presents
ASICS GEL-LYTE III
ASICS.CO.UK/SPORTSTYLE (£90) Keeping on top of this here fashion game ASICS bring to you the vibrantly coloured and retro styled ASICS GEL-LYTE III kicks. They’ll be no time wasted getting these trendy trainers on your feet either with a speed lacing system and once they’re in, comfort is the word, with a specially moulded sole featuring foot shock absorbtion and a tongue that won’t start wagging. Good news for sneaker addicts; we have three pairs to give away. Email [subject:ASICS] iwannawin@rwdmag.com to be in with a chance of winning.
SINEAD HARNETT With a co-sign from Wiley and half the industry trying to sign her on the dotted, Hattie Collins thinks this London singer could go very, very far... East London’s CAMP is quite a small venue; yet tonight it feels as though half of the UK record industry is packed within its damp basement walls. But the label bosses, A&R’s and journalists aren’t here to see the headliner; in fact they’re craning to get a look at the opening act. The girl they’re here to see is a slight, small young thing – but she’s got a voice twice the size of her tiny frame. What she lacks in height, the half Irish, half Thai Sinead Harnett more than makes up in personality and talent. “I’m not really sure why there’s this ‘buzz’,” she grins a week later, drinking a tea outside of RWD HQ. “ I think the music industry is a bit fickle. Because there’s a buzz everyone wants to have a look but once they see me, they might all run away – who knows!” First found by Wiley on Youtube, the Eskikid quickly popped her on the reflective Walk Away from his recent Chill Out Zone EP. “I really like him and I love his erratic-ness and his energy, it’s so refreshing,” she says of Will. Since then the 21 year-old has done an A64 of her own tune Notice Me for SBTV, and made her own video for said tune. “I first thought ‘Yeah, I’m really good’ when I was 7 years-old and then I grew up and hit reality and realised I had a lot of work to do!” she reflects of getting her start into music. “I always wanted to sing but I didn’t think I was good enough. But sometimes you have something to say, so you start writing and recording.”
“I THINK THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS A BIT FICKLE. BECAUSE THERE’S A BUZZ EVERYONE WANTS TO HAVE A LOOK BUT ONCE THEY SEE ME, THEY MIGHT ALL RUN AWAY...” With her delicate vocals, soulful sounds and witty wordplay, we think she can stand out among the Jessie, Ellie and Adele’s. “I don’t want to follow anyone else’s footsteps or do something that’s already there,” agrees the Etta James, James Blake, Prince and Wretch 32 fan. “I’m concentrating on what comes from me. I think people are expecting me to do straight soul, but I want to have modernity to my music. A ‘Sinead-ness,’” she laughs. “I’d love for people to hear my songs and know straight away that it’s me.” For this drama graduate who hails from north London and describes herself as ‘a bit of a hippy’ only time will tell if she can be the Next Big Thing. But with her love of writing music, an incredible vocal, and friends in increasingly high places, it won’t be long before she’s snapped up by some lucky label. “I’m just really trying to not let it all affect me,” insists Sinead. “I just want to keep writing because whatever I did before seemed to turn out alright, so that’s my main focus at the moment. Signing isn’t one of my priorities; I’m just concentrating on the music.” Youtube.com/user/sineadharnett and @sineadharnett
MIDNIGHT
We initially spoke to James Allman aka Killahurtz about his dark electro and dubstep productions, but soon discovered his talent surpassed being simply stuck behind the boards. James played to all his creative strengths by joining a band called //Midnight// comprising of fellow Mancunians, Will, Jordan, Lloyd and Anthony soon after producing tracks for the lads who are determined to join the dots between commercial and underground dance music. Judging from the interest ,the Faithless and Booka Shade fans have already received over at BBC Introducing, and with a few major labels sniffing around plus the edgy pop track Dark To Light hitting airways, it won’t be long until the eclectic five-piece are radio regulars. Midnight-music.net (NS)
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