Feature on The Futureheads

For Manifesto Magazine

By Ryan Pilot

“I like to think that the album was beautifully damned, almost doomed to fail commercially from the beginning.” muses Futureheads guitarist and vocalist Ross Millard about 2006’s News and Tributes; the album that had them dropped from the Warner Brothers label 679.
The band, now cynical of major labels, have responded positively to the setback by setting up their own label Nul Records to release their material on. The new album This Is Not The World is a result of a year’s work and being pushed by new producer Paul Hillier in Spain during recording sessions.

“We went and did this album and we kinda had eight songs when we went out there, and in 16 days we came home with 21 songs,” says front-man Barry Hyde. “If it wasn’t for him [Hillier] I don’t think there would have been a chance of that happening.”

Hillier took a matador’s role once in Spain, making the Futureheads’ bull work hard. He frequently sent Barry and Ross away to write material which they would record instantly. This lead to the conception of current hooks aplenty single Radioheart.

“Radioheart was the most intense of them all … it sounds so fresh, because … literally we just wrote it and then recorded it, and then left,” Barry says enthusiastically.

News and Tributes was notable for not having any real hits, aside from Skip to The End; the only surviving track from their album in their live set. Ross and Barry admit that this perhaps led to its lack of success in comparison to their debut The Futureheads, which of course contained floor fillers Hound of Love and Decent Days and nights.

“We deliberately set out to make a bonafide album, which represents a body of work, which had the dynamics of an album,” Ross says of News and Tributes. “Because of that it’s something we should always be proud of. If that album had of done better, we would still be signed to Warners, which would be awful.”

The band are keen to portray their contentment with their current DIY situation: “I guess we’ve just got more to gain and we can control the other things a lot more, like the way that we do the business, how we tour, videos we make, photo shoots.” says Ross.

Perhaps The Futureheads’ time with Warner was just the first step in their career. Barry looks back at the past few years philosophically: “We wouldn’t have made this next one if wasn’t for the last one…you’ve got to please yourself first and foremost and if it pleases other people that’s just a bonus. We are an artistic group and we have to satisfy our artistic urges.”

Jon Snow and the U.S.A.

Written for www.WoodenCauliflower.com

Link: http://www.woodencauliflowerblog.com/2009/03/jon-snow-and-usa.html

By Ryan Pilot

Jon Snow walks through the doorway. He looks exactly as he does on Channel 4 News, though perhaps a little taller. He is wearing a quintessential Jon Snow tie; colourful and stripy against a white shirt and a suit over his long thin frame. As he takes his seat opposite me, he looks like he is presenting the news to me directly, in real life. It feels quite strange.

Jon, as he introduces himself as, is here at Northumbria University to be interrogated by some of us journalism students. We are all excited to meet him, he one of the best loved figures in the world of journalism and a familiar face to most people.

Jon, now 61 years old, speaks openly about the U.S.A as it starts a new life under Barack Obama. He is critical of George Bush’s response (or lack of response) to Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact on New Orleans in 2005, which left eighteen hundred dead and the city to gang violence, poverty and police brutality.

He describes it as, “extremely incompetent, I mean massively, monumentally incompetent. Largely because the people that were at risk were very poor, very black people.”

Jon reported first hand on Katrina. He arrived in New Orleans twenty four hours after the hurricane hit on a small fan powered boat driven by a, “lunatic.” He found himself rescuing stranded citizens as he reported live for Channel 4 News. “That is reporting versus saving life. It was a very, very strange business,” he says. “There are desperate quantities of people that need rescuing and we don’t want to spend our time rescuing people, we’re there to film. But in fact of course you just can’t as a human being, go past a house with a man bleeding from the neck or whatever and say, “well terribly sorry but I’m not here to rescue you, I’m here to film you”.”

These comments come as Jon is under investigation from media regulators Ofcom for describing Bush’s reign as a, “nightmare.” Which he explains was, “a very naughty thing to have done.” He says this in the most sarcastic of ways and seems in fact proud of the comment.

“Actually I do think the nightmare is over,” Jon explains. “It was a scurrilous and disgraceful breach of professional etiquette code and I deserve to be soundly beaten and I presumably will be.”

Just as he is glad that the nightmare of Bush is over, Jon is excited by the promise of Obama, “Obama is something new, something different,”

The New York Times recently discovered that Obama overstated his drug use and actually criticised him for not indulging as much as he said he did. “When you compare that with what they did to Clinton who had to deny he even ever inhaled. It’s an extraordinary thing and he’s got away with it,” says Jon. “There’s no way anyone looks at Obama and says “you fucking drug freak”.”

Jon follows these comments with another dig at Bush (he can’t resist). “Actually in fact, and this is what’s so crazy,” he continues, “Bush was an alcoholic and a drug addict for twelve years and became the president of the United States.”

Jon’s colourful comments match his colourful tie perfectly and his explanation for his choice of neckwear is perhaps an analogy for his approach to reporting, “It’s a balance between revolution and complete convention,” he explains. “I mean you’ve got to remain balanced, objective. It seems to me, and heaven knows there’s no one else in here wearing a tie; If you’re going to wear a tie, you should wear a tie.”

The Jazz Man of Newcastle

Written for http://www.woodencauliflower.com/

Link: http://www.woodencauliflowerblog.com/2009/02/jazz-man-of-newcastle.html

By Ryan Pilot

A unique venue, ran by a unique character, Keith’s Cromby’s Jazz Cafe on Pink Lane is a jewel amongst the soulless pubs and bars of Newcastle City Centre.

Cromby is known affectionately as The Jazz Man by locals. He can be seen flyering around the universities everyday to attract the “decent people” of Newcastle as he puts it.

“We don’t let the shit in,” explains Keith, sitting behind his empty soup bowl. In front of him is the small, modest main room of the cafe. There is a bar to the left. Tables line the edges of the room, adorned with oil lamps. There is a small stage area towards the rear beside an upright piano. It is intimate and homely. The place is dim because all of the curtains are closed, which is a tactic to deter undesirables.

“The only criteria here is they’ve got to be reasonable people…no trouble causers…there’s the odd one that gets through the net. But not many,” says Keith. And there is a good mix of reasonable people that visit the venue each evening when it opens around eight. They come to enjoy the live Jazz, the intimate atmosphere, conversation and a relaxing drink.

The Jazz Man speaks and moves slowly, he has a long, white beard. He is now 68 years old, “I know you thought I was older,” he says.

Cromby worked in Jazz Cafes in the 1960s when he was in his twenties, including Newcastle’s Downbeat. Downbeat’s then owner Mike Geoffreys opened The Donkey Club in 1963 in Paris, which at the time was a haven for African-Americans who wanted to flee the discrimination and horrors of pre-civil rights America. Black Jazz musicians were in all the Parisian Cafes, including Louis Armstrong and Miles Davies. “What a time ey?” Keith wistfully says, with the most enthusiasm expressed during the interview.

The Jazz cafe is popular among students. The Jazz Man is often at Newcastle University for his lunch, he clearly enjoys their company and custom at his cafe, but, as with all people, he has strong opinions on some of them.

“I would say the students are not as sophisticated as what they were. They’re sophisticated in one way, in regards to bloody cocktails, funny drinks…they’ve got no depth. Scratch the surface and there’s not much underneath,” Keith says. “There are some bright kids that come in here mind…witty, bright clever lads and clever girls.”

The Jazz Man is a strong-minded, independent character. He can appear blunt and even rude, but in conversation he is warm, kind and friendly. Keith has worked as a mechanic, fixing old Jaguars and has been a second hand dealer. “I’ve never made any money, but on the other hand I’ve always enjoyed doing what I was doing,” he reflects.

The Jazz Cafe is very much a product of Cromby. It makes little money and runs up a lot of debt. But it’s what he wants to do and is perhaps the only place of its kind left in Newcastle. It is Cromby’s disregard for profit which keeps it going and which makes it so special.

Keith is now winding down and does not intend to continue to run the cafe for much longer. “I’m getting too old. I’m getting too decrepit. The old bones y’know,” he says.“It’s a funny little place this. Like a drug. There’s nowhere like it in the world, I’ve been assured by people who’ve been further than I have,” says Keith, who then pauses before laughing and adding: “But it doesn’t seem to be what people want.”

Gateshead Thunder is the One to Watch

Written for www.Woodencauliflower.com

By Ryan Pilot

You may not be aware of Gateshead Thunder Rugby League Club. But they could be exactly what you’re looking for. They play an exciting, action-packed sport that doesn’t pause to catch its breath. It is eighty minutes of tough physical battling with few breaks in play. What’s more, compared to football or rugby union, it’s very affordable.

“Everything you want to see at football or a rugby union match you get here. But you’re getting more of it. And that’s a fact,” explains head coach Chris Hood. “And it costs a lot less.”

The affordability factor is a very attractive one, particularly in a time of recession when many are struggling. Match day tickets are £11 or £5 for a child. Compare this with Newcastle United’s £20-£60 tickets and Newcastle Falcons’ £17-£44 match day prices and you can see why the Co-operative recently found rugby league to be the best value major sport in the country.

“With the current climate and the credit crunch, people need sport and something to watch as a release. But then you also need to weigh it up to how much you’re going to pay for it,” says Hood. “I don’t think many sports or many products beat Gateshead Thunder on that.”

If you’re not into rugby, but would like to be, rest assured rugby league is very much an inclusive sport. Union can sometimes be seen as a pastime for the more privileged; popular in universities and private schools with complicated rules. Rugby league is a simpler game, which makes it less alienating and easier to get in to.

“It’s something that covers all sorts of economic and social backgrounds,” says Hood. “There’s no pre-conceived ideas; you don’t have to come from a certain place or be a certain person to play it ... It’s wide-ranging across communities.”

Still not convinced? Well, although the National Rail Cup is already underway, rugby league is really played in the summer when the leagues kick off. So you can ditch that cup of Bovril and pocket full of Fisherman’s Friend that you begrudgingly consume at football matches and concentrate on enjoying the game.

Thunder gained promotion into National League 1 last season, the tier below Super League, and this year marks its tenth anniversary. Local coach Chris Hood, who started coaching with Northumbria University and went on to coach England’s student team, has only recently taken the helm.

“I was immensely proud,” Hood says of taking the position. “Rugby league has been a huge part of my life for over ten years and Gateshead Thunder for that long as well ... It’s huge for me.”
Hood was appointed at the end of January following the controversial sacking of David Woods for professional misconduct. Hood is very grateful to Woods for all he has done for the club and for himself, but is now looking firmly forward.

“What I’ll be able to bring, because I’m from here, is loyalty ... I’ve done nothing but fight to get the club in the situation where it is now ... We’re in the second tier of professional rugby league ... that’s great. But now let’s kick on to the next thing.” Hood says.

There is an underdog feel to Gateshead Thunder. They are not from the traditional rugby league region, the ‘M62 belt,’ and have major clubs like Newcastle Falcons and Newcastle United to compete with for fans. This factor just makes them all the more appealing. And with half the team hailing from the northeast, Gateshead Thunder are a truly Tyneside team that you can be proud to support.

In a Hole: Living With Autism

Written for www.woodencauliflower.com

By Ryan Pilot

Jasper is a ten year old who screams in public, bangs his head against the wall as a way of communicating, rarely does what he is asked and will lie down on the floor without warning in public.

Jasper was diagnosed at four as having autism. His autism is severe and affects him greatly. One of his carers is Chris Costello, a twenty-two year old art student, studying at Newcastle University.

500 000 people have autism in the UK and 60 million worldwide, but you probably would not recognise it in an autistic child. Jasper flaps his hands when he is overly stimulated and hits his head against hard surfaces to feel pain when he’s angry.

“It’s kind of a shock, because if a normal kid start to scream in public everyone stares anyway, but having an autistic kid scream in public; it’s about three times as worse ... he’s older than the acceptable age to do that sort of thing.” explains Chris.

You might think Jasper was just having a tantrum if you saw this sort of behaviour; this attitude can be frustrating for Chris.

“It annoys me because I know he’s autistic and the general reaction is [that] people will actually come up to you and say “oh is he ok?” and things. It’s half concern and half is ... disgust.”
Chris works part time with Jasper, he teaches him the sort of social and communication skills that come naturally to most people, but have to be learned by people with autism.

“It’s mainly about involving him in society, so I teach him life skills and how to communicate ... We’ve [Chris and other carers] had to teach him over time how to ask for the toilet ... At first he was very fidgety and we wouldn’t know what he wanted ... His mam would say “he needs the toilet,” ... so then you would take him up to the toilet ... When he goes to the toilet you would have to say, “Can I have toilet please?” and then after a while he’d start repeating after you.”
Jasper has to learn not only to identify physical objects, but how to read people. He finds it nearly impossible to interpret other people’s emotions and even his own.

“Every time he cries we repeat to him “sad” so that he learns that he’s sad when he’s crying and when he’s screaming, and when he’s happy and he’s smiling we have to say to him “happy, happy”.” explains Chris.

Another skill Chris teaches Jasper is how to draw. But in order to draw something Jasper first has to be taught what it is he is being asked to draw.

“I’ve had to start from the beginning, so I’ve had to teach him what the sky is, what the grass is and what colours they are,” says Chris. “I would have to take him out and actually show him what the grass and the sky were.”

Chris finds his work rewarding and is proud of Jasper’s progress. He feels closest to him when he is not having to teach him at all, and can just sit with him, with no pressure to communicate. Chris takes Jasper to Tynemouth beach; his and Jasper’s favourite place, where he does not express autistic behaviour.

“It’s nice to take him to the beach because he actually comes out of his hole,” says Chris. “You wouldn’t think he’s autistic when he just sits there and he’s staring at the sea for two hours, or he walks along the beach with you ... You start thinking ‘what is he thinking?’ and ‘why is he staring at these things for so long?’ ... I do that, just to get peace of mind.”

Chris describes Jasper as sometimes being “like a robot,” simply following commands, yet when he is sat in his favourite place, staring at the sea, it gives Chris hope and relief that there is “something there in his head.”