MUSIC
o-two 2 November 2010 24
The Rolling People Target from Roll Deep takes time out to chat with Aoife Valentine about the new album, unexpected collaborations and an impending clothing line
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ince Roll Deep signed a new record deal with Virgin last November, it’s been all go. They have achieved their first two number ones this year, and have hopes to make it a hat-trick with the new single. New album Winner Stays On is released this month. It caters to everyone from the hardcore grime fans to those who prefer the more commercial sound. It also features numerous collaborations, surprisingly including Alesha Dixon. “We had the song recorded and we wanted to get someone who was interesting to collaborate with, who people maybe wouldn’t have expected us to work with. We’ve been fans of Alesha for a long time. She’s one of the most down-to-earth people we’ve met, so cool and easy to work with. It was a privilege.” Winner Stays On is quite different from their last album, Street Anthems, a greatest hits album of sorts. The grime scene isn’t exactly renowned for these kinds of compilations; what was the reasoning behind releasing one? “I think we just got to the stage where we had a lot of tracks from the early, early days that hadn’t been released and then there were a lot of tracks that
Even with a long list of old members, Roll Deep are still a tight family. people used to ask for. “We just took an opportunity to release some of those tracks that had never been released and re-release some of the tracks that have helped to make Roll Deep. A lot of the new fans may have missed some of that history, so it’s another chance to catch up.” Roll Deep were nominated for a MOBO for Best UK Act, which must have been rewarding after their busy year? “It’s just nice to know that we’re getting the recognition for the hard work we’ve done this year. To be in a category with the likes of Tinie, JLS, Chipmunk, N-Dubz and whoever else, it’s just a good feeling.” They’ve been performing at events throughout the UK for the last six months, but they’re due to go on tour in February next year. “This is going to be our own
headline tour and we’re going all across the UK. We’re going to be performing the new album for the first time on this tour, so it’s going to be a chance for our fans to come out and catch us performing the new songs and of course some of the old classics.” With a tour to keep them busy, is there much else on the horizon for the band? “We’ve got a clothing range called Swagga Muffin coming out. We’ve been wearing the t-shirts ourselves and we’re going to be releasing that in the new year, and [we’re] just working on the music and trying to get the band and ourselves to a bigger level. We’re happy with our progress, but we still feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do so we’re looking forward to getting to all of that next year.” Roll Deep’s new album Winner Stays On will be released on November 8th.
Children of the Revolution
Only days before their UK tour, Ben Rubinstein of The Mariner’s Children talks to Imelda Hehir about the reality facing a new band in a modern music industry
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t’s still early days for Brighton’s alternative folk seven-piece band The Mariner’s Children, but the name is circulating quickly around the media and their reputation is growing. Ben Rubinstein opens his interview by telling o-two that: “I have only done one interview before, so I’m not very good at it.” But for a man unfamiliar with interviews, he has a firm opinion on the press and the genre grouping which he and his band are often subjected to. “I mean it’s inevitable that the press will compare bands, [it’s a] sort of musical short hand.” He also isn’t keen on being part of a particular scene. “It’s my job to make music, and journalists can sort of decide what they want from it, but I don’t really like it to be honest.” The band was recently featured as the Guardian’s ‘New Band of the Day’, in which they were described as a cross between Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons. While Rubinstein is delighted and almost still surprised by the feature, he also says that “every band that plays an acoustic guitar” is now linked with Mumford and Sons. Rubinstein tells o-two of his own musical preferences, such as “Akron family, Angels of Light, Iron and Wine
– those sorts of people. I’m more interested in dense, textural psychedelic stuff.” He also recommends new bands such as tour buddies Tristan, as well as Kristin McClement. When discussing The Mariner’s Children’s actual sound, Rubinstein explains: “The musical element I find most interesting is texture and finding parts that interlock rhythmically. The more instruments you have, the more opportunity you have to do that.” The singer then apologises for sounding “pretentious”. The modest aspect to his character continues to emerge as we talk about the recording process of debut EP New Moore Island. Rubinstein explains how every recording was worked to an itinerary to record at every possible minute, as they couldn’t afford a longer time period. The numerous instruments required for their sound was an added contributory factor to how “stressful” it got. o-two could conclude this article by insisting that The Mariner’s Children are the next big thing; but we wouldn’t want to sound pretentious. The Mariner’s Children’s debut EP New Moore Island is out now.
Ben Rubinstein, member of The Mariner’s Children – possibly the only seven-piece alt folk outfit in existence.