Enter Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds played a short acoustic set at Rough Trade on Sunday in support of his new book ‘Dear Future Historians,’ which is a collection of all the Shikari lyrics, including essays explaining them. This is the second edition of the book, and this time round includes the lyrics from the most recent Shikari album ‘The Spark.’ Rou performed several songs off ‘The Spark,’ including lead single ‘Live Outside,’ and also played ‘Constellations’ from 2012’s

Year of the Knife and Chamber absolutely levelled Nottingham’s Rough Trade last night as the opening show of the Ultimate Aggression tour. Support came from UKHC bands Cauldron, Warheads and Intent 2 Kill. They all put on excellent displays which got the crowd warmed up and had the spin kicks flowing by the time Chamber took to the stage to cap off a first-rate showcase of the UK hardcore scene. Despite being a last minute replacement after the original support band xServitud

Employed To Serve hit Rough Trade’s stage on Monday in support of their incredible new album Eternal Forward Motion, already hailed as a potential album of the year by many critics, which is a superb accomplishment considering that it’s not even six months into the year. Despite only having a half hour set the band (in their signature jackets) ploughed through eight fantastically heavy tracks from both their new album and previous release Warmth of a Dying Sun, which also gar

Three weeks after the release of their EP ‘Rose Tinted Soul’, The Half Eight hosted their EP release tour at Rough Trade with support from local singer Holly Fallon and pop-punk singer Bronnie. Firstly, as you walked into Rough Trade it was clear to see that The Half Eight had put a lot of time and effort into dressing the venue. For those that are familiar with the venue, you will already know that it is an intimate size with the stage down one end, cut off from the bar area

Following on from the release of a new album, 3 intimate Rough Trade gigs and the beginnings of a tour, The Japanese House, otherwise known as Amber Bain, kindly took the time out of her busy schedule to sit down and talk to me about all things sad indie pop. ‘Good at Falling’- What inspired you with this album? The album name is from a video game called ‘Thomas Was Alone’ and its basically this square called Thomas, having an existential crisis. There was a part in the game

Having released 4 EPs between 2015 and 2017 the artistic vision that is the Japanese House celebrated the most recent release of ‘Good at Falling’ by gracing Nottingham’s Rough Trade with its indie-pop and dreamy presence, at one of three intimate gigs to celebrate the debut album with an acoustic performance. With a bar right next to the stage, it was pretty easy to cop yourself a bev or take a quick browse at the vinyl on display; I joined the crowd that had attracted peopl

Shortly before I sat down with The Half Eight, I got the opportunity to listen to a short preview of their new EP ‘Rose Tinted Soul’ which will be released on 1st March.  I immediately thought of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” as “End it Right” kicked off, but it quickly progressed bringing high energy and catchy lyrics. “Timezones”, second on the EP, was another high impact and high intensity song whose lyrics were mainly written by Charlie. This was obvious from the longing to be wi

This afternoon, Busted went down to Rough Trade in Nottingham to perform an intimate set ahead of the album charts tomorrow in which they are in close competition with The Special’s greatest hits for the number one position. Having only announced the show on Monday, and then announcing a second Rough Trade show yesterday, as well as a third in London the same evening, Charlie, James and Matt managed to sell the venue out. Doors opened an hour before they were due to perform,

Drenge’s 3rd studio album, Strange Creatures, due for release on the 22nd February is a thoroughly rambunctious affair characterised by loud, clunky guitars and an intelligent lyrical wit. It’s a record which demands your attention with a smorgasbord of sounds for your earholes: there’s the glitchy, ‘80’s-disco-gone-wrong’ bass-lines, the purgative guitar solos and vocalist Eoin loveless’ unforgiving Derbyshire twang to name but a few examples. Following on from 2015’s Undert

Saturday night saw Rough Trade graced with the presence of Durand Jones & The Indications- a soulful five-piece from across the pond who were visiting Notts as part of a mini European tour ahead of the release of their second LP, ‘American Love Call’. The band met as students at Indiana University and originally didn’t expect to pursue music as a legitimate career, but changed their minds when their dynamic live shows and the extensive playing of their 2016 self-titled debut

Indie folk champion Jay ‘Beans on Toast’ released his 10th studio album ‘A Bird in the Hand’ on the 1st December (an annual birthday tradition). A sweet and honest record about family, growing up and the bright side of life, you can read my thoughts on it here. This year, he marks the occasion this year with a performance of the record in full at Rough Trade Nottingham and a launch show in Nuneaton. I was lucky enough to catch up with Jay on release day. First things first –

The Mic caught up with Primal's guitarist Dan. You’re a Notts-based and you formed in the summer of 2017. Tell me a bit about how and where that came about? Absolutely. So, I’m the guitarist – I’m Dan. Rory is the singer and we used to go to school together. Went to all the same schools. And we were band mates really – over the previous few years we’d been in different bands and we’d always remained friends. So we got together – we were hanging out together as friends anyway

Black Peaks’ series of in-store shows came through Nottingham’s own on Tuesday night in support of their new album “All That Divides”, and while it is a much more intimate venue than their headline performance at Rescue Rooms for Macmillan festival several weeks ago, the band swiftly make the room their own, opening with “Can’t Sleep” which instantly creates movement in the tightly packed crowd. However, it is frontman Will Gardner’s call to mosh with the opening of “Electric

I interviewed Black Peaks’ frontman Will Gardner before their show at Rough Trade and spoke about their new album, their influences and most importantly, his famed moustache. Who were your biggest influences with this album? W: Mastodon, Tool, All Them Witches, Oh Brother, Elder, Meshuggah. How was the writing different from “Statues”? W: Dave [new bassist] came along half way through so obviously there was a change there. We also went away to a farm in the middle of nowhere

Four years since indie-rockers Black Honey first entered our world, The Mic joins the Brighton band shooting for the stars to discuss their self-titled debut record, life on the road and what the future holds for a band with one of rock’s most enigmatic frontwomen. “It’s been awesome, we’re quite overwhelmed,” states Izzy B Phillips (vocals and guitar) when questioned about the general response to Black Honey’s eagerly anticipated debut album, released just a week prior to ou

The Blinders are a three-piece alternative rock group originally from Doncaster but now based in Manchester who have been making a lot of noise in the up and coming music scene. Their debut album “Columbia” is out on Friday the 21st of September and incorporates an in-your-face sound similar to Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes with influences from Nick Cave and The Fall. It is definitely not one to miss. The album opens with “Gotta Get Through” which sets the tone of the alb

To celebrate the release of their first single ‘Matter of Time’, Tusk played an intimate (and free) gig at Rough Trade on Friday. With support from Cherry Hex and the Dream Church as well as Vega Bay, the night was very enjoyable and a good laugh. Chery Hex and the Dream Church, a two piece from Nottingham made up of Alex Blake and Maddy Chamberlain, opened the show with their minimalist and moody indie-pop. Maddy’s brooding voice was accompanied by her eerily playing the glo

Birmingham boys return to Nottingham’s Rough Trade with new record and new sound. Since their dream-poppy first album, they have taken a turn to psychedelic and acid house influences for their new record ‘Mothers’ released this October. Having only lived in Nottingham for two weeks, it was my first time seeing a gig at Rough Trade. And I loved the venue, the bar staff were friendly, the place has a nice vibe, a good selection of drinks and it’s lovely to see gig posters all a

As we sway away from the pop-punk-rock-esq My Chemical Romance days, ex-rhythm guitarist, Frank Iero has continued his music artistry with some solo work over the past few years. His unique blend of post-grunge/rock and acoustics is something unheard of usually in this scene, and I had the rare opportunity to sample this the early Sunday afternoon before he waltzed to ‘Hit the Deck festival’ later that day. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard much of his debut album ‘Stomachaches’

When Rough Trade Records opened a store in Nottingham earlier this year, the city knew they would be treated to a wealth of new artists arriving to showcase their talent. And tonight is no exception. Although the venue is small, there is an enthusiastic crowd gathering to greet Lonelady (aka Julie Campbell) tonight. And she doesn’t disappoint. Launching straight in with ‘Into the Cave’, she’s an enigmatic presence, casting a head-bobbing shadow against the back wall, which is