The Girl Effect 2 at Mono

Thursday night at Mono was delightful; loads of Scottish bands/artists coming together to support Scottish Women's Aid. There was glitter, fun, fantastic music and a friendly and uplifting atmosphere.

The Girl Effect #2 was curated by my sister Carla from TeenCanteen. The first Girl Effect had taken place in Edinburgh back in May for her 30th birthday. It was so successful, raising just under £3,500 plus a heap of awareness, that Scottish Women's Aid asked her if she would do a second one. Now back in Glasgow with the rest of the band, Carla decided to go for it and was amazed by the response.

I would like to say a personal thank you to all the artists involved, the incredible tech team led by Ronan from La Chunky studios, the sound engineer, the team from Scottish Women's Aid, the MSP's that came down, the girls from TYCI who dj'd, looked after artists and helped on the door, to everyone who donated a prize for the raffle, to all at Mono and to everyone who supported the event by attending or by writing about it in advance.

And also well done to my sister for organising another incredible night. Here is what happened....

Carla and representatives from Scottish Women's Aid took to the stage at 7pm sharp. Doors had opened at 6.30pm and it was fantastic to have the venue busy for the first bands coming on.

The Just Joans - Will He Kiss Me Tonight by Dolly Mixtures, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by The Shirelles

It can't be easy to be the first band on, but The Just Joans made it look easy, the 6-piece sounded superb and their take on The Shirelles was particularly well received.

Adam from Randolph's Leap - Bud by Honeyblood, Us Little Kids by The Roches
A quick changeover and Adam was into Bud by Honeyblood and sounding fantastic. I discovered some great new songs through the night and Us Little Kids was one of them.

Bodyheat - The Loving Kind by Girls Aloud, Love In The First Degree by Bananarama
With 12 bands in 4-hours, it was going to be tight. A delayed train meant that the drummer from Bodyheat literally walked into the venue and on to the stage with the rest of his band! Just in time for some pop magic with the Bananarama cover an early highlight of the night.

Sharptooth - Remember Walking In The Sand by The Shrangri La's, Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill

I hadn't heard of Sharptooth (above) before the night but I'l definitely be checking them out. Their guitars sounded glorious and they delivered their covers with attitude and style.

Broken Records - Modern Girl by Sleater Kinney, Stop In The Name Of Love by The Supremes

Top marks to Broken Records (pictured with Sita and Carla from TeenCanteen who joined them for the Supremes cover) for travelling through from Edinburgh to play.  They were a highlight from the Girl Effect #1, playing with total confidence, tight as you like, strong vocals and superb song choices.

Jo Mango - November by Auzure Ray, Before The World Was Big by Girlpool

I watched Jo Mango and her from the side of the stage, getting a close up view of the way they beautifully construct melodies from some out of the ordinary instruments. Their ability to do this with songs that are not their own was stunning.

Cairn String Quartet - Just A Girl by No Doubt, Waltz by Rachel Sermanni, Honey by TeenCanteen

Jaws dropped around Mono when the Cairn String Quartet started their covers. They sounded beautiful and at times you couldn't believe there was only 4 of them. They soon became 8 when the girls from TeenCanteen joined them to perform their debut single Honey that they rerecorded with the Cairn String Quartet for their album - gorgeous. Watch a video of the performance HERE

Skies Fell - Work by Kelly Rowland, Stay by Shakespears Sister

A standout performance. Running slightly late, I was beginning to get a little stressed as my sister had put me in charge of artist liaison and timings! It was worth the hold up as Skies Fell absolutely smashed it out the park with both performances. Singer David Pollock shaker and shimmied to Kelly Rowland's Work and hit the falsetto with ease. Stay was a real highlight from the night. Exceptionally tight performance.

Honey and the Herbs - Soft Sands by The Chordettes and Dance by ESG

Wow! My sister described Honey and the Herbs as 'Glasgow's best kept secret'. They were sensational, brilliant musicians who delivered 2 stunning performances. Dance by ESG really got the crowd going. I look forward to seeing them live in the future.

Kathryn Joseph - I'll Set You Free by The Bangles, Call The Shots by Girls Aloud

Simply beautiful. SAY Award winner Kathryn Joseph was absolutely lovely - in performance and person. Coming for the start and staying until the last record was spun. A hush fell over Mono when Kathryn began to sing, backed only by 2 different antique keyboard/organ style instruments, one for each song. Her voice is exquisite, delivery unique and she melted hearts.

BMX Bandits - That's How Heartaches Are Made by The Marvelettes, It's Gonna Take A Miracle by The Royalettes

Duglas T Stewart has been an incredible help to my sister since she formed TeenCanteen and he was as supportive as always in the build up to The Girl Effect #2, helping with promotion and writing a brilliant piece for Louder Than War featuring his 10 favourite girl group songs. Check it HERE.

Duglas and his BMX Bandits were in fine form and I probably wasn't the only one who wished they could have chosen and played a few more songs. That's How Heartaches Are Made was soulful, stretching on heart strings and Duglas was in fine voice. It's Gonna Take A Miracle was sung beautifully and powerfully by Chloe, a stunning performance with the Bandits backing her in style.

TeenCanteen - Trouble by Shampoo, Waterfalls by TLC and I Know Where It's At by All Saints (mash-up), Sister by TeenCanteen

On to the curators, TeenCanteen started with the relatively obscure Trouble by Shampoo, a mid-90's outfit who wrote fanzines about the Manic St Preachers and came through the Riot Grrl scene before delivering this slice of punky pop perfection. Deborah took lead vocals, while all the girls were on harmonies.

TeenCanteen's take on TLC's Waterfalls into I Know Where It's At by All Saints was stunning and captured on film by Duglas from BMX Bandits. Watch it HERE

The girls ended with their own song Sister and the message was clear;

I know I've got something good

When I feel the sisterhood

With me

The raffle was drawn and then there was time for 90-minutes of dancing with the TYCI dj's playing some cracking pop tunes, ending the night in fine style with Madonna's Like A Prayer. The girls had been dj-ing between songs all night and their taste and style was perfect for the night.

The final total has still to be confirmed but it is well over £2,000! Well done again to all involved.

TeenCanteen launch The Girl Effect 2

An exhausted but happy sister at The Girl Effect #1

watching Stanley Odd cover her song 'Honey'

Earlier on this year my sister Carla decided to do something rather special to mark her 30th birthday.

In actual fact it was truly special - Carla curated a night to raise funds and awareness for Scottish Women's Aid with a whole heap of bands and artists covering girl group songs from the 1950's through to present day.

The event at Summerhall in Edinburgh sold out and raised almost £3,500. Artists including Eugene Kelly (The Vaselines), Duglas T Stewart (BMX Bandits), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Broken Records, The Spook School, Machines In Heaven, Flash Talk, Stanley Odd and of course Carla's band TeenCanteen covered artists ranging from Martha Reeves and the Vandellas through to The Sugababes with Betty Boo, Destiny's Child, All Saints and TLC in between. A full list of artists and the songs they covered is available HERE

Scottish Women's Aid were so delighted with the awareness and funds raised that they asked Carla if she could do a second night to mark Glasgow taking part in 16 days of action this November.

Emma Davies from Scottish Women's Aid explained; "The 16 days take place every year between November 25th - the International Day of No Violence Against Women, and December 10th - Human Rights Day.

The global campaign sees communities, NGO's and charities hold events aimed at raising awareness of violence against women, and trying to influence behaviour and secure political commitment to ending it.

Every year as a different theme and 2015 is about the links between militarism and the right to education - both in conflict and in peace. The most recent estimates suggest that, worldwide, 31 million girls at primary level and 34 million at lower secondary level are not enrolled in school.

Scottish Women's Aid has used the 16 Days Campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence and to push for changes that make women and children safer."

It is 2015. Lets make a difference.

So here is the line-up for The Girl Effect #2 taking place at Mono in Glasgow on Thursday 26th November. All the artists, the production crew (La Chunky Studios) and the venue are giving their services for free!

Please spread the word and I hope to see you there! Who will SAY Award winner Kathryn Joseph cover? And will anyone cover 'Trouble' by Shampoo?! You'll need to attend to find out.

Miaoux Miaoux interview

My aims ..... to try and write catchy songs that don't have traditional structures or do things that you're not expecting. How far can you push 'pop' song structure with it still working?

Julian Corrie (Miaoux Miaoux) 

Long term readers of this blog will know how fond I am of the artist Miaoux Miaoux, AKA Julian Corrie.

Julian produced a string of sublime self releases that led to a deal with Chemikal Underground and the 2012 release of the album Light of the North. Julian's ear for sound and melody is exceptional, his ability to create beats and layer sonic soundscapes is joyful. Oh and he has a beautiful voice as well!

This clearly evident talent has led to (increasingly) strong support of Miaoux Miaoux in Scotland from bloggers, publications like The List and The Skinny, bookers, Chemikal and fellow artists - ranging from the DIY scene up to Chvrches and Belle and Sebastian, as well as music fans of all ages and backgrounds.

A positive response to It's The Quick, the lead single from the forthcoming album School of Velocity, and also Unbeatable Slow Machine, by 6Music bodes well. This could be the album that pushes Miaoux Miaoux on to a new level and it would be richly deserved and celebrated by his loyal fanbase.

I caught up with Julian to see how he is getting on ahead of what could be an extremely busy second half of 2015.

1. Light of the North was your first album released via Chemikal Underground. What were the main differences you noticed from a self release?

Well, it was great to get a vinyl release haha! All of the physical product was much better obviously, I wasn't designing and sorting the printing out myself. They're also really supportive guys, great to phone up if you need help with something or just want to rant. As I'm basically a solo artist it helps to have that support there.

2. The album gathered some incredible reviews; 3-years since release, what are your favourite moments from the album?

I think 'Stop The Clocks' is probably my favourite moment, although I'm proud of the whole thing. But, you know, I probably haven't listened to it for three years. Once something's done, I tend to put it behind me and move on, although those tracks that I made really fast and seem to be accidentally great (my Chvrches remix for example) I can come back to. But it seems weird to listen to stuff once you've made it. Maybe I'll give it another 3 years.

Stop the Clocks

3. Since then you’ve commandeered a band for live shows- were they involved in the writing/recording? What do the band bring to the live shows?

The band make the live shows so much better. Everything is lifted, and it's great to have the dynamic between people - even though we're working with a lot of playback, there still feels like there's some flexibility. I'm not on my jimmy lonesome frantically pressing buttons. Drummer Liam recorded some drums for the album, which sound great. Writing-wise, they don't contribute, although there's always scope for that.

4. You recorded a lot of Light of the North in your own little studio that you owned at the time. Where did you write and record School of Velocity?

An even smaller studio, haha. Both were rented, actually, although the old one was in a trendy location and was getting expensive, so I moved to a rundown building north of the city centre, where my friend and collaborator James Houston was working at the time. It's great to have your own space but the move was definitely a little disruptive and contributed to the gap between records! I'll be staying there for at least another year I think.

5. Who/what influenced the sound of the album?

This is such a difficult question. I listen to a whole load of stuff, but I'd say my aims are pretty similar to Light of the North - to try and write catchy songs that don't have traditional structures or do things that you're not expecting. How far can you push 'pop' song structure with it still working? Actually I think other people do this a lot better than I do. Sound wise, I borrowed some great analogue synths from a friend at work, Michael Hines, who is forever in my debt, and that's something I ended up using a lot of.

6. Have you favoured any particular synths, effects or gadgets for School of Velocity?

I bought a Juno 106 after borrowing one for a while and that's all over the record. Also I've got a little battery powered synth that's great for spacey noises and sound effects, I have to stop myself using it too much.

7. The teaser that you have released is very impressive. Are there any songs you are particularly proud of?

I guess 'Luxury Discovery', the first song on the video, because it was written really really fast (the bassline is pretty much the first take and I could never play it better), the original demo sounded great, and then it became an absolute bitch to mix and master the final version. That's often the case if the demo is too good. Jamie Savage and I pushed through and I think it turned out really well.

School of Velocity teaser

8. You've remixed Chvrches and Belle and Sebastian (among others)- how do you tackle a remix?

Those were both very different processes - the Chvrches remix, I may have said this before, but I didn't actually listen to the original before I started. Which was a good thing, because I ended up writing very different chords to Lauren's vocal, then when I heard the original I was like 'ooh, this is weird'. And it let me put my own stamp on the song without being intimidated. The Belle and Sebastian one - they were very specifically looking for an update on an existing song. So it wasn't so much a 'remix' as a 'reproduction'. I beefed up the drums and added some arpeggiators but the song itself stayed the same.

Chvrches remix

9. The Cairn String Quartet feature on the new album - are there any other Scottish artists you would like to work with in the future?

We'll see! I enjoyed producing last years' Body Parts single, so I'm interested in doing some production work with other artists. I'm in the process of starting work with someone just now.

10. What music are you enjoying at present?

In preparation for the next album I'm listening to a lot of Afrobeat and related / influenced stuff. So Fela Kuti, Talking Heads' Remain In Light album, Floating Points - beats that trip over themselves a little, that sound like water, are fluid. I've got a strong idea about what I want the new stuff to sound like. Also revisiting Matthew Dear's output - he's an absolute genius, and one of those people who's doing what I want to do so much better!

Miaoux Miaoux play a number of shows and festivals over the summer to promote the album including Stereo on May 27th. Give him a like on Facebook to get details of all the shows planned.