Miscellaneous - September 2013

  by Admin

published: 31 / 8 / 2013

intro

Welcome to the September 2013 edition of the Pennyblackmusic Magazine and our 15th Anniversary edition. We are sometimes asked why

Welcome to the September 2013 edition of the Pennyblackmusic Magazine and our 15th Anniversary edition. We are sometimes asked why we have lasted so long as we have, and I think it is because of a variety of factors. A lot of it comes down to our webmaster, Richard Banks. As so much of his work is done behind the scenes rather than “front of house”, Richard doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. The site simply, however, wouldn’t function without him, and if we hadn’t him doing everything he does every month with to ensure that the rest of us get our articles online we would never have got out of the ball park let alone as far as we have now. Whenever there has been a crisis – and there have been a few over the last fifteen years - it has been Richard’s calm matter-of-factness and thoughtfulness that has usually got us out of it as well. And then there, of course, have been the writers and photographers, those enthusiasts who expand in age from our youngest writer at nineteen to our oldest writer in his early 60’s, and who are prepared to give up their time freely, plentifully and tirelessly for no pay (other than the occasional pint and promo or gig pass) and a love of (if occasional frustration with) music. Perhaps less obviously, nothing has happened to us too fast. While we have had success, it has been thankfully a slow success. Nothing has ever happened so quickly that it has become overwhelming and,so, destructive. The quantity and the calibre of the writers, the number of articles that we publish each month, the profile of the bands we interview have all gone up, but they have all risen steadily rather than escalated rapidly, and, as a result, we have been always able both to maintain and to continue to do things on our own terms. Pennyblackmusic has always remained “indie” in the truest sense of the word, and is run from Richard’s and my living rooms in South London and Edinburgh respectively. It is lovely that we have been able to interview over the years “hall fillers” as well known as Sonic Youth, Spiritualised, Roy Harper, Hugh Cornwell and the New York Dolls. It has, however, remained equally important to us that we have always been able to interview and write about less high profile acts as well, great bands such as Dodson and Fogg, the Short Stories, Hardback Fiction and the Amber Herd who all appear in this month’s edition and each of whom we feel deserve a voice. There have, of course, been bad times. The site has gone down on a few occasions. Richard was ill at one point. There have been other problems as well. The good has, however, always outweighed any bad. The friendships that have sprung up between writers, hearing a great album or going to see a brilliant band which we might never have done without Pennyblackmusic, and the sense of combined achievement that comes with getting a new edition up continues to make it all worthwhile. And, so, here we are at fifteen! Our Anniversary card, which features over 70 greetings and birthday wishes serves as a pretty good overview of many of the acts that have meant the most to us or graced the stages at our Bands’ Nights over the years. There are ‘Memories’ columns as well from twenty-five of our writers and photographers who describe some of their personal highlights and the occasional lows of being involved with Pennyblackmusic over the years. It is both appropriate and symbolic that the Willard Grant Conspiracy is our main interview for this month. We have been writing about them since the first month the site went online. They have played our Bands’ Nights in London twice now, and we have interviewed them many times over the years. Elsewhere it is business as usual. There are interviews with well-known names such as Miles Kane and Grant Hart; acts we have interviewed before such as Hazel O’ Connor, Rotifer and Matthew J. Tow who we feel deserve further consideration; and other great new acts such as Roddy Hart and 15 year old John Lennon McCullaugh. Amongst our Regular Features Ben Howarth reflects on the impact of ‘Cassette Store Day’ in ‘Condemned to Rock ‘n’ Roll’. Malcolm Carter writes of the thrill of attending his first ever gig, a John Mayall blues concert in Guildford in 1969. Paul Waller in ‘Ten Songs That Made Me Love…’ has picked ten songs by Prince, and Dave Goodwin in ‘Vinyl Stories’ talks to Hazel O’Connor about some of her favourite singles. There are also 32 album and single reviews. We will be back in October with first of all an album and singles reviews update and then towards the middle of the month with another full edition. We hope to run interviews then with Graham Nash, Donovan, Crass’s Steve Ignorant, Walter Lure (the Heartbreakers, the Waldos), the Magic Brothers, Steve Hackett, Mark Mulcahy, Joseph Arthur, Mineral, Slaid Cleaves, Dengue Fever and Young Husband. Please check out our regular Facebook and Twitter updates. Thank you as always for reading Pennyblackmusic, John Clarkson Magazine Editor www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk