Back to News
Breakout indie band Westside Cowboy on rejecting tech and loving imperfection: ‘We’re not hermits!’
EntertainmentMusicMusic News•August 24, 2026 at 3:00 PMNational

Breakout indie band Westside Cowboy on rejecting tech and loving imperfection: ‘We’re not hermits!’

By Daniel Dylan Wray•The Guardian Music

Despite their fast rise, the Manchester indie-pop band are happily going at their own pace. But what – if anything – did they learn from the advice of Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon?When Westside Cowboy played Later … With Jools Holland earlier this year, fellow guests Duran Duran offered some advice. “Nerves are just your mind telling you that you’re about to do something extraordinary,” Simon Le Bon told the band, who were “cacking their pants”. Le Bon’s words didn’t really help. “I was hoping for some real advice,” says vocalist and guitarist Reuben Haycocks, laughing. “Like, where do I look?”The Manchester band have had to learn the ropes quickly. By 2025, only two years after forming, they had won Glastonbury’s emerging talent competition, supported Geese on the year’s buzziest indie tour and signed to a major label. “We’d be lying if we said there wasn’t a little bit of pressure,” says vocalist and guitarist Jimmy Bradbury. Continue reading...

Despite their fast rise, the Manchester indie-pop band are happily going at their own pace. But what – if anything – did they learn from the advice of Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon?

When Westside Cowboy played Later … With Jools Holland earlier this year, fellow guests Duran Duran offered some advice. “Nerves are just your mind telling you that you’re about to do something extraordinary,” Simon Le Bon told the band, who were “cacking their pants”. Le Bon’s words didn’t really help. “I was hoping for some real advice,” says vocalist and guitarist Reuben Haycocks, laughing. “Like, where do I look?”

The Manchester band have had to learn the ropes quickly. By 2025, only two years after forming, they had won Glastonbury’s emerging talent competition, supported Geese on the year’s buzziest indie tour and signed to a major label.“We’d be lying if we said there wasn’t a little bit of pressure,” says vocalist and guitarist Jimmy Bradbury.

Continue reading...

Related News

Sheherazaad: Khudgarzi review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month
EntertainmentMusicMusic News

Sheherazaad: Khudgarzi review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month

(Erased Tapes)Dreamy, reverb-laden arrangements, virtuosic vocals and echoes of PJ Harvey and Massive Attack make this d...

The Guardian Music16 minutes ago
Snoh Aalegra: Legendary Love review – raw R&B talent restrained by reverence for the greats
EntertainmentMusicMusic News

Snoh Aalegra: Legendary Love review – raw R&B talent restrained by reverence for the greats

(Stem)Her truly remarkable, Sade-ish voice is hypnotic against some dizzyingly plush production, but a modern spin on 80...

The Guardian Music46 minutes ago
‘Would you breastfeed your own father?’ The goofy, spiky world of art-pop duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul
EntertainmentMusicMusic News

‘Would you breastfeed your own father?’ The goofy, spiky world of art-pop duo Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul

After wittily blending pop and politics on their debut, the Belgians are now processing their personal lives. We join th...

The Guardian Music46 minutes ago
Blink-182 to make Download debut as 2027 festival headliners
EntertainmentMusic News

Blink-182 to make Download debut as 2027 festival headliners

Evanescence and Bring Me The Horizon will also top the bill at the rock and metal festival.

BBC Entertainment & Arts56 minutes ago
Migrants offered help to fake artworks to gain UK 'talent' visas - BBC investigation finds
UK NewsEntertainmentMusic News

Migrants offered help to fake artworks to gain UK 'talent' visas - BBC investigation finds

Going undercover to expose an elaborate fraud aimed at obtaining fast-track settlement for wealthy migrants.

BBC Entertainment & Arts2 hours ago
Hamlet Hail to the Thief could have been rotten but redeems Radiohead’s ‘record that got away’ | Alexis Petridis
EntertainmentMusicMusic News

Hamlet Hail to the Thief could have been rotten but redeems Radiohead’s ‘record that got away’ | Alexis Petridis

The band’s uneven 2003 album has been judiciously reworked to accompany a staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy with quite ex...

The Guardian Music2 hours ago

More From These Categories

Entertainment

View All

No other articles in this category yet.

No other articles in this category yet.

Music News

View All

No other articles in this category yet.