We’ve made no secret about of love of Matt Marr’s music. His songs are like stories, like the sort of book you just don’t want to put down. He draws from his own life experiences, chews on them for as long as it takes, and then tells the tale whichever way suits. One of our aims through bh one and Honey Be Records is to get as many people as humanly possible to hear Matt’s music – as he says below the thought of actually making any money is almost farcical – but ‘I Still Love You Dear’ is just one of the many songs that Matt has written which just works, deeply, beautifully…

Matt Marr on ‘I Still Love You Dear’…

Unfortunately I only make a pittance from music and even that is a generous estimate. I don’t make music to make money, but doing gigs, recording, printing cds and making people aware that I even exist all takes the demon that is money. So I own a taxi and that pays the bills and makes it possible for me to record and release music…just about. The taxi has been my saviour as a songwriter, hours and hours to read, listen to music, write and meet some of the craziest fuckers this town has to offer. ‘I Still Love You Dear’ came about after a girl I presumed to be a ‘lady of the night’ got into my taxi and began what, at least in her tone, was a seemingly normal conversation. “Been busy?” “what time you out ‘til?” etc. Then the weird turn in conversation came when she told me she’d lost a stone in a week. Not sure how to respond I just said something like “oh really… great” and then she said quite plainly and proudly, “yeah, just from doing speed and not really eating.” I expect the not eating was more than likely down to spending any money she did actually ‘earn’ on speed instead of food, rather than a conscious effort to cut down on calories! I doubt she’d even originally gone on a diet. But as any devoted weight watcher will tell you – prostitution, speed, insomnia and starvation is a sure fire way to lose those extra vital pounds!

She seemed like a nice girl underneath all the madness though, almost harmless compared to some I’ve met and I couldn’t help imagining what her life up till then had been like. How she might have a mum somewhere worried to death about her. The first verse comes directly from that night, the second verse is personally reflective. The third is again imagined and the fourth autobiographical. This take was only meant to be a demo, the vocal and fingerpicking are far from perfect, but I felt the mood and feel of the song were exactly as I wanted. I also originally intended to add more instruments to it but after listening to it back I felt adding to it would only eventually take away from the original sentiment. I’ve never really been into perfection, when recording its got to be about the feel of the overall take. Mistakes are just mistakes – we all make them.

Matt Marr – ‘I Still Love You Dear’

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This weekend sees the beginning of this year’s Dorset Music Awards, organised by Devils Music in association with Absolute Music. The initial entries have already been whittled down to the first heat stages, which this year are being held at Champions. Last year saw the competition reach new heights regarding attendances and overall hype and exposure, rightly so as the organisation, promotion, and most importantly the rewards were all of a very high standard. We need say no more as the organisers have sent us all the information you need to know…

With only days to go until the launch of the 2010 Dorset Music Awards, things are beginning to get very exciting as Shambala Festival comes on board.

For those of you who don’t already know, The Dorset Music Awards, in association with Absolute Music is a competition aimed at finding the best band or musician in Dorset and in the process enabling them to gain exposure, fans and potentially gigs. The event also has the intention of strengthening ties in the local community, with Dorset artists being judged by Dorset based promoters in the early stages.

The competition kicks off in style on the 6th and 7th of February with the live heats, which are being held at Champions in Bournemouth. Over the weekend 40 bands and musicians will be performing two songs each in front of a panel of local promoters to determine who will make it through to the quarter-finals of the contest. Entry is free so there is no excuse not to go down and support your local talent and feel good about yourself too.

Previous years have seen names such as Rob da Bank travel down to judge the final of this event and in 2010 Ryan Farley (Warner/Chappell A&R Scout) and Jon Webster (Ex-Managing Director of Virgin Records) are just two of the names set to join the judges in the final.

The Dorset Music Awards offers incredible prizes to the finalists including; £1000 worth of equipment from Absolute Music, 500 CD’s produced by DMS, recording time at Conversion Studios & a photo shoot from Seeker Photography. There are also festival appearances up for grabs at The Larmer Tree Festival, Endorse it in Dorset, Camp Bestival, Tone Fest and just announced, a slot at Shambala Festival…

Your attendance at The Dorset Music Awards is just as important as the musicians themselves. After all…what’s a band without an audience? So get down to Champions on the 6th and 7th of February and help launch the competition with a bang.

For more information about the event, including artists and times for this weekend’s heats head to the Dorset Music Awards website.

On paper (or the internet) part:three certainly looked like a gig worthy of attendance. Three quality artists, all of who ply their artistic trade simply (for the most part) through voice and guitar, sharing the stage, each other’s songs, and banter with an appreciative and attentive audience. Well, that was the idea, though as this was an unusual setting even for three as experienced Alex Roberts, Lou Brown and Pete Christie, the concept was not certain to go completely to plan.

The crowd size certainly suggested the idea appealed to more than the average in-the-round Kyps gig, which are almost always high quality and well attended affairs. Help from friends (well, one in particular) with promotion shows how much difference pre-gig awareness and networking can make to turnout. By the time Pete Christie announced the plans for the evening the venue was already comfortably packed, and by the time he’d played the first song (solo) and introduced both Alex and then Lou to the stage it was standing room only, and that was at the bar.

The over-riding feature of tonight’s event (as well as simply listening to three fantastic singer-songwriters), was comparing their relative skills and on-stage personas. I’m sure this wasn’t the reason for putting on part:three, but watching three such different personalities highlighted, more than usual, the connection between each artist’s spirit and character with the songs they write. Writing about an artist’s character is generally of little relevance to the performance, but as tonight’s gig was encouraged to be a two-way vocal affair between performer and audience, it makes it more relevant. I have a fear of generalising here, as there is clearly a public and private persona, especially with musicians, but I’ll give it a bash.

Watching the direct and open approach of Pete, the joker of the stage, bold, honest, engaging and instantly likeable was in many ways a contrast to his male counterpart. Not that Alex isn’t honest or likeable (he says, backtracking quickly) but outside of song he was clearly quieter, gentler, more introspective and subtle. Looking at, and listening to Alex makes you think of nature, of something earthy and real. Those same words can also be used to describe their music, though whilst those differences were more apparent than usual, it didn’t mean they made them incompatible when performing together. Indeed, much of Alex’s accompanying guitar work were highlights of the night, and his subtle gestures towards Pete in particular, acknowledging an impromptu collaborative success were lovely touches. This was despite Pete calling Alex a “flash git” after some ridiculously impressive slide guitar work… typical Pete, typical Alex.

So, what of Lou Brown? Well, again to a large extent the on stage personality has a strong resemblance to her songs. I wrote some words on a piece of paper to describe Lou’s on stage persona – feelings – emotions – personal – warm – relationships – the last one not really describing her persona, but she spoke about her friends and those close to her frequently. Clearly Lou writes from personal experiences, and digs deep into her inner feelings to seemingly exorcise (or rekindle) past memories. It’s all very personal and clearly tonight Lou was reaching out to the audience not just through her songs but also through her own personality.

For the most part this was a hugely enjoyable gig. Clearly it took the three musicians out of their comfort zone, which in itself is to be applauded, and whilst at times it indeed seemed slightly uncomfortable as a punter, the quality of the performance was so strong that any amount of discomfort could easily be ignored once the three, either solo or collectively, started performing. More please, the same three again would be great unless anyone else is brave enough…

Three weeks in, The Armadillo Club at Champions has hit the ground running with extremely encouraging turnouts so far. As well as some quality live music, punters have also been treated to the dj skills of Menace (The Intestines), as well as hundreds of original videos from the vaults of the Champions library being shown around the plasma screens throughout the venue.

With heavyweight bands booked for the coming months including 999, GBH, Sham 69, Goldblade, UK Subs and Peter and the Test Tube Babies, alongside the best in local punk/ska talent, the future looks bright for the Armadillo Club. The first of those heavyweights comes to Champions this Thursday with Anti-Nowhere League, rated as one of the best (if not the best) original punk bands playing today. Supported by local punk favourites Gutter Rats this is quite simply what the Armadillo Club is all about – mixing renowned international bands with the best of the local scene.

To quote ANWL: The Anti Nowhere League set out on the road in 1980 to prove they could be the worst band on Gods earth loud, violent, obnoxious yobbos with one mission – to get banned from every TV show, radio station and newspapers as possible. They were hated by the general public as well as ‘real’ musicians who thought they were a disgrace to the music business (and of course the fact they were pulling more people in their live shows than they were)… with numerous encounters with the police and the authorities they have continued to play and release new material away from the public eye. In this day and age it does not seem quite as big a deal as it was back then when they stood alone now a few of the ‘real’ bands have taken up the ‘flag’ to be original with attitude. Long may independent bands continue keeping the music live and real… long live the League.

Anyone thinking of frequenting any of these gigs would be wise to take up the free membership offer. This takes away the need to buy tickets, with members paying ticket price at the door when showing their card, on top of that members will also receive special offers and discounts from time to time. Simply mail your name and address to champions-tickets@hotmail.co.uk and await your membership card through the post. For a look at all the upcoming Armadillo Club gigs take a look at the myspace page, or join the facebook group and spread the word…