PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

Dear Listeners,

For the second Monday in a row here at PSB Towers we’re very pleased to unveil a new song. This time it’s the turn of Blitz-based banjo belter (ahem) London Can Take It.

The title comes from a film of the same name, filed by American correspondent Quentin Reynolds, which was shown to audiences in the USA in order to shore up support for Britain and its allies.

Although an alternative cut of the film, Britain Can Take It, was also screened at home in the UK, I deliberately chose to keep the original, London-centric title. As a born-and-bred Londoner I’ve always wanted to pay tribute in some small way to my hometown. No piece of music – and certainly nothing I’d ever come up with – could ever really fully reflect the greatness of this city (excuse me for waxing lyrical, but I’m not ashamed to be mildly proud of where I’m from), but I hope I’ve at least not offended the ol’ blighter.

Yours capitally,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

Dear Listeners,

Last night (well, early this morning) on 6Music saw the final broadcast of Tom Robinson’s Fresh On The Net programme.

Since 2008 it had run twice weekly from 1-3am on Sunday and Monday mornings, playing new and mostly unsigned music from around the country. Even in a potentially listener-unfriendly timeslot it still found a loyal and enthusiastic audience, due in no small part to the quality of music played and the genial tones of Mr Tom himself.

Mr Tom was by far and away the first DJ to pick up on PSB’s output, playing ‘New Dimensions In Sound’ way back in October 2009. He even gave us a ludicrously quotable line (‘absolutely, sensationally brilliant!’) which we have used remorselessly ever since (thanks for that, Mr Tom). He went on to play another 4 PSB songs at various intervals.

But besides the thrill and novelty of hearing your music on the radio for the first time, it was far more important to feel that there was some support out there for our music and a way for people to hear it. I really can’t exaggerate the encouragement it gave me to carry on writing and performing – it was a driving force in moving PSB forwards.

It would perhaps be easy to think of Mr Tom as just going through the motions in a graveyard slot – and cynics may think that’s just what the show was. However, when I went in to record a brief interview with Mr Tom and his producer (also Mr Tom), I was struck by how passionate and knowledgeable he was about the music he was playing; he genuinely loved discovering and playing new music and his enthusiasm really came across on air (and off).

He’s still going to be putting together an hour of new music each week, but in my opinion that’s not enough to showcase the range of talents out there. I think it’s exactly the sort of programme 6Music should be making, rather than endless repeats of documentaries. Still, FotN has come and gone and I just wanted to say thanks, Mr Tom – it really was appreciated.

Yours retrospectively,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

Dear Listeners,

I’m very excited to be able to reveal the lead track from The War Room EP – it’s called Spitfire and you can watch it below (we recommend you watch in full screen):

The video was made by PSB collaborator and tremendously talented chap Owain Rich. Thanks Owain!

It feels like we’ve been waiting ages to play you new PSB material and we’re very excited that the cat is finally out of the proverbial bag. Let us know what you think!

Yours aerodynamically,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

Dear Listeners,

With no small amount of fanfare we are very pleased to announce the name and release date of the new EP!

It’s called The War Room and is based on a series of propaganda films and archive material from the wonderful folks at the BFI. It’s a 5-track EP and will be available digitally on May 28 2012 as well as on super-special 12″ heavyweight vinyl, with sleeve notes and everything.

The EP is dedicated to my Great Uncle George Willgoose, whose banjolele I still play and who died at Dunkirk in May 1940, aged 26.

Watch a teaser trailer here:

More details (including the lead track!) will be released over the coming weeks so keep checking back!

Yours militarily,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

Dear Listeners,

This Sunday sees a solo show (free entry!) at the Old Queens Head in Islington with our old friends The Joker & The Thief.

Word on the street (whisper it) is that it may well see the debut of some new material… depending on how practising it goes, of course!

The music starts around 5 and goes on until 11pm, PSB are on at around 10. More details here, should you require them.

See you there!

Yours glacially,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

Dear Listeners,

The nice Mr Jonathan over at Slow Thrills has written a couple of pieces on us recently (here and here) and asked if I would be the next slot on his Guest Mix series. I said yes, which leads us to where we are today, namely: here.

Head over to the Slow Thrills blog to listen, as well as for more information and a generally good read.

Yours mixedly,

J. Willgoose, Esq.

Dear Listeners,

Joy abounds at PSB HQ this morning as we have confirmation that we are on the bill again at this year’s Leefest!

Leefest gave us a big hand up last year when we were put on the bill despite being relative unknowns so it’s great to be able to go back there this year too, when we’re still… relative unknowns! Ha.. Jokes aside, we’re working closely with the team at Leefest to prepare an audio-visual feast with some super-special features so if you can be there, do!

More information about Leefest and the charity it supports can be found at their rather swish website.

Yours decidedly,

J. Willgoose, Esq.