To paraphrase WH Auden, we live in an age when the daubs of schoolchildren are ranked above the great masterpieces, but this hasn't dissuaded the geniuses from their toil. Take Jason Rebello, a man who, when he first came to the attention of the public and critics, was hailed as...

'No political or cultural figurehead has ever come up with the phrase "a British dream", so Mod appeals to me politically because it's the closest we've ever come to having an American Dream.'

So says Richard Weight, author of Mod: A Very British Style, a book which re-contextualises a social...

The passing of two decades has seen London change, its charged, febrile atmosphere but a memory as the streets - once trod by soul boys, Mods and jazz heads; stylists one and all - now lie choked by the red-trouser brigade who eye the world through their white acetate specs...

'You have to leave your ego at the door when making music,' says Damon Minchella after the gig. 'Great music is a series of happy accidents which all come together. At times there's a quality at a subconscious level among musicians which makes for great music, but you can't plan...

The art world has been infected with the bacillus of commercialisation, a world now concerned with the shiftless tastes of Joe Normal.

One does not cavil to play devil's advocate. One is merely bored of this antiques roadshow of kultur. The post-Olympics dead time has seen a glut of art...

As The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows' fades out over the PA, the feedback groan of Barrie Cadogan's Gibson splits the air, a white umbilical guitar lead coiling obscenely into the amp. Five minutes into the gig and the band has put a grip on a crowd who twist with delight...

Serious-minded songwriters have returned. Gone is the foul, metastasising era of Stock Aitken and Waterman and their 'Hit Factory', swept aside at long last by a tide of musicians dedicated to making music of depth that resonates with a music-loving public, a public which is awakening from its own bad...

Her day begins the same way each morning. 'I get up at seven, no later than nine, and exercise first thing,' says Shea, her head cocked gently to one side upon a Nefertiti neck. Lissom and poised immediately after her showcase gig at Floripa on Great Eastern Street, her fitness...

They're propping up the bar at The Blue Posts on Berwick Street in Soho, a duo enmeshed in a knockabout conversation about the politics of music.

'I was living in Brighton when I was 21, then moved back to Southampton,' says rhythm guitarist Josh Butcher, as he fidgets with an...

The shop at 2 Marshall Street in Soho is something of an Aladdin's Cave, the headless mannequins in the window the sharpest-dressed sentries you'll find in London, standing guard as the guv'nor of the place presides behind his desk.

Renowned for his iconic suits, Mark Powell remains at...

Foy Vance stands out back in the yard of the Islington Assembly Halls and rolls a cigarette. It's two hours before showtime and he's in a ruminative mood. 'When I was a kid, singing was second nature to me,' he says, as we clink bottle necks.

With the bevelled face...

The stars and director of new British film Vinyl chat to Jason Holmes about how pulling together on a small-budget film makes for some tidy work.

Vinyl's premise is a simple one, based on the real-life hoax carried out in 2004 by The Alarm's Mike Peters: ageing punks, keen to...

Jason Holmes talks with Alastair Brett - ex-legal manager to The Times, playwright and author of Gibraltar - to discuss how the role of the press has changed in the 25 years since the SAS infamously killed three IRA bombers on the Rock.

'I have written what you might call...

A young Arab fisherman is fixing his nets as my cab pulls into the harbour front. He looks up and then out to sea, shielding his eyes with his hand. 'Benny', my Sephardic cab driver from Lod, south-east of Tel Aviv, drops me off, and not a moment too soon,...

Possessing that louche, rough and tumble aspect of a north London music venue, The Finsbury crouches on Green Lanes at Finsbury Park's eastern edge. It's packed, the floor wet with spilt ale, the air thick with cat calls.

It's 30 minutes to showtime, and Jamie Jazz, the lead singer and...

Stand-up comic, actor and writer Michael Smiley talks to Jason Holmes about how a life forged in the white heat of Belfast brought him to London and his heart's delight.

He's a strange brew, at once funny, then turning on a dime, as serious as a prophet. Born in Belfast...

Jason Holmes chats with Paul Andrew Williams, writer and director of Song For Marion which is released this week, starring Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Arterton

Few modern filmmakers have managed to successfully yoke the disciplines of scriptwriting and directing in quite the same way as Paul Andrew Williams....

Elfin vocalist Grace Lightman, 20, stands on the lip of the stage backed by four serious young musicians. The Hypnotic Eye make a photogenic combo, which may explain the evening's presence of several photographers who are eager to capture a band who look as if they've stepped straight out of...

Nancy is nervous. She sniffs the peanuts before snaffling them, her svelte body aquiver. Terry Jones looks at her with benevolent eyes. 'I've never been able to fathom Nancy,' he says, gently touching her face.

'Another pint?' he then asks, and makes for the bar, leaving me alone with...

The world of boxing is populated by men who commit violence within the confines of a ring. These are the fighters. Men like Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Frazier have lit up the lives of sports fans throughout the ages. But another breed of man exists;...