Bristol’s very own experimental DJ, Kid Carpet, is touring like crazy at the moment; he seems to be doing shows left, right and centre to promote his new album, Casio Royale. But this isn’t unusual. Kid Carpet never seems to leave the gig circuit and it’s clear he works really, really hard to get where he wants to be musically.

So, what are his goals? And how does he balance such a phenomenally busy music career with his pay-the-rent-and-eat job? I accosted him at the end of one of many local gigs to find out:
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Wednesday 30^th July 2008 @ Academy, Bristol
With Support From: Bobby Anderson

It’s mid-afternoon on a fairly muggy day and I have been let into the dressing room at the Bristol Academy for an interview with Aussie singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd. I’m greeted by a much tanned, smiley chap sporting a big woolly beanie and chomping on an apple. He sits bare footed and cross legged on a sofa situated next to my chair.

We start to chat about the new album Dark Shades Of Blue (released 18^th August) and what made this record different from the others. He explains how the new album was recorded in Australia, something he had not done for his previous three albums. “I was home,” he beams, “sleeping under the stars with my dog by a fire, looking up at the Southern Cross that I missed so much. I grew up looking at the Southern Cross and those stars.” He recalls the days of the recordings fondly; “I was at the beach in the mornings then recording in the afternoon y’know, I was happy and I hope that comes across in the album.”

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Transgressive Hot Summer Tour 2008
Monday 14th July 2008 @ Thekla, Bristol
With Support From: Esser, So So Modern

It’s a grey, windy, July afternoon and I’m out on top-deck of the Old Profanity with Jeremy Warmsley; the showpiece name on the Transgressive Hot Summer Tour 2008 and co-host of ‘Welcome To Our TV Show’, a monthly podcast where bands are invited round to play sessions in Casa de Warmsley. Trying to make myself heard over car alarms and seagulls, conversation moves to the last time Jeremy played Bristol at Dot to Dot Festival:
That was so much fun! We played to a room that was totally packed which was really exciting. There was a really nice vibe; people were really interested and listening. We were on after Slow Club and the day before was Johnny Flynn and Noah and The Whale; it was kind of all the new-folk crowd.
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She’s a Bristolian blonde bombshell who’s about to blast her beautiful brand of blues into the brains of boogie Britain; all rise for local legend Beth Rowley. With her debut album Little Dreamer now out, an accessible look at gospel and jazz with firm pop influences, SY catches up with Beth Rowley on a gloriously sunny afternoon on the Watershed bar balcony with super views of the city harbour. Naturally, conversation moves to Bristol and how she started out in the city:

“I love playing the Old Duke – that’s pretty much where I started off. I used to go down there all the time and you would always see the same people; people like Pete Roe who was working behind the bar. Once when I was 17 or 18 I went down for one of Eddie Martin’s open mic nights with just a song book and I said to Eddie is there anyone who can play piano? I just had the song book and I knew and loved all the songs and he said; ‘Oh yeah, Pete plays, the guy behind the bar. Hey Pete, do you want to come and play?’ He was well up for it – it’s exactly the sort of thing you do! So that’s when we first met and we continued working for a couple of years doing gigs and stuff. It’s where I met Fortune Drive too because they lived above the Old Duke.”
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With their new album Rascalize currently hitting iPods, earphones and ear drums everywhere, it was a pleasure to be rascalized by Miles Kane, Joe Edwards and Greg Mighall – aka - The Rascals at Bristol’s Thekla on a sunny summer’s eve.

With pints of fizzy water and packets of cigarettes scattered on the table on the deck, The Rascals seemed to be lapping up the sun before they climbed onstage to give the audience a treat. Having seen them a couple of months ago at The Bierkeller supporting The Courteeners who are now bigger than your nan’s blouse, I wondered how it was touring with them for a bit?
“We only did a couple of gigs as it was a warm up gig for this tour” says Miles.
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Who is Joe 90? Well Joe 90 is a 1968 TV puppet series in which a 9-year-old boy was the planets most audacious special agent who worked for the world intelligence network. This was thanks to a pair of large NHS style spectacles that he wore which incorporated a device called BIG RAT that stood for Brain Impulse Galvanoscope Record and Transfer. It enabled the knowledge and experience of one person to be transferred into the head of another.

Joe 90 is also a very good DJ here in Bristol. He’s the man behind the Futureboogie agency that are consistently putting on good nights in our city such as Bonobo, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Domu, The Bays and The Juan Mclean. I caught up with him the other day to see if his prowess behind the decks had anything to do with those thick black glasses that he wears.
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Monday 19th May 2008 @ Academy, Bristol

Interviewing Hadouken! before their gig, I’d asked whether their grime production aesthetic carried through into the attendees of their gigs. The stoic “no” which met my question made immediate sense when I walked through the main doors of Bristol’s Academy into a sea of 14-20 year olds adorned with vibrant nu-rave colours and asymmetric hair styles.

The band’s following is nothing if not dedicated. More than a few were sporting tops brandishing Hadouken!’s distinctive logo and I doubt the pocket money they’d been given to attend was enough to have bought them from the well-stocked merchandise stand in the foyer. Many more bore the scars of Hadouken!’s marketing campaign in the form of a trademark “H!” in fluorescent face-paint.
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Hi Alex (vocals/guitar), how are you?
I just got back from Denmark which statistically is the happiest country in the world! That’s what I’m basing my final project book on – Happiness!

Didn’t they do a survey around the country where they smiled at everyone in the street and Bristol was where most people smiled back?
Yes! It’s the happiest place in the UK. People don’t believe me.

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