A Perfect Day Festival - June 16th 2024
james arthur
James Arthur first rose to prominence when he won the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012.
He has gone on to accrue a massive haul of hits including ‘Impossible’, ‘You’re Nobody ‘Til Someone Loves You’, ‘Sun Comes Up’, ‘Naked’, ‘Rewrite The Stars’, ‘The Power Of Love’, ‘Lasting Lover’, ‘Train Wreck’ and his global breakthrough track, the seminal single ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’ – all contributing to James being one of the world’s biggest streaming artists, with over 38 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.
James’s fifth album, ‘Bitter Sweet Love’, is out now following four Top 10 previous album releases.
Jalen Ngonda
Truly life-enriching soul music is an indomitable force of nature. No matter what sub genre our current crop of musicologists may cite in the very near future to describe Jalen Ngonda’s riveting approach, he’s unequivocally a gifted songwriter and artist, blending classic and contemporary soul influences to create a sound that’s all his own.
The last year has seen the release of his critically acclaimed debut album “Come Around And Love Me ” he has even swiftly followed it early in 2024 with two brand new singles, as an artist who writes songs every day, its a natural thing to keep fresh music coming out. Jalen is already catching the attention of the likes of Snoop Dog, Jill Scott, Kehlani and Olivia Dean, as well as Elton John, who predicted last Summer that “he is going to be a huge star”.
Despite being extremely busy these past months playing sold-out tours in the USA, UK and Europe and promoting the album, the good news is that he is already planning the next recording sessions. Signed to Daptone Records a funk and soul independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York and the perfect home for him, Jalen possesses a rich, nuanced voice that sets him miles apart from the crowd. His music is as fresh and contemporary as anyone’s gracing today’s scene. His live show captivates and enthrals the audience with the pure musicianship of Jalen and his band. Music that may instil a nostalgia for the golden era of soul but from a very special artist that is very much of his time, a real once in a generation experience.
mae stephens
If you’ve opened TikTok even for the briefest of moments this year, you’ll likely have heard ‘If We Ever Broke Up’, the funky, attitude-filled alt-pop bop sweeping the app. Its creator,19-year-old Kettering musician Mae Stephens, has been bombarded with messages to release the song in full and, now, the alt-pop hit of 2023 is here.
Before she woke up on New Year’s Day to some of the more than 200 million TikTok views that the track has now racked up, Mae was finding solace and sanctuary in her music-making between working shifts at her local Asda. A songwriter since the age of 12, she’d used music to guide her through the hardships of teenage life, pouring her heart out in emotional, impactful songs penned at her nan’s old piano
ADMT
Hailing from the ‘cultural soup’ of Doncaster, ADMT embodies many moods and flavours across his mainly R&B-tinged Pop repertoire. He has recently risen to prominence with a series of affecting covers recorded in his hometown and released across social media – many of which have been supported by the original artists such as Venbee, Cian Ducrot and 50 Cent, the latter posting ADMT’s reworking of ‘Best Friend’ to his own socials. This has led to shout outs from mega influencers such as Khloe Kardashian, Tommy Mallett and many others.
ADMT has been connecting directly with fans through his own music since 2020. Realness and relatability are at the core of what drives him as an artist and his songs touch on everything from mental health to the power of great friendships and the almost inevitable fuck ups we make when having a fun night out.
Since his first releases, he has been invited to feature on the Xmas episode of Golden Globe winning TV show Ted Lasso, undertook the Three Peak Challenge for Mind and connected with millions of people online.
Summer festival appearances follow on from sold out headline shows in London, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. It’s a performance not to be missed!
BILLY LOCKETT
Hello I’m Billy Lockett. I grew up in Northampton with my crazy hippy dad. We started writing songs in our cellar. Pretty quickly things were happening. KT Tunstall asked me to tour UK with her. My song was playlisted on Radio 1. Toured Europe with Birdy. Supported Lana Del Rey. Dad died. Came home. Went off the rails. Got a cat and a piano. Wrote 100 songs in cellar. Accidentally grew Afro. Released Burn it Down EP. Moved to the smallest room in Camden (with cat). Played every open mic night for 2 years. Signed a major record deal in UK. Got clean. Wrote 200 songs the label didn’t like. Supported ELO on European arena tour. Toured UK with Lewis Capaldi. Wrote 100 more songs the label didn’t like. Sold out headline European tour. Sold out Shepherd’s Bush empire. Next single flopped. Label dropped me. Went of the rails…again. Went back to cellar. Wrote 100 songs I loved. Released “Reset” EP independently. James Corden asked me if I’ll play his show. I check my busy schedule. Play James Corden late late show in L.A. Plan world domination. Brexit. Pandemic. Release “Reflections EP”. Release classical album “Together at Home”. Tour fans gardens around UK in camper van. Ran out of money. Made Patreon to fund album. Recorded album in cellar. Tour UK with Lucy Spraggan. Finished debut album. (I’m so proud of it!). Got help and got sober FOR GOOD! Signed new record deal in America. Just released my debut album “Abington Grove”. That’s the story so far.
DOlores Forever
Coming from different parts of the world, Hannah from Leeds and Julia from Copenhagen, their paths converged in London where a mutual friend introduced them at a house party. On meeting they immediately made a pact to not work together. It backfired. “We had heard about each other on the songwriting circuit and agreed to not write songs together; to be friends instead.” Rather than getting a session in the diary, they quickly became close friends, going to gigs and discussing shared musical obsessions, so despite their best intentions, Dolores Forever seemed to be inevitable.
Northampton Sings Out Choir
Having performed a groundbreaking, unique rendition of ‘it is well’ switching to the 90’s classic hit ‘show me love’ on Britain’s Got Talent securing a standing ovation from the crowd and 4 yes’s from the panel of expert judges, Northants Sings Out has performed at Silverstone Festival, sold out shows across all Northamptonshire Theatres (including the prestigious Royal & Derngate Theatre), produced a full virtual show watched globally online, achieved over 400k views online of their take on Madonna’s hit ‘Music’ and boast an impressive 700+ members on roll from across Northamptonshire.
Northampton Sings Out is led by founder/conductor Gareth Fuller, credited for directing the choir at Liam Gallagher’s sell out Knebworth shows attended by over 160,000 and key tour dates across the UK. Choirs under Gareth’s direction have performed with Sting, Sir Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Eric Clapton and HRH The Queen.
Northampton Sings Out is made up of voices from across Northamptonshire. Over time, this has included work based choirs from some of the UK’s most prominent companies including Unilever, Barclays, Carlsberg and Volkswagen to name a few.
This year, the Choir celebrate 10 years as Northampton Sings Out. Founder/conductor, Gareth Fuller, continues to develop UK based choirs under his new organisation Sings Out Music UK CIC and acts as Music Director to artists including 90’s chart-toppers, Damage and VV Brown.
ANDY CROFTS
Andy Crofts is a British musician raised in Northampton and known for his versatile talents as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is a founding member of the band The
Moons and for 15 years, served as musician and bass player for the iconic British artist, Paul Weller.
Crofts’ musical style incorporates elements of rock, pop, and psychedelia, and his contributions to both The Moons and Paul Weller’s band have earned him acclaim from fans and critics alike. With a knack for crafting catchy melodies and heartfelt lyrics, Crofts
continues to make waves in the music scene with his dynamic performances and creative
endeavors.
Aside from music Andy is also an abstract artist and photographer and gaining a reputation
in the artworld.
Charlotte Carpenter
Charlotte Carpenter is the perfect embodiment of independence; out there, doing it on her own. This isn’t some ‘strong woman’ cliché, this is a nominative determinism; place a piece of wood in her hand and she will use it to craft something of value to the world around her.
Between 2014-2019, East Midlands singer-songwriter Charlotte Carpenter made her name by releasing a series of heavily championed EPs. Her raw, soulful songwriting was widely heralded with comparisons to the likes of Cat Power, Bonnie Raitt, and PJ Harvey, and coverage from tastemakers from The Line of Best Fit and CLASH, through to rock bible Classic Rock, with support from BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2; and UK-wide tours alongside Marika Hackman, George Ezra, Liz Lawrence, to name just a few.
During 2021, Charlotte received funding for her debut album from Help Musicians UK which she wrote, recorded and produced with Matt de Burgh Daly (Grace Petrie, Maybeshewill) and released ‘A Modern Rage’ in October 2023, winning acclaim from publications such as God Is In The TV, Clout, Guitar.com, New Music Mag, DIVA Mag and BBC Introducing.
BALTER
Formed in the summer of 2021, Balter are a four-piece from Northampton making anthemic, jangle-pop that belies their years. Consisting of Tom Drury (vocals/guitar), Jake Lewis (guitar), Liam Kay (bass) and Jack Cox (drums), the band have only just sat their GCSEs, which is even more surprising to anyone who has caught the band at their early, buzzy, packed-out shows. Still yet to release any music into the world, the band have been quietly bubbling away in the studio with producer,
Jonathan Hucks (Hallan), with the release of their debut single imminent.
This is a band focused on what they want to do, where they want to be in the future and how they are going to get there. Citing the likes of Mac DeMarco and Boy Pablo as inspiration, the breadth of Balters’ influences are clear to hear but never detract from their own unique identity and innate song writing ability. With early support already from BBC Introducing, the potential Balter have is unnervingly big – the future could well be theirs.