Jim Bob interview

Acclaimed author and legendary musician, Jim Bob, tells Bobbysix.com about his new novel, his solo tour and his gigs later in the year as frontman of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine:

As your second novel, did you find it easier or harder this time round? Was it your Difficult Second Album or did the lessons you learnt from writing your first novel stand you in good stead for this one? 
From start to finish it was a lot quicker. Six months instead of six years. I wouldn't say it was easy but I possibly had a better idea of what I was doing and once I'd decided it was ok to have illustrations in the book again, I had my own writing style, which made it slightly simpler. I did worry at various stages about whether or not it was any good. I think it is though.

When we talked about your first novel, Storage Stories, you said that you wrote it in the same way you would write a concept album, in that you spilt it up into smaller parts and went off at tangents. It was, you said, the only way you could actually write a full-length story. Has that changed this time round? Is Driving Jarvis Ham structured more traditionally?
It is more traditional in structure definitely, but it is still broken up into smallish chunks. So, I'm still writing in the same way. Chapters that are almost self-contained, with a beginning and an end. It may have as much to do with all the films and TV I've watched. Like I'm writing cliffhangers. I doubt whether I could write a book with few and long chapters.

In terms of themes and tone, how does Driving Jarvis Ham compare to Storage Stories? Is it similarly funny, sad and sweet?
It is still all of those but apparently it's a lot darker. Certainly the second half is. I do like stories – books and films etc – that are funny and sweet and then suddenly kick you in the teeth. But hopefully with a satisfying ending – happy or sad.

Do you get much time to sit down and read? What have you been reading lately? 
I'm always reading. I have to have a book on the go. I'm reading The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy at the moment and before that I read Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles, which is brilliant. Sometimes I think if I could sit down somewhere nice and read and never do anything else again, I'd be happy.

You're taking the book on tour along with your guitar. Would you say you are now an author that also sings songs, rather than a musician that also writes books? 
I think most people would see me as a singer who's written a book. And I'll always be that. Maybe when I've written more books and they've been more successful that might change. Or I'd have two different audiences, the book one and the music one.

Do you still get a buzz out of playing live? 
Yes. I enjoy the act of doing it rather than the thought of doing it, if that makes sense.

Totally. Talking of playing live, the Carter USM reunion gigs over the past few years have been incredibly successful, do you have any more of them lined up? 
Two in November. After that, I don't know. I doubt it can go on forever. I don't want to take the piss.

Can you tell us what else you've got going on at the moment? You were involved in theatrical production Gutted not too long ago, any other stuff like that in the pipeline? 
No offers for theatrical stuff. I think my acting days were short and prematurely over. You never know though. I had no plans to be in a musical, or to write songs for a pantomime. Things just happen sometimes.

And in terms of your writing, have you already started working on your next novel? 
I have started a new novel. It's what I most want to do at the moment. I'm looking forward to spending more time on it. I've written about twenty thousand words and made loads of notes that I need to sit down and piece together. Now that I have an agent who asks me from time to time how the new book is going, I have a small amount of pressure to finish it. Which is good, because I'm lazy.

Driving Jarvis Ham will be published by The Friday Project on 10th May 2012. You can pre-order it here, or here. Check out Jim playing songs and reading (out loud) from his book this May and June.

Interview by Bobby Townsend.

Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Our showbiz mates

We managed to round up a few of our friends from the world of entertainment and ask them to contribute to our End of Year Poll. Here's what they offered us.

Jim Bob
Jim Bob (above) has had a busy 2011, finishing his new book, doing stuff at the Edinburgh Festival and playing sold-out shows with his band, Carter USM. Here’s what he listened to/watched when he had some down time.

Top 5 albums
1. Good News - WITHERED HAND
2. Own Side Now - CAITLIN ROSE
3. A Creature I Don't Know - LAURA MARLING
4. The Life Equation - AKIRA THE DON
5. Distraction Pieces - SCROOBIUS PIP

Top 5 films
1. Submarine
2. Attack the Block
3. Animal Kingdom
4. True Grit
5. Another Year 
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Amber Anderson
You may have first seen super-talented actress/model/musician and all-round lovely human-being Amber in the Match.com ads. Since then, she has worked on a number of movies, campaigns and editorials and we predict HUGE things for her in 2012. For now, check out her top albums and films from this year.
 
Top 5 albums (in no particular order) 
Ceremonials - FLORENCE + THE MACHINE 
21 - ADELE 
Suck It and See - ARCTIC MONKEYS 
+ - ED SHEERAN 
The English Riviera - METRONOMY 

Top 5 films (in no particular order) 
The Help 
We Need To Talk About Kevin
The Inbetweeners Movie 
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 
My Week With Marilyn
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Cameras' Fraser Harvey 
Fraser (left in picture) is one-third of Sydney band, Cameras. Here, he tells us a little about the records he has been playing as his band has toured Australia and The States.

Top 5 albums 
1. Blood Pressures – THE KILLS
I instantly loved every song on this record, but I kept liking it for different reasons every time I put it on. Plus, who doesn’t want Alison Mosshart to have her way with them and then sing you The Last Goodbye.
2. The Child EP – THE CHILD
We played a show with these guys in LA, they’re also on Manimal and right from the first song I was enamoured. The ditties sound simple, but underneath there are actually a lot of complexities that will pass you by if you’re not careful. Their drummer Norm recorded and mixed this. Bitchin’.
3. The King Of Limbs – RADIOHEAD
This was so much to swallow when I first heard it. They seem to make every single idea work, all at once – and this album leaves you discovering subtleties well into your 10th listen and beyond. Very few bands achieve this.
4. Let England Shake - PJ HARVEY
C’mon, it’s the Peej so of course it’s going to be good – but this was a particular slice of form. Plus I’m a sucker for some Autoharp.
5. Grinderman 2 – GRINDERMAN  
I know this came out in late 2010, but I only got onto this in 2011, so it’s going on my list. I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy crude lyrics, and there are few better than Mr. Cave in this department. Fuck off Boy & Bear’s record was better than this.
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Clytem Scanning
Our favourite Parisian purveyor of beat-driven electro-pop melodies filled with dark ambiances sent us her top five albums and her top four films. “I couldn't find any 5th film cause I am pretty difficult with recent movies,” she told us.

Top 5 albums;
1. work (work, work) - HTRK
2. W - PLANNINGTOROCK
3. Absence - SNOWMAN
4. Faults - SEEFEEL
5. Wounded Galaxies Tap at the Window - CYCLOBE

Top 4 films
1.We Need To Talk About Kevin
2.The Murderer
3.Triangle
4.Meek's Cutoff 
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Sienna Guillory
As well as filming the new Resident Evil movie and trying to get Stone Roses tickets (she did), Sienna has also become a Mum to twins this year. So she hasn’t had much time to watch new movies or to discover new albums. Here's the five artists she has been most listening to in 2011. 

1. Neutral Milk Hotel 
2. Caveman 
3. Beirut
4. Waters 
5. The XX
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Chicks Who Love Guns' Cass Navarro
Cass (front left in picture) is the frontman for awesome band Chicks Who Love Guns, who have been wowing crowds in Sydney with their high-energy punk amazingness. We reckon that 2012 is going to be a good year for them. Here are Cass' choices for records and moves of the year.


Top 5 Albums (in no particular order)
New Start Again - DICK DIVER
Exmilitary - DEATH GRIPS
Royal Headache - ROYAL HEADACHE
Ugly Animals - RETOX
Smoke Ring For My Halo - KURT VILE

Top 5 Films (in no particular order)
Autoluminescent
Submarine
Drive
The Inbetweeners Movie
Hanna
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Holiday Sidewinder
The Bridezilla frontwoman, solo-artist and long-term friend of Bobbysix.com didn’t have much to offer in terms of her top five lists. However, we very much approve of the one name she gave: “I actually haven’t done much watching or listening of new stuff, so aside from Twerps, I dunno.”
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Larry Heath 

Larry (pictured with Bobby) is the brains (and hours and hours and hours of hard work) behind brilliant website, The AU Review. 

Top 5 albums
1. Gloss Drop - BATTLES
2. Prisoner - THE JEZABELS
3. Simple Math - MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA
4. Don't Say We Didn't Warn You - DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?
5. Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS
 
Top 5 films 
1. Drive
2. Midnight in Paris
3. Harry Potter 7.2
4. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
5. Super 8
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Colin Delaney
Colin is a music, arts, film and travel writer based in Sydney. He is also a fine fellow indeed.

1. BURNING MAN
Jonathan Teplitzky’s latest is inspired by his own experiences of love, loss and the downward spiral it can send a man on. Brit Matthew Goode plays chef Tom who struggles to juggle the various women in his life as it turns inside out from grief. It turns inside out for us too. Between Teplitzky and editor Martin Connor the non-linear storytelling proper fucks with you. The film is as brilliant as it is difficult to discuss without giving away some major plot points. Just go see it and sob like a baby. 
2. BRIDESMAIDS
The girls out-bromanced the bros. If you didn’t like this film I hope you get diarrhoea in your wedding dress.
3. DRIVE
Speaking of bromance… if you’re a guy and you don’t get the whole Ryan Gosling thing yet, watch Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. A merciless prick on a revenge drive through Los Angeles, Gosling remains pretty under pressure, all to a cool yet soulless score by Cliff Martinez and College’s “A Real Hero.” 
4. CAUGHT INSIDE
There may have been a better thriller made this year but this little Australian film, which was like Bra Boys meets Dead Calm as a chartered surf trip turns bad, scores points for the following reasons… 
A) The film could have easily been another schlock teen horror but first time feature director Adam Blaiklock handled his script competently to find the right balance. 
B) Made for just about nothing and filmed on location with a tight cast and crew of less than twenty, it’s an example of putting all your budget on screen. It should be seen by all aspiring filmmakers as fodder of what can be done on a limited budget. 
C) Bon Oxenbould gives what will hopefully be for him a career-turning performance, ala Eric Bana in Chopper, to steer him away from his Nudge (yes, as in Hey Dad!) character. 
D) Unlike every surf-based drama that came before it, Caught Inside doesn’t fall into a cliché trappings of the surf lifestyle. With Blaiklock a surfer, it was something he was all too aware of, both in story and filming techniques… as in, every actor had to be able to surf. 
5. CATFISH
Another film that’s hard to talk about… This documentary about Facebook was certainly more affecting than The Social Network. Scary, sad, funny, we all know someone who thought to quit Facebook over a stalker. It took a lot of balls from the filmmakers to follow through with what they did. I’d have probably just quit Facers and reactivated my Bebo account.

Colin gives notable mentions to: Red State, Snowtown, Midnight in Paris, Hanna and The Tunnel.
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We'd like to thank our industry pals for taking time out of their schedules to tell us what has been floating their boat this year. And thanks to you for voting as well. Be sure to check back in to Bobbysix.com tomorrow for the grand results of our epic End of Year Review. We'll be revealing the overall best album, best song, best gig and best film of 2011. 


Interviews by Bobby Townsend

Exclusive Jim Bob interview for Bobbysix.com

I have a few heroes: the legendary Tom Waits, genius wordsmith/artist Jeffery Lewis, footballing god Bobby Zamora, charity good-egg Sophie Epstone, supercool Jarvis Cocker... the list goes on. One man who would sit towards the very top of that list though, is unquestionably Jim Bob. I first saw him perform as frontman of indie/pop/dance/punk band Carter USM at Brixton Academy in 1993 and have followed his career very closely ever since, through his solo work over the past few years right up to his recent reincarnation as an author. So when the man who I spent my teenage years singing along to in various sweaty venues around the country headed to the small town in which I grew up, I simply had to grab a few words with him.

Eastbourne's Gildredge Park was resplendent in the early evening sunshine as it acted as the setting for our interview. With birds merrily whistling in the background and trees dancing in the breeze, Jim and I talked about writing, about music and about the upcoming Carter gigs, before the affable Londoner headed across the road to the ancient Lamb Inn, where he would perform a 30-minute set to a sold-out room.

Below is the interview, along with a few musical snippets from his acoustic performance (note: you might need to whack the volume up to eleven as it came out a little quiet after the upload to Youtube and I'm too much of a luddite to know how to fix it). If you like what you hear from Jim Bob, you can find out more about all of his current projects by visiting his website.

Interview by Rob Townsend
For more stuff like this, follow Bobbysix at Facebook. Also, you can read my review of the gig here, and check out my previous interviews with Jim Bob here and here.
 

Jim Bob and Isy Suttie at The Lamb Inn, Eastbourne

Eastbourne, in the South of England, is not known for much other than being the place where blue-rinsed octogenarians tan their leathered skin on pebbled beaches. It has never been 'on the circuit', as it were, so Jo Neary, the organiser and compere of the relatively new That Comedy Thing, deserves the mother of all pats on the back for the volume of talented, well-known individuals that her night draws to the the town. With the likes of Robin Ince and Josie Long already having graced the stage of the ancient Lamb Inn, yesterday saw arguably the best line-up yet, with Jim Bob and Isy Suttie doing their thing.

The first time that this particular reviewer saw Jim Bob (above) was in 1993 when he was playing at the Brixton Academy, as one half of indie-pop-punk-electro duo Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine. Nowadays, Jim Bob is a solo-artist and author and seems as happy playing intimate, sit-down gigs such as this as he is belting out the hits to the masses (he'll be back at the Brixton Academy in November, Carter fans).

It must be a tough gig, being the musical entertainment on a comedy night. The audience, primarily, are there to laugh, so it is just as well that Jim's wordplay was witty as hell and he offered a wry turn of phrase as he performed a half-hour acoustic set. After the opening cover of Mr Blue Sky, we were treated to a ditty about the Tesco riots - which he would go on to deconstruct in a Stewart Lee-esque manner, explaining the song's three jokes and why they were funny. Other highlights were a song about a swearing food technology teacher and a cynical take on The Wheels On The Bus. He also occasionally dipped into his "emergency set-list", much to the joy of the Carter fans in the room. Glam Rock Cops and The Only Living Boy In New Cross, rather than sounding as though they were being played out of obligation, were delivered - to steal a line from one of those songs - with utter comfort and joy. It was as though Jim was introducing two of his oldest and dearest mates to a largely uninitiated audience. The fact that, a couple of decades after they were written, they still had resonance and sounded exciting, bodes well for the Carter reunion gigs later in the year. Also, the inclusion of some new material left fans excited about the possibility of a new release somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

After an interval in which Jim chatted with fans at the bar, it was time for the headliner. Isy Suttie (above) used her 45-minutes in Eastbourne as a warm-up and sounding board before she takes her show to the Edinburgh Festival. Combining stand-up and song, Isy's performance was themed around a strange love story between two characters called Pearl and Dave (which Isy alluded to when she chatted to Bobbysix.com recently).

Being a work in progress, there were plenty of rough edges to Suttie's set. Indeed, much of it existed in the form of scribbled notes, yet there was something rather appealing about seeing her vision in the process of coming together. It was almost as though, through the feedback that bounced off the audience, the show was being formed before our eyes - as though we were part of something tangible, something fluid. Despite its embryonic nature, the set was still great. The best thing about Isy Suttie is that she doesn't rattle off jokes, but rather weaves genuinely funny truths into her songs and stand-up. Like Jim Bob before her, she is quite the wordsmith, and, as she dealt with the differences between dating pre and post internet, her observations were perfectly judged.

Perhaps the biggest compliment to pay Isy Suttie would be to say that her songs are as emotive as they are funny. She isn't just a stand-up who can sing a bit, but rather a genuinely talented songwriter, and, in fact, her best song of the evening worked because of its sentiment rather than because of the gags within. "Make sure you're sure the one you love is the last one that you'll ever love before you listen to Tom Waits with them," she sang in resignation, while everybody in the room who ever had a song or artist tainted by the memory of a former lover nodded in agreement. In a night of chuckles and guffaws, it was a wonderful moment of genuine depth and touching sincerity. And, besides, anyone who references Tom Waits in a song is okay by us.

At the end of her turn, Suttie offered her gratitude to the audience for their patience during what was a useful run-through for her. Her humility was hardly necessary. Sure, the show may have been a work in progress, but it was still nuanced, honest and funny with a solid and interesting narrative. Anyone who sees this show once she has crossed the t's and dotted the i's is surely in for a treat. As for the future beyond Edinburgh, we would simply love to hear Isy Suttie pen an album. After all, she proved tonight beyond any doubt that she has the musical ability and lyrical nouse to produce something really rather special.

Words and pictures by Rob Townsend

If you want more of this kind of awesomeness heading to the South Coast of England, then you need to support nights like this. Next up is the return of Josie Long on the 21st June. Book at Oxboffice.com or find out more by dropping an email to thatcomedything@gmail.com. Also, Follow Bobbysix at Facebook for news of an exclusive video interview with Jim Bob and footage from this gig, coming soon.

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine - GI Blues

If, in 1992, you'd have told me that Jim Bob from Carter USM would one day play a gig in my local pub, I'd have probably pooed myself with excitement. But, in 2011, it is indeed happening. So, if you happen to be in the South East of England, then you'd be a flipping idiot not to get yourself to Eastbourne's Lamb Inn on Tuesday 7th June, when BobbySix's all-time hero straps on an acoustic guitar and provides the musical entertainment for That Comedy Thing, as part of a bill which also includes Isy Suttie from Peep Show.

There are full interviews with both Jim Bob and Isy coming up at BobbySix.com over the next few weeks but, for now, let's wind back the clock for a bit of old school Carter genius.

Words by Carter fan Rob Townsend (who used to sport that same haircut).

Happy New Year!

So, another year comes and goes. Last year, I spent New Year's Eve at a rooftop party in Sydney, watching fireworks explode all over the city. This year, I am in a freezing cold and sleepy town in the UK. Twixt the two dates, I have been to Melbourne, London, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Mumbai, Brighton and Bangalore. I have seen some amazing gigs, listened to some cracking albums and dropped some sick tunes with my lovely companion DJ Meowcat in various venues around Sydney.

During the last year, BobbySix.com has continued to grow to the extent that its little ol' founder - me - could no longer cope on his own and so enlisted a small but perfectly formed team of writers. Over the next year I hope BobbySix.com will continue to grow, the website will become a much more all-singing, all-dancing affair and that we will continue to branch out further into the world of arts/fashion/events. We've already made a start, and have evolved from a blog in which I pretty much exclusively wrote about fairly well-known international groups into a blog that also gives a platform to all manner of lesser-known bands, as well as featuring writers, models and artists and other creative types. 

Anyway, thanks for your wonderful support over the year. Here are a few of my personal highlights that didn't quite fit into the recently-posted End of Year Review.

Obviously, my trips with Smirnoff have already been pretty well documented, but there can be no denying that these made up some of my best memories of the year, Meeting so many amazing, artistic people and experiencing incredible things - everything from watching fireworks explode over Bangkok (pictured at the top) from the 74th story of a hotel to waking through poverty-ridden yet inspiringly upbeat Soweto (above) - has been something I will never forget.

In terms of interviews, my highlights from this year include talking to my hero Jim Bob, the simply fabulous model Eliza Sys and drummer Steven Nistor. I have conducted lots of interviews over the last few years and it is only occasionally that people really open up and talk with total honesty. I feel these three people did this brilliantly. Here are some snippets.

Jim Bob
"I don't know how to deal with new music anymore. I will no doubt change my mind but at the moment I have no desire to make, or rather sell, any new music." (full interview...)

Eliza Sys 

"I started modelling because I was a complete mess. I had so many complexes, I was extremely shy and almost afraid of new people. When I was scouted I saw it as the only shot I had to change the way I saw myself. Maybe getting something positive out of the fact I looked like a weirdo could help me to grow stronger and care less." (full interview...)

Steven Nistor
"Mark [Linkous] was a really sweet guy. He had a vicious sense of humor. But you could tell he was in a lot of pain, emotionally."(full interview...)

The other main highlight of the year for me came away from the blog. The launch of Surry Hills-based vintage store/event space Dear Pluto (below) proved to be the culmination of a couple of years' really hard work and creativity from the wonderful Emma Daniels. I am massively proud of her achievement and remain grateful to be a part of this project. If you live in Sydney and have yet to check the place out, then sort your life out and pay Emma a visit. You can pick yourself up some sweet threads for next to nothing. Or, if you're a band/artist/photographer/filmmaker and need a space to exhibit your work/show your film, then Dear Pluto is the place for you. Check out the facebook page for all the deets.

So, anyhoo. I reckon 2011 is going to be a cracker. Whatever it brings, here at BobbySix.com we will be sure to let you know about it. We'll tell you who you should be listening to/looking at/reading/watching/drooling over. Maybe we'll tell you what you should be wearing and where you should be going. Feel free to disagree with us. You'll be wrong to, of course, but, you know, it's up to you.

Remember in 2011, be nice, be kind, be helpful, be tolerent and have manners. If you can manage all that then you're a friend of ours. Happy New Year!

Words by Rob Townsend

Jim Bob - Storage Stories

Where do old pop stars go to die? Well, if they are the protagonist of Jim Bob's debut novel, they go to work in self-storage, where they meet interesting people and fall in love with women who look like French movie star Juliette Binoche. They meet others who look like weirdly bearded paedophiles. Should the opportunity arise, they are not adverse to having sex with a widow in a pub toilet while their thirteen-year-old son plays pub games in the bar with a bubblewrap fetishist.

A fictional autobiography told in short stories and pictures, Storage Stories is laugh-out-loud funny, gripping and often rather touching. Anyone familiar with the lyrics of the former Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine singer will recognise the lovely rhythm and flow to his words. As with his Carter lyrics, here Jim finds beauty, comedy, sadness and absurdity in the everyday things that would go unnoticed by most amid a world that has long-since gone to the dogs. As Jim Bob combines darkness with the wonderfully witty and surreal, he gives a strange sense of doomed romance to an otherwise mundane, miserable and menacing England.

Storage Stories is unputdownable in a Nick Hornby kind of way. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to go back to the beginning and start all over again.

You can purchase Storage Stories here.

Want to know more about Jim Bob? Read my interview here.

Latitude 2010 - Who To See

Up here at Bobby Six Towers the festival of choice is Latitude. You can forget your Healing Fields of Glastonbury or your drunk 15-year-olds making fires out of plastic cups at Reading, it's all about strolling through the beautiful Suffolk countryside, taking in some fine bands and enjoying the chilled out (if slightly middle-class) atmos.

Last year, we even took to the stage with out friends The Late Greats to sing an acoustic version of - wait for it - Gangsta's Paradise. Highlight of the year? Try highlight of our lives.

So, if you are heading to this weekend's Latitude, here are a few tips of who to see.

Thursday

About three years ago, BobbySix.com was in the back room of a Kings Cross hotel (don't worry, this story isn't going in the direction it's threatening to) sitting cross-legged on the floor with about 100 other people watching an impromptu performance by Nigel Kennedy. It was mind-blowingly good (below).
He will be in slightly prettier surroundings on Thursday evening, and if you want your festival to get off to a magical start, then you'd be wise to pour yourself a mug of goon and find a nice spot to watch him do his thing.

Friday

If infectious indie-disco is your bag, then Hockey are sure to get you dancing, at least, they certainly had such an effect on the crowd at this year's Laneway Festival in Sydney. The Sunrise Arena sees turns from Girls and Tokyo Police Club, while old friends of BobbySix.com, Angus & Julia Stone bring their beautiful folk to the Word Arena. If their previous Latitude appearance (below) is anything to go by, they'll win plenty of hearts.

Later on the same stage, check out Richard Hawley before trying to catch some of both main headliners, The National and the lung-busting presence of Florence and The Machine.

The must see act of Friday though is surely the wonderful Laura Marling. While her poetic, bleak folk would surely be better suited to a smaller stage than the Obelisk Arena, her set will surely be one of the highlights of the festival.

Saturday

Will Paul Heaton be worth a look? Only one way to find out really (update: check the comments section at the end of this post!). Weirdy distopian folkster Lupen Crook should be an early treat worth making the effort to see too. Elsewhere, Josie Long will be bringing the laughs to the comedy tent and Paul Greengrass is A-ing the Q's in the Film and Music Arena.

Someone it is unquestionably worth paying attention to on Saturday evening is David Ford. Having played a secret show by the river last year (above), this time round he'll be on the Word Stage. Don't miss his set. In fact, you'd be wise to stay in the Word Tent for the rest of the day, as Noah and The Whale, The Horrors and The XX all follow Ford's show. Otherwise, the cardiganned tweeness of Belle and Sebastian will probably be lovely, or there is always the visceral Archie Bronson Outfit in the Sunrise Arena.

Sunday

More than likely having played backing band to Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons will be on the same stage on Sunday, with their pleasant enough country folk. Meanwhile, Midlake will hope their sound isn't dogged by the same muddiness that they encountered at Latitude in 2007. After them, Melbourne's The Temper Trap (below - another band long-since championed at BobbySix.com) show how their popularity has soared since last year's triumphant showing on the Word Stage, with a slot at the back end of the day in the Obelisk Arena.

On the Sunrise Stage, These New Puritans simply have to be seen. Their ambitious album, Hidden, still sits atop the BobbySix album of the year poll for 2010. My Bloody Valentine-inspired The Pains of Being Pure at Heart might be worth a look too. If you need a break from the music, then check out the incredibly funny Richard Herring in the Comedy Tent and hear Jim Bob read from his new book in the Literary Arena.

For those of us that think headliners Vampire Weekend are at least twice as shit as everyone else seems to, then its a no-brainer to choose Grizzly Bear instead, and before them sees the very welcome return of The Coral and the exciting inclusion of a set by Charlotte Gainsbourg.

If you head slightly off the beaten trail, you're sure to find loads more diverse and interesting stuff to see and do as well. It promises to be a great one. Send your photos and reviews to info@bobbysix.com

Jim Bob interview

"I don't know how to deal with new music anymore. I will no doubt change my mind but at the moment I have no desire to make, or rather sell, any new music."

In the 90s, James Robert Morrison - Jim Bob - was the spaghetti-haired singer of South London indie/punk/dance band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. After the duo became a trio and eventually a six-oh, they called it a day in 1997. Since then, he has continued with various solo projects, while sometimes getting back together with his old bandmate Fruitbat for the occasional reunion gig. With the release of his first novel, Storage Stories, this month, it seems the singer is destined to walk a new career path.

"When I was doing the final proof reading of Storage Stories I felt so good about the way the book had turned out that I wanted to write another one. I wanted to be an author. Around the same time I'd written a couple of new songs. It felt satisfying to be able to do that but then I thought, 'What do I do with these songs? Write more and make another album that nobody buys?' I'm sure there'll be another Jim Bob album but I need to find my mojo again. Whatever a mojo is."

Anyone familiar with the clever wordplay that Jim Bob employed in his Carter lyrics will hardly be surprised that he has made the step from lyricist to novelist. Whether dealing angrily with political issues or singing melancholic love songs, he had the ability to consistently combine a wry wit with genuinely touching emotion. However, while admitting he has always wanted to write a book, he says that he used to find it annoying when people told him so. "I always thought what they really meant was that I should stop writing songs."

While Storage Stories is Jim Bob's debut novel, it is not his first book. A few years back, he brought out Good Night Jim Bob, the story of his life in Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, from the early days of catching buses to their own gigs, through the Smash Hits drama, the number one album and then being shat out the other side of a music business that seemed desperate to sweep them under the carpet. "Fruitbat said recently that Good Night Jim Bob was pretty much a work of fiction anyway, so I'd had the practice. I wouldn't say the Carter book was easy but I did have the story already and just had to find a way of putting it in some readable entertaining order. I think the only way I've managed to write a complete novel is by finding a way of splitting it up into smaller parts. The way Storage Stories goes off at tangents and has short stories contained within the bigger story, that's my way of managing to write something of full length. I've tried before, but I've found it hard to write a straightforward novel in the more conventional way. I wrote a novel in the way I'd write a concept album, split up into individual songs/stories."

While writing the novel, the Londoner had to split his time between being Jim Bob the solo artist, Jim Bob the Carter singer and Jim Bob the author. Over the past three years, Carter have played sold out shows at, amongst other grand venues, The Brixton Academy, while Jim has also written and toured a solo album, Goffam. He admits it's been hard to balance his time between these three distinct creative projects. "Anyone who's ever worked with me in a managerial way has found it difficult; the way I can't stick at one thing for a decent length of time. I do tend to get quite bored with something once it's out in the open and I want to move on to something else. I know I'll always be Jim Bob the singer with Carter, no matter what it is I'm doing at the time. I'm not complaining about that by the way. I find the best way is to mix things up a bit; write a novel, then go on tour and play some solo songs and Carter classics whilst reading from the novel. Apparently multi tasking is good for the brain. I think it was Doctor Kawashima on Nintendo DS Brain Training who taught me that."

And so it's not surprising that Jim's book promotion takes on a suitably multi-tasking dynamic. Before performing on the literary stages of festivals and doing some readings in bookshops, he'll be taking his book and his trusty old acoustic guitar on the road for a nationwide tour. "The plan is that I'll read about three chunks from the book interspersed with a load of everybody's favourite songs. There are a lot of illustrations in the book, so I'm going to have a projector and screen to show them on when I'm reading. I'll have a little remote control. It's going to be like a Powerpoint Presentation. Whatever they are."

So, if you see a familiar face at a motorway service station in May, then, yes, it might well be the man who used to wear shorts and stomp around the stage at a university venue near you a couple of decades ago. While his live show has changed, the way he gets from venue to venue is just like the old days. "The way I tour now – three men in a car – is the same way Carter started out touring. And that is my fondest remembered period of Carter touring. I still like a lot of the same things about it, which tends to be stopping at service stations and buying crisps and getting more crisps out of the vending machine in the hotel after the gig. It's all about the crisps mainly."

And so, once the songs are sung, the chapters are read and the crisps are eaten, what's next? While there doesn't seem to be the fire in his belly for selling any new Jim Bob music, one wonders whether the overwhelming success of the Carter comeback gigs would ever make him consider recording some new material with Fruitbat, or if that would be too much of a regression? "I'm not really sure what Carter should sound like today," he shrugs. "If we recorded something new, it might end up sounding like a pastiche of a Carter song. The live shows have been so successful and haven't dirtied the name of Carter. I'd hate to record something new that nobody was interested in or wasn't actually very good. One of the reasons the recent Carter shows have been so amazing is because we're playing those classic songs. I fear it wouldn't be so good with a load of new material."

I ask Jim how he thinks Carter would get on now, if they were a couple of lads just starting out in the business. With music being more accessible thanks to the internet, but with record companies struggling, would a 2010 Carter do better or worse than the Carter of the late 80s and 90s? "I think things were maybe more fun when Carter first started. You didn't need to worry about career plans and brands and business models and all that nonsense. We always had a feeling that it was us and our audience against the world. I doubt you could do that now. It would have to be us and our audience plus Tom from Myspace and various Facebook groups against the world sponsored by Topman or Levi's."

While Jim's love of music is still strong (his current favourites include Laura Marling, The Eels, Fionn Regan and Adam Green), his future does seem to be with the written word rather than the sung verse. "I've got the beginnings of a second novel, which I'd like to sit down and write properly," he confirms. "See if I'm a writer or just a bloke who's written a book."

For more information on Storage Stories and how to order, follow this link.

For Jim Bob's upcoming UK tour dates, click here.