Rockfeedback (Mafia Lights)

http://www.rockfeedback.com/feature/1171/mafia-lights-interview-august-2009/




Amidst its trek around the 1234 Shoreditch Festival, Rockfeedback caught up with up and coming melody men Mafia Lights, who had this to say for themselves...



Rockfeedback: Could you introduce yourselves please, and tell us what you do?

Joel: “I’m Joel, on lead vocals and guitar. James plays bass guitar. Cameron’s on lead guitar and Toby drums.”

RFB: You’re all young and have looks on your side, but what makes you different to any other young group of lads with guitars out there?

Joel: “We aren't adverse to melody when writing, which maybe some bands currently are. I'm not saying were by any means aiming to be a pop group but I'd say we have certain sensibilities that can be found in more mainstream music that we aim to try and incorporate with more technical ideas. Whether that really sets us out from other group I’m not so sure, but that matched with our varied personalities and tastes hopefully gives off something new to people listening or watching us.”

RFB: What does Mafia Lights mean?

James: “It was a conspiracy about alien communications on Earth... and it’s also a spelling mistake.”

RFB: Spelling mistake?

Joel: “It was supposed to be 'Marfa Lights', but we spelt it wrong once, and it's stuck ever since.”

RFB: Describe your music – why should we listen to you?

James: “Each and every one of us has very different musical influences, and the process of song writing often consists of an idea being pulled out in four different directions until eventually it all falls back together. We all attempt something diverse with every song, so each one is distinctly different, whilst still having something linking them together. I think this creates a depth that's often absent in modern music.”

RFB: Where can we catch you in the next coming months?

Joel: “We’ve just played the 1234 Festival after show at Old Blue Last which was packed out so we are looking to carry on with similar sort of ventures. We are going to be playing some more London venues in the coming months that will be visible on MySpace. We have a planned trip to head over to Warsaw in Poland for a few shows. We are, however always on the lookout for as many gig's as possible and want to try and play anywhere and everywhere.”

RFB: How do you deal with the female attention?

Joel: “Direct it in Cameron's direction!”

RFB: If all fails what’s your back up plan?

James: “Discipline ourselves to ensure we don't fail next time!”

RFB: Who would you say has influenced your music?

James: “The majority of all the musicians that have ever existed, everyone who falls between the like of Beethoven and Zappa.”

RFB: What do you want to achieve as a band?

Joel: “Simply, as much as possible. Any band who says they want to stay 'underground' or don't want to be 'popular' are either liars or know they aren’t good enough to deserve attention. Hopefully that doesn't sound too arrogant but we wouldn't put in to this band as much as we do if it wasn't going to mean anything to anyone.”

RFB: You are all completely different characters - how did you get together?

Joel: “James and I have been best friends since about 7 years old and have obviously grown up together with similar tastes and influences, so when the idea of a band came about it was an obvious choice to group together, even though we were at rival schools. We mucked about with the idea of a band for a while before I asked Toby to join. Then everything began to piece together. Cameron joined last year after the departure of our original guitarist and we haven't really looked back since.”

http://www.myspace.com/mafialights

Culture Deluxe (Casio Kids- Finn Bikkjen!)

I never thought these words wouldn’t be pending out of my mouth, but they have and it’s too late to turn back. When I first took a listen to Casio Kids, my immediate reaction was ‘ooo ohhh’ it’s in Norwegian. How am I going to get this? Fear not, if I can be swayed you most certainly can. These ultimately good looking boys (well some) have gone for something with a bit of a twist and it has really worked!

You don’t need to know what they saying, they could be talking about dogs wallop for all we know, but who cares, its genesis. To me they are the Norwegian version of ‘Hot Chip’ but adding that extra touch of afro beat and taking me somewhere hot.

Finn Bikkjen! Is the new single from Casio Kids. Hitting the shops this week and also making it available on download, why don’t you be a bit adventurous and give these young lads a listen.

Culture Deluxe ( Beni ft Sam Sparrow) -Maximus

http://www.culturedeluxe.com/news_item.asp?id=6186

Maximus is the new release from the sensational Beni who has teamed up with the Grammy nominated Sam Sparrow to make this a summer jam to stick. This track is a perfect little number to get you moving and grooving all night long.

With Mr Sparrow’s luscious lyrics he really draws you in deep. A Perfect match, they really work well together. Only having about two sentences in total throughout the track, the repetition doesn’t tire like some; it makes you move even more. It shows less is more in this case. It’s a vast come back for Sam Sparrow as he has been a bit hush hush recently maybe this is why.

It’s great to see he can go in different directions and not stick to the same style of music over and over. Nice one. Beni is fully booked right through the next couple of months in Australia but we he returns over to the U.K be sure to catch him doing his thing.

ITUNES-Noisettes & Skint and Demoralised

http://www.rockfeedback.com/review/4294/report-rockfeedback-itunes-festival-night-17-noisettes-skint-and-demoralised-17709/

Visit iTunes on Facebook here - still lots of free tickets to be won!

This year, Rockfeedback is delighted to be the official blog partner for the rather exciting iTunes Festival, taking place at London’s Roundhouse every night in July. Over the course of the festival, we’ll not be missing a night, delivering morning-after reports on everyone from Oasis and Bloc Party to Franz Ferdinand and Kasabian playing intimate sets to fans lucky enough to have won tickets to the shows.

Skint and Demoralised are a young boy duo straight from the heart of Wakefield. They are a slash between Mike Skinner and Scroobius Pip, which makes you wonder, do we really need an in-between? We will see... opening the night with a full blown poem raised a few eyebrows at the start, but it got the party moving eventually.

Young girls all huddled over the barriers trying to catch eyes with 20 year old front man Matt Abbott who was lusting and loving every moment, what boy wouldn’t. Stretched out in his clean white and freshly ironed shirt, trying his best to impress the young gals, he selectively picked one raging teen to come on stage, making her move and groove to forthcoming release ‘Red Lipstick’.

You wouldn’t think they were so new to the game, as these young northern lads put on an exceedingly good front. Their lyrical soul pop sound is catchy but very samey to everything else that is out there at the moment. Nevertheless there was a lot of support for them, but nothing could be beat what was next to come.

Phenomenal - that’s how I would describe The Noisettes. Glamour shines from them from head to toe taking me back to the 1920’s with the big bold blacked out screens, Shingai Shoniwa captivating us from the top of the Roundhouse, having every single face locking eyes on her as she sings an acoustic version of ‘Wild Young Hearts’. She couldn’t look any more flamboyant, managing to get whistles left right and centre.

Adding a full blown out orchestra has really seen the Noisettes go that extra mile. Flicking her shoes off without a care in the world, sipping drinks from wherever she can find them and still not missing a note, Shinghai’s is the kind of talent doesn’t come around very often but her and The Noisettes have it, and they are sounding better than ever.

All bouncing of each other, the connection between them was on fire. This beauty is such an entertaining character with so much physical energy; god knows how she does it. Balancing on drums, crowd surfing off stage and running on the bar below to give us some one on one time with ‘Sometimes’ lead to the crowd below to go into a sudden halt of shock and leaving the seated audience above gripping the edge of their seats.

Disappointed as I was it had to come to an end, they saved the finest till last. Blasting out the hit of the year ‘Don’t Upset The Rhythm’ with Morrision banging the drums like never before, they even managed to get the seat stickers out the chairs for this all time showdown.

Culture Deluxe(Frankmusik- Confusion Girl)

Frankmusik

'Confusion Girl'

http://www.culturedeluxe.com/news_item.asp?id=6159

Having the likes of Holly Valance appearing in your music video is very much a bonus to getting things kicking off for this track. Originally being a beat boxer, it’s hard to believe someone can go from that to this.

I like Frankmusik he has a lot to offer; his striking looks help the flow. His previous releases are very much to my liking; however this one isn’t really my cup of tea. To me it sounds like a step together boy band track which all the girls go smitten for. So maybe it will work for the young lusts but not for me.

This guy can sing a note or two and he has other talents up his sleeve that is for sure. I can prove this as I got to see this for myself at the Lovebox weekender just past, he really got the crowd motivated in the English downpour. I feel he still has so much to offer us and this is only the beginning for this young lad. So give his track a bash and see what you think for yourself.

Posted on 22 July 2009 by Holly Eells

ITUNES- Dan Black & La Roux

http://www.rockfeedback.com/review/4279/report-rockfeedback-itunes-festival-night-11-la-roux-dan-black-11709/

This year, Rockfeedback is delighted to be the official blog partner for the rather exciting iTunes Festival, taking place at London’s Roundhouse every night in July. Over the course of the festival, we’ll not be missing a night, delivering morning-after reports on everyone from Oasis and Bloc Party to Franz Ferdinand and Kasabian playing intimate sets to fans lucky enough to have won tickets to the shows.

Neon is back everyone, strong statement I know, but it’s true. That doesn’t bring a smile to everybody’s face, but when you are presented with a night of Dan Black and La Roux, you make some allowances to trend. The two are a perfect match.

I’d high expectations for Dan Black, as I’ve been listening to the fella for a while now. All dressed up to the max and with a full shebang of colour to the face, he was giving it his all. Being packed out upstairs and down it was great to see fans for both artists showing their full support. However, the sound, oddly for the Roundhouse, was struggling, and sadly put a downer on things somewhat. Yet Black pulling out a couple of my desired choices made up for it all - ‘You and Me’ and ‘Symphonies’ (the radical mix of Rhianna’s Umbrella and Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Hypnotise’, the catchy little number which has marked Dan Black’s name) the two aces up his sleeve.

Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid together make up the frenzy that is La Roux. This month’s most talked about act kept people waiting, leading to impatient clapping, yet when they ascended to the stage people seemed to instantly forget the long wait and started flashing their cameras.

Glows sticks emerged out of nowhere, and the games commenced. Holding on to the well known hits for some time, they took us through their debut LP, La Roux, a record which revels in one song sounding like another.

You have to remember how new to the big leagues La Roux are, and as such it’s understandable that the film crews and huge audiences seemed to make Ms. Jackson a little nervous. That said, her interaction with the crowd both physically and verbally was charming, and will have only won her more admirers.

The Laden Showroom

To those that haven't heard about it already, The Laden Showroom is one of its kind. A niche if you like to say.. Covering over 55 designers in its variable sized closets giving you a million to one options in garms.It has been given the thumbs up by Heat and Time Out magazine and paraded by the likes of Sienna Miller to Gok Wan.

It’s located in the heart of Brick Lane in the position of 103. Welcomed by staff who know their bits and pieces, they can help you from your head down to your toes. Most of the items in the showroom are one only piece in a few variable sizes, so you can be relieved to know you can strut your stuff without a mimic behind you.

For all you workaholics out there, The Laden Showroom is open 7 days a week, what convenience. So make sure you stop by.

If you can’t no sweat, a selection of exclusive designers have teamed up with ASOS so check on line.

http://www.ladenshowroom.co.uk/

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