The 1975 prepare to storm the sold-out Sugarmill

The 1975 - The 1975

Stoke of Genius:

By Adam Rosario

2013 has been a mixed bag for music, with some artists gaining bad publicity for crude and stupid public displays, and some questionable material has been released by some of the biggest artists in the world currently.

At the start of the year many thought that 2013 was going to be the revival of guitar music, and in some ways these predictions have been proven correct. Arctic Monkeys are returning with a nailed on number one album in AM while bands like Drenge, Peace and Palma Violets are all gaining airplay on the radio waves and selling out venues up and down the country.

There is one band however who are a complete breath of fresh air. A band who’ve toured for years and played under various different names (Talkhouse, Drive Like I Do, BigSleep and The Slowdown being just four). They mix synths, guitar, heavy bass and drums to create a fresh sound. The 1975 are that band. Like their aforementioned peers, they’ve been selling out venues up and down the country, and early next year, they’ll headline the legendary Brixton Academy...oh yeah, and it’s sold out.

Having released four EP's over the past year, The 1975 have become one of the most exciting bands to watch develop. Each EP has been met with critical success, gaining rave reviews and decent sales, showing they are a band who are worth keeping an eye on. Their hit single ‘Chocolate’ hit the top 20 and was one of the first guitar based songs of the year to reach that feat.

Their self-titled debut album has smashed the charts and landed at number one this weekend. It has to be said the main star of the band is the frontman, Matt Healy, but the other three members are just as important to the sound, as without them, there’s no way they’d be this technically brilliant. Intricate riffs played by Healy and lead guitarist Adam Hann are combined with a rhythm section, comprised of George Daniel on drums and Ross MacDonald on bass.

They’ll also be hitting the road properly soon, with The Sugarmill in Stoke-on-Trent being one of the dates (Sep 22). Having played two sets at the Reading Festival, I was fortunate enough to catch bits of both. They played a main set on the Festival Republic Stage – although they could’ve easily headlined the NME Tent in my honest opinion, based both on their performance and the crowd size and reaction – and they performed a secret set on the BBC Introducing stage. They only played three songs for this surprise, but they played as if it was a full set. As a touring band, they’ve shown that they can play to any crowd, including two very different ones on the same day.

The Sugarmill is one of The 1975’s last ‘small’ shows on their tour, as they start to play the bigger academies and theatres in the coming months. They’ve been playing together under different names for over 10 years, so they will have no problem with putting on a more than adequate show for the fans. NME's Best Midlands Venue is to hold the sold-out show to warm the band up for the ‘big venues’. The Sugarmill is the perfect setting for this preparation.

Key Tracks:

Chocolate

Sex

Settle Down

The City

Heart Out

Stafford duo The Taskers prepare for fifth release

Pic: Maanik Chadda - Jack BC Tasker

Stoke of Genius:

Stafford brother and sister group The Taskers speak of their fifth album and their exciting new association.

The Taskers' fifth album in a year and a half, Rat Residence, is to be released in late October/early November on CD and vinyl thanks to a new association with Rubber Soul Records.

Sophie Bret and Jack BC Tasker are incredibly excited at signing and can't wait for their upcoming album release.

"Well the first three (albums) we did very much on a lo-fi basis and we burnt them and did all the artwork ourselves. The fourth one we were trying to get onto iTunes and we said 'right, this is the direction we want to go in with this one'. And we saw how that worked but we thought you would probably need to be Led Zeppelin or The Beatles for iTunes to really work," explained Jack, with a realistic outlook.

Performing at Rubber Soul Sessions, a weekly event at The Old Brown Jug in Newcastle-under-Lyme, was just the beginning of what is hopeful of becoming a blossoming and fruitful relationship.

"This is our first proper physical release," added Jack.

"Rob (of Rubber Soul Records) been really cool in supporting us. I think he understands about our attitude, so that's really good."

Pic: Maanik Chadda - Sophie Bret Tasker

Following their first release in May 2012; Not to be Played or Tested, they have somehow managed to successfully churn out Jamhead, Snuggles and most recently; No Shit-Just Shoes.

"I just write like crazy and Sophie's really good at editing down what I write. I'll write all the time and Sophie would come in and say 'well, there's ten songs, let's get one out of that', and that will happen every couple of days!" laughed Jack.

"I think it's the fact that there's two of us; brother and sister, and we just work really well together because of the speed at which we can work is very high. We also have a lot of friends who support us and help with the albums and help with producing so we couldn't do it without them."

Being a brother-sister band and living together can sometimes touch the nerves and both can need a break now and again.

"We quit the band most gigs!" exclaimed Jack.

"We fire each other. Then there's no one in the band and we realise that we can't play any gigs so we rejoin," Sophie said monotonously.

Sophie told us of their intriguing interest in one of life's forgotten loves: "We've just always loved dinosaurs. I grew up when Jack was already interested in them and Jurassic Park and stuff...and we're not trying to create some cool, hipster image with them, we just love dinosaurs."

"The people who did 'Catherine', our first music video, became really close friends and so we said to them: 'you understand us now, you understand our life and where we've come from'. So they said 'we'd like to do this documentary'.

"They filmed us over five or six months, following us around. And they put this piece together.

"You don't want to feel narcissistic and think 'people really want to see 20 minutes of just us', but also, people are interested in who plays music and we thought there was enough stuff in there to warrant making it."

Keep an eye out for the release of Rat Residence due later this year.

Staffordshire acts reveal their favourite oatcakes!

Stoke of Genius:

Pic: Maanik Chadda - Sam Woolley of Troops of Mafeking

The world-famous Oatcake Day took over Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday (Aug 8), and the local musical world (and Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols!) were finally ready to reveal their greatest desires.

What is your favourite oatcake?

Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols and The Faces

“Well I'm having a cheese and tomato one because they've got no onion left. Onion must be popular!” Glen said, frowning.

Sam Woolley of Troops of Mafeking

“Bacon and cheese. Other things in there make it too sloppy. Heard people have gravy too!” Sam said, in slight shock.

Sian Matthews of Faux Feet

“Jam. People frown upon it but it’s really nice!” Sian assured.

“It’s been my fav for a while. But other than that; cheese and Quorn bacon, even though it’s disgusting!” Laughed Sian.

Pic: Maanik Chadda - Sian Matthews of Faux Feet

Sam and Sam of Lifecolour

“Bacon all the way!” Sam Taylor enthused.

Sam Frawley wasn't far off from agreeing: “Bacon, sausage, cheese; meat all the way!”

John MacLeod of The John MacLeod Band

“Bacon and cheese, with ketchup near the oatcake for dipping. Never put ketchup in it; it could potentially ruin it. And some secondary advice: always have a bib! And impulse oatcakes are the best kind!” John advised with much concern.

Jack and Sophie of The Taskers

Stafford's Jack Tasker admitted: “Ages ago I had herbs and mushrooms, but that wasn't very Stokey.”

“I haven't had it, but I bet if you had avocado and bacon, that'd be nice. Mush the avocado so it's like butter...I might have that now,” said sister Sophie Tasker, licking her lips.

Danny Nicholson of Dirty Rotten Souls

Quite plainly: “Bacon, cheese and brown sauce.”

Songwriter John MacLeod speaks of latest deal

The John MacLeod Band

Stoke of Genius:

Local frontman John MacLeod spoke to Stoke of Genius about the exciting new deal his band signed this week.

Despite only having formed in October last year, The John MacLeod Band have already sparked an interest across Stoke-on-Trent.

John said: “On Monday we signed a deal with Neon Tiger Productions UK. They offered to manage us and we accepted that offer.

“They are currently putting our official website together. They are basically taking over the organisational roles, giving us more freedom and more time for us to focus on what we do, which is playing music. It takes some of the weight off our shoulders.”

The four-piece comprises of John on lead vocals and guitars, Paul Hancock on bass, Angela Laxenby on drums and multi-instrumentalist Matt Tyrer on piano, synth, accordion, melodica and guitars.

The act have already played various locations across Staffordshire, including The Sugarmill, The Full Moon and a headline slot at the Bad Edit Venue in Burslem.

“In the coming weeks and months we’ll be playing more shows; some more local, some further afield,” added John.

“We’re still finishing our debut record; we’ve got a few more sessions to go with that,” John added.

Having been a solo act for much of his life, John decided to bring some friends together to form what is now known as The John MacLeod Band. 

The John MacLeod Band

“We’ve got one or two common influences but everybody comes with slightly different approaches. It’s really hard to describe our music because we range from rock, to laid-back acoustic, to slightly quirky sounds, so I don’t think you can really pigeon hole that.

“It’s all about the songs but one song can sound completely different to another. We play music, and that’s about as specific as I can get,” laughs John.

He managed to catch Faux Feet headline Hanley’s The Sugarmill on Friday (Aug 9), as they bid farewell to the music scene, for now at least.

“They sounded as good, if not better, than they ever have. I don’t think it’s the last we will see of them.”

John and the band will be playing at the following locations in the coming future, with more to be added soon:

Aug 23 - The Rigger, Newcastle-under-Lyme

Aug 25 - Leek Beer Festival, The Roebuck, Leek

Aug 30 - The Lowcation, Newcastle-under-Lyme

Oct 27 - The Old Brown Jug, Newcastle-under-Lyme

Acts prepare for Faux Feet farewell

Faux Feet - Faux Feet

Stoke of Genius:

Ahead of Stoke-on-Trent act Faux Feet’s final show tonight, we caught up with all the acts saying farewell at The Sugarmill.

Lead vocalist Sian Matthews of Faux Feet was saddened the band had to part ways.

She said: “We’re all moving away. It’s been going for five years now since Carl Howe and I started it, but I think it’s time for it now (to end).

“It’s weird. It feels really weird,” Sian laughs. “I’m going to try and do as much as I can in Nottingham as there’s such a rad music scene there.”

Weirdly, vegetarian Sian said she will most miss getting harassed at band practice by three boys chasing her with slices of meat.

“They tried to smack me with ham before!”

“I’m going to miss the banter. It sounds really cliché but they are like my brothers really. I can’t imagine not speaking to one of them on a daily basis.

Pic: Maanik Chadda - Troops of Mafeking

Main support and friends of the headline act, Troops of Mafeking, are sad to see the group finish.

Frontman Sam Wooley said: “We’re good mates with Faux Feet. It’s a shame because they’re such a different band in Stoke-on-Trent.”

Speaking of plans for the future, Sam was optimistic: “We’re gonna’ take some time out to do some writing and get the music as best as possible and then really go for it at Christmas time or early next year.

“We’re getting Sian and Tim (of Faux Feet) to record on our EP. We’ve never collaborated with anyone and because we’re friends with them it’s a no-brainer. They’ll take some heaviness from us and we’ll take something from the soft side from them and see what happens.

Brother and sister group The Taskers were excited to open tonight for their fifth Sugarmill performance.

Drummer and vocalist Sophie Tasker said: “It’s actually been really interesting getting people in. Lots of our friends are away because it’s summer, but we’ve got quite a big crowd coming for us so it should be good."

“It’s always an interesting gig here, and this one’s looking to be really good. It feels nice to come back.” explained brother Jack.

The rock five-piece Lifecolour spoke of their five-year history so far.

Frontman Sam Frawley said: "We met through a youth group ages and ago and we gigged in his garage. We eventually got together with some friends and really enjoyed it. We’ve been gigging for five years now.

“We did two weeks in America last year which went really well. A lot of driving but a lot of fun! I think we honed our British accents quite a lot so we were instantly cooler!

“We’re Christians so we started playing at churches but we wanted to expand.

“The songs talk about society and troubles so it’s a very universal sound."

They are influenced by the likes of Thrice, Moving Mountains and Biffy Clyro.

Lead guitarist Sam Taylor added: “Switchfoot have been our biggest general influence. They’re probably the reason why we started when we saw them at a show. We thought, ‘this is probably what we want to do’.

“We’d love to do another album because we have a lot of songs written."
Lifecolour will be contributing to the compilation charity album for Stella’s Voice.

Record Store Day a triumph at Hanley's Music Mania

Stoke of Genius: 

One of the greatest days in the year for music lovers was a huge triumph across the globe, including in Stoke-on-Trent.

Record Store Day (RSD) 2013 was celebrated worldwide with thousands of special limited edition releases and in-store gigs.

Independent music store, Music Mania, showcased some of the finest talents from Staffordshire.

Stoke of Genius joined over a hundred music enthusiasts outside the Hanley store from the early hours on Saturday morning (April 20).

Despite queuing from 5.45am and being just the seventh person in the shop, a local buyer was still too late to pick up Peace's California Daze.

Other big sellers included singles from comeback king David Bowie, the legendary The Rolling Stones and psychedelic rock band MGMT.

At noon, Camp Stag treated a packed-out store to a delightful four-song set featuring songs from the handmade RSD release of When The Lights Come Down, which also included a free colourful lightbulb!

Rich Bloor's one-man-band, Giro Junkie, provided a solid set, recording layers of his own guitar wonderfully for the final track.

Aaron Mobberley delighted the crowd with the beautiful 'Unison Harmonies' and encouraged 'it's really important for local music scenes to get involved with stuff like this'.

Vellocet's Jordan Gifford described it as 'one of the most phenomenal days of the year', following a set which was still strong, despite taking them out of their comfort zone.

Ahead of their headline slot at The Sugarmill later that night, folk group Alfa 9 took to the shop floor for an impressive acoustic set.

The day celebrated its most successful year yet, and the resurgence of vinyl records and physical releases is on course to only get bigger.

Photography courtesy of Jovi Mullen

Dog Is Dead prepare for anticipated Sugarmill return

Stoke of Genius:

Nottingham five-piece Dog Is Dead return to Stoke's Sugarmill following an unbelievable 13 months.

The indie-pop outfit experienced an overwhelming reception from the Hanley crowd last February and they return next week (April 19) to stun the audience again.

They were unfortunate to just miss out on the UK Top 40 by five places with their October debut album release of All Our Favourite Stories, but will still be ecstatic with the success the album has achieved.

The band were apologetic and delighted to announce they had to push back their UK dates to support Two Door Cinema Club on their 17-date European tour.

Bassist and saxophonist Trev Cole (bottom left, second from left) spoke to Stoke of Genius about the past year and performing as support for the Northern Irish indie group.

"It was awesome, to travel to that extent with some great guys. We really enjoyed it."

Speaking of the band's return to NME's Best Small Venue in the Midlands, Trev reminisced about their past experience at the famous location.

"It was up there with one of the wildest reactions, we're really looking forward to coming back.

"To see people who knew the lyrics to songs before they were released was great."

Last year saw them perform sell-out shows across the UK and 25 entertaining festival sets following the 2011 release of their well-received EP Young Childhood.

As well as performing 'Glockenspiel Song' live on the season five finale of Skins, 'Heal It' was used as part of the UEFA Champions League soundtrack on Sky Sports.

"We're really enjoying life.

"I couldn't imagine a band I was in to be on TV! We've been a band for five years and the significance of the album's body of work is great."

The band are set to play at Scotland's Rockness in June and are awaiting confirmation for more summer festivals.

"Two years ago we did Rockness. It was a long drive but it was worth it. They had great stages and lovely people.

"We just want to keep the ball rolling."

Dog Is Dead will be releasing limited 7" versions of 'Teenage Daughter' and 'Do The Right Thing' on Record Store Day, the day after their Sugarmill gig (April 20). 

The band's uplifting combination of folk-jazz-pop, unique harmonies and energetic stage presence will undoubtedly impress on Friday night.

Q&A with London's eccentric King Charles

King Charles

Stoke of Genius:

Stoke of Genius interviewed Charles Johnston, known by his pseudonym King Charles, ahead of his gig tomorrow (April 6) at The Sugarmill.

He provided some intriguing insights into his surreal world.

SOG: Why ‘King Charles’?

King Charles: By name, by nature; naturally.

Are you looking forward to returning to Stoke's The Sugarmill after such a great reception last year?

Yeah Stoke's gonna' be amazing. Very excited about returning, can't wait to see everyone who's coming. 

Who are your influences?

God, girls, furs, pearls, flesh, blood, polar bears, crocodiles, the city, the wild, the end of time all keep my thoughts on their feet and my mind in varying degrees of motion.

Who would you compare yourself to?

The highest, the wisest, the fastest, the brightest; the lowest, the foolish, the slowest the darkest. Just so I know my place.

What was it like touring with Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and Noah & The Whale?

I have a wonderful time with all of them, I have covered a lot of ground across England and America, opening their shows, all forming an enormously exciting cluster of moods, moments and memories. They all showed me a lot and I hope to continue touring and making music with them all.

How do international crowds compare to those in the UK?

Oversees they seem to be interested and get excited about different things in different territories which makes the shows all feel very different. Touring abroad can really keep you on your toes because you’re never sure how they are going to react and what they want from you.

King Charles

What has life been like since LoveBlood hit the UK Top 40? How has it changed in terms of media association and public perception?

Life's been cool, there are more supporters and sold-out shows which is great.

How does being solo compare to when you were in adventureplayground?

I loved adventureplayground. Extraordinary group of people, all front men now. Very unusual, creative atmosphere that i miss sometimes but we all had to pursue what was brewing in us.

I'm on tour now so thats what's making the biggest difference.

Are you enjoying the UK tour and what are you most looking forward to?

I'm loving this tour, always look forward to the shows that surprise me somehow. There are some venues I've wanted to play for a while too, so am pleased to be doing those.

Can you say which festivals you will be at this summer?

We've got some that we haven't played before; Wickerman, Belladrum, 2000trees, I know there's more. I am trying to play around the rest of the country before I release the next album.

What are your plans after your UK tour? 

Release a new album, play with The Rolling Stones, go to America, get bigger, tour new places, think about some new things. See what happens.

See King Charles at The Sugarmill tomorrow (April 6) from 7.30pm. It is for ages 14+ and is £11 on the door.

Dirty Dancing stage star speaks of landing dream role

Nicky Griffiths

Stoke of Genius:

The beautiful and joyous Nicky Griffiths spoke to Stoke of Genius about the delight of playing Penny Johnson in Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage.

A record-breaking national musical, the show has received much acclaim across the UK and now treats the crowds at Stoke-on-Trent's Regent Theatre.

The talented and experienced stage actress joined the cast, along with Jill Winternitz, who plays Frances 'Baby' Houseman, in July last year.

Nicky was previously the understudy to Penny and Lisa Houseman and part of the ensemble cast until July last year when she earned her dream role.

She said: "This is amazing. I adored doing things like Grease and Mamma Mia because they were wonderful shows, and Hairspray as well, but I think this is the most exciting for me though because of the role I get to play.

"I grew up watching the movie and I always adored Penny. Cynthia Rhodes, who plays her in the movie, is insane, so it was kind of a dream role for me."

The 32-year-old has previously worked with Paul-Michael Jones, who plays leading man Johnny Castle in the show.

"We have been working together for about three years now. We did Mamma Mia in London together and I played Lisa in that."

The performance of the relationship between the dance partners is faultless and a history of working together surely contributed to the chemistry on stage.

Having watched the movie 'hundreds' of times when a young girl, Nicky was ecstatic to land her childhood dream role.

"This feels a bit like the ultimate really, to actually get to play it every night, also having understudied it for a year always thinking I would love to have a chance and now I get to do it every day!

"I still have the text messages that I sent to the family! I've kept them to remind me. It's a lot of exclamation marks and a lot of kisses and a lot of me saying that I'm crying!

Nicky Griffiths and Paul-Michael Jones

Although she adores playing Penny, she has her hopeful sights set on portraying the magnificent feisty character in one of the most successful musicals of all time.
"I'd love to be Velma in Chicago, that would be amazing. But Penny was one of the dreams, definitely."

Nicky gave an insight into life in musical theatre: "As long as you're enjoying it and you feel that the work that you're doing is good for you then you keep going with it.

"It's a difficult industry because obviously dance is a youthful industry, but I would enjoy going into a bit more of the acting side of things with a bit more acting and singing and less dancing if that was something possible for me to do.

"We'll see what the future holds! It's exciting just to see what's going to come your way!"
Don't miss out on an inspirational evening with Nicky and the entire cast throughout March.

To book tickets for Dirty Dancing you can visit The Regent Theatre Box Office or call 0844 871 7649.

Photography courtesy of Jovi Mullen

Band Six Towns Excited for fifth release

Stoke of Genius:

Liam O'Brien

We caught up with local indie band Six Towns as they recorded their new EP at the Tremolo Recording Studio in Silverdale.

Welcome To Asylum will feature four impressive tracks including 'Stop The World', 'Mistress Mysterious', 'Jack The Ripper' and 'Asylum'.

Stoke of Genius joined the band on the final day of recording earlier this month to hear the vocals finalised.

Frontman Liam O'Brien was optimistic about the new recordings: "We're all really looking forward to the release, mainly just to get a feel of what our fans think of our new material.

"We're really pleased with how the tracks have turned out.

Simon Harrison

"We're heading back down the studio in the coming weeks to iron out a few little niggles we have with the tracks and then we'll be looking to put them together on a hard copy and also make them available on all Internet outlets."

Liam's assertive stage presence is unquestionably a key asset to the group.

In addition to guitarist Simon Harrison and young drummer, Josh Morris, they are glued together with the backbone of the group, Matt Litherland.

The lead singer continued: "The EP has turned out better than we could have hoped and we're just hoping everyone else is coming along for the trip!"

"We're all more than pleased with how its turned out.

"I think we're all agreed that its our best work yet. Just imagine what we could produce with some real backing behind us..."

Although they were reluctant to give too much away, they did reveal that two music videos are in their planning stages.

With only a few gigs confirmed, the band are on the lookout for bookings to take the UK by storm in 2013.

Matt Litherland and Liam O'Brien

"If anyone can help in getting gigs or putting us in touch with promoters we'll be more than thankful. Viva La Revolution!"

This is the group's first official EP as the current line-up since drummer Josh joined early last year.

Certainly their strongest set of tracks yet, Six Towns continue to go from strength to strength.

They have become one of the most highly recognised local acts following several 2012 highlights.

As well as being one of 20 UK finalists for MTV's Brand New Unsigned for 2013, they have also supported The Rifles and performed at the Hanley Christmas Light switch-on.

An EP launch gig in the spring will be much anticipated by the band's increasingly growing number of fans.

Be sure not to miss what will undoubtedly be the beginning of the most unforgettable era for Six Towns yet.

Welcome To Asylum

1. Stop The World

2. Mistress Mysterious

3. Jack The Ripper

4. Asylum

Watch below to see footage of the recordings at Tremolo.

Photography courtesy of Jovi Mullen