Arts Interviews/Features

Forging Ahead - an interview with rock singer Chris Cornell which appeared in New Zealand newspaper Herald On Sunday. See Subba-Cultcha.com for another short piece drawn from the same face-to-face interview or go here for the full in-depth feature.

Shaking the Family Tree is an interview for UK music site Subba-Cultcha with Cally Calloman, who runs the estate of Nick Drake.

The Libertine: here's Communication Breakdown, a piece about that noble songwriting tradition, the phone song - and here's Reasoning The Need, a piece about metaphysical poetry and its reflections in unexpected places - like rock lyrics.

My author profile Peter Ackroyd: Man of Vision appeared in this British industry magazine Chapter and Verse.

Here's an interview with legendary music producer, Steve Lillywhite - published as an exclusive for the Chris Cornell Fan Page.

An interview for UK music site Subba-Cultcha with eclectic young British artist Martin Grech.

This profile of opera singer Kate Royal appeared in HMV's glossy customer magazine HMV Choice.

LA Confidential is an exclusive interview with multi-tasking musicians Jack Irons, Alain Johannes & the late Natasha Shneider of rock bands Pearl Jam, QOTSA and Eleven which appeared in UK glossy music magazine Burn.

From this glossy county magazine Cambridgeshire Journal, here's an interview with Stephen Cleobury, director of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.

Fiction and Poetry

Northwords Now: My poem-cycle Selkie: Songs For A Boy Who Drowned was published in this Scottish literary magazine. It's now become the libretto for a new choral work by a local Scottish composer.

Fictitious Force: this American magazine specialises in slipstream fiction and published my music-themed short story, entitled NA/578934.

The Libertine: this new and vibrant UK magazine is devoted to poetry and song lyrics as well as interviews and articles. Their launch issue included my lyric for Species 8472 song, Wild Sapphires Bloom and I've since become one of their regular contributors.

Arts Reviews

...read more of my reviews at Amazon

Rock/Pop

Shakenstir: Chris Cornell live in Birmingham

Subba-Cultcha: Tori Amos, American Doll Posse

Counterculture: Radiohead live in Edinburgh

Folk/World/Jazz/Country

HMV Choice: Beginner's Guide to Scotland

Subba-Cultcha: Reem Kelani, Sprinting Gazelle

Subba-Cultcha: Johnny Cash in Ireland

Classical/Crossover

HMV Choice: John Rutter, The Platinum Collection

Subba-Cultcha: Apocalyptica, Worlds Collide

HMV Choice: Mozart, Don Giovanni

Movies/Games

Subba-Cultcha: Casino Royale

Subba-Cultcha: Shadow of Angmar

Books

Zero: Brain Candy - two pages of book reviews

Subba-Cultcha: Margaret Drabble, The Sea Lady

General Interest & Lifestyle

Survival Books: Living and Working in London was a book-length guide to the city aimed at foreigners arriving in London. Written to commission for Survival Books in the UK.

Dogs Today: Baby Love is a how-to feature on the best ways to introduce the family dog to a new human arrival!

Mensa Magazine: Highland Flings is a feature for the members' magazine of the famous high-IQ society on the experience of downshifting in rural Scotland, with interviews and case histories.

Back to writing homepage for Clare O'Brien

E-mail me for a full CV or more writing samples/clips if required...