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Scotsman
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
I spoke to my favourite member of Pulp and discovered they're Scottish
Tom Jackson/Rough Trade Records 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... You can find pop stars in the most unusual places. As a long term Pulp fan, I never would have expected to speak to their keyboardist, Candida Doyle, from her Scottish island home, with its mercurial phone reception. It's a bit like actually discovering Jarvis Cocker in the aisle of a supermarket, perhaps in the style of the Common People video. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad That's because I imagine all the band members as living in their famous hometown of Sheffield. Or the rock star epicenter of London. Indeed, it's true that Doyle spends much of her time at another base near Hackney, especially as Pulp prepares to release their first new album in 24 years, More, on June 6, with a UK tour starting on Saturday June 7 at Glasgow's OVO Hydro. However, her proper home is in Shetland, and she adores it. 'Now that the group has reformed, I'm here a bit less than usual, but it's absolutely wonderful,' says Doyle, whose maternal grandfather owned a fishing factory here. 'My family lives on the same street as me, and it's actually the road my mum grew up on and is beside a hill with a view of the sea. It's very different to London, basically'. Apparently, the band did once play in Shetland, back in the Nineties. It was a bit of a journey though, for the other members. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, she wouldn't necessarily describe herself as Scottish. Doyle, as her surname might suggest, is also half Irish and was brought up in England. 'I'm everything but Welsh,' she says. Anyway, she will be away from her spiritual home a lot in 2025. After the UK tour, later in the year, they'll be doing the US and Korea. Back in Pulp's Nineties heyday, Doyle never imagined she'd still be on the road, at 61. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She was slightly blind-sided, when the group reformed again back in 2023. (They'd also got together in 2011, for another tour). 'I knew that I would never say no, but I'd never suggest that we reformed. It was funny because Jarvis sent me a text saying, 'Can I come round? I'd like to run something by you. And I sent a text back, saying, 'Oh, God'. He said, 'No, it's nothing to worry about'. I said, okay,' she says. ' Then he came round, and we chatted, and then he said, 'I'm thinking of reforming the group. Would you be interested?' and without hesitance, I said yes, it was incredible. I was quite surprised at myself'. And, so, they're back again, and Glasgow seems the perfect location for night one of the tour. After all, the band has played this city so many times, from King Tut's to The Barrowlands. Although Doyle prefers a smaller venue, she thinks that they can still connect with a big crowd, thanks to their charismatic frontman. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I think Jarvis is very good at making it feel personal. The crowd reacts well to him and it brings it all together,' says Doyle, who feels safe while slotted behind her keyboard. 'I don't know how he does it to be honest'. Doyle has been in Pulp since 1984, when she replaced the previous keyboard player, Tim Allcard. Another long time member of the band was bassist Steve Mackey, who joined in 1989 and sadly died just two years ago. The album is dedicated to him. What would Steve have thought? 'I think he'd be annoyed that he wasn't part of it,' says Doyle. Indeed, it's a fantastic album that's full of Pulp's signature nostalgia, cheek, charm and wit. The music, keyboards included, seems more sophisticated than ever. Sometimes richly orchestral, other times light and fluffy. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tom Jackson/ Rough Trade Records They have new members now. As well as the originals - Jarvis Cocker, Mark Webber, Nick Banks and Doyle - they've added Andrew McKinney, Emma Smith, Adam Betts and Jason Buckle, plus string arranger Richard Jones. The first track to be written was Hymn of the North, which they played when doing soundchecks while on tour back in 2023. The rest was recorded over the course of three weeks in November last year. Apparently that's the shortest time a Pulp album has ever taken to record. It's no wonder that, though Doyle may have got songs like Babies and Disco 2000 down pat, she hasn't quite got to grips with the new tunes. 'To be honest, I don't even know the LP that well at the moment. We did a few radio concerts recently, and we all felt a little bit under rehearsed,' she says. 'And at the moment, the songs are so new, I can't even think which I'm most proud of. I know which ones I like the most - Farmers Market and My Sex. They're quite special'. At the moment, their single, Spike Island, seems to be getting loads of radio play and wonderful reviews. Doyle wasn't sure about it at first. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I was hesitant about writing new songs. It's not an easy thing and I had some reluctance about moving forward in that way,' she says. 'And because I was reluctant, I didn't really expect that everyone else had their own opinions and would be really pleased. I thought, sometimes, if you have your favorite band, and then years later they introduce some new songs, you just want the old stuff. But that doesn't seem to be happening'. However, even though they're oldies, there are a few songs from the vast Pulp repertoire that Doyle finds harder to play than others. 'Dishes is really hard to play because I'm very exposed, while Common People is such a loud song that if you make a slight mistake, you can get away with it,' she says. 'I Spy is really exciting to play live, and to be on stage and playing one of your favorite songs and looking around and the whole band's there and you're all together is an intense thrill'. Doyle's toughness is admirable. As well as not knowing that she's a Shetlander, I didn't realise, until just before our interview, that she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and has kept it under the radar for years. Now, she's totally open about the condition. It slightly improved after the menopause, as there are links between hormones and the condition. However, she cut down her medication too much, on the last tour, so her knee swelled up and hasn't completely recovered. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There have been other highs and lows in her epically long career in Pulp. 'The build up to getting famous was really exciting. From '92 up to mid '96, we just got higher and higher and bigger and bigger,' she says. 'It was really, really exciting, and then, and then I was exhausted, and had this big panic attack on tour, and then went off touring. And that was mid June, 1996. And so for the rest of that year and the next year, I felt a bit unstable. I'd say that was the low point'. I mention the recent autobiography, Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success, by Lush frontwoman, Miki Berenyi. In it, she shares a lot of the misogyny that was rife in the Nineties, and seemed to be very much knitted into the Britpop scene. Thankfully, Pulp always seemed to be the good guys (and girl). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Doyle hasn't read the book. However, she tells me that she didn't experience any nefarious behaviour. 'Being this lead singer, she's in a much different position to the one I'm in,' says Doyle, in reference to Berenyi. 'And the thing is, being in a band with Jarvis, he's so charismatic that the rest of the band are quite often overlooked. He just naturally attracts attention. I often thought of leaving the group, because we had some really hard times, but one of the reasons I stayed was because there weren't enough women in groups, and I thought I've got to stay just to show other women that you can do it'.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Two arrested in ₹1.72 cr digital arrest fraud
MUMBAI: The Central Cyber Police on Wednesday arrested two Pune residents for duping a 61-year-old retired teacher of ₹1.72 crore through a digital arrest fraud. The arrested accused were identified as Ajay Sundar Divekar, 40, and Nitin Atmaram More, 41, who received ₹32 lakh out of the defrauded amount, according to the police. The two accused were brought to Mumbai on Wednesday for interrogation, said deputy commissioner of police Datta Nalawade. The police are investigating to find other individuals involved in the fraud. A digital arrest is a type of cyber fraud where criminals impersonate law enforcement officers to coerce victims into paying money under the false pretence of an arrest. According to the police, the cyber fraudsters contacted the woman from an unidentified mobile number, claiming that they were from a courier company. They told her that a case has been registered against her as they found a parcel containing her passport, credit card and MDMA drugs, adding that a senior crime branch officer would question her on a video call. The woman then got a video call from a person claiming to be the senior investigating officer, who told her that their investigation had revealed she was connected to the money-laundering case linked to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal. An officer from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) would also question her on a video call, the person said. The woman then got video calls from multiple people claiming to be ED officers, who told her she was allegedly involved in drug trafficking and a few other illegal activities. They eventually coerced the woman to make five transactions amounting to ₹1.72 crore by threatening to arrest her. She was told that the amount would be returned if the agency found her innocent, the police said. After the victim was left with no money to transfer, the fraudsters stopped contacting her. That's when she realised she was duped and approached the Central Cyber police station. A case was registered on March 6. On checking the money trail, the police found that More's bank account was used in one of the transactions. The police said that More was offered a commission of ₹15,000 for renting his bank account to Divekar for carrying out the transaction.
IOL News
3 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Matshepo More, PIC return to CCMA after unfair dismissal ruling
Former Public Investment Corporation chief financial officer Matshepo More is returning to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), where her erstwhile employer is challenging a CCMA ruling in her favour. Image: Screenshot Former Public Investment Corporation (PIC) chief financial officer Matshepo More is heading back to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), which previously ordered her reinstatement and awarded her over R6.7 million in compensation. In September 2022, CCMA commissioners Cameron Morajane and Nthabiseng Thokoane declared her dismissal substantively and procedurally unfair, and she was reinstated. The PIC was ordered to pay the costs, and in a supplementary award, the commissioners quantified her backpay and costs due at more than R6.74m and R39 000, respectively. More was fired by the PIC in October 2021 after being found guilty of misconduct. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ She was charged after approving R350m revolving credit facility to the now defunct VBS Mutual Bank in 2014, which was outside her delegation of authority. The PIC accused More of recommending the then chief executive, Dr Dan Matjila, to enter into the revolving credit facility agreement in breach of her duty to ensure that the terms of the agreement complied with the fund investment panels' approval before providing the confirmation and recommending that it be signed. More then referred her unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA, where she argued that the alleged misconduct constituted a breach of contract. The CCMA found that the claim (charging and dismissal) that the PIC has against More is extinct through the running of uninterrupted prescription. The commissioners deemed the charges and subsequent dismissal incompetent. In addition, the commissioners stated that as the instruction was in contravention of the delegation of authority, More's dismissal was therefore premised on an unlawful and unreasonable instruction and the charges and the subsequent dismissal were unfair. 'More has succeeded in her claim for prescription. The outcome is that the dismissal is substantively and procedurally unfair. The instruction issued by Dr Matjila as found above was unreasonable and unlawful,' the CCMA ruled. The PIC then approached the Labour Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, arguing that the commissioners committed a material error of law. Last month, Labour Court Judge Connie Prinsloo reviewed and set aside the CCMA's arbitration award and the supplementary award. 'The matter is remitted to the CCMA for arbitration de novo by a senior commissioner or commissioners, as the case may be, other than the third and fourth respondents (Morajane and Thokoane),' reads Judge Prinsloo's judgment, adding that the record of proceedings generated the supplementary case shall serve as the evidence before the appointed commissioner or commissioners. The arbitration de novo (afresh) is to be conducted on such terms and in such manner as the appointed commissioner or commissioners may determine, and the CCMA was directed to enrol the matter for arbitration. Attempts to contact More were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It's an ugly bill'; Schumer says Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' will cut SNAP for 100,000 Central New Yorkers
FULTON, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Senator Chuck Schumer was in Fulton on Tuesday, where he held a press conference following President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' passing in the House last week. The senator said the bill contains the largest cut to food assistance in American history. He detailed the devastation this bill could have in Central New York. 'Oswego County has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in all of New York. It's one of the counties hit the hardest. This is a hunger hotspot,' Schumer said. 'When it comes to feeding the hungry, this bill is anything but beautiful. It's ugly and can be devastating for Central New York in so many ways. It's not a beautiful bill; it's an ugly bill.' 'It's an ugly bill'; Schumer says Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' will cut SNAP for 100,000 Central New Yorkers Local farms off to a late start due to cold, rainy weather Candlebox and Nothing More headline Krockathon Reboot at Chevy Court It's been a wet May in Syracuse, but cool too? Syracuse man accused of killing son, girlfriend charged with highest degree of murder Tim Bryant was at the conference and shared that SNAP became a need for him after suffering a brain injury and he couldn't work. 'SNAP gave me something incredibly basic, but incredibly powerful. The ability to eat, nourish myself and focus on healing,' Bryant said. 'It's hard to explain how grounding that is when everything else is uncertain.' Brian Reeves, the owner of Reeves Farms in Baldwinsville, said these cuts would mean fewer people would receive a sufficient diet. 'We need to feed everyone in our community. A well-nourished community is a healthy community,' Reeves said. 'A healthy community is a prosperous community. It's not only a good act, it's good business and as farmers, we should be concerned about that.' The Executive Director of the Food Bank of Central New York added that one in seven people is food insecure in the area. 'We are looking at snap cuts of 9.5 billion meals off the table every year,' said Karen Belcher. 'It weakens the food assistance and health care access, threatening the well-being of neighbors working hard to thrive.' Schumer said the cuts could potentially impact over 100,000 Central New Yorkers. At the conference, he says hospital funding will be affected, and energy costs will rise if the 'Big Beautiful Bill' passes. He has spoken to his republican colleagues in the Senate to work on getting SNAP cuts taken out of the bill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Powys County Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Powys County Times
Morrisons to revamp UK stores to offer 'farm shop' produce
A major revamp to Morrisons supermarkets across the UK will see shoppers offered a more premium 'farm shop' experience. The chain revealed that it would be undertaking the transition as part of a fresh initiative aiming to entice "amateur home cooks" with fresh produce. Customers can expect products like those found in farm shops, featuring 'superior quality goods and enticing pre-prepared foods such as marinated meats and breaded fish ready for cooking', the Grocer revealed. Andrew Staniland, Morrisons' new trading director, told the Grocer:"The crisper, cleaner look is underscoring our value credentials, together with a tighter focus on customer favourites, some great innovations, and some wonderful new products." The changes are expected to be rolled out in the next few months across all of Morrisons UK stores. Morrisons in Warrington was one of the early stores to experience the revamp, where around 2,500 stock keeping units (SKUs) were replaced by 500 fresh products. SKUs represent individual product lines. The revamp to stores comes as it was revealed earlier this week that Morrisons would be expanding its More Card loyalty scheme to include over 300 big name brands. Those who have a More Card can now earn points shopping via the Morrisons More App or More website, with partners including big brands such as eBay and Just Eat. Customers need to log into their Morrisons More App or the More website to browse, then click through to a partner retailer and complete their purchase. It also emerged on Wednesday (May 21) that Morrisons had signed an exclusive deal to sponsor the fourth season of Jeremy Clarkson's Amazon Prime hit Clarkson's Farm.
