Blog Archives

Interview by Chris Fishlock

One year since his release of the infamous ‘Red Is Not Dead’ EP I caught up MC Amalgam to talk about what it’s like to be a french rapper based in England, politics and collaborating with folk punk bands…

Cat On The Wall: You recorded and released ‘Red Is Not Dead’ EP under new label Downtown Digital and you were the first release, did recording somewhere new and on a label that’s brand new did that affect the sound of the EP and the experience recording?

MC Amalgam: The actual people behind the label have been doing it for a long while, Patch Harmonix and Kyzro-P both have years of experience so it was a really professional...

Interview by Jordan Mooney.

After my review of the Whitby Goth Weekend for Cat on the Wall, a snowball effect shortly took place as the musicians responsible discovered what we had to say – COTW Stalwarts Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons started it off, followed by veterans of alternative rock, Doctor and the Medics. After a call out on his wonderful radio show the following Monday, I decided to go for the epitome of cheek and ask for an interview.

It took a few days, but soon we had questions fit for the good Reverend Doctor, whom was happy to sit down and answer our questions almost immediately.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in today’s interview Clive Jackson himself touches upon the world of music from another point of view, the concept of being ‘alternative’ and his pride in being one of t...

The ‘Time To Change’ campaign has been running since 2011 and its purpose is to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination by getting people talking. I’ve wanted to talk about my experiences for some time now so thought this would be a good opportunity to get things out in the open.

This article is a little self indulgent in the sense that it’s all about me and my experiences. Writing it was quite therapeutic and I do recommend giving it a go, even privately, as I felt getting it down on paper gave me a lot more perspective on my life and allowed me to see how far I’ve come...

Review by Jordan Mooney.

When I originally planned the idea of travelling to Whitby for the Friday, 26th of April 2013, I was rather nervous.

I am not in what I, myself, could call a Goth, despite my love of the Victorian era and clothing affiliated. I love darker humour, certainly, and of all of the people in the world I respect most, Aurelio Voltaire is most definitely the pick, but I have trouble looking at myself and thinking “You’re a..” – but one believes all of this is due to change – I have never felt more in place than I have done over the past three days at Whitby Gothic Weekend.
This event has become an all out phenomenon, one of the most famous alternative events in the world, as the beautiful little town of Whitby with the imposing abbey and vampiric heritage is swamped with l...

We’ve been following the amazing progress of Sunderland based The Lake Poets with great enthusiasim since the release of the first single ‘Cit by the Sea’ last year. Cat On The Wall’s Jo Whity caught up with Martin Longstaff, the man behind The Lake Poets, for a chat about the new single ‘April’ as well as finding out more about the band name and his relationship with record label Tiny Lights…

Cat On The Wall: I remember picking up a book when on holiday in the Lake District about The Lake Poets which I understand is where the band name takes its inspiration. Have any of the poets influenced you musically or lyrically? When and why did you decide to make music as The Lake Poets?

The Lake Poets: That’s exactly where I got the name from; in 2011 I was daydreaming about making music when I wa...

Interview by Jo Whitby.

As with most of the artists we feature on Cat On The Wall they have usually been recommended to us or we’ve struck up a friendship via social media relating to one of my various creative projects. Northcape is one of those artists who we came in contact with via my music twitter account, it seemed inevitable that we would eventually connect as we had many friends in common – that’s the way Twitter works and is probably why it’s my favourite of all the social networks. We loved Northcape’s laid back electronica and with new album ‘Exploration and Ascent’ due for release next month we thought it a great opportunity to catch up with Northcape and find out about the story behind the new record…

Cat On The Wall: Hello Northcape! How are you and what are you...

Weareallghosets is a net label based in Scotland that specialises in ambient electronic soundscapes. We caught up with Thomas Mathie, the man behind weareallghosts, to find out more about the label and its roster of artists…

Cat On The Wall: When and why did you decide to set up weareallghosts?

Thomas Mathie: weareallghosts was born on 2nd March, 2012; with our first release – an album entitled “The Path Between The Trees (waag_rel001)” by Cousin Silas – dropping on the 5th April, 2012. We are now on our 29th release in just over 1 year and have filled the release schedule for at least the next 3 months.

Cousin Silas is one of my favourite musicians. I was his go-to graphics man … still am … and wanted to do more...

Review and interview by Jordan Mooney.

Doctor Caligari are a perfect example of the surprisingly popular genre of Psychobilly Rock. They’re freshly dug up onto the scene (barely any rotting at all!), having come into this world in October 2012. Since then they’ve gained a small but devout following thanks to their rather nasty, dirty lyrics, thick juicy guitars courtesy of the band’s shredder, Johnny Horror, and deep snarling vocals provided by the mysterious ‘Mr. E’.

The band’s music is lustful and strongly inspired by the classics of Horror Cinema...

Writer: Jo Whitby

With the latest batch of interview questions sent off to various wonderful music makers the waiting game for answers now commences and this can take days, weeks or even years (this has happened). Seen as though updates on Cat On The Wall are few and far between at the moment I thought I should get down to writing something that isn’t just ‘sorry we’ve not updated in ages’.

If you’re a regular Bandcamp user you’ll be aware of the new ‘fan’ pages where you can show off your Bandcamp purchases, follow other fans and write nice things about the music you’ve downloaded. You can find my collection page over here. The music you download for free is not shown sadly and I hope the site will eventually allow us to decide what ends up in our collections...

Presenting an interview with the awesome Raphaelites, a five-piece pop-rock band hailing from Barry, South Wales.

Cat On The Wall: First up, for those of our readers who have yet to discover the Raphaelites can you introduce yourselves? How did you all meet?

Raphaelites: Raphaelites are made up of Harrison on vocals and lyrics, but better known as Badger, Tom and Theo on guitar, Ed on bass and Dale on drums. We all sing on our songs as well.

When Theo and Dale were just beginning on drums and guitar, they started practicing together as they lived near each other and knew that both had just started playing but neither could sing or write lyrics...