Author: Lisa Hafey

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat. Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

Bruce Sudano – ‘Back In The Neighborhood’

July 22, 2020

Veteran songwriter and guitarist Bruce Sudano has been a practitioner of pop-rock for nearly 60 years, seeing it as not just a place for big sounds and big beats, but big ideas too. He topped the charts back in the 60s with ‘Alive N Kickin’, and wrote country-pop gold for Dolly Parton, disco and electro-funk for wife Donna Summer, and and priceless radio ready tracks for Michael Jackson. In his solo career however, Sudano tackles those issues that others don’t touch. Things like every day life difficulties, mortality’s grip on us all, human experiences we all have in common.

Pinegrove – ‘Endless’ 

July 21, 2020

New Jersey four-piece Pinegrove has so far put out three albums, and all three have that timeless quality which typifies a great record, one which could just as easily have come out 20 years ago, or 20 years in the future. Their most recent album, ‘Marigold’, was the latest to explore the human interaction and community which goes beyond music, and was described by Pitchfork as, “an intense work about one of the most important things imaginable: how to make friendships really matter.” Pinegrove are all about community, they actively encourage their fans to re-imagine their songs, and also provide guitar tabs to facilitate the musical experimentations of their supporters.

Sonarpilot – ‘Fossil’ And ‘City In The Sky’

July 21, 2020

Michael Moppert performs as Sonarpilot, and takes his inspiration from the sonic risk takers who pushed back the boundaries of music from the 1970s onwards. Rock legends such as David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Roxy Music, and pioneers of electronic music, such as Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, all provide plenty of fodder for thought for Moppert, who sees them as astronauts disguised as artists, who explored the very reaches of musical space.

CELEBRATE 10 INCREDIBLE YEARS OF ONE DIRECTION THIS MONTH

July 16, 2020

Louis Tomlinson left Syco last week after coming to a mutual agreement with the label, the last member of One Direction to have remained with Simon Cowell. All have embarked on solo careers with varied success, so – at the moment at least – it seems unlikely a reunion is on the cards. Regardless, there’s a lot of room for nostalgia for the X Factor group who went on hiatus in 2016, with special celebrations planned for July 23, which marks 10 years since the band’s formation.