Rhodri Marsden (born 1 October 1971) is a London-based writer and musician.
Journalism
Prior to the demise of the print edition of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', Marsden wrote a technology column for nearly ten years, along with other columns on a range of subjects for the daily paper and the Saturday magazine. He previously wrote ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
Music Monthly's'' "Guitarist Wanted" column, which required him to go undercover to audition for bands that he had no intention of joining. Apart from music and technology writing, Marsden is well known for his humorous, offbeat features written in an understated, self-deprecating style. Other publications he has written for include ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', ''
Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an engine ...
'', ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', ''
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'', and ''
Olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...
'' magazine. His first book, ''FWD This Link'', was published by
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...
in 2008 and his next, ''The Next Big Thing'' followed a year later. A third, ''Crap Dates: Disastrous Encounters From Single Life'', was published in February 2012 and featured stories of people's terrible dates that were initially shared on Twitter and subsequently went viral. In 2017 his book ''A Very British Christmas'' was published by
Harper Collins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...
.
Music
From 1990–95 Marsden played guitar in London art-punk collective The Keatons, who notably supported
Blur on their first tour of the UK but were thrown off for unprofessional conduct – as documented in Blur's biography, ''3862 Days''. He also sang with Gag, who recorded a
Peel Session
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
in 1993 – although Marsden had an earlier run-in with
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
at the age of 17 when his
fanzine
A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...
, Glottal Stop, was the subject of a piece on Peel's show on
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cambridgeshire.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the Cambridge Business Park on Cowley Road in Cambridge.
According to ...
.
In 2007 he worked on a DIY music project called "The Schema" – an attempt to get a single written, recorded, released and promoted on the internet in the space of a month. The accompanying video, directed by
Alex de Campi
Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director, comics writer and columnist.
Career
Comics
Alex de Campi wrote 2005's mini-series ''Smoke'' (published by IDW Publishing, art by Igor Kordey), which was nominated for the Eisner Awar ...
and featuring
Marysia Kay
Marysia Kay (born 14 December 1975 in Kilmarnock, Scotland) is a retired Scottish actress, singer, and fight performer. She is best known for her role in '' Forest of the Damned''.
Early life
Kay was born in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, in the ...
, became a hit on YouTube, but the single sold poorly.
He currently plays with
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, England, by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside. He is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history.
Beginning as a punk-inspired collecti ...
,
Stars in Battledress
Stars in Battledress (SiB) was an organisation of entertainers who were members of the British Armed Forces during World War II.
History
In Britain, during the Second World War, entertainment was considered an essential to keep morale high. ...
offshoot Lost Crowns, Kenny Process Team and the TV theme tribute band
Dream Themes. He also played regularly in
Frank Sidebottom's Oh Blimey Big Band before creator Chris Sievey's death in 2010. A multi-instrumentalist, he has produced many recordings for
Lush's ECC record label, and artists including
Spearmint
Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...
. He has also released three albums of his own music under the name The Free French on Spearmint's record label, Hitback Records.
In October 2019, along with a group of musicians calling themselves Article 54, he released ''The Hustle'', an eight track concept disco symphony album with tracks inspired by the UK's
Brexit negotiations
Between 2017 and 2019, representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union negotiated the terms for Brexit, the planned withdrawal of the UK from the EU. These negotiations arose following the decision of the Parliament of the United ...
. Tracks from the album were debuted on the 10 October edition of the
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
political programme ''
Brexitcast
''Brexitcast'' is a British political talkshow and television programme produced by BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC News. It was launched on 5 June 2017 following the success of ''Electioncast'', a podcast that had covered that year's general electio ...
''. It then appeared on the iTunes UK Album Chart, where it quickly began to outsell ''
ABBA Gold
''ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits'' is a compilation album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 21 September 1992 through PolyGram and released in 2008 through Universal Music Australia, making it the first compilation to be released after t ...
''. The album appeared on the
Official UK Charts on 18 October, debuting at number 56 on the download chart.
References
External links
Rhodri.biz Marsden's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsden, Rhodri
Living people
1971 births
British bloggers
British male journalists
Alumni of City, University of London
English rock guitarists
Scritti Politti members
The Independent people
British columnists
Male bloggers
21st-century British guitarists