The Baker's Dozen #28 Tim Bowness

June 23, 2021 by David Vousden in Alternative Rock, Electronic, Interview, Pop, Rock, Singer-Songwriter, The Bakers Dozen

Tim Bowness is probably best known for No-Man, the duo he formed in 1987 with multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson, but this is only a small part of Tim’s expansive musical CV that includes a solo career (six albums and counting) plus work with David Torn, Nosound, White Willow and The Opium Cartel etc. One of these many and varied projects is Plenty a band originally formed in the mid-80s as a trio with Brian Hulse and David K Jones. It would be thirty years before Plenty would actually release their debut album ‘It Could Be Home’ in 2018, but their brand of melancholy indie-pop/art-rock in the vein of The Blue Nile and Talk Talk has a timeless quality and the trio are back with a new 2CD set due for release on June 25th 2021 the press release refers to as “Something old, something borrowed, but all blue” which sums things up rather nicely. RGM was pleased to catch up with Tim for a chat about his songwriting approach and their emotional impact, his early career plus recommendations for good TV shows and a fair bit more.

The Baker's Dozen #26 League Of Lights

March 10, 2021 by David Vousden in Electronic, Interview, Pop, Prog Rock, The Bakers Dozen

Farrah and Richard West aka League Of Lights will release their third album ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ on March 12th via Eightspace (CD/Digital) with vinyl to follow on 23/04/21 via Plane Groovy. ‘Dreamers Don’t Come Down’ is a cool record on which the duo deliver pop hooks and sumptuous soundscapes in equal measure. RGM caught up with Farrah for a wide-ranging chat about musical influences, making the very best of things when your tour is cancelled and really important stuff like X-Men or Star Wars…

The Baker's Dozen #25 BIRDPEN

March 03, 2021 by David Vousden in Interview, Alternative Rock, Electronic, Kraut Rock

The duo of Mike Bird and Dave Pen released ‘Discussing Robots – Dig That Hole’ in 2003 on 7” vinyl which was the first in a run of EP releases before their debut album ‘On/Off/Safety/Danger’ arrived in 2009. Over the years BirdPen have continued to release albums at a healthy pace with their sixth album ‘All Function One’ due via JAR Records on March 5th, 2021. RGM caught up with the duo for a chat about their various influences and the expected struggles of touring in a post-pandemic/Brexit world. Away from the music Dave shares his love of Ray Bradbury while, like so many of us, Mike really wants to get out for some fresh air and who could blame him. Many thanks to Dave and Mike for their time.