Epic Edinburgh Comedy Blogstravaganza! (Part 1)

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

It’s that time of year again, and if, like us you’re a fan of live comedy you’ll be itching to head north with all the funniest people from the UK and beyond to set up camp in one of our loveliest cities for some giggles and a good time. That’s right – it’s time for the Edinburgh Fringe once again!

As we’ve spoken to so many lovely comedians in the last year, Team Amazing Breakfast thought we’d give you a guide to what all our favourite funny people are up to in the festival this year. Not wanting to play favourites, we’ll do it in chronological order, naturally – so here, in the order we’ve spoken to them over the last year, is what some of our favourite folks are up to in Edinburgh this August.


Tony Jameson

Tony Jameson teams up with Dan Wright to bring you the Social Anxiety Network – an hour of stand up based on – you guessed it – social anxieties. Full details here.

Ben Van Der Velde & Matt Richardson

Ben Van Der Velde and Matt Richardson have teamed up to bring you Attention Deficit Let’s Go Ride Bikes! – ‘an hour of stand-up comedy involving good cheer, bad luck and inappropriate nosebleeds’. As you do. Full details here.

Jim Campbell & Luke Benson

We caught up with Jim Campbell just after his last performance at Edinburgh last year, see how he gets on this year at the Comedy Reserve alongside Luke Benson, Julian Dean and Joe Lycett. Full details here.

Naz Osmanoglu

The man we’ve spoken to with the most difficult to pronounce name has to be Naz Osmanoglu who’ll be doing not one but TWO shows – his own solo effort 1000% Awesome and one with his sketch group WitTank so go see both and make him a happy man.

Jeff Leach

We spoke to the very funny Jeff Leach ahead of his compering and curating comedy events at Oxjam Kilburn last year, his show A Leach On Society promises ‘an unrelenting and gratuitous insight into his sordid private life‘ – so don’t say we didn’t warn you. Full details here.

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2011 Predictions: Georgie Rogers

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

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 past couple of weeks the Amazing team have been revealing who they think you’ll be hearing more of throughout 2011. Today the new music tips come from Amazing Breakfast host Georgie Rogers.

Georgie’s first ‘thumbs up’ goes to rising dub artist Alice Amelia. Georgie says:

“‘Embedded‘, Alice Amelia’s tune featuring production from Cruso, is a track I am trying to bring to the masses in 2011. Dubstep has exploded onto the commercial dance music scene in such a big way and this would easily sit alongside tracks by Katy B, Jakwob’s re-working of Ellie Goulding’s track ‘Under The Sheets’, Magnetic Man and Rusko, as well as being blasted out at a rave, in a club or at a festival. If 21 year-old Alice Amelia continues collaborating with this fella and other dance producers, I reckon she could do really well. Her voice sounds awesome with some big beats under it so I hope to see her doing more of it this year.”

Ex Libras

Ex Libras

Georgie’s second shout out is for experimental independents Ex Libras:

“London band Ex Libras were one of the first artists we played on Amazing Breakfast that instantly struck a chord with me.  In the song ‘Underachiever‘, there’s an atmosphere reminiscent of a Radiohead track, but also in parts, the space of a band like The XX. This all comes before the track  builds into an epic finish which floored me upon my first listen. Their performances for The Amazing Sessions confirmed their talents as a live outfit too.  Experimental, devastatingly beautiful and genius, I hope they get the recognition they deserve in 2011.”

Genius, eh Georgie? We’d better give them a listen!

Join Georgie Rogers for Amazing Breakfast, weekday mornings between 7 and 10am, on Amazing Radio.

Amazing Radio at Oxjam Kilburn – Looking back

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

largeOxjamAmazing 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

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

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

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

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

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

Charlie, Georgie and Rich

Our massive banner

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.

Amazing Radio hits Oxjam Kilburn on 23rd October

Friday, October 8th, 2010

Amazing Radio and Amazingtunes.com are proud to be involved with this year’s Oxjam Kilburn Takeover in London!

Oxjam Kilburn

On Saturday 23 October, the guys at Power’s on Kilburn High Road will be hosting us, alongside a fantastic line-up of live music. And we’d love you to come along!

We’ll have live sets from Chapter 24, Phantom, Toys With Knives and Oxford’s undisputed best new band, Spring Offensive. Keep an eye on amazingradio.co.uk and amazingtunes.com over the next fortnight to see who else we’ve got in store for you. It promises to be an absolute cracker.

Some of your favourite Amazing Radio presenters will be out in force too, with Georgie Rogers, Rich Brant and Charlie Ashcroft hopping between venues, chatting to punters, interviewing bands and soaking up all the excitement in North West London on the day.

POWER'S

As well as at Power’s, Oxjam Kilburn will have gigs on at The Luminaire, The Good Ship, The King’s Head and The North London Tavern, with well over 40 artists performing on the day. Other live highlights at the festival include Rox (recently nominated for a MTV EMA, no less), the brilliant Dansette Junior and Kilburn legends The Future Shape Of Sound.

You can buy tickets for the Oxjam Kilburn Takeover for just £10 from www.wegottickets.com. Click HERE for our event page. So for just a tenner, you get a wristband which gives you access to all five venues on Kilburn High Road, from 4pm on the 23rd until the wee hours of the Sunday morning. A limited number of wristbands will also be available on the day itself. All proceeds from ticket sales go straight to Oxfam.

The Oxjam Kilburn Takeover is one of 28 city-wide ‘takeover’ events taking place across the UK on the weekend of 23/24 October. For information about your nearest festival, head to www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam.

To keep up-to-date with news from the Oxjam Kilburn Takeover, check out www.oxjamkilburntakeover.co.uk or head to the event’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Needless to say, keep listening to Amazing Radio to hear news and announcements in the lead-up to the event, alongside the best new music from the artists involved. See you in London on the 23rd!

Getting to know… Georgie Rogers

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

They bring you the best uploads from amazingtunes.com each week, but who are the people behind the shows you hear on Amazing Radio? In a series of articles, we’ll be making it our mission to find out more about the owners of the infamous on air voices you know and love.

Read on for an exclusive chat with our brand new Amazing Breakfast presenter Georgie Rogers.

Georgie Rogers

Georgie Rogers

Hello! Who are you?

I’m Georgie Rogers, presenter of the Amazing Breakfast show.

How did you find out about Amazing Radio?

Initially I spotted it on the old Facebook mini-feed ages ago when Greg (of Greg and Burtt) was plugging his show. Later I saw an advert on Media UK calling for new presenters so sent in my demo.

Before we plucked you from relative obscurity and plonked you on the Amazing airwaves, what did you do?

After a load of work experience and some presenting in Jersey on Channel 103 in the six months after graduating from the University of Birmingham with an English and Drama degree, I ended up working in the online team at Xfm, writing news articles and interviewing bands.

After XFM I got a lucky break and went to BBC 6 Music, where for the past two and a bit years I’ve developed skills as a music reporter. My work there has involved meeting some of my absolute heroes, covering more festivals and gigs than I can remember, including Glastonbury and Coachella in the US, writing and reading music news bulletins live on the 6 airwaves, making packages, podcasts and writing articles for the website and BBC Entertainment online. It was a blast and I still freelance there, but after doing the Breakfast Show on Brighton Festival Radio earlier this year, I decided I wanted to do more presenting.

Tell us about your show please!

It’s nice and early, between 7-10am, to accompany your tea and toast to in the morning. It’s all about the music with some light-hearted banter and music-related topical chat.  Any funny stories that I hear on my travels will no doubt make an appearance too.  Each week we feature an artist from amazingtunes.com get them on, as well as a comedian.  We also highlight a gig each day that we think you should go to and pick a track of the week, which we get to play five times in a row… Result.

Georgie Rogers: Making breakfast beautiful!

Georgie Rogers: Making breakfast beautiful!

Why should we listen?

Simple; because it’s all new music and you’ll be surprised at how much is fabulous.

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

Tough one as I’m the ‘new girl’ and I think they’re all great, so want to say everyone!

As you might tell from Amazing Breakfast and my glee at getting to play big tunes by Absorb Vs Sequel and Moscow Youth Cult at 8.30 in the morning every now and then, I’m a big fan of dance music, so Mark Ryan’s Amazing Beats Friday night marathon is right up my street.

Also, I totally dig the Are You More Rock and Roll than Kevin Read? feature on Kyle Wilkinson’s Afternoon Show with the lovely Producer Frankie, as Kevin Read is one of the funniest men in the north. Fact.

Finally, what makes Amazing so, well, amazing!?

There’s nothing else on the radio that is solely dedicated, 24 hours a day, to nurturing emerging talent.  The UK is blessed with a fruitful music scene and it’s up to showcase all the smashing acts before they get snapped up by the big boys.

You can hear the wonderful spoken words of Georgie Rogers between 7 and 10 every weekday morning on Amazing Breakfast.

Rogers verses Read

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Wednesdays are rockin’ on Amazing Radio.That’s because it’s Are You More Rock and Read? time on The Afternoon Show!

This week our brand new Amazing Breakfast show host Georgie Rogers is taking to the virtual rock and roll arena. She’s an experienced roving music reporter and is pretty certain she’s got the tales to take down the K-Train.

Georgie Rogers

Georgie Rogers

Although the K-Train has reigned supreme at the top of the rock and roll charts for the past eight weeks, he’s feeling more than a little wobbly about his forthcoming battle with the delectable Miss Rogers.

And he’s right to be scared. Georgie tells us that she’s got not one, but two stories up her fashionable sleeves. Not only promising to deliver on quantity, Georgie’s promised some big names to give her rock and roll tales a star quality boost too.

Still, one should never expect Mr K-Train to run and hide in the face of almost certain defeat. Oh no. Kev’s determined to take this week in his stride and deliver the rock and roll winning goods we know and respect him for.

Hear Georgie Rogers take on Kevin Read today from 3pm, on Amazing Radio.

Introducing Amazing Breakfast!

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

After months of speculation we can finally confirm… There’s a new girl on the Amazing Radio block!

If you thought your breakfast was ever so slightly sweeter this morning, that’s probably because you were tuned into Amazing Breakfast, our brand new Amazing Radio show!

The show is presented by the ever-lovely Georgie Rogers, a Londoner with a voice like honey and a taste for unsigned music.

Georgie Rogers: Making breakfast beautiful!

Georgie Rogers: Making breakfast beautiful!

Every day this week you can hear Georgie chatting to the show’s featured Artist of the Week, Tyneside’s Brilliant Mind. We loved their quirky indie-pop stylings so much that we simply had to get them on not just one show, but every show this week!

Singer Calum signs the <em>Amazing Radio</e> board of fame!

Singer Calum signs the Amazing Radio board of fame!

Yes, every day until the weekend dawns, we’ll be chatting to Brilliant Mind. So if you want to find out what singer Calum Lyn’s fascination with industrial estates is all about (yes you read that correctly - industrial estates!), as well as more top trivia from the weird and wonderful world of Brilliant Mind. Be sure to tune in!

You can hear Georgie Rogers presenting the all new Amazing Breakfast show every weekday morning from 7 ’til 10.