Blast Arts 2008

It’s been an action packed few weeks around North Yorkshire. Summer is the time for festivals and I’ve been covering the best in our area. Beached festival in Scarborough is known for dragging big names to the seaside, and the newest summertime must is to hop onto the Magic Loungeabout.

NY is the place to be.

The music scene here is as interchangeable as tides on our coastline so it was great to see the best of that brought together at Beached. Local favourites on the Truck Stage were The Pieces, We Heart Katamari and Ollie Banks and I'm looking forward to seeing their music hit off.

Obviously, I loved the All Access pass as I got to interview great bands such as The Troubadours, Dodgy and Livingston. Not to mention hanging with One Night Only! Listen out for Beached interviews on the More Raw radio show soon!

Gary and The Numanators

Last week I went along to Fibbers music venue in York. South-African band the Parlotones played indie-techno sounds from numerous Platinum albums. They have a reputation for causing their audiences to be ‘swept up in a whirlwind of energy and rock’, and they certainly didn't fail on that instance.

The Magic Loungeabout festival was something else all together! It actually felt like you had been shrunk down to the size of a fairy and flown into an enchanted wonderland of music. It was such an exciting yet chilled out atmosphere. Ladytron and Nouvelle Vague were my personal favourites from the night. My golden ticket of a backstage pass got me free stuff plus meeting 80s legend Gary Numan!

It’s the month of Ramadan so I am making an attempt to fast for the whole month! For those of you who are unsure about what Ramadan actually is, I have written a feature about why it is so important. It is probably the most holy and celebrated month in the Islamic calendar. I wanted to raise awareness to the people of North Yorkshire so there can be a bridge between communities and cultural diversity.

I have also been doing web trails on the radio to promote the lovely website that co-incides with the station! I have definately learned a lot about working as a reporter. It has also been exciting to go out in the radio car and the monstrous BBC bus to watch how live broadcasts are done.

This week I'm off to London to see the Queen! Not really, it’s the Blast Presentation do! But I might see if Wills is in, whilst I’m there!

Nadia Emam