Magic Arm – is otherwise known as Marc Rigelsford. Like Beck, Beta Band or Patrick Wolf, Magic Arm is a sonically curious soul who fuses folk, pop and effervescent electronics. But, as reference points, none of those three quite hit the spot.

Magic Arm was born in Rustington, West Sussex but now lives in Manchester (he studied photography at University there). Previous musical projects include the band Escape Pod, who once put a 10″ out on XL offshoot, Rex. Marc claims that he only started making music as Magic Arm in order to help out a film-maker friend who needed some soundtrack music, quick smart. In truth, Magic Arm has spent years painstakingly forging his sound. He plays all the instruments (drums, keyboards, guitars) himself, and has laboriously taught himself how to use Pro-Tools and such, in order to create music that, refreshingly, defies easy categorisation.

It helps that so little (outside of the Beach Boys and “early” McCartney) has obviously influenced the Magic Arm sound. You might expect him, given his love of bleeps and farty electronic squelches, to be a big fan of everything from Kraftwerk to Autechre. Not so. “Buying a Yamaha CS-10 in Cash Converter was the biggest influence on my sound,” he says, drily, before talking about his love of Gwen Stefani, Dizzee Rascal, Peaches and Gnarls Barkley. “I’m literally trying to write pop music,” says Marc, “but it never comes out that way. There’s always a dark edge to it.”
Whilst such ambitious projects often shine in the studio, on the stage many a 21st century one-man-band has come unstuck. Not so Magic Arm. Samuel Beam of the much loved Iron & Wine has hailed Marc “the master of the loop pedal” and in this lies the secret of Magic Arm’s enthralling live performances. When Magic Arm plays live, he feeds his mic, guitar and keyboard through the aforementioned pedal. To build up his songs, he then has to play different parts from each instrument, through the pedal, sampling and looping the fragments as he goes, in order to weave together the constituent parts of his songs.

So much music is safe, predictable, a commodity, but Magic Arm is here to remind you that it can still be liberating, messy and powerful.

Radio 1’s Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens, and Marc Riley, are already fans. He has supported the likes of Beirut, Iron & Wine and James Yorkston. Steve Lamacq declared Magic Arm’s Glastonbury festival debut a “highlight”, while the Manchester Evening News have dubbed him: “The most innovative and sparkling new musician in the city.”

Magic Arm’s site

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The concept of the Real Dolls came from rapper, Rod Hotly. Inspired by a Frank Zappa interview where an ailing Frank wondered why nobody was writing songs about all the fantastic cyber sex gadgetry and all the other bizarre freaky shit that came with it in the 80’s! Hotly joined forces with Manc Japanese rapper Yoshi, production-savvy Real Dave and world-class scratch DJ, Peter Parker to form the Real Dolls.

Falling in step with the likes of N.A.S.A, Santigold & M.I.A, they are a party band, they like to make you move with their bold, fresh mix of hip-hop, electro, dancehall and the J-pop sound of ParaPara to make PRONK! _or sex punk_their own brand of music.

From the bass heavy dirt of ‘Trophy’ to the high octane ParaPara hype of ‘Electro Tsunami’, the Real Dolls repertoire spans the music spectrum from sing along summer jams to full on club anthems. ‘Trophy’ has been destroying the dancefloor in Manchester at their club night, Pronk!

Live they are in their element with shows constantly changing and energy levels always pushed to 11. Entertainment is high on the agenda as this 4 piece join forces with Veba (Groove Armada, Rae & Christian) and Zoe Hooker to make effortlessly cool credible pop music!

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After coming third at the UK DMC championships Peter Parker, or Parkertron joined Rae and Christians live band where he met Bassist and future band mate in Fingathing, Sneaky.
The Fingathing trio rose to notoriety in the UK and then worldwide for pioneering the art of the DJ/Live/Video combination. The bands use of unique comic book style imagery by Chris Drury, Parker’s razor sharp skills on the turntables/MPC drum machines, and the irresistible sound of Sneaky’s stand up Double Bass propelled them forward to acclaim across the hop hop/ beat driven musical world with an identity and style that was unmistakably their own.

Through Fingathing, Parker enjoyed a great deal of success, touring the world playing mind boggling and high energy shows, ripping up the turntable and MPC in an improvised and freestyled environment along with Sneaky, creating a one off show every time.

Renowned club DJ Peter Parker is now a member of Real dolls. However, as well as being primary beatmaker for Fingathing and more recently Realdolls he is also making solo music as Parkertron.

The work with the Realdolls has seen him branch out way further into the history of club music and beyond, accepting, and being influenced by, a much wider variety of styles as yet unheard with Fingathing. The combined production work along with Real Dave from the Dolls has created a fresh, high energy form to provide lyricist and frontman Rod Hotly with an excellent platform to express himself, along with Japanese/Manc cohort Yo-Yo and the incredible voice of VEBA.

Manchester takes on the world in the form of Real dolls.

We are currently booking an Autumn tour, contact Dan Ashcroft for details, dan.j.ashcroft@googlemail.com

Parkertron Real Dolls Mix Tape FREE DOWNLOAD
Peter Parker RealDolls Mixtapes by swalf

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“The Ting Tings are a blindingly brilliant, spanking new electro duo” – The Metro, Manchester

The Ting Tings, imagine The White Stripes reversed with a synthesiser and massive bass drum play effortlessly cool synth-pop with Peaches style vocals & Tom Tom Club haunts.

‘That’s not my name’ is a catchy yet clever synth-pop ditty that’ll get stuck somewhere in the back of your head and have you singing ‘they call me Jane’ under your breath hours later.

Hearing ‘Great DJ’ is like coming up for the first time in a really good club. White’s effortlessly sexy voice over an additively edgy loop makes for an electro-disco hit.

Their limited 7-inch debut AA single ‘That’s Not My Name’ / Great DJ is out on Switchflicker may 28th

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Valerie are Jo Lean – Vox, Vicky Tse – Guitar, and the infamous Elvis on drums. The band met through Manchester club night “Poptastic” and quickly bonded over shared passions – namely larger, dancing, Sleater – Kinney, John Waters, getting dirty and causing trouble.

Disinterested in the local music scene and excited by bands filtering over from the U.S…Our three heroes decide to form Valerie. Life as they knew it would never be the same again. The band named themselves after Valerie Solanas, the would be assassin of Andy Warhol and author of the feminist S.C.U.M Manifesto. Solanas is seen as a crackpot by many, as are Jo, Vix and Elvis, but the band were inspired by the way she acted upon her beliefs no matter how extreme and with little support.

Valerie’s sound is very much a product of their inspirations – punk, riot girl, lo fi, no fi, d.i.y, pop and lately even signs of a naive hip hop.

Valeries prime motive has always been to entertain, rather than win the Mercury Music Prize – although it’s reportedly in the bag after the Switchflicker single. Interaction with the audience is a vital part of Valerie – the banter is just as important as the songs and Heat magazine is their bible.

Valerie are trouble, but they’re comedy core trouble. Love ‘em. Hate ‘em. Beware.
Let the games begin……….

“Can’t play. Won’t play. They’re going to be massive anyway”
Diddie Davenport on Valerie in the Manchester Evening News even before they all snogged him!

Their new track, korgatron is released on Sealed with a Loving Flick compilation

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Bee and Cue , a live performance piece with Mildmanjan involving construction work , unique artefacts and live music. Builder Bee transforms or recycles a household object into a box – conveniently sized to house a CD.

Musician Cue takes the sounds of this constucting and transforms or recycles them into music and simultaneously produces a CD . At the end of the two simultaneous performances , a unique CD is sold or auctioned in a unique box ; the box bearing witness to it’s own making and the CD bringing to life the formative moments of transformation and the miracle of recycling.

Mobile Symphony: Ten Nokia mobiles play a specially composed score conducted by the artist’s text finger. Part of Futuresonic electronic music festival.

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Born out of a series of drunken jam sessions, have made an impressive mark on Manchester’s music scene, never failing to deliver their unique brand of infectious musical spontaneity. The Doll’s repertoire demonstrates an enviable versatility, moving from uplifting electronic anthems to grimy hip-hop fuelled tracks in the blink of a glittery eye-linered eye. Their debut single ‘Trophy’, showcases the darker side to The Real Dolls sound; the band themselves describing it as ‘hip-hop club swagger’.

Rod Hotly: “Renaissance Man & vocal visionary”

Rod Hotly is a founding member of The Real Dolls, alongside Peter Parker and now contributor Ricky X. Rapper and lyricist Rod can be credited with dreaming up the initial Dolls concept after a Frank Zappa interview provided a bolt of inspiration. Sharing the front of stage with Zoe Hooker and rapper Yoshi, Rod provides the perfect accompaniment to her irrepressible energy.

Yoshi: “Human dance dynamo & energetic glitter ball”

Japanese, Manc Yoshi provides The Real Dolls with both a rapper/backing vocalist and a unique and super fun stage presence. She’s been described as a ‘human dance dynamo’ and a ‘Manc mobile party machine’.

Peter Parker: “World Class scratch DJ & MPC time lord”

Although Peter Parker was there in the early days of The Real Dolls, he was forced to take a hiatus due to a busy schedule as internationally renowned DJ Fingathing. Keeping a close eye on the Dolls’ progress he was unable to resist rejoining after witnessing a euphoric live show. Taking a break from Fingathing Peter Parker took on production and song writing duties with Real Dave.

RealDave: “Production-savvy & tech whizz”

RealDave was introduced to The Real Dolls via a mutual friend. He’s the main guy behind the helm of the production/song writing dream team with Peter Parker.

Zoe Hooker: “Innocent victim of real doll destiny & riot grrrl”

Vocalist Zoe was introduced to the band by label Switchflicker. She represents the final piece of The Real Dolls jigsaw puzzle and completes their regular live outfit.

And Contributors:

Afrikan Boy: “Shop lifter, shirt smuggler”

Afrikan Boy has collaborated with M.I.A on her hugely successful and influential second album Kala. He lends a certain something to The Real Doll’s debut single ‘Trophy’, helping to create its dirty, bass heavy, and unforgettable, sound.

Veba: “Pancake Tuesday dish water”

Veba provides guest vocals to the Dolls’ track ‘Can’t Do Right’. Veba’s biggest hit to date was ‘Spellbound’, featuring on the Rae & Christian album ‘Northern Sulphuric Soul’, Grand Central. She has previously worked with Fingathing and toured the world with Groove Armada and Nightmares on Wax.

Magic Arm: “Noodling fish monger”

Magic Arm adds his vocal talents to The Real Dolls’ sing along summer jam ‘Ride Around’. Also on the Switchflicker label, Magic Arm has acquired fans in the shape of Radio 1 DJs Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens, and BBC 6music’s Marc Riley. He has supported Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Iron & Wine and James Yorkston.

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