We’re gutted to announce that, due to flight cancellations and delays, Upchuck are unable to perform at Supersonic this weekend. We’re so sorry to everyone that was looking forward to seeing them, and we wish Upchuck a safe rest of their journey.
Doors for XOYO will now be at 15:30
Please see the updated timetable here
British composer, producer, and musician Elizabeth Bernholz, aka Gazelle Twin makes sounds that are somewhere between a nightmare and a dream, always shifting tectonically. who is no stranger to performing at Supersonic. They will be Performing themselves on Friday at The 02 Institute. Maxine Peake is a socialist, feminist and environmentalist. A tenacious campaigner on issues local, national and global, as well as having excellent musical taste. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have her join us.
Gazelle and Maxine have both recently been involved with an original production of Robin/Red/Breast, a take on the 1970s TV play Robin Redbreast, blending folk horror with immersive storytelling and live music – we can’t wait to learn more
Here’s the bit you’ve all been waiting for… the Supersonic 2024 timetable! Grab a pen and get circling, cause you won’t want to miss any of the mind-blowing music, workshops, and talks we have in store for you!
Musician and artist Cosey Fanni Tutti has continually challenged boundaries and conventions for four decades. As a founding member of the hugely influential avant-garde band Throbbing Gristle, as one half of electronic pioneers Chris and Cosey, and as an artist channelling her experience in pornographic modelling and striptease, her work on the margins has come to reshape the mainstream. Her first book, Art Sex Music, was a Sunday Times, Telegraph, Rough Trade, Pitchfork and Uncut Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize.
Maxine Peake is a socialist, feminist and environmentalist. A tenacious campaigner on issues local, national and global, as well as having excellent musical taste. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have her join us.
Build and take home your own experimental noise-box/instrument – a wooden box allowing improvisational audio experimentation. Farmer Glitch will guide you through the principles of contact-microphones and how they can be used for capturing hidden sounds, as well as design, electronics and circuit-bending.
SHELANU: Transfer Printing (SUNDAY | DROP IN)Shelanu, which means ‘belonging to us’, is a collective of migrant and refugee women working with Craftspace to develop craft skills, confidence and well-being through social enterprise. Join them in making your own Supersonic key ring or pendant to take home with you – choose from a series of different designs and colours.
This workshop will explore the history, practical use, and creative process of making zines. Participants are invited to explore themes of self and identity by producing their own creations. Collage materials provided.
At this drop in work shop, Maisie will assist you in creating your own unique upcycled objects using image transfers and thrifted second hand objects to transform into your own decorative Homeware to take away with you. Turn one persons trash into decor treasure!
Commemorate your festival memories and celebrate Supersonic’s home city by making a one-of-a-kind souvenir with Birmingham-raised artist, illustrator & obsessive fanatic Bunny Bissoux. Combining text slogans, images and patterns inspired by Birmingham local architecture and iconography. Participants can use a variety of materials including printed stickers, stamps and snapshots to create a DIY interpretation of the retro ‘wish you were here!’ postcards of the past.
Issimo! is an experimental music group devised at Artefact in South Birmingham. In our Issimo! workshop we will take every day materials and use them to create new instruments. You can create whatever the materials and your imagination will allow. These newly created instruments will be in an Issimo! experimental exercise and then we will use our new instruments to perform a new improvised piece of music.
DEBBIE ARMOUR: Ghost Songs – Exploring Revenant Ballads (SUNDAY | SIGN UP)In this workshop you’ll sing and learn about Revenant Ballads. Revenants are manifestations of grief occupying a third space — an ambiguous zone between this life and what is beyond. Look at what they represent using examples from British and Irish tradition and sing them as part of a group. This workshop is for everyone, even if you don’t consider yourself a “singer”.
| TICKETS |
Supersonic are delighted to collaborate with WEIRD WALK at this year’s festival, including live sets, guest DJs and limited-edition merchandise.
Supersonic and WEIRD WALK are natural collaborators, long appreciating each other’s curation from afar and coming together in a shared ethos that seeks to find the magic and mystery in music and art. WEIRD WALK will transform the rooftop on the Sunday, erecting ‘standing stones’, and creating space for re-enchantment, music and merriment to thrive.
Line up includes:
Maxine Peake (DJ)
Boss Morris Spellbinding moves from progressive morris dancing group
Daisy Rickman a solo set of ethereal, out-of-time, psychy, pastoral folk song
Jacken Elswyth Shovel Dance Collectives banjo player and instrument maker, conjuring new worlds from the traditional and the cosmic
Haress intertwine dark and repetitive guitar to create a hypnotic, mantra-like state
Poor Creature (DJ) members of Lankum, Landless, The Jimmy Cake
Nyahh Records (DJ) A home for sound collectors, noise makers and music builders
| SEE LINE UP |
The Rooftop bar at XOYO
Expect a live set by Matana Roberts, an internationally celebrated composer, performer, band leader, saxophonist, sound experimentalist, and mixed-media practitioner. They will create a tapestry of sounds from field recordings, loop and effects pedals, and spoken word recitations, alongside their saxophone and singing voices.
A self-taught composer, the Chicago-raised and New York City-based Roberts earned two degrees in performance from a smattering of American institutions but received their main training from free arts programs in the American Public School System. This will be a truly joyous and interactive session of singing, clapping, and stomping!
Hosted by artist/musician and all-round comedy genius Ben Sadler (of Juneau Projects).
If you’d like the chance to see The Body & Dis Fig in their element – look no further. They will be joining us for Supersonic Festival 2024, performing on Saturday 31st August. Don’t miss your opportunity to see them this tour, GET TICKETS .
The Body & Dis Fig are a natural pair. Each has pioneered instantly recognizable worlds of sound all their own that defy any traditional categorizations or boundaries. The Body, Lee Buford and Chip King, continually challenge any conventional conception of metal, collaborating with myriad artists and from the folk-leanings of their work with BIG|BRAVE to their ground-breaking work with the Assembly of Light Choir to the intensity of their collaborations with Thou.
Dis Fig, aka Felicia Chen, pushes electronic music into dark extremes, from warped DJ sets to avant production, from being a member of Tianzhuo Chen’s performance-art series TRANCE to being the vocalist with The Bug. The Body and Dis Fig find kinship in reimagining what it means to make “heavy music”. Their debut Orchards of a Futile Heaven is the perfect synthesis of two forces, as bracing as it is touching, and as harrowing as it is awe-inspiring.
“Whether it’s a sludge-metal lope or a near-techno pulse, this truly awesome album’s sense of rhythm is perhaps its note of hope, suggesting a centre that just might hold even as things fall apart.” – The Guardian
“Lots of feedback and heaviness, but with a vibe like you’re trapped in a modem that’s connecting.” – Metal Injection
“Like Nine Inch Nails with Bjork on vocals, but ten times more extreme.” – The Wire
Order The Body & Dis Fig’s Orchards of a Futile Heaven
Listen to The Body & Dis Fig’s Orchards of a Futile Heaven
We have once again partnered with Staying Cool at the Rotunda to run a very special competition for two lucky people who will win 2 x Supersonic Festival Weekend Tickets and accommodation for the weekend at Staying Cool Rotunda.
To enter this free competition, head to our Facebook or Instagram!
Find our full line up here!
Competition closes midday Tuesday 30 July 2024 – the winning entry will be drawn randomly and announced ahead of the festival.
Staying Cool is a design-led boutique serviced apartment operator in Birmingham.
Staying Cool opened atop the Rotunda (a Grade II listed building) in Birmingham in 2008. The 35 apartments are stylishly designed and range from studios to 2-bed penthouses. The collections larger apartments represent the only 5* (Visit England assessed) accommodation in the city a decade after opening.
Since launch Staying Cool’s mission has been to offer guests chic serviced apartments that combine all the style of a boutique hotel with the space
The business has a strong ethical streak with a focus on working with other local independent companies.
Our studio apartment is named after the famous British car built at Longbridge in its sixties heyday. The Mini gives you 370 square feet of city-centre living to enjoy. Floor-to-ceiling windows that open to deliver the perfect city vista while bespoke interiors bring the wow factor inside. All of our studio apartments are on levels 16-19 so great views are guaranteed. If you have a preferred view then let us know when you check-in and we’ll do our best to accommodate.
Each apartment has a fully-equipped kitchen, dining area and lounge area as well as the bedroom which is separated from the living areas by a low divider. The bathroom has a rainfall shower. Fluffy towels and bathrobes come as standard. You’ll find complimentary oranges for the juicer and Fairtrade teas as well as locally ground coffee.
We have a special code “Supersonic2024” giving 10% off on bookings made for the dates of the festival (valid Thursday 29 Aug – Monday 2 Sep), so you can guarantee a luxury experience for Supersonic 2024!
We’re throwing a party! This June marks five years since our internationally renowned Home of Metal season which included the major Black Sabbath exhibition.
Celebrate with us at Hare and Hounds. We’re hosting a screening of the cult documentary-short Heavy Metal Parking Lot, a debut performance from Brummie doom band Meatdripper and hardcore punks Flesh Creep who’ll throw in a couple Sabbath covers for good measure. Plus we’ll have a heavy metal badge making station + guest DJs
Now a cult favourite, Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986) is a documentary-short film following heavy metal fans as they queue for a Judas Priest/Dokken gig in Maryland that same year.
Hardcore punk band Flesh Creep have been making waves across the UK since their formation. Their sound has been described as the aggression of early Left for Dead with the energy of Feel the Darkness-era Poison Idea.
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fl3shcr33p
Meatdripper are a doom metal band hailing from Birmingham, comprising former members of Youth Man, God Damn and Exhaler. We are very happy to host their debut live performance!
Instagram: www.instagram.com/meatdripper_
We’ll also have a Heavy Metal badge making station! Here you’ll be able to choose from several designs celebrating your favourite metal icons from Ozzy to Halford.
SHOW FAQS
Venue: Hare and Hounds, 106 High Street, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7JZ – www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk
Tickets: https://supersonicfestival.com/product/flesh-creep-meatdripper/
Accessibility: This is a standing show. Step access only.
Timings: Doors 19.30. Set times TBC
Age Restrictions: 14+ / 14 – 16s accompanied by an adult
We are on the lookout for some wonderfully creative minds to bring us unusual, imaginative and engaging new workshops that will take place as part of Supersonic Festival (August 30 – September 1)
Supersonic have been host to all kinds of weird and wonderful workshops from making your own Pint Mug Soundsystem to a Doom Yoga session. This year we’re keen to put on another creative workshop programme for our curious audiences – with your help!
Whether you’re flying solo, a group or an organisation, we want to hear ideas that embrace our passion for collaboration between both artists and audience alike.
We are a festival which celebrates expressive, challenging and generally out-there music and art. We remain inclusive, accessible and engaging to varied audiences; new and returning.
Workshop proposals should present a singular, innovative idea that encapsulates a clear understanding of what Supersonic is about.
To apply, please complete this Google Form. The deadline is 5pm, Monday 24 June, 2024.
The fee is £150 + 2 weekend tickets (inclusive of materials).
For enquiries please contact: [email protected]
After lots of prepping behind the scenes, we are delighted to reveal the day lineups and the addition of acclaimed, socio-politically conscious and aesthetically intrepid avant-jazz practitioner Matana Roberts. Presenting our Saturday night party in collaboration Homobloc are the snoutstanding oinklusive dance troupe FVCK PIGS who will help us unleash the pig within. We are also delighted to be partnering with cult zine Weird Walk who will transform the rooftop bar on the Sunday, erecting ‘standing stones’, and creating space for re-enchantment, music and merriment to thrive. In addition we are thrilled to be working once again with Decolonise Fest, the annual non-profit DIY punk festival collectively organised by and for punx of colour who will be taking over the rooftop bar on Saturday.
Matana Roberts credit Anna Niedermeier
FRIDAY
Dame Area | Gazelle Twin | Melt-Banana | Grove presents Taliable x Toya Delazy | The None | Tristwch Y Fenywod | UKAEA
SATURDAY
Agriculture | Emma Ruth Rundle | MC Yallah x Debmaster | Modified Youth | Senyawa | Smote | The Body & Dis Fig | The Shits | Upchuck | Vile Creature
+ Homobloc x Fvck Pigs late night party
Rooftop – Decolonise Fest Takeover
SUNDAY
Bonnie “Prince” Billy | Daisy Rickman | Brìghde Chaimbeul | John Francis Flynn | Mary Lattimore | Matana Roberts | ØXN | Mohammad Syfkhan | One Leg One Eye | Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe | Womb x Water
+ Rooftop – Weird Walk Takeover with special guests
Freak Zone Quiz
See line up for more info on artists performing
Venue update + Additional weekend tickets
O2 Institute
As long-time friends will know, Supersonic has happily been in Digbeth since we first started 21 years ago. Over the last few years, however, we’ve been seeing problems caused by the increasing gentrification of the area and the impact of property developers moving in.
Sadly, this has now directly affected our plans for this year, as the developers who own the warehouse that we used as our main stage last year have let us down at the 11th hour. Despite months of regular meetings and reassurances from them that all was OK, they recently told us that they won’t now be able to let us have the space this year.
As you might imagine, this has caused us a lot of stress behind the scenes over the last few weeks, but we’re delighted to say that we have now found an alternative that we think will actually be a big improvement on what we had last year. We can now confirm that we will be using the O2 Institute as our second stage, it’s a stunning converted Methodist chapel built in the early 1900s. It’s just a short walk from our main festival hub at XOYO (formerly called The Mill) and its bigger capacity will enable us to put more weekend tickets on sale. This new space will also be much better for you as audience members – with good disabled access, a high stage with excellent site lines and, best of all, a seated balcony for those of you that get weary feet during the festival!
What this late change does mean is that our costs have increased quite substantially and we won’t be able to benefit from the bar income at the O2 Institute as we used to at the old venue. So we would ask you to support us by making sure you use our bars based at XOYO as much as you can, as the income we generate there makes a huge contribution towards our costs in producing the festival.
We thank you for your continued support and look forward to welcoming our global community in August, when we’re sure that you’ll have just as great a time as ever……
Photo by Snaprockandpop
Supersonic has secured its experimental reputation with consistently innovative and explosive concoctions of visual installations, films, exhibitions and music. Guaranteed to open eyes and ears to music and art outside the predictable genre labels and familiar performance spaces.
You will be part of an ever growing, friendly community of music and art lovers helping to maintain the values of bringing the extraordinary to curious audiences in an all inclusive way. This is will be an invaluable experience into how our festival runs but not only that, you’ll be contributing to something truly Superspecial whilst making friends along the way!
The festival is small enough for every volunteer to give real input and value in the following areas:
You must be able to volunteer for all three days of the festival and will work up to 16 hours (spread over the weekend).
Volunteers must be over 18 years old.
If you would like to get involved please complete the application form.
Application deadline: Monday 24th June.
Reference: Once the deadline has passed, we will source references for all first-time volunteers before we can confirm your place.
Deposit: All volunteers are required to submit a £50 deposit by August 1st (unless you are unable to do so and have contacted us beforehand). We’ll be in touch about this in July.
Rota: You will be emailed your shifts two weeks before the festival.
If you have any questions then please email [email protected]
WITH BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY, THE BODY & DIS FIG, EMMA RUTH RUNDLE PERFORMING “SOME HEAVY OCEAN”, GAZELLE TWIN, ØXN, SENYAWA, AND JOINED BY GROVE PRESENTING AN EXCLUSIVE NEW COMMISSION, ROBERT AIKI AUBREY LOWE, VILE CREATURE AND MORE
Agriculture | The Body & Dis Fig | Bonnie “Prince” Billy | Brìghde Chaimbeul | Daisy Rickman | Dame Area | Emma Ruth Rundle | Gazelle Twin | Grove | John Francis Flynn | Mary Lattimore | MC Yallah x Debmaster | Melt Banana | Modified Youth | Mohammad Syfkhan | One Leg One Eye | ØXN | Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe | Senyawa | Smote | The None | The Shits | Tristwch Y Fenywod | UKAEA | Upchuck | Vile Creature | Water X Womb
Grove
Following our sell-out 2023 twentieth anniversary edition, and the first wave of announcements for this year, Supersonic Festival reveals the next wave of acts from their upcoming 2024 edition.
Joining the likes of Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Gazelle Twin, Emma Ruth Rundle, Mary Lattimore and many more will be Grove, returning after their stunningly brutal set in 2022. This time they will be presenting their new collaborative project alongside Toya Delazy and TaliaBle.
“Toya Delazy and TaliaBle are two of the most incendiary, powerful and badass live performers I’ve ever seen, so to host them head to head for a soundclash at Supersonic is a dream. Both are pioneers in fusing genres, with Toya’s statement “afrorave” combining their Zulu roots with heavy rave music, to TaliaBle’s punk-drenched hip-hop setting rooms into a frenzy. If my past experiences with these two is anything to go by, this SOUNDCLASH is going to be heavy, energetic and WILD. I feel Supersonic Festival is the perfect place for this big, bad extravaganza. It’s one of the UK’s best melting pots of sonic wizardry, with the best audience to match.”
– Grove
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
Alongside Grove‘s newly commissioned work, Supersonic is pleased to welcome composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, renowned for his innovative work with voice and modular synthesiser; he will present a UK premiere of music from the score he created for the film Grasshopper Republic (the soundtrack is out now via Invada). Supersonic is thrilled to host an exclusive UK performance from Canadian sludge metal duo Vile Creature whose live performances are a cathartic journey through themes of identity, queerness and social justice.
Vile Creature
Supersonic is always looking for new names exploring dark sounds, and looks forward to welcoming Tristwch Y Fenywod to the festival – a Welsh language gothic rock power-coven conjured from the experimental underground. Dame Area craft hypnotic rhythms and distorted synths that blur the lines between chaos and control. Daisy Rickman‘s music reflects her deep connection to the landscapes of Cornwall, creating a sun-soaked realm of sound, where mystical and earthy melodies intertwine. UKAEA will bring their infamous party energy to the festival and audience participation is encouraged during WATER X WOMB’s set – creating space for others to participate in their ceremonial, spiritual, blissful walls of noise. Modified Youth are a young, dynamic two-piece DIY band who ignite a fiery rebellion, and will inspire Supersonic audiences to join their passionate quest for change.
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
Supersonic Festival has always held Bonnie “Prince” Billy close to their hearts, and so it is a dream come true to host a set from him during the 2024 edition of the festival. He’s been at the forefront of DIY indie, folk and alt-country since the early 90s and has a consistently brilliant and prolific output. His work radiates with such emotional depth, no two performances are ever the same – and there won’t be a dry eye in the venue.
ØXN
Following Lankum’s incredible performance at Supersonic’s 2023 edition and a shared mutual admiration for each other, Supersonic had to invite them back in other guises; ØXN and One Leg One Eye. ØXN (bringing together Radie Peat of Lankum, John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler of Percolator and Katie Kim) digs deep into the earth and retrieves evocative tales of love, loss, longing, revenge and ritual. Add to that their other-worldly sonic textures that beckon you to peer behind the curtain, with your heart in your mouth. One Leg One Eye is the project of Ian Lynch (Lankum) that explores submerged leylines of music and song, drawing on the raw aesthetics of black metal, noise and drone, while also being deeply imbued with a sense of Irish history and myth.
“Last year I had the great honour of (finally) playing and attending Supersonic Festival for the first time. From the get go I felt an amazing energy and sense of community that brought me right back to all my favourite DIY punk and hardcore festivals over the years – something I have largely been missing with the bigger kind of festivals that Lankum plays these days. Environments like that don’t happen by accident and I left the festival with a huge sense of awe and respect for the organisers in making such an event possible. In the following days I told myself that I would come back every year as a punter no matter what, so imagine how delighted I was to be asked to come back this year and perform as One Leg One Eye! I can’t wait and already know that it’s going to be a highlight of my year.”
– Ian Lynch, Lankum, One Leg One Eye
The Supersonic 2024 edition explores a fascinating range of folk artists upending the traditions of the genre, including Scottish small pipes player and native Gaelic speaker Brìghde Chaimbeul who has carved a sonic space where tradition and minimalism meet. She captures live, the dense and wild landscape of her home through hypnotic drones and the ethereal drawl of her chosen instrument. One of the leading figures in Ireland’s burgeoning folk music renaissance known for his unconventional approach, John Francis Flynn masterfully unpicks traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them un-anchored.LA-based harpist and composer, and one of today’s preeminent instrumental storytellers, Mary Lattimore invites us intoa musical universe rich with memories, scenes, and split-second impressions.
Emma Ruth Rundle
Emma Ruth Rundle is an artist who creates delicate atmospheres which are imbued with an unparalleled emotional heft. She will return to her roots at this year’s festival, performing her debut album, Some Heavy Ocean, 10 years after its release. Some Heavy Ocean is a collection of impassioned, cathartic songs, exorcising the ghosts of one of life’s dark detours. Melancholic, but equally hopeful and devastatingly human, the album wears its emotions on its sleeve.
“I am delighted that I will finally be playing Supersonic fest this year; and in honour of the 10 year anniversary of Some Heavy Ocean, will be performing an intimate solo set that includes most of the album’s material. I love the supersonic community and am so thrilled to be part of this year’s most excellent line up.”– Emma Ruth Rundle
Senyawa
Performing their debut collaborative music for the first time are The Body & Dis Fig – the perfect synthesis of two forces, twisting melodicism and intoxicating rhythms, layering a dense miasma of distortion with intense beats, and a soaring voice clawing its way towards absolution. Senyawa will also perform, who powerfully combine Indonesian tribal and primitive sounds with industrial music. Gazelle Twin makes a return to Supersonic in support of the new album, Black Dog – a plunge into darkness rooted in the theatrics of the séance and the phenomena of ghosts.
Melt Banana
Supersonic relishes in presenting opportunities for communal catharsis through joyous, raucous metal and punk, and bringing high energy to this year’s edition are Melt-Banana with their unorthodox, unclassifiable, and utterly brilliant speed-of-light grindcore. Also playing are Agriculture (signed to The Flenser), whose sublime subversion of the black metal tropes evokes awe-inspiring sublimity. The None are a band comprising members of Blue Ruth, Youth Man, Bloc Party, Young Legionnaire, Cassels and Frauds, their uncompromising vision of noise rock with melody at its heart, channels the spirit of The Jesus Lizard, Silverfish and Unwound. The upcoming Atlanta five-piece Upchuck are a kinetic force of youth and enthusiasm, churning out brutally honest, boisterous tracks that blur the lines between psych rock, punk, and hardcore. What would Supersonic be without some down right dirge? This will be brought to audiences in the 2024 edition by The Shits with their sludgy amalgamation of guitar grit, trashy drums and UK82 era street punk growls.
MC Yallah x Debmaster
Exploring ecstatic sounds of different proportions is Irish based Kurdish/Syrian singer and Bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan, whose sound takes elements from Middle Eastern and North African music to create an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness. Other explorers include Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s Smote’s flute-and-drum-driven music, which conjures up a feeling of bleak magick, reaching for transcendence through repetition, and opening up uncanny new psychic pathways. Unable to perform last year, Supersonic Festival is delighted to invite MC Yallah x Debmaster back to the festival, bringing high energy performance and delivering her rapid and tightly controlled flow alongside futuristic hip-hop, grime, punk and trap with Debmaster.
Day tickets will be announced at the end of May!
Weekend tickets are running low – get yours HERE
★★★★★ – The Guardian
“Britain’s very best underground festival.” – The Quietus
“Supersonic Festival, Britain’s premier celebration of adventurous and mind-blowing sounds.” – Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone BBC Radio 6 Music
FIRST NAMES REVEALED…
Agriculture | The Body & Dis Fig | Bonnie “Prince” Billy |
Brìghde Chaimbeul | Emma Ruth Rundle | Gazelle Twin |
John Francis Flynn | Mary Lattimore | MC Yallah x Debmaster |
Melt-Banana | Mohammad Syfkhan | One Leg One Eye | ØXN | Senyawa | Smote | The None | The Shits | Upchuck
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 1ST MARCH @ 10AM
Line up info
Following a sell-out 20th anniversary edition in 2023, lauded by press, fans and performers alike, we’ve been spurred on by last year’s triumphs. Today, we make our initial lineup announcement, offering a weekend of phenomenal experimental and DIY music, welcoming some artists for the first time, as well as the return of festival favourites bringing new work to the stages.
“We were blown away by the love and recognition we received last year when we celebrated 20 years since the inception of Supersonic festival. More so than ever, in these challenging and uncertain times, we are motivated with an urgency to seek out and champion the most important artists from the underground and to create opportunities for shared experiences with a program that can bring joy and unite us.”
– Lisa Meyer, Artistic Director and Festival co-founder
TICKET INFO
We have 2 weekend ticket options available which includes our solidarity ticket, we are working to create an inclusive space which is accessible to all, regardless of their financial situation. This year, we’ll be working with partners to give away a % of free tickets to people in our music community who are on low wages or are unemployed. For those of you that can afford to support this scheme through purchasing our solidarity ticket we salute you!
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Supersonic Festival has always held Bonnie “Prince” Billy close to our hearts, and so it is a dream come true to host a set from him during the 2024 edition of the festival. He’s been at the forefront of DIY indie, folk and alt-country since the early 90s and has a consistently brilliant and prolific output. His work radiates with such emotional depth, no two performances are ever the same – and we predict there won’t be a dry eye in the venue.
ØXN
Following Lankum’s incredible performance at Supersonic’s 2023 edition and a shared mutual admiration for each other, we just had to invite them back with in other guises; ØXN and One Leg One Eye will both be performing. ØXN (bringing together Radie Peat of Lankum, John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler of Percolator and Katie Kim) digs deep into the earth and retrieves evocative tales of love, loss, longing, revenge and ritual. Add to that the other-worldly sonic textures that beckon you to peer behind the curtain, with your heart in your mouth. One Leg One Eye is the project of Ian Lynch (Lankum) that explores submerged leylines of music and song, drawing on the raw aesthetics of black metal, noise and drone, while also being deeply imbued with a sense of Irish history and myth.
One Leg One Eye
“Last year I had the great honour of (finally) playing and attending Supersonic Festival for the first time. From the get go I felt an amazing energy and sense of community. Environments like that don’t happen by accident and I left the festival with a huge sense of awe and respect for the organisers in making such an event possible. In the following days I told myself that I would come back every year as a punter no matter what, so imagine how delighted I was to be asked to come back this year and perform as One Leg One Eye! I can’t wait and already know that it’s going to be a highlight of my year.”
– Ian Lynch, Lankum, One Leg One Eye
Mary Lattimore
The Supersonic 2024 edition explores a fascinating range of folk artists upending the traditions of the genre, including Scottish small pipes player and native Gaelic speaker Brìghde Chaimbeul who has carved a sonic space where tradition and minimalism meet. Capturing live, the dense and wild landscape of her home through hypnotic drones and the ethereal drawl of her chosen instrument. One of the leading figures in Ireland’s burgeoning folk music renaissance known for his unconventional approach, John Francis Flynn masterfully unpicks traditional songs and rearranges them with an emotional force that sometimes leaves them unanchored. LA based harpist and composer, and one of today’s preeminent instrumental storytellers Mary Lattimore invites us intoa musical universe rich with memories, scenes, and split-second impressions.
Emma Ruth Rundle
Emma Ruth Rundle is an artist who creates delicate atmospheres which are imbued with an unparalleled emotional heft. She will return to her roots at this year’s festival, performing her debut album, Some Heavy Ocean, 10 years after its release. Some Heavy Ocean is a collection of impassioned, cathartic songs, exorcising the ghosts of one of life’s dark detours. Melancholic, but equally hopeful and devastatingly human, the album wears its emotions on its sleeve.
“I am delighted that I will finally be playing Supersonic fest this year; and in honour of the 10 year anniversary of Some Heavy Ocean, will be performing an intimate solo set that includes most of the album’s material. I love the supersonic community and am so thrilled to be part of this year’s most excellent line up.” – Emma Ruth Rundle
The Body & Dis Fig
Performing their debut collaborative music for the first time are The Body & Dis Fig – the perfect synthesis of two forces, twisting melodicism and intoxicating rhythms, layering a dense miasma of distortion with intense beats and a soaring voice clawing its way towards absolution.
Senyawa
Senyawa who powerfully combines Indonesian tribal and primitive sounds with industrial music. They will be performing in support of their latest album release ‘Vajranala’ being released on State 51, Senyawa explore how, over centuries, the natural world has shaped our society, the knowledge systems from which power derives.
Gazelle Twin
Gazelle Twin makes a return to Supersonic in support of the new album, Black Dog – her new live show is a plunge into darkness. Memories and dreams electrified by fear. Rooted in the theatrics of the séance and the phenomena of ghosts.
Supersonic relishes in presenting opportunities for communal catharsis through joyous, raucous metal and punk, and bringing high energy to this year’s edition are Melt-Banana with their unorthodox, unclassifiable, and utterly brilliant speed-of-light grindcore.
Agriculture
Agriculture (signed to The Flenser) whose sublime subversion of the black metal tropes evokes awe-inspiring sublimity, a powerful mode of expression for these feelings of absolute bliss, and overwhelming love.
THE NONE
The None are a band comprising members of Blue Ruth, Youth Man, Bloc Party, Young Legionnaire, Cassels and Frauds, their uncompromising vision of noise rock with melody at its heart, channels the spirit of The Jesus Lizard, Silverfish and Unwound.
Upchuck
Atlanta five-piece Upchuck are a kinetic force of youth and enthusiasm, churning out brutally honest, boisterous tracks that blur the lines between psych rock, punk, and hardcore.
What would Supersonic be without some down right dirge? This will be bought to audiences in the 2024 edition by The Shits with their sludgy amalgamation of guitar grit, trashy drums and UK82 era street punk growls.
Mohammad Syfkhan
Exploring ecstatic sounds of different proportions are Irish based Kurdish/Syrian singer and Bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan‘s music takes elements from Middle Eastern and North African music to create an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness. Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s Smote’s flute-and-drum-driven music conjures up a feeling of bleak magick, reaching for transcendence through repetition, opening up uncanny new psychic pathways.
MC Yallah
Unable to perform last year, we are beyond delighted to invite MC Yallah x Debmaster back to the festival, bringing high energy performance and delivering her rapid and tightly controlled flow alongside futuristic hip-hop, grime, punk and trap with Debmaster.
There are only a limited number of weekend tickets.
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 1ST MARCH @ 10AM
To get to know our 2024 line up have a listen to our Supersonic Festival Playlist HERE
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The self-styled “doom jazz” masters were spawned in 1992 out of a mutual love of all things heavy and unholy but channelled their impulses into inspiration not influence. Bohren’s ineffable skill at lulling listeners into richly hypnagogic states. As they prize a deep sense of cool yearning that hearkens back to the slow burn atmospheres of classic film noir as much as David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtracks, dark ambient and the bluest jazz, plus the doom metal of Black Sabbath, Gore, and their dusty echoes in Earth. It’s a velvet cloak for the senses; essentially a heavily tranquillising sound, but one fraught with an existential angst that’s won them a cult audience over the years.
Special guests to be announced soon…
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Since 1997, the Canadian collective have been pulling at the threads of late capitalism. A quarter of a century later, they continue crafting their cinematic instrumentals to conjure a world on the very brink of apocalypse – a soundtrack for our times. Between searing melodies that ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint, their noise-drenched, widescreen, post-rock sound is an all encompassing live experience. Expect field recordings and semi-improvised passages that frame the fervent epics they forge.
Special guests to be announced soon…
Sat 30 March . De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea| MORE INFO | TICKETS |Tues 2 April . hmv Empire, Coventry| MORE INFO | TICKETS |
SUNN O))) returns to the live aspect in its core, original raw form. Founders / guitarists Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson will perform as a duo immersed in profound valve amplification, spectral harmonics, distortion and volume. Pure and primeval riffs of temporality, massively heavy structures of sound pressure. Witness a live experience of physical sound, fog and glacial maximalism like no other.Singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes, and Sweet Hereafter guitarist Phil Wandscher (Whiskeytown), along with bassist Bill Herzog (Earth), will support SUNN O))) as the Shosin duo, on a special run of UK and French performances.
So grab your diaries, and book your earlybird tickets! The team are working hard behind the scenes prepping a jaw-dropping line-up for our wonderful audiences worldwide.
First line-up announcement, hotel deals and tickets will be going on sale end of February – keep those eyes peeled!
A super limited number of Early Bird tickets will be released at 12:00 on Thursday 7 December.
We’ve thought carefully about ticket pricing, and we want to make sure the festival remains accessible. We recognise that not everyone has equal access to live events and that the cost of entry is a barrier to some people. We are working to create an inclusive space which is accessible to all, regardless of their financial situation. This year, we’ll be working with partners to give away a % of free tickets to people in our music community who are on low wages or are unemployed, supported by our Solidarity ticket scheme.
SOLIDARITY TICKET – We know that some of our long-standing fans could afford to pay more. Inspired by the global “solidarity ticket” movement, we are also introducing a new voluntary tier ticket. So if you are able to invest in Supersonic through a solidarity ticket, you’ll be subsidising a % of free tickets for others, whilst also ensuring the good ship Supersonic keeps sailing for many future festival editions.
In the meantime, here’s a very happy reminder of what happened last time we all met under the rumbling roofs of Digbeth…
Wowzers we are blown away by the amazing press we’ve been receiving for this years edition of Supersonic, which saw us celebrate 2 decades of the festival. The response from artists, audiences and press has really warmed our hearts.
photo by Cat Dineley
photo by Snaprockpop
Backxwash by Snaprockpop
“Supersonic Festival has long boasted the talents of the most unique sounds in music from metal and beyond, so it feels fitting that in its 20th anniversary edition it would host an artist who so brazenly embodies the spirit of heaviness whilst sounding worlds away from traditional metal. That such a joyous and undeniably heavy artist has made her debut in the heart of the Home Of Metal only further cements the notion that Backxwash is representative of where heavy music in 2023, no longer defined by riffs and horror movie aesthetics alone.”
– Louder Sound, read full review
“Supersonic was ahead of the game on many fronts. The female-founded festival was up on gender representation long before the Keychange initiative drew attention to ways of trying to achieve gender parity in the music industry. Gender and sexuality find a safe space here. Even such things as metal being taken seriously by electronic musicians, and electronics coming to rock, and the now preponderant but still under-regarded creative economy of solo artists and DJs using electronics to create a huge sound. For organisational problems arising from gentrification, Supersonic is the test case for how to deal with it, and how to do it right. In society and culture, the ongoing backlash against progressivism has made us all suffer. But before the backlash even began, the backlash to the backlash started here— and it started in Birmingham.”
– London Jazz News, read full review
“On the Sunday afternoon there’s a ‘Supersonic Mass’ to mark the anniversary, part Pagan ritual, part local precinct ribbon cutting that ends with an unveiling of a spectacular banner, listing every artist that has played the festival in its 20 years. It is a truly remarkable list of names, from LCD Soundsystem and Kim Gordon to Max Tundra and Hype Williams. It shows not just the sonic breadth that Supersonic brings to the table, but, with how many people played early shows here before going on to be wildly influential, their eye for talent. You get the sense they’ve given a few people their new favourite artist over the weekend. A truly vital festival, long may it continue.”
– The Skinny, read full review
Taqbir by John Convery
“As the dust settles, it’s clear to me that Supersonic is not just a festival. It’s a love letter to experimental and hardcore music; a place of sharing, learning, and breaking down whatever limitations people may have about music. It’s even clearer to me that Supersonic is a space for everyone, intricately curated in a way to highlight artists I don’t know how I would find even if I wanted to. Over this extra special weekend, my ears have heard things I’ve never heard before.”
– Birmingham Review, read their reviews of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Stuart presents a special show recorded at Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival, Britain’s premier celebration of adventurous and mind-blowing sounds. There will be interviews and highlights from across the weekend, including Silver Moth and Mercury nominated Lankum.
Installation: Super Sonic Mass
Saturday 12:00 – 16:00 // Sunday 12:00 – 15:30
Eastside Projects | 86 Heath Mill Ln | B9 4AR
FESTIVAL PROCESSION //
SUNDAY // 16:40 – 17:10
Festival site
Join us for a mass celebration and a sonic ritual, devised by Haress and friends. We’re celebrating 20 years of Supersonic Festival and its community and delighting in the magic of festivals.
Whether it’s pagan ceremonies or showcases of art and music, festivals offer a fleeting, precious, coming together, beyond the everyday. At festivals we celebrate each other, share stories and create connection as we’re part of something bigger than ourselves.
Join your fellow adventurous music fans, make noise, and lean into the extraordinary.
We Need You!
Call for participants
We’re looking for 30 participants to take part in the procession on Sunday
If you want to join, please sign up here.
Join us and be part of the Super Sonic Mass ! We need bellringers / noise makers
Sign up to join Haress & friends in creating this special happening which will celebrate 20 years of Supersonic Festival, make noise, and lean into the extraordinary
You would need to be available
Sunday for both
15:45 – 16:30 dressing + briefing at Eastside Projects
16:40 – 17:10 Super Sonic Mass
Here’s the bit you’ve all been waiting for… the Supersonic 2023 timetable! Grab a pen and get circling, cause you won’t want to miss any of the mind-blowing music, workshops, films and talks we have in store for you!
* please note timetable may be subject to change *
Supersonic is produced by Capsule:
Unit 317, Zellig
Gibb Street
Birmingham UK
B9 4AT
