Over a two-gig period this summer, Excellent member Vince Iannelli got the privilege to see and talk to one of the founding fathers of politically conscious British Independent music, Billy Bragg.  Vince wrote of his exploits in an article that originally appeared in the University of Calgary's paper, The Gauntlet.  It is with the permission of The Gauntlet and the author that we here at Excellent are pleased to bring you an edited reprint of Vince's article, which provides some insight into the 90's version of Bragg, and his fabulous new release, "Mermaid Avenue."

story by Vince Iannelli

In the past eight years, Swervedriver have been dropped by 3 different record labels and have lost two band members. Why haven't they broken up? Adam Franklin sat down with me in the lobby of the Sunset Hyatt on April 7, 1998 to talk about it.

Several years ago, Alan Mcgee was driving in Los Angeles with Guy Chadwick [ex-House of Love] when someone popped in a tape with Swervedriver's demo "Son of Mustang Ford." He instantly signed them to the Creation label and the first "car-band" was born. The initial line up was Adam (guitars and vocals), Adrian "Adi" Vynes (bass), Jimmy Hartridge (guitars), and Graham Bonner (drums), but that would soon change.

Based in New York City but born in Leeds, pseudo-glam-rock cadets Spacehog are at it again with their second full-length, "The Chinese Album."  With current single "Mungo City" storming the US charts and a support slot for the spring/summer Aerosmith tour recently confirmed, the band could become officially massive any day now.   On Tuesday, April 7, lead guitarist Ant Langdon took time off from holiday in Florida for an EXCLUSIVE interview.