February 2011

February 2011 1February 2011 1

www.brumnotes.com free

february 2011

music and lifestyle for the west midlands

Featuring:The VaccinesChapel ClubDutch UnclesEsben & The WitchThe Whigs

Plus:MogwaiBen CalvertDakota BeatsMark Steel

New Music Special

And… Leftfoot Forward: Meet The Men Behind Birmingham’s Underground Clubbing Renaissance

Also Inside: Win! The Chance To Meet My Chemical Romance Backstage In Birmingham // Win! Tickets To The Nme Awards Tour, The Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour And More // And, Your Comprehensive What’s On Guide For February

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CONTENTSBrum Notes Magazine120 The GreenhouseThe Custard FactoryDigbethBirminghamB9 4AA

Contact:[email protected] 224 7363

Advertising:Rates start from £75.Contact: 0121 224 7363 or [email protected]:StickupMedia! 0121 224 7364

Editor: Chris MoriartyContributorsWords: Tom Pell, Andy Roberts, Jon Pritchard, James Collins, Latti Bamisedun, Ben Russell, Saima Razzaq, Ross Cotton, Simon Harper, Johnny Dexter, Daron BillingsPictures: Wayne Fox, Jade Sukiya, Richard ShakespeareDesign: Sleepy.me.uk, Henry Parker, Andy Aitken

All content © Brum Notes Magazine. Views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Brum Notes Magazine.

While all care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of content, Brum Notes Magazine will not be held liable for any errors or losses claimed to have been incurred by any errors. Advertising terms and conditions available on request.

Follow us on Twitter: @BrumNotesMagJoin us on Facebook:www.facebook.com/BrumNotesMagazinewww.brumnotes.com

REGULARS:NEWSLIVE REVIEWSCLUB PHOTOSFOOD & DRINKWHAT’S ON - your new look guide to music, clubs and comedy

COMPETITIONS:WIN THE CHANCE TO MEET MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE AND WATCH THEM LIVE, PLUS TICKETS TO SEE GOOD CHARLOTTE AND MORE LIVE IN CONCERTWIN TICKETS FOR YOU AND FOUR FRIENDS TO THE SHOCKWAVES NME AWARDS TOUR IN BIRMINGHAM

FEATURES:MUSIC: BEN CALVERTMUSIC: DAKOTA BEATSCOMEDY: MARK STEELMUSIC: MOGWAIMUSIC: DUTCH UNCLESMUSIC: THE WHIGS + DEAD CONFEDERATEMUSIC: ESBEN & THE WITCHMUSIC: CHAPEL CLUBMUSIC: THE VACCINESMUSIC: JAMIE WOONCLUBBING: LEFTFOOT + FRIENDS

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS SUMMER’S BASS FESTIVALArtists, organisations and promoters are being invited to apply for grants of up to £3,000 to stage work at this year’s British Arts and Street Sounds (BASS) Festival.

The annual event returns to Birmingham in June and is the UK’s only month-long celebration of black music and art. This year the festival, organised by city-based Punch Records, is commissioning artists to make new music, dance, spoken work and theatre with the aim of challenging, engaging and building audiences. There are two ways for performers and promoters to get involved. The first offers grants of up to £3,000 for work which meets the festival’s theme for 2011, Revolution, which could involve exploring the next big urban musical movement, or celebrating artists who have changed the face of black arts.

The BASS/Talent Award also offers the chance for 16 to 24-year-olds to apply for up to £1,000 to stage two showcase performances and win a year’s worth of artist support. Applications for commissions close on February 14. Application details at www.punch-records.co.uk.

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL SET FOR SPRINGA new experimental music festival will be taking place at an art gallery in Birmingham this spring.Ikon, one of the city’s foremost modern art galleries, will host Rites of Spring: Ikon Music Festival at its Ikon Eastside site in Digbeth from April 7 to 9.

Confirmed acts so far include Turner-prize winning conceptual artist Martin Creed and his band, as well as Staffordshire-based atmospheric post-pop collective Epic45 (pictured right), who mix dreamy folk-tinged melodies with post-rock inspired dramatics.

The weekend is set to include experimental collaborations against a backdrop of film, magic and visual stimulation, set in the unique post-industrial gallery setting in Fazeley Street.

Further details, including a full line-up and ticket prices, will be announced shortly. Ikon has also revealed its 2011 programme for Eastside and its main

gallery in Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, including the first European exhibition by Japanese artist Tadasu Takamine, a retrospective of paintings by John Salt and a double-bill of photography with Birmingham-based photographer Stuart Whipps and shots of 1970s Middle England by John Myers. For more details on Ikon’s forthcoming programme visit www.ikon-gallery.co.uk.

NEW GALLERY POPS UP IN DIGBETHAn independent pop-up art gallery has opened its doors in Digbeth’s Custard Factory. BlowCreates will spend four weeks in a streetside space in the newly refurbished Zellig building, selling works from painters, photographers, illustrators, sculptors, designers and more.

Much of the work has been created by students or recent arts graduates, with visitors able to purchase unique pieces and view the work of a host of up and coming artists. The gallery runs for four weeks. Visit www.blowcreates.tumblr.com for more details.

February 2011 5

Win tickets to the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour 2011 in Birmingham featuring GOOD CHARLOTTEGood Charlotte will headline a night of high octane rock when the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour 2011

storms into Birmingham’s O2 Academy on February 17.

The pop punk outfit will be joined on the night by melodic hardcore gang Four Year Strong and Nashville-based K! Award nominated rockers Framing Hanley.

We’ve got one pair of tickets to give away to the show on February 17, to be in with a chance of winning just answer the following simple question: which country do Good Charlotte hail from? Send your answer, name and age to [email protected] by February 14 for a chance to win. Winners will be notified by email.

For more information on the tour visit www.relentlessenergy.com.

Meet MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE backstage and watch them live in Birmingham, February 13Rock giants MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE embark on a major arena tour this month as they celebrate 10 years of making music together.

The band, who released latest album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys last November, will be appearing at Birmingham’s LG Arena on February 13 as part of a string of UK dates.

We’re offering one lucky winner and a friend the ultimate fan’s experience, with the chance to not only watch the live show but also to meet the charismatic band backstage. We also have two more pairs of tickets to give away to two runners up.

To be in with a chance of winning this unique prize simply tell us the name of My Chemical Romance’s lead singer. Send your answer, name and age to [email protected] by February 8. Winners will be notified by email.

IN BRIEFEarly bird tickets have been released for this summer’s OFF THE CUFF festival, which returns to The Flapper in Birmingham city centre in July. The three-day indoor event runs from July 22 to 24 and promises an exciting line-up of new musical talent from across the country, as well as the finest local acts, offering the best in alternative, hardcore and post-rock. Last year’s sell-out festival saw performances from the likes of Chapel Club, Pulled Apart by Horses and Tellison but 2011 promises to be the biggest yet. Brum Notes Magazine will also be working in association with Off the Cuff to bring you the best build-up and most comprehensive coverage of the weekend. A limited number of early bird tickets priced £15 for all three days are available from www.wegottickets.com.

Two industry-led seminars will take place in Birmingham this spring aimed at helping aspiring artists and music business people. The Tuned On series is organised by Punch Records and involves a panel of experts giving a real insight into the music industry from a business perspective offering advice on how people can advance their own careers. The next one takes place from 6pm-7.30pm on March 9 and is titled Location Location Location, focusing on regional identity and its importance to new and emerging musical artists’ success. On April 13, the Stream or Sell seminar will explore the evolving platforms for getting music out to consumers and associated revenue streams. Both events take place at the Foyer Bar at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. Places are limited, to book contact [email protected].

Actor-turned-DJ Craig Charles will return to Birmingham to headline a New Orleans-style Mardi Gras celebration.Soul Food Project, the southern American inspired kitchen based at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath, hosts the party on March 3 featuring BBC 6 Funk and Funk Show host Charles, plus Sweat and Cold Rice DJs on the decks, as well as performances from live soul bands including Atlantic Players and heavyweight funk outfit Whitmo Deans. Tickets are £10 in advance and available at www.theticketsellers.co.uk.

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RIP TRISH KEENAN: 1968-2011Trish Keenan, Birmingham-born singer and songwriter with experimental band Broadcast, passed away last month at the age of 42, following complications associated with pneumonia. Tributes have since been paid from across the musical spectrum around the world to the musician, who formed the critically acclaimed band in her home city in 1995 with partner James Cargill.

A statement from the band’s record label Warp Records, released on January 14, read: “It is with great sadness we announce that Trish Keenan from Broadcast passed away at 9am this morning in hospital.“She died from complications with pneumonia after battling the illness for two weeks in intensive care.“This is an untimely tragic loss and we will miss Trish dearly – a unique voice, an extraordinary talent and a beautiful human being. Rest in peace.”

Art-pop act Broadcast were formed in Birmingham in 1995 by Winson Green-born Keenan, guitarist Tim Felton, bassist James Cargill, keyboardist Roj Stevens and drummer Steve Perkins. The group were formed in Moseley and were heavily involved in the experimental arts and music scenes that developed around the area and Digbeth’s Custard Factory in the late 1990s. They made three albums as a full band, The Noise Made By People, Haha Sound and Tender Buttons, before Keenan and Cargill relocated to Berkshire where they worked as a duo and alongside collaborator Julian House, releasing two EPs in 2009 and 2010.

TRIBUTESCelebrities, fellow musicians and fans across the globe took to social networking sites to pay tribute to the singer following news of her untimely death. Among those revealing their sadness at the news on Twitter were Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, producer Flying Lotus and actress and She & Him singer Zooey Deschanel. A compilation mix entitled Mind-Bending Motorway Mix has also been circulated around the internet, after being prepared by Keenan and given to a friend not long before she became ill.

Tributes have been particularly resonant in her home city of Birmingham where she inspired and worked with a generation of alternative musicians, promoters and artists. Lisa Meyer, of experimental music and art curators Capsule, said: “Trish Keenan’s dedication to, and passion for music was truly inspirational, a unique talent and a beautiful person who will be very sadly missed.”Friend and folk musician Ben Calvert added: “I met Trish when she moved to Moseley and I used to spend hours at her house on Trafalgar Road. She lived in a world full of psychedelia and she introduced me to the sounds of The Incredible String Band and Syd Barrett. The last time I saw her we talked for hours about songwriting, composition, and the difference between

an album and a collection of songs presented on a disc. She approached the art of songwriting and sound in a complex, critical and finely considered manner. Trish was a true one-off who with the rest of Broadcast painted fantastic, dark, strange, timeless, beautiful, and philosophical landscapes of the heart.”Brum Notes contributor and Broadcast fan Ross Cotton said: “Trish Keenan’s soulful and hypnotic vocals will always be remembered for creating such beautifying, soothing sounds to Broadcast’s music. “As a huge contribution to the Birmingham music scene Trish will be dearly missed, never forgotten and always cited as a groundbreaking creative figure.”

February 2011 7

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SURFACE FESTIVAL OFFERS TOP 5 TIPS FOR NEW BANDSInternational talent search SURFACE FESTIVAL kicks off in earnest this month, with live heats for bands and musicians taking place across 14 cities in Europe, including at The Flapper in Birmingham. The festival offers artists the chance to win £100,000 of prizes and the opportunity to play to industry insiders and a huge audience at London’s O2 Arena. Visit www.surfacefestival.com for details. To mark the start, organisers have outlined their top five tips for bands and artists on how to survive in the music industry:

1) Live performance: The sweaty, loud and beer saturated venues across Britain are where bands and artists are born. It’s your live performance that can make you stand out from the crowd and get people talking. 2)Social Networking: All bands and artists should make sure they have a Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube page. The social networking phenomenon has meant every artist in the world has a voice to self-promote to the people who can have a direct influence on their success.3) Online Releases: Never before have bands and artists been more in control of distributing and selling their own music. You first have to build an audience and then get down to business. 4) Merchandise: While generating money is the most obvious benefit of band merchandise, the valuable impressions made from exposure to potential fans are just as important. 5) Sustainability: A fan base will care for a band and keep them alive, so bands and artists must care for them back with a true to themselves attitude and great music. Nurturing this fan base and realising its importance is crucial.

RHUBARB RADIO SAVED FROM AXECommunity radio station Rhubarb Radio has been saved from closure following a fundraising campaign.The volunteer-run station, which broadcasts from a studio in The Custard Factory, faced uncertainty over its future after the station’s founders decided to step away with the intention of members taking it over. Since December volunteers have been working on new proposals and collecting donations from individuals and organisations in order to meet ongoing running costs. A handover has now been successfully completed from founders Dynamic Arts to Kambe Events, which will act as the ‘guardian’ in the interim period with the intention of members establishing their own company.Station staff have now been working on an exciting programme of broadcasts and events for 2011 with full details set to be released in the coming weeks.Anyone interested in volunteering or getting involved can email Shelley Atkinson at [email protected]. A ‘Save Rhubarb Radio’ page has also been set up on Facebook.


"It struck me that everybody I know called Lucy, seems to be ultimately fanciable," acknowledges Ben Calvert, outlining his new lust-laden single, Everybody Loves

Lucy. A single so graphic, iTunes took time to screen both the lyrical content and artwork, eventually deeming it suitable for public consumption. This delayed the release, which precedes Festive Road, an album drawing influence from a stark epiphany set against a backdrop of a circus in winter.

"I had this basic notion that it's going to be about circuses and the demise of great things,” explains Ben. “The circus is a great form of inspiration and works on a few levels as

metaphors for other things. On the surface, the circus is about enjoyment, it’s about show, and glamour, but behind that facade hides the reality of long hours, cramped living conditions, and the transient lives of the performers; always travelling, never being settled, often dysfunctional. Likewise, when I was young there were assumptions that I had about how the world operated. Now I'm older it's apparent it doesn't work in certain ways. When you’re a kid you have an idealistic view, an assumed view of how the world will be, then as you get older there comes a realisation that some adults aren't there to look after you and that it's not all fun and games, it’s actually quite sinister.

“By now I thought I’d own a house, be married, and have a ‘steady’ job. That hasn’t come to fruition, but it's still all good. My destiny has chosen me - I’m a songwriter."Lots of artists say; 'it's not what I do, it's what I am - it's what I have to do'. I genuinely believe that. They're almost like a religious Sadhu in India who just has nothing, leads a very simple life, does yoga, stands on his head and ties his dick in knots for tourists."Which, by the sounds of it, is kind of how Lucy made a name for herself.

Words by Andy Roberts

Everybody Loves Lucy is out now on Bohemian Jukebox Records. Go to www.bohemianjukebox.com for more information. Ben Calvert plays at Folk For Free at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, February 24, from 5.30pm.

“When I announced on stage, 'I have to say, The Walsall Hippo is pathetic - I thought it was a bin,' everyone in the 1000-seater venue booed. People in Walsall love that hippo, and that's great," says comic Mark Steel, recounting one of the local quirks which often underpin his live shows. "I imagined a great big bronze of a hippo in mid-yawn. But in actual fact, it's just a concrete block in a hippo-ish shape about the size of a kitchen table. As a local landmark, it's unbelievable, but it's theirs.

Music:

Ben Calvert

Comedy:

Mark Steel

February 2011 9

Most people’s New Year’s Resolutions were to give up drinking, or stop smoking, or go on a diet.Not Dakota Beats.As of January 1, 2011, Dakota Beats officially become a band, something they had previously been keeping a secret for months.Formed from the ashes of The E-gos in August last year, 2011 marks a new chapter for the band. The line-up is almost the same, Dan Harris is on vocals, brothers Tom and Jay Amphlett are on guitars, Mark Grigg still on drums, the only change coming on bass, with Rich Campbell joining.

However, the lads insist this is a brand new band.Jay says: “The E-gos was an apprenticeship for us. This time we’re doing things properly.”And you can see why. Out of five new songs given an airing to Brum Notes, Sir Frank James is the only one that harks back to their “apprenticeship”; others signal a more melodic and mature sound.

“I think we’ve grown up a lot as a band,” explains Dan. “We made mistakes before and we’ve learnt by them. This is a clean start for us now.”“We know people will ask us to play old tracks but this is a totally different band. We’re prepared to take criticism on the chin,” adds Tom with an air of defiance.

Dan continues: “In the old days, if a crowd didn’t go mental we’d drop the track from the set. We’re not scared of that anymore. We’re confident in our ability to

make good music, not just something for the crowd to jump up and down to.”

The bravery required to start all over again is commendable, but Dakota Beats seemingly have the attitude, ability and more importantly, the confidence to pull it off.“We know we’ll get criticized by people, but we know we’re good enough to win them over.”

Dakota Beats play their launch gig at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, on February 4.Support from Arcadian Kicks and Sicum, tickets £4. Visit www.dakotabeats.co.uk.

"Everything else in the town is soulless and identical and imposed on them.Someone beyond the people of Walsall has decided, 'We'll have the flyoverhere, the Clinton Cards shop there and the Vodaphone shop there.' At leastthey have some control over the hippo.”

It is the distinctiveness of towns such as Walsall and the many others he has visited on tour which forms the central plank of his new show Mark Steel’s In Town. In this show, he creates material that illuminates the quirkiness of every place he visits, pointing out the uniqueness of every place - and local audiences lap it up. It's an idea that has already been a huge hit over two series on Radio 4 and now Mark is taking the show on the road.

"The main theme is the idea that every town is being made identical and being

turned into a soulless corporate place with no human contact,” he explains. The world is being taken over by call centres and giant supermarkets.

"I love the quirks of towns that keep them distinct. They stand againstwhat's being put in place in the modern world. I don't want to sound pompous, but every town centre now looks the same wherever you go in the country. “Everything is centrally controlled. Quirkiness fights against that."

Words by James Rampton

Mark Steel’s in Town takes place at The Glee Club, Birmingham, on February 9 (www.glee.co.uk) and at The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton, on February 17(www.wolvescivic.co.uk).

Music:

Dakota Beats

10 Brum Notes Magazine2 BrumNotes Magazine November 2010 3

record, balancing brutality and beauty, with subtle and often un-nerving layers of sound, but also displaying a punchy and upbeat edge. Like much of their music, it demands more than one listen to make your mind up - even if you’re in the band.

“I’m still listening to it,” says Barry, “mainly to learn my parts, but I still like it. I probably liked it more last month than I do this month, there’s one song I’m not sure about any more, but you have to live with an album for a while, if it’s your album, before you can really accept it I think.

“It’s still really exciting [making albums] and the older we get and the more we’ve done it, it does put a bit of pressure on us to do something different, so it’s quite stressful but that stress disappears quite quickly when you get in there [the studio].

“It’s funny, we’re quite aware that a lot of people like to buy our records rather than just download it so we are very conscious of the whole record, but maybe that doesn’t apply to mainstream stuff where people just buy maybe two songs by an artist. We still do quite well out of vinyl as well, a lot of people will download the songs and then buy the record as well which seems crazy when you think about it.”

For a band that have spawned a host of similar acts, they are still hailed as infl uences and held up as a yardstick when other post-rock instrumental outfi ts appear, something which Barry accepts is strange but ultimately a great compliment.

“It’s fl attering I think. It’s a little bit depressing when you hear a band who sound just like you, but sometimes they go on and develop and sound unique and sometimes they don’t. But overall it’s fl attering.”

So who would they cite as infl uences or listen to themselves?“As a band we all have such different tastes but there are a few bands who we would all agree on. There’s Bardo Pond from California who were on Matador I think we all agree on.

“As for new music, there’s a band called oOoOO which I think is pronounced ‘Oh’ even though it looks like ‘oooh. There’s also a band called The Soft Moon who I really like and some good Glasgow bands as well, Remember Remember and Errors who seem to be doing quite well at the moment. There is a scene in Glasgow I suppose but none of the bands sound like each other, which is why it’s such a longstanding scene I think.”

Words: Chris Moriarty | Photo: Steve Gullick | Design: sleepy.me.uk

They’ve been one of Britain’s foremost experimental bands for more than a decade. But with a new album ready to be unveiled and a UK tour this month, Scottish post-rock instrumentalists MOGWAI are loving it just as much as ever. Guitarist, keyboard player and computer whizz Barry Burns talks to Chris Moriarty.

In today’s music business, 16 years seems an awfully long time for a band to still be getting along together, let alone still making fresh, exciting and challenging music. But then Mogwai have never been a band to stick to mainstream conventions. With their largely vocal-free, layered sound and songs regularly clocking in at eight minutes or more, they’re not exactly made for radio playlists. But that hasn’t stopped them earning a loyal following of discerning followers and inspiring a generation of experimental musicians. So how does it feel to be ‘veterans’ of art-rock?

“It gets ridiculous, maybe we’re getting a bit long in the tooth now,” admits Barry Burns, with a chuckle. “We’re still enjoying it though, we’re even enjoying rehearsing which is possibly the most boring part about being in a band, but we’re still enjoying that.

“We all still get along as well. A lot of bands end up hating each other so I don’t know why they bother carrying on. The money must be good I suppose.”

While many experimental acts often prefer the creative confi nes of the studio, Barry insists Mogwai are fi rst and foremost a live band, which bodes well for anyone

Post Rock Royalty

“We’re probably going to lose quite a few fans with this

album, it’s not exactly a typical Mogwai record”

Mogwai perform at the HMV Institute in Digbeth on February 24. New album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is released on February 14 on the band’s own Rock Action Records.

planning on seeing them at the Birmingham’s HMV Institute on February 24. But despite a penchant for playing live, he says stress and nerves still very much go with the territory.

“It’s stressful fun,” Barry continues. “The thing is most of the time we have these songs that are not quite fi nished, then we record them and they change and it’s almost like we become a Mogwai covers band and have to kind of re-learn the songs to play them live.

“It’s all coming together though, but we’ve only got three rehearsals left and we haven’t even practiced any of the old songs yet. I think the muscle memory kicks in with those though as we’ve played them so many times.

“I still get nervous, absolutely. A couple of days ago we were playing a set at BBC Radio Scotland and the old ‘shaky leg’ kicked in. It will still be fun though.

“I much prefer to play live, I think that’s the same for everyone in the band. We’re a live band, I wouldn’t say our albums are anywhere near as good as we are live.”

One of the key elements to Mogwai’s longevity is certainly their loyal fanbase, which has essentially grown up with the band over the past decade and a half, but Barry says they still see plenty of young faces in the crowds, with the band still attracting new fans - and possibly losing some.

“There’s quite a large personnel turnover [in our audiences]. We’re probably going to lose quite a few fans with this album, it’s not exactly a typical Mogwai record.”

That new record though, entitled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and released on February 14, still possesses many of the hallmarks you would come to expect from a Mogwai

February 2011 112 BrumNotes Magazine November 2010 3

record, balancing brutality and beauty, with subtle and often un-nerving layers of sound, but also displaying a punchy and upbeat edge. Like much of their music, it demands more than one listen to make your mind up - even if you’re in the band.

“I’m still listening to it,” says Barry, “mainly to learn my parts, but I still like it. I probably liked it more last month than I do this month, there’s one song I’m not sure about any more, but you have to live with an album for a while, if it’s your album, before you can really accept it I think.

“It’s still really exciting [making albums] and the older we get and the more we’ve done it, it does put a bit of pressure on us to do something different, so it’s quite stressful but that stress disappears quite quickly when you get in there [the studio].

“It’s funny, we’re quite aware that a lot of people like to buy our records rather than just download it so we are very conscious of the whole record, but maybe that doesn’t apply to mainstream stuff where people just buy maybe two songs by an artist. We still do quite well out of vinyl as well, a lot of people will download the songs and then buy the record as well which seems crazy when you think about it.”

For a band that have spawned a host of similar acts, they are still hailed as infl uences and held up as a yardstick when other post-rock instrumental outfi ts appear, something which Barry accepts is strange but ultimately a great compliment.

“It’s fl attering I think. It’s a little bit depressing when you hear a band who sound just like you, but sometimes they go on and develop and sound unique and sometimes they don’t. But overall it’s fl attering.”

So who would they cite as infl uences or listen to themselves?“As a band we all have such different tastes but there are a few bands who we would all agree on. There’s Bardo Pond from California who were on Matador I think we all agree on.

“As for new music, there’s a band called oOoOO which I think is pronounced ‘Oh’ even though it looks like ‘oooh. There’s also a band called The Soft Moon who I really like and some good Glasgow bands as well, Remember Remember and Errors who seem to be doing quite well at the moment. There is a scene in Glasgow I suppose but none of the bands sound like each other, which is why it’s such a longstanding scene I think.”

Words: Chris Moriarty | Photo: Steve Gullick | Design: sleepy.me.uk

They’ve been one of Britain’s foremost experimental bands for more than a decade. But with a new album ready to be unveiled and a UK tour this month, Scottish post-rock instrumentalists MOGWAI are loving it just as much as ever. Guitarist, keyboard player and computer whizz Barry Burns talks to Chris Moriarty.

In today’s music business, 16 years seems an awfully long time for a band to still be getting along together, let alone still making fresh, exciting and challenging music. But then Mogwai have never been a band to stick to mainstream conventions. With their largely vocal-free, layered sound and songs regularly clocking in at eight minutes or more, they’re not exactly made for radio playlists. But that hasn’t stopped them earning a loyal following of discerning followers and inspiring a generation of experimental musicians. So how does it feel to be ‘veterans’ of art-rock?

“It gets ridiculous, maybe we’re getting a bit long in the tooth now,” admits Barry Burns, with a chuckle. “We’re still enjoying it though, we’re even enjoying rehearsing which is possibly the most boring part about being in a band, but we’re still enjoying that.

“We all still get along as well. A lot of bands end up hating each other so I don’t know why they bother carrying on. The money must be good I suppose.”

While many experimental acts often prefer the creative confi nes of the studio, Barry insists Mogwai are fi rst and foremost a live band, which bodes well for anyone

Post Rock Royalty

“We’re probably going to lose quite a few fans with this

album, it’s not exactly a typical Mogwai record”

Mogwai perform at the HMV Institute in Digbeth on February 24. New album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is released on February 14 on the band’s own Rock Action Records.

planning on seeing them at the Birmingham’s HMV Institute on February 24. But despite a penchant for playing live, he says stress and nerves still very much go with the territory.

“It’s stressful fun,” Barry continues. “The thing is most of the time we have these songs that are not quite fi nished, then we record them and they change and it’s almost like we become a Mogwai covers band and have to kind of re-learn the songs to play them live.

“It’s all coming together though, but we’ve only got three rehearsals left and we haven’t even practiced any of the old songs yet. I think the muscle memory kicks in with those though as we’ve played them so many times.

“I still get nervous, absolutely. A couple of days ago we were playing a set at BBC Radio Scotland and the old ‘shaky leg’ kicked in. It will still be fun though.

“I much prefer to play live, I think that’s the same for everyone in the band. We’re a live band, I wouldn’t say our albums are anywhere near as good as we are live.”

One of the key elements to Mogwai’s longevity is certainly their loyal fanbase, which has essentially grown up with the band over the past decade and a half, but Barry says they still see plenty of young faces in the crowds, with the band still attracting new fans - and possibly losing some.

“There’s quite a large personnel turnover [in our audiences]. We’re probably going to lose quite a few fans with this album, it’s not exactly a typical Mogwai record.”

That new record though, entitled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will and released on February 14, still possesses many of the hallmarks you would come to expect from a Mogwai


February 2011 13

“Guitar music’s not dead, it’s just really boring,” sighs Duncan Wallis, frontman of intelli-pop hot property, Dutch Uncles. “It’s too driven by money,” he adds. The topic of conversation arises off the back of a recent article in The Guardian asking, ‘Is Rock n Roll Finally Dead?’ focusing on the lack of guitar-based artists nominated for a BRIT award this year and also their absence from the pop charts.

“Mainstream guitar bands nowadays; you’re looking at Kings of Leon,” continues Duncan in his polite but frustrated tone. “A band that will continually water themselves down with every album.”For an act such as Dutch Uncles who, as well as their Manchester prog-pop contemporaries Everything Everything and Egyptian Hip Hop, push the boundaries of what guitar based music has become in recent years, it is important that an alternative arena thrives with enthusiastic and open ears. Duncan airs concerns that this climate of stadium-bothering guitar enormo-bands are doing more harm than good to new creative forms of music.

“It’s a shame that artists who want to be die-hard guitar have to really write the simplest of hits to have any kind of chance of surviving just as a guitar band. It’s really boring. You’d think bands would try and defy that more and have faith that it will be popular again, but it seems that a lot of bands get a bit too careerist about it. It’s like ‘how can we get big in the shortest time possible?’ and that’s really frustrating and I’m glad that

we haven’t done that. We’re good at having patience.”Duncan is speaking as the band put the finishing touches to their forthcoming second album. It can be safely said it will not feature any back-water blues-rock, but more angular, Talking Heads-style rhythms while retaining melodic urgency.

“Talking Heads are the best guitar band ever,” he jumps in when we suggest a hugely successful but ultimately creatively contrasting band to compare KoL to. “From the first album in ‘77, to getting in Eno at the right time and then Remain In Light, they broke away from guitar music but kept using guitars live and were getting very rhythmic, introducing a load of African rhythms, but Kings of Leon just make it less and less interesting by sticking to guitars. Which in turn makes it difficult for bands to start off the way Kings of Leon started off, they won’t get the chance to develop because no one will want to listen to them for long enough will they?”

Dutch Uncles are prepared to stick to their guns in the name of interesting and intelligent independent music, fusing ice cold Steve Reich-esque trance motifs and the rhythmic drive of Neu! but delivered with the charmed homeliness of Bombay Bicycle Club. Serious about being musicians, but not taking themselves too seriously, they are comfortable with the outsider status that this artistic approach earns them.

“We’re still trying to have fun with it all. I’m not expecting any Brit Awards for it. “

NOT PAR FOR THE COURSE

Dutch Uncles are live at The Victoria, Birmingham, on February 25, presented by This is Tomorrow, with support from Young British Artists, Death Ohh Eff and Speech Fewapy DJs.

Idiosyncratic post-punk math popsters DUTCH UNCLES are on a mission to

keep guitar music interesting. Frontman Duncan Wallis talks to ANDY ROBERTS

ahead of their visit to Birmingham.


ROCKAIN’T DEAD

Fresh from touring the world with Kings of Leon, Georgian band The Whigs are back in Birmingham this month for a co-headline tour with Kartel label-mates and home town neighbours The Dead Confederate. And they’re determined to inject some good old fashioned rock and roll spirit into proceedings.

You’ll be pleased to know it’s not just the UK that shuts down and panics at the sight of a few snowflakes. But for The Whigs drummer Julian Dorio, sat at home on a brief respite from life on the road, the weather has taken a strange turn considering his home town is Athens, Georgia, in the south east of the USA.

“It’s very English. It’s freezing and snowing. It never snows here but for a few days it’s snowed really hard. Unfortunately in the south we don’t know how to handle snow so everyone panics and everything closes and all the schools have been closed for five days. It was fun for the first couple of days but now it’s just getting boring.”

Psych-rock five-piece DEAD CONFEDERATE are already well known to touring partners The Whigs, hailing from the same tight-knit music scene in Athens, Georgia. But we thought we’d try to get to know them a little better ourselves, catching up with frontman Hardy Morris (H) and bassist Brantley Senn (B) ahead of the tour.

How are you looking forward to getting out on the road with your friends The Whigs? Will there be plenty of rock and roll antics in the tour van? H: I can’t wait. Touring across the pond is always fun, but touring with friends is a blast. I know we’ll have stories when it’s over. We are touring in two RVs this trip, so we’ll pretty much be camping the whole time.B: It’s probably going to get pretty gross.

Have you got any scandalous gossip

The Whigs and Dead Confederate co-headline the O2 Academy 2, Birmingham, on February 25. Tickets £8.50 in advance.

February 2011 15

That all sounds pretty familiar. But weather comparisons apart, that is certainly not the main reason they’re looking forward to getting back out on the road and returning to English shores. “Touring is a lot of fun for us, and that’s what we’re used to doing. Being at home is more abnormal but we start getting a little stir crazy.”

The Whigs may sound or look familiar to you if you were one of thousands of fans who poured into the NIA during the Kings of Leon’s two night stint in December, as they were the main support act on the tour - a tough gig, admits Julian, but ultimately a very satisfying one and one that he hopes will pay off when they return to the city this month. “Birmingham was a lot of fun, we did two nights there at the NIA. I remember going to the pub, what was it - The Malthouse I think it was called. It was a lot of fun but it was freezing cold, I couldn’t believe how cold it was. We were out with the merchandise one of the nights as people were leaving, saying hi to people and everyone was incredibly nice and we told them about the show coming up so hopefully a few of them will come back and see us again. “We were very fortunate to play with the Kings of Leon but it was such a different thing for us to doing clubs, that’s what we do on our own and we need their help to do the big arenas. It’s a thrill to walk in to those big, big arenas but there’s also a great personal aspect and immediacy to those club shows where the stage is no more than a foot off the ground and you share the night and the experience a little more with the crowd.”

Julian admits the tour will be a slightly different experience this time round, not least scaling down from luxury tour buses to bog standard vans. But he says they can’t wait to see what the reaction is like playing their own show, rather than opening to a crowd who for the most part were not there to see them.

“We’ve had a couple of albums out but they’ve never been released overseas so this [In the Dark, released on Kartel last month] is the first one that’s been properly released and the reaction’s been really great so far. A lot of people have no idea we exist so hopefully coming over there and spending a bit of time touring we can try to get into the mix and show people we’re here and they might enjoy it.”

For The Whigs, they are also faced with the uphill struggle that afflicts many guitar-wielding acts these days - the so called “death of rock” on the airwaves.“It does seem strange that we talk about rock as this different thing, to be almost rare to do that or unique. To us, we don’t listen to the radio or at least mainstream radio as it’s not really our style of music so we have to dig a little deeper. For me, the bands I grew up listening to and still like are talented musicians that form a band and write their own material and work hard, make good albums and also put on good shows but I don’t know if that’s what everyone is like these days. It’s kind of sad really.

“For us, live shows are what it’s all about. We just like to play and get on stage to play for people and making records is amazing as well, but we’ve made three records and played maybe 1,000 shows. That’s why we got into a band. “That’s also the way the world works, you can’t make a record every day but you can play a show almost every day and you just enjoy getting out there. “We like to play every show like it’s our last. Our shows are always really high energy rock and roll shows. We’re sort of a garage band, we sweat through our clothes and have a lot of fun and it is meant to be what rock and roll always has been. We all have things to worry about in life but sometimes it’s good just to get over those things and go to a show and have a drink and enjoy yourself.”

about your co-headliners you’d like to share with us? H: Not yet, but I’m sure I’ll learn more than I ever wanted to know very soon.B: They probably have more dirt on me. Although, I live in walking distance from all of them so I’m not worried.

How have you enjoyed your previous visits to England and what are you hoping for this time around? H: We have had good experiences over there. The Dot to Dot fest we played last year was rad and the club shows have always been good. I’m just hoping to drink my body weight in Carlsberg...B: We’ve been fortunate to tour overseas so much. I’m hoping we get to see more sights this time, but we’re often running on a busy schedule.

There seems a shortage of quality guitar bands in both the English and US charts these days, is there almost an underdog spirit to rock bands now? H: Maybe a bit… It’s definitely not the greatest time for rock music, but its loud and its awesome and there will always be an audience for it. B: I don’t really think about it all that much. People like

what they like. This is what I like.

Do you still take influence from a lot of the older rock bands and which modern artists do you admire? H: I like a lot of old stuff, but there are fantastic new bands too. And some of the “older rock bands” are still out there making amazing music. Touring with Dino Jr will remind you of that fact real fast. It’s weird how some great rock bands just don’t hold up while some seem to get better with age. B: Touring with Dino Jr had a huge impact on us. I realized from them you can write upbeat songs and still melt faces. Meat Puppets too. As far as newer bands I admire, I’d have to say My Morning Jacket is a big one. I really love their older albums but I admire their willingness to change their sound.

Birmingham is famous for Black Sabbath and the balti, a type of curry, so you have to try one of them when you’re here - are you a fan of curry? H: I like curry if its good curry...kind of like, I like Sabbath if it’s good Sabbath.


Esben & The Witch are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on February 8, with support from Trophy Wife, (silver) souvenirs and Victories at Sea. Tickets are £7 adv. See www.birminghampromoters.com for details.

Debut album Violet Cries is out on January 31 on Matador Records.

Words: Chris Moriarty | Layout: Henry Parker

Not that they are complaining about the extra exposure inclusion on such a list will give them, especially ahead of the release of their debut album Violet Cries and a headline tour which takes them to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath this month.

“Definitely, it’s very good for that, the BBC list, but it does have it’s negative aspect,” says guitarist and electronics-fiddler Dan Copeman. “The list has been strange,” continues fellow guitarist and synth man Thomas, taking up the baton of our interview. “It’s not something we anticipated being a part of and the company is a little strange. Warpaint and James Blake are artists we really respect, but we’re a little confused by these polls to be honest.”

And, while we’re all being honest, it’s fair to say Esben & The Witch are not exactly easy listening. Their debut is a complex and carefully constructed record yet thoroughly engaging, but one which doesn’t scream “Radio 1 Playlist!” in quite the same way as some of the other artists picked out as 2011’s hottest prospects by the BBC panel of industry movers or shakers.

“It was never a plan to make music that sounded that way, but it’s naturally turned out that way. So it does seem strange for us to be on a list like that, based on predicting how big artists will be. It’s a bit weird but we’ve seen it in a positive way in that it’s essentially for people who wouldn’t hear our music otherwise.”

Esben & The Witch got together three years ago in Brighton through a series of chance meetings and mutual acquaintances and once they began playing and attempting to write music together, they realised they very much shared a “vision of an aesthetic” of where they wanted a band to go, as Thomas puts it, and the songs developed from there.

“It feels like we’ve spent three years working towards the record and we’re really happy with it,” he says.

The result is a record which oozes an over-riding cinematic soundtrack quality, permeated by a sense of atmosphere throughout, conjuring up emotive scenes of stark landscapes, dark moods and art-house emotion. And while Thomas says there are bands such as Wild Beasts who they all admire, he insists it is hard to pinpoint other musicians that have directly influenced their sound, pointing instead to other art forms as their sources of inspiration.

“In a more direct sense, books and films and artists tend to be more direct influences. It is natural that our non-musical ones and musical ones, artists we admire, will seep in to what we’re doing.

“That’s wonderful if you felt that way [that it had a soundtrack quality] when you listen to the album, that’s something we’d like to investigate more in the future, making soundtracks.

“On the album it’s great that there’s an element where we’re free to be able to create songs as we wanted to, we never felt too bound to a traditional song structure. There are no sprawling 10 minute epics but I definitely feel there is a cinematic quality.”

With the record recorded and a variety of production deployed to achieve their sonic aesthetic, what sort of difficulties must it pose taking these songs on the road to perform them live?

“It’s never our intention to recreate it exactly on stage but there’s a mood or feeling or atmosphere to the songs and we try to stay true to that. There’s a process of reinvention that we go through before preparing to play a song live. If we feel a song needs extra synth lines to add underneath when we’re recording we’ll add layers, but live we’re restricted by how many hands and loop pedals there are. We have to approach things in different ways and look at how we can create that and maybe the songs take on a more visceral edge live.

“The live performance is, I think, the thing that has come on the most. We’ve always had an idea of how we want the songs to work live but we’ve had more time to create an aesthetic and an environment, with the lighting for example and the other things that come with the live show.

“That’s something we’ve worked hard to develop. We still feel we’ve got a way to go to get to where we want to with the live show. It’s something we’ve always thought was increasingly important with shows we’ve gone to in the past.

“It’s about a live evening that feels enveloping for people coming to the show, so it feels like more than just us playing songs from our album. If we achieve it, it’s not up to us, but that’s our aim and our intention.”

A name taken from a murderous Danish fairytale and an other-worldly sound to their music, music which is punctuated with eerie shrieks and underpinned by an industrial wave of impending doom, warped sonic effects across a supernatural soundscape, while frontwoman Rachel Davies pours out tales of anguish over the top.

Doesn’t exactly sound like daytime radio fodder does it? So it’s fair to say there was more than a hint of surprise amongst the members of Brighton-based three piece Esben & The Witch when they discovered their name had snuck into the populist BBC Sound of 2011 poll.

SeaSon of the Witch

ESBEN & THE WITCH are coming and they want to envelop you in their ether. But don’t be afraid, just let it embrace you. CHrIS MorIarTy speaks to guitarist Thomas Fisher about their hopes, dreams and dream-like vision.

“It’s about a live evening that feels enveloping for people coming to the show, so it feels like more than just us playing songs from our album.”

2 3BrumNotes Magazine BrumNotes Magazine

February 2011 17

Esben & The Witch are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on February 8, with support from Trophy Wife, (silver) souvenirs and Victories at Sea. Tickets are £7 adv. See www.birminghampromoters.com for details.

Debut album Violet Cries is out on January 31 on Matador Records.

Words: Chris Moriarty | Layout: Henry Parker

Not that they are complaining about the extra exposure inclusion on such a list will give them, especially ahead of the release of their debut album Violet Cries and a headline tour which takes them to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath this month.

“Definitely, it’s very good for that, the BBC list, but it does have it’s negative aspect,” says guitarist and electronics-fiddler Dan Copeman. “The list has been strange,” continues fellow guitarist and synth man Thomas, taking up the baton of our interview. “It’s not something we anticipated being a part of and the company is a little strange. Warpaint and James Blake are artists we really respect, but we’re a little confused by these polls to be honest.”

And, while we’re all being honest, it’s fair to say Esben & The Witch are not exactly easy listening. Their debut is a complex and carefully constructed record yet thoroughly engaging, but one which doesn’t scream “Radio 1 Playlist!” in quite the same way as some of the other artists picked out as 2011’s hottest prospects by the BBC panel of industry movers or shakers.

“It was never a plan to make music that sounded that way, but it’s naturally turned out that way. So it does seem strange for us to be on a list like that, based on predicting how big artists will be. It’s a bit weird but we’ve seen it in a positive way in that it’s essentially for people who wouldn’t hear our music otherwise.”

Esben & The Witch got together three years ago in Brighton through a series of chance meetings and mutual acquaintances and once they began playing and attempting to write music together, they realised they very much shared a “vision of an aesthetic” of where they wanted a band to go, as Thomas puts it, and the songs developed from there.

“It feels like we’ve spent three years working towards the record and we’re really happy with it,” he says.

The result is a record which oozes an over-riding cinematic soundtrack quality, permeated by a sense of atmosphere throughout, conjuring up emotive scenes of stark landscapes, dark moods and art-house emotion. And while Thomas says there are bands such as Wild Beasts who they all admire, he insists it is hard to pinpoint other musicians that have directly influenced their sound, pointing instead to other art forms as their sources of inspiration.

“In a more direct sense, books and films and artists tend to be more direct influences. It is natural that our non-musical ones and musical ones, artists we admire, will seep in to what we’re doing.

“That’s wonderful if you felt that way [that it had a soundtrack quality] when you listen to the album, that’s something we’d like to investigate more in the future, making soundtracks.

“On the album it’s great that there’s an element where we’re free to be able to create songs as we wanted to, we never felt too bound to a traditional song structure. There are no sprawling 10 minute epics but I definitely feel there is a cinematic quality.”

With the record recorded and a variety of production deployed to achieve their sonic aesthetic, what sort of difficulties must it pose taking these songs on the road to perform them live?

“It’s never our intention to recreate it exactly on stage but there’s a mood or feeling or atmosphere to the songs and we try to stay true to that. There’s a process of reinvention that we go through before preparing to play a song live. If we feel a song needs extra synth lines to add underneath when we’re recording we’ll add layers, but live we’re restricted by how many hands and loop pedals there are. We have to approach things in different ways and look at how we can create that and maybe the songs take on a more visceral edge live.

“The live performance is, I think, the thing that has come on the most. We’ve always had an idea of how we want the songs to work live but we’ve had more time to create an aesthetic and an environment, with the lighting for example and the other things that come with the live show.

“That’s something we’ve worked hard to develop. We still feel we’ve got a way to go to get to where we want to with the live show. It’s something we’ve always thought was increasingly important with shows we’ve gone to in the past.

“It’s about a live evening that feels enveloping for people coming to the show, so it feels like more than just us playing songs from our album. If we achieve it, it’s not up to us, but that’s our aim and our intention.”

A name taken from a murderous Danish fairytale and an other-worldly sound to their music, music which is punctuated with eerie shrieks and underpinned by an industrial wave of impending doom, warped sonic effects across a supernatural soundscape, while frontwoman Rachel Davies pours out tales of anguish over the top.

Doesn’t exactly sound like daytime radio fodder does it? So it’s fair to say there was more than a hint of surprise amongst the members of Brighton-based three piece Esben & The Witch when they discovered their name had snuck into the populist BBC Sound of 2011 poll.

SeaSon of the Witch

ESBEN & THE WITCH are coming and they want to envelop you in their ether. But don’t be afraid, just let it embrace you. CHrIS MorIarTy speaks to guitarist Thomas Fisher about their hopes, dreams and dream-like vision.

“It’s about a live evening that feels enveloping for people coming to the show, so it feels like more than just us playing songs from our album.”



DARKNESS

Ever get that feeling of déjà vu? This time last year, CHAPEL CLUB, buoyed by endorsements from the likes of Zane Lowe and a growing fanbase, were tipped for big things in 2010. But far from rushing out an album amidst the growing attention, the brooding, gloom-rock wordsmiths have gone about their business their way. Their first full length record has seemed a long time coming since we first caught up with them last July, ahead of their headline appearance at Birmingham’s Off the Cuff at The Flapper but it has certainly been worth the wait.

Despite a busy year of shows in 2010, the release of debut album Palace and this month’s headline UK tour signals a major new chapter in the life of Chapel Club. JAMES COLLINS talks to frontman Lewis Bowman about the latest buzz of expectation.

“We’ve done headline tours before this, but I suppose this kind of feels different. I feel like we’re still a new band,” says Lewis, “but this will be the first tour where people can and will have the album at home and will know more songs and that lends itself to a different atmosphere.”


OUT OF

That album, Palace, due out on January 31, is thoughtful, unashamedly dark, yet grandiose and aspirational, with anthemic melodies hinging on Lewis’s twisted poetry.

“It wasn’t a long time in the writing and in the recording. It took a while to get mixed the way we wanted it but I feel really excited about the way it is coming out,” Lewis continues.

“I kind of didn’t think about it for a while, there was Christmas and New Year and before that we were touring and then suddenly people are talking about it on the net and it’s kind of great it’s arrived and it’s a nice feeling to know it’s going to be out there.”

Contrary to what many buzz bands are forced to do once they are taken under the wing of an all-powerful record label, Lewis insists the band have still maintained their independence, doing things their own way and pretty much on their own terms, from the recording process down to the artwork on the vinyl - yes, that’s right, vinyl.

“I haven’t spoken to anybody from our record company in half a year, I think they’ve forgotten we exist. It’s one of those things that some bands just write some songs then do what they are told, but for us every aspect was an opportunity to be creative. That’s how bands were in the old days, everything you had from a band was like a message from them to you.

“We spent as long getting the artwork how we wanted it. We designed it all, or we came up with the idea for how it would look. When the vinyl arrived it just looked so good. It’s more than just songs, you’re giving fans a statement of your identity and it’s about the most worthy statement we’ve yet been able to give. Everything is very together and planned out. We were very particular on how the record was made. We were the only ones who were going to play on it, we’re not going to play a synth and pretend it’s real strings for example.”

The emphasis on artwork and especially on releasing a vinyl version of the record very much hints towards Chapel Club’s purist attitudes towards making music, especially considering the generational shift towards downloads and the decline of an album as a whole concept.

“It’s a shame – the CDs look amazing and the vinyl looks proper special but there will always be a few hardcore fans buying those things rather than just downloads.”

Another key generational shift is not lost on Lewis either, one which has seen guitar bands shunted from the mainstream.

“In the wider culture, the good bands aren’t really doing that well. The thing with the media concept of ‘the death of rock,’ good bands have to say ‘we can’t compete with grime or hip hop in the affections of young people any more,’ because they are coming at it from a different history, but what we can do and what we’ve tried to do is have some depth and some honesty to what we do. I’m not saying hip hop doesn’t do that, I’m a big fan of a lot of hip hop, but for me it’s always

been about the art of the song and the art of the song that captures something.”

Chapel Club aren’t the only act being hailed as a guitar band with the potential to break the current trend and they certainly aren’t the ones dealing with the most hype at the moment – that mantle seems reserved for The Vaccines – nor are they particularly concerned with smashing their way into the national psyche on a mass scale, it would seem.

“I don’t feel under more pressure. We’ve never had as much hype as The Drums or The Vaccines, I don’t know how I’d deal with it if it was like that. The Vaccines produce more immediate pop stuff. They’ve produced a really tight, fun and really cool album of quick, good tracks. We’re kind of lucky because we don’t do that kind of music. Our songs are a bit longer or denser or emotional.

“We’ve been in the press a lot more in the last four months. When we gave The Shore away as a free download last summer, before that we released a couple of singles and each one went on to generate different comparisons and each one was a different sort of comparison. People always want to say, ‘what bracket can we put them into?’ The Shore gave people a better idea of where we might be going, it flavoured the sound of the rest of the album. I feel we’ve had a lot more interest since the end of last year.”

So do the band read their own press, good or bad? “I get shown some of it and every now and again, mostly the good stuff, and I hear what’s going on on Twitter etc. My sister every now and then will send me an ill-advised email with people slagging us off and I just think ‘why did you have to show me that?’, but I’m generally aware. We did an interview with the NME recently and we were a bit like: ‘really?’ We’re now seen as a band with a bit of a fanbase and it’s evolving quite rapidly and I think we’re in a position now where we’ve got lots of opportunities.

“I just think it’s a pretty strong album so let’s not worry about all the other stuff, let’s just play and get better and better and then come what may.

“You can never tell what’s ahead I suppose, but we don’t really care.”

Chapel Club are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on February 13, with support from David’s Lyre. Tickets are £8 adv. See www.birminghampromoters.com for details.

Debut album Palace is released on January 31.

Words: James Collins | Layout: Henry Parker

February 2011 19

DARKNESS

Ever get that feeling of déjà vu? This time last year, CHAPEL CLUB, buoyed by endorsements from the likes of Zane Lowe and a growing fanbase, were tipped for big things in 2010. But far from rushing out an album amidst the growing attention, the brooding, gloom-rock wordsmiths have gone about their business their way. Their first full length record has seemed a long time coming since we first caught up with them last July, ahead of their headline appearance at Birmingham’s Off the Cuff at The Flapper but it has certainly been worth the wait.

Despite a busy year of shows in 2010, the release of debut album Palace and this month’s headline UK tour signals a major new chapter in the life of Chapel Club. JAMES COLLINS talks to frontman Lewis Bowman about the latest buzz of expectation.

“We’ve done headline tours before this, but I suppose this kind of feels different. I feel like we’re still a new band,” says Lewis, “but this will be the first tour where people can and will have the album at home and will know more songs and that lends itself to a different atmosphere.”


OUT OF

That album, Palace, due out on January 31, is thoughtful, unashamedly dark, yet grandiose and aspirational, with anthemic melodies hinging on Lewis’s twisted poetry.

“It wasn’t a long time in the writing and in the recording. It took a while to get mixed the way we wanted it but I feel really excited about the way it is coming out,” Lewis continues.

“I kind of didn’t think about it for a while, there was Christmas and New Year and before that we were touring and then suddenly people are talking about it on the net and it’s kind of great it’s arrived and it’s a nice feeling to know it’s going to be out there.”

Contrary to what many buzz bands are forced to do once they are taken under the wing of an all-powerful record label, Lewis insists the band have still maintained their independence, doing things their own way and pretty much on their own terms, from the recording process down to the artwork on the vinyl - yes, that’s right, vinyl.

“I haven’t spoken to anybody from our record company in half a year, I think they’ve forgotten we exist. It’s one of those things that some bands just write some songs then do what they are told, but for us every aspect was an opportunity to be creative. That’s how bands were in the old days, everything you had from a band was like a message from them to you.

“We spent as long getting the artwork how we wanted it. We designed it all, or we came up with the idea for how it would look. When the vinyl arrived it just looked so good. It’s more than just songs, you’re giving fans a statement of your identity and it’s about the most worthy statement we’ve yet been able to give. Everything is very together and planned out. We were very particular on how the record was made. We were the only ones who were going to play on it, we’re not going to play a synth and pretend it’s real strings for example.”

The emphasis on artwork and especially on releasing a vinyl version of the record very much hints towards Chapel Club’s purist attitudes towards making music, especially considering the generational shift towards downloads and the decline of an album as a whole concept.

“It’s a shame – the CDs look amazing and the vinyl looks proper special but there will always be a few hardcore fans buying those things rather than just downloads.”

Another key generational shift is not lost on Lewis either, one which has seen guitar bands shunted from the mainstream.

“In the wider culture, the good bands aren’t really doing that well. The thing with the media concept of ‘the death of rock,’ good bands have to say ‘we can’t compete with grime or hip hop in the affections of young people any more,’ because they are coming at it from a different history, but what we can do and what we’ve tried to do is have some depth and some honesty to what we do. I’m not saying hip hop doesn’t do that, I’m a big fan of a lot of hip hop, but for me it’s always

been about the art of the song and the art of the song that captures something.”

Chapel Club aren’t the only act being hailed as a guitar band with the potential to break the current trend and they certainly aren’t the ones dealing with the most hype at the moment – that mantle seems reserved for The Vaccines – nor are they particularly concerned with smashing their way into the national psyche on a mass scale, it would seem.

“I don’t feel under more pressure. We’ve never had as much hype as The Drums or The Vaccines, I don’t know how I’d deal with it if it was like that. The Vaccines produce more immediate pop stuff. They’ve produced a really tight, fun and really cool album of quick, good tracks. We’re kind of lucky because we don’t do that kind of music. Our songs are a bit longer or denser or emotional.

“We’ve been in the press a lot more in the last four months. When we gave The Shore away as a free download last summer, before that we released a couple of singles and each one went on to generate different comparisons and each one was a different sort of comparison. People always want to say, ‘what bracket can we put them into?’ The Shore gave people a better idea of where we might be going, it flavoured the sound of the rest of the album. I feel we’ve had a lot more interest since the end of last year.”

So do the band read their own press, good or bad? “I get shown some of it and every now and again, mostly the good stuff, and I hear what’s going on on Twitter etc. My sister every now and then will send me an ill-advised email with people slagging us off and I just think ‘why did you have to show me that?’, but I’m generally aware. We did an interview with the NME recently and we were a bit like: ‘really?’ We’re now seen as a band with a bit of a fanbase and it’s evolving quite rapidly and I think we’re in a position now where we’ve got lots of opportunities.

“I just think it’s a pretty strong album so let’s not worry about all the other stuff, let’s just play and get better and better and then come what may.

“You can never tell what’s ahead I suppose, but we don’t really care.”

Chapel Club are live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on February 13, with support from David’s Lyre. Tickets are £8 adv. See www.birminghampromoters.com for details.

Debut album Palace is released on January 31.

Words: James Collins | Layout: Henry Parker


A shot in the arm

London four-piece The Vaccines are one of the few ‘guitar bands’ in the traditional sense of the word to appear on the BBC’s Sound of 2011 list. They are also the most direct rock band on the bill of this month’s NME Awards tour, for which they will join Everything Everything, Magnetic Man and Crystal Castles at the Birmingham O2 Academy on February 12. Their punchy blend of short, sharp and accessible indie-pop tunes has got plenty of commentators eating out of their hands and their debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?, due out in March, is sure to justify the excitement. But for every compliment there is sure to be a cynical swipe to match, which makes The Vaccines even more determined to ensure they don’t implode in a ball of their own hype.

Well spoken, articulate and with well-crafted, savvy songwrit-ing skills, The Vaccines are clearly intelligent. They are also switched on enough to realise that they won’t be fl avour of the month for evermore. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to enjoy it while it lasts. Playing up to the media hype

is one thing, but being swept away in it is something they are keen to avoid. Bassist Arni speaks with a child-like excitement that suggests there is no danger of The Vaccines being en-gulfed by an infl ated sense of self-importance.

“It’s a strange feeling to be honest,” says the Icelandic-born musician. “This is all very new to us and we’re all very excited. We’re very much looking forward to the [NME Awards] tour and it’s diffi cult to think about what might be happening in April, let alone next year.

“You see something on the horizon but tomorrow is always the most exciting thing we’ve done. It’s all very fresh and exciting but I’m not daunted by the next few months.

“The line up [for the NME Awards tour] is pretty eclectic, I’m very much looking forward to it. It’s going to benefi t all of us, it just means for the general music fan it will be a hell of a night as there are four acts with very different directions.”

As for the hype surrounding his own band, Arni says they have all tried their best to ignore it - but insists they are still ambi-tious for a taste of success.

“We consciously tried not to pay too much attention [to the hype]. Whatever people say, if you are going to believe the good stuff you have to believe the bad stuff and you’d be knocked off what you are trying to do. We’re just keeping our feet on the ground.

“Everybody in a band sets out with similar goals, to play to as many people as possible who want to hear us, and make a really good record. That’s the goal with every band and it’s going well so far.

“The album is all fi nished, we did it whilst touring just before Christmas in between shows. “We wanted to make an exciting fi rst record and the simplest way of doing that was being excited ourselves.”

As for being ‘torch-bearers for guitar music,’ Arni admits there is a dearth of rock on the mainstream airwaves, but in-sists they don’t need the extra pressure of being the band to change that.

“To be honest I hadn’t thought about it until very recently. Last year’s top 100 had only three guitar songs and one of them

was from Glee. The biggest rock song of 2010 was a Jour-ney song from the 1980s, it’s funny but I don’t know what that means for guitar music, I try not to think about it. We’re all very much wanting some good music to show up in the charts again, but whether or not that will happen is not up to us.

“As a band I think we’re all really great fans of like simple, straight forward music, like The Ronettes and The Crystals, that sort of stuff, but we all take separate infl uences as well. Justin for example is really into the DC hardcore scene, Bad Brains and bands like that, those really exciting, straight-to-the-point bands. I think immediacy is very important.”

Immediacy certainly is very important when it comes to The Vaccines’ own sound. Poppy, short and simple, their singles so far - including the 84 seconds long Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra) - have all snatched instant acclaim, even if they haven’t exactly broken the mould. And Arni assures fans they can ex-pect more of the same both on tour and on the new album.

“The record is called What Did You Expect From The Vac-cines? so it’s pretty straight to the point.”

The Vaccines are live at the O2 Academy, Birmingham, on February 12, along with Crystal Castles, Magnetic Man and Everything Everything. See below for your chance to win tickets.

A guitar band playing short, punchy indie rock and hyped beyond belief as ‘the next big thing.’ Sounds familiar doesn’t it? But while THE VACCINES have been called everything from the saviors of British rock to a contrived experiment in industry-generated hype, one thing is for sure, guitar bands who can generate the sort of national attention they have in such a short timespan are seemingly few and far between these days. James Collins speaks to bassist Arni Arnason about life in the spotlight.

Words: James CollinsDesign: sleepy.me.uk

“You see something on the horizon but tomorrow

is always the most exciting thing we’ve done”

To celebrate Shockwaves sponsorship of the NME Awards for the seventh year running we’re offering two lucky winners a chance to rock the night away with their friends and look great while doing it at the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, setting the stage for the music event of the year. Enjoy the best in British music and style with thousands of other music fans at the 2011 Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, which stops at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on February 12. You and four friends will get to see a fi rst class line up of eclectic new talent that includes, Crystal Castles, Everything Everything (pictured), Magnetic Man and The Vaccines.

You’ll also be able to rock your own unique style at the event with your complimentary set of Shockwaves Re-Create prod-ucts. For more information on Shockwaves - and the chance to win great prizes - join the Facebook group at facebook.com/shockwavesuk

Tickets for the 2011 NME Awards Tour cost £16 plus a 50p char-ity donation to Teenage Cancer Trust. For your chance to win a set of fi ve tickets to the show, tell us the name of Everything Everything’s debut album, re-leased last year.

Email your answers to [email protected] by February 8. Winners will be notifi ed by email before February 12.

Everything Everything, one of the acts taking to the stage for the tour.

WIN: FIVE TICKETS TO THE SHOCKWAVES NME AWARDS TOUR IN BIRMINGHAM

February 2011 21

A shot in the arm

London four-piece The Vaccines are one of the few ‘guitar bands’ in the traditional sense of the word to appear on the BBC’s Sound of 2011 list. They are also the most direct rock band on the bill of this month’s NME Awards tour, for which they will join Everything Everything, Magnetic Man and Crystal Castles at the Birmingham O2 Academy on February 12. Their punchy blend of short, sharp and accessible indie-pop tunes has got plenty of commentators eating out of their hands and their debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?, due out in March, is sure to justify the excitement. But for every compliment there is sure to be a cynical swipe to match, which makes The Vaccines even more determined to ensure they don’t implode in a ball of their own hype.

Well spoken, articulate and with well-crafted, savvy songwrit-ing skills, The Vaccines are clearly intelligent. They are also switched on enough to realise that they won’t be fl avour of the month for evermore. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to enjoy it while it lasts. Playing up to the media hype

is one thing, but being swept away in it is something they are keen to avoid. Bassist Arni speaks with a child-like excitement that suggests there is no danger of The Vaccines being en-gulfed by an infl ated sense of self-importance.

“It’s a strange feeling to be honest,” says the Icelandic-born musician. “This is all very new to us and we’re all very excited. We’re very much looking forward to the [NME Awards] tour and it’s diffi cult to think about what might be happening in April, let alone next year.

“You see something on the horizon but tomorrow is always the most exciting thing we’ve done. It’s all very fresh and exciting but I’m not daunted by the next few months.

“The line up [for the NME Awards tour] is pretty eclectic, I’m very much looking forward to it. It’s going to benefi t all of us, it just means for the general music fan it will be a hell of a night as there are four acts with very different directions.”

As for the hype surrounding his own band, Arni says they have all tried their best to ignore it - but insists they are still ambi-tious for a taste of success.

“We consciously tried not to pay too much attention [to the hype]. Whatever people say, if you are going to believe the good stuff you have to believe the bad stuff and you’d be knocked off what you are trying to do. We’re just keeping our feet on the ground.

“Everybody in a band sets out with similar goals, to play to as many people as possible who want to hear us, and make a really good record. That’s the goal with every band and it’s going well so far.

“The album is all fi nished, we did it whilst touring just before Christmas in between shows. “We wanted to make an exciting fi rst record and the simplest way of doing that was being excited ourselves.”

As for being ‘torch-bearers for guitar music,’ Arni admits there is a dearth of rock on the mainstream airwaves, but in-sists they don’t need the extra pressure of being the band to change that.

“To be honest I hadn’t thought about it until very recently. Last year’s top 100 had only three guitar songs and one of them

was from Glee. The biggest rock song of 2010 was a Jour-ney song from the 1980s, it’s funny but I don’t know what that means for guitar music, I try not to think about it. We’re all very much wanting some good music to show up in the charts again, but whether or not that will happen is not up to us.

“As a band I think we’re all really great fans of like simple, straight forward music, like The Ronettes and The Crystals, that sort of stuff, but we all take separate infl uences as well. Justin for example is really into the DC hardcore scene, Bad Brains and bands like that, those really exciting, straight-to-the-point bands. I think immediacy is very important.”

Immediacy certainly is very important when it comes to The Vaccines’ own sound. Poppy, short and simple, their singles so far - including the 84 seconds long Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra) - have all snatched instant acclaim, even if they haven’t exactly broken the mould. And Arni assures fans they can ex-pect more of the same both on tour and on the new album.

“The record is called What Did You Expect From The Vac-cines? so it’s pretty straight to the point.”

The Vaccines are live at the O2 Academy, Birmingham, on February 12, along with Crystal Castles, Magnetic Man and Everything Everything. See below for your chance to win tickets.

A guitar band playing short, punchy indie rock and hyped beyond belief as ‘the next big thing.’ Sounds familiar doesn’t it? But while THE VACCINES have been called everything from the saviors of British rock to a contrived experiment in industry-generated hype, one thing is for sure, guitar bands who can generate the sort of national attention they have in such a short timespan are seemingly few and far between these days. James Collins speaks to bassist Arni Arnason about life in the spotlight.

Words: James CollinsDesign: sleepy.me.uk

“You see something on the horizon but tomorrow

is always the most exciting thing we’ve done”

To celebrate Shockwaves sponsorship of the NME Awards for the seventh year running we’re offering two lucky winners a chance to rock the night away with their friends and look great while doing it at the Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, setting the stage for the music event of the year. Enjoy the best in British music and style with thousands of other music fans at the 2011 Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, which stops at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on February 12. You and four friends will get to see a fi rst class line up of eclectic new talent that includes, Crystal Castles, Everything Everything (pictured), Magnetic Man and The Vaccines.

You’ll also be able to rock your own unique style at the event with your complimentary set of Shockwaves Re-Create prod-ucts. For more information on Shockwaves - and the chance to win great prizes - join the Facebook group at facebook.com/shockwavesuk

Tickets for the 2011 NME Awards Tour cost £16 plus a 50p char-ity donation to Teenage Cancer Trust. For your chance to win a set of fi ve tickets to the show, tell us the name of Everything Everything’s debut album, re-leased last year.

Email your answers to [email protected] by February 8. Winners will be notifi ed by email before February 12.

Everything Everything, one of the acts taking to the stage for the tour.

WIN: FIVE TICKETS TO THE SHOCKWAVES NME AWARDS TOUR IN BIRMINGHAM


songs. Well, enough that I was happy with. Wayfaring Stran-ger isn’t even my song. And I didn’t have a vision for what I wanted the album to be or sound like. I think you can only go so far without that [making an album]. It’s your calling card. But I thought it would be better to take my time, and develop my sound slowly.”

Intelligent, confident, soulful — three words to describe the sound in question, which has been honed to produce the long overdue album, due out in April. Keep ‘em peeled.

“I just finished it and it felt long overdue — there were songs that had been hanging around for a while and it was nice to get them finished and move onto something new.”

Early tracks see atmospheric, timeless RnB grooves smoth-ered over OK Computer. Really. Whilst as with the Burial remix of Wayfaring Stranger, more recent single Night Air has the same bare bones approach which is waiting to be chopped up and fed to eardrums from all angles. How cur-rent and down with the kids - something Jamie is aware of. “I really enjoy the process of listening back to something some-one else has done, and with this record it does make a lot of sense for people to do that [a remix]. It is very groove-based. I like the idea of people being able to hear my music in clubs, and other different places, so yeah, the remixes are always good. I’m into that. People are listening to more and more mu-sic nowadays, and I think it’s important to appeal to different tastes. My stuff has changed, what people are listening to has changed. It’s a really exciting time to be making music.”

With all the hype, the lack of tracks, and the constant remixes, it’s hard to tell who is the real Jamie Woon. Two months down the line should answer more questions, but until then, he’s happy with the mystery.

“When you’re younger and you’re encouraged to kind of right your own biographies, I didn’t really engage with that a lot. So there are things written about me on the internet that I find quite amusing. And I’m happy for it to be like that, really. No matter what you do, people are going to say what they want to say about you and your music. People are saying dubstep quite a lot, I’ve never said that, but I think I have an affiliation with dubstep after all the remixes and that. I definitely was inspired by it, and I don’t have a problem being called that, I just don’t think it’s that accurate.”

Jamie brings his live tour to the unique Victorian charms of the Hare & Hounds later this month - whether you’ll be able to get

Oi! Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding, Delphic — bugger off, you has-beens. If you’re looking for your ‘next big thing’ monikers; singer-songwriter and instrumentalist JAMIE WOON has gone and pinched ‘em. And, he’s about to ride into 2011 on the back of it, with his guitar, angelic vocals and dubstep beats at the ready…

TOM PELL catches up with 2011’s most intriguing, genre-bending star in the making.

your hands on tickets is another matter. But for a solo artist renowned so far for his studio sound, his live set-up should be an intriguing prospect.

“I’ve just put together a four-piece. We’ve got electronic drums, guitar, keyboard, bass through the keys, I’ll be manipu-lating my voice and playing a bit of guitar, a mixture really. It’s really important to try and get the sound right of the songs, so we needed to do that in a way that just wasn’t a load of laptops and staring at screens. It’s my first time with a band, ever. Should be fun.”

Jamie Woon is live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on February 23, with support from Jodi Ann Bickley and This is Tomorrow DJs, presented by Left-foot and Bigger Than Barry.

DANCING IN THE WOONLIGHT

The BBC’s Sound of 2011 list chucked him in at number four, a zeitgeist-laden seat previously occupied by Plan B, Razorlight and Glasvegas, pretty much guaranteeing the 27 year-old some cracking radio time. As the BBC, y’know, do the radio. And the telly. So therefore, your ears and eyes. Get acquainted.

“It’s a great buzz” says Jamie. “It’s exciting to get the music out there. You just don’t want it to go the other way and be too in people’s faces. But the exposure is great.”

For a man without an album, and little media coverage until now, we doubt his face is going to go all Kerry Katona on us. So it’s very good news. But why now? Woon released his debut single, a mostly a capella version of folk classic Way-faring Stanger, back in the hazy days of 2007. The song was remixed by dubstep producer Burial, and this version con-nected the dots to the dubstep community and gained Woon more status as someone who could cross genres. Time for an LP? Not quite.

“I had the interest to do it [an album] around the time when Wayfaring Stranger came out, but I just didn’t have enough

“ I don’t have a problem being called dubstep, I just don’t think it’s that accurate.” W

ords

: Tom

Pel

l | D

esig

n: s

leep

y.m

e.uk

February 2011 23

songs. Well, enough that I was happy with. Wayfaring Stran-ger isn’t even my song. And I didn’t have a vision for what I wanted the album to be or sound like. I think you can only go so far without that [making an album]. It’s your calling card. But I thought it would be better to take my time, and develop my sound slowly.”

Intelligent, confident, soulful — three words to describe the sound in question, which has been honed to produce the long overdue album, due out in April. Keep ‘em peeled.

“I just finished it and it felt long overdue — there were songs that had been hanging around for a while and it was nice to get them finished and move onto something new.”

Early tracks see atmospheric, timeless RnB grooves smoth-ered over OK Computer. Really. Whilst as with the Burial remix of Wayfaring Stranger, more recent single Night Air has the same bare bones approach which is waiting to be chopped up and fed to eardrums from all angles. How cur-rent and down with the kids - something Jamie is aware of. “I really enjoy the process of listening back to something some-one else has done, and with this record it does make a lot of sense for people to do that [a remix]. It is very groove-based. I like the idea of people being able to hear my music in clubs, and other different places, so yeah, the remixes are always good. I’m into that. People are listening to more and more mu-sic nowadays, and I think it’s important to appeal to different tastes. My stuff has changed, what people are listening to has changed. It’s a really exciting time to be making music.”

With all the hype, the lack of tracks, and the constant remixes, it’s hard to tell who is the real Jamie Woon. Two months down the line should answer more questions, but until then, he’s happy with the mystery.

“When you’re younger and you’re encouraged to kind of right your own biographies, I didn’t really engage with that a lot. So there are things written about me on the internet that I find quite amusing. And I’m happy for it to be like that, really. No matter what you do, people are going to say what they want to say about you and your music. People are saying dubstep quite a lot, I’ve never said that, but I think I have an affiliation with dubstep after all the remixes and that. I definitely was inspired by it, and I don’t have a problem being called that, I just don’t think it’s that accurate.”

Jamie brings his live tour to the unique Victorian charms of the Hare & Hounds later this month - whether you’ll be able to get

Oi! Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding, Delphic — bugger off, you has-beens. If you’re looking for your ‘next big thing’ monikers; singer-songwriter and instrumentalist JAMIE WOON has gone and pinched ‘em. And, he’s about to ride into 2011 on the back of it, with his guitar, angelic vocals and dubstep beats at the ready…

TOM PELL catches up with 2011’s most intriguing, genre-bending star in the making.

your hands on tickets is another matter. But for a solo artist renowned so far for his studio sound, his live set-up should be an intriguing prospect.

“I’ve just put together a four-piece. We’ve got electronic drums, guitar, keyboard, bass through the keys, I’ll be manipu-lating my voice and playing a bit of guitar, a mixture really. It’s really important to try and get the sound right of the songs, so we needed to do that in a way that just wasn’t a load of laptops and staring at screens. It’s my first time with a band, ever. Should be fun.”

Jamie Woon is live at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, on February 23, with support from Jodi Ann Bickley and This is Tomorrow DJs, presented by Left-foot and Bigger Than Barry.

DANCING IN THE WOONLIGHT

The BBC’s Sound of 2011 list chucked him in at number four, a zeitgeist-laden seat previously occupied by Plan B, Razorlight and Glasvegas, pretty much guaranteeing the 27 year-old some cracking radio time. As the BBC, y’know, do the radio. And the telly. So therefore, your ears and eyes. Get acquainted.

“It’s a great buzz” says Jamie. “It’s exciting to get the music out there. You just don’t want it to go the other way and be too in people’s faces. But the exposure is great.”

For a man without an album, and little media coverage until now, we doubt his face is going to go all Kerry Katona on us. So it’s very good news. But why now? Woon released his debut single, a mostly a capella version of folk classic Way-faring Stanger, back in the hazy days of 2007. The song was remixed by dubstep producer Burial, and this version con-nected the dots to the dubstep community and gained Woon more status as someone who could cross genres. Time for an LP? Not quite.

“I had the interest to do it [an album] around the time when Wayfaring Stranger came out, but I just didn’t have enough

“ I don’t have a problem being called dubstep, I just don’t think it’s that accurate.” W

ords

: Tom

Pel

l | D

esig

n: s

leep

y.m

e.uk


thefuture of the left

It’s now 11 years and counting for one of Birmingham’s most respected alternative promoters LEFTFOOT. The musical landscapes both in the city and around the world have evolved beyond recognition since they first started curating parties at the Custard Factory before moving on to programming one of Birmingham’s most eclectic combination of live music events and club nights at new home the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath. But as Leftfoot continue to collaborate with some of the region’s most innovative and exciting fellow promoters, blurring the lines between counter culture and the mainstream, 2011 promises to be one of the most intriguing years yet for underground music. Meet the men helping to put Birmingham back on the nightlife map.

Hip hop in Snobs, folk bands playing dubstep nights and indie kids listening to grime. As genre boundaries continue to melt, nowhere is the emergence of crossover experimentation more apparent than at Kings Heath’s Hare & Hounds, the Victorian boozer which has turned itself into Birmingham’s unofficial capital of cool, boasting some of the bravest line-ups you’ll find and switching on audiences to types of music they might never have considered.

Behind the Hare & Hounds’ reinvention, venue boss Adam Regan, DJ and co-founder of Leftfoot, has overseen a progressive program of shows. Leftfoot, themselves responsible for bringing innovative performers such as Mr Scuff, Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay to the city, have also embraced the cooperative spirit that underpins independent music, working alongside the likes of fellow promoters This is Tomorrow, Bigger than Barry, Freestyle and new future bass night Elixir, for an exciting forthcoming line-up that includes Jamie Woon, Mary Anne Hobbs, Odyssey, Submotion Orchestra and Matthew Dear. Meanwhile, sister venue the Bulls Head in Moseley continues to cater for boutique club nights in its upstairs space spearheaded by Leftfoot resident and Freestyle founder Sam Redmore and attracting the likes of Crazy P to take over the decks.

“The Birmingham club scene is really crossing over,” explains Adam. “Here for example, essentially you’ve got an indie promoter, someone that does more funk and hip hop stuff, the bass thing going into the future bass thing and it’s all linking in with what I’ve always done as well. “Everything’s crossing over. I looked at our line-up for the next few months and just saw the links. It just seems there’s been quite a change in the last few years, you’ve got indie kids listening to dance music, kids that were maybe pure future bass or dubstep heads or whatever getting more into the live scene now with people like Jamie Woon and the whole singer-songwriter thing, it just seems to be crossing over a lot.”

For Bigger than Barry, this month’s forthcoming sell-out Jamie Woon show represents something of a symbolic shift, representing one of their first forays into live music promoting, yet still pushing a genre of music which mixes so many elements which the collective already loves.

Bigger than Barry honcho Bobby Barnes insists it feels like a natural progression since their club nights began five years ago in the now-closed Ben Jonson pub off Lancaster Circus, through raves in secret warehouses to where they are now.

February 2011 25

“It is all merging isn’t it, and from our side, especially from the Barry side it’s kind of an age/maturity thing when you’ve grown up on the bass that was brought through original garage or old school garage or whatever it was called, we all know the bangers, and that’s how it started and then there’s this new wave of that which is a little bit more technical.”

Bobby says it was the success of last year’s live show from dubstep duo Mount Kimbie which convinced them their was more mileage in mixing live and club crowds. The gig also represented the last appearance from Birmingham’s punk-step darlings Scarlet Harlots, fronted by fellow Bigger than Barry co-founder Sam Bayliss, and saw crowds not normally associated with Bigger than Barry club nights soaking up Mount Kimbie’s beats-laden sound.

“I think the Mount Kimbie show was a good one, because we had the Scarlet Harlots playing and it was like their unofficial final gig so we had a lot of Scarlet Harlots fans came and it was a great vibe. But a lot of people really enjoyed Mount Kimbie as well and they weren’t necessarily people who had even heard of Mount Kimbie before and it just rolled over really nicely and it was a good example of how a crossover event can really work,” explains Kieron McInerney, who completes the trio of Barry operators. “It just felt really positive that night, you had younger heads and older heads all really kind of merging,” adds Adam.

“It was appreciated by the crowd as well. It’s hard to get people to come to events where they don’t know too much about the music,” continues Kieron. “That’s our toughest thing as promoters almost, telling people to come and say ‘you’ll really enjoy it, you’ll really enjoy it.’ That’s the thing with Barry having been around for

four or five years, there’s an element of confidence and people come to our parties and they might not have heard of the DJ as such but they know that it’s going to be decent quality and what to expect almost.”

“All we’d ever done was big raves and - not that we aren’t into raves - but to be able to do something that we’re a bit more into as music lovers and stuff like that and people still appreciated it was a nice feeling, so since then drawing stuff like Jamie Woon, Submotion Orchestra and a couple of others as well is a great step,” Bobby adds.

For Adam Regan, who has watched first hand how Birmingham’s scene has developed in recent years, crossover itself is no new thing, but it is giving promoters and musicians an opportunity to continue developing and continue delivering fresh and exciting club nights.

“When we were playing at the Custard Factory the whole broken beat thing had just kicked off and it was kind of quite bass heavy,” he says. “A lot of those producers from that era are now making future garage. I think that Birmingham has always, even looking back at things like the UB40 gig [a surprise warm up show at the Hare & Hounds last year], Birmingham has always had a big interest in reggae and dub and that connects it all as well. When we put UB40 on these guys were loving it more than anyone, know what I mean?”

It is not just the ‘dance heads’ putting on live shows, but the ‘indie kids’ are even getting their rave on. This is Tomorrow, who have battled to bring some of the most exciting and interesting indie bands and electronic musicians such as Foals, Hot Club de Paris and Casio Kids to Birmingham ahead of the game for the last few years, are venturing out into house and techno arenas. Matt Beck, DJ and This is Tomorrow main man, says:


BIGGER THAN BARRYBig, fat ravers-turned-boutique party crea-tors, one of Birmingham’s best respected brands, and set for their most intriguing year to date, mixing live performances, specialist DJs and a good time party ethic.

www.biggerthanbarry.com

“The crossover has just been crazy this year, I think you’ve always had indie kids listening to LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk and stuff but I think it’s like that batch of indie kids that probably went to Snobs five or six years ago who actually are getting a bit deeper now and are starting to really appreciate things like Detroit tech. Even people like Greg from Sunset Cinema Club was in punk bands and he’s now making house music basically and he’s buzzing off Tensnake and he’s massively into Theo Parrish and stuff, and I just think that wouldn’t have happened two, three years ago.

“We’ve got the Matthew Dear show coming up and he’s essentially a techno artist. His live shows have massively crossed over into the indie circles. It just feels like a really positive time for experimenting with some of these acts as well. I feel like you take the plunge with some of these people and a few years ago you probably would have had five or six people turn up for it but I think now you can safely take a few more risks as people are broadening their horizons a little bit. It’s a really positive time for music.”

“We call it the iPod generation,” says Kieron, “music is so free and so available on the internet that it encourages people to listen to different stuff, so you’re not a mod or you’re not a rocker like people were some time ago, you’re anything and when people say ‘what do you listen to?’ you’ve got an eclectic taste from dubstep to indie to whatever.“Rather than having one CD of one band, you’ve got an

iPod full of days of music.”

Despite such an abundance of music to discover, there is agreement around the room about the frustration at the stranglehold which Radio 1 has on taking new music to the masses. “It’s frustrating how it’s all kind of at the helm of Radio 1,” says Bobby. “What they say is cool. You can have someone you know is absolutely amazing but they haven’t been on Radio 1 so people won’t turn up to the show if you put them on.”

“I think that’s why you need to become an authority in your own right,” says Sam Bayliss, one of the men behind new monthly future bass club night and blog Elixir, which this month has lined up a show with queen of experimental music Mary Anne Hobbs. “That is what we’re trying to do with Elixir, trying to promote the night and the idea of the night through the blog itself.”

“I think people generally only go to what they know,” continues Sam’s Elixir counterpart Jack Harper, “and this whole future bass thing is only becoming more popular through James Blake and Jamie Woon. The amount of times we play and people say ‘play some James Blake, play some Jamie Woon,’ but then you can put on someone from the same genre that no-one knows and there’s a good chance everyone will go, ‘I’m not going to that.’”

LEFTFOOTDaddies of leftfield club music in Brum for more than a decade, bringing big names, nur-turing new talent and constantly striving for progression, from hip hop to house, through soul, funk and reggae, jazz, bass and more.

www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

ELIXIRBarry’s younger, cooler brother, a new night dedicated to future bass, liquid crunk and psychedelic dub and determined to promote the freshest breaking talent and sounds through their uber-cool blog and mixtapes.

www.elixirelixir.com

THIS IS TOMORROWThe indie kids of the group, but always progressive and never afraid to take risks. Responsible for bringing the most innovative indie and electro acts to Brum and now cast-ing their net further into the dance ether.

www.thisistmrw.co.uk

FREESTYLELed by Leftfoot resident Sam Redmore, his own night Freestyle has become a staple ingredient of Moseley weekends, spinning a wide spectrum of party tunes weekly Fridays at the Bulls Head and turning 2 this month.

www. freestylebirmingham.blogspot.com

February 2011 27

“To me the Elixir blog is a really good example of how you can start something and it can really spread,” agrees Adam. “A lot of my mates check that now and are picking up tunes and people are constantly checking new stuff through it and sending links on and it’s kind of spreading. You can’t plug your headphones in and listen to a flyer but with a blog you can connect straight away, I think it’s really powerful.”

“It’s a good way of spreading it,” continues Jack, “because nobody knows these artists that we want to put on, that’s the only way to promote it really. You can’t say to someone, ‘here’s a flyer, it’s so-and-so,’ if they don’t know who it is.”

“We had to come up with something a bit more, not just flyering and not just Facebook events but being an authority on the scene because it’s still so fresh and so new. Running the night through the blog, it’s not a new idea but it’s definitely an idea that works,” says Sam. “Elixir at the moment is still a really small party but there’s just literally nowhere else in Birmingham we’d do it other than here [the Hare & Hounds], which is a sad state really, it’s a shame how generic some of Birmingham has become.”

Adam admits the success of the downstairs pub at the Hare & Hounds has given them scope to experiment with new nights such as Elixir and other live shows which perhaps would not take place elsewhere, but insists there are exciting times ahead for Birmingham’s underground live and club scenes across the city.

“We can get away with stuff here because we’ve got a pub downstairs that is busy every day and it allows me the freedom to put on things. The fact that we can take chances and build a reputation.

“Tonight is an example of how all the independent people, we might have different tastes with a bit of crossover, but it’s important that people communicate and get involved in the scene. We’re all basically doing the same thing, trying to promote a scene but all some of the bigger venues and the bigger promoters are just interested in is the bottom line and that’s it really, they’re not really interested if it’s been a good night, it’s about how much money you’ve made out of it.

“I think this is going to be a golden year for Birmingham, I think it’s going to be great, all the nights we’ve talked about and the crossover nights are going to do really well.”

Bigger than Barry’s Bobby agrees, and is equally positive about the nights ahead. “I think us personally, we’ve made our mistakes now, we know where we’re at and what we want to do. We’re doing things we want to do rather than things we have to do. Rather than just doing a show because it’s the time when you should do a show or you should have this DJ on, things like Jamie Woon and the Elixir stuff, it’s just because we want to do it. If you can get people out of that woodwork and get them to come it’s more of a buzz.”

“Things like Jamie Woon selling out is a great sign for Birmingham that people are picking up on him and saying ‘yeah, I’m going to go and see him’ and pay money for it,” says Matt Beck. “I’m more excited about it this year than ever because I just feel like people are having success with shows which in the last few years I honestly wouldn’t have thought we’d have success with. I think that even Matthew Dear, it’s selling tickets and it’s just not even a This is Tomorrow type act in a lot of respects. If we can pull off these shows, we’ll naturally get some of our indie kids down and hopefully get them into it a bit more, we’ll make our appearances at Elixir, and Barry and what-not and get one-offs in between but hopefully get this energy in between all these nights that people just say, ‘Birmingham is actually a buzzing little place.’ It’s a time to take a risk and be a bit adventurous.”

Words by Chris MoriartyPictures by Richard Shakespeare (Shakeypix Images)

LtoR: Jack Harper, Sam Bayliss (Elixir), Bobby Barnes (Bigger than Barry), Adam Regan (Leftfoot), Kieron McInerney (Bigger than Barry),

Matt Beck (This is Tomorrow), Sam Redmore (Freestyle)


LIVE

MY JERUSALEMThe Flapper, BirminghamJanuary 15

Screaming up a storm like a Southern preacher performing a particularly tricky exorcism My Jerusalem’s Jeff Klein is a man on a mission. Here to spread the word about his band’s frankly essential debut album Gone For Good they’re only on the second track, Sweet Chariot, and already they’ve packed more of a punch than many bands manage in a lifetime. Raw, honest (painfully so at times) and, as Richey would put it, “4 Real” the set leads us into a world of hard knocks, broken hearts and unfulfilled dreams. Recalling Eels at their best, with a dash of Gram Parsons and a slice of Dennis Wilson there’s a ‘kicking against the pricks’ attitude that keeps everything from straying into self pity though. It’s a fine line that Jeff and co (including members of the Polyphonic Spree, Great Northern and Bishop Allen) tread but somehow they get it just right, with trumpets, trombones and strings adding some lush orchestration the whole night became a deeply uplifting experience rather than a lesson in wrist slitting. Wise enough to know how the game goes but honest enough to refuse to play it Jeff was short on chat except for an explanation that the band would pretend to go offstage so we would whoop and holler for an encore which they would, of course, play. By then we didn’t need much encouragement. We were all believers.

Words by Daron BillingsImage courtesy of Wayne Fox

February 2011 29

Walking into Metronomy’s sell-out gig at the Hare & Hounds, it was clear a few things had changed since the last time the electro-indie popsters played the city. They seemed to have picked up an uber trendy fanbase along the way, but of more interest was the new members recruited since the departure of former bassist and keyboard player Gabriel Stebbing two years ago.

Playing a gig on a Sunday night is no easy ride, but the band led by their charismatic frontman, Joseph Mount, went straight for their robotic, mind blowing opener, My Heart Rate Rapid, played in an unbelievably dark room, with synchronised chest-bulbs adding to the futuristic appeal of this band. With new bassist Gbenga Adelekan’s Robocop inspired moves, it was a sure sign of the energy that was to continue all night. As Mount recalled their last Birmingham gig, which he claimed was to an audience of about five, it was clear things had turned around for this band. Clearly, enjoying the packed out room, the big guns were fired in the form of Radio Ladio, which was received with a deafening cheer, followed by Heart breaker, and personal favourite A Thing for Me.

As Metronomy carried on belting out material from hit album Nights Out and re-released debut Pip Paine (Pay the £5,000 You Owe), perhaps Mount had come to realise he had a winning recipe on his hands, one which should put a stop to endless comparisons to a Klaxons/ Scissor Sisters tribute act.

Words by Latti Bamisedun

METRONOMYHare & Hounds, Kings HeathJanuary 23

Part of the burgeoning rock scene in New York a decade ago, a scene that introduced the world to The Strokes among others, is where The Walkmen were born. However, where bands like The Strokes enjoyed almost immediate success and acclaim The Walkmen, always that little bit different, a touch more experimental, took their time. There have been occasions when it felt the four-piece had been left behind, but not so. Listening to them at The Glee Club in Birmingham you would never have guessed they were once lumped in the 2001 garage/art rock scene category.Yes, the vocals have that lazy cool New York feel running through them, but everything else is much more sparse and more atmospheric. In support of new release Lisbon, the guys ploughed through a blistering set of new and old songs much to the delight of everyone at the packed-out venue. Obviously taking their time has paid dividends for the band who sounded mature with a focused sound while not all the time being immediate.Despite being less well known then many of their contemporaries The Walkmen have carved a nice little niche for themselves and seem more than happy with it.

Words by Ben Russell

JEFFREY LEWIS & PETER STAMPFELThe Actress & Bishop, BirminghamJanuary 20

THE WALKMENThe Glee Club, BirminghamJanuary 23

Local folk hero Ben Calvert opened the evening with a subdued blend of melancholy, lifted at times with Hannah Lawson’s violin contributions, yet on the night it was his lyrical ability that stood out. Headliners Jeff Lewis and Peter Stampfel followed and upped the tempo, while entertaining the crowd with their witty anecdotes. They played a mixture of their collaborative and individual works; some of which worked really well, some not so much. Highlights included Bottle Caps are Cool and Pocahontas - accompanied by Lewis’s impressive art work. Whenever the audience’s attention span started to dip, Stampfel let out a shrieking whoop that immediately picked the crowd up once again. It was obvious that Lewis’s cult status had sold the tickets and his faithful fan base were out in their numbers but folk-rock legend Peter Stampfel was the star of the show. Peter had an electrifying energy present throughout this at times testing gig and it was a delight when he took centre stage. Words by Saima Razzaq


Forget the BBC's much maligned ones to watch in 2011, there are much better bands deserving your approval and your attention. Two of these just happen to include Pan & The Poets and Young Runaways, both of whom took to the stage at Newhampton Arts Centre in Wolverhampton for an evening of folk-tinged alternative music. Pan And The Poets, specialising in something other than the norm and mid-song tempo shifts, are a breath of fresh air. From the moment they step onto the stage there is an understanding that this band is different from your run of the mill folk/alt band. And it is clear they embrace being a

bit different. Following them, the recently reinvented Young Runaways, showcasing a slightly heavier feel than their previous sound. While they may be hard to categorise, it is not hard to see that they clearly know what they're doing and what they do, they do extremely well.A set complete with intricate brass and string sections, with an acoustic break in the middle, demonstrates a sound similar to Arcade Fire mixed with the more accessible elements of Sigur Ros; melodic yet quite heavy at times. Definitely two bands to watch in 2011.Words by Johnny Dexter

YOUNG RUNAWAYS + PAN & THE POETSNewhampton Arts Centre, WolverhamptonJanuary 8

MARK THOMAS: WALKING THE WALLMAC, BirminghamJanuary 20

It’s no surprise to learn that Mark Thomas enjoys rambling. He looked the part, too, taking to the stage with a rucksack and a thermos. Performing his latest show, Walking the Wall, he told the story of what he called “extreme rambling”. Never one to take the easy option, the comic-turned-investigative journalist decided that it would be fun to walk the entire length of the Israeli separation barrier.What followed was a funny, moving, unsettling and uplifting tale of his search to find out what life was like on both sides of the wall, encountering all sorts of people – some bigoted, some big-hearted – and surviving being pelted with rocks and attacked with tear gas.One of the things which has always marked Thomas’ shows is his connection with people, coupled with a passion for the cause they are fighting for. If his timing

was excellent when doing a show about the economy, allowing him to tap into public outrage about the MPs’ expenses scandal when developing his People’s Manifesto, this show was universal and took a very human look at the conflict.This wasn’t political polemic, but a thoughtful and provocative piece of story-telling from a master of his craft, his engaging story always making the audience think and giving them a way into the troubles which have surrounded the West Bank. And over the course of two hours he sketched out images that were in turn harrowing and heartfelt.Wonderfully controlled, Thomas’ story was never going to be a giggle-fest, but he wrings laughs from even the darkest of situations which he faced on his expedition. This was a brave, bold, funny and thought-provoking triumph.

Words by Simon Harper, courtesy of www.whoslaughingnow.org

February 2011 31

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February 2011 33

PETER DOHERTY

SATURDAY 14 MAY

BIRMINGHAMHMV INSTITUTE

0844 248 503724 HOUR TICKET HOTLINE:

0844 811 0051 | 0871 230 0333BUY ONLINE: GIGSANDTOURS.COM

A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL


No posters, no flyers, not even a real name – not really the formula for a behemoth of a night, is it? In most circumstances you could accuse the organisers of sloppy promotion. However in the circumstances of THE AFTERPARTY it’s all intentional. With a careful campaign of word of mouth and networking, The Afterparty has propelled backstreet boozer The Adam & Eve to the position of premier late night drinking den with only ‘those in the know’ attending.

It‘s a pure pub rave ‘til the buses are running kicking off at 2am, so don’t be surprised if you see a mass excursion of beautiful young things heading away from the Digbeth mainstays of Saturday night clubbing towards the back streets.

With some of Birmingham’s best DJs booked in for sets and others just turning up on the off chance they might be able to jump on, The Afterparty has taken the simplest idea and played it out no frills, creating an environment that falls under no other banner but “fun”. Regular sets from New Jack City (Bigger Than Barry), Goldsby (Gatecrasher), Skankboy (Gutter Skank) and Stuart Boyd-Crosbie (Zombie Prom) among others ensures that the party keeps going straight through with no one stopping for a breather.

As word spreads, things are just getting bigger for The Afterparty and The Adam & Eve, so look out a few special parties along the way this year...

WHO: Those in the knowWHEN: Every Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) from 2amWHERE: The Adam & Eve, Bradford Street, DigbethPRICE: Not a pennyLOOK OUT FOR: More special DJ slots, Bedroom Jam joining in the fun on Feb 5 for the Mary Anne Hobbs afterparty, and more special takeovers...

Photos by Jade Sukiya

February 2011 35


FOOD+

DRINK DRINK OF THE MONTH:

One of the key figures in the creation of Tiki culture was Victor Bergeron, widely known as Trader Vic. Despite the loss of a leg in a childhood accident, Bergeron was a successful restaurateur. In 1934 he set off on a voyage of adventure on the South Seas where he immersed himself in island life, returning with a desire to inject some island spirit into everyone’s life. He converted his restaurant Hinky Dinks into a tropical retreat decorated with souvenirs from his travels and set about creating some of the first Tiki cocktails.

One 1940s creation has become one of the definitive Tiki drinks: the Mai Tai. He claimed that he invented the drink for some Tahitian friends; upon tasting it one of them exclaimed “Maita’i roa ae!” which translates to “The very best” or “Out of this world”. Trader Vic’s long time and amicable competitor Donn Beach also claims to have created the Mai Tai, however his recipe is very different and never gained the popularity of The Trader’s formulation.

The following recipe is very similar to his original specifications. The major difference is that The Trader originally used Wray and Nephew 17-year-old as the base spirit. Sadly this has not been produced for decades and very few bottles are known to exist. The Merchant Hotel in Belfast has one of the remaining few and they offer Mai Tais made to the original recipe – yours for a mere £750...

RECIPE: MAI TAI

Ingredients: 40ml Golden rum15ml Cointreau15ml Freshly squeezed lime juice10ml Orgeat syrup (almond syrup, amaretto can be used as a substitute)5ml White sugar syrup* (adjust according to taste, use more if using amaretto in place of orgeat)

*White sugar syrup is made by combining equal parts of white sugar and boiling water and allowing to cool.

Directions:Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass (tumbler) filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and a lime wedge.

By Matt Marriott, manager at Island Bar, Suffolk Street, Birmingham (pictured).

Tiki Thursdays launch this month in the upstairs Tiki Bar, with themed cocktails, over 50 different types of rum and other drinks promotions.

MAI TAITiki culture first emerged in the United States in the mid 1930s. An exaggerated take on the Polynesian way of life; think grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts and endless summers. Bars and restaurants are at the heart of Tiki culture with exotic ingredients brought to the fore. In terms of drinks this often means a wide variety of rums and tropical fruits.

February 2011 37


February 2011 39


The Black Atlantic bring their ethereal charms to wash over West Bromwich with a performance at arts centre The Public on February 20. While minimalist Dutch folk-pop might not sound the most inspiring description, it won’t take long for their atmospheric tinkling to win you over. Support comes from Young Runaways and Pan & the Poets in one of the most technologically advanced and yet under-appreciated venues in the West Midlands. New York indie art rock legends Les Savy Fav (pictured below) headline the Momentum club night at Birmingham’s Sound Bar on February 25, with support more than effectively provided by lo-fi pop-punk heroes Calories. Fans of the now-defunct Cajun Dance Party or fans of shoegazey-yet-sprightly juxtaposition will be pleased to see Yuck starting to live up to their burgeoning reputation. The band, formed from the ashes of the aforementioned Party, tackle the Hare & Hounds on February 24, tickets from £8. Gay for Johnny Depp may have an oh-so-clever ironic name, but their hardcore metal is much more direct, whipping The Flapper up into a frenzy on February 23.

GIGS

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best and you can’t go wrong with five decades of music in five different rooms, all in one club night. The brand new monthly Get Back takes over the HMV Institute on the second Friday of each month, beginning in earnest on February 11 and promising the “cooler side of retro,” with Hasselbaink Says Relax bringing you alternative 80s, Stiff delivering 70s glam, punk and new wave, Fuzzz! rolling it back to the 60s, while the Temple hosts 90s cool Britannia and hip hop, alongside Naughty Noughties in the VIP room. Keeping it cheeky and unashamedly pop, national extravaganza Guilty Pleasures takes over the Temple at the HMV Institute on February 12, coming to Birmingham for the first time to host a Valentines Love Explosion, featuring dancers, glitz and all those songs you were too embarrassed to admit to liking. For the more discerning clubber, the first lady of experimental dance music Mary Anne Hobbs takes over the decks at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath on February 5 as part of new future bass night Elixir, co-hosted by Leftfoot. Keeping it intimate, weekly Friday night Freestyle celebrates it’s second anniversary of spinning soul, funk, hip hop and everything in between, with sets from resident Sam Redmore plus guest DJs Matty Garber and Stevie Wilderbeast, at the Bulls Head in Moseley on February 11. Ms Dynamite is the guest of honour for early hours afterparty Rocknrolla at the Rainbow Warehouse beginning at 2am on the morning of February 6 (the night of February 5), while keeping the afterparty vibe going, The Afterparty continues to take over the Adam & Eve weekly Saturday nights/Sunday mornings.

CLUBBING

COMEDYComedy superstar/annoying rubber faced sweaty guy off the telly (delete as appropriate) Lee Evans plays a series of ‘secret’ shows in the intimate surrounds of The Glee Club, Birmingham, from February 3-5 to test out new material. Advance tickets are gone but a limited number will be available on the door, check www.glee.co.uk for details. Snappy observationist Mark Steel brings his own take on local surroundings to The Glee Club on February 9, followed by The Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton on February 17, while I’m a Celebrity...co-commentator and gag man Russell Kane (pictured) explores self, family, and his dad’s house at The Slade Rooms on February 10.

WHAT’S ON

February 2011 41

Want your gig or club night listed in our monthly guide? Send details to: [email protected].

All details correct at time of going to press. Check with venues before setting out.

While every effort will be made to ensure the accuracy of listings, Brum Notes Magazine will not be held liable for any errors or losses incurred from errors which may materialise.

BIRMINGHAM: O2 Academy, Horsefair, Bristol St B1, 0844 4772000; HMV Institute, High St, Digbeth B5, 0844 2485037; NIA, King Edwards Rd B1, 0121 7804141; LG Arena, NEC, Solihull B40, 0121 7804141; The Flapper, Kingston Row B1, 0121 2362421; The Victoria, John Bright St B1, 0121 6339439; Sound Bar, Corporation St B4, 0121 2362220; Hare & Hounds, High St, Kings Heath B14, 0121 4442081; The Actress & Bishop, Ludgate Hill B3, 0121 2367426; The Sunflower Lounge, Smallbrook Queensway B5, 0121 6327656; Symphony Hall, Broad St B1, 0121 7803333; Town Hall, Victoria Sq B3, 0121 7803333; Kitchen Garden Cafe, York Road, Kings Heath B14, 0121 4434725; Alexandra Theatre, Station St B1, 0844 8472302; Bulls Head, St Marys Row, Moseley B13, 0121 2567777; Island Bar, Suffolk St B1, 0121 6325296; The Jam House, St Pauls Sq B3, 0121 2003030; The Asylum, Hampton St, Hockley B19, 0121 2331109; The Rainbow, High St, Digbeth B12, 0121 7728174; Adam & Eve, Bradford St, Digbeth B12, 0121 6931500; Poppyred, The Arcadian, Hurst St B5, 0121 6871200; The Yardbird, Paradise Place B3, 0121 2122524; The Glee Club, The Arcadian, Hurst St B5, 0871 4720400; MAC, Cannon Hill Park B12, 0121 4463232; Scruffy Murphys, The Priory Queensway B4, 0121 2362035; The Wagon & Horses, Adderley Street, Digbeth B9, 0121 772 1403;WOLVERHAMPTON: Civic Hall/Wulfrun Hall, North St WV1, 01902 552122; ; The Slade Rooms, Broad St WV1, 01902 552122; Alchemy Bar, North St WV1, 01902 711998; Robin 2, Mount Pleasant, Bilston WV14, 01902 401211; Newhampton Arts Centre, Dunkley St WV1, 01902 572090;WEST BROMWICH: The Public, New St B70, 0121 5337161; COVENTRY: Kasbah, Primrose Hill St, CV1, 024 76554473; Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, CV4, 024 76524524.

VENUE DIRECTORY

KEY TO LISTINGS:M = LIVE MUSICCN = CLUB NIGHTC = COMEDY

Tuesday, Feb 1M Periphery O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Radicus + Laughing in the Face Of + Playing With Hammers + Flatback 4

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Ian Parker The Jam House

Birmingham

M Man Like Me + Full English

The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Francis Rossi Town Hall Birmingham

M Taking Dawn The Slade Rooms

Wolves

Wednesday, Feb 2M A Day To Remember O2 Academy Birmingham

M The Bravery O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Sick Puppies O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Lauren Pritchard The Glee Club Birmingham

M The Arteries + Cannons + Tanks

The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham

M The Waterboys Warwick Arts Centre

Coventry

CN Full Moon, Authentic Thai Beach Party

HMV Institute Birmingham

Thursday, Feb 3M Angels & Airwaves O2 Academy Birmingham

M The Joy Formidable O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Members Only + 4 Questions About What? + Lii Middleton

Sound Bar Birmingham

M Live & Loud Presents: Sunset on Suburbia + Black Russian

The Rainbow Birmingham

M Devil Sold His Soul The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Alternative Dubstep Orchestra

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Traditional Song Session

Kitchen Garden Cafe

Kings Heath

CN Mark Ronson (DJ Set The Copper Rooms

Coventry

C Lee Evans + Chris Ramsey + Keith Farnan + John Fothergill

The Glee Club Birmingham

Friday, Feb 4M Skunk Anansie O2 Academy Birmingham

M Taking Hayley O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Shallow Tides + Negative Brody + Birthrite + Your Truth Be Valiant

Plug Birmingham

M Point Blank Fury + No Turbo No Love + Lavellion + Signify

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham


M Project Ozma + New Abrasion + The Monicas

The Actress & Bishop

Birmingham

M Guage + The Paraffin Brothers + Naked Remedy

The Sunflower Lounge

Birmingham

M Every Inch a King + Tomorrow We’ll Trust + Jet Pack + Fired Wish + Scott Churchill


Birmingham

M Tyler Mae Kasbah Coventry

M Jibbering present The Nextmen

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Rachel McShane & Samuel Walter

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN Lip HMV Institute Birmingham

CN Thank B2T it's Friday: Rob Tisseria, Andy Farley, Strange Dave


CN Freestyle presents Beatroot + Sam Redmore

Bulls Head Moseley

C Highlight Comedy Highlight Birmingham

C Superlative Cabaret The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham



Saturday, Feb 5M CW Stoneking O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M More For Me + The Cosmics + Crossfire + Slim Fit Gym Kit + Paradise Valley + Black Jeans

Plug Birmingham

M Infractor + Apollyon + Colonel Blast + Hurt Season

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Corsairs + Maps and Legends + The Clocktower + Raunchy Carpet


Birmingham

M Capital Sun + Turn Off The Sun + Electric Circus


Birmingham

M Aggro Santos Kasbah (Groovy Garden)

Coventry

M The Rimes The Slade Rooms

Wolves

CN Panic! (Mystery Jets DJ set)


CN Back 2 Life Jekyll & Hyde Birmingham

CN The Afterparty The Adam & Eve

Birmingham

CN Leftfoot & Elixir present Mary Anne Hobbs

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN Sumosoundsystem Free Party

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN Rocknrolla The Rainbow Birmingham



Sunday, Feb 6M The Hold Steady O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Little Comets O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Jim Noir Newhampton Arts Centre

Wolves

M Godsticks Robin 2 Wolves

C Micky Flanagan Town Hall Birmingham

C Andi Osho The Slade Rooms

Wolves

Monday, Feb 7M Richard Wood Kitchen

Garden CafeBirmingham

M Joan As Police Woman


M Murderdolls Wulfrun Hall WolvesTuesday, Feb 8

M Imelda May HMV Institute Birmingham

M Funeral Party O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Kent DuChaine The Jam House

Birmingham

M Next Big Thing Feat Kassidy + The Velvet Texas Cannonball + Sam Sallon + James Summerfield


Birmingham

M Esben & The Witch + Trophy Wife + (silver) Souvenirs

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

C John Bishop LG Arena BirminghamWednesday, Feb 9

M The Crave The Flapper Birmingham

M The Three Degrees The Jam House

Birmingham

M British Sea Power The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Harry's Gym Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Ahab Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath



C John Bishop LG Arena Birmingham

C Punt & Dennis Town Hall

C Mark Steel The Glee Club Birmingham

C Andrew O'Neill: The Metal Comedian

The Slade Rooms

Wolves

Thursday, Feb 10M Caliber Heroes +

TsurisThe Actress & Bishop

Birmingham

M The Go! Team The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Live & Loud Presents: The Jellybean Rebellion + The Tantrics


M Sea Of Bees Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

February 2011 43

M Moseley Village Band

St Columba’s Church Hall

Moseley

M Lunasa The Public West Bromwich

CN DJ Psykhomantus presents Rest in Power: J Dilla & Baatin of Slum Village

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

C John Shuttleworth Town Hall Birmingham

C Owen O'Neill + Joe Bor + Paul Thorne + Jarred Christmas


C Zoe Lyons: Clownbusting


C Russell Kane The Slade Rooms

Wolves

Friday, Feb 11M A Day Overdue O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M We Writers + Agents Of The City + One Ton Bullet

Plug Birmingham

M 1st Anniversary Party: feat Witch Sorrow + Bastard of the Skies + Alunah

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Red Light Room + Kill Pages + Shed Boat Shed


Birmingham

M Sad Day For Puppets The Flapper Birmingham

M Sons of the Desert + Sence + The Fighter Pilots + Suzie Smart


Birmingham

M Nerve Centre + Give Chase + Obscure Pleasures


Birmingham

M Missing Andy Kasbah Coventry

CN Get Back HMV Institute Birmingham

CN The Source Present Tango & Ratty with Gershwin + Glenn Aston + DJ-X

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN The Sugarfoot Stomp Valentines Special

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN Freestyle 2nd Birthday feat Matty Garber + Stevie Wilderbeast + Sam Redmore

Bulls Head Moseley


C Russell Howard LG Arena Birmingham



Saturday, Feb 12M Nero HMV Institute Birmingham

M Shockwaves NME Awards Tour feat Crystal Castles + Magnetic Man + Everything Everything + The Vaccines

O2 Academy Birmingham

M We The Kings O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Forever Fallen + Conduit + Grace and Favour + Kisses at Sundown

O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Liberty Lies + Scruffy Somethings + The Kontours + Sunset On Suburbia + Go The Length?

Plug Birmingham

M Silent Filter presents (TBA)

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Dutch Cousin + Rob Fellows


Birmingham

M Florrie The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M I Skanked Me Valentine feat Tarantism + The Cracked Actors + Generic Eric

The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham

M The Feeling Kasbah Coventry

CN Ec-lectricity Clubnight Spectrum, Nero, Joker, Mistajam, Jaymo & Andy George


CN Cold Rice Jekyll & Hyde Birmingham

CN Zombie Club Sound Bar Birmingham


Birmingham

CN Guilty Pleasures - Love Explosion

The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

CN Bunka present Par Grindvik & Edit Select

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN Chinchilla present High Fidelity

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

C Russell Howard LG Arena Birmingham



C Richard Blackwood Wulfrun Hall WolvesSunday, Feb 13

M My Chemical Romance

LG Arena Birmingham

M Emma Scott Presents...


M Teddy Thompson + David Ford


M Chapel Club Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Francesqa The Slade Rooms

Wolves

C THE XXXX Comedy Cabaret

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

Monday, Feb 14M White Lies HMV Institute Birmingham

M Black Label Society O2 Academy Birmingham

M Kerouac + Pariso + Jackals + The Long Haull + Black Veins

The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham

M The Saturdays The Civic Hall Wolves


Tuesday, Feb 15M Not Advised O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Jonny The Glee Club Birmingham

M Birmingham Repertory Theatre presents…

The Jam House

Birmingham

M Ramblin' Boy (Live) Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Alexandra Burke The Civic Hall WolvesWednesday, Feb 16

M Shaun Ryder + The Twang


M Roll Deep O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M The Heebie Jeebies The Flapper Birmingham

M Tina Dico The Glee Club Birmingham

M The Midnight Beast The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Capsule present Kayo Dot + Bilbao Syndrome

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Anathema The Slade Rooms

Wolves



C James Mullinger The Jam House

Birmingham

Thursday, Feb 17M The British Kicks +

Looca + Never Says The Storm + Article Theives


M Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour feat Good Charlotte + Four Year Strong


M Grinspoon O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Escape Avenue + Marc Malone + Court Lane + The Night Before


M Live & Loud Presents: Birthrite


M Sound Of Guns Kasbah Coventry

M Miles Perhower presents Rein in the Chaos (live bands)

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Soundkitchen present Martin Clarke + Norah Lorway + Simon Whetham + Modulate

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

C Mark Steel The Slade Rooms

Wolves

C Kai Humphries + Simon Bligh + Martin Mór + Tom Deacon


Friday, Feb 18M Europe O2 Academy Birmingham

M Emma Scott Presents: Divided We Fall + This Day Will Dawn + Abercion


M Open To Fire + The Pursuit + Second State

Plug Birmingham

M Vault of Eagles + Mark Malone + The Bleak Man

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Pilot the Sky The Actress & Bishop

Birmingham

M Sicum + Fiction Fight + This Burning Age + Crooked Dawn


Birmingham

M The Dirty Knecks + The Adlibs + Dinky + Broken Witt Rebels + The Jacorandas


Birmingham

M Endless Nameless present Live Music, Theatre, Visuals, Poetry and Debauchery

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Dawn Penn + Friendly Fire Band

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Jason Derulo The Civic Hall Wolves

CN Lip HMV Institute Birmingham

CN Only After Dark Sound Bar Birmingham

CN Freestyle presents Bobbalin’ Hot (Mama Feel Good) + Sam Redmore

Bulls Head Moseley


C Kai Humphries + Simon Bligh + Martin Mór + Christian Reilly


Saturday, Feb 19M Ben Folds HMV Institute Birmingham

M The X Factor Live LG Arena Birmingham

M Miles Kane O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Isolysis Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Facade + Black Bears


Birmingham

M Brother The Flapper Birmingham

M Metal Hammer Razor Tour feat Sylosis + Bleed from Within + While She Sleeps


Birmingham

M Silent Filter presents (TBA)

The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham

M Crocodiles Kasbah (Groovy Garden)

Coventry

M John Holt The Civic Hall Wolves

CN Panic! (Gallows DJ set)


CN Hi-Fidelity Jekyll & Hyde Birmingham

February 2011 45


Birmingham

CN Fabio (RADIO 1) Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath


C Kai Humphries + Simon Bligh + Martin Mór + Christian Reilly


C Lenny Henry Warwick Arts Centre

Coventry

Sunday, Feb 20M The X Factor Live LG Arena Birmingham

M Maroon 5 O2 Academy Birmingham

M David McAlmont O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Paige + Fine Young Firecrackers


M Ray Lamontagne And The Pariah Dogs

Symphony Hall

Birmingham

M Martin Speake Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Traditional Music Session

Prince of Wales

Moseley

M The Black Atlantic The Public West Bromwich

M Mona The Slade Rooms

Wolves

C Tim Key Warwick Arts Centre

Coventry

Monday, Feb 21M Your Demise O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M The Ashirra + Your Truth Be Valiant + Hate The Faith


M An Evening With Andy Mckee


Tuesday, Feb 22M Rob Zombie O2 Academy Birmingham

M Cold War Kids O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Don Broco O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Pete Lawrie + Dan Whitehouse


M Ben Drummond presents Acoustic Sessions

The Jam House

Birmingham

M James Blunt The Civic Hall WolvesWednesday, Feb 23

M Lifehouse HMV Institute Birmingham

M Japanese Voyeurs + Dinosaur Pile Up + The Xcerts


M Octane Ok O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Eric Bana + Rash Decision + Book of Job

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Gay For Johnny Depp

The Flapper Birmingham

M Beatbullyz The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Jamie Woon Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath



C Tom Wrigglesworth: Tom Wrigglesworth's Nightmare Dream Wedding


Thursday, Feb 24M Mogwai HMV Institute Birmingham

M Tinie Tempah O2 Academy Birmingham

M Senses Fail O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Ben Montague & Leddra Chapman


M Del Camino The Jam House

Birmingham

M Live & Loud Presents: Disconnected


M Young Rebel Set The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Tempa T Kasbah Coventry

M Yuck Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

M Moseley Village Band

St Columba’s Church Hall

Moseley

CN Dexfactor Hip Hop Night

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

C Christian Reilly + Ben Norris + Carey Marx


Friday, Feb 25M Janelle Monae HMV Institute Birmingham

M The Streets + Brother


M The Whigs + Dead Confederate


M Templeton Pek O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Colours of One Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Les Savy Fav + Calories + The Bombergs + Tantrums DJs


M Eyes of the Raven + With Silent Eyes + Silent Nation + Octopledrop


Birmingham

M Sound Of Guns The Flapper Birmingham

M Heroica + Cohere + Me and Moges + Renegade Messiah


Birmingham

M No Americana + The Pargeters + Perrin + The Nortons


Birmingham

M Dutch Uncles The Victoria Birmingham

M IWW benefit gig The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham

CN Hardcore Sanctuary HMV Institute Birmingham

CN Leftfoot present Mr Scruff

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath


CN Freestyle presents + No Fakin’ DJs + DJ Cro (Jibbering) + Sam Redmore

Bulls Head Moseley


C Tim Key: The Slutcracker




C Sarah Millican Town Hall Birmingham

C Angelos Epithemiou & Friends

Warwick Arts Centre

Coventry

C Craig Campbell The Slade Rooms

Wolves

C Jo Enright + Andy White

The Public West Bromwich

Saturday, Feb 26M Carl Barat HMV Institute Birmingham

M Ocean Colour Scene O2 Academy Birmingham

M Frankie & The Heartstrings


M Johnny Get The Gun + 14 Car Pile Up


M Warlord UK + Nailed + Adust + Hellsworn

Scruffy Murphys

Birmingham

M Captain Horizon + The Venom


Birmingham

M D!Scharge The Asylum Birmingham

M Joey Barret + Zim Zim + Ignite The Sky

The Flapper Birmingham

M Burnside + The Uppers + The Reason


Birmingham

M Miles Hunt (The Wonderstuff) + Kill It Kid

Kasbah (Groovy Garden)

Coventry

M The Great America Soul Book

Dudley Concert Hall

Dudley

M Anna Calvi Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

CN Ec-lectricity Clubnight with Kele (live) + Hudson Mohawke + Factory Floor,


CN Tic Tac Toe Jekyll & Hyde Birmingham

CN Hysteria (Club) Sound Bar Birmingham


Birmingham

CN Construct The Wagon & Horses

Birmingham

CN Stop for the Drop with Kev Beedle

Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

C Dave Gorman: Dave's One Night Stand

Birmingham Hippodrome

Birmingham




Sunday, Feb 27M The Water Tower

Bucket BoysKitchen Garden Cafe

Birmingham

M Reel Big Fish O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Gruff Rhys The Glee Club Birmingham

M Devlin The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M La Shark The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Adlers Appetite Robin 2 Wolves

C Andi Osho Warwick Arts Centre

Coventry

Monday, Feb 28M The Naked And

FamousO2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Vialka Hare & Hounds

Kings Heath

C Lenny Henry Alexandra Theatre

Birmingham

Tuesday, Mar 1M Mark Morriss

(Bluetones)Hare & Hounds

Birmingham

M Amy Can Flyy The Slade Rooms

Wolves

Wednesday, Mar 2M Fujiya & Miyagi Hare &

HoundsBirmingham

M Boyzone LG Arena Birmingham

M Futures O2 Academy 3 Birmingham

M Darwin Deez The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Ne-Yo THE NIA Birmingham

M Exlovers The Temple @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

Thursday, Mar 3M Kt Tunstall O2 Academy Birmingham

M Surfer Blood O2 Academy 2 Birmingham

M Lighthouse Family Symphony Hall

Birmingham

M Beardyman The Library @ HMV Institute

Birmingham

M Plan B The Civic Hall WolvesFriday, Mar 4

M All Time Low O2 Academy Birmingham

M Fu Manchu O2 Academy 2 Birmingham


C Ed Byrne Warwick Arts Centre

Coventry

Saturday, Mar 5M Jamie Woon Kasbah

(Groovy Garden)

Coventry

C Richard Herring: Christ on a Bike

Wulfrun Hall Wolves

To get your March gigs, comedy events or club nights included in this guide send details to [email protected] by February 15.

February 2011 47


A34From Birminghamand M6 Junction 7

A4031From West Bromwich

B4151From Sutton Coldfield

POOL STREET

SPR

ING

HILL R

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BRIDGE STREET

SUTTON ROAD

BIRMINGHAM

ROAD

SAN

DW

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STR

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PEARL STREET

BROADWAY NORTH A34

A461

LOW

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WALSALLTOWN

CENTRE

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WE AREHERE

BRAND NEW

REFURBISHMENT

AND EQUIPMENT UPGRADE

JJM Studios is a purpose built complex of six luxury, sound proofed rehearsal studios, professional recording studio and

tuition services located in Walsall, West Midlands. At JJM Studios we always make sure you have the best possible rehearsal experience.

In your room you will find at least the following equipment:1 x Tama Superstar EFX 5 piece Shell Kit (Vintage Nickel Sparkle)2 x Roadpro cymbal stands1 x Ashdown ABM C210-500 Combo and ABM 1x15 Cab1 x Marshall AVT 150H Stack 1 x Marshall MA50C (50Watt all valve twin channel combo)1 x Peavey Bandit 1 x Peavey XR8300 PA and 2 x Peavey UL-15 PA Speakers

Boxes will contain the following:2 x Shure SM582 x Neutrik XLR Leads2 x Wing nuts4 x Cymbal Felts1 x Hi-Hat clutch

Tel: 01922 62970020 Pool Street, Walsall WS1 2EN

[email protected] FREE membership and further details visit

www.jjmstudios.co.uk

STUDIOS AVAILABLE FORAS LITTLE AS £8 PER HOUR

FREE CYMBAL HIRE, EARPLUGS AND TEA/COFFEE

BRAND NEW IN-HOUSE PRO-TOOLS RECORDING STUDIO

SU698 JJM Studios advert 200 x 270:Layout 1 18/08/2010 08:56 Page 1

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February 2011