A magnanimous return to live music after a year of lockdown under COVID. A reminiscence of the greatest and worst memories of what being at a festival is really like. What All Points East lacked in sound quality and stage errors it made up for in its line-up; a testament to the metropolitan ocean of talented London based artists. Friday: Losing Your Head to London Grammar What a moment to be screaming out the words to London Grammar; stood next to this girl Lauren who you just met but feel like you’ve known your whole life. Festivals are back and…
Author: Thomas Harvey
Sometimes the best way to achieve something is actually to achieve nothing first. As spring arrives and the artistic world slowly takes a step back into an old normal from a new normal, This pandemic has been a test to us all in so many ways. So what can I take from this time, what have I learnt? Finding Inspiration In Four Walls It took me a while to realise that I wasn’t going to find any inspiration by staying in my house all day. I find myself inspired by joy, my people, my community and the trials and tribulations…
Bored of your boredom, deleted Zoom yet, heard enough jokes about quran-tunes? Our writer Thomas Harvey gives you 10 Songs to help keep you emotionally sane at home. Innerstate – Zaia Visualise with me; we’re riding down the motorway windows down, summer is just starting and this song is playing in the car. Zaia is the Atlanta rapper whose slick rhymes and production come across as wide-lens and freeing which I certainly need. I’ve been visualising a lot at the moment – can you blame me? Bad Friend – Rina Sawayama Rina Sawayama is hot on everyone’s radar after the…
Guy James Robin, known professionally as Jonas Blue, is an English DJ, record producer and remixer based in London who produces music that blends dance with pop music. Known predominantly as a producer, Blue is known for multi-platinum tracks including ‘Ritual’, ‘Polaroid’ and ‘What I Like About You’ featuring artists such as Rita Ora and Liam Payne. Jonas Blue’s The Blueprint 2020 UK Tour brought his show to London’s Electric Ballroom venue on 5th March for a show filled with guest appearances and a dance club-like atmosphere. The renowned Ballroom venue has played host to a multitude of historic shows…
On the evening of the Drake YolanDa award, UK’s first British producer and songwriter prize, we caught up with it’s founder YolanDa Brown also known as the award-winning broadcaster, UK’s leading female saxophonist and music educator whose tasty fusion of reggae, jazz, and soul has garnered praise around the world as she prepared to play her headline show at London’s Alexandra Palace. The Drake YolanDa Award has been created to support emerging artists across the UK on their musical journey. Known for a multitude of diverse achievements in the music industry. Can you give readers a bit of personal background…
BBC Introducing Amplify proved once again that the British industry is stock full of the biggest rising talent and industry heads but also that the experts can tell you how and why it is within an arms reach. This year the three-day conference was held at London’s Tobacco Dock, a historic stone-built building with ornamented walls of glass windows and open courtyards. Wide halls rang out with open mic stages, product displays, and rooms of seminars and panels with the conference hosted by BBC presenters on topics from across the industry. Focusing on no specific genre and without attitude -…
half•alive is the LA alt-pop trio with songs that are lined with infectious hooks encased by their genre-defying productions. Releasing their debut album, Now, Not Yet, fans are given everything that was promised and more including collaborations from Kimbra and Samm Henshaw. Now, Not Yet contains many of the popular singles that you may have heard previously from the band with tracks like “Still Feel”, “Arrow” and a personal favourite of mine, “Runaway” all released ahead of the record. Continuing on with a sound likened to an early Two Door Cinema Club, the album holds a strange mix of genres…
Since performing an effortless Mahogany session of her single, ‘Don’t You Dare’, Danish singer/songwriter Winnie Raeder is catching on to listeners in her own time. Playing a headline show at The House of St Barnabas, Raeder graced us with a performance at the members-only private venue in Soho, London containing a beautiful chapel, complimenting her delicate vocals in the open space. Having only released four tracks, Raeder is certainly an artist to watch having seen her live performances. Some artists decorate their tracks with booming production and thoughtful arrangements but the Danish artist has no need for anything other than…
Somewhere in the East of London hides a historical music space known as The Curtain. Directed down to the bottom of the stairs and into a private room, I was welcomed by canapés and personalised cupcakes with an album cover on them; we were at the Half Alive listening party celebrating the coming of their debut album, ‘Now, Not Yet’. Half Alive is the LA indie-pop trio who’s infectious songwriting certainly makes you feel more than the name may suggest. The evening consisted of live performances of tracks including ‘Runaway’ and ‘Still Alive’ which are already released online and a…
BBC Introducing has championed some of the music industry’s best and freshest upcoming artists and there’s no better hub to discover them in the U.K. than London. Last Thursday, BBC Introducing London took over North London venue The Lexington to give the stage over to three acts they have been nurturing through their radio shows. Roosevelt Kazaula Sigsbert, known musically as K S R is the Neo Soul and R&B singer who opened up the show with songs influenced by D’Angelo and Erykah Badu. The show was hosted by Jess Iszatt who works as part of the London Introducing team…