Latest news with #Fleabag
Perth Now
44 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Yungblud talked to ghosts at haunted Idols album recording location
Yungblud talked to ghosts while making 'Idols'. When the 27-year-old star's American label heard some of the songs that feature on his upcoming album, which is a melting pot of Britpop, classic rock, ballads, and even has orchestras, they didn't get it and tried to dissuade him. Unfazed, the 'Fleabag' rocker decided to remind himself of his roots and ended up recording the record in a "haunted" converted Tetley brewery in Leeds, not far from where he grew up in Doncaster, in the north of England. Speaking to Louder about the record, Yungblud - whose real name is Dominic Harrison - said: 'I like the ghosts. I talk to the ghosts. It was, like, 'This f****** feels right.'' On a serious note, he explained the purpose of the location: 'I needed to be in the north. "Timothy Taylor's ale and my best mates and the smell you get in northern England when the rain bounces off the gravel because the roads haven't been tarmacked properly for years. I needed all that just to be, like: 'Who the f*** are you, man, as a human?', without anybody else's opinion, good or bad.' Yungblud isn't chasing hits with 'Idols', instead, he wants a "shot at the big boys' table". He told the publication: 'It's the most ambitious I've ever been. I went there with this: 'I'm going to put everything I've got into this shot at doing something extraordinary.' Let's make a double album in two parts that references Dark Side Of The Moon [Pink Floyd] or Rumours [Fleetwood Mac] or A Night At The Opera [Queen], and has an idea and a through-line and a story, as opposed to 'how many songs we can get in the f****** Top 10.' Because why the f*** not? Let me at least try. Let me have a shot at the big boys' table.' The ambitious project comes in two parts, with 'Idols' part one set for release on June 20.
Scotsman
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
'I couldn't have brought first show to Edinburgh Fringe now', warns Baby Reindeer and Fleabag producer
Baby Reindeer and Fleabag producer Francesca Moody first brought a show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2011. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When star Edinburgh Festival Fringe producer Francesca Moody brought her first theatre show, The Ducks, to Edinburgh in 2011, the full cost of the run was £10,000. 'You just can't do that now, because that's what the accommodation is going to cost you on its own,' says the Baby Reindeer and Fleabag producer. 'I certainly would have struggled to take work for the first time up there now. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Francesca Moody is the producer behind Fringe hits including Baby Reindeer and Fleabag. | Rich Lakos 'I say that in the knowledge that there are lots of barriers to access that don't exist to me. I grew up in a very comfortable, middle-class upbringing - but I certainly think it would have been far tougher.' Now revered in the industry for her two hit shows, both of which have gone on to become major TV productions - as well as last year's critically-acclaimed production Weather Girl - Ms Moody is on a quest to return the Fringe to the hotbed of new work and raw talent it once was. Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, starring Richard Gadd, began as a one-man Francesca Moody Productions show on the Fringe. Through her company, Francesca Moody Productions, she is launching a new venue Shedinburgh in Edinburgh College of Art's Wee Red Bar. Venue organisers have promised to 'flip the traditional Fringe model' by paying artists to perform and has called on funding from the Scottish and UK governments, as well as philanthropists and corporate sponsors, to help support performers. The soaring cost of appearing in the Fringe has been cited as one of the major barriers for artists performing in Edinburgh, with some, especially those outside of Scotland, forced to abandon plans of performing entirely, or stay as far away from the capital as Glasgow or even Newcastle. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Originally conceived as a digital operation during the pandemic, the revival of Shedinburgh is already one of the most talked-about topics of this year's Fringe, not only because of its founder's iconic status, but as a potential blueprint for other venues. Artists will perform for one night only and while they will be paid, they will also be funded for their accommodation and travel expenses. The initial line-up includes comedians Jayde Adams and Mark Watson, as well as a range of up-and-coming artists. However, further shows are still to be announced, with special 'secret sets' to be revealed during the festival. For audiences, 'pay what you can' tickets will be available for every show. Ms Moody says: 'As a company and an individual which had so much success at the Fringe and was able to make it work there at a time where it felt a little bit more like a level playing field, I think we just feel really passionately that we wanted to try and find new ways of reimagining that Fringe model. 'At the same time, we want to have a chance to platform some really exciting and interesting emerging artists alongside some well-known, prolific makers who maybe haven't been to the Fringe more recently. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We want to make a real commitment to thinking about how we can make sure that the Fringe that we know and love and that has been so significant to our success can be that for other artists and producers and theatre makers and comedians and musicians as well. It's increasingly challenging to be able to do that.' Fringe Society data released last year suggested that a 150-capacity play from a Scottish-based company with 12 performers would cost an average of around £25,000, with an international dance or physical theatre show in a 60-capacity venue coming in at around £19,000. Accommodation, meanwhile, now averages out at well over £100 a night for a single room. Ms Moody says: 'Accommodation in particular, has become just inaccessibly expensive, and it means that the majority of the work that gets to the Fringe, is either work that's already backed by somebody with money, which requires you to have, you know, established yourself a little bit in the industry and made some meaningful relationships as an artist, or just super commercial work. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'There's definitely a place for that in the eco-system. But when you think about the really amazing artists and shows that have come out of the Fringe over the last 75 years - the brilliant, game-changing, cultural moments and pieces of work from artists who were doing it unencumbered by other people and voices and who were giving themselves permission to just be a bit scrappy and and try something out and not be afraid to fail. 'Then obviously that becomes harder when things get more expensive, because there's more pressure on success as well. I certainly think there are people who are being priced out of the Fringe at the moment.' Phoebe Waller-Bridge with her 2013 Fringe First award for the original production of Fleabag. She points to other initiatives from other venues and the Fringe Society, to find new routes to accessibility for artists. 'What we're doing, we're not doing in isolation,' she says. 'We're not reinventing the wheel here. There's the Free Fringe, which has been doing it for a really long time. But I think it's the responsibility of all of those stakeholders and folks like me who've had some success to try and level the playing field in some way again. If we don't keep reimagining it, then the problem is only going to get bigger.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Moody admits that Shedinburgh, which she describes as a 'subsidised project', is unlikely to break even this year, but insists lessons can be learned from the process - not least utilising other available funding. She says she hopes the structure would spark a conversation around how guarantees are paid to artists, rather than artists paying guarantees to venues. 'Work at this scale is really where all the really great things start,' she says. 'My hope is that the legacy, amongst other things, is that some of the shows that are new are built into other things, and that this is the start of that for those artists who are performing in Shedinburgh.' However, she admits changing the existing Fringe model more widely would require 'some serious remodelling' and called for funding from various sources to support artists. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Other venues should be able to replicate it,' she says. 'But all venues have a bottom line they have to hit. So, whether they'll be able to replicate it to the level that we've managed to structure it at this time, I don't know, but what I do think it's showing is that there's a need for more investment in philanthropy at this level of making work.' She adds: 'There's less public funding than ever for the arts. There are ways of procuring public funding to make your work at the Fringe, but they are super limited. So I think it's about saying 'is there more investment that could be made to help us to reimagine the ways that we make the festival possible?' And then is there more that can be done from a philanthropic perspective and from partnerships at a sponsorship level in order to support work at this scale? 'We need funding from from the Scottish Government, from central government, the arts councils, grants and foundations, philanthropy from individuals. We don't have a great culture of philanthropy in the UK in the way that they do in the States. Corporate sponsorship is one very valuable way of achieving investment in the arts, and I certainly think that there could be more of that. It's an eco-system, money needs to come from multiple sources.
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Florence Pugh plays health worker on the brink in Yungblud's new music video
First-look photos from the music video, being released at 4pm on Friday, show Pugh's character, who is dealing with grief and exhaustion, wearing a set of angel wings. Singer Yungblud said: 'The song was written initially about my grandmother going through serious injury and trauma, leading her to become a different person to who she was before. 'It's about the feeling of deterioration and ugliness; shutting out the world and the people we love out of the fear of becoming a burden or an embarrassment.' He added, 'We all want someone or something to comfort us no matter how we are right now or who we become in the future. But it's f****** scary.' The music star, 27, whose real name is Dominic Harrison, treated fans to a preview of his track at a surprise gig in London in March. Zombie is the third single he has released from his forthcoming fourth studio album, Idols, out on June 20. The singer, known for songs including I Think I'm Okay, featuring Machine Gun Kelly, and Fleabag, is also known for creating BludFest, which offers cheaper tickets compared to many other UK music festivals. The singer has had two number one albums in the UK chart with Weird!, in 2020, and his self-titled album in 2022. Earlier in the year, he received the disruptor of the year award at the Nordoff and Robbins Northern Music Awards, held in Liverpool. Pugh, 29, who is known for her roles in Little Women (2019), Don't Worry Darling (2022), and Dune: Part Two (2024), previously appeared in Rachel Chinouriri's music video for Never Need Me.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Yungblud tips the hat to Lady Gaga and Florence Pugh
Yungblud has hailed Lady Gaga a "beautiful mind with a limitless imagination". The 27-year-old rocker is one of the 'Born This Way' hitmaker's Little Monsters and would love to be in the room every time she makes a creative decision. He told Rolling Stone: 'I would love to be a fly on the wall every time Gaga walks up to her team and goes, 'Right, this is what we're doing next.' 'She's a beautiful mind and a limitless imagination, you can tell. She's just herself, isn't she?' The 'Fleabag' star went on to compare Gaga, 39, to 'Thunderbolts' actress Florence Pugh, 29, who features in his new music video for his track 'Zombie'. He told the publication: 'Florence Pugh, in my opinion, is one of the most exciting British artists in a long time. 'I think she has this individuality that is not adherent to anyone else. She is completely legit and individual within her own style in her own time.' In the promo, Florence plays an exhausted health worker on the brink. He added: 'The song is so deep, so emotional, but so fundamentally British. 'I was like mind blown watching her on set. And she's just a legend. You can tell, man. She's just sat in a pub on a Sunday with a pint of Guinness, just talking s***.' It's the third track to be taken from the pop rocker's upcoming album, 'Idols', following 'Hello Heaven, Hello' and 'Lovesick Lullaby'. Yungblud said in a statement about 'Zombie': 'The song was written initially about my grandmother going through serious injury and trauma, leading her to become a different person to who she was before. It's about the feeling of deterioration and ugliness; shutting out the world and the people we love out of the fear of becoming a burden or an embarrassment. 'We all want someone or something to comfort us no matter how we are right now or who we become in the future. But it's f****** scary.'
Wales Online
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Florence Pugh plays health worker on the brink in Yungblud's new music video
Florence Pugh plays health worker on the brink in Yungblud's new music video First-look photos from the music video, being released at 4pm on Friday, show Pugh's character, who is dealing with grief and exhaustion, wearing a set of angel wings Florence Pugh (Image: Dave Benett/WireImage ) Oscar-nominated actress Florence Pugh stars as a health worker on the brink in a music video for Yungblud's latest single – Zombie. First-look photos from the music video, being released at 4pm on Friday, show Pugh's character, who is dealing with grief and exhaustion, wearing a set of angel wings. Singer Yungblud said: "The song was written initially about my grandmother going through serious injury and trauma, leading her to become a different person to who she was before. "It's about the feeling of deterioration and ugliness; shutting out the world and the people we love out of the fear of becoming a burden or an embarrassment." He added, "We all want someone or something to comfort us no matter how we are right now or who we become in the future. But it's f****** scary." The music star, 27, whose real name is Dominic Harrison, treated fans to a preview of his track at a surprise gig in London in March. Zombie is the third single he has released from his forthcoming fourth studio album, Idols, out on June 20. The singer, known for songs including I Think I'm Okay, featuring Machine Gun Kelly, and Fleabag, is also known for creating BludFest, which offers cheaper tickets compared to many other UK music festivals. Article continues below The singer has had two number one albums in the UK chart with Weird!, in 2020, and his self-titled album in 2022. Earlier in the year, he received the disruptor of the year award at the Nordoff and Robbins Northern Music Awards, held in Liverpool. Pugh, 29, who is known for her roles in Little Women (2019), Don't Worry Darling (2022), and Dune: Part Two (2024), previously appeared in Rachel Chinouriri's music video for Never Need Me.
