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INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

Courtney Act: “I have no ownership over Drag Race, I am just a complete fan”

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Much has happened since Courtney Act came to International prominence on Australian Idol in 2003. She was a runner-up on RuPaul’s Drag Race just four years ago, and we recently saw her and her alter-ego Shane Jenek win Celebrity Big Brother UK.

Courtney was back in the UK last month with her Under The Covers show – a 75 minute, fully seated performance of music, style, gender defining beauty and personality. Hell, there was even a Björk cover. Well, a cover of a Björk cover.

Growing up in Australia, Courtney was up until recently living in Los Angeles and has spent the last few years touring North America, the UK & Europe, Brazil, Australia & Asia in the wake of being top 3 on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
 Her current home is London, which is handy considering she’ll be gracing the stage at London’s Trafalgar Square for Pride in London next month.

Courtney Act is a Prius driving, vegan, pansexual, polyamorous, genderfluid, Burner hippy child who is passionate about human rights, the environment and Justin Bieber whom she one day hopes to marry. She was once voted as one of FHM’s Top 100 Sexiest Women in the world (despite not actually being a woman), Fader Magazine’s ‘Ten People To Watch’, and Mr Tiny Tot 1987. She also has a webbed toe.

I caught up with Courtney in her London hotel room to talk more.

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FILM & TVINTERVIEWS

Andrew Haigh: “It’s a film about a horse, but it’s not a sentimental Disney version of that story”

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Boys On Film aka Phil Marriott and Raj Rudolph spoke to acclaimed director Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Looking, Weekend) about his new movie, Lean On Pete – a British drama film written and directed by Andrew Haigh, based on the novel of the same name by Willy Vlautin.

Lean On Pete stars Charlie Plummer, Chloë Sevigny, Travis Fimmel and Steve Buscemi, and follows a 15-year-old boy who begins to work at a stable and befriends an ailing racehorse.

Watch the trailer for Andrew Haigh’s Lean On Pete movie below.

Andrew Haigh (Writer, Director) has directed four features, including his latest, Lean On Pete. His previous film, 45 Years, premiered at Berlinale 2015 where it won Silver Bears for the lead performances of Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. It went on to win a number of international awards and received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress for Charlotte Rampling.

His second feature Weekend premiered at SXSW in 2011, where it won the Emerging Visions Audience Award. He was also the Executive Producer and lead writer/director on the HBO show Looking including the finale television movie broadcast in 2015.

 Lean On Me is showing in selected cinemas and available to view on demand here. You can also order the Blu Ray on the link below.

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INTERVIEWSMUSIC

Aurora: “I love sensuality in a subtle way. My next single is quite primal”

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Singer-songwriter Aurora received widespread critical acclaim for her confident debut album All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend when it was released in 2015.

Just after its release, I met this intriguing Norwegian artist for the first time, and I found her completely beguiling.

Two years on I got the chance to meet up with Aurora once more, this time to chat about her new track, ‘Queendom’ – the first taster of her anticipated, and as yet untitled, sophomore release.

 ‘Queendom’ by Aurora is out now. Buy here.

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INTERVIEWSMUSIC

Kim Wilde: “There’s a very surreal quality to everything that’s going on”

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I’ve never forgiven Shakin’ Stevens for stopping Kim Wilde from claiming a UK number one with ‘Kids In America’ back in 1981. Kim cares less. She’s just released what she enthusiastically calls her favourite album of her near-40-year career.

You might think Kim’s 14th studio album Here Come The Aliens is a deliberately dramatic work of escapism, especially after seeing the striking B movie style artwork (painted by Kim’s niece, Scarlett); but it is actually part-inspired by – brace yourself – real events.

The album title is a nod to a real-life Close Encounter that occurred in Kim’s back garden in 2009 when she ‘spotted a UFO’ with her husband. She now believes aliens are keeping an eye on us because we don’t treat each other well. I met up with Kim in a London recording studio to chat about the new album and build a huge mashed potato mountain.

“My life has taken on quite a surreal quality these days, and I really like it like that,” Kim told me.

“There is this sort of parallel world that I feel I’m inhabiting since I saw the aliens and the lights in the sky. All these crazy things that have happened to me. I do feel like I’m living in multiple existences a lot of the time!”

It’s quite a beautiful moment catching Kim’s twinkle in her eye as she laughs about the absurdity of alien encounters. Back in the heady days of the ’80s, Kim would sometimes be accused of not smiling in photos or in TV appearances by journalists and TV presenters not getting her sultry demeanour, when in reality she would laugh often. You don’t need to see a YouTube video of her busking on a train, tipsy, to appreciate that she’s a tonic within the music industry. Much like I don’t need her to tell me she’s a ‘glass half-full kind of gal’, but she does. And I love that.

“It makes more sense when you live life in different dimensions, well, in your head anyway,” Kim explained.

“Somehow, the craziness of life is palatable. You need to have lots of different parts of you to take it all in. I don’t even know if I’m making any sense anymore. I’ve definitely lost it, haven’t I?”

There’s that twinkle again.

Kim Wilde Here Come The Aliens artwork

When she walked in to the famous RAK Studios last year to begin recording Here Come The Aliens (her first new album of original material to have a UK release since 1992), Kim felt instantly at home. Not only because RAK was where, in 1981, she recorded ‘Kids In America’ and ‘Chequered Love’, the seminal singles that made her famous at the age of 21, but because making music is what Kim has always done.

Of course, Kim Wilde is world-famous for her early ’80s success, but so much has happened since ‘Kids In America’, ‘View From A Bridge’, and – my favourite – ‘Cambodia’. Kim went on to support Michael Jackson on the European leg of his Bad tour in 1988, playing to over 2 million people over 5 months. She then supported David Bowie across Europe on his 1990 Greatest Hits stadium tour. Kim Wilde 1981Proud of her past, but focussed on the future, Kim has never stopped singing or selling out tours – she has played more shows in the past decade than ever before, finding fans in countries she never dreamed she’d visit and turning new generations on to her songs.

“The passion for it hasn’t gone anywhere,” Kim enthused. “It might have gone on vacation for a while or just had a little time out, especially when I got married and had children and got into horticulture. But now it’s back with a vengeance. There’s a very surreal quality to everything that’s going on right now for me.

“This is a time in my life when I never thought an album like this was possible,” Kim says. “I’m only a few years away from being sixty, it’s crazy! It’s mad to get this excited about hearing my record on the radio again.

“If you’d said to a twenty year-old ‘Kids In America’ Kim that I would release one of my finest albums at the age of almost sixty, I would never have believed it in a million years!”

Here Come The Aliens tour dates:

March 2018
30th Ipswich Regent Theatre
31st Southend Cliffs Pavilion

April 2018
2nd Glasgow Old Fruit Market
4th Bath The Forum
5th Torquay Princess Theatre
6th Yeovil Westlands
7th Bournemouth The Pavilion Theatre
11th Wrexham William Aston Hall
12th Preston The Guildhall
13th Sheffield Plug 15th York Barbican
16th Gateshead The Sage
19th Halifax The Victoria Theatre
20th Buxton Opera House
21st Birmingham Town Hall
22nd Salisbury City Hall
24th Hastings The White Rock Theatre
26th London Koko
30th Salford The Lowry

Ticket info   ● Marriott Meets Kim Wilde is broadcast on Gaydio this Sunday from 11am | Kim plays Back To The ’80s cruise this May

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FILM & TVINTERVIEWS

EXCLUSIVE: Director Craig Gillespie & Writer Steven Rogers on I, Tonya

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I, Tonya follows the life of figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the 1994 attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan.

At the 90th Academy Awards, the film won Best Supporting Actress for Allison Janney (who plays Tonya Harding’s mother), and was nominated for Best Actress for Margot Robbie and Best Editing. It earned three nominations at the 75th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Supporting Actress for Janney.

Prior to the Oscar’s, I met up with the movie’s director Craig Gillespie and writer Steven Rogers to chat about the success of their movie.

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INTERVIEWSMUSIC

Tracey Thorn: “It’s all very well having post-punk records, but you need to dance!”

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On the week that the nation has been plunged into the big freeze, and on the eve of the release of Tracey Thorn’s new album, we could be forgiven for thinking that Christmas has come again too soon.

But this new collection of songs is not a festive assortment from the Everything But The Girl vocalist (unlike her last album, 2012’s Tinsel and Lights), this is her first solo album of entirely original material since 2010’s Love and Its Opposite.

Record is a joyously vibrant affair, much like its launch party at London’s Duckie recently, which saw regular host and Night Czar Amy Lame holding a Q&A with Tracey onstage, before the singer played some of her favourite songs alongside the Saturday nighter’s DJ duo Readers Wifes.

Still buzzing from both the album party and repeated upfront listens of the album, I met up with Tracey to talk about this anticipated release.

“I really wanted to make an upbeat album,” Tracey enthused. “Part of what motivated me to start making it was that I was feeling a bit depressed following the rolling news on Twitter, the world in general, events around the world, political stuff.

“I started to think that I could either do my nut about it, or I could be creative; which in itself is an act of positivity because you’re bringing something into the world. So I thought, I want to express some of this, and I want it to be in a format that itself is uplifting. I wanted it to be fun to listen to, and fun to make.”

It’s often good to end up on the dancefloor, and that’s exactly where Record closes. It’s a snappy album in many ways: it clocks in at 36 minutes when many other modern albums are baggy and loaded with unnecessary padding. Record is all killer no filler. All the songs have one word in the title. It could almost be a nod to Pet Shop Boys. But more about them later.

4. Tracey Thorn 'Record' Sleeve
“There’s a deliberate minimalism to it all,” Tracey explained. “I like things that don’t outstay their welcome, and I do find that a lot of records nowadays are too long, ever since we got the capacity for albums to be any length you like. A lot of people seem to think that not having that limit makes something better. But there is still part of me that would rather have ten stone-cold classics than a lot of filler.

“The titles often sum up the theme of the song so you can almost chart your way through the record just by looking at the titles. Once you know the song, it tells a little story just in one word.”


Tracey launched her DJ set after Saturday night’s Q&A with Joyce Simms’ brilliant 1987 hit, ‘Come Into My Life’.

“It’s one of those songs that become part of your reportoire in your mind of things that you remember dancing to,” Tracey said. “Don’t forget I grew up in that era of punk and going to gigs. There were lots of parties at people’s houses, and I do remember those moments when you’d get to the part of the evening when you just wanted to dance. It’s all very well having post-punk records, but you need to dance!

“People always used to say that punk was very anti-disco, and there were these very diametrically opposed styles of music, but actually – as I remember it – everyone was a bit more open minded because you needed things to dance to.”

On her latest album, Tracey is once again back with Ewan Pearson who produced her previous three solo albums. On evidence of Record, it’s a working relationship that most definitely warrants a retread; and after hearing the album at its playback party, it also sounds terrific on a loud speaker system.

Tracey agrees.

“I sent Ewan a text saying: I’m sitting in the Royal Vauxhall Tavern listening to our album over the speakers and it sounds brilliant!

“I felt like in the past I hadn’t completely made use of the fact that Ewan is a remixer and a DJ, and he knows exactly how to make something sound brilliant in a club on big speakers in that kind of room.”

‘Sister’ – the album’s brooding and thought-provoking 9-minute epic (which features Corinne Bailey Rae) is a timely acknowledgment of female power, something which Tracey is all too familiar with both in her music and her written pieces for New Statesman.

“It’s interesting because I wrote it just over a year ago,” Tracey remembers. “But I wrote it after I’d come in from being on the women’s march in London. Marches around the world were being organised in the wake of Trump’s election and the things that had been said during the campaign.

“And when you think about it, even back then women were already angry and feeling under threat again. So I came back from that march actually feeling quite inspired having seen that many people together, having felt that support you get when you are with a lot of other people who feel the same. So that’s what inspired the song.

“I hope that ‘Sister’ is understood when people hear it. I hope people get the message. And here it is – a year later – where we are slap bang in the middle of this discussion where it’s got even bigger and has broken out in all sorts of other areas. So I’m really pleased to feel that I’m contributing to the conversation.

“I feel like women are saying what they’ve been saying for a long time, but if people are listening and if something is changing because of it, then that feels like a good thing.”

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So. Pet Shop Boys. It’s odd to think that Tracey Thorn has never collaborated with Neil and Chris. Just imagine how amazing it would sound.

“I’ve always joked about that,” Tracey laughs. “On stage at the Vauxhall Tavern I even did the ‘call me’ hand gestures. Someone took a photo of me doing it, so I might just post that to Neil with a caption!

There’s a brilliant line in Record‘s closing song, ‘Dancefloor’: “Where I like to be / Is on the dancefloor with some drinks inside of me.”

“What’s your tipple?” I ask.

“A martini’s always nice,” she laughs. But you can’t always get a good martini. A martini and a dancefloor. That’s the dream club really, isn’t it.”

• Record is out now

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INTERVIEWS

Marriott Meets: Best Of The Guest INTERVIEWS 2017 featuring Bananarama

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2017 was a phenomenal year for Marriott Meets – a regular weekly interview feature on my YouTube channel.

The last twelve months were dominated by performers that had huge success back in the eighties, a time when they began nurturing their talent. These are entertainers that are still going strong today, with projects that sometimes see them moving the goalposts and creating original material that hasn’t been done so far in their timeline of work.

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Alison Moyet ‘Other’ 2017

My personal favourite album of 2017 was Other by Alison Moyet. This atmospheric and hugely poetic piece saw the one-time Yazoo singer once again collaborate with producer Guy Sigsworth.




The news of Bananarama’s original line-up reunion tour was greeted with screams of excitement when – back in April – Keren, Sara and Siobhan announced that they were heading out on the road to play their biggest hits, nearly 30 years after their split. I met up with the three girls in September to get the details.

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Phil Marriott meets Bananarama aka Keren Woodward, Siobhan Fahey and Sara Dallin. September 2017.

The most watched video on my YouTube channel is my interview with RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio. Back in September I met Bianca aka Roy Haylock to talk about his Blame It On Bianca Del Rio tour, which comes to the UK later this year.

Debbie Ryan and Phil Marriott meet Beth Ditto. April 2017.

I’ve met the hilariously engaging Beth Ditto a couple of times, so I was so happy to be hooking up with her again, this time alongside my good friend and former GaydarRadio colleague Debbie Ryan (who was equally passionate about the prospect of meeting up with the one-time Gossip singer).

Beth spoke about her excellent album Fake Sugar, but also her appearance in Gus Van Sant’s forthcoming drama/biopic Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot.

I’ve been a fan of Depeche Mode since I bought their debut album Speak For Yourself back in 1981. They remain one of my all-time favourite bands, but of course they don’t sound anything like they did back in the early eighties.



Over the course of 30 odd years, I’ve enjoyed seeing and hearing them evolve. Thanks to my good friend Phil (who also happens to be Dave Gahan’s younger brother), I got the chance to meet Dave at a London hotel back in March to talk about the band’s 14th studio album, Spirit.

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Phil Marriott meets Dave Gahan. March 2017.

It was stirring to see Gary Numan receive such positive feedback for his 18th solo album, Savage: Songs From A Broken World last year. It was also moving to see Gary working with his 12-year old daughter Persia, who fully embraced the opportunity to sing backing vocals on new song, ‘My Name Is Ruin’, and also join her dad on stage to perform the track.

I was lucky enough to attend Marc Almond’s Shadows and Reflections album launch at The Cuckoo Club back in September. Marc was joined by pianist Martin Watkins, who has also previously worked with Maggie K de Monde from Scarlet Fantastic. It was a fleeting 30-minute set (unlike his Royal Festival Hall show, which clocked in at over two hours). The week before this rousing show, I grabbed the opportunity to talk to Marc about the album as well as his fondness for Siouxsie Sioux, with whom he worked with on his track, ‘Threat Of Love’.

2017 was a great year, then. I’d like to offer my thanks and gratitude to you if you’ve watched or listened to anything I’ve created over the last twelve months. 2018 is shaping up to be a very exciting year for me and the work I’m doing on this site, so come back soon!

● Watch the Marriott Meets: Best Of The Guests highlights video below, and subscribe to my channel for updates on forthcoming interviews.

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INTERVIEWSMUSIC

Carol Decker: “I don’t have the thick skin that everybody thinks I have”

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T’pau arrived on the music scene in 1987 with ‘Heart And Soul’ reaching No. 4 in both the UK & US charts.

Taken from the debut album Bridge Of Spies, the infectious song introduced the world to Carol Decker’s distinctive vocals.

‘Heart And Soul’ left its mark on the music scene from the late eighties, so much so that the song was used in ‘San Junipero’ – the most memorable and poignant episode of the last season of Black Mirror.

‘Heart And Soul’ stayed on the US billboard chart for 6 months. After a UK arena tour supporting Bryan Adams, the band immediately toured the biggest venues in the UK as headliners to tie in with the next single, the classic ballad ‘China In Your Hand’.



‘China In Your Hand’ stayed at No. 1 for 5 weeks – the longest serving No. 1 of the year. It’s an ambitious piece of music, largely for the fact it’s quite possibly not the easiest song to sing.

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When I met up with Carol, I asked her if she realised at the time of writing ‘China’ – with its challenging structure of serious note-holding – that it would become a chorus of combat.

“It’s quite difficult to sing, but when I wrote it I was twenty five!”, Carol laughs. “I’m still getting away with it at the age of sixty, so I am told, but it requires a little more effort.”

T'pau

Last month saw T’Pau celebrating their 30th anniversary of ‘China In Your Hand’ reaching No.1 on the UK singles chart, and despite there being some happy memories of a triumphant time spent working in the music industry, there have also been some unhappy moments, which have been reflected on in detail in Carol’s autobiography, Heart And Soul. Personal ill-health, a marriage breakdown and family bereavement have affected Carol’s music making, and her band have only released five albums since they started out.




“I think it’s disappointing and remiss of me,” Carol says. “The only explanation I can offer is that I did go through some down times when Ronnie (Rogers, T’Pau’s co-founder, and Carol’s ex) and I broke up, and my dad died. It was hard. I didn’t know what to do with myself. My career had gone down the toilet, and so had my relationship, which I treasured.”

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T’Pau ‘Red’

“I was quite depressed for quite a few years,” Carol says. “I didn’t do much at all until about 1997 when I met industry executive Will Ashurst, who now looks after some loser called Ed Sheeran. Apparently he’s ginger as well. Maybe he’ll get somewhere!”

I’ve not heard of him either.

“Will started managing me,” Carol continues. “He introduced me to one of his best friends, Richard, who is now my husband; we had two children, and my whole life just picked up on other levels.”

“I tried to write songs where I would put my head above the parapet, like I did with the album Red, and it got slaughtered in the music press, so I just retreated again. I’ve not got the thick skin that everybody thinks I have. There is a massive difference between bravado and confidence.”

Carol Decker will be performing with Kim Wilde, Toyah and Lawnmower Deth at the Wilde Wild Xmas Show at O2 Ritz, Manchester on 22 Dec. UPDATE: Carol will now NOT be performing on the Back To The 80’s cruise, as mentioned in the video below. Did you miss my interview with Bananarama

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