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Issue 29 / July 2011


Issue 31 / September 2011


ARTIST OF THE MONTH PETER DOHERTY


INDIE / ROCK / ALTERNATIVE www.guestlist.net


EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEW


SKYLAR GREY From working with Eminem to writing hits for Rihanna this Grammy- nominated American rising star has been making waves. We caught up on her new album and working with British producer Alex Da Kid


The indie icon makes his return with a massive Brixton show


Pete (or Peter as he now likes to be known) Doherty has had a busy few months serving time at Her Majesty’s pleasure for cocaine posses- sion. However, he has been a good boy and early release was granted in July. For all of his trials and tribulations, Doherty is still one of the best songwriters of our generation and September brings with it his first tour since his release from prison.


The 23rd will see Peter’s return to the big stage of Brixton Academy for what is


set to be a career-spanning set, and with classic songs such as ‘Time For Heroes’ and ‘Killamangiro’, Doherty is more than set to bring anthems and sing-a-longs to SW9.


The triumphant return of his band The Libertines last summer at Reading & Leeds cemented his indie hero status, and Doherty faces more time in prison following a shop burglary in Germany, so catch him while you can; it is definitely not one to be missed.


ALBUM OF THE MONTH KASABIAN - Velociraptor


Grace Shutti grace@guestlist.net


You work with Alex Da Kid a lot and he’s from North Lon- don; how did that happen? Because, I mean, you’re from America… Well, I met him after he moved to New York. He had just got signed to Universal Publishing and I’ve been with Universal


for


Established English rock band set to release fourth album under huge expectations


Their previous album, West Pauper Lunatic Asylum, propelled Kasabian to the top of British rock music and, following an extensive arena tour and headline sets at major festivals such as ‘T in the Park’, Kasabian are back with their fourth album, Velociraptor! The success experienced over the past two years has had a big influence over the recording of their new album, with lead guitarist Serge Pizzorno stating, “It feels like the right time for big rock tunes… It massively changes things


knowing you’re going to play tunes to big crowds.” Velociraptor! was recorded in Kasabian’s hometown of Leicester and mixed in the more exotic San Francisco, and Pizzorno claims it is a “beautiful, beautiful album”. If first single ‘Switchblade Smiles’ is anything to go by then we can expect heavy, energetic, bass-driven anthems that are set to follow on from where Kasabian left in 2009, cementing their place as one of the best British bands of their generation.


seven


years. I actually reached out to my publisher and said, “I really think one of my biggest problems with my career so far has been that I haven’t had the proper producer, the right producer, for me.” It’s like I haven’t found that match. It’s like a marriage, in a way, when you find that somebody who you really have a good chemistry with. So I asked her to help me find the right pro- ducer. I explained to her the whole concept of how I wanted it to sound and everything, and she suggested Alex. I was living in a cabin in the woods in Oregon, and he was liv- ing in New York City. He sent me a track so I sent him back ‘Love the Way You Lie’.


Everyone in England may not have seen you but everyone knows you from ‘I’m Coming Home’ and ‘Love the Way You Lie’ parts one, two and three. How did you end up working with those kinds of people?


Well, I mean, this is how it works in the music industry. Once you have something that’s really hot going on then everybody surrounds you and says, “I want that!”. So every- body came and said they want my ‘I Love the Way You Lie’. Eminem then invited me to come to Detroit to work on Detox with Dr. Dre. So I presented this hook with Alex’s beat and Eminem just went back into his room for a couple of hours,


somebody else being able to sing it. I wrote a song called ‘Castle Walls’ for T.I., and Christina Aguilera sings that hook.


Now you’re focusing more on yourself? Yeah, well, I feel like maybe I’m get- ting old… As far as the music in- dustry goes, they sign 17-year-olds now, and I’m 25. So I was like, “If I’m ever gonna be an artist, now’s


“I was sitting with Marilyn


Manson, telling him my story and playing him music”


wrote his verses, came out, and it was done. It was fast. It was amaz- ing for me to see his creative pro- cess.


You’re an artist in your own right, but you write songs as well... Yeah, I’ve always been a singer/ song-writer type artist and I never actually planned on writing songs for other people. It happened by accident. I when I wrote ‘Love the Way You Lie’ I wasn’t thinking, “Oh I’m gonna write a hook I think Ri- hanna should sing”. That’s how I write my stuff; I really just do what I feel would be good for me to sing and then usually it carries over to


the time to push that button”. Be- cause if I keep writing a bunch of songs for other people, and then by the time I’m 30 and I’m like, “Oh, I wanna be an artist,” they’re not gonna care. I’m gonna focus on this because this is what I know best: being an artist and being involved in every aspect of that. Not just the songwriting, not just the recording, but the music videos, the packag- ing, the artwork, the fashion... Ev- erything. I love being involved in ev- erything. Now’s my chance to take advantage of the opportunity. I can always go back to songwriting and a cabin in the woods! Your album’s coming out soon! At


the moment it’s November


14th… Who knows? Things are constantly changing in this world of music. So right now it’s scheduled to come out mid-November. It’s al- most done.


And it’s called Invisible… The first single’s called ‘Invisible’. The album’s called ‘Invinsible.” Ac- tually,


I was sitting with Marilyn


Manson, telling him my story and playing him music, and I was say- ing, “Maybe I should call the album Invisible,” because that’s a cool word. It was the best, you know, title of a song that could possibly be the title. And my only worry was that now I feel like a superhero, I don’t feel invisible anymore. And he was like, “If we just put the ‘n’ in it it’s invisible spelt wrong, and it en- compasses your whole journey in one word”. And I was like, “Yeah”… I wish I wrote that. That’s genius.


How would you describe your sound? Diverse.


If you were on a desert island stranded with three people, dead or alive, who would they be? Thom Yorke. Johnny Depp. And… Harry Potter.


The new album drops soon; check out www.skylargrey- music.com to stay up to date


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