Interview with King Eider!

Hello People,

So the other day I was listening to a band doing a 

session for BBC London, I was captivated by their

combination of folk and rock as well as their

brilliant use of the violin and horn.

King eider are a five piece 'Edinburgh-based folk-blues band'

who use three part harmonies to create haunting and 

atmospheric music. They have been compared to the soulful

acoustics of Ben Howard and the foot stomping wildness of Arcade Fire. This is one of their latest songs 'Drink Me Dry'

And so I did what I do with bands that I listen to and love;

I got an interview with them!

Without further ado here is my interview with...

King Eider

1. Could you introduce yourselves and your instruments?

Reuben Tighe - Vocals,Guitar, Harmonica

Sam Chapman - Vocals, Drums,

Lucy Frankel - Vocals, Violin

Josh Casali-Bell Linemann - Vocals, Keys, Horn

Sam Palmer - Bass Guitar

2.Who are you influenced by and how did you discover 

your "sound"?

Our influences span a spectrum of genres and decades. 

Lucy listens to a lot of traditional country and bluegrass. 

Reuben takes influences from his mothers CD collection of 60's blues and rock and roll. Sam brings in more modern influences 

such as Arcade Fire and The Wild Beasts. We share our music

taste so that all of them influence our music 

to some degree.

3.When did you form as King Eider - what made you choose 

the name?!

We formed Early 2012, and were originally named "Zopa and the Shakes" (after Reuben's middle name). After deciding a name change was in order, we decided on King Eider. We were in an ale pub drinking a beer named "YellowHammer", (also the name for a bird native to the UK) and decided we liked the name. Since this was already a popular band name, we decided to research all other UK bird names. It transpires that the King Eider duck is a bird which migrates to the lake district every year, which is home to Reuben, Sam Chapman, and Josh, so the name seemed a good fit!

4. Describe your music in five words.

Hmmm....

5. What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to

you before/after a gig?

Some one from the front row recently took his top off and 

attempted to lactate onto Lucy's shoes. That was pretty weird,

and somewhat aggressive...

6. State a fact that people don't know about you.

Two of us have Science PHD's

7. What are the top 4 songs on your playlist right now?

Wild Beasts - this is our lot

The Whitest Boy Alive - Islands

Supertramp - Bloody Well Right

Grizzly Bear - Ready,Able

8. What is the first album you remember buying?

 The first album which really had a musical impact on me was Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, self titled album. Peter Green still remains a big influence on me, the man is a genius.

9. Modern or Vintage Clothing? 

 No clothing is best.

10. What are you plans for the future?

After making the most of our album release, we intend to 

record a 4 track EP. We have been working on some new material

which we are excited to record, and intend to release it

some point early next year. Stay Tuned!

If you like the sound of King Eider then you can head to their

website here and check them out.

So long for now,

Poppy xx

Part II of Interview with The Majority Says

Hey All,

I hope you had a nice weekend.

I wanted you all to hear this song that I

recently discovered (although it is

from a few years back):

"Wake Up" by Arcade Fire

From the album 'Funeral'

It's this really beautiful song that reminds me

of camping in the summertime (idk why!), it was 

also used on the trailer for Where The Wild

Things Are which might help you to understand the

style of the song if you haven't heard it before.

It starts off as this strong rock sound but with soft, angelic melodies. And just when you think it's

going to do one thing it changes into a joyful, 

upbeat rhythm.

It's totally crazy but amazing!!

Next, is Part II of my interview with Swedish 

band The Majority Says! 

6. In 5 words describe your music.

 I’ll write six words here, since we’re 6 ;) (Whoops!)

Youthful, Playful, Mixed, Melancholy, Ploj, Epic.

7. What is the weirdest thing that has happened whilst performing or before/after a gig? 

Emil locked himself in the tour bus once by accident, we looked for him everywhere and he had 

no cell phone so we could not call him, he showed up just a minute before we should enter 

the stage, that was kinda weird actually. 

8. Have any of you got any strange hobbies or habits?I think we’re all kinda normal, myself (Axel), I’m into computers and programming and such, 

don’t know if that’s so strange though. We all try to do things we like, you know, it may 

vary from day to day.

9. Cinnamon Rolls or Princess Cake? 

Princess cake ofc.

10. Lastly, what are your plans for the future? Are you playing any gigs in Europe soon? 

 We’re releasing a new album in June, we hope to play the songs off it as much as possible of course. 

We’re going to Europe this summer to play, we’ll be doing shows from late May to November (both in 

Sweden and Europe), we hope to meet as many new people as possible and have as 

much fun as possible!

If you would like to see a sneak-peek of their album

material, follow this link to hear some of their new

song "Calling Your Name" 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCavTgNsp7U

This weekend, I'm going to Brixham with my

two friends so I won't be able to post but

I'll try and schedule one in for you ;)

Song recommendations, reviews and interviews

coming soon! 

Love,

Poppy x

Part I of Interview with The Majority Says

Hi All,

Here is Part I of my interview with The

Majority Says. You may not have heard of them before

but you might recognise them from the Lidl christmas

ad jingle "All these little things"

(http://youtu.be/APe7pHiWhnI)

1.Could you please introduce yourselves and your instrument? 

 We’re the Majority Says, I'm Axel, I play the bass, Timo plays the keys, Jonathan and Emil plays

 the guitar and Mathias the Drums. As you may know, Hanna does the lead vocals, all of the 

guys try to sing as much as we can as well, making nice 

harmonies and such, you know.

2. Where do you call "Home"? 

For now I think we all call Sweden home, something tells me we always will, we love getting back to 

Sweden, but we also like being on tour of course, Germany is a favorite.

3. What inspired you to name yourself "The Majority Says"?

Actually we just wanted to have a cool name, no real story behind it. We wanted a name that s

tarted with ”the”. Later we’ve found out if you puzzle a bit with the first letter in our first names 

you’ll get ”THE MAJ” Which is kinda cool.

4. How long have you been a band/known each  other?

Together, in this setup we’ve been playing for about 3 years, but some of us have known each 

other since we where kids, Jonathan and Emil have been playing together since 

they where about 12 years old.

5. Where do you find inspiration for your songs? (My favourite is Run Alone)

We find inspiration in many things, many of the songs of our upcoming album are about being 

from a smaller city, relations, being young and such things. We get inspired by

art, music, films & nature.

If you would like to hear some of Majority Says'

sound, I have uploaded a video of their song

"Run Alone"

Her soft voice, their harmonic, male voices and the

sounds of electro-pop form a wonderfully catchy and

uplifting song. A delightfully perky piece, go on- 

give it a go...

Love,

Poppy x

Ps. Part II will be available soon

Part II of Interview with Tenterhook

Good Morning (just) Everyone,

How was your weekend? Good,

I hope? 

Today I have Part II of my interview with

Tenterhook! In case you missed the first half,

click here to read it now.

6. In 4 words describe your music.

Ambient folk pop rock

7. What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened whilst performing or before/after a gig?

I am yet to play a show so hoping to see some odd things on the road later this year.

8. Have you got strange hobbies/habits?

I talk to myself a lot. People think I am very strange when walking down the street but I just seem to do it naturally without much conscious thought.

9. Brick Lane or Portobello?

I was brought up on portobello and love it there. Many on my songs were written when I busked there in my old band when I was 16.

10. Lastly, what are your hopes for the future? Are you playing any gigs soon?!

I am putting out an EP at the beginning of summer and going to do a small UK tour in support of that release. However at the moment I am concentrating on my first show which is on the 23rd of April at the Servant Jazz Quarters in Dalston.

Tenterhook's first show is now SOLD OUT!

Good Luck to him and I hope he enjoys it.

If you would like to listen to some of Tenterhook's 

songs, head over to SoundCloud where you can listen

to 'Stereo'. 

Have a nice day,

Poppy x

Ps. My next interview will be with a Swedish band who

sung a jingle for a recent Christmas advert,

any ideas who? 

Part I of Interview with Tenterhook

Hey Everyone! 

Today, I have Part I of my

interview with Tenterhook. A 19 year

old singer/songwriter called Archie

 from Portobello in

London. 

~~ Click here to listen to his  ~~

beautiful song "Stereo" 

1. Could you please introduce yourself

and your instrument?

I am Archie, I am 19 and I play guitar and piano

2. Where do you call "home"?

London

3. How did you come to chose the name Tenterhook?

I thought the name had a ring to it. I have been using

 various musical aliases and tenterhook was the name

 I felt most creative with.

4. How long have you been in the music business?

As I am only 19 probably only 6 months or so. I have always been

 in bands and written with friends however nothing serious and on

 the whole what I was doing was pretty poor.

5. Where do you find inspiration for your songs,

especially Stereo?

As all of the best songwriters know; in order to write a great song you

 need to write about something close to your heart. My main aim is to 

capture the emotion I am feeling at points in my life both lyrically and melodically. 

The story and meaning behind stereo is something I am not proud of and 

as of yet no one has grasped the true meaning behind the song and 

in some sense I would like to keep it that way.

19 year old Archie Faulks

Not only does he write beautiful songs but 

he also featured on XFM's Great X-Pectations

page, So make sure to watch out for him in the

near future! 

If you're interested in seeing Tenterhook live,

he will be playing The Great Escape Festival

on the 8th May 2014 (tickets can be found

here)

Part II of this interview will be available within

the next few days,so be sure to 

check-in again soon.

Lots of Love, 

Poppy x

Part II of Interview With "Great Caesar" x

Hello Again!

I'm hoping your week hasn't been too bad? Well, it's

the weekend now anyway so you can just sit back and relax :)

So today as a Friday treat, I have Part II of my 

interview with Great Caesar (in case you missed Part I, 

you can find it here)

Enjoy :D

Interview with Great Caesar Part II

6. In 6 words (one for each of you) describe your music.

Earnest

Vulnerable

Sophisticated

Elegant

Anthemic

Theatrical

7. What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened whilst on stage or before/after a gig? 

One of the most memorable experiences we have was playing a show in an old tavern in Williamstown, MA. Actually, we were playing "Twist and Shout" as made famous by the Beatles, and we tripped a fuse and the power went out, leaving only drums and the horn section audible. But we led the crowd in a sing-along as someone frantically tried to get the power back on.  At the end of the "Ahhhhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh" section, which builds and builds in intensity, the power suddenly came back on and we came crashing back into the chorus with the full power of the band. I'll never forget that moment as long as I live.

8. Have any of you got strange hobbies/habits? 

Generally we often walk around the apartment singing our own songs, but with all the lyrics replaced with really stupid and/or dirty words. I hope there is never somebody recording us in our off-time as it gets weird, fast.

9. Chips or chocolate?

Depends if we are talking about the American or UK version of "chips."  Actually, either way, 

it's definitely chocolate.

10. And finally, what are your hopes for Great Caesar's future? Can we bet on seeing you in Europe any time soon?

We have big plans for sure. We're working on a full-length album this summer, with extensive touring in the fall. I really hope we can make it over the pond, as we hear you guys are pretty keen on live music :). John and Tom both spent a lot of time over there during college, so I think they're hungering to go back. Or maybe just hungering for some fish&chips. We just gotta get the BBC hip to our music first!

I am very grateful to the band for giving me the 

chance to interview them - thanks again! 

This weekend, I am planning on going to the Norwood Feast

as part of my new places-to-see blog topic,

can't wait!

Have a nice evening,

Poppy x

Part I of Interview with "Great Caesar" x

Hi Everyone,

I really am sorry that I have neglected my

blog so much, no excuses!

I just wanted to say a quick well done to Naomi 
the winner of the Barry M nail varnish giveaway!!

I will be doing another giveaway in a few weeks,

so keep a look out.


Today I have for you Part I
of an interview with Great Caesar! A
bit of background info about them for those of you who
have not come across them before: Great Caesar are
a six piece chamber-rock band who currently reside in New
York. Their most recent single is "Don't Ask
Me Why" which can be found here!

Great Caesar Interview Part I

1. Could you please introduce yourselves and your instrument? 

(I say this because its so difficult to track down any info on Great Caesar :D)

John-Michael Parker (vocals, guitar) 

Adam Glaser (bass)

Tom Sikes (trumpet)

Mike Farrell (guitar)

Stephen Chen (saxophones)

2. Where do you call "home"? 

New York City! We've lived here for about 3 years now and love it, despite how dirty and hectic 

it is all the time.

3. How did you think up the name "Great Caesar"? Is there a reason why you chose it? 

It's a line from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar;" Decius says it just before Caesar is murdered by the conspirators.  We've all found something meaningful in that play since reading it in high school, 

and that line has stuck with us over the years. It's pretty unique too, if a little hard to spell.

4. How long have you been a band/known each other? 

Actually, we've played music together since we were teenagers, as most of us are from the same 

hometown in Connecticut. 

5. Where do you find inspiration for your incredible songs - especially "Don't ask me Why"?!

As we continue to grow up and try to make sense of our lives and relationships, those feelings - and reflecting on how those feelings change over time - are a big part of what we write about. With Don't Ask Me Why we wanted to write about having big dreams and taking the leap of faith to realize them. We found inspiration in the film "Moonrise Kingdom," music by Beirut and Arcade Fire, and famous figures like JFK and MLK. And actually, we found a lot of inspiration from the high-school students John-Michael worked with as a mentor who had big dreams of their own. Inspiration is everywhere!

Great Caesar 

I will post the second half for you 
on Friday! 

See you then
Poppy x

Ps. Urban Perks from this point onward will be a
music and places-to-see in London kinda blog. Thanks for the
support :)