//FEATURE ARTICLES//
From West Africa to Abbey Road
This unique collaboration of musicians, led by frontman Edd Bateman, are returning this year for a series of shows commemorating the anniversary of the Beatle’s Abbey Road album. The London Astrobeat Orchestra perform Afrobeat arrangements of songs that you are bound to find familiar – but there is nothing predictable about their interpretations of popular music.
Raluca de Soleil
I started writing reflectively when I was about 14, but this was a form that is very different to what I write now. So, they were basically just narrations – me putting in writing what I was thinking without trying to fit a form or anything.
DIMITRI – In Session
Ahead of the release of his new album entitled Adverts, Love Songs and Official Soundtracks, DIMITRI joins Exposed to have a chat before his live in session performance. The meeting was fixed for a top-secret location deep in the bowels of Castelgate, and with some light apprehension Exposed sat down to face up to the penetrating gaze coming from behind a pair of ginormous retro shades donned by this shadowy character.
Jon McClure
Fundamentally, frontman Jon McClure remains the straight-talking, larger-than-life Yorkshireman that first arrived on the scene with tales of broken Britain, ill-fated shags and nosey milkmen. But, as he told Mollie Bland last month, whether it’s stepping away from Twitter timelines or appreciating the opportunity to step out in front of local crowd of fans, there have been many lessons learnt along the way…
Matthew J. Hall
A few months on from the release of his debut album Unquiet Mind, Exposed caught up with Mathew J Hall, the self-proclaimed ‘big kid’, to discuss being miserable and all things Tramlines 2019.
Tom Grennan
Tom Grennan, the Indie Singer/Songwriter, will be playing t’Other stage at this year’s Tramlines festival. Ahead of the festival, Tom gives us the lowdown on his life at the moment and his connection to Sheffield. With his combination of Adele-like soul and the grit of Jamie-T, the Bedford born singer has well and truly paved his way into the current music scene.
Dominic Heslop – Wordplay
For this month’s foray into Sheffield’s literary scene, Mollie Bland speaks to up-and-coming spoken word artist Dominic Heslop AKA The1Devotion.
An Album that Changed My Life – Noname
The impossible question: What is your favourite kind of music? This question, no matter how many times I’ve been asked it, fills me with unease and a substantial about of stress. The list of artists on my Spotify goes on and on, ranging from 80s pop icons to obscure electronic artists, and they all fade together to form my general every-day playlists. I find it hard to define my taste, and even harder to proclaim myself a die-hard fan of just one band or album.
The Seamonsters Single Review – How to be Famous
Few bands are capable of doing what the Seamonsters do with a sound that borrows as much from 80s icons as it does the screw you punk attitude. Following on from their UK summer tour, the indie 6-piece are hitting us hard with their new release, How to be Famous. With more conversation on harmful trends and cancel culture, a single like this has never been more appropriate. The Seamonsters are not ones to blend in with the crowd, and they stay true to their ethos in this new release, they move as far away from traditional or even predictable lyricism and hit on a bold social commentary without being completely inaccessible.
Mr Scruff – 20 Years of Keeping it Unreal
Producer, cartoonist, father and devoted record collector – there’s a long list that Mr Scruff fits into his week. There’s a lot of good taste within the DJ’s 2,000-plus records, and both the people of Manchester and those further afield certainly agree. Gracing the crowds with good, varied soulful music since the early 1980s, Mr Scruff has honed his style and sound to create sets that we love to party to. Now Then sat down for a chat with the local legend to talk about DJing, Manchester, and introducing his daughter to the world of music production.
THE BITTERSWEET SUMMER SOUNDS OF DUNEBUG
With a sound that makes you feel like you are one of the only people in the world, Dunebug is one to watch. The ex-Manchester, now London-based lo-fi dream-pop artist moulds together influences from the likes of Fat White Family and Japanese Breakfast to create a serene and intricate sound you’ll want to disappear into.
YAATRI TAKE YOU TO ANOTHER REALM WITH AMBITIOUS REACH EP
Intricate, enchanting, and sonically striking, Yaatri’s new EP Reach is the latest release to emerge from the ever-fertile Leeds jazz community. From the epicentre of the north’s Jazz renaissance, Yaatri’s new release is the fruit of a cross-genre, DIY music culture that is full of surprises.
Record Review – PROLE JAZZ – Now That’s What I call Quarantine Vol. 1 and 2
Now That’s What I Call Quarantine Vol. 1: Lockdown Anthems and Vol. 2: Sounds of Isolation are truly special compilation albums from PROLE JAZZ, showcasing some of the most exciting talent in Sheffield and making these long weeks in isolation bearable. 20 Sheffield-based musicians have dedicated their time to writing and recording original tracks for the album – all from the comfort of their own homes of course.
The Waterlily Project
Our lives are constantly filled with gritty experiences and gut-wrenching surprises. So, it is in light of the unavoidable turbulence that moments of magic and growth feel special and should be cherished. The waterlily is a metaphor for the essence of what our lived experience is all about, it is ‘despite and perhaps even because of the murky waters a beautiful flower arises.’
Record Review: TSHA – Flowers
The lead single ‘Sister’ is a track to get lost in. TSHA shared the inspiration for the song: “I wrote ‘Sister’ during lockdown after finding out I had an older half-sister from my estranged father who she is also estranged from. She’s lovely and we got on straight away, so I’m very happy to have a new member of my family as I’ve not had much of that in my life.”
Spreading positivity through art installations
As we find ourselves at the end of a second national Covid-19 lockdown, Sheffield-based community organisation Ignite Imaginations is bringing a much-needed smile to local faces with a series of immersive art experiences dotted across the city.
‘If men menstruated, we would not be having this conversation’
Short film Absent turns our attention to period poverty and period shame in the modern day. The team behind it tell us more ahead of a screening at Sheffield Short Film Festival.
White Riot: Charting the Rock Against Racism movement
Rubika Shah’s searing documentary explores anti-racism through music, set against the hostile backdrop of late 1970s Britain. Shah told us more ahead of a screening and Q&A hosted by Sensoria.
//NEWS ARTICLES//
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FeaturedDesree – Finding a Place
Creating safe spaces for women writers, delivering TEDx talks, using art to engage with young people in schools, and occasionally throwing in a fuck boy poem; Desree is doing all of this and more. She embraces the beautiful in the everyday and addresses the things we find easier to not think about. I dare you… Read more
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FeaturedGirl on the Train – Review
The opening night of The Girl on the Train at Sheffield’s Lyceum, and it is certainly a stage show that carries a heap of expectation and recognition with it. This is a play which I expected to be slightly predictable for someone that is already familiar with the plot, but I was certainly still filled with tension and excitement throughout. Having become a world-wide triumph, the genuine publishing phenomenon was then adapted as a hugely successful film starring Emily Blunt back in 2016.
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FeaturedCliffhanger Festival 2019
Sheffield’s inner-city festival dedicated to celebrating the great outdoors returns to Sheffield for Summer 2019. Cliffhanger will take place in Sheffield Friday 5th – Sunday 7th July, and promises yet again to turn Sheffield city center into a giant outdoor playground. In association with Sheffield BID, the festival will see an array of FREE events and activities on offer across the city center.
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FeaturedGeorgia – Local Hero
The saddening statistics show that 1 in 2 people in our lifetime will be diagnosed with cancer. Through her work there over the past year, Georgia Bransby has seen first-hand the impact that the charity has on people and their battle with the disease. So in support of the charity and in a bid to raise funds, she courageously completed the biggest skydive in the UK – A whopping 15,000ft jump. NorthBound caught up with local hero Georgia to find out more about her connection to the charity and how the money she is raising will help Western Park.
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FeaturedPlot 22 Community Creative Space Relaunch
Plot 22 first opened its doors back in 2017. Rite Trax acquired an unloved and empty unit in Castelgate, Sheffield City Centre, and quickly went on to establish it as a fabric of the Sheffield underground. Ultimately funded by their own pockets, Plot 22 was birthed as a space for the RiteTrax team to write and create. Then over 15 months, the venue played host to well over 50 events including gigs, club-nights, fundraisers, exhibitions, private parties, film showings, workshops, photo-shoots, music video shoots and other creative events
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Featured10 Years of Band on the Wall
ocated smack bang in the middle of the most bustling and musically rich neighbourhood in Manchester, Band on the Wall is known by many as a legendary and highly distinguished music venue that has played an iconic role in the city’s musical heritage. Since it’s establishment a whopping 200 years ago, the venue truly has become a cornerstone of the Mancunian music scene that continues to pride itself in bringing in artists and musicians from around the world.
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FeaturedBlack Mamba Fever
Ahead of their jam-packed weekend at Tramlines 2019, Exposed caught up with Black Mamba Fever to talk about their new EP and whether Theresa May accepted their invitation to the launch. These days its full-steam ahead as the band released their second EP, whilst still proving that Hawaiian shirts and granny music can be cool. With some serious reference points to the Cramps and a bit of Pavement, and a likeness to an angry Jarvis Cocker, the Indie four-piece really are taking Sheffield by storm. Their punky, raucous sound and terrible dad jokes are not to be missed at this year’s Tramlines Festival.
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A new craft beer bar is opening on the site of the old Niche nightclub
Down on Sidney Street, home to creative businesses like Jawing and HR Media plus the ever-impressive Birdhouse Tea Company, local brewery Lost Industry Brewing has taken up a unit in the Niche building, where the infamous nightclub of the same name used to stand.
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Rev Promises ‘Indeh Bangers’ at Official Tramlines After Party
The details of this year’s Tramlines official after party have been announced. Following his main stage appearance on Saturday 20th July at Hillsborough Park, Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers will be heading to the decks of the 02 Academy for a very exclusive set. The frontman and Sheffield legend is sure to take crowds on a reet good ride with a specially programmed set of funk, soul and plenty of Indie classics.
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Squeeze Sheffield Gig to Benefit Local Food Banks
Squeeze announce a 27-date tour that will aim to raise funds, food and awareness for the Trussell Trust network of food banks. The South London legends will play their extensive list of hits on ‘The Difford and Tillbrook Songbook Tour’ as well as returning to music from their back catalogue and solo careers. Lead singer, Glenn Tillbrook is admittedly “over the moon to be touring with Squeeze and raising donations for the Trussell Trust. We’ve had something of a renaissance in the last few years, and look forward to this continuing.”
