Promotional activity

In Episode 2 of the Sounding Bored podcast, we kicked off a semi-regular series on music cities, starting with Glasgow and surveying its output, its various scenes, venues and labels, and its general culture. If - or, more accurately, when - the focus falls on Oxford, then we'll also need to consider the nurturing influence of the local media and Curfew/Nightshift in particular. It's an influence that was touched upon during Jon Spira's documentary Anyone Can Play Guitar, but is underlined in this new BBC article celebrating the publications' editor Ronan Munro.

Ronan's a modest chap, but as the article and the likes of Radiohead's Colin Greenwood and Supergrass' Danny Goffey make clear, his tireless devotion to championing the best of the local scene makes him a bit of a hero - which both justifies the piece and and explains why I consider it an absolute bloody privilege to write for Nightshift.

True to form, he's confessed to being embarrassed by the recognition of his contribution and influence, but stated that he'd soon be back at work "being a bastard to aspiring funk bands". Frankly I'm amazed that after all these years aspiring funk bands still submit their demos to Nightshift in the hope of a good review...