In an Amazing Radio first, ‘new DJ on the block’ Chris Martin will be bringing you a brand new mid-morning show from 10am on Monday 21st March.

We caught up with the man himself to find out a bit about his new music credentials, and what The Chris Martin Show is all about.

Chris Martin

Hello! Who are you?

Music obsessive disc jockey, voiceover guy, Leeds United fan. Definitely not that bloke from Coldplay.

How did you find out about Amazing Radio?

When the station was first announced as going national on DAB. Later on [Amazing Radio MD] Trevor Dann invited me to get all opinionated on some new music on It’s Amazing. I don’t need much encouragement.

Did you get up to much before joining Amazing Radio?

Breaking new bands on DAB stations is becoming a habit of mine having spent the last four years doing just that at Yorkshire Radio and NME Radio. I’ve also been lucky enough to run my mouth off on BBC Radio 1, ZMfm in Auckland and Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles, and have met an amazing array of rock n roll royalty. If you’ve got nothing pressing there’s a bit more info over at my show page.

Tell us about your show please!

My show will be the home of The Amazing Sessions on Amazing Radio. We get some of the best new talent into our secret studio and the results are always incredible. As ever on Amazing Radio I’ll be devoted to finding the best new bands wherever they’re hiding on planet earth and balance all the music geeking with a healthy dose of irreverent chat.

Why should we listen?

If you come away liking one new band you’ve not heard before then I’ve done my job. It’s pretty lighthearted radio with one eye on the music and the other on the brilliant and bewildering things we get up to as a species.

Chris on his beloved decks

Aside from your own fabulous show, have you got any other favourite Amazing Radio shows?

Charlie Ashcroft is responsible for two shows that distill the essence of what we do here at Amazing Radio. He brings you the best new additions to amazingtunes.com in Audition, and is responsible for the Amazing Radio Chart as well; essentially a ‘best bits’ selection of the tunes you’re liking and downloading from us. I also rate Colin and Matt’s show [The Saturday Show], now available in handy podcast form, It’s Amazing and Amazing Live. I like passionate radio and everyone here delivers that in spades.

Are there any artists from amazingtunes.com that you’d say you’re a fan of?

Loads! I’ve been a fan of Standard Fare, Dimbleby & Capper, Buen Chico and Royal Treatment Plant for a while. The great thing about the site is I’m always being turned onto new stuff like Boat to Row, William Fitzsimmons and I’m really enjoying Atlanta outfit Social Studies at the moment.

And finally, what makes Amazing so, well, amazing!?

Music makes it to our playlist on merit. It doesn’t matter whether you’re that latest buzz band with a PR crew and massive financial backing, or you’re recording stuff in your bedroom on a laptop; if the music’s worth playing we’ll play it.

Check out The Chris Martin Show every weekday between 10am and 1pm. Say hello to Chris by emailing chris@amazingradio.co.uk.

This afternoon Amazing Radio will be bringing you the latest live performances from The Amazing Sessions.

This week sees Ayrshire Rock quartet Vukovi show off their powerful tunes at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s Blank Studios.

Vukovi

As well as recording some of the finest tracks from their ever-growing collection of Pop Rock anthems, the band performed an exclusive unplugged arrangement of their song Snakes and Ladders on location at the CoMusica archways in Gateshead. You can find out more about this video, as well as exclusive pictures and content from Vukovi in The Amazing Sessions, over on the amazingtunes.com blog.

Hear the first two tracks from Vukovi in The Amazing Sessions on Amazing Afternoons with Kyle Wilkinson, today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio. You’ll be able to enjoy a further two live tunes from The Amazing Sessions this Friday from 1pm, as Rich Brant hosts Amazing Live.

Here at Amazing Radio we’re always looking to find you brand new and emerging talent to grace your ears and our airwaves.

Over the next couple of weeks the Amazing team will be revealing who they think you’ll be hearing more of throughout 2011. Today the new music tips come from Amazing Live presenter Rich Brant.

Rich’s first recommendation is for you to head to amazingtunes.com and check out folk act Dry the River:

“Dry the River are undoubtedly one of the best bands I’ve heard this year … a big statement I know, but just listen to the tunes off the Londoners’ debut EP and tell me they’re not some of the most beautifully constructed tracks you’ve heard in a long time – I dare you! That’s a bit of a hollow threat really as I’m a bit of a wuss, but you get my point… They are good!”

Rich also has bags of enthusiasm for his second tip for the top, the musical partnership known as Paper Crows:

Paper Crows

“Paper crows make Alt Goth Brooding Urban Pop… (lets see how many tags we can throw in the pot!) When it comes down to it though, who cares what they are? What they do is make great tunes. A London duo made up of Duncan McDougall’s electronics and Emma Panas’ brilliant vocals, the pair have combined to make something entirely different, yet still maintain a popular appeal. Haunting vocals, dream like delirium, dubstep, varying beats… what more could you want? Don’t be greedy!”

Greedy Rich? Us? Never!

Hear Rich Brant in action as he presents Amazing Live, today from 1pm, on Amazing Radio.

Monday the 25th October saw the arrival of Newcastle based songstress Lesley Roley at Blank Studios, ready to record the next chapter of  The Amazing Sessions.

In a change of pace to our usually hectic band filled days, Lesley brought only an acoustic guitar with her for company, creating an entirely relaxed atmosphere somewhat fitting for what turned out to be the coldest morning of the year! The frost didn’t last too long though, some honey filled hot drinks and a thorough set up of numerous expertly placed microphones courtesy of studio engineer Sam Grant, meant that we were all set to record.

Performing stripped down versions of four tracks in total, it didn’t take long to see why Ms. Roley has been so popular both on Amazing Radio and amazingtunes.com. Her voice is just lovely – very sweet but with a sense of melancholy that grabs your attention and holds it right up until the final note.

Audience favourite Mr. Sad sounded great as always but it was the two tracks from the newly released EP Way We Are that will no doubt gain the most attention. You can hear the exclusive first play of these live versions by tuning into Amazing Live with Rich Brant from 1pm today. The remaining tracks will be played on the Amazing Folk Roots Show with Frankie Ward from 7pm this Sunday.

Tracks with a full band backing from Lesley’s new EP are available to buy via her amazingtunes.com profile, so if you’d like to hear Lesley performing her songs to the fullest, we recommend that you take a listen! Plus, don’t forget to keep an eye out for her upcoming gigs in support of the new release.

Check out Lesley Roley in The Amazing Sessions alongside previous guest acts here, and don’t forget to tune into Amazing Radio from 1pm today to hear Lesley chatting to Amazing Live host Rich Brant.

Our immutable chaps that toil away to bring you The Amazing Sessions have gone and rocked the Kasbah once more. Paying visit to the studio this time was a band familiar to Amazing Radio output, Jimmy & The Sounds.

Ruth Kilpatrick, who also photographed the session, recounted the day for us:

“When you’re in a band like Jimmy & The Sounds, 10am starts are never going to be your favourite thing in the world. Sunday October 10th was clearly no exception as the boys rolled up to Blank Studios to record the fourth in our current run of Amazing Sessions.

The band soon managed to settle into the swing of things and delivered a great version of top Amazing Radio track, Heart For Rent. A step above your average ‘generic guitar band’ Jimmy & The Sounds bring the pop sensibilities that are so often missing from this kind of music. Vocalist James’ voice is unique amongst his peers and it’s a real pleasure to hear in a studio environment. Those listeners who have caught their music will no doubt testify that you’re left singing along to the chorus long after it’s left your ears, testament to their strong song writing abilities.

After some much needed caffeine and a welcome intake of carbs, courtesy of top Newcastle venue The Cluny, Jimmy and his Sounds returned to the studio to crack on with recording. A few minor setbacks can be largely accredited to an increasing need for paracetamol, (a problem soon fixed by yours truly and my massive bag of usually useless items). But with hangovers averted everyone could now re-focus on the task at hand, resulting in a good version of Pleasure In Colour and the radio bound Sounds, which proved to be one of the session highlights.

With a fair few gigs lined up over the next month or so it should be easy enough to catch these boys live.  but failing that you can hear Heart For Rent and Sounds live in session on Amazing Radio.

Tune into Amazing Live with Rich Brant from 1pm on Friday 29th October to catch Jimmy & the Sounds live in The Amazing Sessions, or check out the recordings from the day here.

Amazing Radio and amazingtunes.com were proud to be involved with Oxjam this year, culminating in a brilliant evening on Saturday in North West London. Charlie Ashcroft takes a moment to look back on a great night and a great cause.

On behalf of Amazing Radio and the Oxjam Kilburn Takeover, a massive thank you to all of you who came down to Power’s on Kilburn High Road on Saturday.

Rich Brant can get in anywhere

The Amazing stage played host to some of the hottest new artists from amazingtunes.com, all in the name of raising money for Oxfam. With five venues on Kilburn High Road rammed with punters and musicians, the atmosphere across the whole event was superb. Knowing that we were just one of something like 28 Oxjam festivals taking place across the country was pretty mind-blowing.

The proceedings had everything. Rain soaked the High Road when it saw fit, the guys from Sounds Of The Campervan got some sessions going outside The Good Ship and Georgie Rogers interviewed Spring Offensive in an ice-cream & milkshake bar. Hear the results of that exchange on The Breakfast Show every morning for the rest of the week. The incredulous look on the Power’s staff’s faces as a 16-foot amazingtunes banner was unveiled will also live long in the memory.

Georgie with Spring Offensive in Funky Flavaz

Onstage, we had memorable performances from Martha Makes Mistakes, Toys With Knives and Gifts For Givers to kick off the evening, before Beatie Wolfe took to the stage with a wonderful solo set.

Chapter 24 and Phantom followed, positively lighting up the room with their respective doses of playful punk energy and mad vocoder-led beats.

Chapter 24 tear it up

With the time past 10 o’clock, Red Drapes took to the stage and charmed the Power’s audience with their brooding set of rock anthems. Reflection and Subside were obvious highlights for the recently-crowned winners of It’s Amazing, but the whole performance oozed quality from start to finish.

Red Drapes bringing it in style

As for our headliners Spring Offensive – wow. The Oxford quartet put on a fantastic show, showcasing a decent portion of Pull Us Apart to great effect. Having kicked off their set with Amazing Radio hit Everything Other Than This, the band went from strength to strength in front of a packed crowd.

Spring Offensive on superb form

Huge thanks to Natalie Sharp, Georgie Rogers and Rich Brant for taking all the snaps. Here are a couple more for your delectation:

Charlie, Georgie and Rich

Our massive banner

For interviews and music from the artists involved in this year’s Oxjam Kilburn Takeover, tune in to Rich Brant’s Amazing Live show on Amazing Radio, this Friday at 1pm.

It’s time for rock school on Amazing Radio! Tune into The Afternoon Show for you lesson in how to rock and roll with Are you more rock and roll than Kevin Read?

This week Amazing Live‘s Rich Brant is taking on the K-Train challenge, and he’s nervous. Not that he’d admit he’s nervous of course, but you can quite clearly see it in his eyes…

Rich Brant

Rich claims that, despite his shifty eyes, he’s actually ‘big on the continent’, having previous performed on air duties as a radio presenter in Luxembourg. This role required Rich to socialize with both celebrity and rock star, and therefore Rich feels that he is more than qualified to cite his own rock and roll credentials.

Kev, meanwhile, has had great fun compiling a list of ‘comedy aliases’ for Little Lord Brantleboy. He’s fully aware that Emily Brante is going to pull out a continental back story and is digging deep into his personal rock history to bring on the defeat.

The K Train gets 'listy'

We’re pretty hopeful for Brant – quite possibly because no one else will take him seriously. (Just look at that picture of innocence!) But you never know, he might surprise us. After all, his girlfriend has family from Darlington, and apparently that means something. We’re not sure what…

If you’re also wondering who won the mighty rock off between Amazing Breakfast‘s  Georgie Rogers and Kevin Read last week, we can now reveal that Georgie took the crown with an astonishing 100% of the vote! Now that’s hardcore!

Catch Mister Brantybombastic laying down the rock and roll gauntlet from 3pm today, on Amazing Radio.