Putting the word out
A little round-up of my new stuff published and forthcoming performances Continue reading Putting the word out
The rise and fall of Sheffield music (or how the Arctic Monkeys ruined everything)
OK, they didn’t ruin everything. But after synthpop, Jarvis, and Alex’s mic drop, where does the city go next? Continue reading The rise and fall of Sheffield music (or how the Arctic Monkeys ruined everything)
There’s a kind of hush
Quietness today is a hand-drawn DIY gig flyer on a wall of Carling Academy listings expensively printed on matt laminate card. Play me one more chorus of idiot landfill indie, its sound and fury signifying nothing, and I’ll choose silence. Continue reading There’s a kind of hush
July was some month (part 2: the Viking thunderclap)
I knew we were on to something special when the Viking thunderclap started up. The rest of the time – those sad, negligible 362 days of the year when we’re not at Indietracks – it’s easy to feel discouraged because no-one is listening. To feel the zine or blog, the club night, the label or the album you’ve been pouring all your soul into is … Continue reading July was some month (part 2: the Viking thunderclap)
July was some month (part 1)
In which the poet looks back with some glee at the first four of that month’s live performances Continue reading July was some month (part 1)
The sounds of places, and the road to Firsby station
It is 16 May 2016, a Monday afternoon. I am in a field in a remote part of rural Lincolnshire, just behind a potato warehouse, juggling an array of digital devices to record sound and images. In front of me is a bonfire of pallets, the air dense with wood smoke and pollen. Industrial sounds from the warehouse mingle with birdsong. Behind me the vast … Continue reading The sounds of places, and the road to Firsby station
Obligatory post about Leicester City and my new album
As long-time followers of my music will know, the football has found its way in here and there. Most obviously there’s The Ballad of Phil Jevons – my tribute to a Grimsby Town sort-of hero of the early 2000s. And there’s Let it Go By, in which the narrator unexpectedly becomes better able to deal with life’s difficulties by enduring experiences that stretch one’s patience … Continue reading Obligatory post about Leicester City and my new album
You scored a gem at Liverpool
Early this year I gave an email interview for a Spanish website called Shook Down. It was quite an unusual interview because it was about one song: The Ballad of Phil Jevons. The interview was published shortly afterwards with some commentary. The interviewer seemed nice, so I’ll assume the commentary is too (I can’t be certain because, as you might reasonably expect of a Spanish … Continue reading You scored a gem at Liverpool
A very strong case
I’m not one to fetishise gear. I don’t know enough about technical stuff to hold forth on the virtues of the gold-plated stereo jack, the double humbucker, and the Bigsby trem. Even if I was into all that stuff, I wouldn’t have the money to buy any of it – so what’s the point? But I’ve just had to get rid of a certain bit … Continue reading A very strong case
We don’t do encores
This weekend will be a bit special. After I’ve played at the Odd Box Weekender in London with The Sweet Nothings, I’m off to Bristol for the premiere of Between Hello and Goodbye: The Secret World of Sarah Records. Sarah was the label that hooked me on indiepop about 2,500 years ago. To mark the occasion I’m republishing, below, a short article about Sarah I … Continue reading We don’t do encores
Pete Green 