"I'm motivated by the urge to make music and express myself, rather than by some abstract idea of being some kind of pop star, so I feel like I'm making music for the right reasons." ~Edward Rogers
"I'm motivated by the urge to make music and express myself, rather than by some abstract idea of being some kind of pop star, so I feel like I'm making music for the right reasons." ~Edward Rogers
Needless to say, I'm a little obsessed with the music competitions - for obvious reasons....
I especially love the UK competitions - they seem to always have these jaw dropping moments...these incredible voices that finally have their well deserved moment in the spotlight.
And cue 16-year old Janet Devlin from a small town in Northern Ireland - who sang in her bedroom as way to escape and dream.

Scars on 45 consist of:
Danny Bemrose (vocals/guitar)
Stuart Nichols (bass)
David “Nova” Nowakowski (keyboards)
Aimee Driver (vocals)
Chris Durling (drums)
So I few days ago I was having a music 'who are you listening to now that you love' conversation with a friend of mine (we'll call him 'King') and he mentioned having newly discovered a UK band. The band is not so new but it was new to him.
The band? One eskimO.
"The Hippy Mafia just might be the best new f****** band in the entire world" ~Dan Burke / The Velvet Underground
"The Hippy Mafia are what the Gorilaz would have sounded like if they'd been real people from Manchester." ~Chris Long / BBC RADIO
Depending on who you follow on Twitter - sometimes you can discover some pretty phenomenal music.
So last week through the power of Twitter and my blog on The Musgraves, I connected with a fab singer/songwriter from the UK by the name of Stylusboy. He has a great new EP out called 'Whole Picture' which I love. It's charming, sweet and poppy.
So next thing you know we're chatting away on Twitter and email and I managed to sweet talk him into doing an interview.
And here it is.
Mark Vidler aka Go Home Productions
Producer / Remixer / Songwriter / DJ & VJ
Mark Vidler is based in Watford, United Kingdom has spent the best part of nine years producing Bootleg Mash-Ups / Remixes
Radio Sessions / TV Theme & Music Ad works that have achieved a fair degree of worldwide notoriety.
He really does do killer mash-ups.
"Beautifully crafted Pop-Folk songs that capture a tremendous sense of effortless energy and emotion showing a song writing ability well beyond their years and far above that of you're average band. Undoubtedly they have potential to go far..." ~BBC West Midlands
Cause I love a good cover song....
Here is the UK dance punk band, Friendly Fires with their cover of the Depeche Mode track, 'Strangelove'.
I love this version. I had it on repeat a lot yesterday afternoon.
Their new album 'Pala' is now out on iTunes.
“For all those who thought Liam Gallagher would be musically astray without big brother Noel, meet Beady Eye.” ~The Boston Globe
Beady Eye have announced their first North American tour dates. The band (Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock) will be giving fans a first live taste of their debut album, Different Gear, Still Speeding, in a series of concerts beginning in Chicago on June 18th followed by Toronto on June 20th and New York on June 23rd.