Farthing watches the pounds

The Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing has had a busy year. In the last 12 months he has forced through considerable structural reforms, begun to plan Sussex’s path out of the recession and completed the search for a new Chancellor. In an exclusive interview with The Badger he speaks about his vision for the University, meeting with students and the dangers of bankruptcy. Read more

Das Pop: the interview

The more I think about it, the more I think I’d probably be forgiven for looking back at the events of the past week with at least some negativity. A layer of snow (an impressive layer at that; or at least, impressive in the eyes of southerners to whom snow seems a foreign concept) rendered Monday a write-off (and I’d just like to add, for the record: I don’t even like snow). By Tuesday, I needn’t remind you that the white stuff had thankfully subsided; the source of my irritation, however, had simply reincarnated itself as something quite different.
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Introducing… Haunts

Haunts are a band hard to define. Emerging out of the shadows of the London hardcore scene, they fuse elements of rock, punk and indie to craft post-apocalyptic soundscapes as epic as they are eminently danceable. The Badger sent Ben Hobson to have a chat with them on the Brighton leg of their recent tour. Read more

Introducing… Bear Hands

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Bear Hands play a dark, melodic brand of indie with a hint of punk-rock. The band combine spiky, angular rhythm guitar and sparse, mechanical drums with lush, ambient lead guitar lines to build up a rich wall of contrasting textures. Sonically exciting and lyrically adept, Bear Hands deserve to be heard. The Badger sent Ben Hobson to have a chat with them before their recent gig at Concorde2.
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The View are on fire

I admit it: I was a little nervous about chatting to The View.  OK, maybe more than a little.  After news of their shambolic appearance in Nottingham just days earlier (several hazy hours in a nearby pub later, frontman Kyle Falconer conceded to alcohol fuelled defeat and walked off stage prematurely, angering hoards of fans), I have no idea what to expect.  A band almost as famous for their after-party activities as they are their music, my mind is awash with that irritatingly infectious ‘Same Jeans’ track and the stuff of nightmares; this is the band who found themselves banned from every Travelodge in the country after inflicting £7000 worth of damage, after all. Read more

Peggy Sue and the interview

When The Badger caught up with Peggy Sue’s Katy Klaw, she wasn’t being self consciously rock ‘n roll, smoking a goat hide and declaring herself the beginning middle and end of music. Instead, she was ‘going out for a meal’. This is typical for member of a Brighton band whose connections to Sussex have kept their feet firmly on the ground. ‘I deferred a year as I’m doing American Studies. I just sent off my forms to study at Berkeley’. Read more

Mystery Jets talk war, murder and the credit crunch

‘I heard 2009 is going to be the year of New Rave. It’s catchy. Old rave isn’t good.’ You heard it here first kids. Now plaster on the glow paint and hold your sticks aloft – Mystery Jets are coming to a town near you.

Having just played a well-received set at the Freshers’ Ball, the band is both in, and drinking plenty of, high spirits. Their sarcasm isn’t malicious though – in fact nothing they say seems to come across that way.
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Lucy Porter Interview

Chatty, chirpy, funny woman Lucy Porter is a festival veteran, and can now add the Brighton Comedy Festival 2008 to her ridiculously long list of performances. She talks to The Badger about hearts going on, spicing up her life and kissing a girl and liking it.

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Back for good?

After troubles with drink and the disaster of Channel 5’s Naked Jungle, Keith Chegwin finally seems comfortable with his fame, his past and himself. ‘I know how good life can be’ he tells Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski…

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