Category Archives: Spotlight

Rebel Control Urge Listeners To Stand Up To The System

‘Don’t Let Them Fool Ya’ is a sincere observation of an unequal world serving only to “make more money for the rich man” and urging the listener to open their eyes and stand up to the system.

Rebel Control have set out to make both meaningful and accessible music. With political lyrics and heavy bass lines they do their part in bettering the world, one funky reggae tune at a time.

The band evolved from the reggae jams hosted by band members Andy Baron and Richie Concrete in a disused shop in West London back in 2008 / 2009. These sessions attracted an stellar crew of UK based reggae musicians.

Rebel Control then took the band out live and played some of the the biggest and best UK festivals from Boomtown to Bestival, performed in Italy, Poland and Montenegro, and supported and toured with a myriad of acts including reggae heavyweights Luciano, Mad Professor, Easy All Stars and performed regularly for causes close to their hearts such as Black History Month and Love Music Hate Racism.

Check out more of Rebel Control’s music via their social media: YouTube | Instagram

Spotlight On: Alice Nicholls

Alice Nicholls is a young singer-songwriter from Leeds, England, who contacted us recently and shared with us her most recent album Kind Quiet Riots, a 6-song EP of protest music.

Album cover for Kind Quiet Riots by Alice Nicholls.

The album’s title is perfect as Alice takes us on a quiet journey of protest through her multi-instrumental, acoustic songs. From dramatic opening track Deluge to the ukulele performance Get Some Learning and the acoustic baritone driven, closing track Token, Alice guides us through political (and personal) topics on her mind trying to motivate thoughts of change to the listener.

Alice told me via email that she is working on new material although “the current pandemic has put a spanner in the works for everyone – but I am really proud of this collection of angry and topical songs.”

Check out more of Alice’s music on her Bandcamp page and follow her updates via Facebook.

✊ ✊ ✊ ✊

Forced To Seek Asylum Because Of Her Music: Video Of The Day

In Iran the Islamic government restricts women from performing their music alone on stage. For one musician, Farzane Zamen, this drove her out of her home country and eventually forced her to seek asylum in Scotland.

Today she is a working musician in that foreign place. Time will only tell if she will be safe to travel back to Iran but until then she will continue to make her music.