Edinburgh Festivals, Doug Johnstone

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

Electrifying collaboration brought together by MySpace

21 Aug 2008

Opposites attract, right? That certainly seems true for Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, the former being a short, stocky, shy beatmaster while the latter is a tall, skinny hyperactive wordsmith. ‘We both bring the best out of each other,’ says Pip, aka…

Festival Books - Rosemary Goring

The history woman

21 Aug 2008

Rosemary Goring tells Doug Johnstone about finding the voices or ordinary people. There’s been a resurgence of interest in Scottish history among ordinary punters, a trend Scotland: The Autobiography taps into brilliantly. Edited by Rosemary Goring, a…

Chuck Palahniuk - Snuff love

14 Aug 2008

Chuck Palahniuk tells such stark tales that people faint at his readings. Doug Johnstone crosses his legs, girds his loins and chats to the guru of gore

5 Reasons To Go See - John Renbourn

14 Aug 2008

1 He’s an axe hero OK, he’s not in the same mould as Slash, but the veteran English guitarist and songwriter delivers an exemplary, dextrous mix of blues, folk, classical and jazz to wow his audience. 2 He’s a Pentangle Renbourn was one of the…

Jackie Leven

Scottish outsider brings home his extensive back catalogue

7 Aug 2008

It’s the stuff on your doorstep that always goes unnoticed. While we heap plaudits on underground legends from across the pond, Scotland’s own talented outsider Jackie Leven remains unheralded. ‘I can’t get arrested in this country,’ Leven laughs…

James Meek

Johnny Depp-friendly author and journo

7 Aug 2008

As well as writing novels, James Meek has spent a lot of time as a journalist reporting from conflict zones, and this experience fed into his latest fictional work, We Are Now Beginning Our Descent. A global book, it ranges from London to rural America…

Kapka Kassabova

Travel memoir about Bulgaria from Edinburgh-based scribe

7 Aug 2008

Kapka Kassabova likes to travel. You can tell, because the writer’s accent is all over the place: there’s Eastern European, Antipodean and a hint of Scottish in there as she chats away. Kassabova was raised in Bulgaria before living in New Zealand for…

Laura Marling

The Mercury Rev

7 Aug 2008

Laura Marling is infuriating. Not her music, which is sublime, heartfelt, folky genius, but rather Marling herself, who’s so bloody talented and still only 18 years old. She got started early, brought up by a gardener mother and a father who was an…

Drive-By Truckers - Evolution rock

31 Jul 2008

Drive-By Truckers may hail from America’s south but they do way more than your average redneck stomp. Doug Johnstone meets an ambitious rock band unafraid to take themselves and their audience to new highs

Ed Byrne - Cry freedom

31 Jul 2008

Amnesty International supporter Ed Byrne may not be sure where he fits in any more but, as he tells Doug Johnstone, this keeps him in material

Idiots of Ants

Internet sensations return with more sketches firmly on the side of silly

31 Jul 2008

A lot of modern comedy dwells on the darker side of life, but that’s not an accusation to be levelled at Idiots of Ants. The London-based four-man sketch act can be placed firmly in the ‘daft’ file, and if you don’t believe us just check out their…

Six places: to hear good music during August

31 Jul 2008

Voodoo Rooms. Recently given a major facelift, this swanky venue plays host to club nights and live music of indie, hip hop, blues, jazz, soul, funk and cabaret flavours. Expect anything and everything. The Royal Oak Home to the city’s underground folk…

Andrew Clover’s Crazy Kids’ Show

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Andrew Clover’s show for children came about purely by accident. Last year he wrote a novel for teenagers with an agency booking him to appear at schools to discuss it. Only they booked him into the wrong schools. ‘They sent me to primary schools by…

Craig Davidson

23 Aug 2007

Craig Davidson doesn’t pull any punches. We might as well get the terrible boxing pun out the way at the start, because his debut novel, The Fighter, is a brutally violent but brilliantly written tale set in the world of underground bare-knuckle…

Billy Brag

16 Aug 2007

Billy Bragg was described by The Times as ‘a national treasure’. That particular phrase would surely bring a wry smile to his face, not least because the topic currently vexing the lifelong political campaigner and singer-songwriter is the fundamental…

Katrin Himmler

9 Aug 2007

Katrin Himmler was born into a family with a dark history, but has only now been able to write about it. She tells Doug Johnstone about reliving the past

Iain Banks

Getting climate change into a family saga

9 Aug 2007

Iain Banks can probably be accused of many things, but lack of imagination isn’t one of them. While most of his outlandish ideas get channelled into his sci-fi work, there’s still plenty of inventive stuff to be found in his mainstream novels.

Dizzy Heights

1 Aug 2007

Being a cult figure in a beloved sci-fi sitcom hasn’t harmed Hattie Hayridge’s career. Doug Johnstone catches up with her. Just don’t mention Red Dwarf. Actually, it’s not a problem, mainly because Hattie Hayridge is such a laid-back character. A more…

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Odd Couple Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan talk to Doug Johnstone about the unlikely collaboration that produced their Mercury-nominated Ballad of the Broken Seas