What’s On April’s in MAG? • Editor’s Musings

Pg 1 • The Gloucestershire Music Scene

Pg 2

• Cheltenham MND Pg 2

• Emily Johnson’s Local Music Pg 3

• BBC Gloucestershire Introducing

Pg 3 • Sonic Boom Six Interview & Review

Pg 4 • MAG @ Festivals *Wychwood Special*

Pg 5

• Gig Listings Pg 6-8

• Album Review *Wychwood Special*

Pg 9 • MAG @ Comedy

Pg 10 • Brother Review & Interview

Pg 11 • Playlist of the month *Wychwood Special*

Pg 12

• Gemma @ BBC Intro Glos *Wychwood Special* Pg 12

• Featured Promoter *Wychwood Special* Pg 13

• Music According to Jen Duffy *Wychwood Special* Pg 13

• NEW Arts Page Pg 14

Editor’s Musings . . .

Wow how lucky are we? Another awesome colour issue for MAG and all in aid of the fantastic Wychwood Festival! You may have noticed that we have dedicated this entire issue to the festival. Featured promoter of the month is Wychwood’s own Stefan Edwards, playlist of the month comes courtesy of The Travelling Band and the Festival Page is an entire feature on the University of Gloucestershire’s student led Pomme Stage. On top of all of that we have a great interview and review of Gritpop sensation Brother and another review/interview with Sonic Boom Six after their show at The Frog & Fiddle in May. We have our regular columns from Emily Johnson, Jen Duffy and BBC Introducing Gloucestershire’s Gemma Dunstan. I expect to see lots of you at Wychwood Festival this month taking full advantage of some of the incredible acts that they have playing. Some of my top picks are: Delta Maid, Neville Staple and The Bluetones (one of the last times you’ll get to see these guys live!) I hope you all enjoy June’s MAG and remember if you want to contribute in any way email me ascognamiglio@glos.ac.uk Amelia x

We Need You!

We are always looking for news and reviews for MAG from lovely people like you! Being a non-profit initiative we don’t pay but can get you into gigs and publish your work. Please contact Amelia if you want to contribute anything to this fanzine here: ascognamiglio@glos.ac.uk

The Gloucestershire Music Scene

In case you haven’t noticed already Wychwood Festival is this month! Never ones to disappoint the festival organisers have some great acts playing this year: Friday’s main stage plays host to the mighty Charlatans who with 23 years and 11 studio albums behind them are sure to get the crowds singing along. Saturday’s main stage has the mighty Two Tone legend and The Specials member Neville Staple. Always a winner Neville’s infectious Ska will get everybody up and skanking. If that wasn’t enough Sunday has everyone’s favourite Cider drinkers The Wurzels! With hits including ‘I am a Cider drinker’ and ‘The Combine Harvester’ this band is best served with a pint of Cider and a straw hat! Wychwood unfortunately only lasts 3 days, but not to worry the county has lots going on the rest of the month to keep you all occupied! Gotherini Girl promotions has the fantastic Ellen and the Escapades supported by Cheltenham’s own Jim Lockey and the Solemn Suns at the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham. The Racecourse has Russell Watson and Alexandra Burke playing two special concerts in aid of the charity Linc and The Subways play The Guildhall in Gloucester at the beginning of June. Elsewhere in the county Westonbirt starts their music season at the Arboretum with Simple Minds, Erasure and Scouting for Girls all playing there this month. Don’t forget full listings for the county can be found in the middle of MAG. If you’ve loved something you’ve seen in the county or dare I even say hate it and feel the need to tell everybody why not write a review and submit it to us at MAG? Just email the review to ascognamiglio@glos.ac.uk

And now a brief word from Cheltenham’s MND . . .

With May out the way we have Wychwood and 2000 Trees right here on our doorstep, not to mention the Midsummer Fiesta in Montpellier Park in July who look like they’re extending their performance hours this year to accommodate music until 10pm! Good score for local artists that one... If you’ve managed to take a look at the Arts & Music Network (we really need a catchier title!) website you’ll see that is has begun to explode with info about venues, groups, artists and bands. We’re now extending our remit to cover all of the Arts locally so please keep contributions coming in. We also held our first Steering Group Meeting to discuss the need for a Community Arts Centre in Cheltenham, a recording of which is available online – and are looking to our second meeting at the end of June. This month, I have mostly been spending my time listening to The North Ship, Angela Collins, Heg Dougherty and a bit of La Heroine. Quality artists worth a listen if you’ve got the time and most certainly worth catching live – the best way to see music, obviously... Anyway, I hope you’re well – stay in touch and if anyone has some local music recommendations that they think I might enjoy (or indeed haven’t heard!) then I would be very grateful. A x

MAG is also available online at www.musicatglos.co.uk

Visit the website: www.artsandmusic.wordpress.co.uk

Resident columnist Emily Johnson is tallking about local band Pink Crudge Caravan in her column this month… Emily Johnson’s Local Music

You can always trust BBC Introducing to have the cream of the crop playing on their stage, this year there is many bands playing that we all know of but there is also I few who haven’t yet crossed my radar. One of these is “ Pink Crunge Caravan” who I stumbled upon recently. Formed of Ferg Griffin on Drums, Jo Saunders on Bass and Barnes on Guitar and Vocals, they describe themselves as a “rowdy mixture of psychedelic grunge” I can see that not being the most attractive prospect but personally, I was sold before I even

played the first track. Their songs have a definite grunge edge and i you can feel the 1960's influence but the prolonged guitar solos remind me somewhat of "Generation Terrorist" by the Manic Street Preachers and the vocals sound like Julian Casablanca’s mixed with Paul Westerberg which all joins together to make a grand fusion of thoroughly enjoyable music. The fact that these boys are only 17 and 18 can only make the whole situation better! PCC are releasing a 4 track EP this Autumn to coincide with the beginning of a UK tour and are off to New York in early 2012 to record their debut album with legendary Producer David Kahne (Strokes, The Clash) who is said to be a big fan of their music. David describes their sound as “trashy and raw, like a cross between early Stones and The Clash” and I can’t disagree. Check them out!

BBC Gloucestershire Introducing… is the show for your new music. Every Saturday from 5:30pm on BBC Radio Gloucestershire, you can hear the tastiest new cuts of unsigned music from across the county. We might have only been on-air since the beginning of October, but the response has been fantastic with shed loads of you uploading your tracks at bbc.co.uk/introducing – keep em comin’! Catch Paul Moss presenting BBC Gloucestershire Introducing... every Saturday from 5:30pm to hear the tastiest cuts from the county's up and coming artists. The 30 minute show also includes interviews with the people behind the music and a gig guide for who to see play live, and where.

Paul Moss presents ‘BBC Gloucestershire Introducing…’ every Saturday from 5:30pm on BBC Radio Gloucestershire 104.7, 95, 95.8 FM, 1413 AM and on the BBC iPlayer

Sonic Boom Six Thursday 12th May 2011 Words: Dan Gutteridge It’s Thursday the 12th of May. I’m crammed in a room round the back of a pub, I’ve had beer spilt down my trouser leg and I’ve just received an elbow to the back of the head. But at this moment in time I couldn’t think of a better place to be, across Gloucestershire. That’s because Ska/Punk/Rap/Rock 5 piece Sonic Boom Six have just taken to the stage and launched straight into opener ‘The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions’. And the Frog is jumping like I’ve never seen it before.

After having four successful albums behind them the thought of SB6 coming to my doorstep was an exciting one. They crammed there hour set full of old a new tunes. Newest release ‘New Style Rocka’ was particularly a stand out for me, having had it firmly stuck in my head for a few weeks or so since first hearing it, I was more than eager to hear what the live version would sound like. With front man Barney and front woman Laila not holding anything back, it was firmly my favourite 4 minutes of the show. There was a great atmosphere throughout the gig, and this was at its height with a small stage invasion of 3 slightly intoxicated women clambering over the barrier to get their hands on the band. A testament, to Sonic Boom Six that they didn’t pull a wobbly, but instead join in and just carry on their set as normal. It did however get slightly annoying when the same woman was on stage for a fourth time! But there was few down points in the night, the saxophones were slightly too quite, I struggled to hear Laila in places and there was a few middle aged women struggling to hold their drink. But Sonic Boom Six put on a great show and firmly showed off the ability that the Frog and Fiddle have to hold a great show. And I think that’s who the night belonged to, the venue. I doubt I would have had as much fun had this gig been held at any other place in Gloucestershire.

Interview with Barney from Sonic Boom Six Interviewer: Dan Gutteridge Picture: Dominic Meason Dan: How did you find it? Barney: Yes, it was wicked. I didn’t have any expectations but if I did it would have blown them apart. It was awesome. D: How is it playing smaller venues such as here and pubs, compared to bigger venue’s you play? B: Amazing, they’re just so much fun. Like tonight there’s just crazy woman getting on stage grinding and bumping. Whereas security would throw that away at a bigger venue so it’s a lot more fun. We love it.

D: Your headlining the Red Bull stage on the Sunday night at Sonisphere, that’s a pretty big deal for you guys, right? B: Yeah defiantly. We’ve never played a mosher festival before. We’ve played Glasto and, Leeds and Reading, so the hippy festival and the Indie festival with a rock day. But

we’ve never played a mosher festival like Download or Sonisphere, so were expecting mosh, dreadlocks, baggy trousers, rock, unbridled energy, sweat, BO, dancing, pushing and cider and black. Yeah were expecting great things. It’s exciting. D: What are the ideas and story behind your newest release New Style Rocka? B: For us that’s about, a dance floor with all the barriers that used to be up there. So like barriers between Mods and Rockers in the 60’s, in the 70’s Soul Boys and Rockers. Just all these divisions within youth groups that have been broken down, hopefully within the 00’s. So our song New Style Rocka is just all about, were all the same so we should just all get on and have a good dance and get on together. It’s like 50% punk 50% dance 100% good times. D: That leads me on to this question, how would you define yourself as a genre or would you not define yourself in any one genre? B: Well we call it punk music because its punk but it’s got other aspects in as well. But I think punk music beyond a genre defines a band that plays street music and are rebellious with their music. And I’d say that’s what we are. D: Barney, it’s been a pleasure thank you very much. B: No thank you. Cheers mate.

As this is a Wychwood Festival special we

have dedicated our festival page to the acts of the Pomme Stage: The Hundees Acoustic duo The Hundees is made up of University of Gloucestershire Popular Music student Dan Batchelor and Chris Forster. The pair joined musical forces to create The Hundees and have been performing together since 2010. The pair put their own stamp on a variety of covers ranging from Kings of Leon to Mumford and Sons. Ellie Dussek www.myspace.com/elliedussek Ellie Dussek is a University of Gloucestershire student with a wealth of talent. She states here influences as Norah Jones, Eva Cassidy and Bob Dylan, and her music certainly reflects this. Covering songs including Corrine Bailey Rae’s ‘Put Your Records On’ to writing her own soulful and melodic songs that are as equally enchanting sung in French and English. Neil Morris www.myspace.com/neilmorrismusic Hailing from Wednesbury Neil Morris has been playing music from a young age, picking up a Bass at 12 he gradually moved on to the guitar. After stints in various local bands, today Neil plays solo acoustic sets. His songs compromise witty lyrics with his unmistakable Black Country accent.

Joe Summers www.myspace.com/joesummerstheband Joe Summers is a Cheltenham based folk singer songwriter. After being handpicked by Steve

Winwood to support him on his European tour Joe has since been endorsed by BBC Radio 2’s Steve Lamacq who personally introduced Joe at his first solo gig in London. As well as some fantastic headline slots Joe has also supported the likes of Pete Doherty, Frank Turner and The Lightening Seeds. His recent endorsement is a reflection of his fantastic song writing and performing ability.

The North Ship www.myspace.com/ryanmartin200 The North Ship, fronted by University of Gloucestershire student Ryan Martin is one of Cheltenham’s most promising folk acts. A talented singer songwriter Ryan worked the open mic nights of Cheltenham and his hometown of Coventry before collaborating with friends Charlie Baxter and Chris Townsend (both established local musicians in their own right) to create The North Ship.

Midnight Mile www.myspace.com/themidnightmile Midnight Mile are signed to Cheltenham’s own I Started The Fire

Records, this alone gives the band a huge seal of approval! Aside from this, it is Romy Quinnen’s vocals that give Midnight Mile their distinctive and beautiful sound. Harmonies from Andy Oliveri add to the rich tapestry of their music, which has earned them support slots for Nizlopi, Catherine Feeny and David Ford. With their music being used for Channel 4 it is only time before the rest of the country wakes up to the talent of Midnight Mile. Angela Collins Angela Collins is a University of Gloucestershire student originally from Salisbury. Her soulful voice creates an emotional backdrop to her acoustic act. Emmett Brown www.myspace.com/emmettbrownreturns Emmett Brown have become infamous within their hometown Cheltenham. Always willing to give 100% when performing , bringing their self described ‘feel-good, ska-esque reggae’ to their audience every time. Listening to recordings of this band will no do them justice, to fully appreciate their energetic and feel good music you have to see them live! Me! Me! Me’s? www.myspace.com/themememesband The Me! Me! Me’s? are a local trio influenced by bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana and Sex Pistols. They have recently released their EP K.I.S.S.I.N.G with (Do You Know) Uno Kajuno? and Stereotypical Wannabe. Readers & Writers Readers and Writers are entirely made up of University of Gloucestershire students and describe themselves as an ‘alternative rock quartet’. Fairly new to the local music scene they have quickly risen to success with performances at the University Summer Ball, Farewell Festival and now the Pomme Stage at Wychwood Festival.

June’s Album Review…

The Wurzels – A Load More Bollocks

Right ‘ere you are. The Wurzels latest offering, this disc released in the summer of last year sees the cider drinkers back in fine form delivering a cracking selection of covers and one original track. The covers range from modern day hits such as Nickelbacks Rockstar, the Kaiser Chiefs Ruby (complete with ‘ooh ars’ and sheep noises!) to classic tracks such as Golden Brown by The Stranglers. The Wurzalised versions of these tracks are truly brilliant and whether or not you’re new to the band or have been listening to them for a while, this is a highly enjoyable album.

It would perhaps be nice to have had more original songs with more emphasis on the parody song genre that made the Wurzels famous, however this is a very small problem and when you get your ears introduced to a west country version of the Spinal Tap classic Sex Farm (which really does work!); you do forget that this is just a L This 10 track offering closes with the only original track, Ode To Adge Cutler, this is both a moving a poignant tribute to the late founder of the band. It is a fitting ending to the latest album and will no doubt account for a tear or two to fall into a pint of cider. If you’re already a confirmed Wurzalphile then this album will make a fine addition to your collection, however, if you’re looking for an accessible way into the music of this band then ‘A Load Of Bullocks’ is an excellent starting point. So, pass the cider nipper and raise a flagon to Adge and the Wurzels. Ohh ar! Stand-out tracks: Rockstar, Chelsea Dagger, Sex Farm, Ode To Adge Cutler Be sure to catch them at Wychwood Festival. Phil Cooper

As part of the run up to The Cheltenham Comedy Festival (15-19 November 2011) we have our second interview with one of the acts of the festival.

Boothby Graffoe Interviewer: Jack Higgins So what can people expect from you performance? Well hopefully they can expect me to be there, which happens a lot. When did you decide that you wanted to be a comedian? I never did really...I just wanted to do something that required as little work as possible, so something that meant not having to get up and go to work and sit in an office...I'm very lazy. Who or what makes you laugh? American foreign Policy...and nature, nature makes me laugh, like bees. Bees sustain everything we eat, they go to a flower and pollinate it as they go about making honey, then we come along and go..."ooo what’s that sticky stuff...we'll have that"... "ooo what’s that waxy stuff, we'll have that too"..."ahh so what you doing, just being responsible for everything we eat, nah, that’s not enough we'll have your honey too"..."oh and your legs too, we'll have those to make our parenthesis" But comedy wise I tell what makes me laugh, those Dirty Sanchez guys, have you seen the one with the nettles? They start rubbing nettles on their testicles and then in their eyes, that makes me laugh.

There’s a theme with comedians at the moment to mock the handicapped, I think that’s far more cruel than rubbing nettles in your own eyes and far more sadistic. Bob Monkhouse said if you want to be funny stand naked in front of a mirror and write down what you see. That’s far more amusing than mocking those less fortunate...I sound like Jesus. What gets you in the mood to be funny? Waking up in the morning, one of the benefits of having nightmares, is the relief of waking up...I dreamt I killed a guy last night, and when I came home I told my wife that I was worried the police were going to come and that I didn't think this guy was dead, and she just stood their and said, "no, he's definitely dead" and she had the guys head on the worktop...think I’m running out of beta-blockers.

Complete this Sentence: A man walks into a bar... The sheep said do you mind I’m trying to have a conversation. As well as doing stand up you also had a few radio series, are there any more series lined up? There’s always talk, but we'll have to see, so if you can get a lot of people writing in then hopefully there will be! There’s also a few plays that I've got saved that might break into the outer world one day! my pants"

Jack Wakeley went along to the BROTHER gig at The Guildhall and managed to catch up with the Gritpop boys before the show…

Love them or hate them Brother have got people talking, and if you haven’t heard any of their music yet it wont be long until you have. Before their gig at the Guildhall on Sunday I sat down and had chat with the Lee and Sam from the founders of ‘Gritpop’. Despite receiving their fair share of criticism some of music’s icons are in their corner. Morrissey personally asked for them as a support act for his summer tour and Lee told me how it came about. Lee Newell “I just woke up one morning to a text from the manager saying Morrissey’s emailed him asking if we can support. We’re huge Morrissey fans, borderline obsessive, so it should be good.” As well as the Morrissey dates the band have a busy festival season including two gigs at Glastonbury, something which will be a new experience for them. LN “I’ve never been to Glastonbury before” Sam Jackson “I’ve only ever been to Reading, we gonna try and do the whole weekend. MAG “It’s an odd line up this year, who are you looking forward to seeing?” SJ “Fatboy slim will be cool” LN “who’s headlining? errr Beyonce will be amazing, she’s got a really good arse” SJ “who else?” LN “Coldplay, their ok, bit wet” When I asked the boys what new music their liking at the moment there was a long pause, before deciding it’s been a quiet year. SJ “There’s not that much out there at the moment.” LN “We gonna check out The Vaccines, they seem good” Like every good ‘Lad rock’ band football is a massive part of their lives, and with the customary appearance on Soccer AM done, football is almost as big as the music for Lee and Sam, especially when it comes to their newly promoted QPR. LN “Amazing, we can draw a lot of parallels, the rise of QPR and us, we feel we’ve almost won our championship and so have they, we’re really really chuffed.” The bands debut album comes out 4th of July and is produced by the legendary Stephen Street, which is something they are very excited about. LN “he’s a hero of our, he got in contact and we did it. SJ “He heard us on the radio, he heard a demo of ‘Buds of May’, got in contact and said he wanted to make the album.

No matter what you think of the lads from Slough, you’re not going to able to get away from them. BROTHER Sunday 15th May Words: Jack Wakeley Pictures: James Coe The rebirth of Britpop or just boring old lad rock? No matter what you think of BROTHER they are one of the most talked about bands of the year and on Sunday they brought their anthemic bravado to Gloucester. Local lads The Echoes kicked the night off with an attention grabbing set that deserved a lot more then some polite handclapping. They were quickly followed by Nottinghamshire Indie pop band Dog is Dead, whose mix of beautiful harmonies and Bombay style jazzy pop got the crowd going and ready for the main attraction.

Brother strut on stage like they’ve been doing this for years, oozing the confidence of a band who plan to take over the world. Technical problems blight the first few tracks, but this can’t stop the

excitement of one young girl who clambers on stage to dance with guitarist Sam Jackson during the second song of the set. The intrusion only seems to excite the band more as they power through tracks from their debut album, Famous First Words. Front man Lee Newell asks the crowd for more before playing second single ‘Still Here’. The relatively small crowd respond singing word for word as if the Brother were on their fourth album. New track Electric Daydream follows which is a slow burning anthem straight from the Gallagher playbook complete with hands in the air choruses that are sure to capture the hearts of grown men around festivals all summer. Breakthrough single ‘Darling buds of May’ is next which once again has the crowd singing every word. They finish with ‘New Years Day’ and ‘Time Machine’ asking the crowd to join them in one final burst of energy before leaving the stage in a feed backing mess. There’s no encore and their set is only short, but for a band who are yet to release anything more than two singles it’s an undoubted success. They may divide opinion, and it’s fair to say they don’t bring anything new to the table however that’s not what’s expected from them. What you should expect from Brother is simple old fashioned rock & roll that you can play air guitar too and sing at the top of your voice, and that’s exactly what you get.

This month’s Playlist comes from Wychwood main stage act The Travelling Band: Tome Holloway: Lonely Nights - Troumaca Birmingham band formed from the ashes from Scarlet Harlots and rising like a Phoenix on a velvet cloud of dub and swagger. The lads in this band have been architects of the Birmingham music scene and social scene, without them a lot of the stuff that goes on in Birmingham probably wouldn't. Infectious beat to this tune that you can't help but dance to, there's nothing wasted on this track just makes you want to groove from start to finish. Adam Gorman: King Creosote and John Hopkins - Bats in the Attic Really loving this song and the album "Diamond Mine". A really interesting collaboration.. Always been a fan of King Creosote, such a great songwriter and Jon Hopkins is an ambient/melodic electronica artist. The 2 of them working together fuses to create a really understatedly euphoric record. I'll be interested to see if they work together again!

Jo Dudderidge: 'The Phoenix Foundation - Bitte Bitte Every now and then a band comes along that you fall in love with instantly. I could have chosen any tune off their new album "buffallo" but this one is one of my favorites. Clever lyrics, simple and effective arranging and an amazing hook. My kind of song.' You can see The Travelling band playing at Wychwood on Friday evening on the mainstage. The boys will also be playing at this year’s 2000 Trees Festival.

The second of BBC Gloucestershire Introducing’s Gemma Dunstan’s regular column...

Hello! It seems like we have an abundance of live music in Gloucestershire at this time of year! What with the Cheltenham Jazz festival lasting over the April bank holiday, and just as it leaves, Wychwood festival comes knocking on the doorstep of the racecourse in Cheltenham. Last year BBC Introducing teamed up with Wychwood to host the BBC Introducing Stage, which, you’ll find, is coming back again this year! With 27 confirmed acts it is sure to hold many highlights of the festival. Personally, I am looking forward to Charlie Baxter, Pink Crudge Caravan and Blank Canvas representing local music from Gloucestershire. Not only is BBC Radio Gloucestershire involved, but we’ve teamed up with BBC Hereford and Worcester and BBC Bristol amongst many others to bring the best of BBC Introducing to Wychwood. Myself and Paul Moss will be at the festival supporting the local artists and helping other BBC presenters compere the stage. Wish me luck!! For more information on Wychwood and to see the full BBC Introducing line-up visit: www.wychwoodfestival.com/bbcintroandmore/ Don’t forget, myself and Paul are now after you local musicians to submit to us your radio jingles for our show. Something we mentioned on air a few weeks back and are looking to make a regular feature! The more creative the better, and make sure you’re tuned in on Saturdays at 5:30pm to hear if yours is played! Send them in via the BBC Introducing uploader which can be found at: www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/uploader/ That’s it from me this month. Hope to see you all at Wychwood! Gem x

June’s featured Promoter is Kiss My Face Music and Wychwood Festival’s Stefan Edwards:

What made you start promoting? When I was at Uni some friends ran a fantastic live music and club night called Monster Mash one Halloween. It was a great night and I caught the bug for live music promotion.

What is it about Cheltenham that makes it such a great place for you to put gigs on? Cheltenham has a vibrant and growing music scene and some really great music venues. Who has been your favourite band that you've put on and why? Dan le sac vs Scroobius pip at Cheltenham Town Hall. It was the first big show I ran and there was a great thrill on the night - both from a business and musical point of view. If you could get any band to play in Cheltenham who would it be? My dream line-up would be The Killers supported by Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner and Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun... with a Thrill Collins late night after party! I've also had a long time desire to book Biffy Clyro, Regina Spektor, Ben Folds, Laura Marling and a whole load of others! What gigs have you got coming up? I'm hoping to run some gigs featuring Scottish bands in June. After that I will be focusing on Walk the Line Festival in October. Music according to Jen Duffy…

Because this issue of MAG is focused on Wychwood festival, it’s pretty obvious what I’m going to be writing about. I’ve only ever been to one Wychwood festival, which was last year and I was working as part of Wychwood FM. It was strange being around so many people who have been and worked at the festival for previous years and it was all new to me, but from what everyone had been saying it was an amazing festival with such a unique atmosphere. I’ve been to a lot of festivals but they were vastly different to Wychwood. Being a family festival, it’s such a relaxed atmosphere, and as you walk around the festival it’s incredible how friendly everyone is. One of the main things that I loved about the festival last year was the BBC Introducing stage. I’m really keen on listening to new bands and the line up on the stage was amazing. As at every festival I attend, I always go through the

entire line up and find the band with the strangest name. At Leeds Festival I discovered the Pigeon Detectives, and last year at Wychwood it was We Aeronauts who turned out to be one of the nicest bands I met at the festival. Having the Cheltenham Racecourse as the venue for the festival created a stunning place for this brilliant family festival. This year’s line up looks even better than last year, with headlining bands such as The Charlatans and Cornershop. It would take a lot for it to top last year’s festival but I’m sure it will be just as good as long as the weather holds out!

Welcome to our brand new Craft’s Page! Each month We will have a column from Keziah at By Local and other rats and Crafts News from around the county. Keziah’s 21st Century Crafts

There was a time when “Craft” was considered a dirty word. Let’s admit it we have all seen the hideous Barbie Doll loo roll covers and wondered who in their right minds would make such a thing, let alone buy one! Now it seems that the craft world has grown in so many ways, no longer is it the realm of the WI ladies and the OAPS, but the young, the inspired and the unique! Eunice Wilson is a Cheltenham based designer, who makes plushies and accessories from recycled materials (pictured below). Her creations all have a hint of vintage chic as well as a quirky cuteness reminiscent of the clangers, looking up at you with big longing eyes! Stuffed Nonsense (a duo from Cheltenham) have produced a collection of bizarre and wonderfully weird characters. Their work is a lot like the modern, arty illustrations of the young and the cool, only they have gone a step further and let their imaginings take on a 3d form.

The rise of Cath Kidston has led to an increase in people wanting to get creative, and “make their own”. Websites like Etsy (US) and Folksy (UK) mean that more and more people are finding ways to sell their handmade goods. Craft is not just limited to feminine creations any more either, wood turning, stained glass, fused glass and pottery have all had something of a revival. With young makers like Russell Paige popping up traditional crafts have developed a sense of humour too!

Making a living from your creations is no easy task, finding ways to get your work seen by the general public can be expensive as well as time consuming. When customers are constantly being offered cheaper alternatives from mass-produced industry it is becoming harder and harder for artists and craft makers to compete. However over the past few years there has been an increase in the demand for unique goods. It seems that customers are starting to find the mass made products on offer boring, poorly made and soulless. Customers are seeking out an alternative and hand crafted items that have been made with love, and passion hold a charm that no factory production line is able to imitate. So next time your money is burning a hole in your pocket, check out some of your local crafts shops and put your money back into the local economy. Recommended crafts retailers: By Local - The Regent Arcade, Cheltenham. The Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre - The Docks Gloucester. The Brewery Arts Centre - Cirencester. Want to contribute? Very much like this section states every month, we like listings, reviews, editorial, previews, pictures, art, cartoons and would like to fill these pages with things you care about. We‘d love to hear about anything to do with live music in the county really and can help with anything from promoting you here to getting you reviewed, played on student and local radio, putting you in touch with venues, musicians and artists across the county and just about anything else you can think of! Want to advertise? Put your gig posters in with the MAG for distribution? Ask what our favourite kind of ham is? You can contact Amelia – ascognamiglio@glos.ac.uk AD Music Editor Amelia Scognamiglio | Cover Design Dan Cooper | Listings Design Robbie Pert | Listings Contributor Ollie West | Staff Writers Jenny Duffy, Jack Higgins, Emily Johnson, Dan Gutteridge, Phil Cooper, KeziahKurg, Gemma Dunstan | Thanks to all the people who contributed to issue five of MAG, special thanks (again) goes to Nicky Hughes @ The University of Gloucestershire for organising the funding and production of this work and to Andrew Lansley for continuing to support MAG and everything musical in Gloucestershire| All work remains property of the original owner, used with permission. Reproduction in whole or any part (especially the listings) of this fanzine would be awesome as it’s great to spread the word people, just make sure you credit the fanzine : )