BYTOM

CHURCHILL

HE’S P Diddy’sfavourite UKgrime star — now Skepta has got his chance toshine after all the grafting. His new album, TheWedding Bells, is out this year and he is doing aUK tour to promote it.The only Scots stop is at the ABC in Glasgow

on October 7.Tickets are available from gigsinscotland.com

BLACK Dia-mond Bay arelike a stuffed crust, super supreme from PizzaHut — you just couldn’t pack any more on there.They mix indie, electro and folk, have two sing-

ers and formed in Leeds but have links to Lithua-nia and Iran. But it works. New single I DreamtWe Were Back Robbers is a pearler.Get it for free on blackdiamondbay.co.uk

BY JIMGELLATLY

BRONZEMEDALLISTS

WHO: Olly Price (guitar/synth/vocals), Ben Ferrari(synths/guitars), OllySheppard (synths/blips andsqueaks), Luke Roberts(drums/percussion/keys)WHERE: Hackney, LondonFOR FANS OF: Eels, MGMT,Foster The PeopleJIM SAYS: This may be thefirst time I’ve featured a bandnot based in Scotland, butBronze Medallists do haveroots up here.Linlithgow-born singer Olly

Price, along with Ben Ferrari,played with highly ratedEdinburgh rock outfit MyCousin Kate.Tipped by Kerrang! and

Metal Hammer, My CousinKate fell apart before makinga major breakthrough.After that disappointment,

the guys hooked up with OllySheppard and Luke Robertsto form Bronze Medallists. Itcouldn’t be much furtherfrom their former band,ditching the guitars forkeyboards and developingmore of an electronic sound.Olly P told me: “We love

music that blurs the linesbetween folk and electronic.“Now that computers have

become mainstream it’s as iflaptops are becoming thenew acoustic guitars.”

The name BronzeMedallists comes from asong by US jazz trio The BadPlus — 1972 BronzeMedallist — and the Idlewildtrack The Bronze Medal.Coupled with the fact that

the current single is calledMathematics, it all seems fartoo intellectual-sounding foryour average pop band.They are, of course,

anything but, with asophisticated sound thatshould appeal to chin-stroking NME reviewers aswell as the public at large.Mathematics is one of the

finest things I’ve heard thisyear, while the follow-upHeadspace (It’s YourBirthday) shows even morepotential.Olly P and Ben are

involved in production workoutwith the band, and Benworked on The Feeling’sKiefer Sutherland-narratedDVD Come Home. Olly said:“The Feeling saw the videofor our debut single onYouTube and loved it somuch they came to thesingle launch and thenasked us to tour with them!”They might be Bronze

Medallists, but I’ll not besurprised when they get thegold. The tour starts inLondon on Thursday,concluding at the O2 ABC inGlasgow on October 11.MORE: facebook.com/bronzemedallistsQ Jim’ll be playing BronzeMedallists on In:DemandUncut — Sunday 7-10pm onClyde 1, Forth One,Northsound 1, RadioBorders, Tay FM, West FM& West Sound FM. Seejimgellatly.com. Photo byTim Bowditch.

CLUBBING

JOIN THE TRAVELLING CIRCUS

ONES2WATCH

NEWMUSIC

BYCHRIS

SWEENEY

WHEN his ballad Let MeSign was used in the firstTwilight film sung by hisbest mate, heartthrobactor Robert Pattinson,Marcus Foster had ahuge hit on his hands.The song, with 18millionviews on YouTube, wasn’t hisonly connection with Twilightas actress Kristen Stewart is inthe video to his single I WasBroken.He’s also signed by Commu-nion, the label co-owned byBen Lovett from Mumford &Sons.Here Marcus tells JACQUI

SWIFT about his famous friendsand debut album NamelessPath.LET’S get Twilight questions out ofthe way. How has your exposurethrough the film helped?The film allowed me to tourAmerica and Canada and testthe water. I have made a lot ofgood friends through it and ithelped open some doors.Why is Let Me Sign not on thealbum?I wrote it with my friendBobby Long. It started out asa kind of joke gospel clappingsong. Rob changed it andmade it his own. It felt rightto give it to him to perform.Why did you allow Kristen to starin the I Was Broken video?The director, Mel Bles,wanted a great actress who haddark hair. Kristen was the firstperson we emailed. She is afriend and she did such a greatjob — and looked amazing.Do you regret not following theacting path?Acting is still something Idefinitely want to pursue atsome point. It’s helpful toinvolve yourself in as manycreative outlets as possible.

What areyour musical

influences? Who was yourfirst musical love?I used to love playing Beatlessongs on the piano when I wasa kid and I guess the very firstthing I heard or saw was a filmcalled High Society with LouisArmstrong and another film,Easter Parade. When I wasabout 14 my dad introduced meto Bob Dylan and Tom Waits.That’s when I started writing.

Is there a story behind the nameof your album?Nameless Path was the title ofthe last song I wrote at thetime. We shot the artwork forthe album in Iceland and thetitle seemed to fit the frontsleeve image which has astrange abandoned building.Are your lyrics real-life stories?I have different ways ofwriting. Sometimes it’s aboutpersonal experience. Other times

I take a cinematic approach andwrite like I’m describing a film,or record a song that makes youfeel you’re in a different space.Tell us about the song Faint Stir OfMadness? What inspired it?It’s set in this weird pagan vil-lage where strange aliens visit.Some people try to escape butothers worship the aliens.I wanted to mix a NewOrleans-type rhythm withspooky Prince-like gospel vocals.I have fun writing songs in

strange time periods. They feellike weird dreams.The track The Room is one of yourearliest? Tell us about that song.It started out being quite afolky Astral Weeks-soundingsong. It was a lot slower andhad banjos and mandolins in it.I realised when making thisrecord I wanted to get awayfrom that sound and the songbecame more of a Joe CockerMad Dogs And Englishman-typething with horns.You’re part of the Communionfamily. How did you team up withBen Lovett. Were you friends?I became friends with KevinJones who runs Communion, pro-ducer Ian Grimble and Ben, bydoing shows for them early onat Notting Hill Arts Club.They asked me to do a songfor a compilation and werecorded Circle In The Square. Igot on with the guys so welland Kev joined my band.Do you like your music beingcompared to Mumford’s?I am trying to do a differentthing. The music I want tomake is more old school rockand roll, blues, funk and gospelstuff. I am proud of Mumford.It’s great they’re doing well.You’re about to go on tour withThe Pierces. Are you a fan?I met them when they came toa show of mine a while ago atThe Borderline and they werereally nice and very talented.You have an MA in sculpture fromthe Royal College of Art. Do youstill have time for your art work?Yeah, I have just moved intoan art studio in London and Iam really excited because it’smy first since I left college. Iam looking forward to puttingon shows. I feel it helps to havea space to work outside yourhome — it stops you going crazy.

!SUNDAY CIRCUS &SLAM @ secret location,

Glasgow, Sunday: A party witha difference hosted by two ofthe biggest outfits in the scene– with buses whisking clubbersoff to the countryside for abank holiday ‘barn dance’.Detroit-raised tech-house

superstar Seth Troxler,pictured, jets in for a guestslot alongside Fabricresident Craig Rich-ards. Support from AffiKoman and Ronniefrom Sunday Circusand Slam’s StuartMcMillan and OrdeMeikle. See t-s.co/sunda.

$HEAVY GOSSIP & ULTRA-GROOVE @ Below

Stairs, Edinburgh, tomorrow:Two of the capital’s best nightsjoin forces for a new twice-

monthly celebration of deephouse and disco. Kickingthings off are man-of-the-moment Tony Lionni, who’s fly-ing in from Berlin, and Chicagoveteran Rahaan – both makingtheir Edinburgh debuts.Residents Gareth Sommer-

ville and Nick Yuill keep thingsgrooving alongside Lel Palfreyand the Juicy DJs.

%F E L I X D AHOUSECAT @

The Arches, Glas-gow, Sunday: Theelectro-house herostops off in Scotland aspart of his epic Sinner-

man tour. He’s rocked T InThe Park for years and alwaysdelivers the goods when he hitsthe decks in Scotland.DJ support comes from

Mixed Bizness stalwarts BoomMonk Ben and Hahaha.

&COMPAKT @ CabaretVoltaire, Edinburgh,

tonight: This techno bashreaches its three-year mile-stone and Perc – whose trackson Ovum and CLR have beenturning heads – returns toheadline the main room.DJ Phrase and Special Ed

explore drum & bass, dubstepand electro in room two.

(TOKYOBLU @ Teviot,Edinburgh, tonight: It’s

the ninth birthday party for thiscapital institution.There’s house and electro in

the main room with GabrielKemp, Niall and DennisMcKervey and Little Grooves,while room two is disco, funkand hip hop with Sounds ofSoul and Soul Jam Hot.Q Email your news andlistings to tom.churchill@the-sun.co.uk

6 SFTW Friday, September 23, 2011