Journalism

Rhodri Marsden currently writes a weekly column for The Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

called "Life On Marsden", and a monthly "Cyberculture" spread for the same newspaper about technology and the internet. He previously wrote The Observer

The Observer

The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

 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

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, Time Out and Olive

Olive (magazine)

olive is a modern food magazine published by Immediate Media Co. It was launched in 2003 and is an upmarket, monthly magazine in the stable that also includes BBC Good Food, bbcgoodfood.com, Easy Cook and Vegetarian Good Food.-Content:...

magazine. His first book, "FWD This Link" was published by Rough Guides in 2008 and his next, "The Next Big Thing" followed a year later. A third, "Crap Dates: Disastrous Encounters From Single Life", is published in February 2011 and features stories of people's terrible dates that were initially shared on Twitter and subsequently went viral.

Music

From 1990-95 Marsden played guitar in London art-punk collective The Keatons, who notably supported Blur

Blur (band)

Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

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 in 1993 – although Marsden had an earlier run-in with John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 at the age of 17 when his fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

, Glottal Stop, was the subject of a piece on Peel's show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

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

Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director and comics writer.-Biography:De Campi was educated at Princeton University, majoring in Art History. Prior to her writing career, she worked as an investment banker in Hong Kong...

 and featuring Marysia Kay

Marysia Kay

Marysia Kay is a Scottish actress and fight performer.-Biography:Kay grew up in Ayrshire and attended Glasgow University. She moved to London in 2002, and in 2006, studied drama at City Literary Institute in Covent Garden and stage combat with BASSC...

, became a hit on YouTube, but the single sold poorly.

He currently plays with Scritti Politti

Scritti Politti

Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Although there have been various changes to the line-up, Cardiff-born singer-songwriter Green Gartside was the founding member of the band and the only member to have remained throughout the group's...

, Keith John Adams

Keith John Adams

Keith John Adams is a British singer-songwriter. He makes garage pop music on his own and with a number of revolving collaborators, some from the UK and some from the US, which he tours regularly....

 and post-Do Me Bad Things

Do Me Bad Things

Do Me Bad Things were a nine-piece blues/rock/soul/metal band from Croydon, London, who formed in 2003 and split up in January 2006.-History:...

 project Gentlemen's Agreement, and played regularly in Frank Sidebottom

Frank Sidebottom

Christopher Mark Sievey was an English musician and comedian known for fronting the band The Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1984 onwards....

's Oh Blimey Big Band before creator Chris Sievey's death in 2010. He has produced several recordings for the band Spearmint

Spearmint (band)

Spearmint are a London-based indie pop band, founded in 1995. Their founding members were Shirley Lee , Simon Calnan , Martin Talbot , and Ronan Larvor . Talbot left soon afterward, to be replaced by James Parsons. Dickon Edwards later ended up joining as second guitarist, though leaving in 2000 to...

, and has released three albums of his own music under the name The Free French on Spearmint's record label, Hitback Records.

External links

• Rhodri.biz, Marsden's official site
• The Free French official band site
• Interview with Rhodri