Music Profiles: Bad Habits – Hotel Hell | Great New Music

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We love bringing music to people’s attention that they might not have come across. Bad Habits have a wonderful gritty punk-rock feeling and I’m a huge fan. Bad Habits consist of a husband and wife, alongside their son. Their new album, Hotel Hell is out now. Here is the band in the own words:

“Music saved my life but it was also my cover and nearly took it.” – Bad Habits’ Martin Red Butane. He writes dreamlike songs often with a nightmare reference. Creating landscapes and images with his lazy vocals and guitars. You are drawn into his stories and you really feel you are in the plot of the characters, you can touch danger but escape. Accompanied by his family on occasion (3 piece/duo/solo) his wife Glo Butane produces, engineers and plays bass/guitar/keyboards and their son Dakota Red is on cajon/drums. A family of music under his owned trademarked brand Bad Habits (since first used in the 70s). Martin Red was medically retired from his undercover job with PTSD, now with health conditions and injuries from his past life; So he has to sit/use support to perform. However it was not always like this, ” Back in ’78 I was going to give it up while playing a blues jam at the Onslow pub, Southampton when a grubby man came up and asked to jam.” he continues, “he asked if we knew Black Magic Woman? We started to play and it was @Peter Green. After I asked him where he lived he said Salisbury. I asked him how he got here? He said he walked so I took him home to his sister’s house; Pete told me, “Play music for yourself and if other people like it its a bonus.” since 12 yo music was always my centre but life took me to a very different world where I could not be in the limelight. Finally I am free and making music to help my mental health and hopefully other’s as well” 

This is a very organic process. I play live and drive my wife the producer/engineer up the wall as I see every song as a story that I have to emote immediately. We don’t overdub except on the electric guitar parts. I play and sing completely live. My wife uses 3 microphones on me because I can’t double myself every take is different as every gig I play will also be; first one 20 July at Bush Hall, London W12  more dates to follow in support of Mens Health Charities as I’m a disabled musician. 

https://www.facebook.com/BadHabitsMusic

ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1725930821, 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0jXS9zNxMviC7f3echmd4t 

Deezer https://www.deezer.com/album/535391092

 Ecoegg x SpongeBob: Operation Sea Change! Make Your Laundry More Sustainable

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I love the Ecoegg. I am always trying to cut down on plastic and be more sustainable. This laundry egg has a guarantee of ten years. All you do is replace the pellets. The new Ecoegg x SpongeBob: Operation Sea Change! smells amazing and is a gorgeous yellow colour.

Dive into a tidal wave of excitement as Ecoegg, the sustainable laundry brand, announces their partnership with Paramount and Nickelodeon for SpongeBob SquarePants: SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change!

With a staggering 11 million tonnes of ocean plastic harming marine life each year, this collaboration, launching on 2 January 2024, reflects an alliance of values and a shared mission to help reduce the amount of single use plastic making its way into the oceans.  Inspired by none other than SpongeBob SquarePants, the beloved undersea character. 

To kickstart the collaboration, Ecoegg will be releasing two new products to celebrate SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change.

Ecoegg SpongeBob Laundry Egg and Refill Packs: This Tropical Burst fragranced Laundry Egg transports you into a paradise of sweet pineapple tones. There are two versions of the Laundry Egg: the new bio (which includes plant-based enzymes) and the non-bio. Then ‘Sensitive’ and ‘Universal’ formats will be delivered for outside of the UK. The Refill Pellets will encourage consumers to take a stance against single use plastic detergent bottles and embrace the art of reusing. The entire range of ecoegg Laundry Egg’s come with a 10 year guarantee and armoured with a durable eggcase.

Ecoegg Dryer Eggs – Gary and Mary SpongeBob’s pals: The ultimate sidekick to your Laundry Egg, the energy and money saving SpongeBob Dryer Eggs. These help to separate your laundry so that more air can circulate, proven to dry each item up to 28% more quickly. The patented nodules on the eggs are designed to help soften your clothes naturally, providing an additional softener on top of the Laundry Egg’s 2 in 1 formula. 

Ecoegg’s Plastic Saving Mission parnering with SpongeBob:

This partnership is particularly exciting for Ecoegg, as the mission of SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change aligns perfectly with Ecoegg’s environmental mission whilst also connecting us with broad audience and other supportive brands. “Educating the next generation on the importance of protecting our oceans is not just a mission; it’s our shared commitment to creating a sustainable future.” says Dawn White, Founder of Ecoegg.

So, mark your calendars, set your alarms, and get ready to make a splash in the laundry room with Ecoegg and SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Sea Change. Helping make laundry a fun and inspiring journey for the whole family. 

The recommended retail price for the SpongeBob Ecoegg Laundry Egg and Dryer Egg is £10, with a recommended retail price for refills of £6 and the products will be available on Ecoegg’s website (Ecoegg.com) and Amazon.co.uk.

Mark McCrum is really cooking, as they say, with Murder on Tour.

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Twenty books and counting, and this is, arguably, the best so far. Yes, it even tops, in my opinion, the Number One bestseller Somebody Someday with Robbie Williams which was a huge success. After all, there aren’t many authors who can claim that their debut crime novel was longlisted for the Independent on Sunday’s 2014 Alternative Booker prize and also selected as the Mail on Sunday’s Thriller of the Week, I particularly love this quote from Mail on Sunday Thriller of the Week ‘A marvellous set of unsavoury suspects… good, nasty fun with a ring of truth.’

Well, how about this from Frost Magazine for Murder on Tour ‘Worthy coach tours pale into insignificance when compared with a rock star’s crazy sex, drugs, rock n roll tour, liberally sprinkled with a good dose of suspicious deaths. Fun it certainly is, page turning too. Come on, live a little…’

Wanna hear more (well, one does get influenced by these crazy musicians).

Crime Writer, Francis Meadowes, has been offered his first paid detective gig, and goes on the road with a gender-fluid rock star, Jonni K, tagging along as the musician’s entourage travels from Copenhagen to Berlin and on round Europe. What could possibly go wrong?

Jonni’s manager is already troubled by a fatal overdose on a tour bus, but then the star is attacked on stage. Then, guess what, the lead guitarist is electrocuted by his own instrument.

It is when another band-member drowns in a hotel bath Francis realises he must earn his money and find out what exactly is going on. Well, yes… I should say so. Does he do his job?

Oh come on… You know me better than that. Read, enjoy, worry, snigger, and see if you can guess who dun it. You’ll love it.

Murder on Tour by Mark McCrum pub Bloodhound Books 9.99 and ebook.

THEATRE REVIEW: Wish You Weren’t Here at Soho Theatre, London “It’s an hour very well-spent” says reviewer Paul Vates – Drama Critic

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As we all know, sometimes less is more – and this little play falls into this category. I usually bemoan the fact that sixty-minute (or one-act) plays haven’t been fleshed out and can leave an audience yearning for more … but Wish You Weren’t Here is an accomplished piece of writing by Katie Redford.

Mum Lorna (played by Eleanor Henderson) and daughter Mila (Olivia Pentelow) are on a weekend break to Scarborough, where they used to come when Mila was a child and Nan was still alive. But Mila is now 16, has just received her GCSE results and would rather be partying with her friends back in Sheffield than hanging about arcades, Wetherspoons and the hotel room with her embarrassing mother. However, Lorna just wants to have fun – she is only 32-years-old – and longing for her lost twenties. Mila shows classic signs of teenage angst.

They love each other but somehow can’t connect no matter how they try. Two generations breathing the same air but unable to articulate their differences. So much frustration about the world, about each other, about the loss of Nan. But this isn’t a sad piece – there is a lot to enjoy and laugh at. Genuinely real performances, full of tenderness and detail, come from both actresses. It’s an hour very well-spent.

A simple and effective set, designed by Bethany Wells, allows a surprising amount of movement from a small show that has been touring the UK, with Brighton and Guildford still on the horizon after this London sojourn. Director Rob Watt has created a piece that is full of warmth, leaving just the right amount of breathing space for the two performers to fill.

Photography Chris Saunders Writer Katie Redford Director Rob Watt

Movement Director Kiren Virdee Designer Bethany Wells Musical Director Ellie Verkerk

Running Time 60 minutes Age Restrictions 12+ Until Saturday 2nd March 2024

Check with the theatre for show times . Venue Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE vhttps://sohotheatre.com/events/wish-you-werent-here

Wish You Weren’t Here

Website https://www.theatre-centre.co.uk/shows/wish-you-werent-here

Instagram @sheffieldtheatres @theatrecentre Facebook @shefftheatres

@TheatreCentreU Twitter @crucibletheatre @TCLive #WishYouWerentHere

Future Tour Dates 7th-8th March 2024 Brighton Dome

https://brightondome.org/whats_on/

14th-15th March 2024 Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

https://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/whats-on/wish-you-werent-here

A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata – translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter and reviewed by Kate Hutchinson

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Most of us are familiar with Memoirs of Geisha. Is there more we need to know about sexworkers In early 20th C Japan? It turns out there is and it’s quite a tale. Based on real life events, this is a different story with the same beginning – a girl from a poor family sold to a brothel. 

In 1903 fifteen year old Aci Ichi, daughter of a female sea diver, is taken to the most exclusive brothel in Kumamoto, Japan where she becomes the protegee of the highest ranking courtesan. As she is educated in the ways of the work, she comes to understand the power of sex and money intertwined. But the new recruits are also taught to read and write, and encouraged by her tutor, Ichi learns to think clearly and express herself in writing. Gradually the women of the brothel begin to work together to take control of their lives and, influenced by the local shipyard workers, they take decisive action and go on strike.

Really interesting, and key to the story, is the use of literacy. Ichi expresses herself through the poetry she writes in class, full of vivid ideas and emotion, which contrasts with the smooth, over-complimentary letters the courtesans write to their clients.

Possibly a little long, but well-worth reading to the end, whilst appreciating our ability to do so.

A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter 

ISBN 978-1-804-44101-5 Pub: FOOTNOTE Press £12.99

Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke Book Review

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When Estella’s Revenge arrived at Frost HQ I made an audible gasp. The gorgeous cover, the fact it’s a retelling of Great Expectations, Miss Havisham’s daughter is the main character…, I mean, come on. what is there not to love? Was I let down? Not even a little. The writing is exceptional and the story is dark and delicious.

It is obvious that a huge amount of research went into this novel, but also a very deep love for Great Expectations and the characters. The love and knowledge is obvious in every single page. This book is original, gothic and completely unforgettable. It belongs on the shelf next to Great Expectations itself. When reading the novel it feels like not much has changed for women, yet there is hope in this novel. Of women saving themselves and enduring. Of survival. A must-read.

Interview with Dani Atkins The Author of The Memory of Us

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The Memory of Us is a fantastic book. How long did it take you to write it?
The Memory of Us took approximately one year to write. I don’t write particularly quickly and
would panic if I had to produce a book any faster.
When I gave up work to write full-time I thought I’d begin at nine o’clock and work through
until five (with an hour for lunch, of course). It wasn’t long before I realised I’m not disciplined
enough for that.
People might be surprised it takes me twelve months to write a book, but I’m just amazed it
doesn’t take even longer!

Where did the idea come from?
My books have recurring themes of love, family, and friendship, often set against a life
changing moment or event. From the outset I knew I wanted this story to feature two sisters
and the unshakeable bond between them. Lexi and Amelia were a joy to write, and I miss
spending time with them.

The book has many themes. How did you manage to thread them all together so well?
I’d like to say it was a result of meticulous planning – except I don’t plan at all. However, I
knew the important plot points, so it was a matter of letting the story unfold naturally and
trusting everything would fall into place.

What is your writing routine like?
My day starts with a dog walk, when I’ll formulate my plan for that day’s writing and often get
ideas for conversations between characters.
Before I begin, I go back and edit the previous day’s work. I know many authors prefer to
keep their eye on the finishing line, but I’m not happy going forward if I think there’s
something that needs fixing.
Mornings are not my most productive time, so it’s mid to late afternoon before I usually hit
my stride.
Before turning off my computer I read that day’s work out loud. I find this to be a useful way
of checking both the pace of the story and the authenticity of the dialogue.

What advice would you give writers who want to maintain a career?
First, to keep reading in many different genres. Seeing how authors tackle a story, handle
the pace, the dialogue and the plot can be very inspiring. It motivates you to bring all you
have to the table the next time you begin to write.
Next, is to just write. Don’t tell yourself that ‘one day I’ll write a book’. Do it. Do it now. It’s
easy to think you don’t have time to write, but you just need to be disciplined and
determined. Don’t set impossible goals. If you aim for just 1000 words a day, in three months
you’ll have a novel.
Lastly, write the book that’s in your heart. It’s more important to be aware of current literary
trends than it is to follow them. At the end of the day, you must write the book you want to
write and tell the story you have to tell. Perhaps it isn’t the same one that everyone is
reading right then; perhaps you are bucking the trend… but it’s just possible you’re starting a
new one.

What’s next for you? 
My next book is well underway and has a working title of PROMISE ME – although I’m sure
that will change – they usually do. It is another emotional drama with some strong characters
who I hope people will fall in love with every bit as much as I’ve done. I don’t want to reveal
too much more, but I will say that I made myself cry writing the very first chapter, which was
a first for me.

The Memory of Us’ by Dani Atkins is just published by Head of Zeus in hardback. I loved it. It is a beautiful and heartfelt novel which takes many themes and ties them together beautifully. The characters are divine and I adored the love story. I was fully immersed in this beautiful book. Superb writing mixes with a novel that keeps you guessing all of the way. I can’t recommend it enough.

Frost Loves Linwoods Overnight Oats Range with Benefits

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I love overnight oats. Easy-to-make, good for you and tasty. What more could you want? Linwood have an amazing range of delicious overnight oats with extra benefits. I love them and can’t recommend them enough.

Get your mornings off to a great start with Linwoods as today they unveil a delicious range of Overnight Oats with functional benefits in three tasty variants; Strawberry Energy, Chocolate Protein & Original Energy.

Indulge guilt free with Linwoods Strawberry flavour Energy Overnight Oats which deliver energy yielding metabolism and tiredness reduction through its supporting nutrients Vitamins B6 and B12.

Chocolate flavour Protein Overnight Oats are high in plant-based protein for muscle growth, and magnesium which combats tiredness and fatigue and supports muscle function. One 50g serving of this blend delivered 11g of plant-based protein which supports growth and maintenance of muscles.

Or why not try the Energy Overnight Oats in a natural flavour allowing you to customise your own oats with whatever toppings you prefer whilst also adding those energy supporting B Vitamins into your diet.

Known for their health credentials with their milled seed range, Linwoods newest innovation takes the hassle out of developing your own overnight oats recipe. Nowadays our lives are busy and we need convenience but that can’t take away from the importance of a healthy diet, in fact, a healthy diet is a must to feel good and get the most out of life.

Linwoods Overnight Oats recipe are so simple to make in 3 easy steps:  

  1. Soak: Simply soak 50g of oats with 100ml of your favourite milk and stir.   
  2. Chill: Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.  
  3. Enjoy: Grab and go or add some of your favourite toppings to make it your own.   

No matter what your lifestyle, Linwoods Overnight Oats will get your day off to a flying start. The new range is available to buy now at www.linwoodshealthfoods.com.