Meadies Musical Marconi

Steve Hanft interview  What was the first music you remember hearing? I was about six years old, Bob Dylan song- one of his first recordings. He was singing a cover of a Woody Guthrie song called "I Ain't Got No Home In This World". There were several other folk singers covering Guthrie tunes on this compilation  LP, but I only liked the Dylan track. had fun spinning it on my old man's record player. Used to love to put the needle on the records smoothly, took practice What was the first serious music you remember hearing? I also cued the Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue" LP when i was very young on dad's turntable. I found Miles and Coltrane's playing soothing and I kind of experienced nightlife by listening to them without leaving my little house in the country How did you get involved in filming? I quit high school at 15 and passed an equivalency exam so i could go and study photography at a free college while I worked in a plastic factory. From there i ...

Former drummer with 90’s super group The Seahorses, Andy Watts has been an active musician since his face and drumming style became familiar to many on the covers of the weekly music papers and TV appearances alongside former Stone Rose John Squire. Fast forward to the present day Andy has an exciting new solo project The Lisbon Treaty which is about to unleash their electro dynamite tracks on the unsuspecting public: Can you tell me about your upbringing? Born in London but my northern accent developed at a pace due to my being fostered then adopted and moving around a great deal – Dublin, Southport, St Helens, West Yorks then Durham to York in my formative years. It was somewhat itinerant in the early days and I never really felt like I was from anywhere. Still don’t really – I’m a citizen of the world I suppose. My folks really encouraged my musicality but it was double edge sword as my father had academic aspirations and struggled with my lack of interest in formal education. Growi...

Alan (Reni) Wren is the world renowned drummer famed for drumming with The Stone Roses. Lea Mullen was in Little Caeser, before the band eventually became known as The Rub. Here we have an exclusive interview with Lea who speaks exclusively to Shiiine On blog. Shiiine: How did you first get to know Reni? LM: I first met Reni when I worked at a musical instrument shop in Manchester called A1 Music maybe late 1980’s. Were you aware of Reni before you knew him? I was aware of The Stone Roses but not really of Reni believe it or not. I didn’t really take notice of the Manchester music scene at that time, I was more into jazz and Led Zeppelin. Was this way before joining The Rub? Long, long time before The Rub. How did you join The Rub? One day I was in a rehearsal room playing drums the door opened and Reni walked in. I didn’t recognise him because I hadn’t seen him for maybe three years, and he had a big beard. He said to me “I want you to play drums in my band, you play just the way I vi...

The lasting impact of Manchester band The High and their recorded output is still loved by their adoring fans to this day. Singles Up & Down, Take Your Time and Box Set Go are classics of their generation including their masterful debut album Somewhere Soon. The following interviews were conducted as separate interviews by Matt Mead in 2015 & 2016. They have now been compiled into one to bring you the personal, compelling and humorous story of The High.  Can you tell me about your upbringing? Chris Goodwin : Music was everywhere in our house growing up. My Dad was (is) a great singer and loved Frank Sinatra, my Mum was (is) into Shirley Bassey and The Carpenters. My 3 sisters (no brothers) were massive fans of Marc Bolan, David Bowie then later punk and my youngest sister Gill is a Paul Weller obsessive!! So i couldn’t have asked for a better grounding than listening to these artists booming out of every room. You can see from an early stage i wasn't gonna take up...

Mani. Bass player with The Waterfront, The Hungry Socks, The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. Peter Hook. Bass player with Warsaw, Joy Division, New Order, Monaco and The Light. Both names are 2 of the biggest there are in the bass playing circuit. On Saturday 22 September both joined forces to hold a charity funding questions and answer session to go towards the world famous Salford Lad’s Club, heralded a social mecca to all fans of The Smiths. Matt Mead parked on Coronation Street (literally) to review proceedings. Having been a fan of The Stone Roses and New Order since 1989, I first heard Made of Stone in 1989 and my first cassette album purchase was New Order album Technique from my local newsagents also in 1989. Since then I have watched with interest as both bands have gone onto global success. So it was with some excitement that I attended this Q&A session with 2 of the biggest names of the current music scene, especially from Manchester. Before the Q&A session g...

Paris Angles were a band from Manchester that rose to success in amongst the Madchester scene, releasing timeless music as well as playing memorable live gigs, some of the best in and amongst this period called Madchester. Matt Mead catches up with the band for this retrospective article to discuss all things regarding their rise to success plus the untimely death of their drummer ‘Big’ Simon Worrall.  As you would expect with all budding musicians Paris Angels rise to success starts as innocent musical enquiries well before any of the band members joined the band. Lead singer  Rikki Turner  ‘For me music came from Eddie Cochran, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix. My life was a tough one. I was brought up with two sisters. My Dad would make me look after them. Fighting became a way of life. My first real taste for music was punk and Bowie, my older sister Sharon bought those records. At the age of fourteen we moved back to Guide Bridge, I was a Perry Boy, or as Mark E Smith s...

Being the keystone to the Library Music Film, Shawn Lee is without one of the main characters to appear in the forthcoming film with a sold out premiere to be shown at the British Library in London tomorrow night Saturday 6 th  October. Along with the film premiere there is also an exhibition and a live gig featuring the best unknown music makers behind Library Music. Further delights are to hit the back of the net of Library Music fans are the release of a strictly limited edition vinyl soundtrack to coincide with the film. Matt Mead reviews the film and album plus he interviews Shawn. The film and album are part of a huge Library Music explosion that is all set to hit the streets in the coming weeks. The mass releases is a long overdue celebration of a critically important musical genre that no one knows that much about but millions of people will be familiar with. Fascinating, intriguing and hugely underrated are the albums and music that will surround you if you enter in at the...