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We catch up with singer, musician and mod icon Miles Kane

From being a Little Flame to a Rascal and a Last Shadow Puppet, Liverpudlian mod brother Miles Kane has built a stellar career spanning more than 20 years. Now, happily ploughing his own furrow again, he returns to Nottingham next month to promote his latest long-player, Sunlight In The Shadows, with a date at Rough Trade. LeftLion caught up with him to bask in the rays of promotional duties to talk Nashville, Nottingham and Northern curry sauce…

LeftLion Issue #187 September 2025

Out of time: a idiosyncratic history of adult cinemas and shops in Notts

Sex sells….or so we’ve heard. We take a look back at Nottingham’s history of ‘adult’ entertainment cinemas and shops.

From grassroots to Fields: we speak with rising local band Drury Hill

Nottingham born-and-bred Drury Hill are one of the emerging bands repopulating the local grassroots music scene with a softer rock, post-folk influenced sound. Transitioning between softly lilting, storytelling tracks and jangly, spirited choruses you find yourself humming days afterwards, the four-piece’s live gigs and recent EP Fields capture a fittingly self-described "soft rockin’, slacker poppin’’ voice. But their DIY, offbeat and grassroots ethos runs deeper than their distinct sound; Drury Hill have always been shaped by the band members’ shared adolescence in Nottingham. We met with Charley to talk about the ways a sense of place seeps into their songwriting, the nostalgia that infuses Fields, and the support of the grassroots music scene...

Feeling supersonic: how Sonic Boom Festival is boosting the arts in Burton-on-Trent

Sonic Boom Festival might only be in its second year, but it’s already made a mighty bang in the nearby Burton-on-Trent — and if founders and organisers Chris Baldwin and Andi Jepson have anything to do with it, the aftershocks are just getting started.

Overheard in Notts: September 2025

It's another instalment of Overheard in Notts - this month we focus in on pork pies, cable cars, and the Morrisey of Mapperley...

LeftLion Interviews Podcast #12: Writer James Graham on Dear England, Sherwood, Broadway, London theatre and writing for stage and screen

Our latest episode is a conversation with the Notts-born Showrunner of BBC TV's Sherwood, who is taking Notts to New York stages and returning home to celebrate the 160th Birthday of Nottingham's Theatre Royal...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #30: Notts music we're currently spinning

We've reached the thirtieth edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens! This week, our music team reviews new releases from katie., Lucas, MCØ and Bradley McKnight...

Playwright Caroline Bird on writing The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse

The Playhouse continues its streak of consequential new plays with the upcoming The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse, starring Maxine Peake behind those infamous horn-rimmed spectacles. Caroline Bird speaks to Leftlion about how and why she wrote about the 'most dangerous woman in Britain'... 

Left Stag: August 2025

Our man at Mansfield Town FC, Josh Osoro Pickering, is back with the latest musings on a tough start to the season for the Stags...

A generation on pause: we speak to NEET young people in Notts

You may or may not have heard the term NEET before, standing for Not in Employment, Education, or Training. It describes a wide group of people that could be made up of young carers, people with severe medical conditions, or even people on gap years, as well as many other circumstances. We spoke to some Nottingham folks who have found themselves in these kinds of situations. 

Theatre Interview: Dan Lewis

Steptoe and Son ride again at the Nottingham Arts Theatre. Actor Dan Lewis shares his trip on the rag and bone cart as the curmudgeonly Albert... 

Gig review: Arab Strap at Rescue Rooms, with Stuart Pearce

Arab Strap are the Scottish indie rockers who time forgot. Formed in sometime in the mid-1990s, reformed in 2016 after a 10-year hiatus, and intermittently but definitively performing music ever since, they had not appeared in Nottingham for almost two decades. That changed this month, and LeftLion's Michael Prince was on hand to document the show...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #29: Notts music we're currently spinning

Summer's not over yet, and the new music just keeps coming, too! In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens for 2025, our music team reviews new releases from Blu Syrup, The Doubtfires, Long Pockets, Michael Vickers and Nicole Hannah...

Pick Six: Heidi Hargreaves

For this month’s Pick Six we turned to Heidi Hargreaves: co-founder and creative director at Dukki Gifts. 

LeftLion's Latest Listens #28: Notts music we're currently spinning

With summer at its height, here's what our music team has been listening to recently. In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, we review releases from Antonio Panzera, Marvin's Revenge, Richard Snow and EMiDORA & Darling I Dreamt

Book review: The Undisputed King of Selston by Danny Scott

Writer Danny Scott’s memoir, The Undisputed King of Selston, delves into Nottinghamshire's rich mining history from a personal and emotional perspective. Marcus Lawrence delves into the journalist’s newest book, and his deep-rooted, generational connections to the city.

Behind the curtain of Niche Artefact: the Notts collective combining cabaret, art, and storytelling

Studio 54, surrealism, mythology, erotica, the Golden Age of Hollywood… These are just a few of the intriguing themes of Niche Artefact, an artist showcase combining drag, cabaret, circus, art, and storytelling. Ahead of their two-year anniversary showcase next month, we spoke to founder Robin Da Silva to find out how they are bringing flamboyance, inclusivity, and creativity to the city’s creative LGBTQI+ scene…

Hang Linton on making good trouble, second-hand iPods and playing Nottingham's woodworking studio

Ahead of their forthcoming gig at By Our Hands We Make Our Way this month, we caught up with Leeds-based interdisciplinary artist Hang Linton...

Art Works: Solomon Lewis Hunter, leader and costume maker at Inspire Urself carnival troupe

For this month’s Artworks, ahead of Nottingham Carnival, we spoke to Solomon Lewis Hunter, who leads and designs costumes for the local carnival troupe Inspire Urself. 

Left Brian: 2025 Season Preview

Our monthly footy columns are back and we are completely delighted to unveil Julie Pritchard, the creator of the classic nineties 'Brian' fanzine, as our new Nottingham Forest FC columnist...

Street photographer Charlie Valentine talks Nottingham: Urban Decline, her series currently displayed at New Art Exchange

When it comes to versatile photographers, Charlie Valentine certainly stands out in Notts, having made her name with grimy, analogue street photography, printmaking, and photography workshops. Currently, her series Nottingham: Urban Decline is featured at the ongoing Open exhibition at the New Art Exchange - she tells us all about this series, plus life as a photographer.

Allies and activism: Palestine solidarity in Nottingham

A campaigner on a range of issues, Louise Regan is the National Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Chair of the Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign and an Executive Member of the National Education Union (NEU). With the conversation around the Palestine movement increasing, we spoke to Louise about her previous visits to Palestine, the current aims of the PSC, and why this is an issue that has drawn huge protests in Nottingham.

Back to the future: chatting with the dual winners of Future Sound of Notts 2025

Back in July, what could safely be described as Nottingham’s most exciting music competition: Future Sound of Nottingham, returned to Rock City – eight local acts taking the stage to showcase their talent. R&B singer Saffron Gray and alt-rock trio Archy & the Astronauts were crowned dual winners, and bagged nothing less than a main-stage slot at Splendour Festival later last month. We thought that it was the perfect time to catch up with these two acts (before they’re swept up by the national music press, of course)... 

Left Magpie: 2025 Season Preview

Our monthly Notts County column is back after a hiatus and now penned by Julian McDougall, formerly of the beloved Notts County fanzine The Pie and currently of the excellent When Saturday Comes magazine. Here's his predictions for the coming season at Meadow Lane...