2020 was one hell of a year for Lucy Spraggan, who – frank as ever – channelled her experiences into her brand new album, Choices , which peaked at number five – her highest charting album to date. She explains why it means so much to her, reflects on coming full circle with new song, Sober , and the challenges of writing her first ever raunchy track.
In and around the grime scene since the early days of Dizzee Rascal, Bruza was widely seen as one of the genre's biggest talents after singles Get Me and his legendary clash with Crazy Titch – until he disappeared. But 2021 sees the East London MC return with uncompromising single Pick It Up that showcases his genius flow, wordplay, and unmistakable cockney humour.
Meeting Brad Pitt while touring with Nils Frahm, being a resident at the legendary Funkhaus Studios, and why making music on a computer feels like being at the office - these are just some of the things discussed with bright spark Liam Mour. The Berlin-based synth wizard has just dropped his second EP, and it's an absolute stunner.
Proud to be one of few French-Canadian composers to break out internationally, on-the-rise artist Raphael Reed's latest film is the blockbuster thriller Crisis . Starring Gary Oldman and Evangeline Lilly, the film explores America's opioid crisis, with a gritty and compelling score from Reed. He talks us through the cultural roots of his music, landing the Crisis gig, and some of his favourite synthesizers.
Multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter and record producer, Gordon Kennedy reveals what he’s been up to during lockdown, reflects on co-writing Eric Clapton’s huge hit, Change The World , and shares his recent discovery – putting Celestion Ruby speakers into his 1962 Fender Bassman cabinet.
Monitor engineer Jim Roach has worked with an eclectic range of artists during his career, from Guns N’ Roses to Janet Jackson. Here he talks about how he first started working in live sound, getting back on the road with Justin Bieber, and how his JH Audio in-ears make life a whole lot easier.
Producer, remixer and singer-songwriter Estelle Rubio talks about adapting to the lockdown, her songwriting process, the role of women in audio, and why this self-confessed ‘geek girl’ loves her Genelec monitors.
With her powerful new single, Down Days , Charlotte Jane shows precisely why she’s emerging as one of the UK’s rising stars. She reveals the inspiration behind her new song and recalls the moment she heard her first play on Radio 1 earlier this year.
What does one of the most famous songwriters in the world do when forced to stay home for the best part of a year? Write a brand new surprise album, of course. This is exactly what Sir Paul McCartney did in 2020, using the unexpected downtime to write and record McCartney III . Engineer, mixer and producer Steve Orchard explains how they recorded the project at McCartney’s home studio, Hog Hill Mill, using a 60-channel VR60 Neve V Series desk.
Olivia Rodrigo’s Drivers License smashed Spotify's record for most streams in a day, and having also topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for eight consecutive weeks, the song continues to enjoy unprecedented success. Here we speak to one of the people who mixed the track, Mitch McCarthy, about why the song went viral, his use of oeksound plugins, and how its success has changed his career forever.
Award-winning British singer-songwriter, David Gray, recently completed work on his 12th album – Skellig – a stunning piece of work that you’ll get the most out of if you listen to it as he intended you to: from start to finish, in one sitting. We dive into Gray’s creative process, and find out why he made this record in such a unique, secluded setting. We also reflect on the crazy year that was 2020, and look forward to Gray’s much anticipated White Ladder: the 20th Anniversary tour which, all ...
We sit down for an insightful chat with Jonathan Wyner — current AES President and iZotope’s Director of Education — about the importance of collaboration and education around audio technology, how he’s witnessed its development over the years, and some of the trends we can expect to see in the near future.
Building up film music credits, releasing an album of songs for children, an electronic and orchestral remix album, spontaneously covering Italian artist Francesca Michielin, plus a global pandemic — a few of the reasons why Evanescence haven’t released an album of original songs in 10 years. But the wait is over. Today sees the band release The Bitter Truth ; their fifth record, with a particularly apt title in this era of misinformation and fake news. Headliner spoke to Grammy-winning singer a...
New independent artist Mango In Euphoria - who is embracing a unique style of alt-dream pop/rock - tells us how she wrote and recorded her latest single Never Be The Same , and excitedly reveals her plans to play a live London show in May.
Around the time Joe Biden secured his role as POTUS, Headliner caught up with singer-songwriter Daya about starting her whirlwind of a career at 15, collaborating with The Chainsmokers on Don’t Let Me Down, and how she’s found her creative stride over the last few months.
Less Is Lessie is a progressive rock band based in Wroclaw. The band delves into the music scene in Poland, the way they use ambient recordings and samples from real places in Wroclaw, and reveal the inspiration behind brand new concept album, The Escape Plan .
Mastering engineer Gavin Lurssen's Grammy Award-winning work includes Raising Sand , a collaborative album featuring Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, and the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? He brings an artful Zen to his mastering work and a thoughtful balance to his life. In today’s podcast Will Hawkins chats to Gavin about his career and ideology of giving back to the music community.
Discovered at the age of just 12, Birdy has gone on to amass over 1.6 billion audio streams worldwide, 1 billion YouTube views, 7.1 million monthly Spotify listeners and 4.7 million album sales to date. April 30 2021 will see her release her highly anticipated upcoming album, Young Heart , which as we discover, is quite the departure from her previous material. Birdy reflects on her early success, her spellbinding cover songs, and dives into the inspiration behind her upcoming record....
London-based duo Glass Peaks recently released their first single for 2021 - By My Side - an ‘80s synth fueled alt-indie track. Here we speak to the band’s Alfie Jefferies about writing as a two piece for the first time, heading down a slightly darker electronic route, and how they’ve always kept their listeners on their toes when it comes to their genre.
Recording and mix engineer and producer Jake Jackson has worked on a huge variety of soundtracks for film, TV, computer games, and more recently, albums. Jackson reveals the projects he’s been working on during lockdown, his route into the industry, the challenges of working on computer game scores, and the Genelec monitors that he relies upon.
London-based singer Jessica Wilde has started 2021 in a big way, recently dropping a double A-side with two fresh new singles. We chat about some of her favourite collaborations, the inspiration behind her raw, honest lyrics, and how she’s been pushing her own boundaries creatively during lockdown.
We speak to renowned German DJ, musician and producer ATB and platinum-selling producer Topic about their new single Your Love (9pm) , a faithful remake of the original ‘90s trance anthem featuring the vocals of Swedish songwriter A7S.
Up-and coming Trinbagonian artist Kalpee has just released a stunning acoustic version of his latest project Feel Good Playlist Vol.1 , which really does sound as the name suggests. Here he talks about partnering with this year’s virtual SXSW on The Island Stage , focusing on West Indian artists and reviving the acknowledgement of island pop globally.
Having spent the last two years touring with the likes of Brett Eldredge, Jon Pardi, Randy Houser and Lee Kernaghan, when Covid-19 hit, Brad Cox found solitude driving a tractor for up to 17 hours a day. Cox gets candid about the inspiration behind some of his biggest hits, why he only puts out the music he wants to, and talks about his new album, My Mind's Projection .
A Grammy Award-winner and trained at the most prestigious school of Julliard, Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum has been carefully establishing herself within the world of film music, especially with her unique work on the Quibi series, Don’t Look Deeper . Headliner dives into her stunning work on the series, as well as the locked-down composer life and her work on the board of The Alliance for Women Film Composers.
Can Tom Ashbrook put Liverpool on the neoclassical map to rival Berlin? With the quality of his stirring piano music, anything is possible. Having found its way into some of the biggest piano playlists on Spotify, we speak to Ashbrook about the next steps to take his music worldwide.
Lawrence ‘Filet’ Mignogna has been a monitor and FOH engineer for many big acts over the years, including Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Twenty One Pilots, and many more. Here we discuss why he took a step back from touring pre-Covid, his efforts to raise awareness and funds for the live industry, and his workflow on DiGiCo mixing consoles.
Swedish producer Bontruce recently dropped his debut single Salvation . The self-confessed studio nerd explains how he is responsible for the entire process of composing, producing and writing his tracks, and how he draws inspiration from both the natural world and the dichotomy between humans and the planet.
Newcomer Lu Wright is used to putting on a brave face, however with her debut single release, British Daisy and upcoming EP, she’s letting her guard down. It might just be the soundtrack to your summer.
Headliner speaks with Christopher Mansfield, the man known best as Fences, an artist already drawing favourable comparisons to Bon Iver. He reflects on being discovered on Myspace by Tegan and Sara, his friendship and collaborations with Macklemore, and the profound travels and bonds that brought about his latest album, Failure Sculptures .
