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Talking Shop: Leddra Chapman

Page last updated at 08:11 GMT, Friday, 2 July 2010 09:11 UK

On the day we meet Leddra Chapman, the 20-year-old singer-songwriter was woken up by her mother telling her Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans was literally playing her song.

Leddra Chapman The Brentwood-based artist is yet to be signed to a major record label

"She was in the car and she was like, 'Turn the radio on!'" laughs the Essex-born performer. "I crawled into the kitchen and was like, 'Wow – this is mental.'"

If truth be told, Chapman's gentle, heartfelt and homespun melodies – taken from her debut album Telling Tales – have become something of a fixture on the nation's favourite radio station.

She's currently on the station's B playlist, she has performed live on Janice Long's show, while Sir Terry Wogan featured her first single, Story, on his programme for seven straight weeks.

"Having people play my songs and say they love them is pretty epic," grins the singer, who is seeing the fruits of a songwriting career that began at the tender age of 12.

In the week her latest single is released, this rising young talent tells the BBC News website about beating bullies, her toy piano and what she thinks of a certain Geordie duo.

So how did you get started in music?

I started writing songs because I was being bullied at school. My parents realised I had a knack for it, so they helped me record some demos in my dad's garage studio. We put some online just for the fun of it and we ended up getting a couple of local gigs. Before we knew it I was doing gigs in London and got signed up.

So do you think the bullying had a positive outcome?

Leddra Chapman Her debut album, Telling Tales, was released last year

I do like to look back and say a positive came out of it. Everybody gets bullied at school, some worse than others; everyone goes through an awful time. For me writing was a way of releasing myself from it; it was my way of having my say.

I used to perform in school assemblies; I'd write songs about the people who were bullying me and tell a thousand girls how I was feeling. Who gets to do that? Anyone can be a horrible person and punch somebody, but not many people go, 'I'm going to write a song about it and sing it to you, how do you like that?'

How do you find it now you're doing it professionally?

It's an adventure, with a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes I'll do a gig like the one at the Jazz Café in Camden in February, which was the biggest, most amazing night of my life. And sometimes it'll be a more humble gig and there won't be as many people there, but there are still really passionate fans who'll be singing along to my songs. It's really mental and very rollercoaster-y.

How would you describe your songs?

I've always written from the heart and tried to create a sound that was true to me. It's very honest; I think that's what people like about it. I like to think I'm in my own slot and I don't think about what's current.

Tell us about your latest single, Summer Song.

Ant and Dec TV presenters Ant and Dec have seen her perform live in London

It's literally about summer time, as clichéd as it sounds; I wanted to write something that was playful and happy. The toy piano I play on it reflects that playfulness.

I need to get a new one; Ethel's had it now, bless her. She's been on tour since November and she's not very rock 'n' roll.

Are you?

I'm the most un-rock 'n' roll person you'll ever meet! I'm very well-behaved before gigs. When I want to I can go a bit wild, but only when I'm not gigging. It's just not worth it; my voice is so fragile that if I ever was to be around smoke or alcohol too much it would ruin it.

Have you any famous fans?

Ant and Dec came to the Jazz Cafe and were really wicked; they're my favourite famous fans. They're such nice guys; the second you're having a conversation with them it's like you've known them for years. They're exactly how they are on TV, which is why they've done so well I think.

Could you ever see yourself on Britain's Got Talent?

I do watch it every now and then but I can't ever see myself on it to be honest. It's not for me; I'm not even sure I'd get through!

Summer Song is available now. Leddra Chapman was speaking to BBC News entertainment reporter Neil Smith.

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Talking Shop: Big Brother’s narrator

Page last updated at 07:47 GMT, Wednesday, 30 June 2010 08:47 UK

Marcus Bentley

He has one of the most famous voices in the UK, but not many people would recognise his face.

Markus Bentley has been the Big Brother narrator since it began in 2000.

His Geordie accent, which documents the housemates daily movements, has become one of the most distinctive on British TV.

Does your voice get recognised a lot?

Well on a normal year I just keep my mouth shut and occasionally I'll let something slip to a shopkeeper or something and they get very excited – which is really nice.

But this year I've sort of appeared in a few things, there's a Big Brother promo out there and people have started to recognise me which is a little bit uncomfortable.

It's really good, I was apparently voted by somebody as the voice of the decade which was funny – but it's nice to be recognised and I've really enjoyed my time on Big Brother.

When you started the job did you have any idea how big the show was going to be?

Of course not. I'm an actor originally, but also did voiceovers. When I got the job I thought that I could do with the work.

When it started I think it took everyone by surprise with the whole Nasty Nick thing 10 years ago and I think five weeks into it I thought: 'This is massive.'

The press were ringing me, people wanted to photograph me, get me on their radio and TV shows, and I thought there is longevity in this so I hung on to its coat tails as it were.

Do you worry being so closely associated with Big Brother that it might prevent you getting an acting job? Nadia Almada Series 5 is Bentley’s favourite series

Not really because I've been behind the camera, I've never really thought of that. Now it's coming to an end I'm thinking I'd better start getting my toe out there and trying to get an acting agent again. I want to do serious drama now, but I've got no regrets doing Big Brother and I'd do it all again tomorrow.

Have you continued to work while doing Big Brother?

Because the show has been so popular and because people seem to like my voice I get quite a lot of voiceover work.

At one point I had my own quiz show on Sky 1 which was called Dirty Money. It was made by the people who made Coach Trip and Anne Diamonds Weakest Link and it did really really well.

But there were these weird contractual obligations, so it never got re-commissioned which was a shame. I do lots of commercials and documentaries.

Have you ever used your voice to gain a perk?

Of course not.

No chance I couldn't look at myself in the mirror if I did something like that and anyway they'd look at me rather strangely and tell me to get to the back of the queue.

What has been your favourite series?

It's very, very difficult to answer. Last year's Big Brother was really really good, but it wasn't getting talked about, for whatever reason.

Continue reading the main story

People just like watching people. I’m one of them – we all learn a lot good or bad.

Markus Bentley

It seemed to just sort of hit a brick wall in terms of press coverage, but it still had its hardcore fans out there

After Nasty Nick left in Big Brother 1, it actually got rather dull, but Big Brother 3 was off the charts in terms of popularity.

I thought series 5 was good too. I could go on and on. In fact when I look back I think it was Big Brother 5 when Nadia won.

How will you feel when the show comes to an end?

It's going to be very sad for me, but I can take a proper holiday next year and I'll be able to enjoy my summer in the more classic way.

There are hundreds of people who work on the show and they put lots and lots of effort in and create lots of golden moments of TV, no matter what certain critics may say.

Big Brother has created some of the greatest TV moments ever and that's including dramas and soaps. Some really iconic things have happened and I'm really proud to be part of it.

Why has it been a success?

I think it's an organic thing. The producers pick certain people who they think will have certain reactions, which very rarely comes true as to what they think will happen.

But it's all down to the housemates. I mean you might get some cliched girl with big breasts or boffin, but invariably we're all individuals and that big melting pot will throw something up no matter what.

People just like watching people. I'm one of them – we all learn a lot good or bad.

Rachael White and Davina McCall Rachael was the first evictee of this series
Do you help write your script?

I'm just the voice, although I am always in the final edit with the people who make the programme.

But if there's a new producer on board I do sometimes suggest things because there's a certain Big Brother style – so I suppose I do sometimes edit the final voiceover.

If the show went somewhere else would you go?

Absolutely. The thought of somebody else doing it would break my heart. I'm such a fan of the show – I'd do it hell or high water.

Do you want it to come back?

Yes. Of course. Think about it Coronation Street has been going for 50 years and hasn't run out of steam, so I don't see how Big Brother can when there are new and fresh stories every year.

If you were asked, would you appear on Celebrity Big Brother?

Well it would be nice to be considered a celebrity. Yes I'd have a good think about it.

I've turned down quite a few things in my time, which I'm now thinking if I got asked again I might do.

As you get a bit older you think 'why not, who cares?' It's an experience so I think I would be willing to think about it.

Markus Bentley was talking to BBC entertainment reporter Fiona Pryor.

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Australian actor Adam Garcia has returned to London’s West End stage in Tap Dogs, created by Olivier award winner, Dein Perry.

Tap Dogs is a contemporary dance show that combines highly technical tap dancing in an industrial setting.

The ensemble cast features Douglas Mills, Matthew Papa, Richie Miller, Donovan Helma, Jesse Rasmussen, Jason Lewis and Sam Marks.

Garcia tells us about working with Arlene Phillips, his role in hit show Wicked – and working with the "remarkable" Kylie.

Tap Dogs first started back in 1995, why do you think it has withstood the test of time?

I think Tap Dogs has lasted so long because people have a natural interest in tap dancing. This form of dancing can’t be dated, it’s such an intriguing form of dance because the feet are also an an instrument.

So what is the show all about?

It is about six guys who work on a construction site, and how their day goes, that is probably the simplest way of putting it.

The style of tap is very different from Broadway tap isn’t it?

It is not the gentle 42nd Street tap dancing! It is very technical, very fast, very complicated rhythmically and is quite loud.


Adam Garcia star of Tap Dogs

Adam Garcia was a judge on the TV talent show Got To Dance

I spotted two girls in the poster, are there girls in the show?

We have been lucky enough to find two exceptional percussionists who are both based in London. We don’t always have musicians but of course London has the best musicians all the time.

You started tap dancing as a child…

I started with ballet and then my cousin Sarah introduced me to her tap teachers. I started tapping and I was okay. Then after about two years my feet knew what they were doing! I really enjoyed it because you didn’t have to stretch.

So when was your big break?

At 15 I auditioned for 42nd Street in Australia. Dein Perry was in that show. I actually got the job but I couldn’t do it because I was only 15. Legally I needed to have another 15-year-old to cover consecutive nights. My headmaster said he wouldn’t allow me and encouraged me to concentrate on my diploma.

And you met up with Dein Perry later down the line?

My first break came with Dein Perry who was choreographing a show called Hot Shoe Shuffle and he asked me to get involved. What started as a one month job ended up touring Australia and went to the West End and won an Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer.

Arlene Phillips cast you in Saturday Night Fever how did that feel?

Arlene Phillips is London dance! She had actually cast me in Grease as one of the minor roles, and really liked what I did. When she cast me in Saturday Night Fever it was unbelievable. To be the lead in the West End at 25 was daunting, but one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life, and probably a career highlight.

More recently you played Fiyero in Wicked alongside Idina Menzel, was that exciting?

I had known about the show of course because of how phenomenal a success it was on Broadway. Working with Idina Menzel in one of the best Musicals of all time was a real honour, I loved it!

You have worked with Kylie Minogue, what was that like?

I has known her sister Dannii for a while and worked with her. Australia now has another queen in Kylie. She is a remarkable human being, so to work with her was tremendous.

You were a judge on the TV show Got To Dance alongside Ashley Banjo from Diversity and Kimberly Wyatt from Pussycat Dolls – was it strange being on the other side of the desk?

Strangely I really love being a judge. I am always up for a new challenge, and had not been a TV dance judge before. It really made me realise how much I enjoy dancing. The reconnection with dancing drags you back and says, ‘hey you are really a dancer’.

Did you find it difficult to criticise the younger contestants?

I found it really hard to be mean to the younger contestants. I just really like people to dance, whether it be at a disco or in someone’s back yard at a barbecue or a theatre – I love it. So I was just happy that people turned up!

When you were growing up who were your tap heroes?

Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, obviously were enormous heroes and idols of mine. Sammy Davis Jr was my biggest idol because he could do everything. I loved what his feet did, he was so cool, so cool.

You have starred in Hollywood movies such as Coyote Ugly, theatre and television, what do you love the most?

I think out of all the things that I have done, stage is still my favourite because of the live element. It is right there right in front of you, and people get to see a different experience every time they come to the theatre. That is what art is all about.

Do you enjoy working in London?

I love working in London. I have been in London for 16 years. I first came to work in a Hot Shoe Shuffle with Dein and fell in love with the city. The state of theatre in London was mind blowing to me. I saw there was a phenomenal theatre culture that I wanted to be part of. I have stayed ever since. This is my eighth West End Show, and it never loses any of its excitement.

Tap Dogs is at the Novello Theatre. Adam Garcia was talking to BBC News reporter Claudia Redmond.

June 15th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Lissie

Lissie has relocated to the UK for the summer to try to win over British fans

US folk-rock newcomer Lissie has been making waves ahead of the release of her debut album next month, recorded with Kings of Leon’s producer and released by Columbia Records.

Based in a California farmhouse surrounded by fruit trees and new-age locals, Lissie Maurus is just on the right side of kooky and her spirited acoustic guitar pop has seen her likened to Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow.

She will also be one of the most anticipated new acts at this weekend’s Great Escape festival in Brighton, where she will perform alongside the likes of Groove Armada, The Cribs and Tinie Tempah.

Describe your residence in Ojai, California?

It’s an old rustic house with wood floors and a big wrap-around porch and the kind of windows that open out. I have a chicken coop in my back yard. No chickens because I’m never home. I have a pomegranate tree, peach, nectarine, orange, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine…

So you’re all right for fruit then?

Yeah, I keep telling people: "Go to my house and get fruit because I’m not there." I picked, like, 200 tangerines and gave them away. But there are still tons of tangerines. And they’re really good.


If I put make-up on, I don’t really recognise that person, it makes me feel uncomfortable

What did you listen to when you were growing up?

I loved musicals – I loved The Music Man, Miss Saigon, Blood Brothers, The Secret Garden…

As I got into being a teenager I loved Sarah McLachlan and pretty much owned everything that she’d ever done. Melody is my ultimate passion – if it’s a song from any genre and it’s got a good melody then I’m probably going to like it.

Not many artists are into musicals – or maybe they just don’t own up to it. Do you think that has fed into your music?

I think there’s a bit of that drama of musicals. They got me into performing. I liked to feel the emotion of what the character was trying to express. It’s carried over – I’m a literal songwriter so it’s about my own character, my life.

Why were you kicked out of school?

At high school there are a lot of rules and everyone has to function in the same way. I really struggled within the structure. I would end up telling off my teachers and get really bored and just leave school.

I was going to sing the national anthem at this basketball game. It ended up not happening and I got into this huge argument with this teacher and it led to me getting kicked out of high school. It was a culmination of all the ways I was never really given any support or encouragement to be me, because I was a bit of an oddball.

Lissie

Lissie has also worked with Band of Horses bassist Bill Reynolds

Who are you most compared to?

I’ve been getting a lot of Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde. That’s just because some of my songs and my live show have a bit more of rock attitude. I don’t really know why people say that, but it’s totally a compliment.

How did you hook up with Kings of Leon’s producer Jacquire King?

He is a Nashville-based producer and I ended up going to Nashville for about four months last year and recording 15 songs.

It was cool because we rented this house just as spring was coming up and it was beautiful. A lot of the musicians were living in the house as well. We set up the studio in the house, it was our little compound.

Jacquire’s a total pro. He’s very disciplined and deliberate in what he’s doing and seems to have a real method to his work. He just won a Grammy this year so he knows what’s going on.

You played 10 shows in four days at the South by Southwest festival in Texas in March – how did you survive?

It was crazy. It made me feel anxious at first because after the first day I already felt like my throat was tight. So I would go home at night and just drink tea and go to bed.

Miraculously I got through these 10 shows in pretty good shape. There were some nights where I could barely talk but somehow I could still sing. The last night I stayed out till 5am though. I saw Hole, I saw Scissor Sisters, I drank a ton of tequila, I let loose.

How does your classic rock style fit in with the current scene?

I was wearing flannel shirts years ago – I’d wear a flannel shirt and my friends would tease me and say I looked butch. But now I’m lucky because it’s in, and it’s so in that I did a video shoot a couple of weeks ago and literally every single person on set was wearing a flannel shirt.

Is it right that you’re not keen on wearing make-up?

It’s totally true. There will probably be some day when I’ll want to dress up and be totally feminine, but when I have photo shoots and people put make-up on my face, I really want to wash my face. If I put make-up on, I don’t really recognise that person, it makes me feel uncomfortable.

On my photo shoot for the artwork for the cover of my album, I did my own make-up. I just put on some eye shadow and mascara and everybody was: "Right, cool, you look great."

Lissie’s album Catching a Tiger is out on 21 June. She was talking to BBC News music reporter Ian Youngs.

May 12th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Ellis-Bextor’s hits include Murder On The Dancefloor and Catch You

It is a slightly startling 10 years since Sophie Ellis-Bextor hit number one with the shimmering Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love).

Since then, she’s popped up at regular intervals with her peculiar brand of frosty-but-feisty floor-fillers.

We last saw her supporting George Michael and Take That in 2007-8, after which she took a break to have a second child, Kit, with her husband Richard Jones from pop group The Feeling.

Now she’s back with a new album, Bittersweet, inspired by her recent reinvention as a club DJ.

Friendly and funny, the star opened up to the BBC News website about stalkers, stealing boxer shorts and why people think she’s posh.

Your new album sees you going back to your dance roots. What lay behind that decision?

I’ve been DJing a little bit, so you get used to the fact that music sounds brilliant when it’s loud. And then I worked with a lot of DJs – the Freemasons and Calvin Harris and Armin van Buuren – who really do that sound so authentically. I think that all fed into the album’s creation.

When you’re DJing, is there a particular record you keep handy in case of a dancefloor crisis?

There are certainly some tracks where you put them on and think: ‘If you’re not dancing to this, then nothing’s going to work.’ Things like Wanna Be Starting Something, or Young Hearts Run Free.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Straight To The Heart will be the star’s fourth solo album

One of mine used to be Groovejet…

Well, I don’t play that one but I’ll take your word for it!

Have you ever been in a club where the DJ recognises you and puts on one of your songs?

Yes, it happened to me at a funfair! It can be a bit embarrassing, but I’ve learnt that you just have to ignore it. Getting up to dance to your own stuff looks pretty pretentious. And leaving the dancefloor when it comes on is just awkward.

Why is the album called Straight To The Heart?

Because that is what pop music does. It’s supposed to be something that, in three minutes, gets you right there. All my favourite pop records do that. It’s not really cerebral, you just can’t help yourself.

The record is very fun and open. It seems a lot of female artists who have children write songs that are celebratory of life…

I suppose it removes a layer. I feel definitely more positive and much more secure. It’s a better world with them in it.

But then, I also wrote a song about this stalker I’ve had on texts.

What happened? Did someone got hold of your number?

I’ve had the same number for about eight or nine years, so it was kind of my own fault, but I get these messages which I never reply to.

The song’s called Dial My Number and it’s saying ‘just because you’ve got my number, doesn’t mean anything’s gonna happen’.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor and her husband, Richard Jones

The singer married guitarist Richard Jones in Italy in 2005

Do you worry that acknowledging this guy in a song will give him the validation you’d denied them by not replying to his texts?

Ah, but they still don’t know they’ve got me – because I might be talking about someone else who’s got my number!

The song Off And On has the lyric, ‘the time away has done me good’. You’re singing about a relationship, but it could also apply to your career. Did you intend to take three years off?

I think sometimes it’s good to know when to push off!

When I was 21 and doing my first album, people would ask how I was going to stay the distance, and I would say: ‘Well, I’m 21 now, so I can actually fit in two comebacks before I’m 30." And I was right!

Isn’t it harder to pick back up where you left off each time?

I don’t know. You get more interest because people say: ‘Oh, you’re back. Tell us what you’ve been up to.’ Certainly for me, it’s worked well – and it meant I could have babies.

But I quite like that the public has a very short attention span. If I haven’t been on telly for a little bit, I can sense it. People don’t take as much notice of you, it’s really quite palpable.

When you go back on the telly, what happens?

I often get people saying: ‘Has anyone ever told you you look like that Sophie Ellis-Bextor?’

And I usually say: ‘Yeah, all the time and it’s really annoying!’

The public seems to genuinely like you, though. What’s the secret?

I don’t think anyone doubts my motives, really. I do what I do and it’s not very complicated. Of course, you might hate the music that I make, but I don’t think people feel threatened by me just getting on with what I’m up to.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

In 2008, the singer played at the Olympic handover ceremony in London

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you?

Maybe that I’m going to be really serious, or just that I’m really posh. I don’t really mind that one, actually. I think that’s quite funny.

Don’t they assume you’re loaded with money, though? It’ll always be your round at the pub.

That happens anyway when you’re a pop star! Since Groovejet came out people have said: ‘Oh, you must be a millionaire!’

I’ve had a number one record, guys. That doesn’t make you a millionaire. Not any more. Not even 10 years ago when it came out.

One of your new songs, Revolution, starts with the lyric "bang bang, it’s a hold-up". Have you ever stolen anything?

When Sonny, my eldest, was about two or three, he put some Spider-Man boxer shorts for a 12-year-old boy into his buggy. Then when we left the shop the alarm beeped and I was mortified!

It’s not even like it was obviously for him or me. They didn’t fit either of us! But luckily they just let me put them back.

If you became a career criminal what sort of shop would you rob?

A food shop! I’m not actually targeting this shop – but do you know the Fromagerie? It’s just off Marylebone High Street and it’s got loads of amazing cheese and wine.

So you’d steal cheese?!

Yes! Maybe Le Vacherin – the one you put in the oven. That one’s good. But all different sorts of cheeses and breads. I love food!

You toured with Take That a couple of years ago. What did you make of Gary Barlow lending his support to David Cameron for the election?

Oh my God, I didn’t see that! I don’t really want to get into politics and pop. All I can say is, it wouldn’t have been me standing next to David Cameron.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s single, Bittersweet, is out now. Her album, Straight To The Heart, follows in the summer.

May 4th, 2010 in Entertainment

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James

The band improvised new songs before honing them over the web

The Night Before and The Morning After are the names of two mini-albums being released by indie veterans James.

The first upbeat offering comes out on Monday, and they will then go straight back into the studio to start work on its more mellow companion piece.

The band, who have been together for almost 30 years, are known for their early 1990s anthems like Sit Down, Laid and Born Of Frustration. Their reputation as a compelling live band has endured and they are currently finishing a UK tour.

Singer Tim Booth has now written a single about going mad, thinks American Idol has ruined music, says radio stations are ageist and reveals that the band are planning a "hiatus".

What’s the story behind your single Crazy?

I’m always a bit loath to say what a song is about because I write quite unconsciously on purpose. I often write at five o’clock in the morning when I’m half awake and I try to keep the lights dim and stay in a half sleep state.

But it seems to be referring to a time when I thought I would be institutionalised. I had an inherited liver disease through my teens, which wasn’t diagnosed.

It meant my perception of the world was very strange. I used to think I could hear people’s thoughts and I used to hallucinate from this illness, and it was only diagnosed when I got to 20 and I nearly died of it. So I always thought I was just mad.


I haven’t written any lyrics and I’ve got five days in which to come up with them

Why release two mini albums?

We live in an age of iTunes where people don’t seem to be listening to albums any more. Attention spans are getting shorter.

We wrote 120 songs – normally we can only fit one or two slow pieces on an album without bringing it down too much. This time we said, let’s do a whole mini album of slow pieces.

We are going in a room next week for five days and improvising and recording a more mellow album. It’s a bit scary. I haven’t written any lyrics and I’ve got five days in which to come up with them.

What was the "virtual recording process" you used on The Night Before?

We improvised 30-minute songs then put them on a website and each band member could download them and work on them at home – reconstruct them, chop them up, arrange them, put their instruments on, do whatever they wanted.

Then they could put it back on the website and someone else could take that and chop it up and do the same. A very Brian Eno-esque way of working. We worked with him for nine or 10 years and it filtered through.

James singer Tim Booth in 1994

It’s dangerous when festivals become too corporate, too controlled

Do you still enjoy playing classics like Sit Down and Laid live?

Sometimes our big songs need a rest. Last year we didn’t play Sit Down on one tour. When you start going through the motions, you try to rest them.

At the moment, we’ve been starting the set with Sit Down acoustically, played from the back of the audience. Me and Larry start at the back and walk to the stage, playing the song, and see if we can make it through the audience. Which is an entertainment in itself.

Which are your favourite festivals?

We haven’t done Glastonbury for years and we’d love to do Glastonbury again. I like the smaller more spontaneous festivals. As a punter I’ve been to a few of them. Shambala I really enjoyed. They have more of the spirit.

It’s dangerous when festivals become too corporate, too controlled. The greatest festival in the world is Burning Man in the desert in America because it’s so anarchic and fantastically spontaneous.


All those appalling talent shows – talentless shows – breed a certain expectation which is that music is simply about becoming famous

It’s Independent Record Store Day on Saturday – how do you feel about the plight of local record shops?

The tide has changed and is changing so fast. You end up being nostalgic about something and you have to move with the times. Instead of moaning about why no-one can make money from selling records, you find a way of making money from somewhere else.

[Falling sales are] not just about the internet – it’s much more about American Idol and all those appalling talent shows – talentless shows – which breed a certain expectation which is that music is simply about becoming famous and has got nothing to do with expressing yourself from the heart.

In that sense those record shops are more connected to a level of music that’s more honest.

Has the way you make a living changed?

Absolutely. And also radio stations are ageist – they want the young bands. We aren’t young and we don’t get played on radio any more so we can’t make any money from that.

But James have always had a reputation for being a great live band so the live thing plays to our strengths.


James is going to be around for a few years but we may take a slight hiatus next year

You played a baddie in Batman Begins – do you want to do more acting?

I haven’t had much time because of James. Every time I get an audition I’m going on tour and I’ve had to turn them down. I did an independent movie last year which will come out this year. I’m going to look for an agent here and I’ve been doing lots of acting training.

Are you working on any more solo music?

I probably have a record of my own coming out in partnership with Lee Baker (Watford-born singer-songwriter) next year – at least one. I’ve got a few other things going as well.

James has been my sole focus for the last few years. It’s very engrossing. It’s going to reach a natural peak this year so we may have a bit of time out next year. James is going to be around for a few years but we may take a slight hiatus next year.

Not a final end though?

No – we’re enjoying James now probably more than we ever have done.

Tim Booth was talking to BBC music reporter Ian Youngs.

April 15th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Despite having a career that spans almost 30 years, Natalie Merchant is still best known as the lead vocalist of indie rock band 10,000 Maniacs.


Natalie Merchant

Merchant worked with 130 musicians on her latest double album

Since leaving the group in 1993, the 46-year-old singer-songwriter has had an acclaimed solo career thanks to such successful albums as Tigerlily, Ophelia and Motherland.

Merchant became a mother herself in 2003, prompting her to take an extended break from recording and touring.

But now she is back with an ambitious, self-financed new project – Leave Your Sleep, a double album whose lyrics are entirely taken from old poems, nursery rhymes and lullabies.

While visiting the UK earlier this year, Merchant explained what inspired her to make what she calls "the most elaborate project I have ever completed or even imagined."

Leave Your Sleep has been in the works for seven years. What took you so long, and how did you know you were finished?

Those are both decent questions to start with! It’s hard to know when you’re finished; it’s hard to know how to start too. My original plan was to do a series that could go on as long as I wanted it to, though I think I’d got to the point when I was maxing out the capacity for people’s attention span with a double record.

Was it an interesting challenge to get your words from other sources?

Natalie Merchant

The singer-songwriter sold one of her homes to help finance the project

I didn’t find it challenging at all. I found it a relief, a privilege and a thrill to have access to the collective experience of these really gifted writers. I didn’t find there were any limits to what I could do with the poems either. I liked removing them from the context in which they were written and taking them into a different place – making a reggae song out of one poem, or an R&B track out of another.

Were you worried the project might ruffle a few feathers?

That people might think I’d taken licence? I’m not worried about that. People in the poetry world are all delighted with what I’ve done; the response has been really great so far.

How has having your daughter, Lucia, affected you creatively?

I think it’s brought a playfulness to my work, because I’ve spent a lot of time in the company of children. But there’s also a tenderness and a quietness – things that might have been in the music before but have now deepened. I think I also feel more of a connection to the future than I’ve ever felt in my life. I’ve always been a little more concerned with the past, but I now have more of an investment in the future. It’s made me think of the long-term legacy I guess, not just in my creative work but in my life in general.

When you have a child you think how your actions are going to impact on her. I wanted to make a piece of work that would speak to her but would also speak for years after I’m gone – a classic work, something that was timeless. So all that factored into it.

After such a long time out of the spotlight, were you worried there might not be a place for you when you returned?

I think the place I’ve had has been a very special place. I started making records in 1981, and I think my longevity was proven even before I took a break. I had a pretty devoted following, but I trusted the music I made wasn’t of a particular moment – any record I’ve made it sounds like I could make it again today.

The thing that did concern me was the whole music industry had collapsed around my ears, or around someone else’s ears while I wasn’t paying attention. I think I got a pretty good ride on a giant that has now been brought to its knees. I remember in the ’80s and ’90s you’d have been thrown off a label for selling 50,000 records when now you are considered successful. It’s a different world.

How do you feel about the way digital music has transformed the industry?

Natalie Merchant

The American star fronted 10,000 Maniacs from 1981 to 1993

I think the internet is something artists benefit from, but it giveth and it taketh away. And there is a lot of taketh! The process of exchanging information with your potential audience is much more immediate, which is exciting. But the fact is people don’t buy physical product anymore. It’s strange to think I may have been part of a sweet moment of time when there was a music industry.

Nowadays it seems people can become instant celebrities on shows like American Idol and The X-Factor. Do you think that’s a positive or a negative thing?

I don’t know anything about that. To me that’s like visiting another planet; I know nothing about life on that planet, so I don’t pay any attention to it. All that showbizzy, novelty, reality TV music has nothing to do with this record.

Do you recognise the influence you have on current artists?

I never really thought I did, but I have met musicians who tell me they grew up with my music. It shocks the part of my brain that wants to think time has stood still since I was 25! I remember meeting Joni Mitchell when I was 25 and telling her that and I remember the look on her face. Now I have that same look!

Leave Your Sleep is released by Nonesuch Records on 12 April. Natalie Merchant was talking to BBC entertainment reporter Neil Smith.

April 13th, 2010 in Entertainment

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He played at Ellen DeGeneres’ wedding, and his new video stars Hayden Panettiere – so who is Joshua Radin?

Music fans in the UK may be most familiar with his work from watching TV shows like One Tree Hill, where the singer-songwriter’s forlorn ballads frequently underscore tear-jerking romantic scenes.

In fact, the Cleveland-born musician started out as a screenwriter, before picking up a guitar and writing his first song on a whim.

An early demo caught the ear of his old schoolfriend Zach Braff, who put several of his gently strummed songs on the soundtrack to Scrubs and his film The Last Kiss.

Having conquered America, Radin is on tour on the UK, where he is belatedly releasing his second album, Simple Times, while completing work on the as-yet-untitled follow-up.


Joshua Radin

Radin was born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio

Hello, Joshua

Hi there, it’s great to meet you.

We’ve been wondering how to pronounce your second name.

Everyone says it like "Rah-din", but it’s actually "Ray-din".

It’s quite unusual. Where does it come from?

I don’t know! I haven’t done the genealogy. I’m European by ancestry – Swedish, German, Polish, Russian and Austrian – so who knows what surname my ancestors had when they turned up at Ellis Island? It could have been Radinsky or Radinovic. But I have no idea.

You started out as a painter and a screenwriter, so how did you end up making music?

I only started playing music five years ago. I grew up as a writer but I was such a music fan that one day I figured "what the hell, I’ll try it".

My first song took a day to write, and I felt I had expressed myself more honestly in that one song than I had in my last screenplay, that took a year.

Who was the first person you played that song to?

My girlfriend at the time. We had lived together for six years in New York and the relationship had started to go sour.

I didn’t know how to tell her, because I was so entrenched in it. And I felt so guilty about leaving that I just wrote that song. It just came out. It was really powerful to be able to say something to someone that way.

My goodness. What did she make of that whole situation?

She was the one who convinced me to go and get a gig down in the West Village! I played that song and two other covers – Fly by Nick Drake, and Between The Bars by Elliot Smith – and the owner of the bar offered me a Saturday night gig. So I had to learn a few more covers!

Joshua Radin

The singer has been called “this generation’s Simon and Garfunkel”

Is your music suited to TV shows because you understand the narrative and dramatic structure of screenplays?

I think that’s part of it, but it’s also that I grew up thinking visually. In my early life I was a painter. And when you’re writing a screenplay, even though you’re sitting in front of a laptop typing out words, at the back of your mind you’re always thinking visually. So I think that was ingrained into me when I started writing songs.

You walked away from your contract with Columbia Records over this album. What happened?

They wanted one more song. A big top 40 radio hit to drive sales of the record. But I said "no" and I gave them all their money back.

That must be a hard situation to be in.

I’d say the period where I didn’t sleep at all lasted about a month.

And what happened next?

I found a little indie label that had just formed – they hadn’t put out any music – and I signed to them. We put it out a month later without any press and it went to number one on iTunes in America, so there was a little vindication.

One of the songs that stands out is Vegetable Car – it has a really playful, silly lyric. Where did that come from?

It’s just a funny little song about me sitting on my porch in Los Angeles. This girl would drive by my house all the time while I was writing songs, and she would never look over at me. But she had one of those vegetable cars. I don’t know if they have them here, but all over Los Angeles they have these old diesel Mercedes that are all rusted out that have been converted to run on vegetable oil.

I’d imagined a car with pumpkins for wheels, and a cucumber handbrake…

That’s what my mum thought. ‘She steers a vegetable cart, is that what you’re saying?’

Anyway, so this girl would drive by and I figured I’d write her a little song, and maybe she’ll drive by and it’ll be on the radio, and her windows will be down and I could run up and say ‘I wrote that song. It’s about you!’ It’s my dream scenario.

Joshua Radin

Radin has duetted with Patty Griffin and Ingrid Michaelson

You should have worked the licence number into the lyrics.

Well, I didn’t want to make it stalkerish.

Isn’t it already a little bit stalkerish?

No, because I’m not too specific. It’s not like she could hear it and be ‘yes, this has to be about me’.

I have a song on the new record where I use a girl’s name for the first time. But, yeah, I’m still at the point right now, because its not released, where I’m thinking: ‘should I change it to ‘baby?’ It’s a real person, she just doesn’t know that I have a crush on her.

Is it someone in the public eye?

I don’t date women in the public eye. I don’t want to be in tabloids. And then, once you break up, you have to see them all the time.

That’s what the first song on Simple Times, One Of Those Days, is about. It’s about running into photos of Schuyler [Fisk - Sissy Spacek's daughter and Radin's ex-partner] everywhere after we had toured together for two years.

We would take photographs with fans after shows and then, after we split up, I’d tour in the same cities and people would bring their pictures back and ask me to sign them. So everywhere I’m going, I’m running into my ex-girlfriend’s face.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi

DeGeneres (left) and de Rossi wed in August, 2008.

You played at Ellen DeGeneres’ wedding to Portia de Rossi. How did that come about?

I played on her chat show and she became a fan, I guess. But when she asked me to play the wedding, my initial thought was ‘no’, because I’m not a wedding singer.

I didn’t know if she wanted me to play covers, or be in the wedding band and play Motown songs. But she was super nice and said, ‘I’m having an intimate wedding. It’s only about 20 people in my living room and I would love it if you’d come in and be the surprise for Portia and play six or seven of your own songs’.

At the same time, they were trying to pass Proposition 8 in California. Ellen was such a huge proponent of it, and I knew that wedding was going to be covered by all the press, and it would further that goal – that everyone who wants to get married should be able to get married.

I felt like she was having a wedding, but it was also a political statement. And I was flattered to be part of it.

I can imagine she’s not the first person to ask you to play her wedding…

Right. I must get a hundred emails every day from people saying ‘we’re getting married to your song’. But it’s funny – it’s always a different song. I like that part of it.

Joshua Radin was speaking to BBC News entertainment reporter Mark Savage. His album, Simple Times, is out now.

March 29th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Bob Mackie

Bob Mackie is best known for his long collaboration with Cher

US fashion designer Bob Mackie is renowned for dressing Hollywood stars with his sparkling creations, earning him the title "the sultan of sequins".

He made his name in the 1960s designing outfits for variety TV shows and in the course of his career his designs have won him nine Emmy Awards and three Oscar nominations.

As well as dressing a host of stars including Tina Turner, Barbra Streisand, Joan Collins and Katy Perry, he recently designed the costumes for Pink’s Funhouse tour.

Known for his long collaboration with Cher, Mackie is most remembered for the Mohawk outfit the singer wore to the Oscars in 1986.

He has also designed the costumes for all Cher’s tours, including the 17 used on her current three-year residency of 200 shows at The Colosseum in Las Vegas.

Tell me about how your relationship with Cher first began.

Back in 1967 she was a guest star on the Carol Burnett Show which I was designing the costumes for and she and Sonny were on.

We got to know each other, so anytime she could request a designer she’d ask for me. When they did their weekly show she asked for me.

What do you find so special about dressing her?

Cher

Cher famously wore Mackie’s Mohawk outfit to the Oscars in 1986

In the beginning she was this gorgeous creature: a thin wonderful looking girl who looked like no-one else in the entertainment business at the time. Everybody just went crazy over this woman as she could wear anything.

She always stands above the costume. Even if she has a blonde wig on you know it is her – some performers can’t do that.

Now she has a reputation for wearing outlandish things and she enjoys that and loves to get dressed up.

One of your most famous designs worn by Cher was for the 1986 Academy Awards – what was your inspiration there?

She had done the film Mask that year and nobody thought she could act so she didn’t get nominated. She said: ‘Let’s really dress up and do an Indian outfit.’ I said I thought we were going too far and said: ‘You’re giving out an award, you’ll be pulling focus from the winner.’ She said: ‘They won’t mind.’

As it turned out, she was in every newspaper around the world and even the winner of the award, Don Ameche [Cocoon star], said he wouldn’t have had his picture in any of those papers if it hadn’t been for Cher.

Maybe she knows what she’s doing, but I’m always saying are you sure you want to wear this? And then people think these wild outfits she wears are the only kind of thing I design.

Is there anything Cher won’t wear?

There are certain things she doesn’t like, like stripes and orange. Although lately she’s been wearing day-glow colours which surprises me because for a whole decade she wore nothing but black – but one has to change.

I read that Cher asked you to make her more naked for her current Las Vegas show…

Design for a Cher costume by Bob Mackie
Mackie has designed all Cher’s tour costumes
See a collection of Bob Mackie’s designs and their famous wearers

She never wants to show anything you shouldn’t see, so it’s all smoke and mirrors. After all these years of designing I know a few tricks, so you think you’re seeing a lot more than you are.

Describe some of the costumes Cher wears in her Vegas show.

It’s a show that goes back many years as she’s had hit records in every decade, so we do a lot of 60s things, then some 70s, then ones for disco numbers. For Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves she’s dressed like a gypsy, and she’s also got an American Indian showgirl outfit.

How long did it take to create all the costumes for her show?

It takes a long time because they’re covered in crystals and jewels and they all have to be done by hand. They’re almost like art pieces in a way – they’re not just a frock you stitch up one afternoon.

It can be hundreds of hours in each garment as there’s a lot of detail. They’re almost like couture clothes as they’re one of a kind.

Do you feel a lot of pressure to produce something amazing every time?

Yeah I do. You want to top yourself and that gets to be very hard after many years. There’s always pressure and even if I don’t do something for her they think I did it.

I work very hard to create things that look good on the person and make sure they’re right for their different personalities – I would never put what I put on Cher on somebody else.

You dress another famous woman – Barbie – how did that come about and is it anymore difficult to create small designs?

Mattel were asking different designers to do a Barbie back in the 90s and at first I wasn’t thrilled about it. They would usually go to a fashion designer to make a coat and dress, but I said I wanted to do something fantasy-like.

Barbie designed by Bob Mackie

Barbie dolls wearing Mackie’s designs fetch hundreds of dollars

I did one doll and it took off, so the next year they asked if I’d do two more. Now I’ve been doing at least one or two a year since then – they’re really fun.

The scale is hard – if you have a beaded dress you want to make sure it’s just perfect, but it’s been a learning thing. It’s much easier to do certain kinds of things on a Barbie than it is on a real person as Barbie’s only 12 inches tall!

Is there anyone you would like to dress and why?

I don’t think about that a lot. There are certain women who are very attractive and you know dressing them would be successful because they look good in the clothes.

I was delighted to be dressing Pink because it’s like new blood. She’s somebody different from anyone I’ve ever dressed and she understands it, she gets it.

You’re coming up to your 71st birthday, and working all the time – do you think you’ll slow down soon?

It’s strange because I work every day and a lot of my friends are retired and I think what do they do all day? I’m very lucky to do the kind of thing I fantasised about as a boy and go straight from school into it. It never occurred to me to retire – I think I’d be so bored.

Bob Mackie was speaking to BBC entertainment reporter Genevieve Hassan.

March 18th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Jaya

Jaya plans to release her album at the end of the year


Something of a pop rarity, Jaya is the daughter of a Hindu priest and has become one of a just a handful of female British Asian artists to be signed up by a major record label.

Her debut single DJ Do It Again is released next month through Universal Music, who are behind pop superstars N-Dubz, Agnes and Cascada.

She has recently finished touring with Peter Andre and N-Dubz and has told the BBC about shelving plans to be a primary school teacher to pursue a pop career.

As a British Asian female, did you find it hard to break into mainstream?

People keep saying, ‘You’re not a typical artist,’ but it’s only not typical because people don’t know about it. There’s a lot of artists like me that love doing pop music and, even though we’re Asian, pop music is what we grew up on because we’re British as well.

I’m looking forward to the time when there’s more of us so it’s not a niche thing or such a shock when someone like myself enters the pop music industry.

Why haven’t more British Asian artists made it into mainstream?


Jaya

Jaya was so starstruck she had to scream before going into the studio

I can’t put my finger on the exact reason but I am very proud to be part of the movement which has seen an emergence of Asian artists like Jay Sean and M.I.A.

People are becoming more aware of Asian artists. I’m looking forward to more people jumping on the bandwagon as it’s very exciting times for us.

How did you start out? Were your family supportive?

I’ve always grown up around music and I come from quite a musical family but it’s nothing I took seriously or wanted to do as a profession. That changed as I grew older when I decided to pursue a musical career.

I found an amazing producer and we made music. I found a great manager and I got signed.

My parents had expected me to go to university. I wanted to be a primary school teacher but they both realised – even before I did – just how much I loved music.

They’ve been very supportive and I am lucky to have parents who didn’t force me into doing something I may not have been happy with.

Your family must be really proud of you, especially about working with N-Dubz.

Well, I had to kind of tell them who N-Dubz were but once they found out they were very happy and excited.

Your father is a priest, how did that fit in with you wanting to pursue a musical career?

Actually, my dad is a very cool dad. He’s a father first and being a priest is in addition to that. In terms of music, our prayers are so melodic and you literally sit there and sing, sing, sing! As a priest, he performed prayers every day and I was around that all the time.

Although my parents moved to this country, they brought me up on traditional values that they were brought up on and I’m so glad to be open to both worlds.

And what about the debut album?

Jaya

Jaya says her parents have been very supportive

I am collaborating with Hawkeye, the producer who’s worked with Kylie Minogue and Kardinal Offishal. I’ve also done something with Jonas Joberg who’s worked with Pussycat Dolls and Britney Spears.

Parker and James were behind Chipmunk’s first number one and they are involved as well. I’ve got N-Dubz on there as well as Tinie Tempah.

I’ve also got into the studio with someone who worked with Beyonce on her song Halo and I must admit I was starstruck. I took a deep breath and then screamed when I went into the studio.

It’s crazy to think I am working with so many amazing people so early on in my career. The album is sounding quite hot so I’m happy. It’ll be out at the end of this year.

How are you feeling about releasing your debut single?

It’s absolutely crazy. I recorded it this time last year so it’s been a long time coming. I’m just so excited about getting it out to people. I am not feeling the pressure because it’s the type of music I make and what comes naturally to me.

The single is called DJ Do It Again and it’s a fun up tempo song. It’s basically about when you hear your favourite song and, no matter where you are, it takes you back to the first moment you ever heard it.

And, basically, you’re telling the DJ to do it again and not stop playing your song.

Jaya was talking to BBC Asian Network entertainment reporter, Shabnam Mahmood.

February 23rd, 2010 in Entertainment

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Goldhawks

The band live around the Goldhawk Road in London


It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it…

London five-piece Goldhawks are on a mission to rescue the lighters-aloft epic rock anthem from cheesy 80s obscurity, and return scale and grandeur to guitar music.

Oddly, the band used to be part of the new folk scene that produced the twee strumming of Noah and the Whale and Laura Marling.

Then, in their own words, they "got bored with acoustic guitars" and decided to go electric.

Their stadium-sized sonic assault has been compared to Echo and the Bunnymen and Bruce Springsteen, but the group also confess they have been reduced to floods of tears by Take That’s Greatest Day.

As they gear up to release their first single, Where In The World, Bobby Cook (vocals) his brother Nick (lead guitar) and Jack (keyboards) discussed their plans for world domination.

Bobby, you had a couple of solo records out two years ago. What happened?

Bobby: We’ve always been the same band, but it started out as a sort of solo project, with me playing Ryan Adams-influenced material.

Over the years, the songs got bigger naturally, without us knowing it. Everyone started having some input, and I didn’t feel comfortable with it being just my name.

It was quite a change in direction, musically.

Bobby: I just couldn’t stand the acoustic guitar any more. I got so bored hearing Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling, Emmy The Great, all that stuff. After a while, I was like, "screw it, let’s plug in and have some rock and roll," you know?

Nick: There’s not enough British rock bands out there now, especially new up-and-coming bands.


Goldhawks

Singer Bobby Cook (right) is the band’s baritone spokesman

Why is that?

Bobby: I think everybody’s too concerned about being part of a scene.

Jack: They see what’s popular and try and make their music to fit with that.

It sometimes feels like British bands are ashamed to write big, catchy rock songs, and American bands like Kings Of Leon and The Killers have taken over that role.

Bobby: I think that, especially in the NME world, people shy away from the mainstream, in the sense of writing accessible songs.

Although you can sneak in under the radar if you’re full of doom like The Editors or White Lies.

Jack: If we ever try to be miserable, it doesn’t work. We’re just not that miserable as people.

You come from Shepherd’s Bush, and White Lies are from Ealing. It’s only about three miles apart – so why are they so unhappy, and you’re so upbeat?

Nick: Honestly, I don’t know quite why White Lies are so miserable. They’re from quite nice backgrounds.

Bobby: Ealing is proper suburbs, isn’t it. There’s no indie clubs or anything.

Jack: Maybe that’s why they’re miserable. There’s nothing going on.

You’ve named your band after the Goldhawk Road in Shepherd’s Bush. Are you quite romantic about the area?

Jack: Yeah, we were all born at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, which is not there any more, and that was on Goldhawk Road.

Nick: And we all went to the community school up the road.

Is that where the band got together?

Nick: Oddly enough, no. We didn’t connect musically until we left.

Bobby: Nick’s 18, I’m 25. It’s not cool to hang out with the younger kids when you’re at school!

How did you get signed?

Bobby: It wasn’t the most exciting story…

Jack: We weren’t doing any gigs as Goldhawks. We had a studio in our house, where we just rehearsed and wrote a few songs.

Bobby: We wrote Where In The World and sent it out as a limited edition single. The labels kind of went crazy for it.

What happened afterwards was the exciting part. Meeting [Pixies and Foo Fighters producer] Gil Norton, and recording the album in Rockfield studios in Wales.

Goldhawks

The band are setting out on a UK tour next month

Those studios have quite a rock legacy, don’t they?

Jack: They had the actual piano that they used to record Bohemian Rhapsody. I got to touch it!

Bobby: But at the same time, it wasn’t glamorous. It was like a farm. There was one occasion where a horse walked into the studio and poked its head through the door, chewing grass.

Has the horse got a credit on the album now?

Nick: No, we mixed them all out.

Have you got a name for it yet?

Bobby: We’re fairly certain we’re going to call it Trick Of Light, which is one of the songs on the album. It’s quite personal, and it seemed to sum up the mood of the album.

Nick: Obviously, with everything not being completely in your control when you’re signed, we could still "change our mind".

Will you be doing a big moody black and white photograph for the cover?

Bobby: We messed with the idea of being on the cover, but it didn’t feel right

Do you not enjoy photo shoots, then?

Nick: There’s good photo shoots and there’s bad photo shoots.

Bobby: When you have to get up at six in the morning, and go into a studio and shoot all day with costume changes and make-up, it’s very contrived.

I’ve seen some photo exhibitions where the Rolling Stones are out on tour and there’s some amazing shots when they’ve just got off stage. And I think those are what you need as a band.

Nick: The real moments tell you more about the band than any amount of posed rubbish.

Finally, you did a big performance at a Twilight fan event last year. How did that come about?

Nick: It was definitely the weirdest thing we’ve done so far. Our A&R from Mercury somehow had a connection with Twilight and got us on the bill.

Jack: There were these free runner people jumping over our heads and flipping around us while we played. And when the girls saw Robert Pattinson step on the stage… my ears!

That’s a younger audience than a rock band might be expected to target.

Jack: We’re deliberately trying to widen the demographic. It’s a good opportunity to play to people we haven’t played to before. The songs don’t exclude anyone, there’s something for everyone.

Goldhawks were speaking to BBC News entertainment reporter Mark Savage. Their debut single, Where In The World, is released on 29 March.

February 4th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Indian composer AR Rahman is known by some as the Mozart of Asia. He wrote the music to the multi award-winning Slumdog Millionaire, earning himself two Oscars, a Bafta and a Golden Globe in the process.


AR Rahman

AR Rahman’s father was also a celebrated composer

But his work on many Bollywood movies and beyond has also won many plaudits.

Now, Rahman is hoping the popularity of his work will continue with the forthcoming release of his new Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, which recently had its launch at Bafta, London.

On his recent trip to the UK he spoke to the BBC Asian Network.

You’re no stranger to London with your film projects – do you like spending time in the UK?

Yes I definitely like to spend time here. This time I’m here to collect a Fellowship Award from the Trinity College of Music. It’s very special to me because I studied Trinity College’s syllabus when I was 13.

I’m now 43 and it’s great to visit the place itself. I never expected it to be such a big college.

Talking of awards, has the success of Slumdog Millionaire sunk in yet?

It’s surreal! I think every human being has the time of their life and probably 2009 was it for me.

It’s every artist’s dream to get an Oscar or a Grammy – I’ve got two Oscars and am up for two Grammys this year too – that’s pretty cool!

I always felt our industry was isolated and needed some kind of recognition. When you look at Hollywood they have every kind of representation – Chinese, Italian and French – but you rarely find an Indian composer so I am very proud to achieve the recognition.

What kind of reaction did you get back home in India after the success of Slumdog Millionaire?

It was very overwhelming and people were full of love for me. The success of Slumdog came just a few months after the disastrous attacks in Mumbai which almost divided the country leaving people confused and very angry.

But the success of the awards brought everyone in the communities together so I felt good winning at the right time.

When you were at the Oscars you met Michael Jackson. What was he like?

I went to Michael Jackson’s house to meet him. He was such a nice guy. He even opened the door for me. We talked about life, social issues and global warming.

We met for a second time a month later and I wished him luck with his shows. I wanted to go to his rehearsals but then I heard the bad news. Such a tragedy.

Your father was a celebrated composer who died when you were still young – did he still have an influence on what you do today?

Musically he probably just taught me the basics but what he left behind was a lot of good will from musicians. Every time I went to the studios I heard good things about him which encouraged me to do well too.

Throughout my career I’ve always had pressure but most of it comes from within – so I can make myself work harder. I give everything 100%. It would be worrying if I didn’t. At the end of the day I am a perfectionist.

Tell us about your genre of music, bringing together both Indian and Western influences.

I imagine myself as a listener when I am working. So for example if I work on a multi-cultural film I know the music has to complement it. Sometimes I like producing a new sound which in turn inspires the director to move away from traditional dances and do something completely different. The director and I work together. I wouldn’t take all the credit. It’s teamwork.

How big a part does spirituality play, especially since you converted to Islam?

I try to make it spiritual. I want to create a very positive energy in the songs because so many people listen to them. Even the core and the nucleus of the song has to be true and honest and the only way to do that is set up a foundation which is spiritual.

Both my parents were Hindu but my father was influenced by Sufism and its positive energies towards leading a peaceful life. It helps us as a family to reflect on positive things in life. Being religious helps me counter greed and materialism and deal with disappointments in life as well as success. Religion is very important to me.

How do you keep the balance between work and home life?

Most of my studios are based inside my various residences especially in Chennai, London and LA so I’m always with my family. I keep checking on the kids while I am working although at certain times I do lock myself into the studio because I want to be alone. The set up works for me.

The only authorised biography of you is due out soon?

Yes it’s by Nasreen Muni Kabir and it’s called AR Rahman – The Spirit of Music and she’s still working on it. Nasreen is good as whatever she has done so far has been respected and read well so I hope her book on me is good too. It’ll be out next year.

Will you ever try directing or acting?

I’m a musician and will continue to do music and just music.

BBC Asian Network is celebrating the life and career of A R Rahman on Thursday 14 January. Highlights include an indepth interview with Gagan Grewal at 1900 GMT.

January 14th, 2010 in Entertainment

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Kenneth Branagh as Detective Kurt Wallander

Branagh has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in the first series


Kenneth Branagh is set to return to BBC One as angst-ridden Swedish detective Kurt Wallander on 3 January.

The first series wowed critics and audiences alike, winning several awards and securing a Golden Globe nomination for Branagh at the forthcoming ceremony.

Branagh is also in pre-production of a new Hollywood adaptation of comic boom hero Thor.

The first series of Wallander has been a big success, were you prepared for it?

No, but we were pleased it was something that everybody involved had such a strong instinct about. There was a lot of enthusiasm amongst us, it wasn’t just another job. It was really a passionate project for everyone.

Was it daunting to take on this iconic Swedish role, that has already been adapted for television there?

He’s a national icon, they have a love-hate relationship with Wallander and (author) Henning Mankell. They were very welcoming to us.

As far as I was concerned, playing an iconic character in a much loved author’s backyard, I’m used to working on things that are part of a classical repertory – where other people have played the role before.

I knew about the Swedish Wallander, which I have not seen, nor will I see until we put our show to bed because it would blur the edges in an unhelpful way.

For me it was proof that we were doing something that people cared about. I think those things needn’t be intimidating but can be inspiring and uplifting.

To add to the first series’ awards haul, you’ve just been nominated for a Golden Globe. Do you ever get used to award ceremonies?

Well, it’s always pleasing to see work recognised because often times it isn’t, and we’re very privileged to be in jobs that sometimes allow that to happen in a public way.

I think everyone responds to a pat on the back every now and again. It certainly doesn’t get old. It’s not why you joined but it’s very nice.

Wallander is in the classic mould of those angst-ridden TV detectives who has such empathy with the victims, it’s almost painful to watch. What drew you to him?

What we’re trying to do is show someone who, doing this job as well as he does it, really feels the pain of victims. It’s an experience you can’t help getting caught up with. It isn’t necessarily depressing, but he brings the audience in with him and reminds them that although it’s on television, it’s about real things.

We’re not taking lightly the idea of people being murdered. Wallander demands that he and his colleagues care and the drama invites the audience to do the same.


Chris Hemsworth

Star Trek actor Chris Hemsworth will play Thor in Branagh’s film

You are moving from Wallander into big-budget comic book territory, directing movie Thor, based on the Marvel character. How is it shaping up?

I can tell you only this, that we start shooting Thor in January and we have a terrific cast – and I’m right in the middle of it but I’m finding it very challenging, very enjoyable and truly rewarding. It’s a huge adventure and I’m having a very good time.

And have you been immersing yourself in comic books and nordic mythology?

All of the above, clearly I’ve been drawn to Scandinavian material from Hamlet, through Wallander, so maybe heading on to Thor was a natural development .

Kenneth Branagh was talking to BBC entertainment reporter Kev Geoghegan.

January 1st, 2010 in Entertainment

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The Priests at Abbey Road

The trio recorded parts of their new album at Abbey Road Studios

When The Priests launched their recording career last year, many assumed they were a gimmick – a desperate attempt to sustain a recession-hit recording industry.

But the trio’s self-titled debut album sold 29,000 copies in its first day of release – and went on to be named the fastest-selling classical debut of all time by the Guinness Book Of Records.

Fathers Eugene and Martin O’Hagan, and Father David Delargy have subsequently divided their time between playing to fans around the world and ecumenical duties in their Northern Ireland Catholic parishes.

With their second album, Harmony, sitting in the UK top 40, Father Eugene talked to the BBC about shedding the stuffy image of the Church in general, and The Priests’ chart battle with the Pope.

How have you coped with the success of the last year?
Well, the success of the album has been totally unexpected. It’s been exciting, it’s been thrilling, it’s been challenging for us to get our diaries worked out together, because we’re in three different parishes.

How does the music industry compare to the life of a priest?
We’ve met some wonderfully, wonderfully gifted people, who’ve been nothing less than inspirational to us, because they’re so dedicated to their work. Often they’re people who don’t share our backgrounds – but I think that has broken down an awful lot of perceptions we might have had, and that they might have had about us. So it’s been a real good two-way kind of experience.


Our main worry is that he’ll begin to tour. We’d really be up against it then

Father Eugene O’Hagan on The Pope’s rival chart career

What are those preconceptions? What’s been changed in your minds and in others?
We’ve gone into this whole world of Sony and the music industry, which is usually linked to sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. But it’s not been like that, at least not in our experience.

And I suppose there’s a perception that people might have of clergy, if they’re not watching Vicar of Dibley or Father Ted. They might think that ministers might be terribly serious. But I would like to think that hasn’t been their experience of us.

Are you saying you’re like Father Ted? Are the Church funds just resting in your account?
Ah no – we’re not like him, and we’re not stuffy. We’re happily in between!

Which one of you is most likely to turn into Father Jack?
Well, let me see now… The other two are not listening so I suppose I could mention either of their names – but I’m not going to! I think if any of us were ever heading in that direction, I think the other two would pull us back from the brink.

The Priests at the Classical Brits

The Priests’ first album was certified platinum in less than a month

This year, you’re in a chart battle with Pope Benedict. Who’s going to win?
Well, of course, the Holy Father is not the first Pope to bring out a record. I think Alma Mater, his album, is very different from the kind of music on our album – so there’s plenty of room for both. I know that there’s an eclectic mix of new compositions on Alma Mater that’s quite unique. But if it comes down to the Pope and ourselves, we’re all playing for the same team.

Our main worry is that he’ll begin to tour. We’d really be up against it then.

With all this promotional work, when are you going to find time to write your Christmas sermon?
Oh gosh, that’s going to have to begin earlier than usual. Either that, or it’ll be at the very last minute – in the hours that we can squeeze in between writing Christmas cards and getting things organised in the parish, decorating the tree and things like that.

Can you give us a preview?
The thing about Christmas is, everybody knows the message, so it doesn’t take too much explaining. Hopefully my sermon will just give people one or two things to think about. Christmas is a time of peace at a time in our lives when there’s much talk about conflict and war and terrorism. We should maybe focus on a prayer for peace for everyone.

Are there many people in your parish serving in Iraq or Afghanistan?
There are one or two – not too many from my own, small Catholic community, but there are others in the town who belong to the Church of Ireland or the Presbyterian faith, who have sons away in Afghanistan. So they’re naturally very concerned and worried that they’ll return safely and come home.

We often pray that things will work out for Afghanistan and Iraq, not just at Christmas, because we’ve had our share of turmoil in Northern Ireland which we, as priests, have worked amidst for the past 20 years.

The Priests

Father Eugene (far left) preaches in Ballyclare, County Antrim

Have there been occasions where people say they have changed their outlook on life after listening to your music?
We have had emails and letters and texts from people who have said that. People who don’t share our faith whatsoever, and may never have had contact with an institutional church of any description, but who’ve said the music has touched them, just a little bit, when they least expected it.

What about the opposite reaction? Have you come across people who dislike religion, or the Church, and are determined to confront you about it?
We haven’t come across anyone who’s pointed a finger and said, ‘what you’re doing is offensive’ – but we’re not so naive as to think it doesn’t exist. It does, and I’m sure if someone had the opportunity they would.

What we do is not in any way crusade-like. We want simply to allow people to share our love of music. And if people don’t have faith or any particular religious viewpoint, that’s fine, I respect that. I would just hope they, in turn, respect that we have an equal right to express our own views and aspirations, gently and un-aggressively, through the medium of music.

In the liner notes for the CD, you discuss in detail the musical history behind each individual track. Is that as important to you as the religious message?
There are many facets to everyone – and maybe the album has destroyed that little preconception that ministers and clergymen aren’t real people. There’s not necessarily a deep, religious reason behind the songs we chose for the album. they have simply touched us in some way, and we want to share it. Like any fan of music.

Do people come to your church just to hear you chant the Mass now that you’re a renowned singer?
I think a few have come alright. The release of our debut album has not been an antidote, shall we say, to the declining attendance in any of our parishes. But, having said that, there have been occasions when people in the parish have brought relatives and friends who have been staying.

Do they bring CDs for you to sign?
Oh yes! And they ask if I can get the other two to sign it as well, so we’ve set that up, where we can make that possible. The album has had very practical ecumenical benefits for each and everyone of us, which is a very happy consequence of a very simple love of music.

Harmony is out now on Sony Records.

December 11th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Norah Jones

Norah Jones’ debut album is the tenth biggest seller of the noughties

Grammy-winner Norah Jones releases her fourth album studio The Fall today.

Seven years ago, aged 22, Jones burst onto the music scene with her multi-award winning debut album Come Away With Me.

This time around, she is experimenting with a variety of genres and also recently collaborated on a track with hip hop star Q-Tip.

The album was produced by Jacquire King, who has also worked with the likes of Tom Waits and Kings of Leon.

You’ve experimented with several different sounds on this album – were you trying to break with the past?

I felt compelled to do it because the timing felt right. I made some demos of the songs, and I liked them but it didn’t sound much different from my last record, sonically. I really wanted to experiment and I knew I’d have to use different people if I wanted to do all that stuff. I hired a great producer to help me get out of my comfort zone.

Do you think this points the way you’re going next?

Maybe. I’m trying to take it one album at a time. There’s lot of things I want to do but they’re all over the place.

Do you feel a lot of pressure to live up to the Grammys you won for your debut album?

It put a lot of pressure on me but I tried to not think about it too much and I still try to not let that pressure in when I’m actually making music, but certainly you feel it. Having made three albums now I feel a lot less pressure and I feel a lot of freedom to just try things out, which is great.

You recently recorded a track with Q Tip – how did that come about?

We had some mutual friends and he wanted me to sing on a song. I’ve always admired what he does, so I did it and it was fun. We just did a video, which is cute.

In 2007, you starred in My Blueberry Nights with Jude Law – are you planning to pursue acting again?

Not necessarily. It was a great experience, and it was fun, but acting and being in a movie is such a huge time commitment I’m not sure I’m prepared to do it again unless I had a really long period where I didn’t want to make music. It’s just so time consuming, I’m just lazy I guess.


When they put my record out I had very low expectations, and it was just insane

Norah Jones

Your songs have been featured in several TV talent shows, such as Dancing with the Stars in the US – could you ever see yourself being a contestant?

I can’t really see myself doing that because it’s so public. I’d play a song on that show, I don’t know if I’d be able to dance on it though. I like silly Bollywood dancing, I’m not sure if I could do ballroom dancing.

You recently played at an Apple press conference for the launch of iTunes 9. How do you feel about how downloading has taken over from physical music?

I think it’s important for people who love music to retain physical CDs or even vinyl, because it sounds so great and so much warmer than music over the internet. You’ve got to go with the flow. I download stuff from iTunes, when I’m travelling it’s the most convenient thing. I hope there are some audiophiles still out there.

What about the problem of illegal downloaders?

I have mixed feelings, because I think it’s great for young people who don’t have the ability or the money to buy lots of music to be exposed to music, but I definitely agree that you shouldn’t be able to just download a bunch of albums for free. I don’t know what the right step to take is.

Do you think it’s harder for young artists to make it now than it was when you started?

For a young artist to really make it and make money is a lot more difficult these days. I have a friend in New York who’s quite well known and she still seems to struggle, and I think it’s partly because of the whole downloading thing. You can’t make as much money selling records these days.

Did you ever doubt you’d make it?

I had very modest expectations when I first moved to New York. I didn’t even expect to get a record deal. When they put my record out I had very low expectations and it was insane – it really baffled me. I didn’t even have time for goals yet, I was so young.

Norah Jones was speaking to BBC 6 Music reporter Rodrigo Davies.

November 16th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Stephen Moyer is the latest British actor to take US television by storm as vampire good guy Bill Compton in the hit show True Blood, which starts on Channel 4 later.


Stephen Moyer

Moyer has played a vampire once before for a BBC show

With his flawless southern-US drawl and chiselled Hollywood good looks, it is a surprise that the 39-year-old hails from Essex, far from the fictional swampy Louisiana town of Bon Temps.

In the show, vampires have been drawn into the open after the invention of a new synthetic human blood substitute called True Blood.

Moyer’s character – an American civil war soldier who turned vamp in 1868 – begins a love affair with telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin.

He is now engaged to his co-star who, in 1994 at the age of 11, became one of the youngest Oscar winners in history for her performance in The Piano.

The show has been a huge hit in the US already. Are your American fans still surprised when they meet you and hear your English accent?

However much press that Hugh Laurie does and however many interviews they see him sounding English, when they meet him in the street, they still can’t believe it and that’s the reaction I get.

It’s lovely for me, you know, I have dark hair in the show and I’m pale and I have the dark sideburns so it’s like a whole costume by itself. It’s very enjoyable.

I would ask how exciting it was to be play a vampire, but you’ve already played one in the BBC series Ultraviolet. Did that make it easier the second time around?

Well, the character I played in Ultraviolet loved being a vampire and the character this time is somebody who struggles with it. He struggles with the fact that he has to feed on humans.

He’s trying to live a decent life and is very conflicted and tortured which is great fun to play.

True Blood

The cast is about to begin filming the third season of True Blood

At the moment, most vampires seem to be brooding and self-loathing – don’t you miss the gleefully evil, sexy vamps who enjoy drinking the blood of young virgins?

Oh, there’s plenty of them in our show. And as we get deeper into the show, we get to meet those vampires that you’re talking about . And Bill, for all his attempts at being a decent – for want of a better word, human – is conflicted and he won’t prey on the innocent.

But he’s quite happy to find people who cause pain to Sookie and if he finds them, he will take them down.

There are quite a few parallels in the story with, for example, the American civil rights struggle. Many vampires are just looking for social acceptance.

Definitely, as soon as you get told that Alan Ball [Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty and Six Feet Under] is involved, you have to take it a bit more seriously. It’s not going to be just some camp romp, although there is some of that.

But when I read it, I saw parallels between segregation between black and white and the issue of homosexuality and any minority that you want to bring to the table. Bill has gone through such pain and has lost his wife and children and you really do feel for him.

Do you have a favourite portrayal of a vampire – who is the definitive bloodsucker?

For me , the original Nosferatu is just so compelling and dark and weird. Our fascination with vampires didn’t really start until after that and they made the vampire attractive.

I’m a massive fan of Gary Oldman and I also love Hammer and the new Swedish movie, Let The Right One In, was an extraordinary film.

There’s a current revived interest in vampires which has surely helped True Blood’s success. On the flipside, are you worried that people will start to tire of the craze?

You do think when will the zeitgeist end and when will people stop being interested, but I think that Alan has created so many ideas within our show.

The second season has already gone out in America and it was even bigger than the first season so there’s going to be werewolves, there’s going to be other supernatural characters.

Ultimately it’s just a framework for telling a story. Our show isn’t really about vampires, it’s about human relationships and how people interact with each other.

Anna Pacquin

Paquin’s character is initially ostracised for her relationship with Bill

You met your new fiancee on the show. Do you find it hard to switch off when you go home for the day?

We both love the show, Anna and I, and if we have a scene coming up, maybe we feel that we’ve seen before, we’ll try and do it in a different way and we’ll talk about work then. We always try and make it fresh, but when we’ve done that – it just becomes about life, not vampires any more. We met on set, everyone knows us on set and as a couple, but that’s really where it stops.

You celebrate your 40th birthday later this week, have you got a big party planned?

I’ve got a bunch of friends coming out to a country house that I have rented for the weekend and we are going to make merry.

We’ve got an Indian Elvis playing and we’ve got some children’s entertainers and it’s going to be a riot.

I’m sure my ‘hilarious’ friends will be doing something with comedy teeth.

True Blood starts on Channel 4 at 2200 BST on 7 October. Stephen Moyer was talking to BBC News entertainment reporter Kev Geoghegan.

October 7th, 2009 in Entertainment

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He is best known for his trademark thick, bushy hair and Bristolian accent.

Former Friday Night Project presenter Justin Lee Collins has now penned his autobiography.

Named after his catchphrase Good Times, the book reveals his bed- wetting problem and why he is planning to retire.

The first few chapters cover circumcision, masturbation and you wetting the bed – was nothing off limits?


Justin Lee Collins

No, nothing, not really. I just wanted it to be honest and I think that’s the stuff that’s revealing.

I could have done a book that listed all the TV shows that I’ve worked on and describe what they were like, who I liked and who I didn’t like – but that would reveal nothing about me.

There’s no coke addiction, there’s no massive accident or illness, but it’s incredibly revealing.

It’s the little things, those things that most people wouldn’t wish to talk about like wetting the bed. I haven’t done it since I was 17 so cut me some slack.

Were you nervous about your loved ones reading it?

A little bit. There are a couple of things in the book that concerned me slightly, because I’m very close to my family and I was worried about my Dad not coming across very well early on.

We’re so close and I love him dearly. I was worried that it might come across that I was hammering my Dad when I’m not. But he’s fine with it.

Do you get recognised a lot and do you mind?

Yes I do get recognised and it’s starting to bother me now, and I don’t quite know why.

I think it’s because I’m looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel, because I’m looking to retire quite soon. Three years and I’ll be done.

You are only 35, are you not a bit young to retire?

I want to open up a bookshop in Bristol. I love to read, that’s my favourite pastime.

Alan Carr

Lee Collins said Carr is “naturally funny”

I’ve done everything that I wanted to do. I’m happy within myself, I love my family, I’ve got two little boys that I want to spend more time with and there are elements within this industry that aren’t so hot and that I don’t like so much.

Such as?

There’s a lot of nonsense – I’m growing uncomfortable with having the spotlight on me all the time. I think I’ve had it on me for long enough.

Are you still in contact with Alan Carr, who you presented The Friday Night Project with?

Yes he’s one of my best friends. He’s the most naturally funny man I’ve ever met. We holiday together. I love him dearly.

Neither one of us knew why the Project worked. Part of the reason it worked was there was never any sense of competition.

Justin Lee Collins was talking to BBC Entertainment reporter Fiona Pryor. Good Times is published on Thursday 24 September.

September 24th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Thomas Sangster and Ian McDiarmid

Thomas Sangster plays Ian McDiarmid’s pupil in The Pickerskill Reports


Shakespearean actor and Tony award winner Ian McDiarmid will be forever etched on the minds of cinema-goers as the evil Senator Palpatine aka Darth Sidious in the Star Wars franchise.

He is now stepping into the shoes of the late Ian Richardson to play a school headmaster in the Radio 4 drama series The Pickerskill Reports.

The series focuses on a different pupil or former pupil each week – with the young star of Nanny McPhee, Thomas Sangster, among the actors – and their relationship with the charismatic head.

Speaking from the Edinburgh Festival where he was taking in some shows, McDiarmid chatted about his own school days, taking a break from acting and his career-defining role in Star Wars.

You’re playing a headmaster in this Radio 4 drama, can you tell us a bit about it?

It’s the story of a headmaster at a public school, a kind of Mr Chips figure, but maybe darker. He’s got a very maudlin sense of humour but he’s very supportive of the pupils he teaches – and has taught, because most of them are former pupils in this series – who have got an anarchistic bend.

He’s more interested in individuals than he is in churning out people for the corporate system. He gets involved with these enterprising young boys in lots of ways and sometime enters into a competition with them. He’s taught them and he’s proud of them and he’s proud of their sense of adventure as much as their actual learning.

Did you draw on any of your own teachers for the part?

No, I didn’t have any teachers like that. It was just a wonderful script, that was the reason I wanted to do it. It’s very amusing and very literate. [Writer and director] Andrew McGibbon offers lots of opportunities to actors so I knew I’d get to work with some good actors over the series.

Do you have fond memories of school yourself?

No, not particularly. Friends I’ve made, situations I found myself in. They weren’t the happiest days of my life.

You took over the role from the late Ian Richardson, did you have any reservations about that?

None whatsoever, I was delighted to be asked. I thought he was a wonderful actor and I didn’t hear what he had done. I could have listened, but that’s not a very good idea – but when I read them I kind of had his voice in my head. So in a sense I’m happy to carry on as a kind of tribute to him.

I did know him, not well, but I did admire him as a remarkable actor.

As a respected former artistic director of London’s Almeida Theatre are you an easy person to direct?


Star Wars

Senator Palpatine (l) appears in all the Star Wars film in different ranks

I’ve not been an artistic director for about five years and, even when I did that job, I saw myself as an actor who ran a theatre. Most actors like to be directed well. Nobody likes to be directed badly. It’s a collaborative venture. In some areas directors take the lead, while in others, the actors do.

Do you have a desire to get back to directing?

No, I’m just enjoying acting. It’s nice now to take a back seat. I do still get involved with things but not in the 24-hour a day terms, which is what it’s like when you’re running a theatre. Not that you’re there all the time, but your brain is.

You had a health scare on stage last year (he was widely reported to have finished a play despite having a suspected heart attack), has this affected your career at all?

I don’t talk about it. I’ve nothing to worry about and it hasn’t made any difference to my working life.

You’ve got this vast body of work but to many generations you are most recognised for Star Wars, does that bother you?

No, it’s great. It’s extraordinary – and thank goodness my face isn’t that recognisable.

As the series went on of course, they took more and more latex away and more of me was revealed. But the franchise has gone to sleep a little bit over the past few years, so I can get by without being stopped on the street on a regular basis.

It was a great thing to do and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was an enormous lucky break and great fun, and I always speak fondly of it.

Do you get involved in the Star Wars fan world?

I haven’t no. I try to keep separate from that. There’s the odd charity event when people ask me where I’ll go along and say hello and chat and be interviewed, or whatever they like, but no I don’t really want to be involved in that side, but I love being involved in the movies.

Some of the actors have made it their life and career

They have and they have made a good life out of it and good luck to them.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m not working on anything specific at the moment but last year I wrote something that went well and I was encouraged by that so I’m thinking about writing other things – that’s where my head is at the moment. I’m not telling anyone about it, so don’t feel singled out!

So you’re really just having some down time at the moment?

Yes, there are all sorts of projects going on, there will be things happening next year but, as we speak, I’m just enjoying being in the audience for a while.

I enjoy going to the theatre, concerts, galleries, spending time with friends, and a glass of wine every now and then.

Ian McDiarmid was talking to BBC Entertainment reporter Keily Oakes. The Pickerskill Reports begins on Radio 4 on Friday, 28 August at 1130 BST.

August 27th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Singer Jocelyn Brown is renowned for her powerful voice, which she has been committing to record for more than 30 years.


Jocelyn Brown

Jocelyn Brown is the vocal power behind many disco and clubland hits

The 58-year-old, who was born in the US but has lived in London for nearly 20 years, has lent her vocals to a whole host of club acts.

Her biggest hits include Always There with Incognito and Somebody Else’s Guy, a track in her own name from 1984, while her voice was sampled for Snap’s 1990 chart-topper The Power.

She also took part in two series of the BBC’s duet show, Just The Two of Us.

With another single in the pipeline, the diva discussed her career to date, her famous friends – and her idea for a TV show.

You’ve spent much of your career lending your voice to other artists. Do you ever wish you were the party hostess rather than the guest?

No. It’s never brought to me like that. It’s because someone’s asked me if I’ll sing for them.

Is it important for you to meet acts before getting involved with them?

It’s very important because you want to know how they think and function. If things aren’t going the way they hoped, I stress to them that the music business is like having a baby, but might take more than nine months! I don’t hold back from telling them to prepare themselves for the unexpected.

Have you ever been disappointed by any of your projects?

Jocelyn Brown and TV presenter Matt Allwright

The singer performed on BBC duets contest Just The Two of Us

No. I have no regrets. If you’re going to be in this business, you have to deal with what you’ve done.

How do you get on with the other dance record divas, such as Martha Wash and Kym Mazelle?

We’ve been friends for years and we’ll stay that way. The music does two things for us – it brings us together and helps us to survive together. It will always be like that.

Have you ever heard a track and wished you had performed it?

I’m Every Woman is one of the baddest tunes I’ve heard in my life, and hearing Chaka Khan sing it was even more intense because the woman delivered it.

But wanting to have done it instead of her? Naah.

You’re considering putting together a greatest hits record. What tracks would you like to be on it?

It’ll reflect the good old times, especially the club era when I worked with Chic and Change.

Is it a sign that Jocelyn Brown is about to slow down?

No, I think that’s cashing in on the goods! [chuckles heartily]

Club divas aren’t necessarily associated with live performances. What’s your take on going on stage?

It’s really cool, but it’s a lot of work. I’m not saying I couldn’t give you a three-hour show, but I’d definitely be calling on my friends and saying ‘come and help’! [laughs] Back home that would be a kind of Las Vegas show.

Chaka Khan

I’m Every Woman [by Chaka Khan, pictured] is one of the baddest tunes I’ve heard in my life

Jocelyn Brown

Folks like myself are more club-orientated, like the Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scotts.

It’s been 20 years since dance act Black Box used a model to lip-synch their hit Ride On Time. What did you make of that?

I wouldn’t have let them get away with it – taking my voice and not putting me in a video. At least have me in the video so people can see where the voice comes from. It was hard for a model to try to mimic those voices. Folks know she didn’t do the voice. It was all about image.

You took part in Just The Two of Us for the BBC. Is there any more in the pipeline?

I’m not sure, but I’d like the BBC to come to me about a situation I’ve got stuck up my sleeve that I think they’d love, which would include music from back in the day, duets – and cooking.

I’m a chunky mamma, with the size to prove that food is really good. I think it’s important for people to know that singers can cook too.

Food tastes so much better if you sing while you’re making it.

Love Alibi by Camboso featuring Jocelyn Brown is released in the UK on 24 August. The singer talked to BBC News entertainment reporter Michael Osborn.

August 24th, 2009 in Entertainment

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(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer is released in cinemas on 2 September

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is best known for starring in US comedy Third Rock from the Sun and 1999 teen movie 10 Things I Hate About You.

Shaking off his past as a child actor, in recent years he has earned accolades for his roles as a gay hustler in 2004′s Mysterious Skin and teenage loner Brendan in detective drama Brick.

His latest film, (500) Days of Summer, is an off-beat romantic comedy about a woman – played by Zooey Deschanel – who doesn’t believe true love exists.

This is not a typical love story is it?

I think it’s true that most of the stuff that comes out of Hollywood that’s supposed to be a love story makes you roll your eyes, because you know your going to be sold a false bill of goods.

You know it’s going to be two people riding off into the sunset, but that’s not reality and not how love really feels or really is.

I think this is more romantic than that stuff because that’s the car salesman version of romance, it’s not the real lovers’ version.

You strongly identify with your character as it’s based on personal experience to a certain extent isn’t it?

Well I have been broken-hearted before. We didn’t want to sell that short – a lot of comedies when it comes to the time for the character to be emotional, it’s made fun of and goofy.

I actually have recently been doing more drama stuff than comedy and I wanted it to be honest. The laughs don’t come from the gags or someone showing their hairy balls – people laugh at this movie because people say, ‘I’ve been there before, I know what that’s like’.

(500) Days of Summer

Zooey Deschanel stars in the film opposite Levitt

This movie has a lot of cynicism about it, is that going to fly in America?

I’m pleased to report and represent my country and culture and say that I think, especially us young ‘uns, are changing a bit, and a little less ready to buy into the excessive dribble that you can fairly characterise the last decade of our culture with.

You’re best known for Third Rock from the Sun. Is making the jump back into films tricky?

That’s the thing about acting, if you do one role then people will think that’s you and the challenge is to always do something different.

My favourite actors are chameleons – people like Gary Oldman or Daniel Day-Lewis. You don’t see the actor when you watch them, you see the character.

You’re in GI Joe as well.

That was really fun to do – I have a full prosthetic on my entire head and do an entirely other kind of acting as an arch villain.

That was really fun and totally different from this and that type of diversity is what really turns me on.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was speaking on BBC Breakfast. (500) Days of Summer is released in cinemas on 2 September.

August 22nd, 2009 in Entertainment

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Noel Clarke

Clarke won the Bafta Rising Star award earlier this year

Noel Clarke is best known for his role as Mickey Smith in Doctor Who and Wyman Norris in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

But the actor has also turned his hand to screenwriting and penned the edgy urban drama Kidulthood, as well as writing, directing and starring as swaggering troublemaker Sam in its follow-up Adulthood.

Earlier this year, the star picked up the Bafta Rising Star award – which recognises emerging talent, beating competition from Juno star Michael Cera and British actress Rebecca Hall.

He is on the judging panel with Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey and James Bond actress Gemma Arterton for this year’s Virgin Media Shorts, a short film competition which champions up-and-coming British film talent.

How did you get involved with Virgin Media Shorts?

I wanted to do it because it’s supporting young and up-and-coming talent. It’s something I really believe in because I think we have such a great industry here but it could get so much better if young and new talent are allowed to come through.

I wanted to be involved in something that gives people an opportunity to start off in short films and gives them the chance to have their films broadcast on four different mediums – online, mobile, on TV and in cinemas.

Have you met any other the other judges and how will judging work?

I’ve met Gemma Arterton a couple of times but not Kevin Spacey. We’re all going to sit in a room together and judge them fairly.


I’m not here to please anyone – I’m here to pay my mortgage, feed my son and try and have a career. If people don’t like me they can switch off and not see what I make.

The winner in this competition will receive £30,000, but how far can that get you in the film industry?

If you’re clever, you can get away with making a feature for £30,000. It’s to make another short film, but if they’re clever and know what you want and can pull a few favours, they could make a feature.

If they’ve made these ones on very little, it’s a chance to show what you can do on a budget. £30,000 is easily enough to get a short film done of good quality.

What advice would you give to aspiring film-makers?

Just keep going. Make your films any way you can – cobble together finance. If you’ve got a 10-year plan and you’re 16, save £10 a day or beg, borrow and buy equipment. Just get it done because that’s all I did.

It’s not the industry you can give up because the moment you start thinking that way, then other people who want to do it will and you’ll be out the door, so you just need to persevere all the time.

You’ve written, directed and starred in the same film – is it difficult to not be too precious about your work?

Not for me because the job goes over any sort of personal feelings. If there’s a take I feel I’ve not got 100% right, but the first director says we have to move on, then we have to move on. I’m not a person who’s precious about lines being cut.

Doctor Who

Clarke starred in the first two series of the re-launched Doctor Who

Did you get any feedback from Kidulthood director Menhaj Huda on your efforts on Adulthood?

Yeah, he loved it. He’s directed something else I wrote, which is why he couldn’t do Adulthood in the first place. I don’t know if he would say it was a better film as he made the first film but he thought it was a great continuation of the story.

You’re full of confidence – are you worried people may perceive this as arrogance?

I’m sure they do, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m not overly confident – I know my flaws: I know what I can and can’t do and what I’m incapable of. I just do what I do.

I’m not here to please anyone – I’m here to pay my mortgage, feed my son and try and have a career. If people don’t like me they can switch off and not see what I make.

Is it true you are going to appear in David Tennant’s last Doctor Who and your character will marry Martha?

It’s an interesting theory. I’ll be sitting there watching and if I appear, you can call me up and say "Oh, you’re there", but until it happens, I don’t know what’s going to happen. When was I supposed to have filmed it?

Tell me something that should be in the news but isn’t.

I think entertainment gets too much news. Rock stars who take drugs and fall down on stage should be banned from the news and we should give them less publicity because then, they will sell less albums. Essentially by doing that, you’re telling young people that they can do this rubbish and get away with it.

But I also think we should be going to see the young soldiers on some of the army bases and let them know we appreciate them. In America they do a lot more – it’s not about supporting any wars, it’s about supporting the soldiers. Get them some gigs – Katherine Jenkins is well and good but maybe they want to see Dizzee Rascal.

Noel Clarke was talking to BBC entertainment reporter Genevieve Hassan

August 6th, 2009 in Entertainment

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July 23rd, 2009 in Entertainment

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Rebecca Miller

Rebecca Miller says her latest film was “emotionally demanding”

Being the daughter of legendary playwright Arthur Miller and Austrian photographer Inge Morath, it was perhaps inevitable Rebecca Miller would have a career in the creative arts.

Her various careers as an actress, writer and director, though, have enabled her to step out from her late father’s long shadow.

Her latest film, adapted from her own novel, is The Private Lives of Pippa Lee – a drama about a housewife, played by Robin Wright Penn, who is having what she describes as "a very quiet nervous breakdown".

At the Edinburgh International Film Festival last month, Miller spoke about the film, her leading lady and her distinguished lineage.

Pippa is a woman who realises there is more to life than a comfortable existence with her wealthy publisher husband. How much of you is in the character?

Pippa is not particularly autobiographical. However, her characteristics, preoccupations and fears are all things I’m working through in my work.

I’m pretty far from Pippa as a character, which is partly why I love her so much. But at the same time I feel very close to the story.

I think as a storyteller you take yourself further down a road you know to be your own than you would ever go. If you limit yourself to autobiography, you run out of things to say really fast because you can only live so much.

The world Pippa lives in is quite a precious and pretentious one. Was there a danger this might prove alienating to the audience?

Yes, it’s hard to represent literate people without making them seem like tossers! But at the same time I’m interested in that world, of people who are involved with words either as writers or as publishers.

Robin Wright Penn and Keanu Reeves in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

Robin Wright Penn and Keanu Reeves star in the film

I think it’s refreshing to see literate people on screen, though Pippa herself isn’t really part of that world – her intelligence is less book-learned, more instinctive.

The film is about a woman who wakes up and breaks free. Was that the message you wanted to put across?

I just think the temptation to put different parts of ourselves in boxes is tremendous. We are adaptive creatures; we adapt to marriage, we adapt to having children and so on. We begin to mutate and change. That’s only natural, but with that comes a kind of repression.

I think a lot of people are actually depressed because they’ve repressed so many elements of their natural selves in order to behave. I’m not saying that is necessarily bad, just that consciousness is good. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to just drift away from our natural selves without being conscious of it.

Why did you cast Robin Wright Penn in the title role?

I really believe that Robin is one of the finest actresses of her generation. She’s just an extraordinary actress and has so much inside her in terms of range. I think she could go up against any of the so-called big actresses.

And what’s great about her too is she hasn’t worked too much – you haven’t seen her do everything yet. She’s got a lot left to surprise people with and she has a quality about her that’s quite ageless and timeless. I think it has something to do with her cheek bones!

In addition to Robin Wright Penn, your cast includes Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder and Monica Bellucci. Did you intentionally set out to fill your movie with strong female parts?

I didn’t set out thinking I was going to contribute to the cause of women by giving them good roles. But it does so happen that my reality is filled with strong, interesting women, so my work reflects that. As a film-maker, though, it is one of the contributions I am able to make.

Rebecca Miller and Robin Wright Penn

I really believe that Robin is one of the finest actresses of her generation

Rebecca Miller

The film also features Keanu Reeves sporting a remarkable Jesus tattoo on his chest. How did that come about?

It was quite a tattoo! It took a huge amount of effort to get it properly designed; we went through several tattoo artists and nobody got it right. I felt it should be more Mexican in style but the guy who was doing it kept on doing it wrong.

So I went to Julian Schnabel’s studio and told him I was having problems. He made a painting on a piece of cardboard which ended up being used as the basis for what the tattoo looked like. He doesn’t get a credit; he’ll just have to live with the knowledge he did me a favour.

How did you find working with your actor husband Daniel Day-Lewis on your 2005 film The Ballad of Jack and Rose?

It was good, if tough – it was a tough, emotionally demanding film to make. But we had a great time collaboratively; it was really wonderful and fruitful.

It deepened the friendship part of our relationship because when you’re doing something like that you have to create a room that’s not your marriage in order to work together. And he wouldn’t do something like that as a favour. I know he did it because he really wanted to do it.

Was it inevitable you would follow your parents into the family business?

I wasn’t any good at anything else! All my skills and talents had to do with making art in one way or another, so it seemed natural.

I suppose if everyone in the family is a trapeze artist it’s pretty easy to find yourself flying through the air at a very early age.

I do think you can choose to embrace that or deny it and become a scientist. My math skills weren’t good enough, so it was the trapeze for me.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is out on 10 July. Rebecca Miller was talking to BBC News website entertainment reporter Neil Smith.

July 10th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Keri Hilson

The album In a Perfect World features a song co-written by Justin Timberlake

US singer-songwriter Keri Hilson has appeared as a guest vocalist on hits including UK number one The Way I Are by Timbaland, which she also co-wrote.

Other big hits she has co-written include Gimme More, by Britney Spears, and Love In This Club Part II, by Usher, and she has appeared in videos including Ne-Yo’s Miss Independent.

Her album, In a Perfect World – her first as an artist in her own right – features guest appearances from Akon, Lil Wayne, Timbaland, Ne-Yo and Kanye West and went to number four in the US.

Hilson, 26, talks about British food, working with Britney Spears and her new single Knock You Down, which is out in the UK on Monday.

You’ve written a lot of songs for big artists. How do you decide which songs to keep for yourself and which songs to give away?

I have to distinguish when I’m being Keri the artist and when I’m being Keri the writer. There are two kinds of sessions going on.

Timbaland and Keri Hilson

Keri Hilson and Timbaland scored a global hit with The Way I Are

I wouldn’t go in the studio and give someone something I’m working on for myself. In much the same way, I can’t sing something I’m working on for someone else.

The title of Timbaland’s 2007 hit The Way I Are is grammatically incorrect. Is this some kind of American street slang? How did you come up with it?

We just wanted a catchier title than The Way You Are.

I was joking and saying, ‘the way I is’ and then ‘the way I are’. Both of them are incorrect and so I was kinda torn between which one to use and I let Timbaland decide and he said, ‘no, I like the way I are’.

You’ve praised British crisps, or chips as you call them, on your Twitter page. What are your favourites?

I didn’t really like the Monster Munch – I think it tasted kinda like the chips with ketchup.

But I did like all of Walkers. I don’t think I had one of Walkers that I didn’t like. They were so good. I like the prawn cocktail and the salt and vinegar.

Which other British food do you like?

I tried shepherd’s pie. I love shepherd’s pie. See, I like very hearty food and that was very hearty. It was like a good meal. There wasn’t much on the plate but it was so filling.

You know what I wanted though but I didn’t get? Cottage pie. Isn’t cottage pie or Cumberland pie the one with cheese? I’ve had that before.

You’ve worked with lots of big stars. Who was your favourite?


I always wanted to be a fly on the wall during his sessions and I got to do one better and work with him so it was an amazing experience

Keri Hilson on working with Justin Timberlake

It’s a toss-up really between Justin Timberlake [who co-wrote her album track Slow Dance] and Britney.

Britney was seven months pregnant and she was very focused even though there was a lot going on outside while she was pregnant with her second child when she was going through all the media hype.

I mean, Justin’s incredible. I always wanted to be a fly on the wall during his sessions and I got to do one better and work with him so it was an amazing experience.

Your forthcoming single Knock You Down features Kanye West and Ne-Yo, who co-wrote it with you. How did that come about?

Ne-Yo and I have wanted to do a song together for quite some time but we just never found the perfect song. When I had this, quickly I thought, ‘oh maybe this could be a duet, maybe this could be the one that I do with Ne-Yo’. So we made that happen.

Keri Hilson

Hilson denies “dissing” Beyonce Knowles on a remix

We were about to turn the album in right at the last minute and then I was working with Kanye on something else. That’s how I began working with him and it was purely an accident how he got on that song – it was just me and Ne-Yo.

Kanye asked me: ‘How do you feel about your album?’

And I said: ‘Oh it’s going great’.

I wouldn’t normally say this – I don’t know what got into me – but I said: ‘Well the only thing missing is you.’

I was tongue in cheek but he said: ‘Well I’d love to – can I be on it?’

And I said: ‘Not now because we’re turning it in, in the morning.’

But he said: ‘Well, if there’s something I can do tonight before they turn it in.’

We booked the session before he changed his mind and he went in and murdered it.

You’ve been accused of "dissing" Beyonce in a remix of your single Turnin’ Me On [it features the lyric, 'your vision cloudy if you think you the best, you can dance, she can sing, but need to move it to the left']. Is this true?

Bros

Matt Goss, pictured left with Bros, co-wrote an album track

I’m not hating Beyonce or anyone else for that matter. I was addressing some people who tried to turn me off.

I used lyrics from a popular Beyonce song [Irreplaceable]. I sampled "to the left, to the left" but it was nothing to her or about her.

Now that I listen to it, I understand where it was coming from. The song’s really about how long and hard I fought to get where I’m at.

The song Change Me on your album, featuring Akon, is co-written by Matt Goss, of late 1980s British boy band Bros. Were you a Brosette?

No. I wasn’t aware of this. I’ve actually never met him. No, I had no idea who he was.

June 22nd, 2009 in Entertainment

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The Smiths, Electronic, Bryan Ferry, The The, Crowded House and Kirsty MacColl,

Just some of the many acts Johnny Marr has written songs with over the years.

The former Smiths guitarist is currently a full-time member of Leeds band The Cribs and was given the classic song writer award at the Mojo awards.


Johnny Marr

The star was awarded the classic songwriter prize at the Mojo awards

So what’s the secret to song-writing?

Don’t give up, don’t be put off. They are not all going to be great, no matter who you are – it’s hard.

I love it. I’ve been lucky and had some ones that have been easy, and I’ve had some ones I’ve had to slog at. The secret is to know that there is no secret. There’s no formula.

I’m a collaborator really. What I do is try to get inspired 100%, hope that happens. Then hopefully you are working with someone else who is equally inspired, and then out of that comes something which is 300% because the combination of the two is something special.

I had that with Kirsty MacColl a lot. I had it with The Smiths, with Morrissey – and I have it with The Cribs.

Where’s an unusual place you’ve written a song we’d all know?

I’ve written a couple of songs on aeroplanes and I’ve written a song in a doctor’s waiting room. It was the music for The Smith’s track Stretch Out and Wait. Luckily for me, I’ve got a pretty good memory for chords and all of that.

The weirdest thing was when I started writing a Healers song as I went on holiday one time. I was in the airport checking in and I hadn’t brought a guitar with me.

I had to remember the song for two weeks, while I was away on a really dreadful holiday, and every day I was just trying to remember this song. I kind of made life a misery for everybody I was with.

I had to wait until I got home. I got out the taxi, into the house, out came the guitar and I played it and it was absolutely awful.


I doubt it very much – unless he’s interested in guesting with one of the bands I’m in.

Johnny Marr on the prospect of sharing a stage with Morrissey again

What’s the best song you’ve written?

The best song I’ve written is Get The Message by Electronic, with Bernard Sumner. It’s great because I have no idea how it happened – I can remember starting with a bassline.

Ten minutes later the backing track was done, and then this person who I find interesting and unfathomable came in and wrote these words which were interesting and unfathomable with an amazing atmosphere. It seemed like it belonged to somebody else.

What was great about that song was that it didn’t sound like The Smiths, and it didn’t sound like New Order. That was why I thought we’d done something really unique.

There are also some songs I’ve just written with The Cribs. One’s called City of Bugs – that is, right now, a song I think is equal to Get The Message.

You’ve worked with some unlikely people recently – Girls Aloud was unexpected.

Yeah it was, it wasn’t really work to be honest. I don’t mean that in any disparaging way – I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to.

I heard a track and a producer said: "What would you play on that?" I said: "The track needs this," and I played it. Then I heard another track and I said you need to put some harmonica on that and I liked it. Off we went – it was great.

Will you ever do live shows with Girls Aloud?

(Laughs) With Girls Aloud? I don’t think there’s any danger of that.

Johnny Marr

Marr has recently collaborated with Girls Aloud and the Pet Shop Boys

Will we ever see you on stage with Morrissey?

I doubt it very much. Unless he’s interested in guesting with one of the bands I’m in. I don’t think that’s going to happen really for some reason.

Are you still in Modest Mouse as well as The Cribs?

Modest Mouse has taken a vague hiatus, because Isaac the main guy is doing some music for a film.

The thing with Modest Mouse is it’s kind of a real bunch of super grown-ups. I can play with them any time I like. We live in the same town of Portland, Oregon and I probably will be popping up on a few of their records.

I’m in The Cribs though. The Cribs is the band I get in a van with, go to soundchecks with and live with at the moment.

As a Manchester City fan what is your reaction to Ronaldo going to Real Madrid for £80 million?

As a person I just can’t get my head around £80m being spent on any person. I think it’s obscene. I think it’s a disgrace personally. I can’t really be glib about that – £80m on a sportsman – is he really that important? I don’t think so.

What is worth £80m?

Some hospitals in India perhaps.

Johnny Marr was speaking to BBC 5 Live entertainment reporter Colin Paterson.

June 13th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Simon Pegg


The new Star Trek movie has been dubbedby some critics as "Star Trek 90210" – a reference to the good looks of the actors playing the iconic roles on board on the USS Enterprise.

So it is something of a relief to have a normal bloke-next-door like Simon Pegg in there as the starship’s chief engineering officer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott.

The 39-year-old actor first came to attention with cult UK TV shows including Spaced and Big Train.

He has since starred in international hit comedies Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, and is soon to be seen in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s Tintin.

There seems to be a split over whether fans are called Trekkies or Trekkers. Can you shed any light for us?

I think it’s both. There’s a certain element of the fan community who were fed up with people using the word Trekkie in a slightly derogatory way and wanted to distance themselves from that, so they became Trekkers. Whereas the people who remain Trekkies couldn’t care less what people think. So there are both but they’re equally very valid.




I’m very aware that I could be cutting myself off from half my family, but I think the character is a tribute to the Scots

I think you have to earn the title of Trekkie. I’m a big Star Trek fan and I do love it and know a lot about it, but I think a Trekkie is like a degree level Star Trek fan. That’s when you know every episode and every actor involved and every plot so I wouldn’t flatter myself.

As a self confessed sci-fi geek, just how excited were you to be in costume and actually standing on the bridge of the USS Enterprise?

It was amazing and I felt very honoured. I’m a Star Trek fan and to be on the bridge of the Enterprise in my red uniform and playing Scotty, who is a beloved and integral part of the starship Enterprise crew, was just crazy.

How do you follow the performance of a much loved actor like James Doohan and how conscious were you of taking on such an iconic role?

I was fortunate to reach out to Chris Doohan, James’ son, and we became pals. He was on set with me and was my assistant in the transporter room so I was able to have some connection to the Doohan family.

I wanted to make it very clear that I wasn’t just taking it lightly or doing an impression of James, but I would try and approach it like he did.

What about mastering the Scottish accent then?

Half my family is from the west coast so I channelled them, my wife and her family. There’s some argument about where Scotty’s from, some say Linlithgow, I think Dundee, and Aberdeen have claimed him. I figured he’d gone to Glasgow University and picked up a strong Glaswegian accent.

Simon Pegg and Star Trek cast members

Pegg (second left) takes on one of the TV show’s most beloved characters

Fortunately, [my wife] Maureen was on set with me all the time. I would come off set and say: ‘How was that, did that sound all right?’ I’m very aware that I could be cutting myself off from half my family, but I think the character is a tribute to the Scots.

How was working with Zachary Quinto who plays the villain Sylar in Heroes and Spock in Trek. Are you a fan?

I do like Heroes and when I met Zack, I told him I was a fan of the show and fortunately he was a fan of Shaun of the Dead as well and so we had a bit of a mutual appreciation. He’s great, he’s very funny and very dry and if you only know him as Sylar, it’s very surprising when you meet him because he’s very different. He can’t chop the top of your head off either.

You get your own Scotty action figure, how cool was that?

I’ve seen it and it’s pretty cool actually. As a fan of those things as a kid, I had plenty of action figures. To actually be one is a great joy, well, it’s five – two Shaun of the Dead, a Doctor Who one and two Star Trek figures. Yes, I play with myself regularly.

You’ve been making Tintin with Steven Spielberg, that must be a real honour?

It was great, he’s fantastic and everything I hoped he would be. It was an amazing treat to work with him and hear him tell stories and just get close to him and tell him how much his films mean to me.

Can you tell us what you’re doing?

Nick Frost and I are playing the Thomson twins, which are the moustachioed detectives with the bowler hats. Obviously a band named themselves after them. I told a couple of people I was playing one of the Thomson twins and they think I’m talking about the band. But they’re bumbling detectives that are nowhere as good as they think they are.

It’s all motion capture, so even though we are physically different, when you see us on screen we look exactly the same.

Star Trek is released in the UK on 8 May. Simon Pegg talked to BBC News entertainment reporter Kev Geoghegan.

May 8th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson of Roxette in 2006

Roxette – Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle – claim 55 million album sales

Just before the pop-drenched 1980s gave way to the grunge and rap of the early ’90s, a feel-good Swedish duo were briefly one of the most popular groups on the planet.

Roxette have just celebrated the 20th anniversary of their first US number one single, The Look, which was followed by three more – Listen To Your Heart, It Must Have Been Love and Joyride.

Songwriter and guitarist Per Gessle recalls how the group’s global success was all down to one US exchange student, and reveals that Roxette may return following singer Marie Fredriksson’s treatment for a brain tumour in 2002.

Gessle is now on his first solo European tour – and admits going out under his own name can be tough.

How do you feel about the Roxette era – are you proud of it?

Yes, of course. We had seven fantastic years, from ’88 to ’95. Coming out of a small country like Sweden, the odds weren’t in our favour. But we knew that we had something special, and the trick was to make it happen. We had to have the big break.

What was your big break?

We had recorded an album called Look Sharp and it was huge here in Sweden. We heard there was this American exchange student who was in Sweden and became a big Roxette fan. When he went back to the States, a radio channel called KDWB had a radio show where the listeners can call in and request songs.


I know the Abba guys very well – I always tease them that they only had one number one in the States and we had four

So he went up to the radio station and gave them the Look Sharp album, and they kept it there for a couple of weeks.

From what I heard, the programme director fell in love with the first song, so he played The Look on the radio. The phones started to ring and people wanted to hear the song over and over again. It was pure luck.

And then you went on to have four US number ones…

We always joke about that because I know the Abba guys very well. I always tease them that they only had one number one in the States and we had four.

Most people don’t realise you were already a huge star in Sweden, do they?

Yeah, I started out really young. I had my first hit record when I was 20, and I was 29 when Roxette had its breakthrough. So I had nine years experience.

We’d made all the mistakes in Sweden when we were really young, so we didn’t make the same mistakes 10 years later. When Roxette made it big, we owned our own rights to the songs.

Per Gessle

I know the music is so much more famous than I am

Do you you think you marked the end of an era of pure, polished pop?

Absolutely. I remember hearing Nirvana for the first time. I started playing in the ’70s, and my first band was a punk band. So I just loved the grunge thing immediately. But it was the end of an era.

Did that contribute to the end of Roxette’s success?

Yeah – that and Marie started a family. We said we’d take a break and see what happens. But when you’re working with pop music, you have your heyday and then you wane out. And if you’re lucky, your songs survive and then you come back into fashion again after 10 years or so.

How do you think you’re perceived now?

I wish I knew. I’m going on this tour now – it’s my first tour ever on my own outside Sweden. And it’s my first club tour since 1989. I know I’m going to play for 600-800 people a night.

I know the music is so much more famous than I am, which is a fact and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m doing my best and we’re going to do a lot of the old Roxette songs.

Does it frustrate you that everybody knows your music, but not everybody knows Per Gessle?

No it’s not frustrating. In my home country, everyone knows me. Everyone knows everything about my family, my house, my cars… I’ve been famous here since I was 20. That’s 30 years.

Roxette on Top of the Pops in 1989

Roxette stayed together until 2002, when Fredriksson fell ill

I don’t have a problem that when I leave this country it’s totally different. Actually it’s kind of nice, to sit in restaurants in London or LA and people don’t know who you are.

Have you considered doing a Roxette greatest hits comeback tour?

Yeah, we’ve talked about it. It’s really up to Marie. We did a European tour in 2001, then she got ill in 2002, and ever since she’s been taking it easy.

She’s started doing a few concerts before Christmas as a guest artist in Sweden, which was a big success for her, so slowly but surely she’s coming back to the stage.

I would love to do more Roxette and I would love to do more recordings as well, because she’s a great person and a great singer, but I don’t want to push her at all. It’s really up to her. If she calls me up and tells me I’m ready, I’d say let’s go for it.

What do you think about the current pop scene?

I’ve always been a big music lover, but in the last couple of years I’m starting to lose interest a bit in what’s happening. Maybe it’s because a lot of things sound like you heard it before, when you’re my age. But I have a son who’s 12 and he listens to Linkin Park and whatever, and it’s fresh for him.

Per Gessle is playing the 02 Academy Islington in London on 4 May.

April 15th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Colin Firth in Genova

Firth says the town of Genoa and the Italian way of life are vital to the story


Actor Colin Firth’s latest film, Genova, could not be more different from his most recent box office hit, the all-singing, all-dancing Mamma Mia!

Genova is a quiet, yet powerful meditation on the nature of grief and fatherhood.

Firth plays Joe, an academic who moves with his two daughters – Kelly, 16 and Mary, 10 – to the Italian city of the title to try to rebuild their lives following the sudden death of their mother.

The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom – the maverick British film-maker behind challenging, low-budget movies such as 24 Hour Party People and The Road to Guantanamo.

Winterbottom is not a film-maker you would automatically associate with the quintessentially British gentleman that Firth has, rightly or wrongly, come to symbolise.

But Firth explains how working with the freewheeling director came as a breath of fresh air after long, formulaic days on big budget Hollywood productions.

What was it like working with Michael Winterbottom – he has an unusual way of directing?

Michael shot on digital camera which meant the set was very intimate, either just the four walls or the street – there were no cables or lights.

It also meant there was no waiting around for people to set up, so it was just us playing around really.

And the camera seems to go anywhere…

Yes, the whole challenge is to try to suspend disbelief to the point where you are believable. So much of what happens on a film set is conspiring against that.


Michael Winterbottom

Winterbottom set the cast domestic tasks to help them to bond

The real stimuli around you are constantly shifting, and often there is so much equipment in the way that you can’t see the other actors.

The way Michael works, you don’t have any of those problems. Yes, he will be there, and there will be a camera and microphone, and yes, you are not really the father of these two girls and you are not really in this situation – but you can arrive at the point where you imagine you are much more easily.

Did this way of working make things easier for you and the girls (played by Perla Haney-Jardine and Willa Holland)?

Yes, it was just us on the set and so the trust was built up much more quickly. People weren’t going back to their trailers and waiting.

Michael never says ‘action’ or ‘cut’ – it’s sort of like blurring your real life with what goes on in front of the camera.

If you turn up to the flat where you are filming the scene, the chances are that camera will be rolling by the time you walk in, and you just start.

Sometimes, I would be just chatting with the girls and he would be filming. He makes use of a script but you are free to depart from it.

If you want to go out and get on a bus, the camera will follow you if there is anything interesting to be gained from doing that.

The father-daughter relationship is very close. Did you draw on your relationship with you own children for the role?

When you have kids you don’t deconstruct what it has done to you.

But if you are a storyteller of any kind, whether it’s you writing words or interpreting them, you can’t be or use anything other than yourself. It’s the only material you have, so it’s bound to come out in some way.

Colin Firth in Genova

Joe (Firth) has to be there for his daughters despite his own grief

Willa and Perla were both very loveable, and so if you hear one of them shrieking at night [as the nightmare-haunted Mary does in the film] the sense of wanting to help and the sense of complete powerlessness… you’d feel that whether you were a dad or not.

Did you get a chance to bond with them before filming began?

Not for long as I was filming Mamma Mia!, so I was back and forth from Pinewood and Greece.

But because there was nothing else going on, like costume fittings or make-up tests, you can move quite quickly in getting to know each other.

Michael set us all sorts of exercises which were quite difficult to deal with at first. He said, ‘Here’s some money, now go and shop, buy food and make lunch’ and no one really wanted to.

It’s like when you are kid and you mum says, ‘Go and play with my friend’s kid, I am sure you have lots in common’.

But at the end of the two hours you are going to know each other better. Chatter happens and a trust starts to build up.

It felt very contrived, but it paid off later on the set. When you were in the moment, looking up to see the fridge magnets you bought together – it gives you a little bit of history together.

The film is very honest in its portrayal of the pain of grief isn’t it?

It’s a terribly difficult subject to deal with, death is the biggest taboo I can think of in our particular society.

I remember when my great grandmother died when I was about seven. I wanted to go the funeral but was kept away because they thought it would upset me. It felt as if there was a big dirty secret about it.

Not only is death something we don’t face easily head on, but we also don’t know the protocols for dealing with grieving people. We kind of want people to get over it and be fun again.

This family is being shown six months after the event, when it’s not the immediate shock but neither is it six years on. It’s still a very tricky phase.

My character is holding on to the every day as if his life depends on it, by his fingernails really. If he stops to think about how much pain he is in, he can’t be there for his daughters.

No matter how much they love each other, there is no way you can take away someone else’s pain.

How big a part does the city of Genova (Genoa) play in the film?

I think it’s very much a character in the film. I fell in love with the town. I have seen the film several times and I am addicted to it for that reason.

I love the sound and the feeling of place – it makes you want to go back.

You see the grittier side of the town too, in the back alleys. They were quite dangerous, and we were abused and threatened. There was this mad, bald old lady holding a wig stand, shouting, ‘You cannot bring children down here, it’s not safe’.

Then suddenly you come out into a wonderful, burnished, clean piazza in the blazing sun and it all feels safe – the film reproduces that.

Genova is released in the UK on Friday 27 March.

March 27th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Tony Christie

Tony Christie and Peter Kay had a huge hit with Amarillo in 2005

Four years after (Is This The Way To) Amarillo spent seven weeks at number one for Comic Relief, singer Tony Christie is back on the airwaves.

His latest album, Made In Sheffield, came out at the end of 2008 and features songs by Sheffield songwriters, including the Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, The Human League and Richard Hawley.

One song, Every Word She Said, was left off the album – but has now been released as a single.

Christie reveals why it was not on the album, what the Arctic Monkeys thought of his cover version and why he wants to move on from Amarillo.

Why wasn’t the new single on your latest album?

It was supposed to be part of the album. We got 12 songs together and when we listened to them, it didn’t sit. It’s quite a dark album, not a poppy album.

Every Word She Said is hooks all the way through. It’s a cross between northern soul and Morricone.

We all sat around and couldn’t see where we could put it on the album. So we left it off and just did 11 tracks.

That was it, but then the record people said it’s the obvious one we’ve got to put out as a single. So they’ve had to reprint the album.

Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner

Tony Christie covered the Arctic Monkeys’ Only Ones Who Know

Did the Sheffield bands tell you what they thought of your cover versions?

I met Alex [Turner, Arctic Monkeys singer] at the Q Awards. He said ‘oh, I love that version of my song. I wish we’d have done it that way’.

When he got the copy, he was on the train with his mum and he kept playing it over and over again to his mum, all the way home. So that was great.

I think Jarvis [Cocker] is a national treasure, he should be the poet laureate. And I didn’t meet [Human League frontman] Phil Oakey but Richard [Hawley] said he met him in the street and he had given him the thumbs up.

What makes the Sheffield sound?

It’s got an edge. Liverpool had its sound, Manchester has its sound and Sheffield has a sound that’s gritty, northern and quirky.

Richard Hawley produced the album and you worked with other musicians – did you learn anything from the youngsters?

When I did all my big early recordings, I stood on a piano with an arranger and he wrote parts for the choir and trumpets, we went into the studio and it was played and that was it.


I always felt that I was a more serious singer than that

Tony Christie on Amarillo

This way, we rehearsed it, said ‘let’s try it this way, let’s try that way’ and spent days trying to get a different feel to a song.

In a couple of instances, we scrapped completely a couple of days work. We started again, got back in the rehearsal room, and everybody threw their ideas about, which was great. It wasn’t an arranger, it was five or six people giving their input.

With hindsight, was Amarillo more of a blessing or a curse?

It was a blessing because it got me back in the UK. I was living in Spain at the time and doing very well abroad, but it’s nice to be appreciated in your own land.

It means everything. I’ll be honest, I do miss the weather.

Did the success of Amarillo have its downsides?

Tony Christie in 1973

Tony Christie was out of the UK charts for almost 30 years before Amarillo

Yeah, people pigeonhole you. I always felt that I was a more serious singer than that. Having said that, I wish I had one of those songs every five years.

With most artists, to find out what they’re really like you’ve got to listen to the albums and forget the hits. But the pop side is what the people like you for.

I think Avenues and Alleyways is, on the whole, a better song. And it is one of the songs that I really enjoy singing on stage.

You were in the running to enter Eurovision in 1976 – would you fancy trying again?

No, not now. It’s a poisoned chalice at the moment isn’t it? It’s political, it’s nothing to do with music any more. It’s all happened since the east political voting started.

When I did it, I was beaten by Kisses For Me [by Brotherhood of Man], which went on to win it. Then, it was still fun and enjoyable, and all the fun’s gone out of it. Now that Wogan’s left, I don’t think I’m going to watch it.

If X Factor was around when you started, how far do you think you would have got?

Simon Cowell may not have liked me. I think I may have got through the auditions. But the good thing about it is you’ve got an instant 10 million people seeing you.

Whereas in my early days, I was playing to a few hundred people a night, travelling around the country. But I did learn a hell of a lot. I learnt one thing – I don’t want to go back to it.

March 19th, 2009 in Entertainment

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The credit crunch might be bad news for high street stores who see fewer people step through their doors but it is proving to be good news for web retailers.

Many hope their green credentials and more secure payment systems will encourage more customers to take their mouse shopping rather than their car.

Chris Russell, Director of eDigital Research said: “Consumers are spending more online, and this surge in traffic means that e-retailers have a massive opportunity to capitalise on the increased attention they are experiencing.


We actually have a lower carbon footprint per pound of sales than walking to a supermarket yourself

Jason Gissing, founder of Ocado

“If they don’t, then they will be missing out on a chance to build customer loyalty and repeat business, something no organisation wants to do in economic times such as these.”

Retailers are already beginning to plan stock and quantity levels for next Christmas, suggests research by eDigital. In 2008, 60% of people turned to the web when sourcing presents.

Pick and mix

Jason Gissing, founder of Ocado which works with supermarket Waitrose, said he believed the switch to online shopping would continue.

Boxes on a conveyor belt

Huge warehouses are needed to store goods for our online appetite

“Consumers’ understanding and interaction with the internet has changed. I think the services that online retailers offer have improved,” he said.

“I often talk about the MySpace generation when I look at friends of mine who have children that are spending their entire times online and texting each other.

When they start working, they’re going to embrace the internet in a way that we can only dream of.”

In its warehouse Ocado uses eight miles of conveyor belts to move shopping around as orders from shoppers are picked and put together.

To ensure food stays frozen, the shopping basket travels from the top floors, which are cupboard temperature to the bottom floor, where the fridge and freezer food gets added at the last minute before finally being loaded into delivery vans.

Said Mr Gissing: “We actually have a lower carbon footprint per pound of sales than walking to a supermarket yourself, because everything that you see here is in one place.

“We don’t have big open chillers and freezers with nasty refrigerants that you get in a big shop, and heating to make customers feel happy as they walk around and shop.”

Money market

And it is not just in green issues that online shops want to be seen to be concerned about.

A Pinoptic keypad

Retailers hope better payment security will attract more customers

Online security has been another priority for retailers in their efforts to boost sales.

One possible solution is chip and pin, widely used outside in the real world, that is now starting to be used for web shopping too.

Credit card giants Mastercard and Visa have already launched their online verification tools.

UK-based Pinoptic has developed a slightly different system. Those using it generate a code they enter into an online keypad but, instead of the code being four numbers, it is two numbers and two icons.

Each time the code needs to be entered, the icons will be in a different place on the keypad. This makes it very difficult for keyloggers to figure out an individual code, claims Pinoptic.

February 28th, 2009 in Technology

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Whoopi Goldberg and Patina Miller

Patina Miller (right) says Goldberg has given her lots of advice

US actress and singer Patina Miller will star in Sister Act the Musical when it opens at The Palladium in London’s West End in May this year.

The 24-year-old from South Carolina will play the lead role of Dolores in the stage version of the 1992 film which starred Whoopi Goldberg.

Miller talks about singing in Central Park, being funny, and the knack of dancing in a nun’s habit.

Tell me about Sister Act the Musical

It’s about a lounge singer, called Dolores, who witnesses a murder while working in her boyfriend’s club, and has to go into protective custody in a convent.

She hides out there and while she’s there she starts to get into these nuns’ lives and they all start to change one another.

So basically, it’s woman goes to convent, hides out, comes back, leaves again, and then finally… It all ends happily.

Did you have to audition for the part?

I have been involved with the show for a while now. There was a trial run of the show in Los Angeles three years ago, it was my first job right out of school, and I was the understudy for the lead.

Then last year I did a workshop about the musical in London – the director called me to do it – then I went home. They then auditioned a lot of people and I sat and waited. Then I had to audition again!

I bet you had your fingers crossed thinking ‘please don’t let anyone be better than me’!

Exactly! Then when they said they were auditioning in New York I thought: “Oh my God – there are tons of divas in New York, what’s going to happen?’ So when I finally got the part I couldn’t believe it.

What was it like meeting Whoopi Goldberg?

Meeting her for the first time was one of those moments that is probably going to stick with me forever. I grew up watching Whoopi Goldberg, so I was so nervous but so excited when she walked into theatre that day. It’s not everyday you get to meet an idol, someone you have looked up to for so long.

Did she give you any advice?

She did. She said just to do what I do, and don’t try to recreate what she did in the film. She told me to make bold choices, be big, and trust myself.

And she of course she can’t sing – unlike you.

And we talked about that. She said the show was a different experience for her because she’s not a singer, so, for her, Dolores was a different character.

I am a singer, so my character Dolores is desperate for the limelight, she’s desperate to be a star, but she’s stuck in this lousy club with a boyfriend who treats her really badly, then she has to be put in a convent to hide from him when she should be a star. It’s already a different thing.

Is that the only difference from the film?

The music is different, it’s a disco score by Alan Menken, the action is set in 1972 instead of the 1990s and it’s in Philadelphia instead of Las Vegas.

I think it works better on the stage. I think you get to be involved with these characters live on stage and see how things play out that way. It’s so exciting. The theatre is so spontaneous anyway, you get to experience it in that moment and for me that’s the most fun part.

What’s it like dressing up like a nun?

I think the nun outfits are going to be pretty basic, but moving in a nun’s outfit is a very different sort of thing and we have a lot of dance numbers – and a lot of funky dance numbers – and in habits that’s not the easiest thing to do, but I think it’s going to be really fun for people to see that.

How does one dance in a habit?

You have to watch yourself! That’s why we practise in the habits, so we know what we’re doing. They’re BIG and I’m not used to wearing big clothing like that, and you have to be careful and not trip over.

Have you just taken the nun outfits from the Sound of Music, which ends its Palladium run next month?

Basically! (laughs) It’s so funny that another nun show is moving right back into the Palladium.

But they’re not the same costumes, right?

No! Oh no..

Why not? You could have saved some money in these credit-crunched times

I know but we have a lot of little surprises with these nun outfits. I can’t give that away – you’ll have to come and see the show. You won’t be disappointed.

Mamma Mia!, Dirty Dancing and Hairspray have done so well in the West End. Do you think this the time of the feel-good musical?

Yes it is. Sister Act is a feel-good musical, but with an important message. It’s fun, but it has a lot of heart to it too. It’s going to be amazing. I know people are going to be dancing in the aisles they are going to feel good when they leave! It has an amazing set and the costumes are another thing. Thant’s what I’m looking forward to. It’s going to be really fun to get people to smile, dance and laugh. Hopefully! Maybe!

You’ve also appeared in Hair in New York. How do the two shows compare?

They don’t. I love both of them dearly. Hair was show I felt like I needed to do at that time, and it was really important, and we got to do it in Central Park, so that was an amazing show. I got to open the show with the song Aquarius and that was amazing. I sang a lot of really nice songs, but doing Dolores in the West End, being in Sister Act, is just another thing. It’s going to be amazing and it’s a great opportunity for me.

What are your ambitions for the future?

I would love to do film further down the line, and maybe some TV. I like to think I’m kinda funny so I’d like to do some sit-coms… maybe. But I love theatre, it’s where I started, and it’s what I enjoy doing.

What do you love about the theatre?

People think it’s all about being in the movies and that means you’re a star, but really some of the best movie actors have come from the stage and that’s where a lot of the training comes from. There is nothing like being in front of an audience and knowing what that feels like to have to carry a show and people watching what you do.

There aren’t any takes, you only get one shot, and you get to try different things every night. It’s an amazing feeling and I’m happy that there is somewhere I can do that.

Patina Miller was talking to Caroline Briggs.

February 18th, 2009 in Entertainment

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Gray O' Brien as Tony Gordon

Tony Gordon has made many enemies on Coronation Street

Since arriving on the cobbled streets of Coronation Street last year, Tony Gordon has caused a stir amongst the Weatherfield residents.

However, the businessman is about to play his dirtiest trick yet when he puts an end to his fiancée Carla’s affair with Liam Connor.

In real life, actor Gray O’Brien reveals what it is like to play the ITV1 soap’s bad guy.

Warning: The following interview may contain spoilers.

How has the reaction to your character been so far?

I was worried when I heard the storyline. I was worried that I was going to be the most hated man in soap, but I think you’ll agree after watching it there’s two sides to this.

I don’t know what will happen on Friday. I’m not going to be in the country, so we’ll see what happens. I expect to get a bit of stick for it, but I think there’s an interest in Tony because he’s not just the villain.

There’s other sides to him and the onion starts to unpeel and I think the audience are interested in seeing the unravelling of Tony and that’s the fun part to play.

Liam Connor (Rob James-Collier) and Carla Connor (Alison King)

Carla and Liam have been having an affair behind Tony’s back

You filmed three endings – why?

Because of the press interest. We tried to keep it to ourselves because every time we turn up at a location there are people waiting for us and it’s always revealed the next day, so it’s just a way to keep it guarded.

What is it like being part of such a huge storyline?

It’s actually just being involved in Coronation Street as a whole, it’s great to be involved in this iconic show. I don’t think it really matters what role you play – to be part of it is a great honour.

To be at the forefront of it is quite daunting though, but it’s been really exciting too.

How many people have you told what really happens?

I haven’t told anybody. I’ve absolutely kept it under my hat. I don’t have anything to gain by telling anyone, because it ruins it.

I just had my mother on the phone saying ‘why don’t you tell us?’

Did you know when you accepted the role the storyline would develop like this?

Tony and Liam

Three different endings of Liam’s murder have been shot

Coming in to play the Coronation Street villain has a life span, so I was aware of that.

I knew he was going to be villainous, but I think it was all based on audience reaction that they liked him and the writers just went with it. So it’s been a really organic process, I don’t think I expected this to happen, quite as it has happened.

I think it’s certainly going to play on till next year, but I don’t know how long for. I was aware that I wasn’t coming in for 20 years on the street, that was never the case.

Do you have any ideas as to what should happen to Tony?

None at all, I’ve just spent three hours on the train with the producer and she wasn’t giving anything away.

I’ve dropped a few hints. Obviously he’s got to come to an end, and whether that will be a grisly end or whatever, I don’t know.

I’ve got great faith in the writers at Coronation Street and entrust that they’ll keep the momentum with the character going.

He’s a great character to play and he’s popular so I do trust whichever way it ends will be the correct ending.

Gray O’Brien was speaking to BBC entertainment reporter Fiona Pryor.

The denouement to the Liam, Carla and Tony storyline is on ITV1 on Friday 17 October from 1930 BST.

October 15th, 2008 in Entertainment

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Lemar

Lemar got his big break after appearing on Fame Academy

Lemar rose to fame after appearing on BBC One talent show Fame Academy in 2002.

Despite finishing in third place in the competition, he has become the show’s most successful alumni with six top 10 singles and three top 20 albums.

After a two-year break, and a brief foray into boxing for Sport Relief, the 30-year-old Londoner has returned with his fourth album, The Reason.

It’s been a couple of years since you released an album, why so long?

It’s taken so long because I wanted to go away and just get as much inspiration as I could.

I had done three albums before – a lot of work and promotion and a lot of travelling, but often when you’re travelling you don’t get the chance to see the places you’re going to and get that inspiration.

So on this album, I didn’t want to just record a bunch of songs and put them out, I wanted to rediscover my passion for music.

What can we look forward to from the new album?

This album is very different to my last three which were like the build up to this one. I really dug deep lyrically and musically and I think I’ve got 10 really strong songs that really mean something.

I think there’s something there for everyone but it is very different to what people are going to expect from me. But I think that’s important because it’s the fourth album and I really wanted to make a mark.

Tells me about your new single, If She Knew?

It was actually written in my second to last session that I had for the album. I had done 78 songs for this album and it was like the 77th song.

The easiest explanation for the song is about a guy saying if this woman knew how bad I wanted to be with her, then she wouldn’t ask me if I loved her.

Lemar

Lemar won two Mobos in 2005

So what happened to the other 76 songs?

I like all of them but I really wanted this album to be to the point. I’m hoping people will say, ‘these 10 songs are great and I want to listen again’, not ‘these 10 songs are great and I wish there was something else’.

Maybe the other songs will be used as B-sides, or if there’s anyone out there that needs a song, I’ve got a few!

You became a father earlier this year – has fatherhood influenced your music?

In the build up to my daughter’s birth so many people said to me it’s going to be amazing and this is going to change your life, and I thought it’s probably going to be an anti-climax, but it really does change you.

She is the most beautiful addition to my life and has made me think differently, so subconsciously I think she has influenced the whole album.

Estelle recently criticised the British music industry, saying it doesn’t know what to do with black artists [Estelle went to the US to get a record label]. What’s your take?

I think what she says is valid. It’s very important for artists to know who they are. Some people get a break too early and the onus is on the record company to find out.

I think the more artists that come through and are successful because they know who they are, the more trust record companies will put into new artists.

I’m so happy for Estelle’s success. Even after [the UK record company] didn’t know what to do with her, she said she was going to make it work somehow. So she went across the water and found someone who understood what she’s about and proved that it can be done.

Gabrielle said last year she thought the Mobos should be scrapped. As a previous winner, do you think they are still relevant?

Lemar

The Reason is Lemar’s fourth album

I think all awards ceremonies are relevant – anything that highlights the hard work that artists put in to their craft is always a good thing.

It’s called Music of Black Origin so it’s not necessarily celebrating just British music. If the Brit Awards were dominated by US artists then I’d question it.

There should be a soul category and I think you can always celebrate your homegrown talent more. But the challenge is there for the people that run the Mobos and hopefully they’ll rise to the challenge and better themselves.

You are the only surviving alumni from Fame Academy and one of few successful artists from TV talent shows. Is it time these shows came to an end?

No, talent shows have been around for a while and people like seeing the people that aren’t so great and get rejected as that’s fun TV.

As long as the end result is a talented person who can sing and has what it takes then I think the message being sent out to other talented people is a good one.

I hear you’re a keen pool player – have you ever hustled anyone?

In college when I should’ve been in my biology lessons I was in a pool club with my mates and became an expert. So once or twice during lunch breaks a bit of hustling went on.

That’s one ambition of mine – I’ve always said I want to have a swimming pool in my house and a pool table. So who knows, if i can sell a few more albums, maybe I can save up and buy a pool table.

If She Knew is released on 17 November and The Reason is released on 24 November. Lemar was talking to BBC entertainment reporter Genevieve Hassan.

September 16th, 2008 in Entertainment

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Katy Perry

Perry was delighted to discover Madonna was a fan

US singer Katy Perry has attracted both controversy and huge global record sales with her faux-lesbian single I Kissed A Girl, currently at number one in the UK charts.

Her breakthrough in the US came with the release of her Ur So Gay EP.

The title track was loathed by some gay rights groups and loved by Madonna, who said it was one of her favourite songs.

Perry, 23, discusses controversial lyrics, strange dreams and Freddie Mercury.


How did I Kissed A Girl come about?

I Kissed A Girl was born as an idea in my head. The chorus actually popped into my head when I woke up. It was one of those moments where you hear artists talking about songs they get in dreams or in the middle of the night.

Cathy Dennis

Cathy Dennis, who has written a plethora of hits, co-wrote the single

I was like ‘wow, what an interesting subject matter to kind of pop into the head’ and I didn’t do anything with it for about a year-and-a-half.

Then all of a sudden at the very, very end of making my album, I literally had two days left in the recording studio with my producer, Dr Luke.

“We just said, ‘we’re gonna finish it – it’s so catchy because it won’t get out of our heads’.

We brought it to the record label and they didn’t even wanna put it on the record and we were like ‘you’re crazy, you need to put this on the record, you need to put it out as the first single’.

And how did you enjoy working with co-writer Cathy Dennis?

Cathy Dennis is amazing by the way. She’s like one of the best singers I’ve heard in my entire life – she has such a beautiful soft, sultry, sexy voice.

Why do you think it’s been such a massive global hit?

I think that musically the song is catchy. I think that it’s one of those subject matters that is, you know, like ‘oh my god I can’t believe she said that, that someone came out and said it’.

I think that, whenever anyone writes something that is different than, like, your plain peanut butter and jelly song, ‘I love you, you love me’, everyone kind of perks up and says ‘what’s this?’.

The song Ur So Gay is also controversial. Do you think writing such controversial lyrics helps to sell records?


I think my life is very, you know, very spontaneous and sometimes with a spontaneous life you try all kinds of different things.

I think that my life is a bit more radical than others maybe. I think it’s always been that way before I had a record deal, before I had a bit of success and I’ve always been spontaneous and had a bit of a wild streak.

I think my life is very, you know, very spontaneous and sometimes with a spontaneous life you try all kinds of different things.

I never wrote anything for the sake of being like, ‘ooh let’s be shocking or wild or rebellious’.

I just kind of wrote about my life.

Madonna has said Ur So Gay is one of her favourite songs. How does that feel?

It’s crazy because you have the poster of the person that you idolise in your bedroom growing up and you look at that person before you go to sleep.

You almost wish that it would come to life and, for me, it kind of did.

How did you get into making music?


They’re very opinionated, of course, as most parents are so I’m sure they have their opinion on certain subject matters but, in general, they are very supportive

I got into making music because I was singing in church.

I grew up singing in church – both my parents are travelling ministers. There’s always a lot of music in church and I always kind of followed along.

How do your parents feel about your controversial lyrics?

My parents are really supportive of me and my career. They were just on tour with me for the past few days, on stage watching the show.

They’re very opinionated, of course, as most parents are so I’m sure they have their opinion on certain subject matters but, in general, they are very supportive. They do their thing, I do my thing and there’s an equal level of respect.

How did you feel when your mother reportedly said she was disappointed in your actions?

I think everything can be exaggerated and I saw some of the quotes and I’m like, ‘I don’t know whose Mom you’re talking to but you weren’t talking to mine’.

Tell us about your love for rock band Queen?

Katy Perry

Perry’s album One of the Boys is out in the UK next month

Freddie Mercury was a bad ass. It was kinda like he didn’t care what anybody thought about him, he always brought the entertainment value to the show.

Who would have thought that you would write a song about girls with big asses? [Fat Bottomed Girls].

And everybody would sing along to it and, I don’t know, he seemed like he had a good sense of humour in his life and was smart and intelligent and, basically, said exactly what was on his mind and I respect that.

He never censored himself for the sake of anybody.

Katy Perry’s album One of the Boys is out in the UK on 15 September. She was talking to BBC News entertainment reporter Liam Allen.

August 26th, 2008 in Entertainment

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