Seven hours with with the King of Lo-Fi. What to do? Start with soundcheck, detour to a homemade dinner and the kindness of strangers, end up backstage with a scaredy cat poster, drink beer, rock out, then laugh a lot. Here’s a photo gallery of the first day of summer, BackstageRider-style. There’s even rockhands.
Duran Duran’s bassist, John Taylor, turns 50 years old today. When I imagined this day, I also imagined I’d be flying around with jetpacks. Here’s a REWIND to 1995, a revealing cassette-taped interview with John Taylor in which JT discusses getting fucked up, being pissed off, lacking in humility, how the band have changed and the disaster covers album “Thank You.”
Backstage Rider checks out San Fran indie band GIRLS before the rest of the world gets to see them on the the festival circuit. What was it like? WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO CHRISTOPHER OWENS’ HAIR? The music? Yeah, pretty. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to slow dance with a guy with a crew cut at the sock hop. Hope he likes my poodle skirt…and my flask of whiskey, garter, and new anchor tattoo.
Heard of Turin Brakes? No? If you were living in the UK in the early aughties, you’d not be able to escape their brand of edgy folk-rock. But 10 years on, Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian find themselves having to reintroduce the band and their new album Outbursts… but are all the more relaxed for it. Read on in this exclusive Backstage Rider interview.