Secret Santa CD swap and raffle!

Cor, not long to go untl Christmas Twee now! We don’t know about you but we’re already thinking about which dancing shoes to wear. So before you become preoccupied with such things too, we thought this was a good time to remind you about a few other things happening besides the bands and DJ.

Secret Santa CD Swap
Make a mix CD of whatever you like and put it on a CD. If you're feeling particularly festive, you could even decorate it, design a cover, or wrap it up in cute Christmas paper! Be as creative as you want, or not at all – after all, it’s the thought that counts! Drop it into the Secret Santa CD box when you arrive at Butterley Station, and during the evening a draw will be made and everyone who brought a CD will take someone else’s home!

Raffle
We've got some exciting prizes in the raffle, so be sure to enter and collect your ticket on the way in! Prizes have been donated by the bands playing on the night, and there might just be a few more surprises in there too!

Train rides
Chances are if you've never been to Indietracks before then you've never been to a disco on a moving steam train! Our words can't describe how exciting it is, so instead, here's some video taken of some very over-excited indie kids taken at the very first event in April 2007:

Cars Can Be Blue no longer to play Christmas Twee

Unfortunately we've had some sad news today that headliners Cars Can Be Blue will no longer be able to play their planned UK dates, including Christmas Twee on 6th December. This is due to the band unexpectedly having to return to the United States at short notice. We're really sorry to get this news, as we're sure they are too, and we'd like to wish them all the best.

A donation page has been set up if you'd like to help them get back some of the money they lost on their flights to the UK - every little bit helps!

We'll be making a further announcement shortly about plans for the night, so watch this space!

Some sad news....

Hello everyone, we're sorry to announce today that Mighty Mighty have had to pull out of headlining Christmas Twee due to last-minute, unforseen circumstances.

We're really sad about this - we were so looking forward to seeing them reunited once again - but hopefully they may put in a performance at next year's summer festival. However, we CAN now announce that the wonderful Cars Can Be Blue will now headlining the entire show. Yay! We're super-super excited about this one - CCBB are one of the wittiest, poppiest indiepop bands around at the moment, and we're sure they're going to get everyone's Christmas off to a wonderful start! They will now be playing in the marquee rather than in the train, so there will be lots more room to try out your best shimmying dance moves!

We'll be posting again tomorrow with detailsof our very special Christmas Twee raffle and also the Secret Santa CD swap - you'd better start hunting through your Christmas records now!

Cars Can Be Blue added to the bill!

Phew! It’s been a busy week over at old Indietracks Towers. A few of us popped over to the wonderful indiepop all-dayer at Lee Rosy’s on Sunday, held in aid of the Midland Railway where all our Indietracks events take place. It was so heart-warming to see so many familiar faces, and you can read what everyone got up to over on the Anorak forum. It’s not all dancing and cake though, we’ve also been busy finalising all the last-minute preparations for Christmas Twee, including organising the Secret Santa CD swap and raffle, sorting out band and disco arrangements and – most importantly – adding a new band to our already sparkly line-up! That’s right, we can now finally announce that the fantastic Cars Can Be Blue have now been added to the bill – hurray!

The Athens-based duo, made up of Nate and Becky, formed in 2002 after Nate’s cover band and Becky’s comedy improv group broke up, leaving them free to work together on their unique fusion of comedy and music. Their 2005 debut record, All The Stuff We Do, received rave reviews for its witty combination of humorous lyrics and pop-punk sounds, and brilliant new album Doubly Unbeatable is out now on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records. We just can’t wait to hear all the new songs performed live – shimmying along to some cheeky lyrics in the Santa carriage surely awaits!

Don’t forget that tickets are now available to buy online at We Got Tickets – they’re very limited so you’ll need to snap one up quickly if you want a bit o-steam action this Christmas!

Interview with Mascot Fight!

Howdy there kiddas, how are you feeling today? Isn't the weather bonkers at the moment? One minute it's a gorgeous Autumn morning, the next you're sheltering under a wind-knackered umbrella with bird-nest hair and a soaked-through raincoat. I know lots of you will be popping along to this Sunday's Midland Railway benefit gig at the wonderful Lee Rosy's in Nottingham, so make sure you're armed with your brollies! Lots of Indietracks bands will be playing, such as Pete Green, the Bobby McGees and Pocketbooks, and we'll be posting up a review and piccies here as soon as we can!

Of course, also appearing at this Sunday's gig are Mascot Fight, who are playing at Christmas Twee on December 6. (Ooh, quick reminder to get your tickets now from We Got Tickets, they're selling really fast and you don't want be without a bit o' steam action this Christmas!)

The Derby-based guitar popsters, who have been all over the airwaves since they formed in 2004, join us this week to tell us about their Christmas Twee plans....

Hello there Mascot Fight - nice to meet you! The summer Indietracks festival has been going for a couple of years now, but Christmas Twee is a little bit different. What attracted you to playing there?

Well, you don't often get the chance to play a gig that combines Santa, trains and pop music! And there's a raffle- amazing! Tom also used to LOVE going to Butterley as a kid, so it's a nice nostalgia trip too.

Wow- youngster steam train-based action! And what can fans expect from your Christmas Twee appearance?

We'll do our level (crossing!) best to provide some catchy songs to rival Jingle Bells, Let it Snow et al in terms of popping into people's heads over the festive season! If you turn up expecting Pavement-lite, you possibly won't be disappointed.

Hmm, sounds interesting! What do you think of the current indiepop scene at the moment?

Scandinavia appears to have a production line of excellent pop bands right now- it's like a modern day Viking invasion. The heavy influence of old British and American bands is apparent, but it sounds fresh and exciting - perhaps more so than anywhere else right now. Much closer to home, Derby always seems to have a few good indiepop bands. We've recently sadly lost Plans & Apologies and The Deirdres, but we still have Lardpony and My Psychoanalyst (who are less poppy but still excellent).

What records are you listening to at the moment? Are there are any new bands you're excited about?

Ooh, name-dropping time........

Rich - Darren Hanlon, Hello Saferide, Billie the Vision, Future of the Left.
Sean - Frightened Rabbit, Narrator, Oh No! Oh My!
Matt - Deerhoof, Youthmovies, Of Montreal, Pete & the Pirates.
Tom - Faded Paper Figures, The Dodos, Bricolage. All these bands seem to be doing good stuff lately!

We're big fans of lots of those bands over here at Indietracks Towers, but what about your band? What are Mascot Fight's plans for the next year?

We have an album (Pantomime Hearse) out at the beginning of the year, which we intend to tour a bit before heading back to the studio to record an EP. We're constantly writing new stuff, a lot of which we demo but never play live, leading to a gazillion obscure tracks and a handful that are listenable enough to record properly! We don't like to stand still for long! That said, it took us about a million years to do the album...

We'll look forward to hearing it - sounds exciting! Just one last thing before you go - tell us what makes a perfect Christmas for Mascot Fight..

A perfect Christmas would involve a top-notch roast dinner, crackers that contain genuinely useful items, enough snowfall for snowballs..... erm.... world peace (to sneak the altruistic one in) and perhaps a glimpse of the REAL Santa Claus, defying gravity on a rare night at work.

Sounds perfect! Thanks Mascot Fight - we'll look forward to getting all Christmassy with you next month! The band have given us an exlusive mp3 of their song Haha, That's Not Anarchy - just click on the link below!

Mp3 download: Haha, That's Not Anarchy

Interview with Phil Wilson!

Hello there popkids! Not long now until the Indietracks benefit gig in Nottingham on Sunday November 16, and of course Christmas Twee on Saturday December 6 - you need to snap up tickets online quickly for this one, there's only a limited amount available! Linking both events is the lovely Phil Wilson, June Brides founder and all round indiepop god. He's been extremely busy preparing for his performances, but has somehow still managed to find time in his hectic schedule to talk to little 'ol us about the joys of playing with his new band and what we can expect from his performance at Christmas Twee.......

Hi Phil, you've been so busy since you decided to start making music again last year. What inspired you to start recording again?

There were a few things that got the ball rolling for me again. I'd lived and worked for 20 years in London, and was getting mighty sick and tired of it. The stress of my job had actually got me into hospital with a suspected stroke. It wasn't - I'd simply collapsed with stress. And then Grant McLennan died. It just hit me that life is short and precious, and that I was wasting it by being unhappy in London. So I resigned my job, and we sold our flat and moved to Devon. The natural thing to then do was to pick up the guitar in earnest again and see if I could write...

You've got a new band now - how is it that going and how does it feel to be performing alongside a band again?

It's fantastic having a band! And they whip up a storm. Arash Torabi (bass) and Andy Fonda (drums) joined me about three months ago and are terrific. I'd done a few gigs with just me and an mp3 player providing the backing tracks. They were fun, but there just isn't the spark that you get from playing live with other people. I feel rejuvenated!

What attracted you to playing at Christmas Twee?

I cannot tell a lie! The idea of wrapping up an indie night with some lovely steam trains was just too good an opportunity to miss.

Too right! And what can fans expect from your Christmas Twee appearance?

They can expect some old June Brides and Phil Wilson songs, with a few numbers of mine and one or two cover versions (strictly chosen with dancing in mind!). But it's a different sound to the June Brides, that's for sure. Expect a lot of rockin'.

You were a massive part of the C86 scene - what do you think of the current indiepop scene it has inspired? You've already played alongside many of the new bands, such as Pocketbooks and MJ Hibbett for example....

What has been terrific, and a little surprising, is that the legacy of what was a small UK scene seems to have become such a worldwide phenomenon. It actually feels healthier and stronger than it did in 1986. Which is bizarre! I've played with a lot of great new young bands this year who clearly have record collections full of sixties jangle and C86. It's great to see so many people playing and enjoying this music, and embracing the ideals (chiefly of independence and mutual support) that were important to myself and many of the bands who were active in the 80's scene.

What records are you listening to at the moment? Are there are any new bands you're excited about?

I'm listening to much the same type of music as I always have - sixties pop, sixties soul, reggae, Krautrock, punk rock, country, new wave and, of course, indie pop! There are some really good new (ish) bands out there on the indie scene. Summer Cats, the Tartans, POBPAH, Pants Yell! and Let's Wrestle spring to mind. And Davy Henderson (Fire Engines/Win/Nectarine No. 9) is doing fantastic stuff with his new band the Sexual Objects. And let's not forget the lovely MJ Hibbett....

What are your plans for the next year?

I'm hoping to get together enough songs to record a new album for Slumberland Records. And to get out and play a lot more concerts. We have a small German tour in February...and are open to offers after that!

Phew - sounds like you're going to be extremely busy! Just one final question - tell us what makes a perfect Christmas for you..

A frosty Christmas morning with that beautiful, soft, winter sunlight. Then out for a walk and hot soup at the seaside. Then home to a roaring fire and stuffing myself stupid with too much food and booze.

Sounds perfect to us Phil - Christmas can't come too soon for us over at Indietracks Towers! See you very soon...Phil has very kindly given us an exclusve mp3 - "I Own It", which is an unreleased demo of a new song - enjoy!

Free MP3 Download: I Own It

Indiepop DJ announced!

It looks like winter has well and truly set in. The hats and mittens have come out, and some of us have even had snow already! But don't worry, it'll be warm at Christmas Twee, and it's looking to be a very exciting night with the addition of Kris from Malmo's finest indiepop club Don't Die On My Doorstep as this year's DJ!

You might remember Kris from earlier on in the year when he appeared on this blog telling us about his must-see bands at this year's festival. When he's not spinning the indiepop tunes, he also writes the excellent and essential music blog Heaven Is Above Your Head and is a member of A Smile And A Ribbon. Where does he find the time? Luckily for us, he's managed to find some of it to come over to Butterley, and if his recent set at London's How Does It Feel To Be Loved is anything to go by, we're in for a real treat!

If you haven't got your tickets yet, don't forget you can now buy them online as well as over the phone. Just go to http://www.wegottickets.com/event/38106. or phone 01773 747 674. There's a limited amount available, so book early!