Prone to sullenness and famously uncommunicative The Strokes’ front man is a notoriously difficult interviewee

Prone to sullenness and famously uncommunicative, The Strokes’ front man is a notoriously difficult interviewee. The big-name “own labels” are the most visible signs of a practice that has been widespread at grassroots level for years. The London Symphony Orchestra do it so often that they can’t stop. Bringing out their own recordings is classical music’s robust reply to the decreasing enthusiasm of international companies for full-length works rather than snippets, seasoned and respected artists rather than aspiring superstars, and an audience it knows like the back of its hand.

Michael Nyman does it Philip Glass has done it twice. It certainly looks like a creative renaissance for the region with so many groups emerging over the past couple of years. First, The Futureheads came out of nowhere (well, Sunderland) with their stark take on the punk funk revival and a winning cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds Of Love”.. 7:30am

I don’t have an alarm clock. My brain doesn’t really switch off unless I’m heavily sedated I’m up early and in the gym by eight. It’s my aim to run the London Marathon one day so I need to keep up my cardiovascular fitness. After that, I head round the corner to a private members’ bar on Portobello Road for a meeting..

Anyone in a struggling band at the moment must be wondering what they put in the water in the north east. Artist: Shack

Title: The Corner Of Miles And Gil. COOKING VINYL

Martin Goldschmidt. Can’t sign, won’t sign? Take a leaf out of the most independent of independents’ book and just do it yourself. The days when a band needed the vast armoury of a major label in their corner to succeed are long gone. When the Arctic Monkeys can become a fully fledged phenomenon months before they’ve even landed a label, you know a revolution is underway.

“The labels aren’t the ones discovering bands anymore,” says Archer, “so it’s now down to the bands themselves to do their own ground work.”. “Instead of sitting around and waiting for someone to come along, instead of putting up with all the bullshit you have to put up with as a new band, you can make things happen yourself.” With the number one album, Stars Of CCTV, firmly under his belt, Archer’s is a voice which deserves to be heeded. The soundtrack will stem from electronica ace Mylo, winsome pop act Aberfeldy, and the hotly tipped Young Knives. Rock Ness (24 June, Dores, Loch Ness) should be similarly picturesque and bangin’ to boot Fatboy Slim and Carl Cox headline.. Neko Case

London Shepherds Bush Empire, 24 May. “The music business is changing,” says Hard-Fi main man Richard Archer.