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MALTACORE.COM INTERVIEW WITH MIKE BUGEJA

MALTESE MUSIC FOR COLLECTORS

Oct 29, 2017
4 min

MALTESE MUSIC FOR COLLECTORS

There'a new label in town, and it's all about collectable music from Malta. Ramona Depares speaks to Michael Bugeja who, together with Aidan Borg, is the co-founder of Twee Records. Who is behind Twee Records and how was the idea born? Basically Twee Records is the two of us, Aidan Borg and myself, Michael Bugeja. The idea sprung out of countless conversations about music that we'd have during lunch breaks. We're both music fanatics and avid collectors, particularly of Maltes

SACRILEGE: RISING FROM THE ASHES

Oct 23, 2017
5 min

SACRILEGE: RISING FROM THE ASHES

Formed in the mid-1980's, UK metal band Sacrilege's story is curious and inspiring. They rose to prominence as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, only to disband just five years later. In 2012 the band was resurrected, albeit with a different line-up, and has, over the past five years, risen from its ashes to become a force to be reckoned with once again. Michael Bugeja spoke to Sacrilege's founding member Bill Beadle ahead of the band's performance at this year's M

ROCKNA INTERVIEW: STRUMMIN' 2017

Oct 18, 2017
1 min

ROCKNA INTERVIEW: STRUMMIN' 2017

Yes! Strummin’ is back and they're turning Sweet 16! On October 20 and 21, 2017, the Strummin' family will take over Sir Temi Zammit Hall at the University of Malta, to take the audience on a musical journey like no other. To mark this 16th edition, over 60 guitarists, accompanied by Strummin's groovy house band and a number of phenomenal singers, will perform timeless hits from the likes of Queen and Pink Floyd; contemporary hits from Ed Sheeran and Of Monsters and Men and

SDANG! STORIES THAT ROCK!

Apr 18, 2017
4 min

SDANG! STORIES THAT ROCK!

Back for what will be their third performance in Malta, Italian instrumental rock band Sdang!'s latest visit will see their line-up boosted by none other than Colin Edwin. The Australian musician is probably best-known as a member of internationally-acclaimed progressive rock band The Porcupine Tree, but he is also involved in several other music projects that stretch across the musical spectrum in terms of genre, among them Metallic Taste of Blood, Endless Tapes and Ex-Wiseh

HAVE BASS, WILL TRAVEL: INTERVIEW WITH COLIN EDWIN

Apr 13, 2017
4 min

HAVE BASS, WILL TRAVEL: INTERVIEW WITH COLIN EDWIN

Next weekend will see the sixth edition of the Rock The South festival kick off, once again offering a fantastic line-up of local and foreign bands. Of the latter, one name rings particularly familiar. Back for their third visit to Malta, Italian rock duo Sdang! will this time be joined by Colin Edwin, of Porcupine Tree fame, although one must not fail to also mention he is involved in countless other music projects. MikeBugeja.com caught up with the prolific musician ahead o

ROCKNA INTERVIEW: MALTA DIO DISCIPLES

Nov 22, 2016
1 min

ROCKNA INTERVIEW: MALTA DIO DISCIPLES

The Malta Dio Disciples will be staging the second edition of the Tribute Concert to Ronnie James Dio on Saturday, November 26, 2016 at Razzett L-Ahmar in Mosta. The group came together in April of 2012, the brainchild of guitarist Owen Grech. The idea was to create a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 - May 16, 2010), and raise money for the Malta Hospice Movement in one rock n' rolling mega-gig! The project united an array of Maltese singers and musicians

CARLO MUSCAT: FURTHER ADVENTURES IN JAZZ

Nov 13, 2016
4 min

CARLO MUSCAT: FURTHER ADVENTURES IN JAZZ

Saxophonist Carlo Muscat takes some time out from his busy schedule performing locally and abroad to tell Michael Bugeja about his latest work. Carlo Muscat has always insisted that his musical awakening is an ongoing process. So much so that further to releasing his first solo album, The Sound Catalogues Vol.1 about two years ago, he went on to explore new ventures and collaborations, a number of which would, both directly and indirectly, lead to the formation of the line-up

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF DOOM METAL

Nov 6, 2016
6 min

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF DOOM METAL

Emerging towards the start of the second wave of Maltese heavy metal well over two decades ago, Forsaken are by far one of the most important bands the local music scene has ever produced and certainly one of the most successful Maltese musical exports ever. Michael Bugeja catches up with bassist Albert Bell, vocalist Leo Stivala, drummer Simeon Gatt and guitarist Sean Vukovic for a chat about the journey so far, ahead of the band's 25th Anniversary concert at Chateau Buskett

THE RANCH: EUROPE CALLING!

Sep 16, 2016
4 min

THE RANCH: EUROPE CALLING!

Their debut album Cuckoo Island was by far one of the most enticing works to come out of the Maltese music scene in recent years. Their love of penguins has (indirectly at least) made the news, and they have a penchant for churning out engaging tunes that simply refuse to be categorized (even if at its core, their music has more than a hint of jazz). They are The Ranch, and MikeBugeja.com spoke to Benji Cachia, their only remaining original member for an update on what the ba

INTERVIEW WITH RED ELECTRICK

Sep 4, 2016
4 min

INTERVIEW WITH RED ELECTRICK

They started the year all geared up for last March’s release of their latest album Inside You, but it’s safe to say that the album was just one of several other ongoing projects in Red Electrick’s busy schedule. As the new album continues to consolidate the band’s position among the upper echelons of the local music scene, Red Electrick’s Peter Borg took a well-deserved break (a short one, albeit) to speak to MikeBugeja.com about the album, recent events and the band’s upcom

CATCHING UP WITH NOSNOW/NOALPS

Aug 21, 2016
4 min

CATCHING UP WITH NOSNOW/NOALPS

Their latest single, Kaleidoscopes, is just 3 months short of being a year old yet, despite the absence of any new releases since, rock band nosnow/noalps has been far from idle. With the band having just returned from playing festivals in Denmark and Italy, MikeBugeja.com catches up with them to find out what they've been up to. Kaleidoscopes was clearly a pivotal release for the band, wasn't it? Sarah: Yes, that single was the start of a new chapter for us really, being our

ROCKIN' THE ROCK!

Jun 26, 2016
5 min

ROCKIN' THE ROCK!

Michael Bugeja’s iconic radio show, ROCKNA, is celebrating its sixth anniversary with a triple-bill event. Ramona Depares finds out more. How was the idea for Rockna born? The idea for the show is actually connected to the weekly music pages I had been writing for The Sunday Times of Malta for a number of years, although somewhat indirectly. Around May 2010, Charles Saliba, the station manager at Radio 101 and a regular reader of my music pages, had approached me when he was

PLAN DE FUGA: INSUBORDINATE POP ROCK

Apr 10, 2016
5 min

PLAN DE FUGA: INSUBORDINATE POP ROCK

Plan De Fuga's first official album, In a minute was released back in 2010, but the Italian rock band had existed long before that. There's no crazy story as to how this band got together - like most bands, they started out as a bunch of friends who hung out and decided to give music a shot. Taking the D.I.Y. approach and learning to produce and record their own music, they have worked hard to make music that has attracted the attention of not only the home crowds, but also o

HEARTFELT FOLK FROM DOWN UNDER

Jan 17, 2016
4 min

HEARTFELT FOLK FROM DOWN UNDER

Old Soul’s Eyes is the name of an album released digitally towards the end of 2014 by Walrus & The Carpenter, the Australian band formed the previous year by Maltese musician Matthew Engerer and Mat Akehurst. Having established a firm foothold on the music scene in their region thanks to their transcendent live shows, the band, also featuring multi-instrumentalist Maria Stratton and bass player Al Brooker, went on to play at the Mullum Music Festival and the Falls Music and

ROCKNA INTERVIEW WITH FUZZHONEYS

Jan 2, 2016
1 min

ROCKNA INTERVIEW WITH FUZZHONEYS

There, in a nutshell, are the Fuzzhoneys, captured for your benefit in just under 10 minutes of footage that brings together a good chunk of what this dynamic duo has been up to since bursting onto the local scene sometime in 2014. Less than two years later, they've become a household name on the local alternative scene and are about to launch their debut EP, aptly titled CD Tal-Ġenn on Saturday, January 9 at Beachaven in Xemxija. With just a few days to go, here's an inter

MARC STORACE: IN HIS OWN WORDS #1

Sep 6, 2015
4 min

MARC STORACE: IN HIS OWN WORDS #1

Rockestra is back and, as with every passing edition, this year's concert is being touted as the rockiest yet. Not only will the show include, as has become the norm, some of the local scene's best-known pop, rock and metal artists, it will also feature Krokus frontman Marc Storace, without any doubt Malta's biggest rock export to date. His voice rocked the Alhambra in the 70s, shook Valletta's Power Station in 2006 and reverberated around Paceville's Sky Club in 2010, and th

A NEW NATURE: ESBEN & THE WITCH BACK ON THE ROCK

Michael Biugeja

Feb 21, 2015
1 min

A NEW NATURE: ESBEN & THE WITCH BACK ON THE ROCK

A three-piece band from Brighton that has been active for the past seven or so years, Esben & the Witch will be performing in Malta for the second time at the end of this month, thanks to Hairy Amp Promotions. Making waves even before the release of their first album, the band released its third album last year. Crowdfunded, released on the band’s own Nostromo label, produced by music legend Steve Albini and critically acclaimed by all the music mags that matter, latest album

DISCOVERING THE TWILIGHT SAD

Dec 30, 2014
1 min

DISCOVERING THE TWILIGHT SAD

They started out as music fans who just wanted to write songs; any notion of releasing an album being only a dream. Over a decade later, Scottish post-punk band The Twilight Sad has 5 EPs and 4 full-length albums to its name. The latest of these, Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave, has beennamed among theBest Albums of the Year by all the music magazines that matter, and if the success achieved to date seems overwhelming, it’s worth remembering this is just the