Music News

The Vamps think they have an "advantage" over other boy bands on the market.
Tristan Evans, who plays the drums for the 'Wild Card' hitmakers, credits the group and their pop rivals, 5 seconds of summer, for bringing an acoustic sound back to the charts and claims that creating this "new sound" has helped put them ahead of their competitors who don't play their own instruments.
Tristan exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "We really like 5 Seconds of Summer, we spoke to them before both of us even released anything so, you know, it's great to work with them in a way to bring back the guitar-y band sound."
The 19-year-old star and his band mates Connor Ball, Bradley Simpson and James McVey achieved UK chart success with their debut single 'Lets Dance' and he insists he isn't worried that the boy band market is becoming overcrowded because together they are setting a new precedent for pop music.
He added: "The more similar bands in the charts, the easier to make the statement that this is the new music. It will be to our advantage that there are more bands in the charts. It's setting 'this is what's in now' and this is what people like so we're all different. We're more kind of indie pop."

Aloe Blacc will "train" his daughter not be influenced by R-rated videos.
'The Man' hitmaker had his first child, daughter Mandela, with his wife Maya Jupiter last year and he claims that he'll have no problem with her watching sexualised music videos when she's older because he'll "train" her to not be influenced by them.
Quizzed on whether he'd let his daughter watch R-rated material, he exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "Actually, I probably would because I know what kind of training she will have and how she will be able to receive it.
"I have some wonderful friends and they have the kind of children that when they see these images they have insightful open conversation with their parents and say, 'Mom, dad can you believe what they're forcing us to listen to?'
"It's really interesting and with the right parenting you can allow your kids to engage in any kind of media."
The 35-year-old musician began his career as an underground hip-hop artist but moved on to other genres because he wanted to provide young audiences with different kinds of messages.
He said: "Knowing that music is a huge part of a teenager's self-identity and developing that identity makes me want to balance the marketplace with music that gives them alternative ideas about how they can conduct themselves or think about themselves.
Aloe also recognises that the more successful his music, the more people will hear positive messages.
He explained: "The more I can do to give people songs of hope, inspiration and motivation the better, and the bigger those songs are the better because they're directly competing with those messages that ultimately lead to internal conflict."

Kodaline thought it would be "unrealistic" to try and break America.
The 'High Hopes' band, who recently appeared on 'American Idol' and went straight into the top 20, admit in the beginning they thought success across the pond was out of their reach and it was only when they started performing in the country they realised it could be done.
Guitarist Mark Prendergrast told BANG Showbiz: "I didn't think [breaking America] was that important to us when we started out, because it seemed unrealistic.
"But when we started touring over there, you kind of fall in love with it. You're in a different state and city every night.
"We only found out we got 'American Idol' about two weeks before, so we were already in America, it was a huge deal.
"It got our name out there a lot more. Our Twitter followers definitely went up, [the show] went out to about 15million people."
And Mark enjoyed meeting all of the judges, including Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and host Ryan Seacrest, and was surprised when they told the band - also made up of Steve Garrigan, Jason Boland and Vincent May - how much they loved their music.
Mark continued: "Randy Jackson is a huge fan, he was bigging us up. Because it was so big, all these cameras and lights, people made it easy for us and looked after us. Everyone was really cool."

Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry thinks pop stars need to "step out of their comfort zones".
The 'Heart of Glass' hitmaker and her bandmates - Chris Stein, Clem Burke and Tommy Kessler - release their new album 'Ghosts of Download' next month and she feels it's important to continue to re-invent yourself as an artist and has accused many musicians of being too safe.
Debbie told Gay Times magazine: "I'm excited because I love the new stuff. It's always a chance to breathe fresh air. It's good for artists to step out of their comfort zone."
Although the 68-year-old singer likes to see artists take risks, she also doesn't mind when people cover her music.
Asked if she knew of Atomic Kitten, who released a cover of her 1967 track 'The Tide Is High', she replied: "Of course [I know who they are] I thought it [the cover] was ... OK. It's funny how that song keeps coming around, it's very interesting how that happens.
"There's something about it. We've been working on a surprise with that song [for the new album]. There's a guest artist on it."
Meanwhile, Blondie have announced they will perform at this year's Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset in June.

Yes bassist Chris Squire insists he won't "lose any sleep" over his band missing out on a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 66-year-old musician, who is touring with a new line-up, was nominated alongside his band mates this year but isn't bitter that they missed out on a spot.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "There were bands nominated who had been up before so I didn't really think we would get in there this year. We missed it by a few votes or something I was told but I'm sure it will come up again.
"I don't lose any sleep over it, if it happens, okay, good, that would be very nice.
"Most of the time they're not prog rock sort of people. In the past couple of years they've made an effort by putting Genesis in there and Canadian rock band Rush but generally they've always stayed away from prog rock people. I can't say whether that's fair or not but people have different tastes. Punk rates a lot higher than prog rock on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
Chris claims the logistics of figuring out which members of the band to include would be a "pain" due to so many line-up changes, but he would like the band to be included one day.
He also thinks he's one of the top three bass players in the world, having been inspired by the greats before him.
He explained: "I would quite possibly rank myself in the top three bass players. There are a lot of good bass players, Paul McCartney, and of course John Entwistle was one of my favourites before he passed away.
"In the 70s, actually, I think I won all the bass player poll awards for about 10 years in a row or something.
"It's just trends and we just happened to be riding the crest of a wave back then and we ended up getting more votes."
Yes will release their new studio album 'Heaven and Earth' on July 8.

Iggy Azalea's biggest fear is being sick on stage.
The 'Fancy' hitmaker said she's come up with a plan in case she feels like she needs to be sick whilst she's performing.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It's my actual nightmare to vomit on stage. If I ever vomited on stage, I would probably kill myself.
"I think if I start to feel like that, I have two plans, I would have already figured out my emergency exits. So if I can make it off stage, I will go off stage and vomit.
"If I feel like I can't make the wings, my poor DJ will hate me for it but I'll just run behind the DJ booth and vomit on his shoes. Poor DJ, but you don't want pictures."
Iggy - who toured with Beyoncé when she brought her 'Mrs. Carter World Tour' to Australia - said that was the only time she's felt sick with nerves on stage.
The 23-year-old singer said: "There was one time I felt sick on stage and that was when I was on tour with Beyoncé but that was because two hours before, I got my wisdom teeth pulled out. I was put to sleep for it so I was really not up for that.
"I had taken loads of painkillers and I just felt already so woozy from just waking up from having them pulled out ... It turned out I ended up doing the whole tour like that because I got them pulled out before the second performance."
Iggy releases her new album 'The New Classic' on April 21 and her current single 'Fancy' is available to download now.

Robin Thicke's father Alan thinks the singer's heartbreak over his marriage will "speak through his music".
The 'Blurred Lines' hitmaker announced his separation from wife Paula Patton after nine years of marriage in February and his dad claims he has been penning songs about their break-up for his upcoming album.
Alan told Us Weekly: "From my perspective, I always let Robin speak through his music. He's in the middle of a great album right now. A lot of power in the album."
The 37-year-old star is working on the follow-up to his 'Blurred Lines' album, which conquered the charts last year, and he has also been collaborating with Jennifer Lopez on her new record.
Meanwhile, Alan also admitted he isn't sure whether Robin and Paula, who have three-year-old son Julian, will get back together or file for divorce.
He added: "We love them, they're great people. Whatever they decide to do, it will be the right thing."
It was recently claimed that the actor - who is married to third wife Tanya Callau - has been giving his son marriage advice and urging him not to make the same mistakes he did.

Iggy Azalea's boyfriend doesn't like her new album.
The 23-year-old rapper penned her debut album 'The New Classic' before she struck up a relationship with basketball player Nick Young six months ago, but she admits he's not impressed with the lack of love songs on the collection.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, she said: "Nick said to me, 'Why don't you have any love songs on your album? It's all "I hate you" songs.'
"He's right, all my love songs are 'f**k love' songs, but that's where my head was when I wrote the album.
"Maybe my next album will be a little sweeter."
Despite their budding romance, Iggy - whose real name is Amethyst Kelly - insists there's no chance Nick will be joining her in the studio for a collaboration.
She explained: "There's more chance of me playing pro-celebrity basketball than of Nick rapping or singing.
"But he is a big rap fan, so I'm trying to convince him to come to Wireless Festival [in London] with me when I play in July as it's such a good line-up."
Meanwhile, the blonde beauty insists the direction of her next album will be determined by the success of 'The New Classic', which is out on Monday (21.04.14).
She added: "If this album does well, my next one will be very upbeat, but if it goes badly, I might get all broody and moody."

Foo Fighters new album is "almost half done".
Producer Butch Vig, who is reportedly working on the record with Steve Albini, claims the band have been experimenting with new recording techniques and it is well on its way to being completed.
Speaking to Kerrang, Vig said: "We've been recording at some different locations, but we're almost halfway done with the recording and it's going well.
"It sounds different - we've thrown a few things into the mix, in the recording process, that are going to give the record a different sound and a different feel. It's been a challenge, but it's also been exciting."
The 'Everlong' band revealed in January that recording sessions for their new album, the follow-up to 2011's 'Wasting Light', were "f***ing on" and posted a photograph of a row of master tapes labelled 'Foo Fighters LP 8'.
Dave Grohl also told BBC Radio 1: "I know what it sounds like and I honestly think the entire concept is really going to take people by surprise and it sounds nuts."
Meanwhile, the band's fans have launched a campaign to get the band to play a show in their hometown for the first time in more than 15 years.
The campaign's fundraising page on Crowdsurfer reads: "It's simple. The Foo Fighters haven't played Richmond, Virginia since May 17, 1998. That's more than 15 years ago and that's way too long. So we're taking it upon ourselves to bring 'em back!"
The 'Help Bring The Foo Fighters Back To RVA' campaign site is selling 1,400 tickets at $50 a ticket.
However, the band have yet to announce they will play a date in the city.