M Magazine Issue 50

NORTHERN ECHOES

Mining for new music

FAN FUNDING

Getting a slice of the pie

Members Music Magazine Issue 50 Members DecemberMusic 2013 Magazine Issue 45 September 2012

RUDIMENTAL

Bringing it home

GLASGOW

Musical mecca

sly & robbie

Jamaica’s other golden duo ORBITAL PLUS: BREAKING THE US

annie lennox GHOSTPOET

GARY NUMAN

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14 breaking the us Current successes, and how they did it

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SOPHIA SPRING / MALCOLM CROWTHERS / DANNYNORTH.CO.UK / SEBASTIAN KIM

Hello and welcome.

This winter we’re celebrating the 50th issue of M - a proud moment for everyone who’s involved in the magazine.

As well as working hard to bring you an extra-special issue this time, we’ve been casting our eye over some of the amazing cover stars we’ve featured over the years.

From the late great Amy Winehouse to Scottish legend Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel to Paul Weller, we've had the pleasure of interviewing some of PRS for Music’s most interesting and accomplished members.

Be sure to check out M online for our top highlights and quotes from the past 11 years.

Meanwhile here in M50 we bring you interviews and features covering some of the amazing talent that’s been blasting out the office stereo lately.

You’ll get the low down on 2013’s biggest breakthrough act Rudimental, and learn about some of our other exciting new members, including London Grammar and Komi, who have been causing quite a stir over the last 12 months.

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We also turn our attention to Glasgow to discover how the city’s ‘dae-it-yersel’ attitude is still harbouring an industrious music community more than 30 years after the first DIY pioneers set up camp there.

Elegently walking the path of life

22 rudimental

Bringing positivity to dark times 22

We’ll also be looking at the artists behind the latest US chart invasion and talking to industry insiders to learn how British acts can leave their mark over the pond. You’ll get top tips from artist managers, publicists and PRS for Music Foundation on the best ways to tackle the American music market.

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Clans come together

REGULARS 5 members and music

Elsewhere, we’ll be hearing from Mike Weatherley MP, David Cameron’s new Intellectual Property Advisor, and learning from AIM chairman Alison Wenham why the future is indie.

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8 money and business 31 i wrote that 33 sixty seconds 34 picture this

We hope you enjoy this special edition of M magazine. Be sure to join us online for more 50th issue celebrations, exclusive videos, interviews, competitions and more.

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Members Music Magazine Issue 50 December 2013

RUDIMENTAL GLASGOW

annie lennox PLUS: BREAKING THE US

PRODUCTION

Editor Paul Nichols

Production & Design Carl English

Staff Writer Jim Ottewill

Musical mecca

ORBITAL

GHOSTPOET

GARY NUMAN

cover: annie lennox M50 Final cover.indd 1

EDITORIAL

Associate Editor Anita Awbi

Bringing it home

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Business Editor Gill Corish

Membership Adviser Myles Keller

PRS for Music, 29-33 Berners Street, London W1T 3AB T 020 7580 5544 E magazine@prsformusic.com W www.prsformusic.com The printing of M Magazine is managed on behalf of PRS for Music

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CONTRIBUTORS

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Rosie Blanchard, Olivia Chapman, KaKei Cheng, Laura Driffield, Samantha Ferguson, Eileen Fitches, Tania Pearson, Cerian Squire, Sarah Thirtle, Scott Walker.

ISSN 0309-0019© PRS for Music 2013. All rights reserved. The views expressed in M are not necessarily those of PRS for Music, nor of the editorial team. PRS for Music accepts no responsibility for the views expressed by contributors to M, nor for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, nor for errors in contributed articles or advertisements. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

M is printed on paper manufactured using chlorine-free pulps and the raw materials are from fully managed and sustainable forests.

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how to… pick up the phone and pitch Applying for music industry funding can be a time consuming and often frustrating experience. Competition is tough and opportunities limited but without this financial injection, some projects – whether that be releasing a record or organising a tour for an emerging artist – can be difficult to get off the ground.

m magazine 50th issue We recently celebrated the 50th issue of M Magazine with a special event at The Social in London. M49 cover star Anna Meredith, world class percussionist Fimber Bravo and rising talent Mo Kolours all performed live, while Horse Meat Disco’s Jim Stanton was on board to man the decks. We captured all the action on film so be sure to get yourself over to M online for more.

You can also watch Fimber Bravo perform some electro-tropical delights with bandmates Zongamin and Georgia Barnes. As founder member of the 20th Century Steel Band, Fimber’s music pricked the ears of a generation of hip-hop artists who sampled the group’s 1975 album Heaven & Hell. Since then the steel pan specialist has collaborated with artists all over the world from Sun Ra Arkestra to Hot Chip.

We were especially chuffed that innovative producer and composer Anna Meredith could make it along. Over recent years her contemporary classical sounds have graced the country’s largest concert halls while her experimental electronica has rumbled around grimy techno clubs all over the capital.

We also managed to capture Anglo-Mauritian pop experimentalist Mo Kolours on film at Liverpool Psych Fest. The rising artist is famed for his otherworldly productions and washed out vocal hallucinations – well worth a listen.

So what are you waiting for?

Visit m-magazine.co.uk for more.

interview: william orbit ‘I’m more famous in the music industry than I am to the general public. I’m invisible to the public,’ says songwriter and producer William Orbit wryly. It’s an astute observation from a musician far better known for his production clients than his own songs.

PETER J HEARN / MARK ALLAN

But he’s worked with some of the biggest pop stars of the past 20 years. Madonna, Blur, Britney Spears and All Saints are just some of the heavy hitters to benefit from his studio touch. It’s an impressive list of collaborators (most notably on Madonna’s Ray of Light and Music albums where his work collected three Grammy Awards) and one which has allowed him to take up his own niche position, existing slightly to the left of the mainstream music biz.

We spoke to him ahead of his appearance at the London Electronic Arts Festival to talk production, pop and why musicians should never work for free…

Read the full interview by visiting m-magazine.co.uk and clicking on the ‘Interviews’ tab.

4_december 2013_m50

At a recent MusicTank convention, representatives from a number of organisations were on hand to explain their fund and how to make an application.

We went along to hear the Arts Council England, PRS for Music Foundation and BPI all discuss their various opportunities in great length.

They are, respectively, Grants for the Arts, Momentum Music Fund and the Music Export Growth Scheme.

The latter two initiatives are relatively new, having only been launched this year, but while these funds are all different, the speakers highlighted similar attributes which successful applicants had.

We’ve collated these top tips into one handy guide to help ensure you get the most out of applying for funding. And, perhaps most importantly, you increase your chances of succeeding…

Plan your application Planning goes a very long way. So you need to spend some time thinking about the project and do your homework. Speak to the fund or organisation offering the money. Look at similar projects from contemporaries. The more time spent gathering information and researching, the more solid and water tight your application will be. And the more likely you are to receive the money.

You need a solid business case Projects need to have a beginning, middle and end.

A strong application knows its audience, what it is aiming to achieve and how it can succeed. Do you know who and where your fans are? If not, then you need to find out.

Choose your fund wisely Target the correct backer or fund that will work for you. Edge Investment are venture capitalists who delivered a presentation at the Easy Money? event.

They specialise in working with organisations from the creative industries, yet receive applications from a variety of companies, particularly the pharmaceutical sector. These applications get binned so it’s a better use of time to properly target your submissions.

This is an excerpt from the full article, which is available now on m-magazine.co.uk

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london grammar

Hannah Reid, Dot Major and Dan Rothman are the trio behind London Grammar’s enchanting brand of electronic pop. Earlier this year they released their acclaimed debut album If You Wait - a bold statement from a new band set on creating their own musical language.

The album first punctuated the charts back in September after the buzz of singles Wasting My Young Years and Strong. Heartbreak, longing and the trouble of teenage years are central concerns of the record, which almost bleeds with wrought emotion. Hannah’s voice is at its heart, her vulnerable vocals beautifully underlining the chill and drama of the band’s music.

This collection of ambient and angst-filled songs debuted at number two in the UK and remained there for a full five weeks until going gold. And, having bound and gagged their music until a year ago, their new large and loyal fanbase stands testimony to the potency of their accomplished songwriting.

Alongside their impressive debut, their achievements are continuing to mount up. A collaboration with Disclosure – Help Me Lose My Mind – from the duo’s Mercury Prize nominated Settle, has also gained them much love while their latest release, Nightcall, is a reworking of French electronic producer Kavinsky’s cut from the brilliant Drive movie soundtrack. It shows off the group’s exemplary taste and winning way with a cover.

Live, London Grammar have a reputation for leaving audiences transfixed and are back out on the road in the new year with sold out gigs lined up on both sides of the pond. It’s unsurprising that everyone is talking about a hard working band whose music so strikingly blends lyrical weight with raw emotion. With more material expected in 2014, it’s a conversation only set to spread.

gogo penguin Gogo Penguin are an innovative musical combo making music as striking as their choice of name. Pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Rob Turner draw on influences as diverse as Aphex Twin, Brian Eno and Debussy to inspire their groove-laden, freeform blend of jazz and electronics.

www.londongrammar.com

al-hakam el-kaubaisy (komi) Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy, better known as Komi, is an artist, composer, music producer and songwriter from London. He is best known for producing and co-writing Naughty Boy’s smash hit La La La, an achievement which has seen him ranked as one of Music Week's biggest selling songwriters of 2013. More recently, his production skills have featured on The X Factor winner James Arthur's self-titled debut album.

When he’s not writing songs or tinkering in the studio, Komi also studies medicine at Kings College London the eventual aim of researching the use of music in medicine.

Their debut album Fanfares was released to universal doffs of the cap on Gondwana Records in November 2012 and was named jazz album of the year at Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards. Their as-yet-untitled follow-up album is completed and should see the light of day early 2014. www.gogopenguin.co.uk

Find out who else has recently joined PRS for Music

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members & music celebrating great composers

Pictured below: James Redwood, who received the Community or Educational Project Award for Pass The Torch, An Olympic Symphony - a work for 250 young musicians from six diverse ensembles.

From sonic art to choral music, the annual British Composer Awards (BCA) is one of the key events in the UK music calendar dedicated to celebrating the art of composition.

The awards were established by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 2003 to highlight the talents of UK composers as well as provide a platform for the classical and jazz genres.

Joseph Phibbs, Peter McGarr, James Redwood, Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver were among the 13 winners at this year’s event, which was held on 3 December at Goldsmith’s Hall.

Rivers to the Sea by Joseph Phibbs was chosen as the Best Orchestral Work while Peter McGarr’s Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire triumphed in the Making Music category. Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver’s collaboration No Such Object (Speed of Light) was named Best Work of Sonic Art. Other categories included Instrumental Solo or Duo, Wind Band or Brass Band and Contemporary Jazz Education.

This year more than 300 works were submitted by over 200 composers.

Each category was judged by a different BASCA-appointed jury, with more than 70 music professionals involved.

Visit www.britishcomposerawards.com for more information.

ed baxter and chris weaver Ed and Chris are both directors and performers with the Resonance Radio Orchestra as well as working and lecturing at Resonance 104.4 fm.

How did you first start making music?

We first collaborated in 2004. Ed organised an experimental music festival for London Musicians’ Collective that brought together over 50 performers ranging from school pupils to established artists like Jem Finer and Lol Coxhill. Soon after, we established a house band at Resonance FM out of the pool of players and the Resonance Radio Orchestra was born.

Could you explain the inspiration behind your No Such Object?

It was commissioned by NVA, a public art producer in Glasgow. It was the audio component of a really vast performance piece, Speed of Light, as part of Edinburgh International Festival. It comprised hundreds of choreographed runners in remotely controlled light-suits enacting complex geometric patterns at ground level to an audience at the top of the cliff face of Arthur’s Seat.

MARK ALLAN / MALCOLM CROWTHERS

Pictured above: Ed Baxter and Chris Weaver receiving their awards.

How has 2013 been for you?

2013 has been relatively quiet as our works take a while to develop.

The main thing has been the premiere of a new piece at Whitechapel Gallery featuring Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee.

The British Composer Awards are presented by BASCA and sponsored by PRS for Music.

In association with BBC Radio 3.

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Have you any advice for aspiring composers?

You need some sort of support structure. Many young composers and performers are simply not offered any encouragement and are intimidated by the established structures they see. It is also important to develop and refine your own idiosyncratic aesthetic sensibility – concentrate on the music you alone want and can do.

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remember touching the keyboard and being stunned by the notes resounding through the instrument. This fascination with sound never left me; sometimes I feel everything I write is an attempt to rediscover the emotion of that moment.

Could you explain the inspiration behind your winning work?

Dry Stone Walls of Yorkshire was commissioned by Howard Jones, the artistic director of Contemporary Music-Making for All’s (CoMa) 2012 Open Score event.

peter mcgarr Peter studied music and dance at Mather College and is self-taught in composition.

For several years he taught steel pan, achieving the Outstanding Performance Award from Music for Youth for his band Orchestral Steel.

How did you first start making music?

I was very small, playing at a friend’s house in what we used to call the front room or parlour where the piano was kept. I

He’d heard an earlier piece of mine, Imaginary Orchestras, and wanted a new work. I live on the edge of the Yorkshire/Lancashire Pennines where the hills are covered with dry stone walls. They appear like veins of history running through the landscape. I’ve tried to evoke the atmosphere, sounds and memories associated with this place in the work. Part of the soundtrack (the piece is for orchestra and pre-recorded soundtrack) was recorded on the sadly notorious Saddleworth Moor.

What has the highlight of your career been to date?

I’m still waiting… and waiting.

Have you any advice for aspiring composers?

Never read reviews and definitely don’t take the advice of older composers.

What has 2013 been like for you so far?

It’s been an unexpectedly eventful year. I signed an exclusive contract with Ricordi London. A chamber music CD was released

by NMC and I’ve been asked to write an orchestral piece for BBC Symphony Orchestra’s 2015-16 season.

joseph phibbs Joseph is a director of the Britten Estate and a visiting lecturer in composition at both the Purcell School and King’s College London.

How did you first start making music?

I started writing pieces for piano and cello when I was 10. At 14 I went to study at Purcell School and had my first proper lessons with Param Vir.

Could you explain the inspiration behind Rivers to the Sea ?

My former teacher Steven Stucky passed my music on to his close friend Esa-Pekka Salonen. This set in motion a commission for the Philharmonia Orchestra, jointly by Philharmonia and Anvil Arts. I was thrilled to write for a world class orchestra and conductor.

prs for music centenary In 2014 PRS for Music is celebrating its 100th anniversary. To mark this milestone, the society is teaming up with some exciting partners and will be involved in loads of fantastic events throughout the year.

A new website area will be unveiled in the New Year featuring more info on the centenary, news about upcoming events and a video looking back at the society’s history.

All members are invited to go online and explore in the new year.

The Performing Right Society, later PRS for Music, was founded in 1914 to protect the value of copyright by group of music publishers including William Boosey and Oliver Hawkes. Over the following 100 years, the society has successfully administered the performing right for some of the world’s most important and innovative songwriters, composers and publishers.

Although the music industry has changed beyond recognition during the last century – from sheet music to streaming – PRS for Music’s values remain the same. The society still exists to serve its members and protect the value of copyright, and has established a worldwide reputation for excellence in licensing, collection and distribution of performance royalties.

the ivors call for entries The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has opened its call for entries into the 59th Ivor Novello Awards, which takes place on 22 May 2014 at Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

Rivers to the Sea takes its title from a poetry anthology by the American poet Sara Teasdale. Much of her work was inspired by New York, a city I grew especially fond of when I was in the US.

The Ivors 2014 will recognise works released in the UK during the year ending 31 December 2013. BASCA is inviting entries in the following categories: Best Song Musically & Lyrically; Best Contemporary Song; Album Award; Best Original Film Score; Best Television Soundtrack.

Have you any advice for aspiring composers?

I tell my students they should write music that has emotional meaning to them and not be distracted by fads or fashions.

The deadline is 6 February 2014. To request the Rules and Guidelines for Entry along with the entry form email kate@basca.org.uk or call 020 7636 2929. m50_december 2013_7

money & business online

Debate surrounding the value of streaming services has recently generated press, particularly after songwriters like Thom Yorke and David Byrne bared their teeth at Spotify.

Ben McEwen, Head of Online at PRS for Music, gives his perspective on a constantly evolving digital landscape…

How does PRS for Music decide on which new services to license?

We look to have the right licensing solutions to cover the broadest range of services out there. Inevitably, with the sheer scale of the online market, we focus our resources on where the value is but we also try to offer the right solutions for the smallest services.

At the lower end of the market, our Limited Online Music licence (LOML) helps small start-ups ‘self serve’ entirely online. Our focus is very much on these new services coming to market and trying to ensure they understand and take account of music rights from the outset.

We try to avoid wasting too much time with illegitimate services that have no business model or intention to be licensed. We have an anti-piracy unit that is tasked with tackling them. We very much see our role as facilitating those services that are setting themselves up to operate legally.

How does the licensing process work?

We begin with initial contact either through a service approaching us or through outbound contact as a result of our monitoring activity. We research them and ensure we understand what they offer. It can be very straightforward if a service fits within one of our many standard licences which have clear established rates. Other times it’s more challenging because a service is trying to offer something genuinely different. Then we need a more bespoke solution.

How long does the licensing process take?

It can be a matter of minutes or months depending on each service. Inevitably newer services often think more about their technology and distribution model than the business model. We often have to remind services: ‘Music has a cost in terms of the creators who wrote it – you need a model that is sustainable for them as well as one which is sustainable for you.’

How has the digital landscape changed in the past 18 months?

Everybody is talking about the growth of streaming as opposed to downloads. Downloads continue to make up the lion’s share of our digital income, although this is changing quickly.

People are now primarily thinking about accessing streaming services via mobile and tablet rather than this being premium or added functionality.

You might only ever encounter a service on these devices, so there’s a shift in how services are structuring themselves.

8_december 2013_m50

Looking at licensing dynamics, we’ve seen increased fragmentation over the last 18 months with more rights available across multiple territories from more parties. So we focus on building initiatives like IMPEL – a growing number of independent publishers with their rights assigned to PRS for Music on a multi-territory basis. Also on big initiatives such as our efforts with partners to develop multi-territorial licensing hubs to make it easier for music users by limiting the places users have to go to get rights.

Will royalties from online music ever offset the decline in physical?

There are many voices of doom and gloom, which is understandable when you look at what’s happened to the physical market. Online is seeing growth but not growth which is sufficient (as yet) to offset that decline.

However, we need to remember that online music is continuing to evolve. While the download market is maturing, the average person hasn’t necessarily tried a music subscription service and we often forget that.

The more we move towards mass market streaming, the greater the opportunity for a broad range of new models to offset the physical decline.

I also don’t agree with predictions pronouncing the death of physical product. It won’t happen. It will survive but at a lower level than before. The resurgence of vinyl and the efforts to offer products which combine physical and digital are key to building the future in that market.

Navigating this transition is a big challenge for us as well as publishers and songwriters. Even if online does deliver value, it won’t be in the same way the industry is used to. This is the problem. The industry was built around sales spikes surrounding record releases. If you move to a model where you’re seeing revenue over a longer life span of the song, this value is different and potentially the ‘winners and losers’ are different too.

Should safe harbour legislation be reviewed?

I certainly think this legislation, originally put in to protect Internet Service Providers, is now increasingly being used as a smokescreen for unlicensed activity.

We get services set up as music services which brand themselves as such to the consumer. But because of how they source their music, they look to safe harbour as a way of avoiding liability to pay creators for their music. In my view it is profoundly damaging to the development of a legitimate online music market and urgently needs to be reviewed.

We’re getting value from downloads and premium subscription streaming packages and converting those who would before have sourced illegal content.

What is the key message you want to send to PRS for Music members about online licensing?

To a certain extent, the concern about revenue from these new models is justified but it’s a shame Spotify has been singled out. They are a service which engaged with the industry at an early stage and was licensed prior to launch. So they obviously care about being legitimate. You can’t say the same thing about some of their competitors.

The concerns around the level of remuneration are genuine. But we need to recognise that it’s a constantly evolving picture. As these services develop and reach genuine scale, the scale of payments from them will change. You need to remember there’s always a time lag (though we work hard to minimise it!) and writer payments now coming from these services are likely to be from activity perhaps six or 12 months ago. In online, this can represent a long period of time.

It is about the industry adapting to revenues coming in a different way. It’s not something we should fear. It’s also easy to forget what these streaming services are doing to illegal activity.

We’re getting value from downloads and premium subscription streaming packages and converting those who would before have sourced illegal content. If you can build revenues here, then as an industry, we’re in a far better place. There’s real reason for optimism.

news

industry insight

industry moves to tackle pirates Brand-sponsored piracy is becoming an increasingly controversial issue for advertisers and the music industry alike. In a fragmented online advertising environment, digital billboards for global brands are still winding up on illegal filesharing websites and pirate music services – despite best efforts to curtail this practice.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has reported that one in three advertising pounds is now spent on digital platforms, including mobile and tablets. And, although some big consumer brands are taking steps to prevent their adverts appearing on illegitimate websites, advertising pounds and dollars are still flowing to these rogue businesses around the world.

At a recent panel session organised by Music Ally for its annual Copyright and Technology conference, the BPI’s Geoff Taylor revealed the new steps his organisation has taken to tackle this issue.

‘If you look at piracy it is largely ad-funded,’ he confirmed. ‘But it’s encouraging that brands are now keen to put processes in place to make sure their adverts don’t appear on these websites.

‘We are primarily working with the IAB and we know we also need to work both with brands and the ad agencies and exchanges. We’ve been running a pilot scheme and although I can’t reveal all the results I will say that over the past few months there has been a reduction in the appearances of well known brands on all of the illegal sites we’ve targeted.’

The BPI has recorded a change in the nature of advertising on pirate websites, away from big brand billboards from the likes of Tesco and British Airways to adverts for gambling services, adult dating websites and more ‘unsavoury’ services.

‘We’re also seeing a significant increase in the number of unfilled advert slots on these pirate

So do you know a pub that could become a great live music venue? If so, get the landlord to enter PRS for Music’s Music Makeover competition to be in with a chance of winning £10,000 worth of GAK equipment. Ten runners-up will receive £200 worth of GAK vouchers.

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Total number of Heritage Awards given (since 2007)

Pictured: Geoff Taylor

websites,’ Taylor added. ‘But we need to build on this because we’re still a long way away from where we should be.’

Nick Stringer from IAB, who was also on the panel, added: ‘We are working very closely with rightsholders and their representatives, law enforcement agencies and the UK government. The UK is a global leader in digital advertising and a significant amount of money from advertisers is now spent in the online environment.’

‘It’s a very sophisticated platform, but let us be clear that the IAB wants to help tackle the issue of brand advertising facilitating illegal content.

We want to promote legal ad-funded services and minimise the risk of advert misplacement.’

In related news, the BPI reported that it had sent its 50 millionth notice to Google asking for the removal of links to illegal music content in search results. As of 15 November 2013, the all time number of take-down notices sent to Google on behalf of the BPI’s record label members stood at 50,013,109.

The trade body sent Google its first take-down notice in June 2011 and in the last year alone has sent more than 44 million to the internet goliath.

For more information on the BPI’s anti-piracy policy, please visit bpi.co.uk

music makeover: get involved Paul Heaton, has said that when he was in a band in the late 70s ‘having a friendly landlord or landlady, who would let you set up and play, was like gold dust. We had a couple of landlords who would let us play and have us back. This is still important, perhaps even more so now than back then.’

the big numbers

£150,000

Total royalties collected through new Overseas Music Usage Reporting Tool (since its launch one year ago)

7.8 billion Total number of online music plays* (loaded for processing in October 2013 distribution) * streaming, download and ringtone services in UK and EU

£10,000

Value of PRS for Music’s Music Makeover prize

Pubs are being invited to complete an application form either online or by printing and returning to PRS for Music by 31 December 2013.

Finalists will then be visited by PRS for Music representatives before a final judging. The overall winner will be announced in early 2014.

PRS for Music is running its fourth annual Music Makeover contest in partnership with the Musicians’ Union, the British Beer and Pub Association and music retailer GAK. For more information visit prsformusic.com/musicmakeover m50_december 2013_9

SongLink The leading tipsheet for songwriters and music publishers, established in 1993 and still going strong. Every month we publish great leads detailing artists, labels, managers and producers worldwide who need songs or co-writers. Covers all styles of music including pop, rock, dance, R&B, country, MOR, jazz crossover, folk, blues etc. Leads sent by e-mail every month with interim updates. “Easily the best service of its type in the world” - Ed Chalfin, Magic Fire Music, New York City.

Cuesheet Sister publication to SongLink which details upcoming Film & TV productions in need of music, songs, full scores, cues etc. Sent twice a month by e-mail, our listings include leads from some of the industry’s top music supervisors and commissioners based in the UK/Ireland and USA/Canada. Covers all types of productions including major & indie feature films, TV drama & documentaries, plus the occasional advert, video games, web tv, etc. Contact us for a free sample issue today.

Special combo-discounts available if you subscribe to both services. Please note that unpub lished writers need subscription approval - send 2 sample works by MP3, web Links or CD.

Contact: David Stark, Editor/Publisher SongLink International / Cuesheet 23 Belsize Crescent, London NW3 5QY Tel: 020 7794 2540, e-mail: info@songlink.com

www.songlink.com • www.cuesheet.net

Specialist Insurance for Musicians Adrian Flux Insurance Services can offer musicians and music industry professionals great car, home or motorbike insurance deals because we have unique schemes that can be tailored to your requirements.

Call us today for a free, no obligation quote.

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money & business sync review

France so it’s handy for a publisher of our size, without the highest profile in the sync world, to know they’re on side. There’s a lot of luck involved in sync and making sure the right piece of music finds the right ears at the right time is key. Keeping potential users aware of our catalogue and working closely with music supervisors is essential.

news

jane dyball joins mcps

Were there any challenges to completing the deal?

Not really, a bit of to-ing and fro-ing over a fee maybe!

What is it about the track that makes it so attractive to sync?

True Romance has a good energy, strong melody and cuts well to picture. And there are a couple of different versions which give handy alternatives.

Who? Faber Music What? True Romance by Citizens! Written by Matthew Swinnerton, Tom Burke, Lawrence Diamond and Mike Evans.

Where? Ten different placements and counting…

We talk to Andrew Allday, Faber Music’s Media Music Manager, to get the lowdown on the Citizens! track that advertisers can’t seem to get enough of.

How many placements have you made so far?

True Romance has had, off the top of my head, 10 syncs now. It’s soundtracked everything from Chanel and O2 adverts and had placements in MTV’s Teen Wolf and French film Jeune & Jolie.

What has been the most high profile placement?

That would probably have to be an advert for Grazia magazine in France which ran across TV, radio and online for six months earlier this year.

How did all these placements come about?

A combination of luck and good relationships!

The track is co-published by Warner Chappell in

How has the track helped Faber Music in the sync market?

Hopefully it’s helped to raise people’s awareness of us. Faber Music, at present, doesn’t have a particularly high profile in the world of sync, particularly on the rock and pop side. We’re traditionally known as a classical music publisher but in recent times, especially in the last year, we’ve been exploring new avenues and developing a more contemporary roster with artists such as Goldheart Assembly, Winter Mountain and I Am The Cosmos. Sync successes like True Romance can open doors and help us to make people of aware of the music and services we can offer.

How has the track helped the band?

I can’t speak for the band but I think it’s given Matthew Swinnerton, as co-writer, encouragement to know that his songs have commercial potential away from more traditional sales routes. Matthew’s a great songwriter and knows the industry well from his time in The Rakes so it’s great that writers and musicians such as him can explore other avenues and have continued success.

prs administration rates PRS for Music has announced that it will reduce PRS administration rates back to the levels applied before the increase on 1 October 2012.

The revised rate will be deducted from royalties distributed by PRS after 31 March 2014.

In 2012, after careful consideration, the decision was made to increase PRS administration fees by approximately one percentage point.

This change was necessary as PRS had agreed with MCPS to temporarily bear a larger proportion of the costs of running PRS for Music Ltd. The organisation reviews administration fees at least once a year to ensure that rates properly reflect the costs incurred in administering and protecting the value of members’ rights.

The Board of the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) has appointed Jane Dyball to the newly created post of Chief Executive, effective from 1 January 2014. The former Senior Vice President of Warner/ Chappell will oversee the licensing and distribution of mechanical rights on behalf of all MCPS members.

She will also head up the Independent Music Publishers’ European Licensing (IMPEL) initiative, a digital licensing solution which offers music services a single multi-territory licence for the mechanical rights of a group of key independent music publishers.

Dyball recently left Warner/Chappell Music after more than 20 years with the publisher.

She has also served on the Boards of MCPS, PRS, the Music Publishers Association and the International Music Publishers Association.

your next paydays Performing

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(PRS):

(MCPS):

15 April

31 December

13 June

31 January

15 October

28 February

15 December

31 March m50_december 2013_11

money & business

‘the future’s bright, the future’s indie’

Alison Wenham OBE established the Association of Independent Music (AIM) back in 1999 to provide the sector with a collective voice. It now represents more than 850 member companies from the largest and most respected independent labels in the world to small start-ups and individual artists releasing their own music for the first time.

Alison has spent more than 35 years working in the music industry and is a founder member of European independent trade body IMPALA, the founding Chairman of Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) and a Board member of UK Music, Creative and Cultural Skills, Merlin and PPL. In October she received a Gold Badge Award for her services to British music.

AIM represents many types of business working in the independent sector. What are the common goals of these businesses?

It’s interesting to note that when we started the membership was mainly made up of independent record companies whereas today it’s much more diverse. Companies that used to be just record labels are now publishers, artist managers, sync agencies – there are many other types of income streams around which companies have diversified.

Are there any common challenges they face together?

I feel there is a great deal of commonality amongst the members, irrespective of their particular focus. Small companies are defined by a certain set of circumstances. They are often time-poor and everyone is plate spinning, especially during periods of success.

How has the sector evolved since AIM was founded?

When AIM was founded 13 years ago the look of the independent sector was very one-dimensional.

White male bosses usually ran record companies.

Today, AIM’s board is approximately 40 percent women. We’ve dramatically changed the profile of the industry at senior level, and we now properly reflect the socio-demographic profile of the UK – and the music industry.

We’ve heard a lot about the sector enjoying huge chart success lately; is that success spread across the board?

We will end the year with a 30 percent market share, which is a very significant improvement on a decade ago when we were around the low twenties. It’s very rewarding to see that the 30 percent share is made up of so many different companies. We have our great companies like Beggars, Ministry of Sound and Domino but if you look at the companies that have had a noteworthy hit this year, the success is spread across many labels.

What has helped this success?

There is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We believe success is too. As long as you can pay all your bills, your artists are 12_december 2013_m50

happy and you’ve managed to reach the market you set out to then you are running a successful company. It’s a perfect business model. What we are seeing is micro-entities keeping it tidy and keeping it tight - and it’s working for them.

What’s your take on the Spotify debate?

Most independent companies that I know pay 50-50 on net receipts from streaming. Obviously the streaming business is a long game. The subscription model will at some point reach critical mass. Currently the two leaders have 15 million paying subscribers between them. If that was 50 million or 150 million, what would the revenue model look like for everybody? I think you have to be patient.

What about royalty splits across the board?

They may need to be adjusted in the future. But artists have a wide choice on how to go to market these days, exponentially greater than in the past. If you choose to go to a company that is not transparent with you on your potential royalty earnings, you cannot then absent yourself from the decision-making process that got you there in the first place!

Why did the independent community create Merlin?

The initiative was taken five years ago because we knew that, while the internet had brought a theoretical levelling of the playing field, there was no reason why big brands, big business and gate-keeping wouldn’t grow up quickly – and it has.

We created Merlin so that independent companies wouldn’t be locked out of the new revenue streams and opportunities. Merlin represents a global independent market share that is the equivalent of a major, and is not for profit. Furthermore, all Merlin members are treated equally, so the benefits of collective negotiation are available to all members, large and small.

Do you think Merlin has enough of a presence at the negotiating table?

Sadly there are still companies who try and ignore the indie sector, or offer poorer terms than

‘Indies are agile, flexible, have a low cost base and operate in a truly global market - these are the attributes of the future independent success.’ for the majors. Our view is that a) independent artists should be treated equally, not as second class, and b) if services go to market without Merlin repertoire, they will fail so the answer is a resounding ‘Yes’!

What do you think the future holds for the UK independent sector?

We say, ‘The future’s bright, the future’s indie!’

They have everything going for them, and they have AIM, providing a fantastic service to enable indies to grow and to grasp new opportunities. Indies are agile, flexible, A&R-led, have a low cost base and operate in a truly global market - these are the attributes of the future independent success. www.musicindie.com

Read our feature on the independent music community in Glasgow on page 26

news

independent venue week PRS for Music is supporting Independent Venue Week, a new six day live music extravaganza bringing 18 venues together to showcase emerging UK musical talent.

rock the house Meet Mike Weatherly MP - the man who has been tasked with the role of Intellectual Property Advisor to David Cameron. £15,000 a year. These creators are struggling to make a living yet they should be able earn a decent income from their work.

Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Club and Manchester’s Soup Kitchen are among the participating venues in the event, which runs 28 January – 2 February 2014.

I’m aiming to co-opt worthwhile events that will help spread the word, from educational sessions in schools and colleges to wider forums and public debates. I’ve spoken to so many industry bodies and I hope they’re able to commit some resources behind such an initiative in the new year.

Each venue will host one live gig over the course of the week and work with labels, promoters and blogs to handpick the most exciting new acts to perform.

PRS for Music is proud to be backing the venture as these independent music venues play such a vital role in supporting and sustaining our members’ music careers.

The UK’s live gig circuit gives performing songwriters a chance to build a fan base, hone their skills and make a living from their music.

I’m a huge music fan and love all live music even though I’m not a musician myself, which has led some commentators to unkindly suggest that's why I’m really into heavy metal! I’m very proud of the fact that the UK is one of only three net exporters of music around the world – along with Sweden and the US. It’s great that the rest of the world loves our music so much.

In the past I’ve worked for music industry veteran Pete Waterman and also at a film licensing company, which is where I really started to get interested in intellectual property (IP) rights. When I was first elected to parliament in 2010 it struck me that very few MPs knew what IP was, let alone understood its importance. So we set up Rock the House, alongside other awareness initiatives, to encourage MPs to understand its significance. Eventually I must’ve made so much noise that David Cameron thought he should get me on board as his Advisor.

Sybil Bell, co-founder of the initiative, said: ‘The struggle to compete with large, sponsor-backed venues makes it a tough and challenging time for independents. Combine this with bands finding it harder to tour due to limited revenues and rising on-the-road costs and we can all see what a difficult climate live venues find themselves in.’

BBC Introducing, Drowned in Sound, Moshi Moshi Records, Domino Records, the Musicians’ Union and UK Music are also partners for the event alongside PRS for Music.

In the past there has been a movement in Britain towards giving away important IP rights, so the fact that he’s appointed me means there’s a further check in place to stop that erosion. I see my role as part of the counterbalance – both in Europe and the UK. To that end, there are three cornerstones to my new role. The first is to recognise the importance of education. With Rock the House I wanted to educate MPs, but our education drive has got to be much bigger than that. It’s now about getting the public to understand the importance of IP too.

I hope to work with the music industry and others to assemble a taskforce of people that can help organise a cohesive counter to current arguments surrounding intellectual property erosion. I think in some respects we’ve lost the public relations war. A lot of people don’t respect copyright and think music should be free. Let’s correct that.

Visit www.independentvenueweek.com

The reality is that 85 percent of PRS for Music songwriter and composer members earn less

Secondly, I’m looking at the ‘carrot’ – the business models that can entice people away from illegal filesharing. I think that current models need to change. An asking price of £10 per album worked in the physical market when people might have owned 100 records. But these days, people want access to thousands of albums and pay a tenth for them. Services like Spotify, which offer music for rent, are a really good example of a shift in business models to better suit public appetite for music.

Once we get the educational message right and improve the business models, then we should use ‘the stick’ – and that’s where the government comes in. David Cameron has asked me to look at enforcement particularly, but in my view we can’t look at that until we get the first two points right.

So how will I know if I’m effective in my new role?

Well I guess the clearest performance indicator of my success will be – ‘are artists being paid for their work?’ At the moment we’ve seen a decline in their earnings and a complete disrespect for their work.

If we can halt that decline and encourage people back into the industry we will have succeeded in our mission.

I firmly believe that intellectual property rights are important for the economy, important for creativity and important for entrepreneurship. I look forward to working hard to promote these principles during 2014 and beyond.

Mike Weatherley has been Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade since 2010. He is an active member of the All-Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group and within the first year of holding his seat he launched the national parliamentlinked music competition, Rock the House.

The annual contest sees MPs nominate the best live musicians and music venues from their constituencies. Any songwriter or composer who is currently unsigned and interested in taking part should email their local MPs to enter. More information can be found at rockthehousehoc.com m50_december 2013_13

CHRISTIE GOODWIN

Main image: Ed Sheeran

AMERICAN INVASION

USA

Conquering the US has always been the dream for UK artists.

Chris Barrett finds out how the current wave of success stories are doing it…

It happened in the sixties, in the eighties and is happening again now – British musicians and songwriters taking on America’s charts and winning.

performing, it’s a challenge just to be heard above the musical melee. Jon Webster, Chief Executive at Music Managers Forum, believes SXSW is best left to artists that already have an industry buzz.

Adele, One Direction and Mumford and Sons led the charge in 2012, releasing four of the US’ five best-selling albums, BPI stats showed. Their success, alongside other big sellers such as The xx and Ed Sheeran, saw UK artists’ sales share in North America hit a 10 year high. This year Little Mix, Laura Marling, Bastille and Chvrches have been the cross-Atlantic winners.

‘If you’re not ready, there are much better ways of spending £10,000. SXSW is costly and there is so much music out there. But if the timing is right, it is a great way of getting to a lot of international media,’ explains Jon.

But why has the states fallen for these artists? Well, Brits that break America are incredibly well prepared. They’re also willing to sacrifice blood, sweat, tears and more on the road to success.

‘You have to tour and tour and tour again. Many UK bands find it difficult to cope because they aren’t used to such hardcore touring, but it’s vital,’ says Dick O’Dell, manager of UK talent Bat for Lashes.

Playing live is certainly key – and the US has a huge number of great venues to showcase new music. New York’s Brooklyn Bowl and Bowery Ballroom are important stop-offs alongside LA’s 130-capacity Largo and Troubadour and San Franciso’s Great American Music Hall.

However, aside from the red tape involved in gaining access, bands hitting the US for the first time need to consider numerous Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, including Central Withholding Tax. Those who don’t could see the IRS retaining 30 percent of a band’s gross earnings until the end of the tax year.

Artist manager Mick Paterson felt the wrath of the IRS while touring with Spiritualized last year. ‘We put in what we thought was the right paperwork, but the IRS changed the rules in the middle of the tour and held back thousands of pounds,’ he warns.

SXSW Glasgow’s Chvrches saw their debut The Bones Of What You Believe, crashland into the US Top 20 in the autumn after a campaign which began during a run of five gigs at industry event South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas earlier that year. It shows how hard work at SXSW can be a catalyst for a career stateside. But with over 2,200 acts

There is no shortage of SXSW success stories, as Bob Miller, manager of Corinne Bailey Rae and Davy Knowles, attests.

Corinne Bailey Rae’s SXSW show for KCRW cemented her relationship with the LA-based radio station, while for Davy, SXSW was the springboard for a six year US tour. ‘He virtually never came home from that first trip to Austin, playing over 300 shows in the first two years alone,’ says Miller.

With funding from the PRS for Music Foundation, Dick O’Dell and his act Bat for Lashes hit SXSW at exactly the right time to build on the UK success of debut album, Fur and Gold.

‘She played under the PRS banner at the bottom of the bill, but when she came on the house was absolutely packed. When the next band performed, the room had completely emptied – that tells you everything you need to know about SXSW,’ says Dick.

Sources of funding Fortunately cash-strapped artists with US aspirations can find backing from various sources including the BPI, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the PRS for Music Foundation.

The BPI and UKTI recently created the Music Export Growth Scheme, offering grants to independent labels looking to take export-ready artists overseas. PRS for Music Foundation runs British Music Abroad, a scheme that has helped the likes Tropics and Seams head overseas.

Laura Whitticase, the foundation’s industry and export fund manager, says it will consider applications from any artist wanting to play an industry-facing showcase event. The organisation helps around 40 artists annually attend showcases including SXSW, CMJ in New York and the Miami Winter Music Conference.

Getting in Whichever US event an artist chooses, there is the visa challenge to overcome. It can take up to three months for an artist’s visa to be granted and the overall cost, depending on the band’s size and application date, can reach £2,500.

Tim Brinkhurst, manager of hip-hop act Young Fathers, first applied for US work visas at the start of 2013 for his band to play SXSW in March, but they were rejected despite being signed to US indie label Anticon.

‘The visas were initially refused, even though we had great press.

They look for worldwide recognition and we had that, but we had to re-apply with more evidence,’ says Tim.

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USA

Working from home Thankfully there are more economically viable ways of impacting the US market than making the journey. Events including Eurosonic in the Netherlands and Brighton’s Great Escape all attract US delegates.

Kat Morris, Great Escape director, says the event welcomes 3,000 industry delegates annually, eight percent of which are from the US. Agents and promoters as well as key online US media outlets including Hype Machine and Pitchfork all attend.

Adam Royal, online press officer at Toast Press who worked with Django Django on SXSW, believes the international make up of audiences means it’s equally important to get coverage on a UK site as it is Pitchfork. He also focuses heavily on US tastemaker blogs including Gorilla Vs Bear, Pigeons and Plane and The Fader.

JOHN URBANO / SEBASTIAN KIM /

The beauty of the internet is that it gives us more control of granular markets and the ability to get right into the pockets of our audience ‘They are strong tastemakers irrespective of how much traffic they get. That’s the important thing at an early stage. While traffic is attractive, it’s ultimately about positioning and finding the appropriate audience that will listen. There’s little use having three million people reading a site per month if only 1,000 people are going to hear the track,’ advises Adam.

While gaining coverage across key US online music platforms and building a social media following are important, artists cannot ignore traditional media.

Tim notes that coverage in key magazines and even local newspapers can help support visa applications. Mainstream print titles including Rolling Stone and Spin hold significant sway as do college radio stations such as Seatle’s KEXP and LA’s KCRW.

Meanwhile, TV can bring huge mainstream exposure. Marc Marot, chairman of the Crown Talent and Media Group, which manages a host of artists including Jessie J, says: ‘The beauty of the internet is that it gives us more control of granular markets and the ability to get right into the pockets of our audience. However, compare that to a live performance on The X Factor in the US and it pales into insignificance.’

Clockwise form left: Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Bat for Lashes, Mumford & Sons, One Direction,

TV and sync Dick believes appearances on key US TV shows such as the Late Show With David Letterman are hugely important but worthless without a back-up plan.

‘People think that when you get those TV slots it is game on, but it is not like that, you must have all the other parts of your campaign falling into place simultaneously,’ he says.

A considerable career boost can come from TV, film and videogame track placements and there are a number of industry initiatives aimed at making this process easier.

Annually 50 artists and independent labels are taken to visit leading music supervisors as part of the BPI’s annual LA Sync Mission. Chris Tams, BPI Director ofIindependent Member Services and International, cites the placement of Wretch 32 track 24 Hours on the FIFA 14 videogame as an example of how beneficial it can be.

While the opportunities for US exposure are many, there are no shortcuts to success. Any artist wanting to break North America not only needs time, money and a top class industry team behind them but a willingness to get on the road and stay there.

Marc believes a sustained presence in the US is essential in order to succeed. Jessie J’s second album, Alive, was released in the UK in September but will not be available in the US until next year.

‘Our plan is to wait until the new year, when she is able to stay there for a very long time - we need to give the Americans a sustained period of exposure to her,’ says Marc. It’s this kind of forward planning, combined with determination and persistence, which is fuelling the current romance between British songwriters and US audiences.

M50_DECEMBER 2013_17

JOHN WRIGHT

profile

ANNIE’S SONG Annie Lennox may be better known recently as a charity campaigner. But Paul Sexton meets a world class pop star who just can’t get music out of her blood…

When Annie Lennox rounded off the gala evening where she received the 22nd Music Industry Trusts Award with a unique and stirring solo piano performance, it felt as if the Grosvenor House Hotel was suddenly hosting a gospel-soul revival concert.

It was clearer than ever that performance is in her blood. But in conversation before she received the accolade, one of the most distinctive figureheads of rock and pop music of the past 35 years had almost been hinting at semi-retirement from the music business.

‘For the last decade, I’ve found myself more and more intrigued in the world of HIV and AIDS campaigning,’ said Annie, as she described her modern-day life as a wife, mother, charitable activist and inveterate blogger - but no longer, she seemed to be saying, as a pop star.

‘I feel like I’ve had my time, I’ve had that moment,’ she reflected.

‘I’m 58’ - she turns an extremely vivacious 59 on Christmas Day - ‘and I’ve got young daughters now, so that’s their generation to me. In a way, I’m growing older graciously, but also trying not to get overwhelmed by too many requests. I’m not quite sure if anybody needs to hear me anymore, I think I’m a little bit of the past.’

Come on, I replied, what about that nation-awakening performance at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace less than 18 months ago? ‘No, no, I’m serious,’ she replies.

‘I’m sensitive to that. Everybody has their time.’

Thankfully, Annie has since revealed she does have an upcoming project in the works, one she’s keeping under wraps for now.

But like that unique moment on a London stage a few weeks ago, it underlines how she simply cannot get music out of her blood. Or, as she puts it herself, there’s life in the old bird yet.

Nevertheless, late 2013 has been a time for Annie to take stock of her remarkable curriculum vitae and to be reminded exactly what she means to her peers. Few artists indeed could inspire tributes, as in the specially-made film that came before her award presentation, by everyone from Adele to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Even fewer are in Annie’s position to impart their knowledge of the industry, how to get into it and how dramatically it has changed. This she does gently, never didactically, but making clear some of the views that landed her back in the news pages in the autumn, when the national, then international media picked up on her forthright views about sexism in music and commercial exploitation.

Her initial comments were quietly posted on the blog she writes almost daily on her website. She certainly didn’t expect to see them on the front pages, but she stands by every word of them.

‘The objectification of young women who have a very young audience is really disconcerting,’ she tells me.

Annie’s considered thoughts have been part of a lively debate to which other female artists from Sinead O’Connor to Charlotte Church have contributed. But Annie also speaks from great experience on the wider subject of women in the music business.

‘When I was a much younger woman, I was working with men, in a world of men,’ she says. ‘Because I was not, how can I put this to you ... I was one of them, I was in the band. So I was always treated pretty well, by and large, because I was like an equal, but it was still a man’s world.

‘Now, it’s changed radically, there’s so many women in music, and I think that’s so much a reflection of the times that we live in, that young women wouldn’t even think twice about it.

M50_DECEMBER 2013_19

The Lennox/Stewart partnership, most notably as Eurythmics, is of course indelible in both of their stories. For all the fact that she doesn’t necessarily expect them to collaborate again, Annie was generous in her praise of her former co-writer and producer in her award acceptance.

‘Dave and I made several albums before we hit our main stride with Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) and we had played in every club, every university campus, little theatres - we’d done that a lot. It’s really exhausting, and you can only play at a certain level to so many people.

‘All of a sudden, this phenomenon of being in every living room came along because of MTV. Suddenly you’ve got a whole visual side to your work that isn’t just about live performance on stage.

I get to be an actress, a singer, writer, performer. Obviously, as an artist, that’s the most wonderful challenge.’

‘I had this really strong sense of autonomy.

I do my own thing, I’m not answerable to anybody but myself’.

When I started writing music for myself, back in the seventies, there were only just a few blueprints, like Joni Mitchell and Carole King for me, who were active performer singersongwriters, and you never would have imagined that was something you could actually do.’

Another fundamental shift, she thinks, is the mentality of a show business-era dominated by TV talent contests and reality shows. ‘I do think it’s really odd when everybody thinks they can just become famous,’ she says. ‘It’s really bizarre to me.’

‘It pushes things to the extreme, where you have top-selling artists at one end, then this plethora of people all thinking they should be part of something. But we don’t really know what that is anymore and you can barely even sell records these days.’

There is one means of artistic protection that she advocates, and it’s still not one that many artists can really claim, with all of their branding ties and commercial responsibilities. ‘I never did those handshakes with the fashion industry, although I could have done it back in the day, because I didn’t want anybody to feel any sense of ownership on me,’ she says. ‘I had this really strong sense of autonomy. I do my own thing, I’m not answerable to anybody but myself.

‘I’m a bit of an anti-famous person, I know I’m well-known but I’ve never played into it, outside of the fact that if I had a record coming out, I would do lots of interviews, obviously, and talk about my work. But I never allowed people to get too closely into my life. I never exploited my personal world in order to sell things or show off.’

From the moment she started twisting with her friends to Chubby Checker, Annie Lennox was sold on music. By the time she was swooning over The Beatles and the Stones, singing along with her early Motown heroes and heroines and idolising Dusty Springfield on television, she wanted to be part of that magic, to create something of her own.

If you need a mine detector to tiptoe through the challenges of rights protection in the digital business nowadays, Annie was learning about such things back in the days of in the analogue world.

‘I just wanted to write songs, record songs, perform songs and make albums, that’s it. That’s plenty to be going on with,’ she says. Had she thought about the fame aspect? ‘Not really. To be honest, that really wasn’t what it was about. The “celebrity” that we all talk about now wasn’t even a word of reference.

‘By and large, making money has never been my main focus, thank god,’ she muses. ‘I’ve never understood it, so I’ve just had to rely on people being honest and dealing fairly with me.

Obviously I’ve had fantastic representation legally, eventually, when you could get there. But in the early days it was very challenging.

‘There were people that were famous, but that was because they did something interesting. They may have been a film star, an actress or in a band. Nobody was famous for nothing, nobody.

Now, people that don’t know better are drawn to this like a magnet. They think that happiness, success, money, power, fame, that is how it’s meant to be.’

‘Dave [Stewart] and I were in a situation with an independent record label, the very first one we signed to, then we ended up in litigation with them for a whole year. So we were just paralysed, we couldn’t do anything. Then they did a deal with RCA Records and we finally got started. The pitfalls you can fall into are very easy.’

Lennox’s passion for writing has lately been channelled not into songs, but into that blog of hers. ‘Oh my god, I love that,’ she enthuses. ‘I just find tremendous satisfaction in writing. I don’t like tweeting, because I think that’s too short. A blog can be any size and I’m fascinated by everything around me, everything.

‘So in a way, my blog is as quirky as I am. It represents

profile Right: Annie Lennox performing at the 2013 MITS Award

whatever draws my attention and I find the dialogue and exchanges between people are absolutely fascinating. I don’t want to have to be advertising a beauty product or whatever.

I’m not making money from it. I’m just doing the writing and taking the photograph and it’s an artistic statement of itself.’

If Annie is offering advice to young songwriters and musicians, she need only remember how she had to pull herself out of her working-class Aberdeen upbringing. ‘It takes quite an effort and quite a lot of good, supportive conditioning to get people to aspire up,’ she muses. ‘It’s almost as if our thoughts are gravitational, so they get a downward pull.

‘You have to make the effort, if you want to become something. You’re going to have to say “I’m not going to escape to the pub, I’m actually going to spend some time focusing and doing some hard work to apply myself”.’

‘If you’re prepared to postpone instant gratification and aim for something with a passion, you might just manage to elegantly walk the path of life,’ she concludes. Spoken from the vast and extraordinary experience of Annie Lennox OBE.

New Year + new member benefits + new logo + new website = all new BASCA We’re looking forward to representing your interests into the New Year and beyond.

We’ll soon be unveiling our new logo and new website plus exciting member benefits and professional services.

BASCA is evolving. Join us.

BASCA represents and celebrates the craft of songwriters and composers across all musical genres

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors Home of The Ivor Novello Awards

www.basca.org.uk www.facebook.com/bascauk www.twitter.com/BASCA_uk

For advance information about tickets to The Ivor Novello Awards, contact kate@basca.org.uk M50_DECEMBER 2013_21

Main image: Rudimental

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS Amir Amor and his group Rudimental have had a mind-blowing 12 months, climbing to the top of the charts and being crowned kings of the UK’s festival season.

Jim Ottewill finds out how they did it.

DANNY NORTHCREDIT

‘It’s all been a totally mad ride,’ says Rudimental producer and songwriter Amir Amor when quizzed about the band’s rapid rise to fame.

It’s not surprising. This year the world has fallen at the feet of Hackney’s Rudimental and their debut album Home. Amir and band members Piers Agget, Kesi Dryden and Leon Rolle have blazed a trail through 2013, taking festival crowds and the record buying public with them. They’ve come a long way from their base at Amir’s east London HQ (and recording studio) Major Tom’s.

When we chat he’s in New York after a run of jubilant US shows.

‘There’s something else about coming to the other side of the world and playing your music to sold-out crowds. It’s nothing like home but it’s been kicking off here big time,’ he says, sounding surprised.

He shouldn’t be. It’s been ‘kicking off’ for Rudimental in the UK ever since Amir joined the group two years ago.

Having discovered the crew via the illegitimate sizzle of pirate radio and a link via Black Butter Records, Amir’s membership was the touch paper behind an intense period of musical creativity. It gave birth to Rudimental’s debut album, a 12-song explosion of brass, soul, jazz, funk and bass. The record, with the help of number one singles Feel the Love and Waiting All Night, transported them into the very heart of the mainstream.

‘There was a rare energy in the room when we were writing those songs,’ Amir explains. ‘It’s something none of us had ever experienced before. Our success since then has far exceeded our expectations, even though we were always ambitious.

‘When I joined, we talked about what we wanted to do in five years time. Headline Glastonbury.

PROFILE

Standfirst risus nunc, cursus vitae ultric Standfirst risus nunc, cursus vitae ultric

M50_DECEMBER 2013_23

Left: Don Letts

‘We’re bringing positivity in the lyrics and some happiness to dark times.’

Release epic albums that will be around forever. It’s happening but far, far quicker than any of us imagined.’

Rudimental made the album at their base in Hackney, an area they have such an affinity for they featured the borough’s Peace Mural on the cover of the record. The colourful spirit of positivity and unity embodied in the famous artwork is one which bursts out of their music and the album’s numerous collaborations. John Newman, Emeli Sandé, MNEK and Ella Eyre are some of the artists to feature, many of whom have recorded at the band’s Major Tom’s studio in east London. It’s this family affair, reminiscent of classic British acts such as Soul II Soul or Basement Jaxx, which Amir believes is behind their success.

‘We have a wicked family vibe and energy on stage. There are nine of us up there so when people see us enjoying ourselves, they enjoy themselves too. Our shows have really connected with people as there isn’t one star or one stage. It’s more like a James Brown school of thought – every performer has their moment. We’re bringing positivity in the lyrics and some happiness to dark times.’

SARAH GINN OLIVER SMITH / ADRIAN LAMBERT DANNY NORTH / GETTY

Rudimental’s HQ Major Tom’s role in the record cannot be underestimated. Not only is it the band’s base, but it’s also acted as an unofficial training ground for new and emerging acts.

MNEK, John Newman and Plan B are just some of the artists and songwriters to have passed through its doors and gone on to make serious dents in the UK charts.

Amir says: ‘We recorded and produced the whole album in Major Tom’s. It’s been my brainchild for about six years now and is a base for Rudimental, MNEK and John Newman. It’s always been a really vibrant and creative place.’

The album Home has been much-loved by the music industry and music buyers alike with the record picking up the Best Album gong from the MOBOs and registering a Mercury Prize nomination.

They may have lost out to James Blake for the Mercury but their record received the biggest sales spike in the run up to the event

(29,000 units according to Official Charts Company data). Amir picks out the nomination as one of the biggest nods of acceptance yet for the band.

‘To be nominated for that, aw man it’s the best and most respected award the UK has,’ he exclaims. ‘I’ve bought all the shortlisted albums from the last few years so to be nominated ourselves was really amazing. All those records have been on heavy rotation on our tour bus. I’ve been listening to a lot of James Blake, Arctics and Foals.’

The record’s popularity is one thing but Rudimental’s spectacular live show has done much to help them get where they are. They’ve left their mark all over the UK festival season, becoming one of the ‘must see’ bands from the last year. Amir picks out V Festival as a huge gig for the band.

‘We’ve performed in front of thousands of people but that one was really special. Us and 50,000 people. The V organisers had to lock off the field because there were more people trying to get in. It was the biggest crowd at that stage since The Prodigy in the mid-nineties.’

While Rudimental have enjoyed such success in the live arena, their chart topping has helped propel them to the front of a revival of British dance music. While UK bleeps have been healthily pulsing away underneath the mainstream for years, Rudimental, alongside fellow Mercury nominees Disclosure and rising star Duke Dumont, have brought beats to an even greater number of ears. Couple this British resurgence with the unstoppable juggernaut of EDM in the US and the future looks dazzling for dance music artists.

Amir says: ‘It currently seems like it’s in the best health ever.

You’ve got acts like Disclosure who came through at the same time as us. They’re playing undiluted dance music in the mainstream.

People are listening to it and getting it. We’re in America right now in New York playing jungle music which first came out of London. It’s definitely now an international thing.’

PROFILE

‘We’ve got a lot more coming.

Really. We’ve only just scratched the surface.’

So why have the band achieved such success? Amir is pretty convinced that their willingness to collaborate, along with their work ethic, has been essential to their success.

‘Being stubborn and persistent are two of the most important qualities if you want to work in music. There will be a lot of obstacles in your way which could set you back,’ he says.

‘You need to be able to work with people, listen and collaborate.

Making music is a collaborative thing. It’s not something you can do entirely on your own. That’s something which has taken me years to learn.’

While the band are now back from the US and working hard on spreading the word even further, Amir has no worries about the group risking burn out from working too hard. He says they have been constantly writing during their travels and are itching to get back in the studio.

Go online to read the extended interview with Amir

‘We’re always writing music. It doesn’t matter whether we’re here or there. It’s a continuous process,’ he explains before promising: ‘We’ve got a lot more coming. Really. We’ve only just scratched the surface.’

m-magazine.co.uk

www.rudimental.co.uk

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M50_DECEMBER 2013_25 22/05/2013 20:

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE Anita Awbi heads to Glasgow to discover how the longstanding DIY scene has turned the city into a musical mecca.

‘No wonder we’re shite at football but great at music – it rains 200 days a year here,’ jokes Ben Martin, co-founder of glossy new house imprint High Sheen. He’s been knee-deep in the local electronic scene for 14 years as a DJ, booking agent and now independent label boss. But even he’s struggling to pinpoint the exact source of Glasgow’s musical ingenuity.

Over the last decade the controversial rapper has come to define the city’s hip-hop attitude through razor sharp public commentary and his work with the youth organisation Volition. It is precisely this degree of self-awareness and local commitment that lies at the heart of the city’s DIY movement, cutting through genres and guiding the way.

From the outside, it seems as though there’s something in the water that keeps the musical flair flowing. The city acts like a creative dam, pooling national talent within a hardy, local ecosystem.

Art in focus ‘Scotland is really out in front in the way we perceive the arts, both in relation to our society and who we are as a nation,’ says Stewart Henderson, founder of Chemikal Underground and chairman of the Scottish Music Industry Association.

‘It never ceases to amaze me how productive this sodden place can be,’ Ben continues. ‘It’s a real have-a-go city in so many ways but is small enough to keep itself in check. Music is there to be enjoyed in all its forms and Glasgow is a city that understands that attitude.’

Ask anyone in Britain what Glasgow’s indie scene means to them and you’ll get a different answer every time. From Edwyn Collins’ Orange Juice to the heroic post-rock of Mogwai or the all-conquering electronics of Hudson Mohawke, the journey from fey indie city to robust musical metropolis has been marked by a bewildering series of creative highpoints.

But this cultural powerhouse didn’t spring up by chance: there are no lucky coincidences in such a harsh, post-industrial landscape. Instead, Scotland’s largest city has worked hard to figure out its unique strengths and forge a durable music community.

TDSLR PHOTOGRAPHY

These days it’s an infrastructure that supports healthy jazz, folk, indie, electronic and hip-hop scenes, all of which enjoy international acclaim. It has supplied an enduring indie label movement in Postcard Records, Chemikal Underground, Rock Action, Soma, Optimo and Geographic through to LuckyMe, Numbers and High Sheen. It has also delivered huge crossover commercial success in the form of Aztec Camera, Simple Minds, Primal Scream and Franz Ferdinand.

‘I think the most important thing Glasgow has given me as a writer is a muse,’ offers Darren ‘Loki’ McGarvey, a celebrated hip-hop artist from the city’s south side. ‘It’s got so much texture and there’s so much nuance in the character of the people. You could write about it forever because as you mature you see it from different perspectives. Whether you want to be poetic or political, there is loads of subject matter to wade through when you’re sitting staring out directly onto Glasgow.’

‘We’re the most artistically switched on we’ve ever been and Glasgow is both a big benefactor and a big contributor. I find it as exciting a time in this city as I can ever remember.’

When the bassist with now defunct indie group The Delgados first created Chemikal Underground with his bandmates in the midnineties, Glasgow was in the very early stages of what has since become an extraordinary transformation.

A new cultural focus, powered by government funding body Creative Scotland and supported by a coherent network of kindred spirits, has allowed the city to flourish.

‘We’ve moved from being a post-industrial city to become a cultural metropolis – we are now a really cosmopolitan arts-based city,’ explains Stewart.

Award winning jazz musician and arranger Bill Wells tells a similar story. In the last few years the hero of Glasgow’s indie scene has released an award-winning album with Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat, made records with Japan’s Maher Shalal Hash Baz and produced some of his finest work with German electronic pioneers Stefan Schneider, Barbara Morgenstern and trombonist Annie Whitehead.

He says: ‘There’s definitely a significant amount of support from Creative Scotland and the Scottish Arts Council. These days they are right behind the indie scene. It’s something that’s changed a lot since I first started doing music [in the nineties]. Back then it was very difficult to get funding for anything that wasn’t classical or opera or jazz.’

OVERSEAS REGION

Main image: Loki

New blood Following their addition to the BBC Sound of 2013 long list earlier this year, Glaswegian synth-pop trio Chvrches are officially one of the hottest new acts in the UK right now.

Elsewhere, Ross Birchard, aka Hudson Mohawke, has continued his upward trajectory with cuts on Kanye West’s latest album Yeezus alongside his TNGHT sidekick Lunice.

Throw in producers such as Dam Mantle, Mia Dora, Turtle, Lovers Rights and Golden Teacher - who are all products of the Glasgow scene – and you’ve got yourself some the most exciting new releases of the last 12 months.

Elsewhere, indie veterans Mogwai, who have been ensconced in the city’s infamous East End for the best part of 20 years, have also been busy. Over the past year they’ve continued to push new talent to the fore through their Rock Action label, scored the music to the atmospheric French zombie series The Returned and set the internet alight with news of their forthcoming album Rave Tapes.

Their re-emergence provides a timely reminder of the vibrancy of the local scene and the ability for old and newcomers to co-exist.

‘Obviously there are many micro-scenes that form around labels like LuckyMe or Numbers, but it feels like everyone is just having fun doing their own thing’, says Iain Cook, one third of Chvrches and producer/arranger of Rock Action post-rock band Aerogramme.

‘It never ceases to amaze me how productive this sodden place can be... it’s a real have a go city’.

‘Some of that positive energy bleeds into other aspects of the scene,’ he adds. ‘It’s a really vibrant city musically, and in many other creative ways, although I wouldn’t really feel comfortable with the idea of a particular scene. We’re just a load of people following our own paths and sometimes drinking in the same pubs.’

Ben from High Sheen agrees that the current musical crop operates as a fluid, scene-less entity: ‘JD Twitch [one half of techno juggernaut Optimo] once said he doesn’t think there’s a particular Glasgow sound but that there’s a Glasgow approach to making music… It’s such a great place for partying and in many ways it’s a beast that cannot be tamed. It just needed to be set free and that’s what has happened.’

Solid foundations So how did Glasgow become the musical mecca it is today? Mogwai main man Stuart Braithwaite provides some insight. Together with his cohorts, he’s been running the Rock Action label since 1996, releasing pivotal works from a bunch of impressive acts including Errors, Blanck Mass and Remember Remember.

M50_DECEMBER 2013_27

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REGION

Go online to read the extended interviews with Loki, Mogwai, Bill Wells and more

m-magazine.co.uk

‘It probably goes back way before our time,’ he says. ‘Back to Alan Horne’s Postcard Records and even Creation. Although it wasn’t run from Scotland, Creation was started by Glaswegians – Jesus and Mary Chain, Alan McGee, Primal Scream – all that stuff.

‘On the electronic side you’ve got Optimo, who started back in the nineties and still bring a lot of great musicians to Glasgow and put out a lot of great records,’ he adds.

So it seems the main force behind the city’s musical success lies in the tenacity of its lead characters, all of whom are deeply entrepreneurial.

‘The whole city is very DIY,’ confirms Stuart. ‘I guess the distance to London is so big that people just try to do their own thing rather than expect someone to do it for them.’

Live links If you’re after clues to the health of a city’s music community, look no further than its live circuit of venues, pubs, clubs and art spaces.

Naturally, Glasgow is ridiculously well endowed in this department.

From the legendary guitar haunts of King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Mono, Stereo and Nice n Sleazy to the folk strongholds of Waxy O’Connors, The Flying Buck and The Ben Nevis, Glasgow is awash with venues. A recent survey commissioned on behalf of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau found it to be the UK’s best place to discover new music, with King Tut’s, the Arches and Barrowland Ballroom cited as top places to see emerging acts.

ELIOT LEE HAZEL

Local promoters like Amanda Aitken, founder of the Lost and Found agency, work hard to keep the scene going. Since relocating from Aberdeen to Glasgow she’s helping to develop the south side of the city as a music destination, working closely with the Glad Café social enterprise to attract more bands to play outside of the city’s central zone.

She’s also involved in TYCI, a local feminist collective which produces a magazine, regular Subcity Radio show and monthly club night. She says: ‘It seems people in Glasgow – both musicians and punters – really care about the music scene. I remember going to see Sky Larkin earlier in the year and although it was a Sunday night people were going nuts! Katie from the band said afterwards, “There’s no such thing as a Sunday night in Glasgow,” and it’s absolutely true!’

‘The distance to London is so big that people just try to do their own thing rather than expect someone to do it for them’ Elsewhere, classically trained Alistair McCulloch, one of the country’s most sought-after fiddlers and a tutor at the Glasgow based Royal Conservatoire Scotland, is plugged into the traditional Scottish and folk music scenes.

He’s amazed at the city’s current vitality and enthuses about the many opportunities open to his students. ‘There are sessions every night of the week,’ he laughs. ‘It’s amazing. Professional players, amateurs and students will get together all across the city. The birth of Celtic Connections festival has really encouraged that, together with the whole Gaelic arts movement that’s kicked in.’

Glasgow international So it’s not just the contemporary music world that’s benefiting from the blossoming independent infrastructure. The 2014 Commonwealth Games will ensure all eyes are on the city next summer and along with the sport, event programmers will deliver 48 cultural projects spanning the jazz, classical and contemporary genres. PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music Biennial will also decamp on the city to join in the celebrations.

Meanwhile Alistair McCulloch is preparing to take his authentic Scots violin sound to New Zealand, North Carolina and China over the coming months, citing burgeoning demand for his skills all over the world.

But none of this activity surprises Stewart from Chemikal Underground: ‘With the referendum coming up next year, there’s almost an inevitability that culture and the arts will start to swing round front and centre – it always happens when you have any kind of debate about national identity.’

‘But I’m proud to say we’re ready - there’s a really vibrant diversity and life-affirming spectrum of music that is coming out of Glasgow, and Scotland generally, just now.’

Above left: Chvrches Top right: Stuart Braithwaite Bottom right: Bill Wells

M50_DECEMBER 2013_29

song writing

i wrote that Quintessential eighties pop icon Gary Numan first cut his teeth when a synthesiser would set you back two months’ pay and drum machines only had ‘samba’, ‘mambo’ and ‘polka’ presets. In 1979 he recorded Are Friends Electric? with his band Tubeway Army on a shoestring, creating one of British pop’s finest moments and influencing a generation of musicians from Juan Atkins to Kanye West. Here, Gary remembers how the song came about.

I vividly remember writing Are Friends Electric?. It was actually two songs to begin with. I had a verse that I didn’t know what to do with because I couldn’t find a chorus to fit. I also had another song with a really cool chorus but I couldn’t think of a verse for that.

One day I was playing one part and immediately jumped onto the other and realised they actually worked together.

The funny thing was, I’d been working on both songs for a few weeks, but by jumping from one to another without a cup of tea in between I’d figured out the fit. It’s why the song is so long - at five and a quarter minutes it was way too long for a single.

The atmosphere of the track was much more like a ballad at the start, but I hit a wrong note when I was playing it once – because I’m not a very good pianist – and I thought, ‘Fuck, that sounds loads better!’ So I kept it. So, it’s actually a mixture of not being able to play very well and not being able to finish songs properly! It’s not as if I took a great deal of pride from it.

My mum and dad had only bought me the old pub piano a month or two before, so I was still teaching myself to play. All the songs I wrote around then were just me fiddling around trying to get my fingers to work in the right way. And, because I didn’t have any synthesisers at home, I wasn’t really able to sit and practice all the noises I wanted. It had to be done on the fly with the equipment we had in the studio.

30_DECEMBER 2013_M50

For Replicas, the album that Are Friends Electric? came from, we could only afford five days in a little basement demo studio with a 16-track recorder in Chinatown, London. I had access to a rented Minimoog and a Polymoog for the first three days.

I couldn’t afford the full five days rental for the synths so had to get all of them recorded first.

All the songs I wrote around then were just me fiddling around on piano trying to get my fingers to work in the right way.

The studio also had a thing called an ARP 2000, with a hole drilled through it and a huge chain cemented to the wall to stop people nicking it! I remember thinking, ‘What kind of a place is this?!’

So, that’s how we did it. The synths would turn up and I would have to find the sounds that suited very quickly. We were recording and finishing three or four songs a day.

Gary’s 20th studio album Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) was released by Cooking Vinyl on 14 October.

Are Friends Electric? went on to be a big single and I think any big track like that goes on to define your career for a while. People start to associate that sound with you. But soon after that, Cars came out and it’s arguable which one is more memorable now. Certainly in America it’s Cars, but in England and Europe it’s a toss up between which one people think defines me and my sound.

Following a stint of UK dates in November, Gary’s international tour kicks of in February and includes a performance at US industry showcase South by South West in March.

Over the last 35 years, Gary’s discography has grown to include an impressive 20 studio albums, while his influence on electronic and industrial music has gone from strength to strength.

Are Friends Electric?

Written by: Gary Numan UK publisher: Universal Music Publishing

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sound effect Leopold Whitely is Head of International Creative at Notting Hill Music, which represents more than 25,000 copyright works, including hits recorded by Rihanna, Beyonce, Dizzee Rascal, Ian Brown, Madonna, Paul Weller and New Order.

The publishing arm of Notting Hill is actively involved in the Japanese and Korean J-Pop and K-Pop scenes, while two of Leopold’s latest signings - Ayah Marar and Dominique Young Unique - have just scored top five hits with Calvin Harris and DJ Fresh respectively.

Leopold started his career in the decorative arts and gilding world before moving over to publishing 15 years ago. He’s since worked across all aspects of the business, from administration to A&R and music placement. the first music i remember hearing was…

With my mum being German and my dad a Francophile, we would always hear fifties and sixties French and German tunes playing around the house. In the evenings they’d play classical music too, while Sundays would bring choral and opera. the first record i ever bought was…

Mr Blue Sky by ELO on seven-inch vinyl. I still have it and there are moments when I brush it down, sing along and turn back the clock! the last great record i listened to was…

Eels’ Wonderful, Glorious. I am a huge fan of Mark Everett and this album, in my opinion, finds him at the top of his powers again. He’s a supremely talented songwriter and lyricist, producing a very diverse, yet unifying record. the song i wish i’d written is…

Compared To What by Eugene McDaniels. I first came across this on the Les McCann and Eddie Harris album

32_december 2013_m50

Swiss Movement and footage of their iconic performance at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. This is the version for me, but the song has been covered by people as diverse as Roberta Flack and David Holmes. the song that makes me want to dance is…

Not being the world’s greatest, or keenest, dancer I would probably have to go back to my punk days and jump around to the epic West One (Shine On Me) by The Ruts. It does get me going eventually… probably due to the length. the song that makes me cry is…

I do have quite a collection of morose and sad music from the likes of Bill Callaghan (Smog) and Bonnie Prince Billy, but for crying, Prefab Sprout’s When Love Breaks Down always has and always will. the song that i know all the words to is…

Not having the best memory for lyrics, there are two which immediately spring to mind because I play and sing them far too much, some would say. The first is Gil Scott Heron’s

Three Miles Down, probably because of all the easy ‘do do do do dos’ in there. Second is Nancy Sinatra with Lee Hazelwood’s Summer Wine - probably because I’ve been singing it since I was very young. the song i want played at my funeral is…

Louis Chadid’s Ainsi Soit-Il (So Be It/Amen) for my French friends and Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life. nottinghillmusic.com

making music

sixty seconds GHOSTPOET Obaro Ejimiwe is Ghostpoet, an inspired musical maverick whose 2011 debut album Peanut Blues and Melancholy Jam was nominated for the coveted Mercury Prize.

He’s since collaborated with and remixed the likes of Metronomy and Micachu while a second album, Some Say I So I Say Light, was released to widespread acclaim earlier this year.

Can you remember the first records which made you want to make music?

Badly Drawn Boy’s The Hour of Bewilderbeast and a track by Squarepusher called Iambic 9 Poetry.

Squarepusher wasn’t a direct inspiration but that song directly connected. It made me want to put emotion at the centre of my music.

How did you start making music?

For me making music was a natural progression from being a fan. I’m not proficient in any particular instrument. I can work my way around a keyboard and guitar but it’s really basic. Much of my music has been electronic because those are the production tools I’ve learnt on. Nothing I’ve done so far has been overly planned. It’s more to do with being in the right place at the right time and saying yes to a gig or making a record.

You’ve now released two albums - how has your songwriting developed?

I’m now more comfortable with my style but making music is an ongoing learning experience. I want to constantly evolve as a writer. Both records were to do with my mindset at the time and achieving a balancing between abstract thought and clarity. It’s great to be able to write and hopefully have people listen to what I say.

SOPHIA SPRING

How did you find your unique vocal style?

I have to thank my parents – they gave it to me. It’s not a voice I put on. I was experimenting with the delivery and how I draw the lyrics over the shape of a song. I try to not think too hard about it.

Which artists currently inspire you?

Hiatus Kaiyote describe themselves as a future soul band – they’re great. I love their lyrics and song structures. I’m listening to, as I always do, old Radiohead albums - Kid A and Amnesiac – and a lot of Can. I’ve been reading up on their history and how they write lyrics with made up words, similar to Sigur Ros. Plus everything around me inspires me. Right now the sun is coming through the window. It looks so beautiful.

We’re alive, having a conversation. Everything and anything inspires me.

What are your thoughts on the music industry’s health?

It doesn’t really concern me. I don’t make music to sell 100,000 copies or be in the charts. Those old fashioned markers of success don’t fuss me. If it happens, then fine but it’s not a big deal.

I’m still a massive nerd when it comes to the industry.

I know the labels, the structure and how it works from conception to release. But I don’t allow it to impact my music. I want to be creative and not think about business. Having said that, the business is still here and all credit to it. There a lot of great people working as part of it. Now they’re having to think differently because the old structures are either dead or dying.

Your debut Peanut Blues and Melancholy Jam was Mercury Prize nominated. What did that do for you?

It raised awareness of my music to the wider public.

But as much as I loved the idea of it, I didn’t want to get carried away with the hysteria. I just knew it was an opportunity to play to people who’d never heard me before. I never thought I could sit on my laurels and use that to carry me forward. The nomination will be with me for the rest of my life but I want to build a longer-lasting career.

Have you any advice for aspiring songwriters?

It’s important to be yourself. Now more than ever you have that opportunity, partly because musicians have to be DIY when it comes to making music and being

creative. Social media lets you put yourself directly in front of your audience. The idea of making music for chart success or getting the maximum radio play is boring. You need to be yourself and make yourself happy creatively. Hopefully it will be good enough to be picked up by whatever or whoever you want it to be.

What does the future hold for you?

I’m looking into writing new music. It’s been a great year releasing a record, touring and seeing so many other live acts. I’ve got enough ideas for a record. It’s a case of working out how I approach it. That’s the future.

Have you got a favourite sound?

I really like the sound of reverb in tunnels. It really inspires me. I live in Dalston and in Shoreditch there’s a tunnel leading from Shoreditch High Street to Liverpool Street. There’s sometimes a saxophone player in there. It sounds great.

Ghostpoet is published by Universal Music Publishing. www.ghostpoet.co.uk

Read the full Ghostpoet interview online

m-magazine.co.uk m50_december 2013_33

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making music

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Orbital’s Phil Hartnoll recalls a memorable gig in New York, just weeks after the 9/11 tragedy had hit the downtown district.

On 12 November Orbital received a PRS for Music Heritage Award at The Garage, Highbury, London (formerly Town & Country II), where they performed their first full live gig on 18 March 1990.

Read the full interview with Phil Hartnoll

m-magazine.co.uk

I remember very clearly when this picture was taken. It was 13 October 2001 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York. That whole US tour was really odd because it was just after 9/11.

People we met kept saying we were really brave for going over there. They were convinced that visitors wouldn’t go to America anymore because they’d be too scared of more terrorist attacks.

All over the country we noticed a really sombre atmosphere, but especially before our gig at the Roseland Ballroom. It was a month since the atrocity and the venue was only a few blocks away from Ground Zero.

The gig had the craziest vibe, especially when we played our track Satan. All the live visual imagery that goes with the track is associated with war, bombs and explosions – horrible, nasty things that we considered to be satanic. I wondered what would happen when we played it. We were expecting the worst.

We had our big screen that we always take on tour and when it started blasting out all those extreme images the response was unbelievable; 34_december 2013_m50

people went nuts. The auditorium was really packed and the energy levels were incredible.

There was a real sense of release as everyone let off steam.

When I talked to people in the audience afterwards I was really blown away by the reaction we got. They told us it was exactly what they had needed.

I don’t normally say anything through our gigs because it always comes out weird – that’s why we stick to making instrumental music! But I said something at the end of that gig, just to acknowledge what had happened the month before. I gave them a verbal hug.

The event really sticks in my mind; we went to see Ground Zero after the gig, which was horrific. It made the whole tour morbidly fascinating. New York was the major league gig of the tour but we did a few others around that time and the interview questions we got beforehand were always really weird. Everyone was shell-shocked and wanted to know what we thought about it from a British perspective.

I remember telling interviewers that we were more used to terrorism in Britain, especially those people brought up in London. I explained that the threat of IRA activity loomed large on the mainland during the eighties. But we had never experienced something on that scale - it was totally unparalleled.

Phil Hartnoll is one half of Kentish duo Orbital, a genre and era defining electronic outfit that emerged at the height of acid house in 1989 and went on to shape the British musical landscape forever.

Chime, their first release, quickly became a rave anthem and took Phil and his older brother Paul from playing small local gigs to headlining stages at Glastonbury and the Royal Albert Hall.

They went on to produce eight acclaimed studio albums including their latest, Wonky, which was released last year. Paul and Phil have also scored soundtracks for films such as Luis Prieto’s UK remake of Nicholas Winding Refn’s gritty crime thriller Pusher.

“My #1 Country Hit Started With a Phone Call to TAXI” Elliott Park – TAXI Member

Photo: Elliott (left) with publisher, Michael Martin

I

used to think that living in Clyde, Texas (Population 3,345) really limited my chances of ever having success in the music business. But all my friends and family members live here, so I’ve never wanted to move to Nashville.

Although I love to write songs, I felt isolated when it came to getting them heard by anybody in the music business. Then a friend told me that TAXI would bring real opportunities for my music right to my front door.

I Used a 4-Track

I signed up and sent in songs that I demoed with my digital piano in my little home studio.

The A&R people at TAXI liked my songs and began sending them off to some pretty high-level people in Nashville.

Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and Faith Hill Put My Songs on Hold

Over the next three years, my songs were considered by a Who’s Who of Country Music, but the “big cut” eluded me. I learned to be patient and worked even harder on my songwriting.

Then, my publisher hooked me up with veteran songwriter, Walt Aldridge. Together, we wrote a song called, ‘I Loved Her First,’ and finally, I hit pay dirt!

#1 Hit on Two Charts!

The group ‘Heartland’ cut our song and released it as a single.

It started out slowly, then gained

All the sudden, doors started opening. With the connections I made through TAXI, I began to have meetings with some of Country Music’s top executives, and signed a staff writer deal with a great publisher in Nashville.

momentum, and eventually made it all the way to the Number One spot on the Billboard and R&R Country charts.

Could that have happened without TAXI? Probably not.

Although there were many people that helped me once I signed my publishing deal, it was TAXI that made that all important first connection for me. And I didn’t have to leave my hometown to do it.

Can TAXI do the Same Thing for You?

If your music is competitive, the answer is yes! And if it’s not quite ready yet, TAXI’s A&R people will help you with that too. You’ll also get two FREE tickets to TAXI’s world-class convention with your membership. Just one ticket for some other conventions cost twice as much as your TAXI membership!

Make the phone call I did, and see what TAXI can do for you – no matter where you live.

The World’s Leading Independent A&R Company

1-800-458-2111

Angel Recording studios

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Part of the de Wolfe Music group info@angelstudios.co.uk

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