Fresh Talent

I co host a radio show every fortnight and was lucky enough to have first play Clara's Hustle's single "Step Away". The song went down amazingly with listeners and especially my co host, who all fell in love with the song and so it's clear the band will have a promising future, but who are they? Well for all of you who haven't heard of the talented trio here is a Q&A so you can be in the know.

Who makes up Clara's Hustle?

Clara's Hustle consist of lead vocalist Amber Clara and myself Kiks Samavat and Josh Alford. Although my main instrument is guitar I take care of the production side of things, programming the drums and synths. Josh is our drummer but also plays other instruments. Also on Step Away there are brilliant backing vocals from Laura Grant, and we were lucky to work with Chris I from the US who mixed the track for us and offered his own input. The three of us have been in bands and outfits in the past but have decided to go at it as a threesome and take things a little more seriously, although I think once we start gigging properly we'll have to use some other musicians to fill up the live set up.

How would you describe your style of music?

I honestly can't come up with a single type of genre to describe our music as, which I suppose is a good thing. It's always a problem when a band lets a style or trend influence their music too much. Step Away is a very poppy song in terms of its arrangement and instrumentation, also threw in a cheeky bit of dubstep style 'wobble-bass' to mix things up a bit. We've got quite a few tracks written and ready to be recorded, the styles are quite a step away if you will from Step Away. Some of the songs have got elements of RnB, soul, eighties pop and even a bit of bhangra in one of the tracks.

What are your influences?

All three of us have quite an eclectic taste in music that spans many genres. I've been writing songs for quite a few years now and I guess my biggest influences in terms of writing have been The Rolling Stones, Bright Eyes and Ryan Adams. Obviously our style is a bit different but I think in terms of the message given across by their lyrics, I'm most inspired by them. We' all appreciate the music in the charts at the moment. I think if a track has managed to make it into the Top 40 it must be doing something right. When it came to producing Step Away, I listened to quite a lot of RnB and Hip Hop- Kelis, Pharrell, Kanye- to get some cool ideas that could be used in our sound.

What's behind the lyrics of Step Away?

Step Away was one of the first songs I've ever written that has been true to myself and my experiences. I've found coming to university has opened me up a tiny bit and I'm writing songs that are a bit more personal. Step Away was written after a relationship I'd had recently. It's about losing someone you care about because you didn't tell them how you truly felt about them and you kept your heart and your true feelings on the inside. It's a sad song and I can't listen to it too many times, and it doesn't help that Amber put a lot of emotion into the vocal performance. As a song it means a lot to me and I'm delighted with how it turned out and the opinions I've received from people.

What is lined up in the future for Clara's Hustle?

In terms of the future, I think we're going to act a bit patiently and cautiously. I used to love recording loads of demos and gigging with rough sets, but I suppose I feel like a bit of perfectionist with Clara's Hustle. The writing process is taking a lot longer than usual because I struggle to write lyrics that I'm completely happy about. So I think over the summer we are going to try and record as many of our songs as possible. It's difficult because the three of us live in three different parts of the country at term time so we can't meet up all the time. Our plan is to record a decent number of songs to a high quality standard and come up with a tight perfected live set and then we will go from there. We plan to gig in as many cities around the UK next year. Things may be a bit touch and go due to our distance during term time but we are going to give it our best shot and try and meet, practice and record as much as possible. You can expect to see and hear a lot more from us over the next year. 

Click here for a free download of "Step Away" and to stay updated with the latest gig dates and songs join http://www.facebook.com/clarashustle. 

That festival moment

Sorry for being such an awful blogger and not blogging for months. With university exams and this that and the other to do the last month of my life has been such a hectic rush. Finally I have nothing to do at all except for blog so here we go.


At every festival you get your festival moment. It's that moment where you take a deep breath in and just think 'wow.' These moments rarely happen anywhere else, so if you've never experienced it get yourself a ticket to a festival because it is just such an amazing feeling. I had two festival moments at Glastonbury this year (I know greedy) which I don't think I will ever forget.


The first was whilst watching Mumford and Sons. I had heard they were amazing live and so I decided there was no way I was missing them. At one point there were white lights shining out at the crowd which were catching the reflection the raindrops as the sun was setting and everyone was going nuts to the Mumford brothers. True festival moment.



The second moment was one which I think I will never forget. It's more of a life moment than just a festival moment. Some guys had taken pity on us when everyone was standing waiting for Beyonce on Sunday night, as me and my friend had a lovely view of the the people in front back's and so offered for us to go on their shoulders when she came on. IT WAS AMAZING. I could never thank the kind man enough. He was taller than most people anyway, so being on his shoulders I was way above the crowd and had a perfect view of the Goddess herself. Dancing to Crazy In Love above screaming fans was indescribably.


Glastonbury you did us proud again. Cheers Mike x

Jamiroquai at the 02 Arena

Last night me and a friend were lucky enough to go and see the legend that is Jamiroquai. Playing most of their classics such as Canned Heat, Space Cowboy, Cosmic Girl and Deeper Underground with a few of their new songs mixed in to make an amazing performance. To be honest all I can think to write about the evening was that it was outstanding and that I was deeply jealous of Jay Kay's hats. Here are some pictures and videos of the night for those who missed it.

Disco's Out (Murder's In)

 After winning the Dorset Music Awards in 2010, Disco's Out Murder's In have been on a role gigging and touring like never before. With their second album on the way and a summer of possible festivals, I asked them some questions giving you lovely readers the chance to get to know this talented band.   

      Who does what in the band Disco's Out Murder's In?

Disco's Out (Murder's In)  

Steve – Guitar and Vocals,

Lee – Left-handed Bass,

Tubbs – Drums,

Imogen – Pocket Trumpet,

Ed- Trumpet,

Lyndsey – Saxophone,

Martin – Glockenspiel, Keys, Trumpet, Trombone, and MC.

 So, for people who may not of heard your music, how would you describe it to them?

We like to call it Brass Fuelled Rock. It is basically just rock music with melodic brass sections over the top. We have dabbled in bits of ska/reggae and hip-hop in the past, but more recently the music has taken a heavier route with some big riffs and bigger choruses.

You also apparently have a very flamboyant dress sense, what sort of crazy things have you worn at your gigs?

The most common outfits have been the Rabbit, wolf, tiger, donkey, and clown. The banana suit has seen better days so hasn’t made an appearance for a while. The more surreal outfits include a washing basket, and super 80’s mullet wig combined with the clown outfit.

The Dorset Music Awards 2010 really helped you break through, what made you enter? 

Someone mentioned the completion to us so we just handed Rich and Trev a CD. We had very little knowledge, or expectations of the completion to begin with, we just wanted to play another gig.

You won four festival slots during the awards, which festivals did you play at?

The awarded festivals were Larmer Tree, Endorset in Dorset, Camp Besitval, and Shambala.

We also play a handful of other festivals that summer, all of which were a result of the DMA completion.

Are you playing at any festivals this year?

We are very excited to be playing Larmer Tree Festival again, and also Endorset in Dorset. There are a few more in the pipe line that haven’t been confirmed yet, but fingers crossed for another adventurous summer.

Other than the festivals, how else have you benefited from The Dorset Music Awards?

Since entering the awards we have found it much easier to get gigs than before hand. We have also noticed a much better attendance at gigs (before the competition we were infamous for playing a gig in front of one paying customer.)

What has been your biggest achievement as a band?

I think last summer was the biggest achievement as a band! We have also played a whole heap of charity events which always feel like an achievement however small they are.

With 7 of you in the band, do you ever have little tiffs? 

Yes. But nothing that a hug doesn’t sort out. It is difficult to maintain a big band, but all in all I think we have more fun and laughs then disagreements. And the disagreements end up in laughs!

Does anyone in DOMI have any funny habits which you have all picked up on gigging together?

Lee is Left Handed. Lyndsey is the most festival fun person (as long as she doesn’t burn out on the first night) Tubbs loves eating hoagies before every show, and Imogen can’t perform without pre lunge exercises back stage. (Ed and Steve are writing this)  

What plans do DOMI have for the future?

We are currently recording an EP for release early next month. Much like the first EP we are DIY ‘ing it in our garage, but with help from some good DoMi Friends.

We have lots of merch to start distributing  including hand screen printed t-shirts, and are preparing our tents for another hot sticky summer on the grass.

For anyone who is in Bournemouth area, check out the band at Champions on the 30th April, The Cellar Bar on the 6th May and The Old Fire Station on the 29th May.

Youtube Video uploaded by Junglebrother98

Radiohead to the Rescue

As a journalism student I have to learn something called Teeline Shorthand. It is a form of note taking but instead of using letters you use symbols to represent words and us journalists use to it increase the speed in which we can take notes.

Radiohead Creep written in shorthand

I hate it. I am not good with spelling, letters or words (I know, it is a wonder how I made it onto this course) and so I find shorthand especially hard. Primarily it is being able to hear the word, recognize the letters in the word and then recalling how the letter is written in shorthand and writing it down. It is tough. On Wednesday we have our 60 words per minute exam...which means we need to be able to write a word a second. It sounds easy but give it a try. It's really not.

I have been working hard listening to the text book passages about teenagers vandalising graveyards and police arresting residents for dropping litter and as you can imagine I am going mad. Therefore i decided to try and write out songs in shorthand.

I couldn't manage anything too fast and so I went straight for my Radiohead album, Radiohead (The Best Of) and began trying to write out the lyrics as Thom Yorke slowly sang them to me. I tried with a few of their songs and feeling confident I went back to the nice boring textbook transcriptions. To my disbelief it had actually helped a lot and I was able to transcribe that bit quicker!

So thank you Radiohead, I am sure when you were writing you slow mellow music you had me in mind stressing over shorthand. Cheers Lads x

Maverick Sabre

Some of you may recognize this young man's voice from Pro Green's single Jungle or perhaps from his live lounge performance which took place during Chris Molyes and Comedy Dave's Comic Relief show last week but Maverick Sabre has really won my heart.

The Irish born singer clearly made a big impression on many other listeners, as after his performance his name was a trending topic on Twitter. Not only that, but his Itunes sales rocketed. He truly blew us all away.

He has something that all artists want, a recognizable voice. His original southing voice has an edge which draws you in. His songs aren't heavy with thumping bass beats, he keeps it simple with a light accompaniment in order to really highlight his vocals.

His debut EP The Lost Words EP is out for download and I know that it will definitely be featuring on my Ipod.

I hope you enjoy.

Video uploaded onto Youtube by MaverickSabre check out this user for more of Maverick Sabre's tunes.

Ready for Reading?

Tonight the Reading and Leed's Festival line up is going to be announced. Radio 1's Zane Lowe will be talking us through the line up as it is released and while many are frantically clogging up the internet websites searching for the remaining festival tickets. Good luck to those of you who will be one of them.

From the rumors we're putting our bets on Muse, My Chemical Romance and The Strokes to headline, a true Reading and Leed's style combo. Other bands also rumored are Two Door Cinema Club, Magnetic Man, Pulp and Deftones.

If these sound like your kind of bands then I would definitely recommend you try and get yourself a ticket tonight. I'm going to keep this blog short and sweet but there will be more later once the line up has been released.