Oh. It’s going to be a big year. Guaranteed! Firstly it has been more than a year since we all decided to start Same Teens and then fell head first into XOX. And now I’m eighteen. No longer do I have to furtively revise and learn off by heart older friends details or to dubiously totter about in high heels in an attempt to look older. Finally I can give back the identities of the people who kindly helped out and start to use my own (horrendous) passport photo when I apparently thought that the middle parting and fleece was the hottest look I could work. Oh to be 13 again.

Not only that but we are only in the first flushes of January and already a differ-ent type of (hot) flush is occurring due to one man (and no, not any of the Jonas brothers OR McFly). He is, of course, Barack Obama. Now, is it wrong that the only reason I now follow any kind of politics is purely because of a grade-A crush on Mr. Obama? That the only reason I would even bother to turn on BBC News is the slight chance he might be making a speech or saving the world? Well, even if it is who cares? For the first time ever I have been inspired to like politics and not to baulk at the idea of having a conversation about it (okay, a conversation large-ly hinging on if I could somehow infiltrate the Whitehouse and…).

And what else has happened already? 2009 has poked a big toe gingerly into the pool and Same Teens and XOX already have huge plans to annex this year! Not only have we got our VERY OWN STAGE at Kendal Calling but we also, thanks to the lovely Eddie Temple Morris, have the chance to DJ at the Secret Garden Party which, with its mix of inflatable chess, face painting, cool bands and glow-in-the-dark scavenger hunts mean it is the kitsch-est and cool-est festival going! To launch our Kendal stage we’ve also got a special promo with Hatters (more about this below) with The Kabeedies and Dutch Uncles playing a one-off gig annnnnd we’re also aligning ourselves to the coolest bands of 2009 by djing for Max Tundra, Le Corps Mince De Françoise and Frankmusik. And it’s only the end of January. Phew!

As ever we want you to get involved- drawing, modelling, photographing, danc-ing, writing, reviewing or just reading- we need you. We’ve already got the best people from L.A, Japan, London and Australia on the job so make sure you add your name to that list and help us with world domination! Jade, xox.....................................................................................................................................

Our favourite girl - Sky FerreiraOur favourite band -The VirginsOur favourite remixers - The Shoes

Put them together and what do you get...

The latest edition to xox singles club download the track from the link in the blog.

ILLUSTARTION LOUISE

2009 PEOPLE TO WATCH1. Britney SpearsWhat a babe. Seriously- managing to keep a “career” going amidst the very strenuous tasks of keeping hair extensions glued on and giving every tabloid journalist an apoplexy every time she steps out of the house means that Britney will obviously still be around this time next year. She has staying power. From the pseudo-innocence of her youth to her tragic downfall and phoenix-esque career resurge we have all been on Brit’s rollercoaster; praying at every second she’d bring out another “Oops, I did it Again”. And then she hits us with “Circus”. All we need now is another “Crossroads”- Britney Road Trip = best movie ever.

2.Cheryl Cole Everyone loves her. No one remembers the time she was a chavvy mess who nearly got done for racially assaulting a toilet attendant. But she was Tweedy then and now with the brand-spanking new pseudonym of Cole she’s become a national treasure. This is mainly due to her ability to look as if she actually cares about her contestants on X-Factor- however, this isn’t hard when you’re placed next to Danni (who, try as she might, cannot squeeze a tear from her rigid face), Louis (who is, lets face it, crazy) and Simon (who only gets aroused when in the presence of money). She remains everyone’s favourite Girls Aloud member and she managed to create a seriously annoying song with Will. I. Am. Well done!

3.Katy PerryI just think someone should count how many times she alludes to being ‘one of the lads’ and how far she is willing to actually go to ingratiate herself. Seriously- as if she kissed a girl and liked it. Although good on her for getting chapstick’s sales up in these times of economic hardship.

4. Robert Patterson I know it’s wrong to fancy him and that I’m being subjugated to the media’s clever mind ploys of telling me he is attractive and therefore I believe them. I know that he has an overly-chiselled face and that his head looks bigger than his body. I know that his eyebrows are huge and that the only things I know of him come through the persona of either wizard or vampire. But still, phwoar.

5.Lady GagaThe next Madonna? Who knows- but that ‘Dance’ song is far too catchy. And she has good hair.

6.Barack Obama / Gordon BrownBoth lumped together under the umbrella of ‘politics’. All eyes will be Obama as basically the world expects him to sort out every single problem ever invented from the ‘Credit Crunch’ to the meaning of life. Basically, it’s not going to be an easy ride but at least George. W. Bush can now be put inside a nice, comfty home- way, way, way away from any big buttons which can nuke the world. And we all breathe a sigh of relief. And if it wasn’t bad enough the Americans got the better Disney World they also get a guy named Barack. We get Gordon. And let’s face it, we’re all watching him and waiting for him to mess up so we can kick him out and replace him with an equally lack-lustre government. Blow the dust off the passports; it’s time to move abroad.

7.New Kids on the BlockTake That made a successful comeback. East 17 barely blipped recognition and I’m sure A1 will be attempting to shift some records out of the bargain bins since Ben is on Big Brother. But the blasts of the 90’s are nothing compared to uber-boy band NKOTB. I don’t think I was even alive for their fresh flava’ and they have to be more OAP’s than kids now but who cares? Crank up “You’ve Got It (The Right Stuff)” and remember a time when coiffed hair really used to coif and break dancing was cool.

8.The New Dr. WhoI forget his name. (Google research throws up “Matt Smith”). But will he be as good as David Tennant? Will he be able to fill the shoes of so many other greats? Does anyone care anymore?

9.Madonna Seriously, can she really do anything more to convince us all she is a sexy, older women? I wish she wouldn’t though. I’m not ageist but (and here is the but) seeing Madge with her legs open and clad in Lycra isn’t really how I envisaged the start of the new year to go. Already this year she’s legs akimbo for Louis Vuitton’s new spring/summer collection so expect to see much (much) more of her- more than you’d probably like too.

They are hailed as the next CSS and comprise of three super-cute girls who knock out pretty, electronic driven music. How could you not be a fan? .......................................

Although we do want to dispute the CSS claim of many online reviews so far of the band- CSS do not kick the serious music behind that LCDMF have managed to in comparatively less time and they certainly rock harder than those other chicks in CSS (Although give Lovefoxxx her due, she is pretty amazing live). Do not pigeon hole! We reckon it’s more of a Le Tigre meets Peaches via the Faint vibe that these girls have got going on. Kitsch disco on an epic scale, they manage to show an ability to mix the sublime of acoustic guitar with the ridicu-lous of neon electro with Ray Ban Glasses (Winter Mix) in direct alliance with Bitch of the Bitches. Ever imagined if Destiny’s Child had more of a penchant for electro-pop nuances than R’n’B flavas? Well, wonder no more! And yes, they are cooler than you but get over it and start dancing.

We managed to grab a second with Les Corps Mince de Francoise (which we’re told means ‘The Thin Body of Francois’) after their stel-lar gig at Lancaster Library where we sat amongst the children’s stories and heard all about playing in ex-X-Ray factories in Berlin and

What’s it been like playing in the library?LCDMF- Really nice. We have played in many weird places like, a boat, in the middle of a field, in a circus tent and an X-Ray factory so we’re used to playing in weird places but this is the nicest. Really good idea of having gigs in a library!

Yeah, we like the fact you’re not supposed to be loud in libraries but here they have bands playing as loud as they can- its ace! What was it like playing in an X-Ray factory? LCDMF- Well we were mainly practising there- they had it made into a practising place for us. It’s like a really indie venue in West-Berlin and the sound system is owned by Animal Collec-tive so when they’re on tour we can be there. But we’ve seen a lot of good gigs there- Lovvers and Ting Tings have played there. It’s got the smallest stage you have ever seen but

the promoter is really good. Every upcoming indie act are playing there and there’s secret gigs, it’s just really awesome.

It’s such a cool concept! There’s nothing like that in the UK really; do you think there is a different scene in Europe? LCDMF- Well, the industry is here. We have fans in France and in Finland and Holland and stuff but we haven’t yet got that fan base so we’re trying to gather it together whilst playing here. But basically we’re also here because the industry of the world is either in the UK or USA so we’ve got our manager here and booker and lawyer and stuff and we’re just searching for the right label really.

Have you played anywhere else in the UK yet?LCDMF- We’ve played in London; a lot of gigs in London. Glasgow, Liverpool Barrow- or Har-row… Harlow? Well, anyway, we’ve played a few places so far- it’s been good!

How did the idea of the make-up come about? Is it an important part of your act or did it just come about?LCDMF- We had a Vice interview asking us did we care about fashion and we said that ‘Fashion cares about us’. It might be corny but we’d rather have fashion following you than following fashion. Of course we follow what’s happening and what’s cool. And we also have a bit of the visual thing also because Emma is doing graphic design and I’m doing clothes design so it’s come quite naturally for us. It’s not like we sit down and plan we just put on what we think is cool- We’re not like ‘Hey this make up thing might be cool’ but it’s turned out really good! We did, er, big like stripes on our cheeks and then changed to this eye make-up. It’s really good and important to have it for a gig because touring you’re always sitting in a car or some hotel- you don’t eat some days, you don’t eat sometimes but always we put our make-up on and go onstage.

I guess it’s a bit like being an actor and once you’ve got your costume on you can go on stage and act- like separating it up?LCDMF- Yes! Otherwise it would just be me, just jumping around and I don’t think we could

manage that everyday without a type of ritual, the make-up ritual of Les Corps Mince de Francoise.

You’re sound keeps getting compared to CSS but we don’t think it’s all that similar.LCDMF- We are compared to a lot of female acts because of the female vocals. We even got compared to the Knife because we are female. But we’ve been listening to eve-rything from Talking Heads to CSS- a lot of Metronomy, Late of the Pier is one of my fa-vourite, progressive influences in the live stuff. Like on the record we want to explore of really experimental pop music. So one of the first songs we ever wrote, Bitch of the Bitches, and we had been listening to a lot of CSS at that time but then we moved on from that. I don’t know when the record will be released but it is recorded now.

So, you’ve finished recording your album?LCDMF- We’re still like mixing and producing stuff in our studio in Berlin and we’re going to finish touring and stuff but you can kind of see from everything we do in the live bits. Every-thing from the catchy, poppy songs to bitch rapping to pretty like experimental and pro-gressive stuff- like all the noise guitars. A lot of noise. Every song! And like every song at the end is like “Arrrrrrgh!”

Haha, that’s the best bit though! Have you been travelling round or are you based in Finland?LCDMF- We’re touring so much that we don’t have that much time to be in Finland and my friend is now living in my apartment. So I don’t actually have any home! So we’re just tour-ing for the moment, like every different hotel every night.

Is touring fun or just really, really tiring?LCDMF- It is tiring but playing the gigs is abso-lutely the best. We’re kind of like an unsigned but hyped band so we don’t have any labels to like work with us or put money into us so we’re paying everything ourselves so its not the most luxurious state of being! Eating really disgusting food sometimes as well. So it’s not luxurious but playing festivals and stuff the toi-lets are always okay backstage!

We Have Band. We certainly do. Electronic driven hooks and dirty great bass lines mean that songs like “Oh!” wriggle their way into the subconscious with abandon and will be hitting dance floors everywhere this year. Cramming in Hot Chip beeps with Talking Heads rhythm these are not an-other Klaxons rehash but rather recreate the staid landscape of electro with flair and panache. It’s laid-back and effortless music and they took the time to talk to XOX about taking Europe by storm and the myth of neu-rave.

1) Firstly, give us a little introduction to what We Have Band are all about?Well legend has it we are a 3 piece band (2 of whom are married. To each other) from Manchester. Its said that we used to all work together and decided to form a band and call it We Have Band. Then a little while later we got together one night and had some red wine, and chicken and potatoes, and started to make a song, which got finished that night and got called WHB. We were all really sur-prised by how excited we were about that song and so we decided to write more and then we thought it was time to do a show, and we did, then from that one we got offered some more shows and we never looked back. Actually, this is all true except for the Man-chester bit. Dede is from Manchester but Tom and Darren are from London.

2) Where do you hope to be at the start of next New Year?We’d definitely like to have an album that we’re all really proud of. We’d like to have travelled a lot and played shows all over the world and met lots of people. And be thinking about doing it all again.

3) You’re playing SXSW this year? Have any special plans to ‘wow’ over there?We’re really excited about SXSW. Its going

to be pretty crazy, we think we’ll be doing a couple of shows a day for the whole week so we’ll have to try and have the wow turned on the whole time! We’re not planning any partic-ular gimmicks though. We want the simple out and out party vibe. We want to get people sweating.

4) Is there a different reaction to your music in Europe compared to the UK?You know what we’ve noticed there kind of is. I think there’s less meaning attached to the style of music you make or the genre or cate-gory that you’re supposed to fall into. People seem to be a bit more open to things and to mixing bands of all styles together on a gig bill or at a festival or on their ipod. But then I think they might not have the flood of new bands being chucked out that the UK has. The NME culture of tipping a new band who are going to be the biggest thing ever every week isn’t so common so people are less sceptical. Also being from the UK you tend to play there a lot but when you visit other countries its a bit more of an event because you might not get back there for a little while so people are really excited and up for it. It’s great. We’ve loved playing around Europe.

5) You’ve covered “West End Girls”- think its about time the 80s came back for good? (MC Hammer pants and all)...Hmm, don’t think anything needs to come back for good. Little visits to the past are the best. You have to know where you’ve come from to know where you’re going and all that...

6) If you could work with anyone musically who would you choose?Quincy Jones. We’re all obsessed with him. He’s a total genius and its unbelievable the amount of amazing things he’s been involved in. He’s seriously prolific.

7) Is it hard to find your own niche when you’re based in London?We’ve been ok actually. We have a really strong bond and we like what we like and leave what we don’t. We’re not bothered by trends or by what people think we are or aren’t. We’re very focused but we don’t take

ourselves too seriously. We know that what we do is unique to the 3 of us and we have fun doing it so its all good. We have high walls but there’s a party going inside.

8) Any festivals planned for this year? (Either playing or just going to anyway!)...We can’t say anything definite right now but we’re planning to play quite a few for sure. We can say the big G is probably the most exciting prospect!

9) Do you think electro was nearly killed by the neu-rave craze that started last year?Don’t really believe neu-rave ever happened. There’s so much music of so many different styles going on all the time and certain ones just get plucked out by the powers that be every now and then and then they spend the whole year trying to convince you its taking over.

Jade French...........................................................................

Slinking all over with their inimitable blend of funky (yes, funky) bass guitars, smooth vocals and thumping drums it’s safe to say that the Virgins will be making a splash this year. It’s a bit like the 80’s, it’s a bit like the Strokes and it’s a bit like Franz Ferdinand- a recipe for sim-ple, catchy, punchy, dance-floor ripping tunes. Don’t over intellectualise it; it’s like the sound-track to 90210 or Gossip Girl- embrace without shame the retro-modern sounds!It’s all a bit “catching the reflection of the mir-ror ball as your dancing around in flares” which might not be the coolest image to project in conjunction with the bands single “Rich Girls”. But, we suggest you update that image for the 21st Century and you’ll come somewhere close to their sound. Maybe substitute mirror balls for the glow of your iPod and flares for black skinny jeans? Not only that but they also managed to get themselves remixed by the Twelves as well as our all time favourite remix a la The Shoes feat. Sky Ferreira (yep, XOX’s own LA columnist) so what is not too love?!

Their sultry guitar pop is going to seep all over this year and our reporter in the field of Lon-don managed to grab them for a quickie (inter-view) and probed them with all the questions

you might ask a roving New York City band (most importantly, how exactly did they loose their virginity). Enjoy!

“The Virgins, why the decision to only come to London for these two performances at Rough Trade and the Notting Hill arts club?Donald: Well, we just toured with the Pigeon Detectives for two weeks in December and before that we toured France for two weeks so we kinda feel like we’ve been neglecting the US so we have to tour the states BUT we got invited to play at Rough Trade which is something we’ve always wanted to do so we though it’d be fun to come over!Wade: and YoYo [at the notting hill arts club], I love YoYo.

So, speaking of your tour with The Pigeon de-tective, how was it?Donald: It was fun, it some of the biggest shows we’ve ever played! They have a mas-sive fanbase. It was also the most of the UK we’ve ever seen. So those two factors alone made it awesome.Wade: We’ve been over here a bunch of times though but that was the first lengthy tour in the UK.

Having experienced a fair part of the UK then, how do you find British audiences in com-parison to American ones?Wade: British people definitely have a better music knowledge…and a better music history. People in America just kinda go with what they’re raised on, English people are always willing to give bands a shot.

Surely in New York where you guys are from it’s a bit different though?Wade: Yeah…the thing about America is that it ranges from place to place. In the UK peo-ple tend to listen to all different sorts of music, whereas in the US you’ll get pockets where they listen to certain stuff. Most of the time if it’s not on MTV people won’t listen to it any-way, Donald: That’s where myspace is great be-cause kids can listen to us, talk to us and find out when we’re playing shows.

So, XOX did a feature on band names a cou-ple of issues ago and I was thinking…your name seems pretty inapt to describe your breed of dirty funk music. What was your thinking behind the name The Virgins?Donald: Well we wanted a name that was light and fun instead of being moody and Jaded. But we also wanted it to be sexy so there’s like a hint of that. But it’s like…is it okay to find that sexy?People when we started were like, you can’t call your band a name with ‘the’ in it, no one does that anymore! You have to be called like…radio bar open push from the left. So we thought we’d go against that and keep it simple and easy to remember.Wade: The English language has a story tradi-tion of using the word ‘the’, we’re down with that.

These questions are all a bit sterile aren’t they? While we’re on the subject of your name I think it might be fun to ask you if you have any embarrassing loss of virginity stories you’d like to share with our readers? I always find those terribly interesting! Donald: I had a good time when I lost it but I was a late come-r, I was 17. All my friend started at like 14. I went through puberty very

late…Wade: Mine is only embarrassing because it’s so boring!Donald: I was dating this girl forever and we thought we were gonna lose it to eachother but then we broke up and she screwed some guy so I just lost my virginity to this older girl who was known for taking virginities. The best part was that I ran into some of my friend who were on their way to school and told them about it. It was proud moment. It was a pretty awkward subject before then.

Did you used to just try and avoid the whole subject?Donald: No, I lied.

Straight up Lying ey?!Donald: I just used to lie that I’d slept with all my girlfriends. It was more assumed...

Well, that was kind of entertaining. Not the comedy gold I’d hoped for though. Finally, I’d like to go with the generic January question; What are your plans for this year?Both: Tours!Wade: We wanna reach every place imagina-ble.Donald: And Writing. We’ve got some songs to write. We’re gonna try and make an EP. Wade: There’s a lot of secret projects…

…Secrets you’d like to share with XOX?Wade: They’re so secret even we don’t know what they are yet!”

Holly Lucas...........................................................................

Vivian Girls combine a lo-fi, punk, garage-sound with a touch of femininity. Breaking out from the New York scene they produce art-rock for the twenty-first century and although surrounded by the devil that is hype their songs manage to them up. Break-speed tempo and almost indistinguishable lyrics make for great music- the type that creates sweaty, jumping, beer spilling and raucous live shows. There are gorgeous harmonies beneath the layers of distortion with baleful vocals; it’s songs like “Where Do You Run To” which en-compass Vivian Girls musical ethos. We caught up for a quick-fire interview and to get the low-down on what it’s like being in an all-girl punk outfit circa 2009.

1) Can you give us a quick low-down on what Vivian Girls are about?Vivian Girls are about working hard, constant-ly touring, and having fun.

2) What’s the best gig you’ve played?They’re almost all a blast, but I think for me

the Sonic Youth show stands out for obvious reasons.

3) What will 2009 hold do you think? Broken any resolutions yet?2009 holds a second album and tons more touring. I never make resolutions so I don’t get disappointed when I break them, which is inevitable for me, so to answer your question, no, I have not broken any resolutions.

4) Has the New York scene influenced you? Of course! There’s nothing more influential than being surrounded by motivated like minded individuals, which is exactly how the New York scene is in the 00’s.

5) There’s a garage-punk vibe about your mu-sic- did you instantly know what you wanted your sound to be?Not exactly, Vivian Girls started out with the intention of being a loud fast punk band with harmonies, in vein of the Wipers and Shangri-Las and it just sort of morphed into what it is today.

6) Everyone I mention Vivian Girls think you’re the coolest things ever- what’s your secret?That opinion isn’t unanimous, so I wouldn’t take any advice on being “cool” or well-liked from us. We’re just trying to do what we do and are growing up and learning a lot along the way.

7) Is it hard being an all-girl band in ‘the indus-try’? Or has everything been a DIY process anyway?It’s hard being a girl in the world, period. But I think we are very fortunate for the success we’ve found and the way we’ve been treat-ed so far.

8) You’re touring last year was of epic propor-tions- any tour plans for the upcoming year? Expect some more of the same epic propor-tions.

9) Got any top tips musically for the upcoming year?Have fun, it’s only music.

We know a lot of you out there are looking to be superstar DJs and our diary is getting packed with some really cool gigs from now till the end of Summer. We thought we’d ask DJ legend Eddy Temple-Morris for some advice and we’ve not only go the tips but a track for you to play too. Eddy has remixed everyone from The Gossip to Dan le sac and Candi Staton he’s got residencies in Ibiza and Barcelona and a show on XFM too - he’s live DJ for The Prodigy and the man behind the legendary Secret Garden Party where they’ve had the likes of Grace Jones and this year will also feature the Same Teens DJs! Eddy has also got a giveaway of his famous Losers mix of Rage Against the Machine. Details will be sent out soon but it’ll be free and limited to a few days - it’s only ever been available on a vinyl promo and has been played by Erol Alkan and Pendulum - keep your eye out for the bulletin.

EDDY’S TOP TEN TIPS ON DJING

1. DON’T USE A LAPTOPThere are exeptions to the rule, like Utah saints using Serrato, but generally, it’s all about con-necting with the crowd. I like to have my head up and eyeball the people on the dancefloor, us-ing ableton to play out makes it a very heads down experience. fatboy Slim said it best when he said I don’t use a laptop cos it looks like you’re checking yer f**king emails.

2. GET THERE ON TIMEthere’s nothing so annoying to promoters as a late DJ. they know their night and their crowd and program the flow of the evening accordingly. if you’re late you f*ck off not only the pro-moter, but other DJs too. At the Big Reunion in Skeggy last year Reggie Yates, that bloke off Radio One, was booked to play after Rev & The Makers, then it was my turn. The f*cker didn;’t show up, stressed the promoter right out, there was a last moment scramble and rather thank hang out with my mates in Rev i had to rush on after some announcer said ‘ladies and gentle-men’ reggie Yates...crowd befuddled, mr pissed off royally...

3. IF YOU ARE LATE, LET THE PROMOTER KNOW, AND IF ANOTHER DJ COVERS FOR YOU, SAY ‘SORRY’ AND ‘THANK YOU’.Unless you’re Reggie Yates, in which case, just don;t say a f*cking word and take my slot, you c*nt.

4. DON’T GET DRUNKIt’s really not a good look, unless you’re one of those celebrities who doesn;t actually DJ, but just plays records while getting progressively more drunk, in which case, that’s fine,. knock yerself out. Norman Cook went through a stage of getting really off his tits behind the decks

(i think he was depressed and had - literally- taken his eye off ‘The Ball’). I had a soundclash with him in Brighton around that time, and everybody ended up in the bar with me, because ‘he couldn’t mix a gin & tonic’’ according to a funny punter there. they were all pouring out of the main room, looking at their phones, having been texted by one of the people dancing on the tables in that bar are.

5. DON’T TAKE A LOAD OF ECSTACYsee 4, it’s not a good look. Your eyes should be on the crowd, not rolling around the back of your skull.

6. DON’T TAKE A LOAD OF COCAINE EITHEROr you could end up like Derek Dalarge at Manumission in the second summer of love, when he fell asleep behind the decks and Jon carter took the opportunity to superglue Claire manumis-sions ten inch wobbly black vibrator to his forehead. A little sharpener to keep you awake is one thing, but seeing a horrid, gurning gack-hound behind the decks, with a jaw going one way and a face going another, is just horrible. I gave up all drugs about 5 years ago and i can still keep up with the best of them till breakfast time. You really don’t NEED them to have a great time. (see youtube footage of drug free me supporting Pendulum or Prodigy etc for proof).

7. DONT PLAY FOR YOURSELF, PLAY FOR TO CROWDNumerous DJs just play cool records and get a hard on about it. just learn from the masters like Tom Middleton, Steph and Dave Dewaele, and Tim Utahs...play stuff they know, get their hands in the air, then surprise them with a curveball every now and again.

8. IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE CLUB, GET THERE A BIT EARLYsee 7, and watch the crowd, get a vibe for the room, see which tunes theyre reacting best to and get the measure of them for your set, then you’ll storm it.

9. REMEMBER YOU’RE A FAN TOODon’t be all cool and aloof, OK it may make a really moody teenage girl at the front want to sleep with you, but on the whole the crowd won’t get into it as much as if YOU ARE INTO IT. You’re playing tunes you LOVE, so look like it, and go nuts when the time is right, (bearing tips 4,5 and 6 in mind of course)

10. BE NICE TO PEOPLEIt doesn;t cost anything...sign autographs, say yes to the requests for pictures, talk to people and listen to them. they are your fans and they pay money to see you, so be nice to them.

It’s a question that invariably gets asked in every interview, ever. “So, what are your influences?”. And I don’t care if it’s a generic question, boring for the band to answer, because as a listener of music it matters! If you’re sat there listening to a band and you think “Hey that bits sounds a tad like Joy Division”or“That vocal is extremely Debbie Harry” it’s nice to have it cleared up by a bit of influenced based clarification. So, we’ve decided to hop on the good foot and do the frowned upon thing and simply ask for The Soft Pack’s top ten songs and we reckon these have to have some bearing on their influence. Remember The Muslims? Well, this is them under a different guise. They’ve got the same rock’n’roll driven sound with gritty vocals and bass driven verses, the type of music you will jump up and down to and get sweaty. And not even care. With the 70’s NYC punk vibe jump-ing all over this it’s a bit like Lou Reed copu-lating with Julian Casablancas whilst Iggy Pop lurks in the background. With a sound like that it’s not going to be long before everyone’s all over them- lets just hope Radio One don’t grab on too strong and fast and let them retain the credibility they’ve accumulated so far!

SOFT PACK TOP TEN1) “Snowblind”- Black Sabbath2) “Elephant Man” Bo Diddley3) “Our work Fills the Pews”- Hot Snakes4) “This will be the last time”- Rolling Stones5) “Overglazed”- The Breeders6) “Excitable Boy”- Warren Zevon7) “Mouthbreather”- Jesus Lizard8) “100 Miles and Running”- NWA9) “Just like Heaven”- Dinosaur Jr.10) “Moral Kiosk”- REM

THE SOFT PACKWhere to start with Mathew Horne - he’s the Gavin in Gavin and Stacey, the Horne in Horne and Corden, plays opposite Catherine Tate in most of her sketches, has won a Brit-ish Comedy award, he’s presenting of the Brit Awards and he’s even launching his own club night. It’s every Thursday (see our top friends) and launches on Feb 5th with our old friends Dutch Uncles playing live and British Sea Power playing the records alongside Mat. Promising a stellar line up that includes Tim Bur-gess, The Maccabees, Dan Le Sac and, ahem, us, it’s shaping up to be one of the best new nights around. We’ll be carting down our tapes n’that to play on February 19th so come along if you can make it.

. After that huge introduction we had one simple question. What’s your top ten songs at the moment?

1) Bright Lights - Pete & The Pirates2) The Rat - The Walkmen3) Get Innocuous (Soulwax Remix) - LCD Soundsystem4) Olympic Airways - Foals5) Lego - The Maccabees6) Broken - Late Of The Pier7) 26 Is Dancier Than 4 - This Town Needs Guns8) Heinrich Manoeuvre (Phones Remix) - Interpol9) Partie Traumatic - Black Kids10) Blue Eyes - Good Shoes

MAT HORNE

ILLUSTRATION LOUISE

My favourite song is Sally Cinamon by the Stone Roses, The song for me captures a unique mix of melody, innocence and ‘North-ern’ warmth. The opening Guitar line sets the song up with it’s harrowing but naive melodic shape and reverbed sound. The drum and bass patterns then promptly open this most perfect pop song. The icing on the cake - the vocal line then completes this simple but moving indie pop song

Adam FicekMy favourite song or the one thats my fa-vourite today and it will probably change by the time ive listened to some music but what im buzzing on right now is The Watcher by Dr Dre. I love the defiance of it after people had slated him for the chronic album and its his first track back. I love the way it addresses the jealousies of the critics and how most of them are themselves failed artists. It makes me buzz when he starts reminding people that it was him who invented the whole thing in the first place discovered Eminem. The sound of it too. The production is tight, taught classic Dre and it sounds real menacing like he proper means it.“People i used to know just dont know me no more”. Thats my line in this one. Also it re-minds me of good times spent smoking with my brother and Andy Nicholson and wishing we lived in LA and not Sheffield

Jon McClure

MF REVIEWSby mf brittWe asked one of the Waffles girls what she’d been up to:

PEOPLE WHO MAKE FAKE N00DZtoday in a forum on this site, someone posted a picture of me naked. like they pho-toshopped my clothes off. who has time to do that!? they took my waffles+falafels picture and put skin and boobies over my clothes. it hardly looked real. but almost. if you zoomed out and closed one eye, it did. these people have mad skills. i underestimated. ***1/2 (out of 5)

GIGANTORhave you ever wished you were able to spin kick over people’s heads? if you were gigan-tor, you could. if i was gigantor and someone asked me to, i would be like “easy peasy, i’m gigantor”. but that’s impossible because if i was gigantor you wouldn’t be reading this right now because there is no keyboard big enough for gigantor. unless he grew his nails long and filed them to tiny point with which to type with. btw gigantor is funnier if you’ve seen night at the museum, this movie where ben stiller runs away from real life museum things and is friends with theodore roosevelt. ***** (out of 5)

GETTING HIT IN THE FACE BY A FLYING LO-CUSTtoday I got hit in the face by a flying locust. who gets hit in the face by a flying locust? the answer is no one besides me. not a single per-son in the 21st century has been hit in the face by a flying locust. it’s bad luck. apparently i live in zimbabwe now. children of bodom was playing in my lab when it happened. the azns let me listen to whatever i want. so i blow their minds. but thats just because i’m an f1 racer. ** (out of 5)

GHETTO SPAGHETTI ETTI ETTI This is a simple recipe for some noodle crap i made the other day. i didn’t feel like waiting for real pasta to cook so i used ramen instant noodles instead. it actually tasted pretty delicious plus u get a spare powder pack to make a supercharged ramen later. can u imagine? i’m feeling faint just thinking bout it, bout it. yummmmm.

INGREDIENTS- 1 pack of ramen- spaghetti sauce- 1 can of chef boyardee (for our non American readers this is tinned pasta in sauce like spa-ghetti hoops or summat)- 2 grips of cheese- tap water, maybe salt too?

DIRECTIONS1. boil ramen noodles in a pot. strain em2. stir in half the cheese and a cup of spaghetti sauce3. throw in the chef boyardee4. melt the rest of the cheese on top5. eat it out of the pot. feel sick (optional)

by hood charlotte

Sometimes when all your favourite people get together and you have really high hopes then it can sometimes only lead to disap-pointment - so when we heard our fave girl Sky Ferreira, the best new New Yorkers The Virgins et those petit little remix beauties The Shoes had all collaborated we were a mix of nervousness and excitement - We heard the result and we reckon it's the hottest new tune around. So get over to Sky's myspace and check out Teen Lovers.Not content with writing, modelling, singing and general gorgeousness, our LA corresp-ndent has branched out into one of the few things left - next month we hear she's going for the land speed record and a spot of open heart surgery but till then here's

So sky, we hear that you're dj'ing now. whats your dj name?call me magic fingerz. with a "z".

how did the whole dj thing come about?actually it was pretty random. the marmont im'ed me asking if i dj'ed. i thought hmmmmm robert pattinson goes there! told them i can learn. they said dope, you're spinnin next monday.

wait a sec, isn't marmont a bar? how do you get in?yes, it's a 21 year old joint. but it doesn't mat-ter because my sasha fierce alter-ego "magic fingerz" is 108 years old. i went with a chaper-one so they don't get shut down and i don't do any funny business. also i had to be home by 12 because i had a chemistry test in the morning.

guess you don't need a consent form then. that's cool. so are you auditioning rappers to join your crew at all?my friend master william suggested i should have my entourage include jazzy jeff. oh yeah and audio two.

oh tight. so which hip-hop group do you plan on taking out first? or are you just going to battle suckers for fun?battle suckers for fun. kyle massey and aaron carter are up first. gonna do them like 8 mile.

so what are your signature jams right now?paris aeroplane remix by friendly fires. bow wow wow radio g-string. the teen lovers remix i did with the shoes and the virgins (shameless self promotion- sorry!).

have you considered dropping any coolio?of course, i love michelle pfeiffer!!!

and are you planning on straightening your hair and/or growing a kung fu moustache like steve aoki? we hear they are difficult to groom but worth it.i tried. my hair is too thick. i'm thinking of growing a brawny man stache instead.

has anyone famous come out to one of your sets yet?to be honest, i was too busy messing up and pressing buttons i didn't know existed to notice. that one dude from forgetting sarah marshall was there. i felt cool.

how was his dancing?lean back dance ft. fat joe y'all.

by

By Holly Lucas www.flickr.com/photos/lyluc

BLACK IS BACK

By Louie Banks www.flickr.com/photos/louie banks

by

by

FORREST EXPLAINS IT ALL

Photography by Jonathan FlandersFashion Editor Hannah Mort

Styling Assistant Jade FrenchModel Forrest Hu

by

by

by

Inside the haven of girly chat that is the women’s loos. This issue we quickly nab a few groom-ing tips with badass babes of the KASMS at the annual artrocker fest.

So, you girls look super hot on stage, any make up tips for our readers?

Rachel: we were having a chat about this earlier actually and we’ve concluded that 2009 is all about the eyebrows.Gemma: Yep, totally penciled in eyebrows.Rachel: On-the-go film star lipstick…cut your lips?Gemma: And a punch in the eye substitutes eyeliner and mascara!

Holly Lucas

IN THE LADIESWITH KASMs

by

by

You may recognise the name as the birth place of British play dough icons Wallace & Gromit and the lo-fi, warehouse-party culture which both regional bands Portishead and Mas-sive Attack were made famous by. Apart from that, since the early 90s boom, little has left from Bristol’s suspension bridge and over the hill top surroundings into the wider conscious-ness. Welcome, then, to a hidden scene keep-ing itself out the way of the traffic heading towards Cardiff. Time, then, for the region’s largest and most history-bound city to unveil a new batch of rhythm (or anti-rhythm) makers.

There really is no easy reference point to start from – so, centered on the city’s dance culture vibe, Betamaxx (myspace. com/betamaxx) is as good a place as any. Made up of three childhood friends and claiming to be the only collective doing what they do, multi instrumentalist Chris says, “There’s loads of indie and metal which has always been popular here, but there’s plenty of sweet DJs after dark”. A hint of shoegaze drops into the seemingly basic dance-punk sound – the tunes here beat anything a lot of crossover artists have managed to produce this year. ‘Sexdisco’ could shape up to Spank Rock for pure smut talk: “You’ve got your headphones on/you’re jacking one out/you wanna go to my fucking disco?”. Not clever by any means, but this dumb-dumb approach makes this ‘Daft Punk..LCD Soundsystem and a bit of Nirvana for luck’ format a palatable effort. Chris de-scribes the Bristol scene as “a real mix up”, leaving us with the question: where do we go next? So on to the noise-jerks of disco pop: Munch Munch.

“Noise pop by none-musicians” is how Tom from Munch Munch (myspace. com/munch-munchband) describes their varied sound. Im-agine a sound blender with fireworks explod-ing from the top and all over a de-tuned piano

and you’re nearly in their head space. Live, they gather everything possible with which to make a sound, and just do. But they do have tunes. ‘Wedding’ in particular is a chocolate fountain of joyous fun, childlike ambition and snarly indie dance floor.

Tunes is also not a word suited to The Jelas (myspace. com/thejelas). Punk “fuck off with your conformity” mentalities normally end up with a group such as… The Towers of London. The Jelas, though, know how to shake up your average playlist in a way which others could only dream of doing. Spit in the eye drum lines, grey-humoured lyrics and tortured har-monies might help. Aled, The Jelas drummer, indulged us by sharing that they’ve been influ-enced by Fugazi, Deerhoof and a book about the 80s underground scene in America entitled ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’. He concludes: “[the Bristol scene is] really cool. There’s loads of bands making great music and nobody re-ally sounds the same.”

At the other end of the spectrum The Bumble-bees (myspace. com/thebumblebeesinfestya) make great simple pop music. Like Thomas Tantrum and Cheeky Cheeky and the Nose-bleeds they have Smiths influenced guitar-lines. They also have charm and subtle finesse. ‘Fluffy Clouds of Joy’ will certainly find itself being put in between ‘I Want You Back’ by The Jackson 5 and Foals at indie house party mix-tapes over the next few months. Their re-cently released EP contains enough hum-along moments to entice the most hard nose indie extremist into submission.

Bristol is a city with great music. There’s even more than we had room to list here. We could have discussed Ratface or the self deprecat-ing and sarcastic Shut Up, Sonya (myspace. com/shutupsonya) who tackles the contem-porary problem of obesity with ‘Fat on the Inside’. With club nights such as Monkey! Knife! Fight! and Shake & Pop dotted around the place Bristol is on the rise. With so many sounds and influences entering one place it’s only a matter of time before the next renais-sance of British music is lead by a band who form in such seemingly-quiet, but secretly very exciting, waters.

ROUND ARE WAYBRISTOLBy Nik Burman

OUT NOW

by

Just after new year some we opened our Antipodean branch of whatever it is we do over here so they wanted to say, G’day, as I believe they say in their language...

Why hello there, we are Same Teens Australia and at the moment we are Anna, Emma and Lau-ren, but we hope to take over down under pretty soon! We are based in Melbourne, the down under of the down under and it’s really nice down here. We are brimming with excitement, just brimming, because we are going to start our own zine called XOZ, like XOX but Austral-ian! Melbourne is lovely, you’d love it, there are all these little pockets of suburbs with great café’s and bookstores and clothing stores and galleries, you can get a tram anywhere really. Good music too, but there isn’t lots for us youngens, it’s either in store’s or stadiums! We hope to change that though. We’re missing you, all the way across the seas; it’s hard getting through the cold, Melbourne nights without you! So be our friends and do great things and tell us about it, because that’s what friends do. There are some kicking tunes that we’d love to share with you and I’m sure that you have some you want to share with us, so come around and we’ll put on some conceptual tea and talk about bands and the weather, because we love you.

Psychedelic trance rock has certainly returned to make another big mark in the music scene on Australian shores. Leading the way is Perth based trio Tame Impala. Described by The NME as playing “two minute honeyed 60s ga-rage flower-fuzz pop tunes, the middle eights of which turn into six-minute psych-prog work-outs to make their audience dance like their mums did during the Summer of Love”

They were lovely enough to take time out of

his gig-packed schedule to answer a couple of questions for Sameteens Australia, describ-ing simple beginnings, the frustrations of being underage and the ever so humble MGMT…

So Tame Impala is Jay Watson, Kevin Parker and Dominic Simper. How did you meet and form?Kevin and myself went to school together, we used to jam on our favourite songs in the music room after school, and have been play-

ing music together pretty much since. A bit over a year ago we were playing a gig in our old band, and Jay was drumming for one of the other bands playing that day. He started hanging out with us, coming over and listen-ing to music with us and that kind of thing, and eventually found his way into the band, and Tame Impala was formed.

Tame Impala is getting more and more radio play everyday. Did you find it a bit bizarre when you first heard your music on main-stream radio?I don’t really listen to the radio to be honest, so I haven’t even heard it on Nova or whatev-er station yet. I guess it’s bizarre if you think about it. I guess if they’re playing us instead of Nickelback or whoever, and a few kids go on to discover more good music as a result, then that’s a good thing maybe. Then again, theres always the risk of backlash from being thrashed on radio and everyone hating you. I’d rather not think about it too much...

What’s been the most memorable gig you’ve played so far?Probably Southbound festival, that was pretty fun. We had a few friends on stage dancing and playing coffee table percussion.

Do you prefer playing the bigger venues, or the more intimate shows?I’m leaning towards smaller venues only be-cause most big venues tend to sound like mas-sive tin sheds. But festivals are really fun.

What was it like supporting MGMT?It was awesome, one of the best tours we’ve ever done.

Were they friendly people?Definitely, it was really humbling to hang out with those guys. From the first show of the tour they were really inviting to us, made sure they watched our shows and we’re just really cool guys to hang out with. With a band as big as MGMT you’d kinda expect they’d show up 5 minutes before they were due on stage, and then go back to their hotel straight after walking off stage, but they weren’t like that at all.

How would you describe your own music?Umm, I guess sort of heavily rhythmic based psychedelic rock with surreal dream-like vocal melodies kinda thingy....

Is there a big underage scene in Perth?Not really. I’m sure there are heaps of teen-age bands playing in their bedrooms, but venues aren’t really interested at all because of liquor laws.

What did you do when you were underage?Count down the days until you were 18! It definitely sucks being under 18 and having all your favourite bands come to your town and not being able to see them. Unfortunately once you’re in a band you kinda realise it’s not really up to the bands.

Who were some of your favourite bands growing up?Oh just typical teenage boy music like Rage Against the Machine, Sublime, Nirvana, the Strokes.

What first captured your interest in making music?It was kind of a natural progression from lov-ing music, to playing an instrument, to making music.

Who are you listening to at the moment?Oh, a bit of everything. We played a few shows earlier in the year with a band from Brooklyn called Yeasayer, their album is awe-some I’ve been listening to that an obscene number of times over the last few weeks.

Are there any plans for Tame Impala to head overseas anytime soon?I think we may be doing a few shows in March or thereabouts, just to get our name out there, but I guess we’ll have to do the album before we have a proper crack overseas.

Where do you see Tame Impala in, say, two years time?I don’t even know what we’re doing in 2 months time; it’s so hard to say. We don’t have any world domination plans. I’d be happy if we were still making music and play-ing shows together and not having to work a proper job.

by

It’s that time of the year again and film awards are in full swing, and it seems British talent is once again on top form with Slumdog Millionaire and Kate Winslet dominating most of the categories. Kate Winslet has had a tough time in the press due to her sickeningly emotional acceptance speech at the Golden Globes (and a slightly more ‘gathered’ ap-pearance at the Screen Actors Guild Awards) and although her undeniable smugness causes me to dislike her immensely, it pains me to say that I feel I should be proud, leading the way in a British film invasion. With Slumdog being at the helm of this triumph it seems that even with an economic meltdown and a coun-try in crisis we can look to culture again for a glimpse of optimism. Last week’s grand reveal of the Oscar nominations has sealed our influ-ence over 2009 even more and a generous helping of winners is deserved! It is only Janu-ary an there appears to be 10 years worth of stunning films to be seen, a true testament to the importance of cinema and with a record breaking number of people visiting the cinema and theatre last year it seems the only afford-able luxury we have left!

Slumdog Millionaire is an important film that needed to be made, highlighting yet celebrat-ing the complexities of India and the surpris-ingly widespread reception it has received this significant influence. Through his recent blips Danny Boyle has finally returned to form

with it being evident from the first shot that he has delved completely into the fast, chaotic and stressful aspects of India, something for a British director which could have been a great risk but his admiration obvious is from its care-ful portrayal is key in its success. Its protago-nist Jamal is portrayed by Dev Patel, a young and promising actor who has come along way from his irreverent character Anwar in Skins. It seems he has matured immensely in order to produce a sophisticated and charm-ing performance which is a perfect start to what could be a blossoming career. It tells the a rags to riches story of an orphan from the slums of Mumbai who in a desperate genuine attempt to find his childhood sweetheart enter “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” with the ability to go far due to his life experiences. He becomes an overnight hero, the ultimate depiction of hope to all those who want it however his looming success is interrupted due to allegations of cheating, and so follows a brutal interrogation by an evidently corrupt police force with the opening scene showing electrocution in order to produce a confession. The film then flits seamlessly and affectionate-ly with flash backs to a heartbreakingly frantic and tragic childhood, however the camarade-rie of its three characters (the three musket-eers) often portrayed by real slum children, helps establish a consistent glimmer of hope. It’s vivid depiction of Mumbai’s slums efficient-ly and effectively illustrate how India, can at

times seem a different world from where we live and this is possibly the biggest compliment to Boyle, a testament to his dedication to au-thenticity and homage to India’s reality, not a Bollywood fantasy.

The films curiosity lies within it being a quintes-sentially British film in every way, but oddly happens to have, most authentically, explored boldly into the cultural wonderment of India. Its inability to rely on a famous cast works to its advantage, the vibrancy of youth bringing an edge which would be otherwise missing. However the most intriguing aspect of the film perhaps is the partnership between Jamal and his brother and the heartache which is caused when a sibling co-dependence is removed. Al-though the film has an optimistic brilliance the bleak violence and corruption which under-lies the city cannot be avoided. Graphic and gruesome depictions of mafia mentality and a constant fear is a frightening reality which at time, a western society chooses to ignore yet interspersed with this is a witty and sparkling dialoged which lifts what could have been a heavy film to take. There is no naivety or cautiousness in avoiding this topic, instead it embraces the poverty, and celebrates peo-ples determination and way of live. The film

is consistently effervescent, never dipping in raw energy and this is aided dramatically by its score by AR Rahman including several contributions by M.I.A which assist the film in maintaining its grip. What’s most striking it its unadulterated stream of happiness which is something we are desperately craving, with elements of fairytale providing a bustling es-capism. The visual depiction of this tale is stun-ning, a masterpiece which lets Mumbai speak for itself, an ideal backdrop which develops to be its very own character.

And finally to its unexpected success, well it may be in there opinion however completely justified in its efforts. The film grabbed four gongs at the Golden Globes and receiving the prestigious outstanding performance by a cast award at the SAG’s, awards that are nominat-ed by the actors themselves, a real testament to its impact and this recognition was clearly never in consideration when making the film. The endearing nature of this film lies in is pas-sion and modesty, it is blatantly clear that making this film was life changing for many and it’s this we should be utterly proud of. Ulti-mately its focus is love, a gripping tale of one man’s determination to fulfill his destiny, as it becomes evident that it is writtenHannah Clarke

by

Here’s your chance to win

A 10 BED ROOM WITH BREAKFAST FOR YOU AND 9 MATES IN MANCHESTER’S COOLEST BACK-PACKER’S HOSTEL(www. hattersgroup. com/Manchester/)

A PRIVATE GIG BY THE KABEEDIES IN YOUR ROOM ( www. myspace. com/thekabeedies)

FOUR TICKETS TO KENDAL CALLING

Just message us with the 3 headliners you’d have on at your festival and what it would be called - ther’e no points for coolness and we’ll pick the winner at random - so if you and a few mates want a night out to remember on Wedenesday 11th February give us a shout

On Wednesday Feb 11th we have our first gig of 09 and it’s the launch of our own stage at Ken-dal Calling with acoustic sets by Dutch Uncles and The Kabeedies, followed by the prize and a right good night out for our competition winners.Same Teens have got our own stage at the festival - where last year Dizzee Rascal, Glasve-gas, Dan le Sac, British Sea Power, Mystery Jets, Twisted Wheel and loads more played to over 4000 people. This year is even bigger!There’s also the chance for your band to play on our stage at Kendal Calling - we’re asking people to bring a recording of one track in and we will choose one of the bands by Feb 16th who will play on Saturday evening on the XOX Same Teens stage at the festival.

If your from out of town just come anyway and you can stay at the venue as it’s a backpack-er’s hostel toothere’s also a chance to win a slot on our stage too even if you cna’t make the gig - email one original track and some information about your band to sameteenscentral@yahoo.com

So there’s one place for someone who brings a Cd to the gig and one for sending a track in, and yes you can enter both. See you at Kendal Calling?!