Splendour Festival: Saturday

The band were formed in 2003, having met whilst studying at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Featuring Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), Daniel Haggis (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), the band quickly got to work making music, They released several Eps in their early years, including "The Hangover Sessions," "No. 3" and "The Daring Adventures of Sgt. Wimbo and His Pet Otter."

After releasing their debut, "Girls, Boys and Marsupials," in Japan only, they then released a number of singles that would bring The Wombats their first taste of success. "Backfire at the Disco" peaked at number 35 in the UK SIngles Chart, followed by "Kill the Director" which also received lots of airplay. Their debut album on 14th Floor Records, "The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation," stormed the album charts, reaching number 11 in October 2007, bolstered by the success of singles "Let's Dance to Joy Division" and a re-release of "Moving to New York," which went to number 13 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 2008, the band embarked on a number of tours, traveling across the UK, Europe and Japan. They also became a big name on the annual festival circuit, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Reading & Leeds Festival and T in the Park.Their second album, "The Wombats Present… This Modern Glitch," appeared in 2010, featuring the top 40 single "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" as well as "Techno Fan." The album itself faired well, reaching number three in the album chart.

It was three years before The Wombats returned with new music, releasing the single, "Your Body Is a Weapon," which received significant support on BBC Radio 1. To great excitement, The Wombats began a countdown till the release of their third studio album, "Glitterbug," for a January 2015 release.

Brought up in a religious household where secular music was discouraged, Estelle found herself surrounded by gospel music and her parent’s collection of reggae and traditional African music. While they were out of the house, she would sneakily listen to hip-hip and R&B on the radio, with early influences lying in Ella Fitzgerald, Mary J Blige and Jill Scott.

In her early 20’s, while working in a hip-hop record shop Estelle’s colleagues encouraged her to partake in an open mic night. It seems her inherent love for the stage began there as she began regularly performing in small clubs around London as she performed alongside Roots Manuva and Rodney P.

On a trip to Los Angeles, US in the early 2000’s, with a stroke of luck Estelle happened to be in the same restaurant as US rapper Kanye West. Getting acquainted with West, she asked for an introduction to soul star John Legend and working her British charm she got her wish. Legend went proceeded to help produce two tracks on her 2004 debut album “The 18th Day”. Although the album only peaked at number 35 on the UK charts, the album produced the breakthrough track “1980” which peaked at number 14 in the singles chart as critics praised Estelle’s ability to fuse her influences while adding a fresh twist. With the singles “Free” and “Go Gone” the album earned Estelle the 2004 MOBO Award for Best Newcomer.

In 2007 John Legend announced Estelle would become the first signing on his new label HomeSchool in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The following year Estelle made her major label debut with the album “Shine” produced by John Legend as she collaborated with Will.i.Am., Mark Ronson and Cee-lo Green. The lead single “American Boy” featuring Kanye West saw Estelle clinch her first UK number one as it went international invading top chart spots in Australia, US, France and Sweden. Later that year Estelle was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize Award. In 2009 “American Boy” won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Estelle’s third album “All of Me” released in 2010 featured collaborations with Rick Ross on the lead single “Break My Heart” and Nas on “Fall in Love”. In 2013 through BMG, Estelle was able to set up her own label, New London Records which allowed her more creative control and a platform to release the “Love and Happiness” EP’s.

Having collaborated with artists from: Faithless, Busta Rhymes, Gym Class Heroes and Chris Brown, Estelle has truly blossomed into a world class star in her own right.

Originally formed with a host of influences ranging from punk rock to new wave, Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie first began by banging dustbin lids together and playing fuzz-guitar. Primal Scream’s debut performance came in 1982, however it wasn’t until 1984 the band made their recording debut with the single “The Orchard”, released on school friend Alan McGee's Essential Records. In 1985 Primal Scream signed with Creation Records, however despite a number of single releases, didn’t find success until Gillespie departed his other group the Jesus and the Mary Chain.

With the addition of Andrew Innes and Robert Young, the band found their single “Velocity Girl” end up on an NME cassette tape. The result was huge exposure for the developing band, and they fit the indie pop image like a hand to a glove. The band’s debut album “Sonic Flower Groove”, issued in 1987, was received with critical acclaim, as was is successor the self-titled “Primal Scream” in 1989.

The band's subsequent release saw a move away from the rock and roll aesthetic of the Rolling Stone and the Stooges, and towards the growing electronic and acid house scene. The result was “Loaded” a reworking of the existing song “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have”, making rock and roll accessible to dance fans and dance accessible to rock and roll fans. Primal Scream’s subsequent album “Screamadelica” represented an epoch in UK pop history, it brought techno and house to a mainstream ear. The album earned remarkably rave reviews and later won the very first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.

1994’s “Give Out but Don’t Give Up” saw the band return to their hard rock element, although in comparison to its predecessors faired neither well in the charts or nor among critics. Shortly after Primal Scream contributed the lead track to the cult film “Trainspotting”, which paved the way for a darker themed well-received electronic album titled “Vanishing Point” in 1997. The band subsequently released the albums “XTRMNTR” in 2000, “Evil Heat” in 2002, “Riot City Blues” in 2006, and “More Light” in 2013.

In 1973 New Jersey residents Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien were assembled by producer Sylvia Robinson and formed The Sugarhill Gang. Sylvia Robinson and record mogul husband Joe Robinson were also founders of the label Sugar Hill Records named after the Sugar Hill, Harlem, New York neighbourhood.

Sylvia Robinson, aware of the popularity of hip-hop block parties tried to cash in and produce an infectious and catchy hit. The Sugarhill Gang released the single “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979 and became an instant worldwide hit with its notoriously groovy and danceable bass line of Bernard Edwards from Chic’s “Good Times”. “Rapper’s Delight” has gone on to sell over eight million copies worldwide, peaked at No. 3 in the UK singles chart and has been considered the first song to popularise rap in the U.S. and around the world.

Despite their early success, The Sugarhill Gang were unable to capitalise on their popularity with all of their albums failing to perform well commercially and critically. The band released an eponymously-titled debut album in 1980, and a sophomore album titled “8th Wonder” in 1982. After “Rapper’s Delight” the band had a number of moderate hit singles including “8th Wonder”, “Apache” and “Showdown”, although for the most part faded out of public consciousness by the mid-1980s.

The group returned in April 1999 to release the children’s rap album “Jump on It!” through Rhino Entertainment. The album was relatively well-received, featured a child friendly version of “Rapper’s Delight” and maintained the band’s old school hip-hop vibe. In 2014 Big Bank Hank died at the age of 58 after a long battle with lung cancer.