Plants

How long have you been vegan?

I have been vegan for around two and a half years.

What’s the most important reason for you to be vegan?

Initially, I was motivated by environmental reasons but as I’ve learnt more about the meat/dairy industries over the past couple of years I would say that my most important reason is to avoid harming & exploiting animals.

What are some of your main musical influences?

I’m influenced by a wide range of music – some of my favourite artists include Bon Iver, Frank Ocean & Kanye West.

Who is your favourite current vegan personality/celebrity/activist, and why?

In terms of a favourite famous artist I would say Stevie Wonder as I love his music. And other vegans I’m inspired by include James Aspey, Earthling Ed, Tim Shieff, Klaus from Plant Based News & Avant Garde Vegan as well as many more.

If you could pick one musician to go vegan, who would it be? Don’t forget to include why!

Let’s go with Kanye West – his music has always been forward-thinking & has pushed the boundaries so it’d be cool if this tied in with him being vegan.

Whats your message to people thinking about going vegan?

Going vegan is one of the best things I’ve ever done. There have been so many benefits; my health and overall fitness have improved and I feel more connected to nature & animals, as well as believing that my actions are more aligned with my morals. The myths & misconceptions you might hear about veganism are not true at all – if you were curious I would say just try it for a few weeks & see how good you feel!!

In 1988 clubs, cafes and bars across the nation began tuning into a track that would help define the next 16 years of British dance music. 'Anyone (who had a heart)', a Bacharach and David cover, done in a style that used the lyrics but resembled little of the original, introduced 'Smith and Mighty' to the U.K. dance culture's consciousness. The tracks heavy synthesised dub bass, tight production, mid-tempo b-drum heavy and sharp snare beat, set off with piano, strings, a couple of well placed samples sat magnificently behind Jackie Jackson's sublime vocal. This track presented a new mix template for dance music which had been hinted at by the Wild Bunch's version of 'The Look of Love' the year before. The duo of Rob Smith and Ray Mighty perfected this style with their own unique vision as they went on to release another instant classic 'Walk on By' (again a Bacharach and David cover), produced a top ten single for Fresh Four (Wishing on a Star), produced Massive Attacks first single (Any Love) and a sublime album for Carlton (The Call is Strong) on London records who had pulled out the cheque book to sign the act.

Smith and Mighty continued to produce, remix and DJ across the world and worked on an album that would not see the light of day due to record company short-sightedness. During this time they worked with Neneh Cherry and Fine Young Cannibals amongst others before they left London in 1994. One 12" they did release before leaving London was the 'Steppers Delight EP', tracks on this anticipated the 'Jungle/Drum and Bass' scene and kept S&M's reputation riding high. After they left London they set up their own 'More Rockers' label and set the standards even higher with the 'Bass is Maternal' album. Rob and Ray then provided K7 with a DJ kicks album and signed to the German Label for a series of Smith and Mighty albums. With Rob and Peter D Rose also linking up in the drum and bass act More Rockers the 1990s were a hectic and busy period.

Rob Smith has now entered a new phase in his recording career and has released his debut 'solo' album on Manchester's Grand Central Records. 'Up on the Downs' has all the elements of classic Bristolian creativity. You can hear Rob's many influences from Punk and New-Wave, Reggae and dub to heart wrenching Soul. There are collaborations with a range of vocalists who provide gorgeous compliments to Smiths compositions. Smith has consistently championed the independent, DIY philosophy of punk and has always produced music that speaks to the emotions as well as the dance floor. He is presently writing a second album for Grand Central, DJing all over the world and continuing to produce music of the highest quality.

The Essential Smith and Mighty

Dr Meaker are one of the hottest Live UK Dance act right now.

They started their journey as a Bristol based sound system comprising of electronic and acoustic musicians. The band soon built up a strong following and quickly gained the attention of the BBC resulting in a play of their popular track ‘Rubber Gloves’ on Rob da Bank’s BBC Radio 1 show. Clive Meaker then successfully won funding from the BBC’s Urban Talent Bursary award scheme, which he used to fund the making of the bands debut album ‘A lesson from the Speaker’.

Following this funding triumph, Dr Meaker entered the Glastonbury Festival Unsigned Competition and were the outright winners of the Dance Music category. This gained them an interview with Huw Stevens on BBC Radio 1, a nod from the mighty Zane Lowe on his show and a prime time slot in the Dance village at Glastonbury Festival. The biggest achievement for the band, who are keen fans of the Glastonbury Festival, was to have Michael Eavis himself comment on how much he enjoyed the bands performance at Glastonbury.

“Fantastic!” – Michael Eavis 

After winning the prized Glastonbury slot a flurry of gigs and festivals followed as the band released their first single 'Moving And Grooving’.The song featured vocalist Lorna King and was mixed by Howie B at Miloco Studios, London. The track was released both on vinyl and digital.

The debut album 'A Lesson From The Speaker' and the single “Bad Boy Calling” (Flightcase Recordings) were both released on 17th November 2008. The album was distributed by Absolute Distribution, the subsidery of the Universal music group.

"Oozing quircky funk from every corner 4/5" - iDJ magazine

The album received critical acclaim and was played on many Radio stations including BBC Radio 1, 1XTRA, BBC6, XFM and Jazz Fm. Music from the album was also featured on several TV programmes including Skins (Channel 4) and Come Dine with me (Channel 4).

"A vibrant, promising debut" - Clash magazine

Dr Meaker remixed a track for  William Orbit  in early '09 for his Optical Illusions album. They remixed Mr Fogg’s Moving Parts and The King Blues single “Headbutt”. Dr Meaker was then asked back to the King Blues camp and co-produced “We are Fucking Angry” and “Futures”for their 2011 album “Punk & Poetry” and remixed their single “Set the World on fire”.

Releases and remixes then followed on:

Sludge Recordings, Ramajam Recordings, 3 beat (Preditah), Ministry Of Sound, Spinnin Records (Fox Stevenson), Sony (The Dealer) Exceptional Records (Submotion Orchestra), New State Music (Don't Think It's Love ft. Romaine Smith) and the legendary V Recordings (Music In the Night & Fighter) gaining the band BBC radio playlisting and gigs across the World.

The band were asked to play a BBC Maidavale live lounge session for Trevor Nelson and their cover of Adele's Skyfall was featured on the UK number 1 selling album 'BBC Live Lounge'.

The band followed this with a hugely successful single release on Circus Records in 2014 which then led to a full album record deal.  "Right Back ft. Sian Evans" took then band into the mainstream arena with BBC radio and commercial radio play listing and a UK top 40 dance hit.  'Right Back' was featured as Annie Mac's most played track on her BBC Radio 1 show.  The track is a firm favourite at Festivals throughout the UK.

A flurry of major record label offers and remixes flowed through 2014-2016 culminating in the release of the bands second studio Album entitled "Dirt & Soul", which was released in July 2016.  The album went straight to number 3 in the iTunes Electronic charts and was the number 1 selling Drum & Bass album in the World on it's release.  

The band have toured both the U.K and Europe with their infectious sound, mixing beautiful Soul vocals with heavy production and a raw energy that is extremely rare to find.  They have played many of the biggest and most prestigious festivals across europe including Glastonbury, Bestival, Isle Of Wight Festival (UK), Colours Of Ostrava (Czech Republic), Outlook Festival (Croatia) and the European Snowboarding Championships (Switzerland).  Their fanbase continues to grow and gig offers continue to roll in from across the World.  The band are set for huge success in 2018-19.

Dr Meaker have just won the "Best Live Act 2017" award at the Bristol Pride awards.

The band have a new album "Dirt & Soul - Collaborated" coming out in March 2018 on Circus Records.

Dirt & Soul.  Made In Bristol.

Queen V sculpts beautiful and powerful melodies around candid lyrics, creating songs that simply cannot be ignored. She shares the vegan message through both humour and sincerity, with one truth shining through: love is the way. Winner of VegFestUK FxEctive Factor 2018, you don't want to miss your chance to hear this fervent and gifted artist.

Don Letts’ reputation has been firmly established in both the film and music world by a substantial body of work from the late 70's through the 80's, 90’s and well into the millennium. His work has been exhibited in The Kitchen N.Y.C, The Institute of Contemporary Art, The N.F.T in London and was honored at Brooklyn’s BAM festival and The Milan Film festival.  In March 2003 he won a Grammy for his documentary ‘Westway To The World’.

He came to notoriety in the late 70's as the DJ that single handedly turned a whole generation of punks onto reggae. It was whilst as a d.j at the first punk club 'The Roxy' in 1977, that Don adopted the punk D.I.Y ethic and begun to make his first film 'The Punk Rock Movie'. Shot on Super-8mm it is the only documentary on the U.K punk scene w/ Sex Pistols-The Clash and many others. This led to a period directing over 300 music videos for an eclectic mix of diverse artists ranging from Public Image to Bob Marley. He then moved into documentary work covering the likes of Gil Scot-Heron, The Jam, Sun Ra, George Clinton and most recently Paul McCartney. Dancehall Queen (co-directedby Rick Elgood) shot in location in Jamaica 1997 was his first feature film.

Don continues to D.J nationally and internationally playing strictly old and new school dub reggae. His set is in the spirit of his time as DJ at London’s legendary Roxy club back in ’77.

From the days of Punk Rock to present day Don has always been drawn towards musical projects. After d.j’ing at the Roxy and whilst directing videos for many other acts he created the band Basement Five, released a single with members of John Lydon’s P.I.L, managed the Slits and collaborated with members of Trouble Funk. He recently recorded a reggae version of the London Calling!

In the mid 80's he formed the group 'Big Audio Dynamite' with Mick Jones (ex-Clash). He went on to perform and co-write four albums with B.A.D achieving several hits on both sides of the Atlantic including the top ten hit E=Mc2. The band recently reformed for a world tour to sell out shows and critical acclaim.

In the early nineties Don left B.A.D to form ‘Screaming Target’ their debut performance at The Transmusical Festival in France received rave reviews. They released one critically acclaimed album  ‘Hometown Hi-Fi’’

Don d.j’s nationally and internationally, sets include Glastonbury – Bestival - Lovebox – The Big Chill – Stussy 25th Anniversary - Adidas –- Doctor Martins - Latitude - The Rough Trade 25th Anniversary - Lee Perry’s Meltdown –Rizzla -Island Records 50th anniversary - Massive Attack’s Meltdown – Vintage At Goodwood -  Womad and Festival No.6 to name a few. He was recently asked to d.j for both Arcade Fire’s soid out London gigs at The Roundhouse.