Amanda Palmer's open letter to Daily Mail

Hello everyone, how are we all?? I received some amazing news yesterday; I have achieved my BA Honours degree in Media Culture and Production which I will be receiving at my graduation in November!!

Anyways, whilst starting an online campaign for my sister's t-shirt design I came across this on my Facebook news feed; it's a video of singer Amanda Palmer performing her open letter to The Daily Mail for publishing an article about her appearance at Glastonbury. This article appeared to only be interested in when by chance her boob escaped her bra and her fashion sense rather than her actual set at Glastonbury which is what the focus should be when it comes to covering a festival. Personally not being a fan of the Daily Mail with it's biased views and the fact it reports on superficial things that don't matter, so I pretty much agreed with everything she wrote in this song.

Her response was so amazing that I had to include it in my blog!! So here it is, the video that is spreading online like wildfire.

I am very familiar with Amanda Palmer's music as she used to sing for punk cabaret duo Dresden Dolls and I think she is a very talented singer/pianist.

All I can say is, hats off to Amanda!!!

Find Amanda Palmer on Facebook, Twitter and her official website

HIM - Tears On Tape

Finnish love metallers His Infernal Majesty (that's HIM to you and me) are back with a brand new album that has wowed fans and listeners.

It has been a while since 2010's Screamworks: Love In Theory and Practise, I have found that HIM often produce exceptional albums and this brilliant one was another example. Starting of with an instrumental named Unleash The Red that worked very well as it created anticipation, this is followed into a smooth transition into the highly distorted first track All Lips Go Blue. Heartfelt song Tears On Tape was the first single to be released and I feel it introduced the album very well. I felt this album was slightly different to material they have produced for their previous albums, this one had a lot more easy listening metal to appeal to a wider audience and I think it works as they still produce original, meaning songs that reach out to listeners all over the world.

Overall a fantastic comeback from HIM.

Stand out tracks:  Love Without Tears, Tears On Tape and Kiss The Void

Find HIM on Facebook and their official website

Designs Of Chaos – Chaos Engine EP

There is a new metal band storming the streets of London town and they are Designs Of Chaos! They certainly live up to their name in this new EP they have released!

Atmospheric opening track Ignition entices the listener into finding out more what the EP consists of. It then makes the dramatic transition to the heavy distorted Blood Oath. I am not the biggest fan of this sort of metal but as the EP progressed I was interested by what it consisted of and what was coming up next so I carried on listening. This EP definitely keeps you listening until the very end and I can imagine this band causing the most brutal mosh pits at gigs and festivals. 

It may not have been my cup of tea but if you love finger shredding guitar solos, roaring vocals and thunderous drums then this is EP for you! 

For fans of Slayer and Lamb Of God

Find Designs Of Chaos on Facebook

New Device - Here We Stand

London rockers New Device are back and they mean business with their brand new album Here We Stand!

Opening track Here We Stand was a fantastic way to open the album, it is evidence that they have come back with a bang. I recognised some of the songs on the album such as New York and my personal favourite End Of Hope from when frontman Dan Leigh performed an acoustic set in my local area. It was particularly great to hear End Of Hope with some distorted guitars and rolling drums as I had only hear acoustic versions of this song. New Device have had it tough these past years and there hasn't been a new album for a while but this masterpiece was most certainly worth waiting for.

Overall this is a fantastic album, with stadium like songs such as New York and Here We Stand this album proves that New Device are back!

For fans of Alter Bridge and Guns 'N' Roses

Stand out tracks:  Away From Here, New York and End Of Hope

Find New Device on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Grant Sharkey

A brand new craze is taking internet by storm! Local musician Grant Sharkey is running a unique project to release 40 albums in 20 years, that's right 40 albums in 20 years! This caught my attention yesterday as I was shown his Onesie Song and I fell in love with the song instantly, it had a real happy go lucky vibe and I think it could be a viral hit. So today was the release of his first album, with quirky songs such as Pork Pie Hat and I'm Sorry To Hear You're A Racist this wonderfully weird musician is sure to be turning heads in the music industry. 

For fans of Diablo Swing Orchestra and Tim Minchin

Download his album right here.

Watch his video for The Onesie Song here.

Find Grant Sharkey on Facebook and his official website.

Interview with Eric Young and Martin Sweet from Crashdiet

Before Crashdiet took to the stage with Jettblack at Southampton’s show I got to have a chat with Eric Young and Martin Sweet from Crashdiet. Here we talk about their new album, how the tour has gone and what their fantasy day would consist of. Here is a transcript for the interview and you can listen to the interview here.

Charlotte:      Hi there I’m Charlotte Whittingham representing Loud Stuff.com and Voice.FM. I am at one of my favourite venues in Southampton with Eric and Martin from Crashdiet. First I would like to say welcome back to the UK, reading the information on your website this is your first time in Southampton is that correct?

Martin:           Yes that is correct.

Charlotte:      What have been your first impressions of Southampton so far?

Martin:           Looks like a small town, I walked around and it is a nice town. I heard it’s sold out tonight so we’re looking forward to it.

Charlotte:      So this tour is promoting your new album Savage Playground, it’s a fantastic album by the way, would say it has been well received by public, fans and critics?

Eric:               Yeah I would say that it has, people seem to really enjoy the album so that’s cool. There is always that nervous feeling when you release an album and you wonder what people will think.

Charlotte:      So for those living under a rock and have never even heard of Crashdiet, describe Savage Playground in three words.

Eric:               Energetic, true and raw.

Charlotte:      So this is the last night of the tour, how has the tour gone so far?

Martin:           Over expectations actually, it’s been really packed at every venue. We played in the US for a few days and the attendance has been up and down. It has been great to play to huge crowds.

Charlotte:      How do crowds in the US compare to the UK?

Martin:           They are quite similar, they’re loud. Both in the US and UK can have great crowds.

Charlotte:      What can we expect from tonight’s show? Why should we get excited?

Eric:               Well tonight’s going to be one of those letting loose shows.

Martin:           There’s going to be a lot of nakedness

Eric:               That tends to happen on the last night of the tour.

Martin:           On the last show of the US tour, Eric played the whole show naked, so we’ll see who will be naked tonight.

Charlotte:      You’re touring with Jettblack, one of Britain’s great up and coming rock bands, how has it been touring with one of Britain’s upcoming rock bands?

Eric:               They are really nice guys and cool music.

Martin:           It’s a nice package, we seem to have the same kind of audience.

Charlotte:      Regarding glam rock how does the scene in Sweden compare to here?

Martin:           It’s flourishing here [in the UK], in Sweden it flourished few years ago. I wouldn’t say it’s going down hill, but cooled down slightly. We still have big crowds in Sweden and people are re-discovering it here.

Charlotte:      So you could say glam rock is making a come back from the eighties, would you agree?

Martin:           Yeah yeah. We’re not a retro band, we like to take our favourite influences from the eighties to make great new stuff. Hopefully we have our own identity and I think we have that.

Charlotte:      A few icebreakers, what possession could you not give up? It doesn’t have to be expensive.

Martin:           My girlfriend, I couldn’t sell her or give her away.

Charlotte:      Between touring and writing albums, is there anything you like to do?

Martin:           Not really ermm.

Eric:               Your girlfriend.

Martin:           Oh yes my girlfriend. 

Charlotte:      How would you spend you dream twenty four hours with no restrictions?

Eric:               On a boat.

Martin:           I’ll go to the moon, get one of those space ships.

Charlotte:      You’ll be another man to land on the moon.

Martin:           No just circle round it for hours and then come back.

Charlotte:      You could also leave a mark to say you were there like a Crashdiet flag that will always be there. And finally what are your plans for 2013?

Martin:           We’ll be touring the rest of Europe, then go back home for two weeks. Then embark the rest of the European tour and we’ll be touring in Japan for the first time. See what’s happening over there, doing two dates there and then a few summer gigs at festivals. Then I’m up for writing new stuff.

Charlotte:      Thank you very much Martin and Eric for doing the interview today.

Find Eric and Martin with Crashdiet on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

Interview with Jon Dow from Jettblack

Before the sleeze, glam rock fest from Crashdiet and Jettblack begun I caught up with Jon Dow from Jettblack. Here we spoke about their great accomplishments in 2012, Will’s lastest appearance in War Of The Worlds and who he would most like to have a pie and a pint with. Here is the transcript for the interview.  To listen to this interview on SoundCloud click here.

Charlotte:      Hi there I’m Charlotte Whittingham representing Voice.FM and Loud-Stuff.com. I am here at The Joiners my favourite venue in Southampton with Jon Dow from Jettblack. So Jon welcome back to Southampton, 2012 has been a great year for you! A new album, a successful album launch and a great headline tour, would you say you are storming onto the music scene?

Jon:                 I wouldn’t say storming but we have been trickling onto the scene for the past ten years. It’s definitely building. It’s been a good little run for us with decent turnouts, it’s nice to see people turn up, singing the words and wearing our shirts. So it’s getting there.

Charlotte:      Any big plans for 2013? You going to be bigger than last year?

Jon:                 Well I hope so; it’s going to be mainly releases including a mini album with all the songs from the old album that weren’t released before so there will be a physical release of those.   We also have some covers and a bit of new material. Then we’re playing a few festivals later this year, then we will be getting on with a new studio album that we will start working on in September.

Charlotte:      So tonight is the last of the tour, where were the best venues to play at?

Jon:                 London last night was amazing, easily the best place to play and one of the best gigs for a long time. Cardiff is always pumping; we had like three days on our own before playing with Crashdiet. They’ve all been really good so far but Cardiff is always really good fun so yeah Cardiff.

Charlotte:      I turned 21 last month; I was given a subscription to Kerrang! Magazine and there was a picture of Jettblack in the first issue I received.

Jon:                 Really? What recently?

Charlotte:      Yeah very recently. My birthday was last month so it must have been an April issue.

Jon:                 That’s alright then. What gig was it for?           

Charlotte:      I think it was at the start of your tour.

Jon:                 What October?

Charlotte:      No April.

Jon:                 Must have been the Glasgow show. They did a review about the gig.

Charlotte:      I think you maybe right, I should have bought my copy tonight, but if you could appear on the cover on any magazine what would it be? It doesn’t have to be a music one.

Jon:                 Fishing Global, something like that. I’m not really bothered, any publicity is great for the band. To be honest the magazines are good to us like Classic Rock, Kerrang! And Metal Hammer they all feature us so we aren’t doing too bad. I’m not really a big magazine reader. Times Magazine is always a good one, Forbes magazine.

Charlotte:      Remind me, what is Forbes magazine?

Jon:                 It’s financial, I think you have to be seriously rich and successful to be featured.

Charlotte:      Ah OK, so doing a random search on the Google box and you share a name with an interior design company based in Mexico.

Jon:                 That isn’t so strange; there are rappers and porn stars with the same name as us. He’s a good-looking bloke so whenever we look on Google news for press and it’s usually pictures of him [Jett Black] in compromising positions.

Charlotte:      The suggestions in the Google box came up with Jett Black interiors.

Jon:                 Maybe it’s our company and we don’t know it, we’re also getting into the jewellery trade soon. Jettblack Jewellers.

Charlotte:      If this interior design company came to you to design your house what would you have done? It can be beyond your wildest dreams.

Jon:                 I already live in my perfect dream house; it’s got nothing in it but a white bench and a lot of fruit ‘n’ fibre.

Charlotte:      Will recently starred in War Of Worlds tour.

Jon:                 Yes, it’s a shame he’s not here to talk about it so I can just slag him off [laughs]. But yeah it was really good, I didn’t actually go to the tour but I saw the cinema/DVD presentation of it and yeah it was really good. He did well, he was only on stage for four and a half minutes but it was his best performance I have seen.

Charlotte:      Would you say there was always a musical theatre bug inside him?

Jon:                 A lot of people were saying before he did [War Of The Worlds].  He’s got a theatrical take and he does have operatic tones in his voice. He’s got a decent vibrato so that’s always lends itself to theatre work but yeah he was perfect for the job.

Charlotte:      So if you can star in any musical what would it be?

Jon:                 I don’t know just the most paid one, not bothered. Something with Jason Donovan will be a bonus. I’ll tell you what I would love to star in Chicago as that has some fit birds I wouldn’t mind knocking about backstage with.

Charlotte:      So have you guys considered a Jettblack musical?

Jon:                 We’re kind of in tow for the idea, it goes along the lines of a Death Frequency night which takes inspiration from the Raining Rock video with the evil lord killing everyone. So we’re going to have a themed night for that on a university tour. We haven’t organised anything yet but we’ll see on costs and see what the logistics are.

Charlotte:      Just a few icebreaker questions, which iconic musician would you have a pie and a pint with?

Jon:                 Freddie Mercury.

Charlotte:      Great choice, great choice.

Jon:                 It will be a bit fruity, after ten pints you’ll have a good night.

Charlotte:      What’s your biggest pet peeve that makes you livid?

Jon:                 Genocide, that really makes me cross. But nothing really bothers me I’m really laidback and easy going.

Charlotte:      Which song means the most to you?

Jon:                 Relight My Fire by Take That, well the Take That Cover of Lulu’s Relight My Fire it really gets my blood flowing.

Charlotte:      Last but not least what can we expect from tonight’s show? Why should we be excited?

Jon:                 I’ve recently been on the tanning beds, that’s always something to get excited about and Tom is not wearing a bandanna, he’s going to be wearing some sort of top hat so what’s not to like. Matt’s got thicker eyeliner for the last night as a treat. We have also got a few songs that we haven’t played before live so we got Black Gold a bit of an epic one that should be good. Other than that it’s going to be a standard heavy rock show.

Charlotte:      Thanks very much Jon for doing this interview today.

Find Jon and Jettblack on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.