Featured Articles

Explore a featured selection of my music writing work below.

Gig review: Westside Cowboy at The Bodega, with Pict

A few hours before the show started, support band Holly Head sadly had to pull out due to illness, which meant that a last minute replacement was sourced to start the evening off right. Local Nottingham band Pict answered the call with a fitting offering of post-folk. Their chemistry on stage as a band was immediately clear, and their emotive songwriting combined with an extremely passionate performance was a real pleasure to watch. Their lead singer put their life and soul into the performance,...

LIVE REVIEW: James Marriott, Esme Emerson, O2 Institute Birmingham, 11/11/2025

Photo Credit: Jack Delve (18th November – O2 Academy Bournemouth)
It’s all coming up James Marriott at the minute – a UK No.1 Album with Don’t Tell the Dog, a largely sold out tour packed with venue upgrades, and his biggest headline crowd ever at his 02 Academy Birmingham gig. Bring the Noise was there to find out why there’s so much hype from this online creator-turned-musician. 
There’s a certain stigma that comes with being an internet personality that becomes a musician. They already have a...

Gig review: Confidence Man at Rock City

Amidst some of these incredibly well-oiled and increasingly familiar routines though was their brand new material. Blood dripped from Sugar’s mouth during SICKO, a track which offers something sonically quite different to some of the more upbeat, funked up tracks they’ve got on offer. The droning synth patterns on this track bring in an edgy, 90s tone for a beat, allowing a more grey-scale version of the band to come forth for a moment within the set. It’s brilliant to see the band experiment wi...

LIVE REVIEW: DEADLETTER, Modern Woman, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 07/11/2024

Photo Credit: Daniel Delikatnyi
Given the diamond-in-the rough status and the word-of-mouth kudos within the post-punk scene that DEADLETTER have garnered on their journey to stages like Rescue Rooms, there was an excited air of anticipation ahead of Modern Woman’s supporting performance. These hopes were certainly met, with an exciting offering of narrative punk-folk fusion to warm the room up on a cold November evening.
In particular – Achtung! is a really special song. It moves between Englis...

We spoke to genre-defying queer electro-punk duo Arch Femmesis

Any favourite queer memories in Nottingham?
Zera: The first ever pride event I did as a club kid was opening for Sasha Velour and Hungry at the Nottingham Contemporary and it was the first ever lip sync I did. It was so wonderful and amazing. And also working with Laganja Estranja for a queer showcase called The End of Gender where I met my current best friends. I actually found out I was queer, well, she told me I was queer and I was like ‘Okay.’ Also some really beautiful memories with DirtyFi...

We chat to They Might Be Giants about life, music and everything in between

Is it Istanbul? Or Constantinople? No! Later this year, They Might Be Giants are going to be coming to Nottingham to celebrate the Covid- and injury-delayed anniversary tour for Flood – their seminal art-rock album beloved by fans to this day. Ahead of the Rock City gig, we spoke with John Flansburgh, one half of the original duo.
After over 40 years and 23 albums, what is the number one thing you’ve learned?
Learned? Bring enough laundry. You know, sustaining a level of consistency is actually...

LIVE REVIEW: Dream Wife, Bodega, Nottingham, 14/02/2024

Photo Credit: Sophie Webster
This year, Dream Wife spent their Valentine’s Day in, as they themselves put it ‘Nottingham – the city of love’. Their intimate set at Bodega, as part of their Social Lubrication tour, was both electrifyingly high-energy and heart-warming, with an incredibly special guest appearance…
Opening with the title track of their stellar 2023 album, Social Lubrication, Bella Podpadec and Alice Go took to the stage and immediately made it their home. Rakel Mjöll, entering just...

Gig Review: BC Camplight at Rock City

I love it when this happens – I completely forget to check set times, and line-ups, and walk into a venue with no idea of who the support is going to be. When I wandered up the Rock City steps into the crowd, and saw that sheet of paper taped to a pillar that read ‘Personal Trainer - 7:45’, I’ll admit I had a little bit of a fist pump. This eclectic collective (say that three times, fast) combine veteran artists from the scene in Amsterdam, previously featuring members of Pip Blom, Steve French,...