Survive the Jive

NON Interview - Back to Mono

2011-06-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Ex-head of the church of satan, friend of Charles Manson, mentor of Marilyn Manson, descendant of Jesus Christ, social darwinist, neo-pagan, founder of noise core, electronic pioneer; Boyd Rice’s CV is as impressive as it is controversial.

Since the mid 70’s he has produced some of the most challenging and original recorded music in history. The sheer emotion, untamed structure and raw, uncompromising sounds are made all the more intriguing by the accompaniment of fascistic imagery and occultist aesthetics.

NON is perhaps his most famous music project. NON’s last record, ‘Children of the black sun’ was released on Mute records in 2002 and tended toward the dark ambient sound of his other projects. The next record ‘Back to mono’ is a return to the abrasive noise of his early years and is to be released this Summer. I caught up with Boyd at the recent Short circuit festival in Camden to find out what we can expect from this most eccentric and enigmatic of performers in the future.

Short Circuit Festival Review

2011-06-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Essex boys, Niitzer Ebb are one of the first bands to play on the Friday, but they easily fill the larger venue with loyal fans, eager for their shouty brand of industrial punk. The sheer scale of the room, combined with the bombardment of communist imagery on the monitors brings to mind the political rallies of last century rather than a popular music concert. Though they and their fans have aged, their music remains vital and fizzing with the energy of youth.

Balanescu Quartet perform in the smaller room offering a more ambient alternative to Nitzer Ebb’s ferocious industrial noise, upstairs. The emotive pitch of a string quartet lends itself perfectly to the hypnotic melodies of Kraftwerk. The audience is transfixed and left unable to listen to Krautrock in the same way again.

Throbbing gristle’s own Chris and Cosey are next in the small venue. The room is packed and remains so for the rest of the evening. At this point anyone who goes to take a piss, risks missing both Chris and Cosey and NON. The couple break out some of their classic electronica; mesmerising bass grooves and synth melodies interspersed with sheer noise and finally ending with a rather boring dub jam.

The wolfsangel flashes on a huge screen accompanied by wailing sirens and blinding spotlights circling the venue as though during an air raid. It seems as though bombs will go off any second. Then one does as Boyd Rice marches onto the stage, the screen vomits a rapid succession of over-exposed shots of swastikas from obscure angles. Boyd is dressed entirely in black with a peaked cap, aviators and arms quivering from decades of hedonism. From this grand and theatrical introduction, one may expect the kind of powerful oration associated with Oswald Mosley, instead we hear a friendly and somewhat timid voice speaking calmly between the ferocious screams of “Total War” and “OUT OUT OUT!”

German fans scream their devoted adoration as Boyd breaks out a converted electric drill, and after calling on a well equipped member of the audience for repairs, uses it to brutally torture an electric bass guitar.

Though the Short circuit festival boasted a legendary lineup, it was let down by the limited capacity of the smaller venue in which many of the greatest acts were performing. Those who were lucky enough to get into the smaller venue were treated to seeing the old gods of electronica and noise in an intimate and crowded space, those who did not, had to make do with Moby.

Published: I-D Online, June, 2011

Save May Day

2011-05-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

The evocative site of young girls skipping around a maypole is one of ancient tradition and innocent celebration, but it is under attack. The Tories are attempting to abolish the bank holiday. The celebration is so old, that we cannot be sure of its origin. The maypole itself is common to all Germanic countries; from Sweden to England, and so is thought to originate from Germanic paganism and the pole itself, a phallic fertility symbol. The Celtic peoples of Great Britain and Ireland also celebrate 1st May, which is the day of their ancient pagan ceremony, Beltane. After they converted to Christianity, the Anglo-Saxon people began celebrating Roodmas on 3rd May, a celebration of the holy cross itself. The disparate pagan and Christian May day ceremonies of the British Isles evolved over the centuries to become the secular celebration it is today.

When attending May day celebrations in modern Britain, one is less likely to encounter the quintessentially English customs of Morris dancing and maypoles than the site of scores of communists, trade unionists and other activists marching through the streets with banners and whistles. May day’s association with working class politics began in Chicago in 1886. Crowds of workers who were on general strike were fired upon by police after a demonstrator threw dynamite at them. Several Police and demonstrators were killed at what was termed the Haymarket massacre. Left wing politicians used the massacre as a device to whip up support for the International workers movement. Further riots occurred on Mayday 1894 in Cleveland, Ohio, and by 1904 the International Socialist Conference in Amsterdam called for all leftist groups to demonstrate on May 1st.

The labour day demonstrations have traditionally been very important to communist nations such as the republic of China. European nations, particularly their right wing political parties, have tried to suppress such movements. But efforts to suppress dissent have sometimes led to restriction on celebration of traditional festivities. May Morning is an Oxford tradition that is over 500 years old, what began as a tradition of drunken students going out punting, evolved over the centuries into drunken townspeople tearing through the streets and jumping into the river. May morning was heavily policed under the new labour government to the extent that anyone found in possession of so much as a can of shaving foam could find themselves being arrested.

David Cameron is now attempting to do away with the entire bank holiday completely. Centuries of history and heritage are to be discarded in an effort to attract tourists. Despite the fact the UK has less bank holidays than the rest of Europe, Cameron wants to scrap May day bank holiday and replace it with “UK day”, an ill-conceived and somewhat forced celebration of the national cultures that constitute the United Kingdom. UK day would be in October, and is intended to extend the summer period, attracting tourists during the Autumn months.

Whether Mr. Cameron’s real motive was to suppress the left wing movements he is so afraid of, or merely to create a new bank holiday, one less hostile to his economic values, surely he could have achieved both without the need to destroy heritage and history that have survived centuries of cultural and political upheavals. A mob of Morris dancers must be dispatched to number 10, first thing on May morning. Hopefully the sounds of sticks clashing, bells jingling and the sight of middle aged men waving hankies around will bring him to his senses.

This is England '86

2010-10-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

Interview with Vicky Mc Clure - LOL

This Autumn saw the return of Shane Meadow’s ‘This is England’. An uncompromising drama about life as a skinhead in the 1980’s. Released in 2006, it became an instant cult classic. The follow up, a four part TV series called ‘This is England ‘86’, is appallingly raw and as emotionally convincing as television drama can be. In terms of pure human honesty, it can be regarded as one the greatest television shows England has produced. This authenticity is credited almost entirely to the startling performances Shane Meadows draws from his cast.

“We are like a family, cliche as it may sound, it’s true,” reveals Vicky McClure, who plays Lol. “Everybody is so engrossed in their characters and Shane has the vision, he knows just want he wants to get out of you.”

Few characters in the series display crippling emotional confusion with as much depth as Lol . “In the film, me and Lol were similar. It was a few years ago, I probably had a bit more of an attitude. Now Lol and I are a million miles apart because of what she’s been through. All that stuff, I can only imagine how horrific it is for somebody to live it.” Lol has to endure being jilted at the altar, having an affair, having a rapist as a father and finally murdering him to protect her younger sister. “I remember when Shane told me about the story and me killing me Dad and all,” She recalls, “I thought, fockin’ ‘ell this is gonna be incredible if it actually happens.”

Although Lol has a more turbulent life style, Vicky admits they now have some things in common as she has been influenced by the skin-girl fashion. “The clothes and the style and all that was a big deal because I had to have so many drastic changes with my hair. But I embraced it and I loved it. I have things in my wardrobe now that I would never have had if it wasn’t for ‘This is England’.”

Published: I-D Online, October, 2010

Psychorama - Helsinki 2010

2010-09-24T03:48:00.000-07:00

Psychobilly guy

Skinheads fighting

Missy Macabre

Read Original Article
The Helsinki tram museum houses old trams that haven’t been in use for over 100 years, but this weekend, Finland’s psychobillies and skinheads clamber around them, knocking back vodka and Karjala beers in irresponsible quantities.

Spirits are high and so are the haircuts of the rowdy youths of Northern Europe. Blood splattered and debaucherous burlesque dancers accompany furious slap bass and old fashioned guitar solos. The shockwaves from the psychobilly bomb that went off in 1980’s England continue to reverberate around the globe. Here in Helsinki its alive and kicking, albeit with a few gory wounds.

Highlights include London’s The Polecats, featuring Boz Boorer of Morrisey’s band, shaming amateurs with his unmatchable six string skill. Singer, Tim, leaps about the stage like an excitable child and makes you forget that its been over 25 years since these rockers were chart topping pop stars.

The Coffin Shakers

Sweden’s The Coffin Shakers are another favourite but in contrast to the Polecats, they hardly move, preferring instead to pose, statuesque in black clothes and dark glasses, looking like four Roy Orbison clones and sounding like Johnny Cash enduring the most morbid of come downs.

It would be a comfort to know that on the outskirts of Europe, the forgotten subcultures of Britain are still celebrated, but the existence of these booze loving psychos can hardly be described in such terms.

Published: I-D Online, September, 2010

Top 5 Venezuelan Adventures

2010-09-13T03:57:00.001-07:00

My top 5 locations to visit in revolutionary Venezuela.

Venezuela is an old Spanish colony in South America. Founded on slavery, its main source of revenue is now oil. The country has been in the grip of socialist revolution for over a decade. The vast under class is benefiting from the oil money for the first time but many of the middle class feel betrayed and viciously oppose the socialist President Hugo Chavez.

The capital, Caracas, is the most dangerous city in the world. It is surrounded by vast mountains covered in shanty towns knows as Barrios. At night the streets echo with the thunderous assault of gunfire, an endless gang war, in which the fallen gangsters become deities in a cult of crime.

Toni Martin is the Steve Irwin of South America. A creole who grew up in the swampy anaconda infested plains of Los Llanos. Toni arranged for a jeep to take us to the swamp and informed me that he would catch an anaconda. This seemed unlikely because his hand was swollen from an infected anaconda bite he had received a week ago. A tooth had broken off in his hand which he hadn’t removed. Nevertheless an anaconda was caught. It took 4 men to control the thrashing serpent.

In the North are nearly 1800 miles of Caribbean coastline and over 70 islands all strewn with palm trees and Latina beauties. This photo was taken in Henri Pittier National Park, a designated nature reserve of idyllic ivory coasts skirting lush green rain forest. The park is popular with young people from Caracas as a location for surfing and all night free parties on the beach.

The South is dominated by the impenetrable jungles of Amazonas state and Canaima National Park. Deep in the rain forest you can witness the breathtaking Angel Falls, the world’s largest waterfall and the setting for Disney/Pixar’s ‘Up’. Native American tribes have preserved their ancient ways of life in this region. These two children of the Pemón tribe live in the jungle, surviving without electricity or running water.

the city of Maracaibo, near the Colombian border, is the second largest in the country. All its sewage is pumped, untreated, into Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in South America and one of the oldest in the world. The city boasts one of the largest oil refineries in the country and is situated on top of huge oil reserves. Many of the locals live in houses, suspended above the lake on wooden stilts. These traditional native structures are known as palafitos.

Published: I-D Online, September, 2010

Cerebral Ballzy at Old Blue Last

2010-08-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cerebral Ballzy
Old Blue Last,
London

Radical. Awesome. Gnarly. These are the most suitable adjectives for this 80s skate-punk assault on East London. The best of British and American thrash punk spit vitriolic and disillusioned anthems of maladjusted rage at an audience of tattooed slackers. Mumdance takes a break from providing beats for grime MC Jammer to roll some old style hardcore punk between bands.

Amateur Video are the first band up, with their low resolution aural pornography. So dirty, you will never feel clean again. The pub is full of hardcore kids being steam cooked by the heat and these messy noise makers are making it worse. Shitty Limits follow swiftly after with a relentless double sided attack. Switching from the fast as fuck hardcore of ‘I'm A Square’ to the garage style stomp of ‘Last Orders’. Singer, Louis’ bitter screams of defiance pierce through buzzsaw guitars shredding pop sensibilities.

The insensitively named Cerebral Ballzy deliver a sloppy, booze-sodden, punk-rock pizza, fresh from New York city, a rowdy crowd respond with mob chants and mosh pits. These wild eyed, drunken skaters have the street punk swagger of The Casualties and the irresponsible speed and intensity of Bad Brains. They incite the sweaty little grease hole of a venue to violence and crowd surfing. Fists fly as three chords fuss furiously over incoherent ramblings on songs like ‘Sk8 All Day’ and ‘Insufficient Fair’. This is how punk is meant to be; drunk, angry and stupid.

Published: The Fly, August, 2010

G Festival Review

2010-07-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

G! Festival

photos: jens kr. vang

Göta, Faroe Islands - Denmark

Day 1
Read Original Here

The plane groans defiantly as it hurtles between treacherous cliffs to land on a small
RAF base, the only airport on the tiny Faroe islands. The G! festival is one of the few
occasions when outsiders flock to these islands, most widely known for their ancient
tradition of killing and eating whales.

The secluded hills, located between Scotland and Iceland, feel as though they are on the
edge of the world. The festival itself is located in the tiny village of Göta, its population
is normally only 500 but during festival weekend, thousands gather to see an eclectic mix
of rock, pop and electronic music. Most of the revellers are Faroese, but many also come
from Europe.

Danish grime aficionados, Lucy Love, shake the very foundations of the majestic
mountains, with an assault of the grimiest bass lines and street wise rhymes. Two
hooded girls pull off choreographed dance moves while Lucy shouts that this is the
loudest audience reaction she has ever experienced. The crowd laps it up. Many of the
locals have never seen an act like this before. The charms of Lucy Love’s urban beats
are not lost in this unusual setting, but it does seem an odd contrast to have rappers on
a forgotten beach where a whale had nearly been butchered just a few hours before.

Next up was local doom metal band, Hamferd. It’s past midnight but still daylight; such
is the eerie absence of time in the arctic North. Mist hangs on the mountains surrounding
the bay as the band take to the stage beneath a torrent of rain. I can’t imagine a more
atmospheric setting for their epic, sludge ridden riffage. The rain causes the power to fail,
but the band keep rocking through the monitors while the crowd of Norse youth seem
totally un-phased by the weather, despite the fact a storm carried the main stage into the
sea earlier in the day.

Lucy Love

Day 2
Read Original Here

Torrents of rain pour onto hungover festival goers on the second day
of G! festival in the Faroe islands. The grey skies, bitterly cold
wind and seemingly endless rain may dampen the knitted jumpers of
these drunken young Scandinavians but it will not dampen their
spirits.

Hundreds flock to see local heroes Týr. The rain lets up as the
heathen heavy metal heads bang out epic anthems of Paganism, Vikings
and battle. From their first song, “By The Sword In My Hand”, the
whole audience is singing along with horns raised to the storm clouds
above. This combination of traditional Faroese folk and swaggering
metal machismo is enjoyed by everyone, from small children to pipe
smoking old fishermen.

Eivør is another local act who employs Faroese folk culture into her
music. Although, her soft approach to folk influenced rock sounds less
like metal and more like Björk. She is a typically Nordic, flaxen
haired siren, whose quivering voice has incredible range with an
intimate and genuinely moving quality.

Sweden´s Arch Enemy bring more meaty metal to the table as the rains
return. Blonde vocalist, Angela Gossow, struts about the stage like a
man, emitting guttural growls over catchy, cast iron riffs.

On the electronic stage, DJ Filthy Dukes brings London club culture to
a flooded beach. The enthusiastic audience of resilient ravers throw
shapes until 4am and then continue drinking in a wind swept , sub
arctic, campsite that even Ray Mears would have difficulty pitching a
tent in.

Published: The Fly. 19th July 2010

DIY Book Scans

2010-05-26T02:59:00.000-07:00

Fuck Kimble this is WINble

How the super-humans of the future will laugh at our ancient paper texts bound in the skin of beasts! The era of print is drawing to a close. Portable readers like the Kimble are the first nails in the coffin, but are awkward, pricey and associated with bollock sucking. The bait that draws the piranhas of technological innovation is copyright theft.

In the future everything must be free for the super-humans. Lets make this a world fit for them to live in by scanning all the books that exist and publishing them on the Internet. That'll learn the Man. The Man fears DIY book scanners because they make information easier, cheaper and faster to access and share. The man wants all the informations, but there is nothing he can do to stop you getting a cheap scanner that takes hi-res photo images of your Harry Potter books that you can email to Internet pirates while pissing on an effigy of J.K. Rowling.

This technology seems to be little more than a photographic device suspended above a V shaped stand, upon which a text is placed. The laser cut wood makes it all look very special but the general idea is simple. The Man hates simple things. they remind him of his childhood, confusing memories of a time before he began consuming the flesh of third world children. You can make your own scanner if you have some lights, some wood and a digital camera with a resolution higher than 8mpix or 7 for smaller texts. These guys make and sell them with skill to the max and they have patented that shit, so you might as well buy one of theirs because if they sued you for piracy, the irony, like the ejaculation of The Man into the mouths of mentally disabled sweat shop workers, would be far too much to swallow. Either way you should check out their website for examples of these visionary creations and to lurk on the forum so that you can learn the secrets of capturing books in digital form on the cheap. Let the Man tremble at a DIY book scanning revolution.

Published: L_A_N magazine 2010

Live Review: Real Estate and Ganglians

2010-05-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

Cargo, London
18/05/2010

Summer is upon us. The red-eyed, blissed out young stoners of London rejoice and celebrate its arrival along with that of two of the greatest American stoner jam bands to emerge for many seasons. They shuffle into the cavernous Cargo of Shoreditch, but before they can settle down to the luxurious lo-fi lullabies of Ganglians and Real Estate they must endure the opening act.

Read full review here

Published: The Fly. 21st May 2010

Tallinn Music Week

2010-04-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

Ank from Tharaphita - photo by AP Childs

Tallinn Music Week is an important event, not just for the bands and artists involved, but also to show the world that there is more to Estonia than old churches and sleazy strip clubs.

Read my article for Dazed Digital HERE

Published: Dazed Digital, 9th April 2010

Damo Suzuki gets Spiritual

2010-02-03T03:03:00.000-08:00

The legendary Damo Suzuki, of kraut rock pioneers Can, is shivering with cold and nursing a pint after a successful sound check. “We should get some whiskies or something to warm up.” Damo suggests, clearly affected by the Scandinavian climate that has descended on London this winter. Tonight he is performing with experimental noise maker Bo Ningen. He has been touring with the Damo Suzuki Network since 2003, which basically means he plays with a different group of musicians every night. They bang out improvised psychedelic jams, without prior rehearsals and hope for the best.

What is it like doing the Damo Suzuki network?

I am never disappointed because every time is a new experience. I enjoy every day. It is especially good because I like travelling and every night I meet different people. So it is not at all boring, there is always some kind of movement.

What’s the life of a traveller like?

Travelling is one of the most important things to me. It gives me fresh new experiences. I learn many things. People say information is just what you read in a newspaper or watch on TV, not your own experience. I have my own experience so I can tell you my real words. People are reading stuff about Manchester United or something like that, but not actually something to do with their life.

What do you think of modern bands who are reviving the kraut rock sound?

It’s different for new bands, in the 70’s there was less information about. There was no such thing as kraut rock. There was more space to create. I don’t know the meaning of the term kraut rock. I don’t like to categorise anything. If you are a creative person you don’t actually need to sort categories like this. It’s not necessary because it’s about different energies. It’s not a good term because bands like; Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül and Can, they all sound different, so why put them all in one pot? For me it is a spiritual thing. It doesn’t matter what you call it, as long as you like it.

On the subject of spiritualism are you still a Jehovah’s Witness?

No, but I believe in the Bible.

Does this influence your music?

What we are doing is instant composing, so it has something to do with nature. This is not making music. I am making energy. I am happy because after the concert, many people are smiling, that’s why I do it. I am not making kraut rock; I don’t like to have direction. If you have direction then you are not being creative.

Is it challenging playing with different musicians all the time, like Bo Ningen tonight?

Yes it is a challenge before I start because I do not know them. Nobody knows what will happen, every body makes a little bit of free music and freestyle. This is quite organic but the system we have doesn’t have that, the system is all about the Bosses, there are always differences between people. If you make music, there are no differences. That’s why I am following this existence. This is totally different from recorded music. There are accidents, many mistakes. People like it because it is like a human being. If you are performing the same pieces every night, it’s kind of like working in a factory. Nothing new happens anymore because the answers are already there. I don’t like to have any answers. There are new processes coming and you can now create different things from what you did yesterday and the day before. I perform everyday with people of different nationalities, different cultures and mentalities. From this I make music. It works.

You hint at a lack of spirituality in society, is that how you feel?

Yes, because people need that. All commercial things are like, you wake up, you are hungry so you eat fast food. It has no energy because there is no philosophy. Really pure energy comes from really good philosophy.

What is your life philosophy?

I can’t say, it comes by accident. Accidents are good, because they happen very personally, only to you. Everybody can buy something, can feel it, if it is of commercial base.

Why do you have this attitude toward music?

Western music started in the 13^th/14^th century because they found notes. With notes there is a composer and control. So the musician must stay with the notes. It’s not freedom. I like it when everybody is totally involved and creative at a specific moment. It always comes by accident.

Why don’t you like talking about Can?

These are things that happened almost 40 years ago. Why do I have to talk as though all that time was so good? It wasn’t. I’m not interested in music from the 60’s and 70’s. All these kind of bands who have a big name, they’re actually playing the same stuff they were playing 40 years before. How is it possible that you are repeating your life? Performing to the same audience. I don’t like this kind of sentimentality. I am not that kind of a sentimental person.

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 42, March 2010

The Strange Boys

2010-01-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Strange goings on

FREE MP3: The Strange Boys - This Girl Taught Me To Dance

The Strange Boys – yes, Rough Trade has signed them and they are another garage rock band, BUT they are a damn good one. Psychdelic-summer-pop done the way it should be done; burnt on the outside, still raw in the middle. They are not afaid to break out the odd sax solo when the occassion calls for it, and for this fact alone they have my deepest respect. Listening to their Count-Five- esque, British, sixties style rock, you’re not likely to think of Texas, but thats where these old boys hail from. I asked brothers Ryan and Phillip Sambol some patronising questions and recieved these suitably brief responses.

YEEEEEE HAW!

You live in Austin – is this awesome? (Y/N)

RS: I don't know how to answer that question.

Philip has night terrors – has it occurred to you that these may be messages from paranormal entities of the spirit world? If so, who are they and do they dig the strange boys?

PS: I don't know who it is/they are, but I got in a fight with one the other night. I got cut up pretty bad, but since then I have slept very soundly.

Right now, which is the best country in the world for music?

RS:Morocco

Being from Texas – do you have an irrational fear of Obama?

RS:Being an American, I have quite a rational fear of Obama.

You guys dig conspiracies right? like 911 was a fix up and that. Which ethnic group/alien species really controls the world?

RS: Hard question, we don't dig conspirarcies, we just prefer the truth. Look into it for yourself.

European women are easier - True or false ?

"one [always] dreads facing a pretty girl when one is collarless and unshaven." -George Orwell

JLP or Lux Interior? If they are in hell now, who is shafting who with a pineapple?

PS: It's hard to say.

When are you next in the UK?

April

THE STRANGE BOYS HAVE SPOKEN!

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 41, February 2010

Wild Palms

2009-12-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

FREE MP3:Over....Time

It’s rare these days to encounter anyone who dares to hold steadfast opinions; those who will assert themselves without fear of condemnation have become a dieing breed amongst the so called creative community. Lou from Wild palms can be counted amongst this dwindling number. Although his band may seem at first an over-hyped re-hashing of the gloomy, gothic, post punk of the 80’s, they are in fact far more than a Bauhaus tribute band. Labelled as Converse music’s one to watch, Levi’s one to watch and suitably revered by the NME, a media sceptic may dismiss them as PR whores, unlikely to have any real substance. But a listen to their latest single ‘Over Time’ will remedy any such blasphemy.

I read that, like me, you are a fan of Alexander Von Humboldt, whose footsteps I retraced along the Orinoco River. Is this fascination with the wild and mysterious something that translates into your music?

Lou: Well you're a very lucky man, and I am an envious one. Wilderness, un-chartered territory and exploration have always been things that I have had a deep interest in, but not literally as geographical exploration. Lyrically much of what I write is based around these kinds of ideas: finding and inhabiting new and unknown spaces, both literally and metaphorically. I guess its escapism but in my eyes its attainable escapism, dreams and desires that are mysterious but within reach. I mean 'Deep Dive' is the shining beacon of exactly that. it's not about being in a jungle it's about working hard, and overcoming obstacles that are sent to try us in search of something original and unique, and yours alone; so, yes, in that sense its exactly what we're trying to do as a band in a work ethic way but also sonically.

You recently played in Dubai; did you perform to the idle rich sons and daughters of expats or in the lavish harem of an Arabian oil baron?

Lou: Dubai is weird, opulent and very hot. Not somewhere I’d particularly want to go back to; it's only been developing since 1971 and therefore is devoid of any arts culture, it’s completely about commerce. Saying that, we had a good time and were treated very well. We were out there for four days but only played one gig, at a place they called the 'Irish village' at midnight in 40 degree heat and then we were taken directly to some club in a hummer. As I said: very weird.

As well as Dubai, I hear you will also be spreading yourselves across Europe and over to Japan. What part of the world would you most like to see?

We’ve just come back from a tour of Italy, it's an absolutely beautiful country and we can't wait to go back next year when we go on the European tour. Japan has always been a place I’ve wanted to go, I’m a big fan of Japanese literature and haiku poetry which is quite pictorial and so I have a picture built up in my mind of what it will be like, which I want to put up against the real thing. I also really want to go to Iceland at some point, I think I’d really appreciate the amount of space that you have there and also that essentially you could be living in either total darkness or light all every day depending on what time of year it is: it would be interesting to see what effects that has on a person.

Do you consciously attempt to emulate the post punk sound of the 80s?

post punk has had such far-reaching effects on popular music since its conception that its hard to pin-point when it finished, because in all honesty all that moniker means is 'after punk' so in that sense we have been influenced by post punk but there has been no conscious attempt to emulate it. Like I said 'post punk' has evolved and developed to infiltrate a lot of music and there has been no cut off point. I mean listen to a lot Sigur Ros and I can hear post punk elements in that but you’d never categorise it as post punk. Our influences are quite fragmented because of the people we are, in that bag would be Captain Beefheart, Can, TV on the Radio, Bjork, Timbaland, Liquid Liquid, Billy Childish, Nick Cave, Stockhausen, Sonic Youth, New Order, Battles, Pan Sonic, Neu!, DNA, ESG, Jimmy Hendrix, Velocet, Radiohead etc ….

Please tell me about each of your interests outside music, what odd hobbies, pursuits and peculiarities take up your time?

Personally, I read and write a lot as well as doing carpentry to earn some money. Darrell (guitar) is the painter within the group. Gareth (bass) never stops watching programmes about nature or modern history also I think he's probably a comedian at heart but a solemn-faced one at that: he's got an acerbic, quick wit and can shoot you down with a couple of words. James (drummer) is a music man through and through; he never stops studying it, picking it apart. None of the rest of us really know what's going on in the music world today but he keeps us updated with his knowledge.

Who do you resent most and adore most in the world at this time?

1) Style over substance, definitely in regard to the music industry.
2) I resent that lack of responsibility that people seem to take for their actions, it seems likes everyone just does what they want with scant regard for the consequences. People just kind of float around doing what the fuck they want, me included sometimes. we're are all capable of acting like that and for that reason I have a lot of respect for people who don't get sucked into that and realise the weight of actions and decisions.

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 39, December 2009

A Grave With No Name

2009-12-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

FREE MP3: Open Water

The cream of the UK lo-fi crop; A Grave with no name, nurtured by the consistently awesome No pain in pop label, have blossomed into a maturity that surpasses their humble origins as mere example of passing musical trend. Their new album ‘Mountain Debris’ is a demonstration of their staying power, the kind of album one plays to arouse a state of emotional and spiritual contemplation. It’s hardly accessible and certainly not as disposable as much of the content associated with the lo-fi riff raff on both sides of the Atlantic. Singer and guitarist Alex Shields, approaches Christmas with a sense of optimism and accomplishment, defending his self confessed egoism as Yule see in the following interview.

How do you feel about Mountain Debris, what do you think people will
make of it?
Alex Shields:I have a cool relationship with the record - it's a pretty accurate
representation of me as a person, so I both like and am frustrated by it in equal measure - at the same time, I am going to ensure the next LP is even better; I want it to be a total masterpiece.

'Mountain Debris' is kind of all-over-the-place, but that makes perfect
sense to me. Some people really seem to get the record, others really
don't - I read one review of it that said it was "conceptual art" as
opposed to music, when actually I intended the opposite - it's supposed
to be pure music.

What drives you as a band?
Nothing really. I just make music when I feel like it, and it will
probably reflect my mind-state at the time of recording. I'm not gonna
say something for the sake of it, like some post-punk bank trying to
sound intellectual, quoting modernist architecture or some bullshit as
their primary influence. That's exactly why I hate post-punk so much.

How do you see yourselves in relation to the increasingly popular lo-fi
music scene in the USA?
Well, I don't really want to be associated with any bands who record
their music badly in order to be part of some scene - what's more, I
really can't stand garage rock, it's mindless, meaningless and boring,
so I don't feel a whole lot in common with them at all. Believe me, if I
had some more money I would make the most hi-fi sounding record you've
ever heard.

If you could change any law what would it be?
None of them seem to intrude on my life too much, and people seem to
find ways to get around the ones that do - I guess growing up as a young
kid, it kind of bummed me out that I couldn't rent some horror movies
because I wasn't old enough, but that's about it.

If there is one thing that to you most symbolises the nature of your
music, what is it?
I am going to sound like an egotist, which I probably am, but I'd have to
say myself - the whole record is either me writing about myself, or
trying to react against myself. I'm super-inward looking, and don't have
much time for anything occurring outside my own world-view.

What are your plans for next year?
Go to the cinema; hang out on my balcony; finish off the second record;
play some shows; hang out with friends; have take-out pizza every
Sunday.

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 39, December 2009

We Fell To Earth

2009-11-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

A hooded man sleeps on a sofa in an East London bar. It’s Richard File, one half of Anglo-American Kraut-hop hypnotists, We Fell to Earth. “Sorry” he says as he wipes his weary eyes, “I thought I could get some kip if I turned up early for the interview.” He is bald with no eyebrows, giving him the appearance of an Olympic swimmer and he speaks with an easy English manner. His band mate, Wendy Rae Fowler, is strikingly different, with her long black hair and thick southern states drawl.
“We come from polar opposites in a way,” Richard explains. “Wendy comes from the rock end of the spectrum whereas I’ve gone from djing and looping beats to learning to play guitar and singing. We challenge each other and we have to keep each other excited about the opposite end of the spectrum.”
Richard File is best known for his work with electronic break beat group UNKLE. He met Wendy, who has worked with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, at Rancho de la Luna studios in Joshua Tree California, home of the fabled desert sessions. The desolate desert landscape is said to have been an influence on the cosmic Teutonic synth sound of We Fell to Earth, although the pair are now based in East London.
“It’d be nice to go to the desert someday and do some writing,” Says Wendy, “but I found the idea of coming here really inspiring. There is so much going on in the music scene, it’s exciting.”
The gap between the entirely different world’s these two musicians have occupied is bridged by a mutual adoration of that most enchanting of genres, Kraut rock. Richard and Wendy feel the time is ripe for a kraut revival.
“I think a few people with really good taste in music have got hung up on the kraut thing recently and it has sent a wave through the artistic community,” considers Wendy. “Everyone’s picking up on it, thank God, because it’s really intelligent and inspiring. You can get onto a level of stillness from the repetitive sounds. It helps to quiet the mind. Like a nice break from the chaos of everything that’s been going on in the world.”
Richard regards the last Horrors album and the new Flaming Lips record as evidence of widespread kraut fever and hopes that this will encourage fans to discover the old Gods of kraut rock. “Bands like Faust, Neu!, Can and any others we can mention, they need as many props and as many mentions as they can get for the rest of time.”
Kraut rock influenced both rock and electronic music in equal measure and it seems fitting that two artists from each discipline should unite over its reinvention. We Fell to Earth’s sound has a less organic texture than their Germanic influences and has even been compared to the likes of Massive Attack and Portishead. Although, as Wendy points out, the trip hop comparisons are not entirely justified as WFTE don’t use samples.
Their self titled album, released this year, is likely to gain a lot of attention due to the use of its content on several American TV shows. The un-intrusive compositions are perfect for soundtracks and producers of shows like Gossip Girl, Numb3rs and CSI NY seem to agree. Richard is ambiguous as to what extent he considers promotional use of their work to be acceptable. “We don’t watch TV. We don’t need it. There’s a certain point where a line has to be drawn with TV programs and adverts.” Still, I’m sure he appreciated the publicity and the money; although that isn’t the reason he and Wendy started this project. So what offerings have the pair to contribute to the Bavarian banquet of kraut rock history? Like a meteorite falling to Earth, they intend to make an impact. “You wanna make a mark don’t ya?” He continues, “We want to communicate with people at a level which will inspire them to create something else and take it even further.”

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 38, November 2009

Dealing with the Whores of London

2009-09-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

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It’s the oldest game in the world and plenty of women are on it. From the drug addicted working women of London’s back streets to expensive West End escorts. Most disturbing of all are those unfortunates who have been ensnared by the people trafficking racket of the sex trade. It can be described as the very embodiment of capitalism yet it is regarded as a criminal activity, forcing its workers to operate behind closed doors. A spokesperson from the Poppy project, a North London organisation that provides accommodation and support for trafficked women, elaborates, “It has been said that we are never more than six feet away from a rat in London. Apparently, something similar applies to brothels.”

Despite the brothels themselves being discreet, the filthy underbelly of London’s sordid sex trade can hardly be said to be unseen. A number of popular magazines, newspapers and websites allow prostitutes to advertise their services. But this kind of advertising may disappear with the arrival of newly proposed government legislation.

The proposals being brought before parliament are part of government plans to increase criminalisation of the sex industry in the hope of deterring trafficking and targeting exploitation. The legislation is based on the research of a supposedly feminist organisation, The Poppy Project. However the legislation has divided the feminist community. Whilst some support the new legislation other groups, such as The International Union of Sex Workers, believe the new Bill will drive the industry further underground making it easier to hide trafficked women and get away with violence against prostitutes. In some circumstances the law will overrule a woman’s legal right to consent to sex.

Is feminism a battle for sexual equality, a counter balance to patriarchal hegemony and a defence of women’s human rights and freedom to choose? Or is feminism more conservative? Perhaps based on a fearful resentment of men, depicting them as cruel predators from whom weak and vulnerable women need to be protected.

The research carried out by the Poppy Project is of questionable intellectual value and yet it is on this research that the legislation has been based. The research already fits in with the government’s agenda but they have not consulted the actual workers of the sex industry on what measures should or should not be taken. People trafficking can take place with or without prostitution, the bodies of the cockle pickers of Morecambe bay are testament to this fact. But this year the government are seeking to criminalise the buying of sex from a person who has been trafficked – whether the trick knew it or not.

This ill-advised legislation may have disastrous consequences. The clampdown on newspaper advertising and phone box cards cuts off working women from their clientèle and makes it more likely that they will take to the streets or seek management. In either case they will be more vulnerable to exploitation.

Things will be much worse if the Olympic Games stimulate the sex trade in London. It was recently reported that prostitution boomed during a papal visit to Australia. The influx of lonely/horny tourists and labourers increases the demand for sex workers. But will they be supplied by people trafficking? Data from examinations of major sporting events, including the Athens Olympics and the World Cup in Germany, shows a relatively minor increase in cases of trafficking - 88 in Athens, 5 in Germany.

The abolitionist measures may create more problems than they solve, but the IUSW’s calls to relax the laws relating to prostitution could be seen as an invitation for people traffickers to step up to the mark. Whether or not a more relaxed approach would ultimately have more positive effects can only be proven by research, but many agree that the government should consult those who are involved in the industry and acquire reliable and impartial research before forcing through ill-conceived and questionable legislation.

No government in any part of the world has ever been successful in eliminating prostitution. The most we can hope for is that the whores working London’s brothels are doing so by choice and that legislation is not enforced to criminalise them but to protect them from the real criminals.

Published: State of Play, 2009

Tonstartssbandht

2009-09-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

Free MP3:Tonstartssbandht - Black Country

A week ago, I received a message from my ex girlfriend advising that I investigate another lo-fi psychedelic rock band from Brooklyn. What followed was a week of obsessive, repetitive listening that alienated both friends and family. I played them while I worked, I sang my own made up version of the indecipherable lyrics to the awesome ‘Black Country’ while in the shower and I even demanded that a bewildered young woman play their new album 'An When' during sex.

Some musicians may be disturbed to learn their music was inducing such behaviour. But Floridian brothers Edwin and Andy White feel such stories better represent their musical intentions than overused genre definitions. “What I’m interested in is the personal experiences individuals have with our songs and live shows,” says Andy, "Stuff like ‘every time I come see you guys play, I get so excited I have to pee.’ Or ‘your music harkens back to a pre-bicameral mind, when memories and ideas were ghosts and gods."

Their childhood in Orlando provides a wealth of shared personal experiences that the brothers draw on for inspiration, “we grew up listening to almost the exact same sounds for 20 years” Edwin reveals. But the brothers White don’t just share blood and musical tastes. They also have a fascination with the soundtracks and alien landscapes of science fiction cinema. Bladerunner is a favourite for both of them, largely due to Vangelis’ score, who Edwin maintains they are both big fans of. The visual elements have been equally inspiring, as Andy elaborates, “The visions of Tokyo in Akira are present in a lot of the work we do. I think Ed dreams as often as I do of living in an enormous ocean of contiguous human settlement and awe-inspiring infrastructure with a familiar and foreign culture, to give us that ungrounded, fresh high that contributes so much to creative visions.”

Some of these awe-inspiring landscapes may be less foreign to us than they are to Andy. He recalls semi-conscious visions of a trip to the UK he made in his youth as a member of The Orlando Deanery Boy Choir, “all those unreal, ornate houses of worship, ancient fortresses, crumbling cemeteries, and the wholly un-Floridian landscape have been a fantastic influence on every creative work I’ve ever realised.” Edwin attributes his brother’s membership of the choir to their ability to construct intensely stirring vocal harmonies on songs like Preston “great ass” imfat.

Tonstartssbandht recognise the need to balance the anthemic choruses, catchy melodies and vocal harmonies of conventional rock music with psychedelic elements to create a multi-textured and unpredictable aural landscape. Edwin knows that people appreciate this dynamic approach, “the audience has always been open to both sides, which is awesome. Thanks guys.”

www.myspace.com/Tonstartssbandht

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 37, October 2009

Real Estate

2009-09-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

FREE MP3: Real Estate - Suburban Beverage

Nothing ever happens in New Jersey, wrote author Henry Miller. A sprawling suburban tumour sprouting from New York’s rectum, it exists on the cusp of everything and yet it is nothing. From behind white picket fences the frustration of youth’s creativity burns eagerly with a passion to break free. These are the typical circumstances that force young people together and lay the foundations for musical innovation. With the exception of drummer, Etienne Dugay who lives in a hotel in Brooklyn, Real Estate are very much a product of this environment. Guitarist Martin Courtney and bassist Alex Bleeker have played in bands together since they were 13 years old. “A lot of the chemistry of our band comes from the fact we’ve known each other for a long time,” Martin explains.

The band cut their teeth playing at home grown shows which Martin describes as, “Not so much DIY as just playing in your parents’ living room with all your friends, having a good time.” They’ve been involved in music for a decade in some form or other. Martin is a former member of Titus Andronicus, Etienne is in Predator vision and guitarist Matt Mondanile’s side project, Ducktails, produces quality psychedelic pop to rival the warm fuzzy suburban drone of Real Estate.

It’s no secret that lo-fi production is somewhat in vogue on both sides of the pond at present, but what is it that attracts these Jersey boys to Stone Age recording techniques? “It sounds better,” Bleeker explains. “There’s a lot of digital music, and it’s like, where does it go? It’s not real. You can’t feel it the same way you do with tape.” Perhaps the analogue sound is the logical and most financially viable choice for the band, given their intimate approach to the recording process. “We record most of our stuff ourselves,” Martin reveals. “We work with our friends but we don’t go to studios, it’s all about home recording.”

The ‘Fake Blues ep’ was released in the UK, 20th July on half machine records. Real Estate hope it will be followed by a UK tour. These Grateful Dead obsessed stoners live for the road and Britain is their dream destination. “Why else would you play music except to spend your time on the road?” Etienne asks. He stresses his vision of changing the global perception of psychedelic rock. “We’re trying to make it so jam-band is no longer a dirty word.” May the power of Jerry Garcia guide them to us.

Published: The Stool Pigeon, Autumn 2009

Offset 2009 - The Best Review of Them All

2009-09-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

There are too many festivals. Most of them are too expensive and are full of idiots. Offset is at present a remarkable exception. It is affordable, has the finest selection of new and classic bands on offer and you can stroll around the beautiful Essex woodlands and fields without a single person offering you a free hug or shouting bollocks until their throat bleeds and fills their adolescent lungs with blood.

All weekend the heavy sun beat down steadily on swarms of beautiful young people, many of whom travelled only a few stops along the central line from East London to attend. As well as the Shoreditch socialites, a number of seasoned old punks and rockers attended, some even bringing young children with them, such is the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of Offset.

The offstage antics are what truly make a festival memorable. Saturday bore witness to a bizarre kind of sports day involving drunken teenagers frolicking through the grass like beasts in heat. The comedy tent was dominated by a rotund ex jockey by the name of Bob Slayer, whose border line paedophilic brand of comedy involved lewd remarks being launched at a 14 year old girl wearing a sailor costume, while her Father looked on in dismay. Mr Slayer was rewarded for his comic exploits by being repeatedly punched in the bollocks by an attention seeking, stage invading young lady who was covered in sick.

Despite the compulsory shake down from the over zealous security each time you re-enter the festival, I, along with most other people, was able to accumulate enough intoxicants to see me through the weekend, and remain contentedly twisted throughout all the following performances.

Saturday

KASMS – Fiery haired singer Rachel boasted of her Essex roots as she shook her supple body vigorously to the eerie goth-punk rhythms. At one point she started to climb the rigging in an attempt to shake the audience from their complacency, but after climbing 3 feet, she gave up and got down again.

Teen Sheikhs – Sounding punker than ever, the Brighton lads tore the tent to shreds with their awesome fun time tunes.

Male Bonding – The audience, already psyched up from Teen Sheikhs, went ballistic to this lo-fi bro-core trio. Much of the set was performed with half the audience cavorting about the stage, picking up instruments and moshing like they were 14.

Damo Suzuki – The legendary Damo was but a whirl of swinging raven locks as his band knocked out mesmerising psychedelic electro-rock.

Factory Floor – A band who have yet to perform a bad set, Factory Floor’s pounding rhythms and captivating electronic noise was made unbearably intense by the relentless onslaught of powerful strobe lighting.

The Slits – I think there was some confusion, Notting Hill Carnival was last weekend, who booked this mediocre white reggae band? The tacky dub was punctuated by awesome performances of classics such as ‘Typical Girls’ and ‘Shoplifting’. During the performance of the latter every man in the audience wished he was a girl so he could join the exclusively female stage invasion that Ari-Up instigated. Still, this was not enough to excuse Ari pouring water on her cunt and shouting “ARI PUM PUM, FRESH AND NEW!” between each song. Embarrassing.

Metronomy – I was hoping they would provide the party atmosphere they did last year. Alas, it was pretty boring; despite the novel entrance of three people playing one keyboard for the first song.

Sunday

Ulterior – Some people compare this band to Suicide. Those people are idiots. Pretty much a wank rock group with an Axl Rose look-alike on the mic.

S.C.U.M. – This band were big news last year. Singer Tom had a fine smoking jacket on. Besides this, their performance was less than captivating.

The Ruling Class – Decided to sound like the stone roses, and why not?

Hatcham Social – One of the highlights of the weekend. Everything admirable about pop music and the balance of the catchy and the experimental can be heard in the music of Hatcham Social.

The Horrors – Wisely focused on the excellent material from this year’s exceptional kraut rock influenced ‘Primary colours’. I had to leave while lanky singer Farris clumsily waltzed about his mic stand, the last train was about to leave.

Goodbye Offset.

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 36, September 2009

Immigrants in London

2009-08-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

London is a multi-cultural city. Its geography and history as a trading centre have made it inevitable that all types of people have found their way here. The commonwealth immigrants act of 1962, Britain’s membership in the EU, the acceptance of legal immigrants seeking asylum and the countless illegal immigrants have all contributed to the rich, exciting and sometimes overwhelming migration of nationalities.

Here are some interviews with immigrants living in London today.

Victoria – Eastern Nigeria

How old were you when you came to England?

I was 18. My parents weren’t here. I came here to meet my husband who had been here for about a year.

What was your perception of England before you moved here?

Because the British brought us Christianity, I thought this nation would be full of things to do with God.

And did England fulfill your expectations?

Initially I was disappointed by what I found in churches. There weren’t many people there. As time went on I came to realise why the English did not go to church very much. They used to go to church and God blessed them, the English have gotten too comfortable with their blessings so they have forgotten where their blessings came from. They thought they came from their own power and their own minds so they have turned their backs on God because they think they no longer need him. They have everything materially, but do not realise, as we are finding out now, that you need God for your spiritual and emotional well being, your stability and family. You must raise your children to know right and wrong. People have become selfish and opinionated.

Do you think that the multitude of faiths in London make it hard for Londoners to know which God to worship?

God says if people want to find out the truth, they will. Some magazines and things on the internet that you are not supposed to look at, people still find those things and find out what they want to know. If people want to discover which the true faith is, they will. Christianity is not about what you do, it is about what God has already done. Many people can’t understand that, particularly men. They want to feel proud of what they can do. They want to grow a beard and wear something on their head or whatever. In heaven everybody is equal.

Do you think Londoners can learn from Nigerians about faith?

Many Nigerians are born again. There was a time when the Lord got me to pray for this nation. During that prayer, the Lord reminded me that although many Black people are with Christ in this country, the revival is going to come through the English. He said he is allowing us to relight the lamp of the Englishman which has been quenched. The Englishman will carry the beacon that will bring revival to the country.

Abu – Bangladesh

How old were you when you came to England?

I was about 4 months old. My grandparents migrated from Bangladesh for economic reasons in the 1940’s; they used to work on a ship. My parents brought me here to be with my grandparents. Many people were coming here at the time because of the state of affairs on the Indian subcontinent. Issues of poverty and so on. Many people came from the village in the 40’s and slowly more came in the years that followed. In 1971 after the war with Pakistan more people claimed asylum after experiencing abuse at the hands of troops.

Have you been back to Bangladesh?

When I was 14 I went back and spent a couple of months there. That’s about it. It’s a second home for us but we associate ourselves more with the UK than Bangladesh.

What do you think was attractive about Britain for your parents to want to raise you here?

They were seeking a better way of life in terms of economics and technological advancements. Recently things have been changing. There are many third and fourth generation Bengalis in the UK. When our grandparents came it was a non religious migration, it was for secular reasons. They kept their religion to themselves. Now the youth are learning more about Islam and we are using it to challenge the many problems of this society; drugs, alcohol abuse, rape, prostitution. All of these things. We live in the community and we see it and speak of an alternative. We speak of a solution. We believe Islam is the future for the UK and for Whitechapel.

How do British and Bengali Muslims differ?

In the Indian subcontinent you’ll find Islam is a way of life. Everyone is a born Muslim. Many people will live their whole life without having to study Islam. There is no conflict. Here we find it is different, we have Christians, Hindus, Atheists and religion becomes a conflict. A Muslim may have difficulties in the work place, he needs to pray five times a day, eat Halal food, he is not allowed to drink or go clubbing. We find that some Muslims are treated as second class citizens. This is bringing a change in the Muslim community. We believe we are here to stay but we could compare the current system to apartheid, with the new terrorism legislation that is being enforced.

Do you think any positive progress has been made in Britain with regards to Muslim relations?

Religion is a dirty word in Britain. In the bible it says leave Cesar to Cesar and God to God. In other words let Jesus stay in the church and Man will decide what happens on the streets. With Islam, it is a complete way of life. It has an economic system, a social system, a political system, a judicial system. The Sha’ria is a complete way of life. We as Muslims are not allowed to adhere to a judicial system dictated by man. There is a conflict between democracy and Islam.

Do you think your parents foresaw such conflict when they brought you here?

Nobody did. Not even the British government. If they knew there would be a challenge to their systems of democracy, socialism and capitalism in the form of Sha’ria they would not have allowed Muslim immigration into Britain on the scale it was allowed at that time. This is now a police state, with the stop and search laws, Muslim’s houses being raided, CCTV in all the local mosques, Muslims being spied on and being asked to join MI5 and spy on other Muslims. There is a war against Islam.

Thomas – Lithuania

How old were you when you moved to London?

It was 10 years ago, I was 21. I had been working as a policeman back home; the place became too small for me. I wanted change. I wanted a career. I split up with my first love. I decided to change something. I was going to go to the States, but I couldn’t get a VISA so I came here for half a year to stay with friends, but to be honest I got stuck.

What kept you here?

I fell in love again, with an English girl. Now I work as a chef.

What difficulties did you face moving here?

I got home sick for the first couple of years but it wasn’t very difficult. Of course I was hungry before I learnt English; I wanted to meet new people in this multi-cultural open minded place. I encountered discrimination when I lived in Devon, only in rural places but not in London. Most of the hostility comes from non-English people and maybe some snobby English people who might call me a foreign bastard, but it doesn’t matter.

How does the reality of London differ from your preconceptions?

I find it very dirty compared to Lithuania. It’s more multi-cultural than I anticipated. The drug culture of Britain is very widely spread. Somebody who doesn’t know about heroin or crack may not understand that another world exists in every part of London. If you have never been with such people, you would have no idea. The media doesn’t even cover 10% of the reality. It’s horrific.

Marie Choy – New Zealand.

How old were you when you moved here? And what were your reasons for coming?

I was 27, I wanted a change from the small town I was living in, I felt like I wanted something different. It’s quite a normal thing for New Zealanders to travel. I didn’t come here with the intention to settle although I kind of had a vague idea that I probably wouldn’t go back to New Zealand. I came here initially for two years and really enjoyed it so I ended up staying.

How does the reality of London differ from your preconceptions?

I didn’t have much of an idea of what to expect. I thought there would be a lot more of the clichéd English stereotypes. I thought it would be a lot cleaner. I guess the thing that surprised me most is just how many people from different countries there are living here and how they bring all their culture with them. I didn’t expect places like Whitechapel to exist. I expected it all to be more white I suppose.

Kevin – Born in America, raised in West Germany.

Why did you come here?

I’m 22, my parents sent me here when I was 16 to learn English because my dad is American and he wanted me to speak English. Back then, there wasn’t a big future in Germany. I wanted to work in fashion so I came here to pursue that.

How does the reality of London differ from your preconceptions?

I had a textbook image of the English in my head before I came here. I thought there were lots of castles everywhere and everyone spoke the Queen’s English. The typical stereotype wasn’t true.

Do you like it here?

I love it. When I first came over, some people asked me if I was a Nazi and if I liked Hitler and things like that. That freaked me out a bit, being only 16. London is also quite dirty. I do love the people and I like how international it is and I quite like the weather. I’m probably the first person who’s said that. There’s a buzz about the city, everyday it is different, you can do something every night. There’s a great vibe here in all these different parts, Camden, Shoreditch, East Dulwich, that’s what I like.

Olivia - Sweden

Why did you come here?

I came here when I was 20 because I was offered a job as an au pair, so I just took the chance and I went.

How does the reality of London differ from your preconceptions?

I didn’t really have any. At that point I thought all of Europe was the same. I found London was more like India than Sweden. It’s very different. I really like it though.

What do you like about it?

I really like that its multi cultural. There are so many people from all over the world. I love to travel and I like to meet people from all over the world, try food and experience culture from everywhere.

Do you ever miss Sweden?

Not really, I never miss Sweden that much. I am thinking of going back to study, as I have better opportunities for education there. I can study there for free.

Is there anything you don’t like about London?

I make hand crafts and jewellery. If I go to Spain it’s more relaxed, I can sell stuff on the streets, but I can’t do that here. I don’t like the whole surveillance state, the police and all the propaganda everywhere. Everybody being suspicious of everybody. Also the bureaucracy, all the weird forms you have to fill out about your ethnicity and stuff. It’s also quite hard to make money here, especially if you want to make it on a day to day basis.

Words and Photos: Tom Rowsell

Published: State of Play, 2009

Fair Ohs

2009-08-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Free Download: Fair Ohs - Hospitals

Garage rock is a genre that seems to remain perpetually cool. But even cool genres get boring, unless something comes along that injects vitality into the sound. Fair Ohs are not that something because they don’t even want to be called garage rock. “We're definitely not a garage rock band,” guitarist/singer Eddy protests adamantly. “Though it’s an influence, along with the African, hardcore and noise stuff that we rip off.” The unwelcome garage rock tag is assigned in response to their punchy lo-fi pop sound. “If you play simple music on crappy equipment it just ends up sounding like garage rock right? simple music is always cool.” Eddy explains. It’s probably safe to say Fair Ohs won’t be releasing a prog album anytime soon, “All this super-complicated-look-at-me-I’m-a-musician-stuff is too much for me, I couldn't care less.” Adds bespectacled bassist, Matt Flag.

Despite their position on the value of simple music, Fair Ohs owe as much to the self indulgent, free style jazz of Pharaoh Sanders and the edgy post punk of Minutemen as they do to any simplistic garage rock group. The sound is the logical product of ex-teenage music geeks with one ear for melody and another for noise. Fair Ohs suck the dregs of twentieth century music through the straw of innovation and then rudely spit it all over the fast food restaurant of contemporary pop. For these three guys the discreet charm of musical history holds more allure than the slutty inevitability of its future. “I'll never get over the fact that I will never be able to experience the whole Minneapolis electro/ funk/soul thing when it was happening.” Drummer Joe complains nostalgically. “I'll never be able to dance to it in a club without some prick thinking it's funny and ironic.”

In fact, Fair Ohs are so keen on bygone eras that they still release material on cassette tape. Tapes which come in their own hand made, felt sleeping bags. “None of us understand using computers so I made the inserts and stickers using a photocopier, a typewriter and Letraset letters.” Matt confesses. “This is not a boast; it’s a sign of modern inadequacy.” Retro to the max.

Over the summer they’ve featured on three splits with other cool east London bands but their frenetic live show is what really makes them worth checking out. What can you expect from a Fair Ohs live show? Joe sums it up nicely. “Super, awesome, good times from three hotties who've listened to lots of Paul Simon and Black Flag.”

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #77 September 2009

Eco Village at Kew Bridge

2009-08-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

On June 6th 2009 a group of flea-ridden, tree hugging activists occupied an area of derelict land in Brentford, West London, near Kew gardens. The so called eco-village is little more than a fenced off area of weeds and rubbish, left untended for the past 20 years. The owners of the land, St. George, have issued the following statement. “We are aware that the site has recently been illegally occupied by a group of squatters. We are currently considering what action to take.”

At present St George are unable to use the land, as the council have denied their application to build a block of flats on the site. St George and the local police seem to be turning the blind eye to the squatter community, which claims to provide aid for the homeless and others who have been let down by society. The activists forbid the consumption of drugs or alcohol on site, this policy has come under fire as a homeless man seeking shelter on the site allegedly commit suicide after he was refused entry for being intoxicated.

Despite problems like this, and the occasional verbal abuse hurled from Kew Bridge by locals who resent the long haired crusties, the site has brought out the best in the community. Locals have been donating seeds, plants, tents and compost and are being encouraged to use the grounds for horticulture, public meetings and film screenings.

The illegal occupation of this land is politically motivated. Soap dodging hippies from across the nation pitched tents at eco village in an attempt to highlight the lack of affordable housing and misuse of urban land. Squatter, Charlotte Summers made this statement on the eco-village facebook group, “In my eyes, the eco village provides a platform for protest against property laws which serve the rich and are taught as natural laws, but are historically arbitrary.” The residents of the Eco village claim to be linked to a 350-year-old group of agrarian communists known as The Diggers, who campaigned for property reform following the English Civil War.

The eco-village serves as a media magnet to draw publicity to issues such as environmentalism, common land reform and anti-capitalism. These movements have gained momentum as a result of police brutality at the G20 and the killing of Ian Tomlinson. Many are starting to question the institutions of authority and the legislation that governs our lives, and are looking for alternative solutions. The eco village is open to visitors, but anyone wishing to stay there must be willing to work the land and contribute to the community.

Published: State of Play, 2009

4 Step Counter Gentrification Technique

2009-08-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Like a plague of locusts, the idle rich descend on East London. Gradually the greasy spoon cafés, illegal street vendors, charity shops and pre-pubescent drug dealers all fade away. The cultural curiosities that draw creative middle class youths to traditionally working class urban districts are eventually replaced by the standard high street familiarities that can be found in any town centre in the world. The intrepid art-fags who first penetrate these virgin slums are followed by wave after wave of vacuous cultural leeches, hungry for a drop of anything resembling authenticity. But their arrival drives up property prices, pushes out the communities that give the district character and finally attracts corporate conglomerates, eager to capitalise on the disposable incomes of the floppy haired dandies who parade about those once decrepit streets.

The nostalgic lamentations of native residents in areas such as Williamsburg in Brooklyn or Shoreditch in East London can hardly be heard over the relentless din of progressive indie rock music. With tears in their eyes they reminisce about an idyllic past, where the bare footed, junkie sons and daughters of violent alcoholics would save up a week’s wages for a jar of eels and a fix. They watch as their memories are trampled beneath the march of a thousand plimsolls and wonder if any of these bearded, bohemian barbarians realises the damage they’re doing. If they did they might consider adopting the counter-gentrification technique, a consumer method that relieves middle class guilt and aids the preservation of indigenous urban cultures. The counter-gentrification technique can be properly executed by following these 4 simple steps:-

1. Adopt Mock-native dialect.

If you live in East London, make an effort to watch East Enders and films with Bob Hoskins in. Learn to mimic the regional dialect and you will find the natives more receptive to your ideas and grateful that you have made an effort to understand their primitive ways.

2. Refuse responsibility.

Ignore the fact that you are part of the problem and dump your guilt on others. With your newly acquired native accent, ruthlessly criticise your fellow bearded wankers and maintain that it is they who are responsible for the decline of the local community.

3. Buy local.

Buy from local establishments. Eat Bagels not sushi. Go to the market not the supermarket and the local pub not some trendy wine bar. If you continue to put your money into the local economy then these traders will eventually become successful enough to get the fuck out. Then they won’t care how much you mess up their grotty little ghetto.

4. Pretend to give a shit

Lament the closure of local establishments. Engage in patronising conversation with natives in which you sympathise with their harkening back to the old days before all the immigrants and hippies ruined England. This is the final stage to relieving guilt and doing your bit to undo the destruction caused by your decadent youth culture.

Published: State of Play, 2009

Dinowalrus

2009-08-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

FREE MP3: DINOWALRUS - Electric car, Gas guitar

The over stimulated hipsters of Brooklyn are inclined towards staring at their shoes disinterestedly at live shows. It takes something akin to a musical sledgehammer to snap them out of their self conscious nonchalance. “I like to think that when we play, the music rips the audience out of some complacent mind set and makes them feel alive!” Pete, lead guitarist and singer of Brooklyn’s Dinowalrus , glows with enthusiasm as he speaks. Things should have taken off for the band by now, who supported the legendary Silver Apples at the end of last year and released their first 7’ in February. Alas their unpredictable electro-psych rock has gained far less attention than it deserves.

“I feel like our band has had a tougher time than some,” Pete says sadly, flicking his eyes nervously up the dark Brooklyn streets to look for cops before taking another swig of beer. “I have nothing else going on now that I’ve been unemployed for 6 months. It’s like a permanent vacation and I’m taking advantage of it.” It’s hard not to sympathise with the experimental trio, whose blend of electronica and good old fashioned psychedelic rock is balanced to perfection but has failed to deliver them from the welfare office. “We still like certain sounds from the seventies like the Ron Ashton solo, you know like funhouse shit?” Pete goes on, “We’re not gonna get rid of that just for the sake of futurism in our music.”

Their organic approach to making music is based simply on jamming, doing whatever they feel like. This inevitably leads to a barrage of distortion, pedal effects, screams and moans, haunting synth, pounding drum machine beats and even the frenzied strangling of a clarinet. But how long can the band survive living on the margins of financial stability? Regardless of the somewhat self inflicted poverty, Pete maintains that Dinowalrus will not compromise their creative vision in an effort to gain popularity, “Are we gonna be an art project that happens to be a band or are we going to buy into the traditional trappings of being a band?” He asks himself, “We’re certainly not trying to be the next Jonas Brothers that’s for sure. Whether we’re trying to be the next MGMT is debatable, but we do have certain aspirations beyond being a noise band playing for 5 people in a weird loft.” Pete goes as far as to say that he does consider what he would like to experience if he were amongst the audience. “What’s that then?” I ask,
“I wanna have my mind blown.” Their debut album will be released on Kanine in October, expect it to blow your mind.

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 36, September 2009

The streets are being taken back! - Capture The Flag III

2009-06-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

CAPTURE THE FLAG!

Original Article

The streets are being taken back! There is an organisation that aims to challenge the perception of urban spaces as being purely commercial arenas. They encourage large groups of strangers to get out and play. Capture the flag is a military style game that involves two teams each with a base and a flag to protect. Each team aims to capture their rival’s flag and take it back to their base. On Friday 5th June drinkers and owners of local Bengali restaurants looked on in bewilderment as dozens of flag waving bandana wearing gamers charged about the streets. The event lasted for several hours and increased in size as more locals joined in. Organisers Tom and Jack are involved in political protest and anti-capitalist activities but maintain that the event is just about fun. “We do have political convictions but we don’t really want to force them onto other people, we just want to use this game as a platform for introducing people to stuff they might not have heard of before.”

He tells me this while both of us are held prisoner in the Yellow team’s prison. No sooner has he finished his sentence when a valiant red team member explodes through the yellow defences and frees us all from the Gaol. I continue the interview several hours later after the whole thing is winding down. “It’s about looking at areas of the city in different ways, going off the beaten track, doing different things and reinterpreting the city.” Tom explains, his face glowing from physical exertion. “It’s not just a place for passive consumption, it can also be used as a playground. It can be used for fun.”

But how did they get the idea to get adults to play a children’s game with complete strangers on a Friday night? Tom reveals that he got the idea after an evening spent dodging the old bill. “It was scary but I thought this is really fun. It would be cool to recreate it somehow in the city.” After reading an anarchist journal called Rolling Thunder, and discovering a report on a capture the flag game in America, they were inspired. “We thought it was a pretty slick way of getting people out on the streets, playing. We get to make different flags for the two teams and they develop this pseudo-nationalistic fervour. It’s really weird how you change just before the game.”

By far the most unexpected and significant event of the evening was the participation of the young Bengali community, a number of whom joined the red team after witnessing the screaming packs of lunatics racing about their neighbourhood. “They were conspiring with one another in Bengali to free the prisoners from the yellow team’s jail.” Tom burbles enthusiastically. “We had no idea what was going on when they smuggled in a member of our team, in a group of kids, who weren’t even in the game. They walked past with their hoods up and the guy from the red team just sprang out and gave us a jail break!”

Elise the flag maker.

How did you find out about this game tonight?

My friends Tom and Jack set it up.

Did you have fun?

Yeah, it’s really good because you can discover part of London in a way that you wouldn’t usually. It’s probably the most fun you can have on a weekend!

More fun than getting drunk?

Yeah, because bring lots of people together. We just don’t play games anymore and it’s great that people can have fun in the street with lots of other people. You get to meet a lot of people as well just by coming and all doing the same thing. You develop solidarity with your team mates even though you have no idea who they are, you’ve never met them before, then you see them and you’re like, “what’s the deal? Where’s the flag?” You immediately connect because you’re both wearing the same headbands.

What was the best thing about tonight?

I really liked how the little kids joined in.

Dimitri Cunningham

How did you find out about tonight?

Through some friends of mine

Did you have a good night?

Yes very good.

What do you think of capture the flag?

It is very fun. Haha look at this. (The assembled members of both teams torment a passing car) It was amazing just running around the streets of London in groups of five or more pretending to be all military, it’s really funny. I was on the offensive all the time, a bit selfish of me but I’m exhausted now.

Did you capture the flag?

Nah, but I was part of a group that did.

Richard the ghost man

Did you have fun tonight?

Yeah, it was a laugh. We heard it was happening, we were running a bit late, we decided we wanted to join in as a separate team in no mans land. We painted our faces white, we had our own flag and we decided we couldn’t tag people but could only haunt them and convert them to our team.

What was the name of your team?

Ghost town.

What was the weirdest thing tonight?

The conversations we had with people. We were dabbing people with white face paint, even if they weren’t involved. People’s faces, when we started running at them, with our white faces, the sheer confusion in their eyes, thinking “Who is this third team? Where did they get their flag?”

Published: Last Hours, 19th June 2009

Ganglians

2009-06-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

The unearthly rumbling of a didgeridoo demands your attention then gives way to the rhythmical soothing hiss of waves lapping the shore. The atmospheric acoustic intro of ‘Valiant Brave’ from Ganglians’ new album ‘Monster head room’, builds into a rousing ballad of jangling guitars and layers of wailing vocals that sound like whales and pixies shouting their sorrowful woes to the ocean. The echoes of saxophone and carefully constructed vocal harmonies provide a multi-textured unpredictable aspect to the psychedelic noise pop sound.

Ganglians of Sacramento, California are said to defy genre definition. Each song twists and turns in unexpected directions having a separate identity to the next. This year they have churned out a string of haunting lo-fi surf pop records. ‘Monster head room’, limited to only 500 copies on red vinyl, follows the recently released self titled 12" and the split 7" with their mates Eat Skull. “We wanted to make an honest pop album.” Explains bearded guitarist/vocalist Ryan Grubbs on the subject of the new record. “It’s acid-takers music, but without all the obvious droning psych trappings.” The record is packed with strange ‘60s style psychedelic pop tracks, drowned in reverb, conjuring an atmosphere that simultaneously brings to mind the care free headiness of youth in summer and the eerie otherness of an acid induced nightmare.

Grubbs is a self confessed space cadet, who dabbles with mind expanding substances such as ayuhuasca. “Monster Head Room was an attempt to replicate the angelic tones that drift just above our heads.” Grubbs explains, “I know what they sound like. I’ve been bathed in white light and have heard them.” The hairy hippy continues, going on to explain the unusual production techniques of the record. “It’s our version of a ‘60s studio album with no actual studio experience or knowledge of studio techniques.” He admits remorselessly. “We even dispersed little things that got recorded accidentally throughout the record, like Kyle’s stupid giddy laugh or the cat running around the house in heat. These idiosyncrasies form the foundations for many of the songs.” If you’re quick you can get a copy of the their self titled 12" or the newly released ‘Monster Head room’ from Woodsist

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #76 August 2009

TEETH!!!

2009-06-15T09:12:00.001-07:00

TEETH!!!

In a dilapidated, North London studio, suffocated by almost complete darkness, Dalston based dance punk trio Teeth!!! are taking a break from recording their new 7” for Moshi Moshi records to munch Cheez-its and discuss the band.
“He’s gonna make us famous.” Boasts lead singer Veronica So, nodding toward Jacob Cooper of Californian label mates the Mae-Shi. Jacob is helping produce the new record. “I’m checking my facebook.” He responds disinterestedly while hunched over his laptop.

The band keep themselves busy with a frequent output of recorded material, this 7” isn’t the only project they’re working on. “We’ve done a split with Thee Fair Ohs, it hasn’t been released yet.” Veronica explains. “We’ve also done a split with Finally punk, Pens, the Vivian girls and Best Fwends on eat your hands records. All the songs are 30 seconds long and it will be released for free.”

Although the band play as far away as California and Veronica’s family live over the pond, they owe some of their style and inspiration to their base in East London. “We practice in a squat, for free. Dalston is nice because you can find that sort of thing,” Veronica enthuses, on the subject of her adopted home town.
“Totally,” adds keyboardist/songwriter Ximon Tayji. “And also the bands connected with the area have been really supportive.”

Despite their fondness for the trendy terraces of the East end, the band admit their favourite gigs have been out of town, including one at the Smell in Los Angeles.
“Those kids at the smell babes!” Ximon exclaims, delighted by the recollection. “They were waiting outside when we arrived and they were like, “Are you from Teeth!!!? AWESOME! YOU GUYS RULE!” The Hobgoblin in Brighton is another site of fond memories for the band. “It was a Sex Is Disgusting show. There were lots of fat old rockers there but they really liked us.” Veronica recalls while reaching for another handful of Cheez-its.

Teeth!!! are the kind of band that turn a room of disinterested half stoned hipsters into raving idiots, ready to dance until dawn. In short, a great party band, but their sound has taken a musical journey through more serious territory. “At first we wrote political songs, on sexuality and the war and stuff.” Ximon reveals. “We tried to do political disco but that didn’t work out.” Veronica admits remorsefully.
As a band they are more comfortable producing brighter and lighter music than their gothic contemporaries. “I couldn’t imagine being in a band that plays really boring slow wannabe goth music. I mean where’s the fun in that?” Raves Ximon on the subject of a London post-punk band he has developed a dislike for.
“It’s bullshit! Go and write some fun songs. I mean we don’t have the best equipment, our drum kit is fucked and Veronica obviously can’t sing but we have, like, the best time.” From hanging out with the band this afternoon, I am inclined to believe him.

Published: P.i.X magazine : issue # 34, July 2009

READ FULL INTERVIEW AT SURVIVE THE JIVE

Betty and the werewolves

2009-06-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

So..David Cassidy. What’s the attraction?

His blue, blue eyes. Some people might think they’re a bit shifty, but Betty is spellbound by David…he’s a dreamboat with his own cult.

What is the best werewolf movie ever?

Wolf Blood. It was made in 1925 and written by a man called Cliff. In your face, Teen Wolf!

Who are your favourite people amongst your contemporary musicians?

We have lots of favourites - Je Suis Animal, Vivian Girls, Hot Silk Pockets, Comet Gain, Kasms, Screaming Tea Party, WetDog, Male Bonding…

You get put on some unlikely bills. Do audiences always react well to your playful approach to live music?

We love playing to different crowds. We mostly play to Twee crowds, which is mega fun – they pogo like it’s 1994 and snog all the way through our set. We’ve also played with bands like Fucked Up and the Shitty Limits where the audience goes crazy, breaking into moshpits and invading the stage after the first song. Either way, one of us usually ends up falling over, snapping a string or losing a shoe. There doesn’t need to be an audience for that to happen…

What was the deal with that movie you appeared in, 1234? Was it fun?

Definitely! It was so surreal re-enacting a gig - we had to mime to our own backing track and Doug had to be smeared with fake sweat. Actually, Doug’s acting impressed everyone in the end - move over Danny DeVito!

You’ve had your own jewellery made by Tatty Devine, what is next, your own brand of cupcakes?

Good question! We’ve already had David Cassidy ginger bread men at our last single launch. We’ve also got special Betty pencils which tend to rival the record sales at out gigs…maybe we need to branch into ring tones? Or maybe Doug could design a clothing range?

How did it feel being on Channel 4 news as the backing track to the decline of the music industry?

That was really funny, we had no idea channel 4 news had recorded us until our phones started melting with messages from our friends who were at home watching the news on a Saturday night. Also, the audio clip they use doesn’t match up to the images. So Laura looks like she’s singing really out of tune, when actually it’s me! Mwa ha haaa…...oh….

What does 2009 have in store for betty and the werewolves?

Snapping strings, jumping related injuries, sweating, more sweating, Casio tone explosions, an album with damaged goods, bass/face collisions, some new songs and some new picnic dresses.

Can you tell me your favourite werewolf related songs please?

Dunno but I really like 'Shoplifting' by the Slits

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 33, June 2009

MALE BONDING

2009-05-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

It is a privilege to have obtained an interview from Dalston based trio Male Bonding. They have a nonchalant attitude toward the interview format, and perhaps the music press in general, “The internet is way more powerful and a million times more interesting and rewarding than a copy of artrocker magazine. It breaks down all of the barriers the "music industry" built over the years... for reals.” Guitarist and singer John Arthur Webb argues.
The band’s DIY approach to the music industry owes as much to punk as does their sound, a heady mix of post-hardcore, grunge and lo-fi noise pop. “We can’t operate in any other way,” explains Webb on the subject of their label. “It has to be about control, creativity and independence. There are of course a lot of amazing bands and independent labels that want to help, and be involved - and this all relates to how we try to run our label, PARADISE VENDORS INC.” The Record label has released a series of split EP’s featuring the likes of PENS and Graffiti Island. “PVI is, and always has been about us putting records out by our friend’s bands we love and want to support. One big label, who we have total love for, told us that if they had known that we were interested in working with other labels, then they would of put an offer in last year. It’s funny how people see us as a fiercely independent unit that won't work with any other labels - that's not the case.”
The next release from MB will be a GG Allin covers split on Italian beach babes records, along with PENS, Graffiti Island and Thee Pharaohs. “It’s going to be great.” Enthuses Webb, “GG fascinates me; he lived 100% through his music and you can see that and hear it. His voice changed so much. All those cigarettes and bottles of Jim beam. I think he was an intelligent person, but he consumed too much of his own shit - quite literally.”
The band are yet to record their contribution to the GG Allin split, partially because they’ve been too busy having the time of their lives in America. “In Austin, we were taxied around by finally punk for an evening that involved seeing Devo, then watching annihilation time, trash talk and the Vivian girls play on a bridge, a.m. tacos and climbing a mountain and watching the sun come up. That was one of the best days of my life.”
Whether Conan from Graffiti Island who runs Italian beach babes records is annoyed with the lack of a punctual contribution from MB is beyond me, but if it came down to it, which band would win in a fight? “There are collectively a lot of glasses involved so there wouldn't be any face punching allowed,” states Webb as he considers his chances. “Plus Pete is too beautiful to hit in the face. Bear hugs and spitting... the odd body shot. I guess they would probably win.”

Published: P.i.X magazine: issue # 33, June 2009

READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Anarcho Speed Dating

2009-04-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Photos: Elizabeth Johnson
Words: Tom Rowsell

To most people Valentine’s Day is a reason to spend money on a dearly beloved or an opportunity to get laid with another lonely heart. But the Class War organisation and its anarchist followers view this day as yet another excuse for cheap useless crap to be marketed at a consumer driven capitalist society. This year the anarchists put down their Molotov cocktails and exchanged them for flowers at the Anarcho speed dating night at The Cross Kings pub in King’s Cross. Unlike most speed dating nights, dating both sexes is compulsory. So whether straight or gay, at some point you’re going to have to talk to someone you don’t fancy. The topics of conversation are class upheaval, punk rock, and civil disobedience. The musical chairs style affair is overseen by a whip cracking, PVC clad dominatrix named Mistress Scarlet and the speed dating is followed by several crusty anarcho punk bands shrieking their anguish complete with spiky hair, equality patches and crudely rendered A’s scrawled onto their clothes. Is it right that anarchists partake in a rigidly structured form of courtship on a commercialised Christian holiday? “It’s a bit of a joke really,” admits organiser Pinki of her speed dating idea, and as for Valentine’s Day, “If you love someone, you don’t need one day to tell them that you love them,” she argues passionately, “Love should be celebrated every day!”

Daisy May & Weez Williams

What do you think of Anarcho Speed Dating?

Daisy: Lack of hot men
Weez: lack of good conversation, no one has anything to say.
Daisy: All they can talk about is your beliefs!
Weez: I didn’t even get that, I asked one guy ‘why do you like Star Wars?’ and he said because of the spiritual beliefs of the jedi.

What do you think of Valentine’s day?

Daisy: I don’t mind it; it’s quite a nice day for couples to celebrate their love.

What kind of person were you hoping to meet tonight?

Weez: A hot boy, taller than me, nice guy. That’s all really.
Daisy: a nice smart skin boy.

What’s the best or worst line you’ve heard tonight?

Daisy: Are you an Anarchist was the worst.

Hal aka Kebab punk

What do you think of Anarcho Speed Dating?

To be honest I just came here for a potential blow job.

What do you think of Valentine’s Day?

Fuck it! Its bullshit, part of the American flower industry. It has no significance whatsoever.

What kind of person were you hoping to meet tonight?

I was hoping to find a nice scruffy little punk boy who could suck me off at the end of the night.

What’s the best or worst line you’ve heard tonight?

Most people are shy and they just ask me “what do you do?” it’s surprising, people can’t actually converse properly!

Elliot Richards

What do you think of Anarcho Speed Dating?

I was surprised at how fun it was and how many different types of people there were.

What do you think of Valentine’s Day?

I’m not a fan, but I’m not sure if that’s for political reasons or just because I’ve been single for too long.

What kind of person were you hoping to meet tonight?

Anyone interesting, just cool people.

What’s the best or worst line you’ve heard tonight?

I didn’t hear any lines but I met this proper anarcho punk guy who works for Children’s BBC.

Willa

What do you think of Anarcho Speed Dating?

I thought It was good fun, it was a mixed bunch. I met someone who does gardening at Hyde Park, a milkman and a man with the best moustache I’ve ever seen.

What do you think of Valentine’s Day?

It’s a bastardisation of what it used to be, I remember hearing the myth of St.Valentine himself, he married two people he wasn’t supposed to, so in a way the whole thing is anti-establishment.

What kind of person were you hoping to meet tonight?

I like people who give a shit about stuff. Not just people who can’t talk about anything other than music and sex. Someone you can talk to about politics without them being “that guy” the dickish dude, constantly asserting his own opinion.

What’s the best or worst line you’ve heard tonight?

A guy flexed his biceps at me and said
“Have you seen a vet? Because these pythons are sick!”

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Kellan

What do you think of Anarcho Speed Dating?

I had a fantastic time.

What do you think of Valentine’s Day?

I guess if you’re in a relationship, or in love then it’s a nice romantic thing to do but for a lot of us it’s a capitalist extravagance which makes you feel as though you have to take part or it highlights your sense of being alone.

What kind of person were you hoping to meet tonight?

If there had been a really nice, gay anarcho boy there, I would have been really happy, but there didn’t seem to be any. I was surprised how willing people were to reveal quite personal details about themselves to strangers. I thought that was really cool.

What’s the best or worst line you’ve heard tonight?

I made an appalling pass at a gentleman, and he looked at me with that embarrassed look you give when someone makes a bumbling pass at you.

Leah

What do you think of Anarcho Speed Dating?

I think it’s an interesting concept with definite potential. If anything it creates a good vibe for people to enjoy.

What do you think of Valentine’s Day?

Not much.

What kind of person were you hoping to meet tonight?

Somebody passionate.

What’s the best or worst line you’ve heard tonight?

The best was “let’s have a thumb war!” He declared a coup against my thumb, an emperor that needed to be deposed.

Click to see original article.

Published: Disappear Here, April, 2009

Watch out!

2009-02-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

Review of Watch Out a film by Steve Balderson

Disturbing comedy about loveless self obsessed narcissist who is looking for work as a lecturer at a small town college, it features a hilarious scene where he tapes a picture of his own face on a blow up doll then fucks it. The subject is compelling and the parts with dialogue somewhat intriguing, but the film is mostly comprised of shocking yet tedious sequences showing the protagonist masturbating. The violent ending is somewhat predictable but quite satisfying; I think the whole film could do with being cut down by ditching a few of the numerous wanking scenes. The subject of a cold, almost inhuman narcissist who reads German philosophy and hates humanity is somehow compelling, but not enough to endure this very boring film.

The Unseen Buddy Holly

2009-02-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

Fifty Years after his death and a new exhibition of photographs is helping Buddy Holly not fade away.

Besides his permanent musical legacy all that remains of Buddy Holly is a gravestone in the city of Lubbock’s cemetery, with a Fender Stratocaster carved into it. Scores of die hard fans and musicians who have been influenced by him have gained no new insight into the character of one of the most significant musicians of the twentieth century since his untimely death in 1959. The tragic airplane crash which killed him cut short an already remarkable career, widowed Holly’s pregnant wife after only six months of marriage, possibly causing her miscarriage soon after and also took the lives of fellow rockers Big Bopper and Richie Valens.

The 50th anniversary of this tragic day in rock and roll’s history will be marked by the opening of an exhibition at proud galleries, London; Buddy Holly: The Making of an American Legend, which runs from 29th January to 26th April 2009. The exhibition boasts the greatest collection of Buddy Holly photographs ever compiled. The images are being shown exclusively at Proud galleries and will not tour after the exhibition closes. Holly’s iconic image has been emulated almost as much as his music, while The Beatles and The Rolling Stones sighted him as an influence, Nirvana and Weezer would incorporate his style into the music videos for ‘In Bloom’ and ‘Buddy Holly’ respectively. It’s been said he was the man who made it ok for pop stars to wear glasses, perhaps the innovator of geek chic, his instantly recognizable thick rimmed glasses are now worn by indie style whores everywhere.

Some of the less formal images capture a rarely seen side of the star. The gallery includes work from photographers including Bill Francis, Lewis Allen and Britain’s leading showbiz photographer during the rock and roll era, Harry Hammond, who also captured the images of Jerry lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran and Johnny Ray in their prime. Hammond’s images, amongst others, are compelling visual exerts from musical history that will appeal not only to Buddy Holly fans but to anyone with an interest in portraiture and photography.

Published: The Stool Pigeon, March 2009

Gadget lovers X-mas list

2009-02-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Celebrate the birth of Jesus! By giving, Christians believe they are fulfilling the wishes of an omnipotent being, who in return offers them unconditional love. In reality, the legacy of Jesus Christ is that each winter, bespectacled social rejects are temporarily enticed away from their habitual masturbation marathons by the allure of man’s most divine creation. Noisy little gadgets to piss off your parents/ girlfriend/ fellow bus passengers. These are the must have stocking fillers for Christmas 2008. Without them, you will be shunned by your peers and will endure emotionally crippling flashbacks of that day in the playground when you were victimised, for still playing on a Master-System, when everybody else had a Mega-drive.

1. DID's Virtual Piano - $130 -

Ray Charles didn't need sight to feel his way around a piano’s keys. But he would have been shit at playing DID’s portable virtual piano which uses, "a red semiconductor laser module and holographic optical element." To project, "a 25-key, 2-octave keyboard onto the surface in front of it." This is what the pianists of the future will play. It can project the hologram onto any surface. Invisible lasers detect what keys you press and the sound is emitted from the in-built speaker system in the style of your choice; piano, organ, pipe organ or harpsichord. All that is required is that you are able to see the keys. On your bike Raymond.

2.AU design project - Turn that phone into a Trombone

How does one deal with the insolent young brat on the train, playing his speed garage on full volume through his mobile phone's tinny speakers? Avoid criminal convictions or the humiliation of having a child kick your head in by shaming the swine with these musical instrument phone attachments!

Japanese phone company KDDI cell and Yamaha have joined forces; to create music based concept handsets that can be transformed, by the insertion of a plug-in accessory into the musical instrument of your choice. The Selection includes; the trombone, trumpet, guitar, bass, synthesizer, harmonica and best of all, a two piece set with motion sensor sticks for air drumming! How soon before someone starts a band using only mobile phone accessories? Not soon enough! One particular concept handset is nothing short of revolutionary. The screen folds up to unleash ten pluckable guitar strings. Now you can serenade that attractive girl on the Tesco fags counter who you’ve never had the courage to speak to.

3. Finis SwiMP3 - £99,

This waterproof mp3 headset helps you to endure the monotony of aquatic exercise by listening to your choice of water related music. My recommendations include the Tornadoes’ 'Stingray' and Howard Serratt’s 'Troublesome Waters'. If you don’t like my suggestions, fear not, for you can fill the 1GB of storage with plenty of the worthless noise of your choosing. The sound quality is clear and loud above the din of splashing water, but there are no headphones. Instead, you attach panels to your ears with a tight strap and the music is pummelled into your head by way of vibrations conducted through the bones in your skull. No deaths have occurred so far from using it. Although, if you’ve ever worn an undersized hat for a prolonged amount of time, you will understand the discomfort that pressure on the skull causes. Incidentally, sharks are attracted to vibrations, so be sure to exercise caution when listening to your music in warm seas, particularly if you are listening to Morrissey. They have no sympathy for his vegetarian bleating.

4. Acoustic Energy Bluetooth Speaker. - £80- Available now -

Unused speakers accumulate like cobwebs, due largely to the fact you couldn’t be arsed to sort out the unsightly wires that attach all the different devices to the same speaker system. Not to mention the irritation of re-connecting your laptop to the hi-fi every time you return from work. Those Ipod cradle things are about as versatile as...Well, as any other Apple product, in the sense that they’re totally incompatible with anything that isn’t made by Apple. All these irritating problems and others you’ve never previously considered are all solved with this amplifier. It has detachable speakers that will play music from your PC, Mp3 player, portable gaming system or whatever. All will bow before the versatility of this product. Best of all, the Acoustic Energy system can play music via Bluetooth streaming from your phone or laptop, thus saving you from hanging yourself by the neck on Boxing day with the mess of wires that have accumulated in your home as a result of your technological obsession.

5. Guitar Hero - Air Guitar Rocker- £17 - available now

You’ve wasted the past two years of your life thrashing away feverishly at a little kid’s plastic toy guitar, under the misguided impression that you can call yourself a guitar hero. You’ve lost your job, your girlfriend and you’ve been kicked out of your band. How do you make people realise that you are a guitar hero, when no-one will come near your stinking pit of self loathing and empty pot noodle cups? This is how. An air guitar belt buckle-pick up churns out riffs through your wearable amplifier with a mere wave of a special pick. The speed you strum the plectrum, in front of your skull adorned plastic belt buckle, dictates the tempo of the classic rock track. Track selections come from the likes of Sabbath, Motorhead and Boston but you can buy an expansion pack for extra songs. With the amp on your side, your guitar hero belt buckle slung provocatively low and your battery operated pick raised to the heavens, finally, you can start to get your life back on track.

6. Plantronics' Discovery 925 ‘Jewel’ headset- £50,000 -

If you’re stupid enough to walk the streets wearing the white headphones that came with your Ipod, you deserve to get shanked up good. It’s a criminal magnet. So get yourself something a bit more understated. Like the Discovery 925 ‘Jewel’ blue tooth headset from Plantronics. Phoebe Coleman designed the 18k gold head set, encrusted with 40 diamonds and 31 natural pearls. If you want to listen to your music or have a phone conversation in the street, without being bothered by criminals, these are perfect for your stocking. Just as long as Father Christmas doesn’t get jacked on his way to your house.

Published: The Stool Pigeon, December 2008

Terry Lynn

2009-02-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Like Grace Jones, but with guns and machetes.

A young woman slings a revolver over her shoulder while yardies brandishing blood-soaked machetes kick and stab at pigs in an abattoir. The girl is Terry Lynn, the most recent addition to Jamaica’s long history of musical exports and the shocking scene is taken from the music video to System - an electro-ragga stomp in which Lynn approaches the subject of police brutality. But despite flaunting violent imagery and posing with guns for promotional shoots, Lynn, as she informs me, is in fact a pacifist. "If you see me in a photo with a gun, it raises a platform to allow me to ask you the question: why guns? Why does Kingston have the highest murder rate per capita in the world?"

Fair enough, but is it necessary to show those pigs being slaughtered in a music video? "Crime and violence is too often not being investigated in a sensible manner," she argues, "it's as uncomfortable as watching animals being led to slaughter."

Terry Lynn's electro-house sound has a refreshing lack of the stereotypical chill out vibe common to Jamaican music, which isn't surprising, as she’s pretty critical of her contemporaries, with one notable exception – Grace Jones.

"There's so much mayhem going on in the local music scene, no direction, sense of purpose," Lynn laments. "But Grace Jones, to me she was the fore-bearer of this journey that I'm on. Life is a journey and the baton which she carried is a golden one."

Deep. Balls deep. Lynn is genuinely trying to engage with difficult issues that affect the people of her country. Her lyrics attack gangs, police, consumerism, politicians and the divide between rich and poor. With such political content you could be forgiven for mistaking her for an activist but Lynn does not see herself that way, she is more interested in her people than her government.

"I can tell you first hand that the change should come from the people," she intones seriously. "The greatest resource of any country is its people."

Published: The Stool Pigeon, March 2009

Crass antics for Desalvo

2009-02-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

Desalvo’s first record, Mood Poisoner, is a barrage of ferocious metal-core noise. Their tattooed, shaven headed behemoth of a singer, named simply P6, is an intimidating sight to behold. Taking these facts into consideration, you could be forgiven for not believing that his articulate Glaswegian speaking voice could possibly belong to the same person who produces the desperate screams and depraved behaviour that P6 is renowned for.

Their deafening aural assault is complimented at their live shows by a healthy dose of juvenile silliness, as P6 explains, “There’s usually five or six maniacs who’ve brought their own Mexican wrestling masks and are having a party.” Their camp and somewhat theatrical performance, combined with the audience’s childish tomfoolery might seem like the kind of thing that would alienate the veterans of the Scottish metal scene. But, P6 assures us, this is not the case, “I was once lap dancing for a Hell’s Angel when we played a show in Aberdeen. He loved it!”

Desalvo have an element of the ridiculous about them, with song titles like ‘Cock Swastika’. “Using a title like that is about castration and deconstructing masculinity.” He explains. “I try and subvert that through the shows. I’m a big gay man; I’m perverse and threatening but also quite disgusting.” Taking an 18 stone man in a pig mask seriously is difficult, particularly if he is wielding the porcelain head of a moustachioed chef on stage. An unusual mascot for a metal band, with an appropriately unusual story. “I was at a party, getting it on with this guy and his Mother was really into the idea and was watching us.” He reminisces, “It was pretty Oedipal and strange. On the way home I found that chef’s head. I kept it as a memento of that Freudian nightmare scenario.”

The band draw musical comparisons with the likes of Mastadon and Converge, although they are not as fast or energetic. Their sound Ranges from the laying down of slow grunge like grooves, to building up an almost impenetrable steel wall of down tuned riffs, through which occasional snatches of emotion laden, melodic guitar seep through. The sound is not original but does fill an aching gap between the legs of the whore that is the modern metal scene. “There are so many haircut bands around, a 43 year old man rutting and fucking a monitor at the front of the stage is gonna look a bit different to somebody who has styled their hair in 14 different directions, then got their neck tattooed, so they look as pretty but as hardcore as possible.” P6 is happy for his band to remain on the fringes of the metal scene, stressing the importance of a DIY mentality. “Our points of reference go back 25 years to the DIY ethic of Crass, Amebix, Antisect and a lot of the crusty punk bands and the independence of that.” Perhaps it is for this reason they claim to have no interest in pleasing the fans of commercialised modern metal. “We get people at our gigs who say, ‘I shouldn’t be into this type of music. I’m not even particularly into rock music. I’m into nonsense pop, but that was amazing!’ That is the biggest compliment we can get.”

Published: The Stool Pigeon, December 2008

Empire Buildings

2009-02-27T05:50:00.000-08:00

How fashion and architecture have always been synonymous with one another.

When the earliest Cro-Magnon fashion designers bashed their thick skulls against those of the first architects their primitive minds may have realised that their respective professions were destined to be interwoven for eternity. The same fur, feathers and vegetation used to shelter bodies from the elements whilst also providing them with ornamental aesthetic compliment served the same functions in the form of the primitive structures our ancestors used as habitation. When the architects of Europe sought to reach to the heavens with the highest possible church spires so too did the ladies of France adorn their crowns with tall cone shaped hats. When modernism brought about the simplification of all creative art forms, it affected these two companions in the realm of human creation in equal measure.

Both of these mathematically inclined art forms cater for the limitations and requirements of the human body and share the same aspects of creative exploration space, volume and movement. Each can also be used as a form of cultural and artistic expression. The two mediums share basic concepts and techniques of construction, each starting with a skeletal framework from which additional matter can be supported, suspended or draped. The geometry of fashion design and the industry’s obsession with strong silhouettes and lines to accentuate form borrows from that of the architectural design process. Gareth Pugh’s use of rectangular segmented structures would not look out of place in a cityscape, Viktor and Rolf’s show in which each model was attached to their own lighting rigs and sound systems allowed for innovative experimentation with the conventional framework of the human body. New Designer Mikio Sakabe’s more subtle incorporation of architectural aesthetics into fashion is accessible and understated enough to be worn off the catwalk and integrated with the urban architecture it emulates.

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #66 October 2008

Bling My Bell

2009-02-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

When historians of the future analyze the ancient golden artefacts of the 20th century such as Lil’ Jon’s “Diamond and fancy yellow diamond and gold – CRUNK AINT DEAD” pendant and necklace, they will probably liken the illuminated hip hop idols of our age to the pharaohs of Egypt, and will have as much difficulty deciphering the meaning of their symbols and language. If you want to own a part of modern history or if you are a disciple of the church of hip hop and have always dreamed of owning Slick Rick’s Diamond encrusted multi-colour eye patch, then your opportunity to look like the cycloptic pirate of bling has arrived. Just make sure you have $200,000 handy before you show up at the Crown Jewels of Hip Hop auction to be held by Phillips De Pury & Company in New York on the 1st October. Hip Hop history will be made as jewellery owned by the likes of Tupac and Biggie is sold for ‘big money’, an unspecified portion of which will be donated to Rush Community Affairs. What better way to demonstrate how in touch you are with the American underclass than to sport Missy Elliot’s gold moving turntable ring worth $8,500? That is keeping it real.

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #66 October 2008

Gavin Watson

2009-02-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

Photographer Gavin Watson returns to a turbulent youth of skins and violence.

Gavin Watson’s first book Skins remains the definitive visual record of the skinhead movement. It was used by director Shane Meadows to help him secure a deal for This is England; a film which Gavin admits had him in tears, evoking mixed emotions and memories of his troubled youth as a skinhead in High Wycombe, where he photographed his friends.

“I wasn’t thinking: ‘I’m photographing skinheads’,” Watson says as he discusses his latest publication, Skins and Punks. “I was thinking: ‘I’m photographing my mates.’ It’s only now in retrospect that I realise it wasn’t as mundane as I thought it was.”

Skins and Punks is a far more personal and moving collection of images than anything Watson has previously produced. Unflinching at times, it nonetheless portrays images of misspent youth with sympathy and understanding.

“It’s humanitarian,” he explains. “When you open the book, you see human beings, not the clothes that they’re wearing.”

While some photos illustrate the fun and innocence of youth, others are a window into the world of frustration and emotional pain of growing up on a violent council estate. One of the subjects Gavin captured, for example, was his friend Stuart, who killed his wife and sister in law before finally committing suicide himself.

“He was a fucking wild dog but I liked Stuart,” Watson reminisces. “Although he was damaged, he was intelligent and funny. When I found out about the murders, I knew I came from that violence; I’d come from that route and that’s where it ended.”

Growing up starved of culture and artistic guidance, and being too insecure to enjoy other photographers’ work which he saw as: “a message to say I would never make it”, comics became a source of inspiration.

“I was mainly into 2000 AD, Conan and Judge Dredd,” he explains. “It was that bold, stark lighting I think I liked. It must have been subconscious, because I didn’t set out to do it.”

After a difficult period of self-reflection, Gavin has quit drinking and now works in contemporary music photography. He also has plans to release another book, in collaboration with his brother, this time documenting the birth of the nineties rave-scene, as well as a film depicting the humour of the skinhead lifestyle.

Having acquired his approach to photography through personal relationships with his subjects, Watson’s style is virtually inimitable, whilst also being highly influential “I always tell college kids, if you can’t make your own environment epic, then you’re not gonna find anything else out there!” The intimate atmosphere of the book is what sets it apart from similar collections “I just love the fact that these are all my friends and that they’ve been immortalised. That’s more important to me than anything else, really.”

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #67 November 2008

Nan Goldin

2009-02-27T05:25:00.000-08:00

Original shoot for NY Times
article for metavisual photography blog

Dazed Digital Interviews

2009-02-27T04:55:00.000-08:00

Interview with O Children

London Airwaves Festival

Floris Kaayk

2009-02-27T04:16:00.000-08:00

Dutch Artist Floris Kaayk's Bio-mechanical documentaries get under your skin.

Those of you who have ever had to keep a paranoid eye on household electrical items, - lest they should be first to strike in a potential war between man and machine - will be relieved to discover that Kaayk’s realistic documentaries about the evolution of machines are in fact fictional.

Floris Kaayk’s work appears to be from the school of Spinal Tap-esque satire. Loaded with humour (albeit of a darker and more surreal sort than the aforementioned mockumentary), Metalosis Maligna describes how artificial implants in the human body can grow and begin to replace the flesh.

“People associate documentaries with scientific correctness,” Kaayk suggests. “Most of the events in Metalosis Maligna are far from reality, but strangely enough there are people who sincerely believe it. For me, that manipulative power is very attractive”

Having won the St Joost Academy’s gold medal prize of 2006 for Metalosis Maligna, he has also received awards for his previous film The Order Electrus; a nature documentary about robotic insects. This recurrent theme of biomechanics runs parallel to his production method of combining live action footage with computer animation, as Floris explains.

“It gives my work a strange feeling, and at the same time something very believable,” he says, while digressing on the topic of the inspiration for his monsters. “Rusty cranes or old fashioned machines always remind me of gigantic insects or other primitive life forms. In my imagination, insects have a lot in common with industrial machines, concerning their behavior and the way they move. Both represent an enormous cold feeling,”

Yet no matter how convincing Kaayks’s special effects might look, they have thus far been created on a shoe-string budget, which is why he’ so enthusiastic about his next feature, which is funded by the Dutch Film foundation,

“Now I finally have the budget, it feels like getting my creative freedom back and not having to justify every choice against a committee,” Floris says of his new film which strays from the documentary format and depicts a post-apocalyptic world where human remains collaborate to form new organisms “it is a visualization of how the world could look after a big disaster or a horrible war. I use this subject as the basis, from which I start researching how the human body would function without a brain. Perfect collaboration without agreements only exists in the insect world. This concept produces a lot of possibilities and interesting visuals for a short animated film.”

Find out more about the new film at the official Floris Kaayk site

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #67 November 2008

Senile, mobile, hostile

2008-11-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

Tragic, yet hilarious doc on Andre Williams explains his rise to fame, and his fall from grace.

An elderly man stands on a cold Chicago bridge. His worn face betrays years of drug and alcohol abuse and his jaw quivers as he charms passing strangers into filling his hat with change. Those familiar with the legendary reputation of Andre Williams may be shocked by the opening scene of Tricia Todd and Eric Matthies’ documentary, ‘Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A year in the life of Andre Williams.’ But Williams is just acting out a scene from a difficult time in his life. In the 50s and 60s he was a star. By the 1980s he was a panhandler and a crack-head.

Andre started singing in the fifties, recording over 50 songs for Fortune records, including ‘Bacon Fat’, ‘Jailbait’ and ‘The Greasy Chicken’. He went on to become a producer, working with the likes of Ike Turner and Stevie Wonder. Andre’s songs have been covered by everyone from Ray Charles to The Cramps. He even worked as an A&R man several times for Barry Gordon at Motown. In 1996 he cleaned up and released a come back album. Now at the age of 72, with sex, drugs and rum all making a come back in his life, Andre’s health is starting to deteriorate.

Todd and Matthies always work as a team, it’s a formula that helped them in the creation of ‘Ayamye’, their documentary about making bicycles in Africa, and it helped with ‘Agile, Mobile, Hostile’. Tricia also has experience working as production manager on several DVD-extras menu documentaries for films including 300, a Scanner Darkly and The Matrix Revisited. She and Eric have been fans of Andre for over 10 years. “Both of us have a life-long involvement with the underground; be it punk or garage, blues or jazz.” She explains, “Andre personifies all of it.”

Seeing Andre being so self destructive is alarming, during one live performance in the film, Andre is so weak, he can barely perform. On another shocking occasion he is arrested for possession and another he is hospitalised and told by his doctor he will die if he doesn’t make some life style changes. “It was difficult to balance perspectives between being his friend and wanting to remain objective as filmmakers.” Tricia confesses. “Don’t tell Andre but we always watered down his bottle of Bacardi.”

The film starts as a biography, explaining Andre’s history and achievements with the aid of interviews and archive footage, but ends up focusing on how today’s Andre finds it difficult to tour and perform in his old age and is a difficult man for his band mates to get along with. There is a depressing contrast between the success of his early musical career and his being brought out to perform like an old bear at the circus in his twilight years.

Tricia and Eric do not regret documenting the vulnerable side of the music legend, “My only regret is Andre not getting the success he deserves during that year!” Tricia says. The documentary is as much a critique of the way the music industry exploited gifted black musicians in the early days, as it is a window into the life of Andre Williams. “The system in which young song writers and performers worked, especially African American artists, in the 50s was very advantageous to the businessmen who ran the show and very disingenuous to the naïve young men and women with the talent. Andre is certainly a victim of this, like so many others.”

The tragic element, although moving, does not dominate the documentary. Andre has a terrific sense of humour and is relentlessly optimistic. Despite having so little to show for his remarkable career, he rarely lets his bitterness show. Andre's magnetic character and determination, ultimately, make the film very uplifting.

The Stool Pigeon December 2008

Meek shall inherit the earth

2008-11-13T05:46:00.000-08:00

Joe Meek is a name synonymous with uncompromising creative innovation in the history of independent music production. One of the first to use electronic sound effects and drum loops, Meek’s songs create an atmosphere sometimes bizarre and ridiculous, but always original. His works of musical pioneering genius include ‘Telstar’ by The Tornadoes and John Leyton’s haunting ‘Johnny remember me.’

The new documentary ‘A life in the death of Joe Meek’ explains the complicated and fascinating history and personality of this unique individual, without demonising him as others have. A homosexual, at a time when it was illegal in Britain, and also a practicing member of the occult, who believed he had a trans-dimensional psychic link with the deceased Buddy Holly, Meek is frequently written off as a maniac. This documentary not only demonstrates the significance and vast diversity of his work but also reveals the man behind the mincing, satanic persona the tabloids created.

Director, Howard Berger explains how he got hooked on Meek over 10 years ago, “I first heard of Joe Meek in a capsule review for the first and only US compilation of tracks on Razor and Tie. It just said his work was unorthodox and that he was responsible for the murder of his landlady resulting in his immediate suicide at 37 years of age. That alone was enough to peak interest.” Howard and his editor Susan Stahman originally set out to make a fictional biography based on Meek’s life, but as they learnt more about his perplexing story the idea was dropped and a more straight forward approach was adopted. “Sue suggested reviving Joe Meek in documentary form.” Howard explains. “She informed me of a bunch of recent deaths of some key Joe Meek performers like Screaming Lord Sutch and Heinz, and she said, ‘It's pretty much now or never,’ if we were to hope for interviews from first-handers.”

The film features an impressive selection of interviews with these ‘first handers’, as well as some modern music legends who have been influenced by Meek. “It's difficult not to be a little star struck.” Howard admits, “I mean, we find ourselves talking to people like Steve Howe from Yes or Keith Strickland from the B-52s.” But when asked if he is proud of accumulating this high-profile content, he answers modestly, “I'll be proud when it finds the right distributor. I'll be proud when I see it permeate culture the way I think it has a right to.” You can follow the progress of the film at: www.myspace.com/meekmovie where festival screenings and distribution deals will be listed.

published: The Stool Pigeon, December 2008

Drawn Leaders

2008-10-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

What could be more American than comic books? Comic books about presidential candidates John McCain (Author: Andy Helfer, Artist: Steve Thompson) and Barack Obama (Author: Jeff Mariotte, Artist: Tom Morgan) immortalised in the form of graphic biographies by IDW publishing, in a revolutionary initiative in the world of both politics and comic books. The beautifully rendered and painstakingly researched comics will be available in paper format and to download onto your mobile at Go Comics from October 8th. The president of IDW says the comics will get more people involved with politics as they speak to such a wide demographic whilst they can also “help get beyond the headlines on these two candidates.”

published: Dazed and Confused Vol II #67 November 2008