Stony Stratford, the self-proclaimed “Jewel of Milton Keynes”. It’s not well known for its underground scene but more for its pleasant pubs, folk festivals and curry houses.

Tomorrow (Saturday 19th), Stony Paint Jam are coming to town, with the aim to raise funds for the much anticipated two day festival set to take place in Stony Stratford later in August.

This weekend’s fundraiser is a cultural takeover in a unlikely venue, The Vaults Bar. Better known for its Irish jam sessions on a Sunday afternoon, the venue will play host to a number of live painters and DJ’s kicking out some killer basslines.

The night will also feature Beatchecks favourite local artist Jamfree, who will be painting alongside several other seriously talented painters.

Entry is a easy £3 on the door, extra donations will be welcomed.

All of the profits will get pumped back in to fund the large scale free event “Stony Paint Jam” held in several locations indoors and out in August. So party now for a better festival later, result!

You can find all the information your heat desires on the fundraisers event page on Facebook.

Flipsideup! have been playing the MK scene for over 8 years, that’s some hardcore gig hours knocked up.

This Friday sees them  celebrate the launch of their first ever EP with a headline show at The Craufurd Arms. So we caught up with Guy Alderton from the band to find out more.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name’s Guy Alderton & I play guitar / backing vocals in FlipSideUp!

Describe the band and it’s sound for those who don’t know.

The band started way back in 2004 with me and a few friends jamming in my bedroom… as the years have moved on, the line ups have changed numerous times but one thing that has never changed is the name… FlipSideUp!

I grew up listening to bands like; Blink-182, The Offspring, Green Day & Deftones… as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more varied in my tastes, which is portrayed in the music I write, but what has always remained is a love for driven distorted guitar tones and catchy choruses, which is the band all over.

I always struggle to describe the bands sounds, but the best description I’ve heard is “pop punk with attack”.

What’s in store at this Fridays gig?

Friday’s show is the first time we have had the opportunity to headline a show in MK & it’s quite an honour for us that Jason Hall at the Craufurd Arms has given us the opportunity.

We’re kind of known for our energetic live shows but we have a few special treats for Friday, which you are unlikely to have seen if you have seen us live before… anybody who knows me for my solo work may well have something to sing-a-long to on the night.

We’ve also got a really great line up of bands on the bill.  I’ve been a fan of Lost Boys for ages now, so to have them supporting us is a big moment for me.

We played a show with Our Time Down There a few months ago and they were really cool dudes, so it’s going to be awesome to watch them again,  we also have MK’s Breakout! DJ’s spinning tracks in between all the bands to keep the music going from start to finish.

Highlight of being in the band? (other than talking to us of course Oh and this Friday )

That’s a hard one… there have been some great times over the years… I think personally, my fondest moment is when we played a show back in 2006 at the Pitz with Graveltrap, Fell Silent & Odd Man Out – we were all only 16(ish) and Graveltrap & Paul Rivers were kind enough to let us play, despite a complete lack of following at the time… we only played for 20 mins but the venue was sold out and it felt so great to watch so many people enjoy your music.

Tell us about the ep:

The EP is a short but sweet collection of 3 songs written from three different stages of the more recent FSU life cycle – we wanted to treat the EP as an introduction to the modern FSU & as a teaser of what to expect from us going forward.

We recorded the EP with Timfy James (Haktavist/Heart of A Coward)  @ Core Studios in Milton Keynes and I can safely say, I’m really proud of the finished product.

Interesting Fact… we had over 16 people guest on the gang vocals for the record!

Where can people find out about the band and you’re music.

You can follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/flipsideup.uk) & Twitter (@flipsideup)

The EP is officially released on May 18^th & we will be selling physical copies of the record at the Craufurd Arms show & on our website, along with a full range of new t-shirts (links below).

The record will also be going live on most online stores, including iTunes, Napster & Spotify around May 18^th (subject to each sites individual publishing dates).

Flipsideup! will be headlining this Friday 18^th at the Craufurd Arms in Wolverton, more information on the show can be found on Facebook by clicking here

Here at Beatcheck HQ we have been very busy beavering away in the rain to create exciting things for this year. We are wide eyed and soggy tailed for 2012.

This podcast should help us all dry off and rejoice in the dampest drought known to man.

The Shack man himself – Elite Force, donates the first track on the podcast treats, taken from his incredible RVMPD2 collection, Come Together is a stunning Revamp of Primal Scream, Deadmau5 and Mr Shack himself. This track makes us smile, a lot. We like to smile, even if it is a damp one… thanks Simon and please never stop making beats.

In the main mix is Beatcheck’s favourite urban poet, singer and MC, Klumzy Tung with Mr Dero and their THE BOOK US MIXTAPE, a mix featuring some of their new and older tracks, custom vocals and a few sneaky peeks of tracks from their forthcoming album.

If that hasn’t got you excited then knowing that the mix also features the likes of JFB and Beardyman among many others might get your blood pumping, your feet jumping and your pet dog leg humping (too much?No? Ok)

That, Beatcheck Monkeys, is it for this podcast. You can download it direct from us for free by clicking here, (right click save target if you need) or direct from Itunes by clicking here

If you love Elite Force, follow is every move on Facebook and listen to his every groove on his own site.

Not content with just following Klumzy Tung and Mr Dero on Facebook, then watch them in action in this mental promo video.

It’s not everyday that Sir Paul McCartney plays a tune in honour of a Milton Keynes legend, but the Beatles star has done just that.

Sir Paul released a video this week paying tribute to Jim Marshall, creator of the Marshall amp, who died in the concrete city on 5 April. Jim was the driving force behind Marshall Amplification, which is proudly based in Milton Keynes.

The clip shows Sir Paul playing guitar during a session with his band. In it he says: “This goes to to the family and the friends of Jim Marshall, who passed away recently. The great Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall Amps. Jim made it loud. We wanna thank everybody, we wanna thank all his family, we wanna thank Jim mainly. Man, we love you. Our tribute to you…”

This Sunday sees us throw our first party of the year, so we thought we would make it a free one. Ain’t we nice?

To get you in the party mood (if you’re not already) we thought we would share a few beats from the Beatcheck basement, where our band of dirty residents who are playing the free party, beaver away creating only the finest cuts of Breaks, Beats and Basslines for the party people of Milton Keynes.

The show is free entry but we politely ask for donations on the door. 50 per cent of the profits will go to Beatcheck’s favourite charity fundraisers, Music 4 Meningitis, who raise funds directly for The Meningitis Research Foundation.

A contribution of just £2 will help feed the Beatcheck Monkey’s addiction to free party sounds for many months to come, and do some good at the same time.

See you Easter Sunday for some dance floor basslines.

Last week, the Xscape enlisted the talents of UK flatland champion Keelan Phillips, James White and members of “Got to Dance” semi-finalists QMX  for a Fasion Flash Mob.

Shopping can be pretty dull, especially in CMK, so we say – more of this creativeness please.

A Milton Keynes beathead was so annoyed with the state of the concrete city’s street signs he went and cleaned them himself last week.

After the Council told drum n bass DJ Warren Delicatebeats that their was no budget to clean city signs, he took to the streets armed with nothing more than a mop. a bucket, and a DIY mentality.

“This is what I can pull off in thee hours. Imagine what a whole heap of us could do,” said Warren.

The Council declined to comment. Possibly because it would cost too much to bother with a response.

Warren, we like your style.

Milton Keynes’ biggest nightclub shut down this weekend, leaving a big cheese-shaped space in the concrete city’s late night scene.

Staff and promoters at Oceana in the Xscape buildng were informed the club would no longer open and all future events have been removed from the venue’s website.

There were fears for the 2,200 capacity club’s closure in October 2011 when its parent company Luminar Leisure went into administration.  It then appeared to have been saved, but this weekend’s developments have sealed the clubs’s fate.

Oceana opened in 2002, and has since pulled in thousands of people each week. Loved by some for its party mentality, and slated by others for its cheesy tunes, there  were mixed reactions from MK folk about its closure.

James wrote on the Beatcheck Facebook wall: “Can’t say I’m particularly disappointed by this news. About time.”

But others warned that we have lost another venue in a city with an already minimal choice. Claire wrote: “Lets face it, it wasn’t the best place to go in MK, but to be fair there’s not many decent places.”

Stpehen Lynn at Luminar, which owns the current lease, blamed the closure on failed negotiations with its landlords. He said: “Luminar has fought hard to keep Oceana open, but when prolonged negotiations with the venue landlords broke down, Luminar has had no choice but to cease trading the club at the Xscape complex.

A spokesperson for Xscape told Beatcheck that he expects a new owner to re-open the venue, but was unable to confirm when: “The lease at Oceana Xscape Milton Keynes expires on 1 April,” he said: “The current operator is therefore vacating the property. We are delighted to confirm that a new operator has signed a lease.”

While Oceana was never a world-class clubbing mecca, any loss of a venue for the Milton Keynes scene can never be a good thing. We will wait to see what the future may bring, but in the meantime Beatcheck will be wearing black. And cheese.

You should know about the ‘dirty little art hole’ that is The Watershed by now, and this weekend sees the venue celebrate its first birthday.

Screw cake, jelly and musical chairs. These guys have created a version of Reading Festival – only you won’t need to sell your mother to Bulgarian pirates as a sex slave to get a ticket for this one.

Like Reading it’s spread over three days with a whole load of bands. That includes The Wondersmiths, who are not far off the Maccabees – who are playing Reading.

Its also got our favourite reggae rulers, the Dub Lions, who are like… the Dub Lions. They’re not playing Reading, but does Reading know anyway?

The fun Kicks off this Friday. Weekend tickets are £10, and day tickets are £5.

Find out more on the event page.

So Milton Keynes missed out on city status yet again – helping to prove that buying in a football club, building an IKEA the size of Saturn, and filling the town centre with every chain store and bar this side of the Sun does not make a city.

But hey, we’re still a town, and that’s ok. To make us feel better about it, here’s Beatcheck’s run down of the top five town tracks of all time.

Enjoy, townies.

1. The Specials, Ghost Town

2. The Killers, Sam’s Town

3. Lipps Inc., Funky Town

4. The Drums, Skippin’ Town

5. Less Than Jake, History of a Boring Town