by Issuepunkzine

As Halloween is my favourite time of year, what better way to begin the weekend than with a House Party Punk gig at the White Hart...first on were Burning Idols. These

guys have improved a lot since the last time I saw them, obviously due to plenty of practice and hard work. They delivered a tight and well-received set. The pub was heaving with good-spirited, happy people. It was an evening that had got off to a promising start. I am still not sure what genre I would put Burning Idols in, maybe they have created their own? Come along, watch them and decide for yourself. The evening began well thanks to you!!

Second in line were...Second In Line, wow! Having seen them a few times before, I knew what to expect: great energy, friendly banter and fantastic lyrics. There was a lot of jumping about and plenty of smiling faces, even if they were smeared with fake blood n dark make-up! They certainly deliv-ered what I expected with songs that en-couraged audience par-ticipation, namely 'The Bop-Bop Song' which got us all crouching down then bursting into a fast jog on the spot. Great fun was had by all and enjoy-able music was heard by all. I and many others enjoyed your set - keep it up!

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Kicked In - these guys are loud, full of jumping-beans and certainly well loved. The on-lookers got stuck right in. Front man, Alex has the perfect attitude to play his part in this band, instrumentally I couldn’t fault them. This boisterous bunch of talented musicians played songs that seemed to take you back to the original punk era. I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that they went down extremely well with all of us. The vibrant energy was infec-tious. Great line-up for the Hal-loween weekend. I’m looking for-ward to getting a Kicked In fix again soon. A musical workout lads! Needed that! Smokey Bastard - I have heard how great this band is, but luckily I found out for my-self tonight. I really loved these guys. I would describe them as the kind of band you would expect to hear in an Irish pub. They were lively, humorous and a real joy to listen to. The set had most of the White Hart jig-ging, clapping and having loads of fun. It was clear to everyone in there that Smokey Bastard are more than ca-pable of putting together a bril-liant set. Instru-ments included the usual drums and guitars but also a sax and a penny whistle. Smokey Bastard ended the evening perfectly. I’m hoping to get an interview soon! I had a happy Hallow-een, as did everyone in the White Hart.

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Hairspray by Wheels

Between Thursday 29th October and Saturday 31st October, BATS Next Gen gave four performances of the hit Broadway and West End musical "Hairspay" at Queen Mary's Hall. I went along on Thursday's opening night. BATS Next Gen are a group of very talented local youngsters aged between 7 and 18. The aim of the group is to provide affordable theatre experience to local children.. Members of other local theatre companies help provide expertise and training. Hairspray is set in 1962. Baltimore’s Tracy Turnblad, (played by Emily Marshall) is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart. Tracy's passion is to dance and win the affection of heartthrob Link Larkin (Zak Shrapnell). In a bid to do this, Tracy manages to integrate a TV show changing the course of American television. Emily's portrayal of Tracy was full of confidence and her all round talent on the stage made this the perfect part for her. Corny Collins who is the host of "The Corny Collins Show" is played by Harry Harwood who is well known in the local music scene for his singing and songwriting ability. Harry plays this part with attitude and very much resembles a young Darren Miller from Eastenders in his costumes. Becca Ridout who played Tracy's best friend Penny Pingleton stood out to me as hav-ing fabulous stage presence as well as coming across as being an all round out-standing dancer, singer, actor and comedian. The highlight of act one was "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" which see's Penny, Tracy and attention seeking blonde, Amber Von Tussle, singing along side their mothers. The star of the show for me was 18 year old Ben Summers who played Edna Turnblad. Edna is Tracy's mum and the role is cast as a male dressed as a woman, (Michael Ball opened this part in the West End and it was also played by John Travolta on the screen version). When joined by James Pemberton as Tracy's dad, (Wilbur Turnblad), for "You're Timeless To Me", Ben's comedy timing and natural chemistry with James resulted in the biggest applause of the night (especially for the reprise). An example of two performers working exceptionally well together. The enthusiasm and natural stage presence of several of the younger members of the ensemble shone as potential lead material for future shows. In particular charac-ters such as Fender (Max Harwood) and IQ (Austin Champion). A fabulous show with sets and scenes that mirror the West End and Broadway pro-ductions rather than the more recent and familiar film version. It was obvious that the cast and crew had put in a lot of effort to learn lines, difficult dance routines, nail the American accent and manage the stage. It was hard to believe that the show I was watching was only the third complete run.

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The band complemented the performance very well however the sound did appear to drown out the singers on the more upbeat numbers but this did not distract the au-dience from what was going on. This production of Hairspray was entirely believable and perhaps better than some professional productions as the children are the right age for the parts. It was great to see smiles all round from the cast and it was no-ticeable that a lot of fun was being had by everyone in the company. The final number of the show "You Can't Stop The Beat" had the entire audience clapping along. To find out more about Bats Next Gen, please visit www.batsnextgen.co.uk

Mr Egg Recommends ‘Meat’

Mr Egg would like to draw your attention to a fantastic award winning film made by some local lads for the short film competition ‘2 Days Later’. Their film is called ‘Meat’. Written and Produced by Mark Brennan (who won ‘Best Screenplay’), Directed by Alexander Loeseke, Starring Nick Afka, James Burton (who won ‘Best Actor’), Paul ‘The Ham’ Anderson and Gareth Evans with a great original song at the end by Joe ‘Kalimoto’ French. Plus the film itself was nominated for ‘Best Film’ and voted ‘Most Popular Film’ by the audience. So set aside 10 short minutes, get on the net, go to this address or click the link if you’re reading this on the web version and watch this great, clever and witty short horror. www.2dayslater.co.uk/films/meat.html

Welcome me this Christmas We are trying to get loads of hits on his video so that we can have a traditional feelgood Christmas song this year and not one from X factor again. It's been done on a shoestring, with no money and no time. This song and video are made by people from Basingstoke and the money will go to Children in need. please copy and paste the link http://romanyrebel.bandcamp.com/http://romanyrebel.bandcamp.com/http://romanyrebel.bandcamp.com/http://romanyrebel.bandcamp.com/

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Sik Mix Productions

14th November

by Becky Jenkins

Saturday night at Platforms definitely showed Basingstoke its finest night of Drum and Bass. For those of you who don’t know the bar – it’s located next to the train station and used to be called Sleepers.

Sik Mix productions kindly put on another free night and presented a quality line up of local talent from Basingstoke, as well as rolling in big names from Bournemouth and Winchester. It was great to see such a good turn out – the sound system abso-lutely thumped and kept the dance floor ram packed till the bar closed!!!

Headlining the night were Dj Klip (Innovation ) Dj Whitey ( Enter ) and Dj Sonna ( Federa-tion records ), along with the usual suspects of Murdoch, Haggis, Remedi b2b Dvant, Gambino b2b Ratty, J tha don Dappa b2b Slikz.

Each DJ had the speakers thumping with the freshest sounds in Drum and Bass, along with a bit of dirty dubstep and the much needed classic jungle stompers thrown in too

They totally smashed it with a good range of dark and dirty DnB to some lively Jump Up and gave the crowd exactly what they wanted

Special thanks also to the Mc’s Felon ( Enter ), Scaze, Don Dappa, Panna, Jepadee and Ryder who brought it all together and kept the crowd hyped!

All in all the night ran smoothly and there were some great vibes inside Platforms – this was only the sec-ond night Sik Mix has put on and al-ready people can’t wait for the next one. It’s great to see so many peo-ple coming along to enjoy more Drum and Bass in Basingstoke.

Sik Mix productions plan to hold the next night in the The Winton, on the 27th Novem-ber. For more details log on to the website or check out the Facebook page for Dee-jay Haggis. Watch this space for the next event at Platforms.

If you love Drum and Bass you will want to be part of this, Sik Mix definitely know how to put on a good night, so make sure you spread the word. Even if you are not too familiar with this genre of music come and check the night out and see what you have been missing. I guarantee you will have a good time and be dancing your socks off come the end of the night!

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Natasha Watts interview

by Paula Edwards

If you said the name Natasha Watts in some of the pubs and clubs in London you’re likely to get instant acknowledgement. She has performed at some of the most cele-brated music venues in the UK such as The 100 Club and The Jazz Cafe and is fast making a name for herself in other countries too thanks to the release of a number of songs on Traxsource, a worldwide online chart for her cho-sen style of music. Yet in her hometown of Basing-stoke, few music promoters or local artists/musicians know who she is or what she does so I recently caught up with Natasha to find out more. When I arrived at our meeting and met Natasha there was an instant rapport. She was very friendly and wel-coming and showed no sign of any narcissism which can often be seen in rising stars. My first impression was that Natasha is quite simply a ‘girl-next-door’, but also someone who is very tenacious in her ambitions and determination to achieve her goal. Our conversation starts at the beginning with how it all started, and it soon becomes evident that it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the up and coming soul sensa-tion. From an early age Natasha knew she wanted to perform and initially wanted to be a dancer, attending the Petite School of Dancing at her local community centre from the age of seven doing theatrical singing and dancing. This whet her appetite considerably for the arts and, at 16, Natasha started to attend auditions in the West End. Regrettably, and to her dismay, she discovered that she was about a foot shorter than everyone else and so her dancing career ended before it had even begun. Fortunately her love of music and the arts was too strong to admit complete defeat and she decided to try her hand at singing. “I knew I could sing, although I didn’t know quite how well. But, once I got

started that was it, that was the path I

wanted to pursue”. At that time Natasha was quite a small fish in a very big sea until an opportunity was presented to her that could have changed all that, but unfortunately it didn’t quite go to plan. “I was about eighteen and, quite frankly, knew absolutely nothing and I had quite a big opportunity in that I was invited to a meeting with the Chief Executive of Columbia New

York. So I was sat in a hotel suite in front of these people who, at the time, I didn’t

actually know who they were or appreciate their importance, and had an interview, or

rather interrogation with them.”

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She continues. “I was then taken to Wembley and I remember being there and Michael Mauldin (who is actually Jermaine Dupri’s Dad, but I didn’t know that then) said to me, do you want

to meet Mary? We went over to a group of people and there in front of me was

Mary J Blige. I couldn’t even speak, I mean this was about 1996 and Mary was a huge

artist back then. So, Michael says “Mary, this is Natasha” and her response was

“Humph”, she just totally blanked me. I then turned around and was confronted

with TLC. One of them, I think it was T-Boz, was really nice to me, but the others

totally ignored me and walked the other way.” Feeling completely disgruntled and let down, Natasha made her excuses and went home hoping to put the whole experience behind her and found a welcome distraction to do just that, although not the kind you might think. Natasha had discovered she was pregnant. The birth of her son took her away from the limelight for the next seven years as she spent this time raising him and working a normal day job to provide for her new family, yet still keeping her hand in doing the odd bit of singing here and there and lots of karaoke. She then picked up the torch again, hoping to start making a name for herself, although not really seeing any results for all the work she was put-ting in, but a family tragedy was set to change all that. In 2008 Natasha lost her mum, the person she cites as the main reason she got in to singing and dancing in the first place. Natasha referred to this event as we talked as the biggest challenge she’s faced so far yet, fortunately, was able to overcome. “I think my biggest challenge I’ve ever had to face in life was losing my mum. You know, emotionally and spiritually and, you know, I could have killed myself the week

after..........I actually had suicidal thoughts based on what am I going to do without

her. I remember lying next to the grave, sobbing uncontrollably, laying on the

ground like ‘I want to be with you’ and you know, how the hell do you pull yourself

back from that, but somehow I have. I’m upset about it and I can feel emotional

about it because I know it was such a dark place, I was prepared to walk away from

everything because I just couldn’t cope with the grief. That, for me, has probably

been the biggest challenge and yet somehow not only have I managed to pull myself

back, but I’ve pulled myself back fighting with real determination”.

This tragic loss prompted Natasha to take a step back and consider her options, culminating in the decision to quit her well-paid job and focus on music and her sing-ing 100%, giving herself to the end of 2009 to make something happen. She starts taking me through her 6 and 12 month plans in more detail and, as she does, there’s one thing she seems absolutely certain about. “I won’t do anything in this country; I would never take my album to a UK record la-

bel. Unfortunately there’s still, dare I say it, certain race issues in this country

so for the kind of music I want to do the UK is not really the place to get behind me.

I mean, yes I could get a record label in this country to do the soul type vibe that I

want to do, but they wouldn’t put any money behind it or promote it and I’d proba-

bly end up like a lot of the UK black soul/R&B artists who come and then they’re

gone with no longevity. I really believe it’s about being smart and trying to be two

steps ahead which is why I’ve got some American producers on side as they’re more

connected so if they believe in what they’ve done with me they will push it over

there to get signed.”

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There has been a bit of a misconception surrounding Natasha’s success in the past in that people seemed to have the impression that she’d been doing quite well for some time, however she is quick to set the record straight. “The first record I had out on my own that I had written was last year. I was still working at the time and someone asked me if I wanted to record the song so I did it

one night after work, but I didn’t see that as the start of a career, I was just doing

a song” If you’ve seen any of Natasha’s live shows you’ll know her current style of music is predominantly soulful house with large influences on vocal house from the 90’s, al-though the solo album she’s due to release next year will be purely soul. During our conversation Natasha plays me a snippet of a song she’s currently working on to give me an idea of what the solo album will sound like. It was quite American in style, although completely UK produced, and was reminiscent of the likes of Maxwell or early Angie Stone in that the arrangement was very subtle and the vocal smooth and velvety. “I love soulful house vocals because some of my influences are people like Barbara Tucker, Michelle Weeks and Jocelyn Brown. Although, one of my biggest influences is

Jill Scott and that’s the kind of vibe that I’m trying to do with a UK flavour as it’s

actually very trendy to be a British artist in America so I’d also like to try and en-

capsulate that before it’s gone.” Trying to find your place in such a fickle industry is a cutthroat endeavour, but aside from her talents as a vocalist Natasha has developed quite a keen business sense when it comes to the music profession. “I’ve been approached by a production team in San Francisco who want to bring me over there and record four or five tracks with me, but if I do that they’ll want a large

percentage of my publishing at the end of it. If I can find my own endorsements I’ll

only need to offer a small percentage of my publishing which is a much better way of

doing it because then I’m in control and I will own the rights.” “The way that the record industry is now you have to approach it so differently, you can’t just walk in and expect them to offer you a £1m contract because it’s too much

of a risk so you have to be inventive. I’m currently in talks with Japan as there’s a

promoter over there called Yoshi who really loves what I do and wants me to go

over and do a seven night stint, which would be really good exposure. It’s crazy

really because if I can raise my profile over there and get a number one record the UK

and the US will then take notice.” “What I’d like is to be able to go to record companies by the end of the year and say this is the album and this is my following. Doing it that way puts you in a much

stronger position because you already know that you’re going to have a fan base

that will genuinely come and support you.” Singer/Songwriters and musicians today not only have to overcome the volatility of

the music industry, but the age of the digital download is also starting to pose a

problem.

“No-one buys records anymore. I love the internet because without it I wouldn’t be doing half the stuff I’m doing, but at the same time I hate it because I can already

Google the tracks and find them on download sites.”The songs you can currently hear on Traxsource have mostly been written by Natasha herself and I wondered what inspires her to write a song. Is she motivated by events in her life or moved by certain emotions that urge her to put pen to paper.

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“I have a system whereby I never know what I’m going to write. I have a concepts book so sometimes if I’m struggling for something to sing about I will refer to my book,

although I haven’t had to do that for a long time. I’ve probably, in the last two

months, written some of my best work, which I’m really pleased with. I think what in-

spires me is music. I don’t write music so when somebody sends me a composition I

write to it and if that music inspires me then the song will be great.” “I’ve written five of the tracks and one of them is a cover. I wrote ‘Time to Shine’ about my mum and it was the first number three this year so I’m really chuffed with

that.” Our discussion is nearing the end and, by now, I had definitely gotten a feel for the type of person Natasha is. Regardless of the recognition she’s finally starting to receive, there is still a very humble side to her. She is very grounded and appreciative of her roots and where she’s come from. “I’m me and I’ll always be me, I mean, when I’ve come of stage with the band and people have asked for photo’s or autographs, I still find that really trippy. I’m like, I sign

my cheques with that, why would you want that, you know, I still don’t get that. I

couldn’t see myself being any other way than the way I am and if that ever had to

change I don’t know what I’d do. ” “For me it’s not about being famous, I’ve got no desire to be famous. It’s not about going out now and making loads of money, it’s about being understood, appreciated

and respected for what I believe is my art.” “Success, to me, isn’t measured by wealth, success is measured by happiness you know and, point proven in the last year, I had some of the worst financial times but

I’ve still been extremely happy because of where I am. I think you can really only de-

fine success when you know yourself and, lets face it, we don’t know ourselves until

we reach 30’s+. I admit I thought I was Johnny Big Balls when I was 25, but I didn’t

know anything.” As our conversation came to a close, I had just one last question and Natasha was happy to oblige. Where do you see yourself in the next five or ten years? “Ah the infamous question. Um, I do have a plan, I’m hoping to have two albums out next year, one being my solo album and the other being an album full of the collabo-

rations I’ve done over the past 18 months. I’d also like to be, hopefully, touring

quite a bit and have a reasonable fan base.” “I’d love to see myself in five years time having enough money to be able to afford a small place that’s mine. I think that’s my biggest goal in life to be able to say that’s

my house, I bought it.” “You can ask some people what the want and they’re like “Yeah I want a really big house.....” but it’s not realistic, if that comes, fantastic. But, my current house

would suit me. I’ve been materialistic and, you know what, having money and having the

nicer things like ridiculously priced clothes didn’t make me any happier than I am now

and now I shop in places like Primark and I love it.” Things certainly are starting to take off for Natasha albeit not yet in the UK and she

is due to fly out to Australia in February 2010 to do some promotion for a track she

has coming out on an Australian label. It’s clear that Natasha’s perseverance and

dedication to her chosen career is starting to pay off as her dreams are slowly

starting to be fulfilled and she was recently described as ‘a force to be reckoned

with in years to come’.

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JOHNNY MARVEL’S HIGHLY IRREGULAR JAZZZ COLUMNJOHNNY MARVEL’S HIGHLY IRREGULAR JAZZZ COLUMNJOHNNY MARVEL’S HIGHLY IRREGULAR JAZZZ COLUMNJOHNNY MARVEL’S HIGHLY IRREGULAR JAZZZ COLUMN

Outta sight there hipsters! More gravy from this month’s “Joint Of Jazz” that began with myself and fellow Luciferian, Fez Freakley hit-ting the bright lights of old Lon-don town for a night called “Boat-ting” featuring the beat poetry of “Jazzman” John Clarke (accompanied by myself) and the far round sax meanderings of

avant legend, Lol Coxhill in a mesmerising duet with a clarinettist. This was billed as “The Capital’s Only Free Jazz Club Moored On The Thames” and when the boat moved, a whole ‘nother vibe emerged!

Sunday 15th November saw the triumphant return of the big, bad, boogie, woogie soul brother Jason Baxter to the old ‘toke. From deepest, darkest Devon in the wildest west, the behemoth of the 80’s, took no prisoners and indeed there were no holds barred as this big daddy of boogie got the New Inn in a musical choke hold whilst refe-ree, Robbie Fraser, counted us out...seconds out and I was back in The Red Lion for a return bout with Dave Cox’s Easy Street. This month there was a far healthier turn out and with their regular bass player, Peter Jackson, this time adding some nice vo-cals, it was an even stronger performance. Dave threw in plenty corny jokes be-tween songs. Guitarists, Ray Bartlett and Mark Tuddenham, sparked off each other beautifully. Guesting, again on trumpet – Ash Hunt has improved amazingly since Octo-ber . Playing some confident and authoritative solos whilst blending in well with Dave on the ‘heads’. If this sixteen year old keeps improving at this rate the potential , as me and guitarist Ray decided, is scary. This night returns in January, as indeed will I.

Groovy Jazzmaz to y’all!

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50’s and 60’s by QMC Music Students at Central Studio

Review and photos by Dark Menace

The brief for the performers and the tech ops crews was to put on a one night show case of 50’ and 60’s music, a contemporary choice of their own. First band to the stage was Sam, Julian, Daniel, Joshua and Bradley with Brown Eyed Girl, I’m Yours and Burning Love. A tight and melodic set reminding us of the era, with the Kinks’ All Day And All Of The Night coming across very powerfully. Next on stage were Hannah, Will, AJ, and Taylor this set included Twist and Shout/La Bamba, The Thrill Is Gone, Heard It Through The Grapevine and Girls Like Mystery and as you would expect a great opportunity for foot tapping all round, and we were not disappointed a rousing rendition of Twist and Shout into La Bamba and back again, with a very moving cover of Heard It Through The Grapevine. Our third band of the evening were Erin, Richard, Magic Joe, Sam and Ashley playing Wipeout, Purple Haze, House Of The Rising Sun, Crossroads and Bombtrack. With the audience now well warmed up, clearly the band liked the amps turned up to number eleven. During the performance lead vocals were shared, as were the guitar solos, one of which included all the Hendrix tricks, including the back of the head style. No mean feat. The last number Bombtrack was belted out, with a very powerful vocal from a young man who had marched around the auditorium with a trumpet rousing the crowd half way through. Fourth to the stage, following a short interval and visit to the bar by the audience, were Charlie, Rob, Toby, Colin and Lewis with Hound Dog, Surfing USA, Rock Around The Clock, My Generation and Billie Jean. A great performance all round with some very good harmonies and some pretty slick stick work from both drum-mers who also doubled up on guitar - very impressive/ Our final act was made up of Sabrina, Adam, Ollie, Callum and Tom who collectively gave us C’mon Everybody, You Really Got Me, Bad Moon Rising and Kiss And Tell. These Kinks numbers are obviously a favourite and it shows in the enthusiasm of the deliv-ery. C’mon Everybody is, naturally, a song that lends itself to audience participa-tion, whether or not we were in key. A really good cover of Bad Moon Rising (which is a favourite of mine) so maybe some bias there. All the performers and the stage crew and tech ops are studying at QMC. They have to put the whole show together from set up, to get out, including the musical choices and arrangements. It was very encouraging to see performers helping with the set up and working with crew and tech ops, always a nice touch that! As you would expect, family, friends, staff and students alike supported the evening, Mr. Egg will let you know when the next show at QMC is so you can show your sup-port and view some up and coming “Rock Gods” in the making.

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The Diary of Brassneck - Two birds, one stone

Open Mic Night - Irish Centre, Basingstoke – 28th October 2009 by Sid Stovold I’m a big fan of killing 2 birds with one stone me. So, I’ve been meaning to sell my Mar-shall JCM900 amp and 4 x 12 speaker cab for some time now, it’s just been sitting at our old rehearsal room getting loaned to other bands and not being used by me. Sam mentions this fact to an old mate of mine Mark Stratton and he eagerly says he’ll buy it off me. This pleases me as it saves me having to advertise it or go through any of that hassle. We exchange emails and the deal is done. Mark is also getting back in to playing with a band and wants to start off with a couple of low key acoustic gigs. So, to kill 2 birds with one stone I suggest that his band and me and Ben play an open mic night in Basingstoke and I can bring the amp over. This is agreed. Happy days. The evening arrives and I lug said amp in to the back of Sam’s car, we program the sat-nav and head off, nice and early so Ben and I can have a run-through of the songs when we get there. We duly arrive and rendezvous with Ben in the car park. We’re here half an hour early so we head in to the venue (which is very nice it has to be said). We order drinks and sit down and run through the songs while they set up the p.a.. We have to have a little practice y’know, as Ben and I kinda play the songs differently when it’s just the 2 of us (not massively noticeable though really) and we also do one (“Before My Fall”) that isn’t in the regular ‘Brassneck’ set. The run-through goes well so it’s time for us to hit the pool table. This is always an enjoyable pre-gig pas-time but not tonight. I get beaten by Ben with all my 7 balls left on the table (so to speak). The table did slope though. This has now happened to me twice in all my times playing pool before gigs, and on both occasions the table had a bad slope on it. I’m not a bad pool player, I just can’t play on sloping tables. Then the music starts. We decide to sit nearer the stage as it’s a Wednesday night and we’re not sure how many people will turn up. We needn’t have worried though, we look around after a couple of acts have done their turns and the place seems to be packed. Result ! There’s a guy with a mandolin who plays 3 songs, one about going to Spain, one about being in Spain and one about leaving Spain. There’s a guy accompanied by his son singing an anti-war tale. It all seems quite serious. Then Mark Stratton and his band-mate Ed take to the stage, well, we think they do, it seems to take them an absolute age to set up some kind of vocal harmonizer gizmo, this means they lose the audience as peo-ple seem to lose interest rapidly. A shame that. This was their first gig in 4 years and it could have gone so much better. Maybe if things can run a bit more smoothly next time chaps things would be marvellous. Before too long Ron gives us a big intro and Ben and I plug in and go for it. It’s not note perfect but it has charm and character about it. We play “Sensitive But A Bit Of A ‘Rong ‘Un”, “Thinking Can Hurt Your Chances”, “Before My Fall” and “Set My Alarm For 7”. A queue forms afterwards of people wanting our free CD. It’s certainly been worthwhile us playing. Very enjoyable. Nadeen comments that it was nice to see us ‘stripped down’. I take this to mean that our songs still stand up when they are played with just the basics, not that Ben has accidentally dropped his trousers. So, after us there’s a huge amount of people on stage playing all sorts of percus-

sion, saxophone and trumpets. They’re called ‘Drums ‘N’ Brass’. It creates a great

vibe. Nadeen (her of ‘That Nadeen White Experience’) finishes the evening with some great

songs, delivered meaningfully and powerfully. We like her.

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Then, just before it turns into a free-for-all jam session (it’s getting quite late now) we say our goodbyes and head off. Ben goes first. Sam and I have to prise Mark away (he’s been drinking y’know !) into the car-park to make the amp deal. Mark gives me the cash, we put the amp in his drummers car and breathe a huge sigh of relief. It’s been a good laugh and productive too. I go home, rich, happy and looking forward to purchasing a new little Vox guitar amp the following day ;-) Brassneck are next playing The Farleigh Wallop Social Club @ the Masonic Centre on the 20th December with Julia K and That Nadeen White Experience, and hope to be back in Basingstoke soon. Sid. Brassneck. www.brassneck.info www.myspace.com/brassneckpop

gRANDPA Eggs MuSIC QUIZ 1) The original Live Aid concerts were held at Wembley and Philadelphia on 13th July in which year? 2) Who sang the Christmas song `Driving Home For Christmas 3) Flowers In The Rain` holds the distinction of being the very first record played on Radio One, but who performed it. 4) Who sang the first line of the USA for Africa`s `We Are The World`? 5) Who had a Christmas number one in 1974 with `Lonely This Christmas 6) What was the title of Greg Lake`s top ten Christmas hit of 1975? 7) Which artist has had number one singles in the UK as a solo artist, as part of a duo, as part of a trio, as part of a quartet and as part of a group with more than four members 8) Who wrote the song `White Christmas`? 9)Which famous Christmas Carol, was originally written in 1857 for Thanksgiving? 10) In the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, what is the partridge in a pear tree said to symbolise

Answers on page 19

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Local Gig Listings

DECEMBER

Tuesday 1st

Jokers Itch, featuring Neil McFarlane, Big Jack, Jahonnay Rick-

wood & Paul Dennis (MC) – with a free buffet – 9pm - Free

The Stage (Acoustic Evening) – Rhu Bar – 9.30pm - Free

Wednesday 2nd

Drum ‘n’ bRass – The Bang Bar – 7.30pm - Free

Thursday 3rd

The Princess and the Pea. Sometimes the smallest things cause

the biggest problems – Central Studio - Tickets: £8.50 full; £6.50

concessions. Saturday Live! £6.85 adults; £4.40 children.

Scrutney - DnB plus – Bang Bar - Free

Friday 4th



concessions rday Live! performance at 11am.

Lucifer Jazz and The Love Rats – The New Inn – 8.30pm - Free

Liisa Henriksson – The Bang Bar – 9pm

My Playhouse presents Winter Wonderland – Censo – 9pm til

3am - £2-£3

100% Music presents – The Hammer and Tongs – Check

www.onehundredpercentmusic.com for details

Rhu Bar All-Stars Dj Funky Club Night – The Rhu Bar

Saturday 5th



concessions

Bad Penny- The New Inn - Free

Danny Bryant's Red Eye Band, Basingstoke Blues Club 10 years

party – Moose Hall

Zombie Horror Night with the triumphant return of The Scary

Bitches. Charity event in aid of SOPHIE Foundation. – The Bang

Bar - Tickets available from Bang Bar - £5

Rhu Bar All-Stars DJ Get Down & Groove Party Night – The

Rhu Bar

Sunday 6th

SKA Sunday – The Bang Bar – 3pm - Free

Acoustic Folk…Country…Blues ,Bob, Phil & John – The Irish

Centre - 8:30pm - Free

Karaoke Night with Steve from Funky Functions – The New Inn

Quiz night – Hammer & Tongs – 7.30pm - £2 per person

Sunday Night Live; The Bag Ladies, all funked up! original

Jazz funk – The Rhu Bar - Approx 9.30pm No Trainers – Free

Quiz night – Portsmouth Arms - £1pp, 5 per team

Monday 7th

Papa Porcupine. A tale of the diverse life of William Cobbett. –

Central Studio – 7.30pm - Tickets: £4.90 full; £3.90 concessions.

Quiz night - The Bakers Arms – 8pm - £1 per player, 4 per team

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Tuesday 8th




Wednesday 9th

Drum ‘n’ bRass – The Bang Bar – 7.30pm – Free



Open Mic – Irish Centre – 8pm – Free

Thursday 10th

QMC Christmas Concert in Queen Mary’s Hall. Carols, readings,

dance and theatrical performance by students and staff of the

College with proceeds going to Naomi House Children’s Hos-

pice. – 7.30pm - Tickets: £3 full; £2 concessions.

Scrutney - DnB plus – Bang Bar – Free

The Rhu Bar’s 10th Birthday party, playing live, Funk Soul Sis-

ters with Dj Chris Taylor – The Rhu Bar - 9.30pm

Friday 11th

Acoustic Open Mic – Central Strudio – 7.30pm - Free

Jam Session – Basingstoke Blues Club, Moose Hall - Free

Wella Live – New Inn – Free

Revelation vs Vortex - Christmas Stomper, Guest is MC Whizz-

kid – The Bang Bar - 9pm til 4am.

Celebrating The Rhu Bar’s 10th Birthday – The Rhu Bar - check

www.rhubar.co.uk for details

Saturday 12th

Saturday Live! Aladdin and His Magic Lamp. The famous panto-

mime set in the Studio – Central Studio - 11am. -Tickets: £6.85

adults; £4.40 children.

Drum n bRass, Kalimoto and Coox n Hoox.- Central Studio -

8pm - Tickets: £6 full, £5 concessions

Sub-Mission Sound System present Pubstep (A night of Dubstep)

– White Hart – 8pm - Free

Boxx 80’s Band – The New Inn - Free

Pheonix Plus support from Wishlist - The Royal Oak - 8-30pm –

Free

Audio Basho; House, Electro & Dubstep, featuring; Tomi

Kain, Lang, Kontra, Dan Allinson, Swift Villians – The Bang

Bar – 9pm til 02.00 - Free

Celebrating The Rhu Bar’s 10th Birthday – The Rhu Bar - check

www.rhubar.co.uk for details

Sunday 13th

Rockbitch Promotions Present – The Bang Bar


Sunday Sessions featuring Paul Dennis, The Marvels and The

Dandy Dead – The Irish Centre – 8pm

Karaoke Night with Steve from Funky Functions – The New Inn

Celebrating The Rhu Bar’s 10th Birthday with Groove Junction –

The Rhu Bar - check www.rhubar.co.uk for details


Monday 14th


max

Tuesday 15th


Wednesday 16th

Drum ‘n’ bRass – The Bang Bar – 7.30pm - Free

Thursday 17th

Scrutney - DnB plus – Bang Bar - Free

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*All events are subject to change

Friday 18th

Central Comedy featuring Ian Cognito and Ivor Dembina with

resident compere Matthew Baylis. – Central Studio - 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 full; £8 concessions.

The Johnsons with support from The Blumen Bullets – The

New Inn – 8.30pm - Free

Rhu Bar All-Stars Dj Funky Club Night – The Rhu Bar

Saturday 19th

Massive Xmas Hospice gig – The Hammer & Tongs Check


Pheonix – The New Inn – 8.30pm - Free

Lucifer Jazz and the Love Rats – The Irish Centre – 9pm - £5

CURED! Freshly squeezed house music. Proceeds to Cancer

Research – The Bang Bar – til 3am

Basingstoke Scooter Club – Poison


Rhu Bar

Sunday 20th

100% Music presents – The Bang Bar – Check



Karaoke Night with Steve from Funky Functions – The New

Inn

Sunday Night Live; ADESUWA, London's finest Groove, Soul,

Funk & Reggae outfit. – Rhu Bar - Approx 9.30pm No Trainers

– Free


Monday 21st


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Tuesday 22nd


Wednesday 23rd

Open Mic – Irish Centre – 8pm – Free

Lucifer Jazz and the Love Rats – The White Hart – 9pm - Free

Manti – Portsmouth Arms – Free

Thursday 24th

Request Fest Xmas Eve Disco – The White Hart – 8pm til 1am

- Free

Drum & Bass Night – The New Inn

Saturday 26th

The Big Music Quiz – The White Hart - 7pm till 11pm – Free


Rhu Bar

Sunday 27th

100% Music presents – The Bang Bar – Check



Karaoke Night with Steve from Funky Functions – The New

Inn

Sunday Night Live; OTTO "The south's premier gang of funk-

sters" – The Rhu Bar - Approx 9.30pm No Trainers – Free

Quiz night (All music) – Portsmouth Arms - £1pp, 5 per team

Monday 28th


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Tuesday 29th


Thursday 31st

Swift Villains, Funky House Music – New Inn – Free

New Years Eve Masquerade Ball; Disco/Karaoke – The White

Hart - 8.00pm - 02.00am - £5.00 TICKET ONLY

Re-Covered Live with DJ Bobby Brown – The Portsmouth

Arms - £5 a ticket

Music quiz answers

1. 1985 2. Chris Rea 3. The Move 4. Lionel Richie 5. Mud 6. I believe in Father Christmas 7. Sir Paul McCartney 8. Irving Berlin 9. Jingle Bells 10. Jesus Christ

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Documents

Mr Egg Issue 3