Saturday Sept 4th

This weekend you have two last chances to soak up that festival vibe before autumn rolls in.

On your doorstep is Pulse Festival at Sunnyfields Farm, just outside Totton.

Last year’s had a wonderful feel.

This was due in part to the attitude of the farm’s owners and also the festival’s curators Olly Maw from ‘Subgiant‘ and Mark Ward from ‘Heathward‘.

The food is organic, there is plenty for children to do and headlining the main stage are the globe trotting Kissmet who’s progressive style of Bhangra Rock can galvanise any audience.

Watch out for the ambient jazz of Achilles, preceding them Southampton’s Widowmaker and topping the acoustic stage are ‘Lost Souls Club‘.

And remember their objective is to raise funds for the Children’s Heart Unit in Southampton.

Fans of ‘Reef‘ will be heading off to the three day Musicosity festival in Bournemouth this weekend.

They are headlining the O2 Academy on Saturday night and around the town 50 acts are playing from tonight until Sunday evening.

For any live act, or fan of gigging, the Musicosity website and it’s magazine are something you should investigate.

As founder Chris Jenkins points out: “It has opportunities to raise musician’s profiles, reach new people and develop grass roots music.”

The more active you are as a fan, the more rewards you receive, the more gigs you get into free.

While for bands and venues it is a brilliant method of re-connecting with the live audience.

You can find out how at musicosity.com

First published in the Southern Daily Echo 2nd Sept 2011

This weekend the Isle of Wight festival is on our doorstep and no doubt Sunday’s headliner Paul McCartney will be giving many jovial thumbs-up to any mention of ‘ticket to Ryde’.

But if you don’t do tents even the Island can seem miles away.

So to taste that excellent festival vibe, but have a short journey home, keep Saturday 4th September free!

Sunnyfields Farm, just to the South of Totton, will be hosting the Pulse festival: a great day of music, food and entertainment for the children.

All in aid of the Children’s Heart Unit at Southampton General Hospital with profits going to it’s supporters Wessex Heartbeat and Friends of PICU,

Saturday Sept 4th

Pulse is being organised by ‘Subgiant’s‘ Olly Maw and Mark Ward from ‘Heathward’

Both have children who’ve needed treatment at the unit, which is known as Ocean Ward, so they are putting every effort into a brilliant day out for Southampton.

This week they announced that Vula (Basement Jax) will be headlining the second stage.

Subgiant and Heathward are deservedly on the bill along with other local stars like: Science of Eight Limbs, Pronghorn, Lousia Osborn, and Woven Bird.

They’ll be spread across two live stages alongside a classic Sunnyfield farmer’s market with fine food and beer.

Naturally the children (who get in free) will also be well catered for with bouncy castles, face painting, tractor rides and a few surprises thrown in.

More big names will be revealed soon and at £12 per ticket demand will be high! www.pulsefestival.org.uk

This article was printed in the Daily Echo on Friday 11th June 2010

The first single from Birdpen’s debut album On/Off/Safety/Danger is released on Friday 15th August.

It’s called Breaking Precedent and is available to download from iTunes and Napster.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhcVH9Yeuek&color1=11645361&color2=13619151&hl=en&fs=1]

Birdpen first came to the original Showcase’s attention when we received the compilation “The Coming of The Railways” – the best of the south coast’s bands [search on ebay]

Collections like that are an ideal resource and, as the artists are from the same area, give a great musical snap shot of the local scene.

In that 19 band collection I had my first experience of Subgiant, Scarlet Soho, Plastic Toys and Sine Star Project all of which are Showcase regulars.

Last week another fine compilation landed on our desk and not only does it originate from the Isle of Wight but also serves another purpose.

Complied by John Cattle, chairman of the Save Ventnor Skatepark Group the CD “Transitions” is a major part in their fund raising process.

They’ve enlisted the help of Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher from The Bees and on this first volume you’ll hear some old favourites of the Showcase: acts like Jet Harris, Jackson Analogue, The Chancers and Shanklin Freak Show.

But I have also been introduced to the Wight Light Orchestra, The Shutes and The Peas.

This Sunday we’ll be playing three more songs from the album which, for £10, you get 22 bands of varying styles but definitely a high standard. Visit
www.wight-trash.co.uk to buy your copy.

Every time I meet a band for a Showcase session I am always uplifted and inspired by their art and craft.

With Southampton based Subgiant I was also really surprised at the quality of the sound they produced and also the energy that exuded from their performance.

We squeezed them and their equipment into studio 2 and no matter how many technical gizmos you have; to stand out you need the tunes and Subgiant have them in bucket loads.

They played two songs in the session “Filthy” from the album Global Control and “Stunt Driver” which is a new download.

And if you are a collector of CD’s then get Global Control as Subgiant will only be releasing single pieces of music for a while.

This is “a response to what’s happening in the industry.” Bass and keyboard player, Olly Maw, told us. “It means we can talk to the fans more regularly rather than one big build up.”

This makes a lot of sense. Hours of time and effort are put into making and promoting an album and once released momentum is hard to maintain.

So for bands on Subgiant’s level a track once in a while keeps interest ticking over and continues building the fan base they are picking up from all the festivals they play.

This Sunday they are in session on the original Showcase after 6pm and live at Endorse it in Dorset, main stage, 15:00, Saturday 9th August.