Autumn is well and truly here so we’ve curated a playlist to compliment the season featuring artists from our upcoming shows Sara Parkman, Shovel Dance Collective, Tortoise and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s new live track ‘London May’. As well as a number of artists we’ve programmed for Petit Bain festival in Paris, and more!

Supersonic Playlist! September: Autumn!

CHAT PILE + SPECIAL GUESTS

FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2027
O2 Institute, Birmingham

| TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER, 10AM |

Delighted to share that Supersonic Festival have been invited to partner on a special night in Paris as part of Rage Sacrée, aboard the extraordinary floating venue Petit Bain.

Since 2003, Supersonic has been one of the UK’s distinctive platforms for experimental music and contemporary art, rooted in Birmingham’s culture of experimentation and resistance . We’ve always championed adventurous artists and created spaces for artists and audiences to connect, discover and experience music in new ways.

For this special night, we’ll bring together five singular artists exploring the space between folk tradition, drone, psychedelia, experimental sound and ritual, music that feels ancient and futuristic at once.

Very grateful to Rage Sacrée for the invitation.

Line up includes FRANCE, KATIE KIM, MOHAMMAD SYFKHAN, NUÈIT, DAWN TERRY
+ NYHAA RECORDS DJS
For tickets and more info see EVENT PAGE

Supersonic Playlist! August: Tortoise in Birmingham!

1. Tortoise – On Noble
2. Tara Clerkin Trio – Somewhere Good
3. un.procedure – Polytunnel
4. Tortoise & The Ex – Pooh Song (Christopher Robin’s Nightbear)
5. Tara Clerkin Trio – Slow Island
6. un.procedure – Human Lattice
7. Tortoise – Seneca
8. un.procedure – You Stepped In To A Hole
9. Tortoise & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen)
10. Tara Clerkin Trio – Lazy Daisy

 

We are delighted to announce that thanks to Youth Music’s Industry Connect Funding, we have two paid Young Producer placements opening this Autumn 2026. Running concurrently, and working closely with our small and committed core team, these new, paid professional development opportunities are designed to address under representation of young people within the industry*, and to be a significant springboard opportunity for 18-25 year olds (or up to aged 30 if you identify as d/Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent). 

| PLACEMENT INFORMATION  | EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FORM |

Role: Young Producer (supported by Youth Music)

Deadline for application: 5pm Monday 24 August 2026

Interview date: Thursday 10 September 2026

Start date: October (subject to availability)

Fee: £3228 (based on 30 days)  

Location: this is an in-person role, based in our Digbeth Birmingham office

To apply please send the following to [email protected] by 5pm, Monday 24 August 2026:

• An up to date CV
• A document that outlines why you are interested in this opportunity, and what interests, skills and experience you will bring. This could be a short cover letter (no more than 1 page long), a creative deck, or a short (no more than 5 minute long) video
• A completed Equal Opportunities form

If you have any questions about this role, please contact us via [email protected] with ‘Young Producer Enquriy’ in the email title.

Good luck, and thank you again for your interest in our work!

*Further reading surrounding the work of Youth Music and their Industry Connect programme: A Blueprint for the Future and Industry Connect Report 2024, which complement the wider evidence base such as the recent young people and work: interim report.

Supersonic Playlist! July: Music From The Midlands!

1. Karolina Węgrzyn – Ej kołem wionku (Round wreath)
2. Un.procedure – Human Lattice
3. Luca Bailey – By You Infinitely (Without)
4. Outlander – Lye Waste
5. Total Luck – Ramble
6. The None – My People
7. Flesh Creep – Bubblegum
8. Luxury Nan Smell – Bonfire Night 2
9. THEBIGHELL – Harder
10. Not Soup – Public Nuisance
11. Meatdripper – Animal Brains
12. Cattle Hammer – Gloom Sower
13. Lucifer Sky – PrinCess
14. Monoxide Brothers – Spine
15. Blue Ruth – John Wick

Photo by Helen McBride

SUPERSONIC IN CONVERSATION WITH IAN LYNCH OF ONE LEG ONE EYE‼

| EVENT | TICKETS |

We caught up with Ian Lynch over email to ask him a few questions ahead of One Leg One Eye‘s show at the Castle & Falcon on Thursday 18th June, with support from Daniel Foggin (Smote / Bong II) and Haress!

Supersonic: How did One Leg One Eye come about?

Ian: One Leg One Eye first started life in the early hours of a festival in Ireland. Me and George met and started talking about music that we liked and about how there is a dearth of heavy and/or challenging music in Irish public life. We promised to work together at some stage and now, about 10 years later we are finally doing it!

Supersonic: What was the recording process like for ‘CRONE’ and did it differ much from ‘And Take The Black Worm With Me’?

Ian: Recording CRONE was very different to …And Take The Black Worm With Me as that was very much a solo endeavour. Funnily enough we started working on CRONE before One Leg One Eye was even an idea. We started sending each other bits and pieces of music and then working on them at home during lockdown. After that we spent a good chunk of time in the 200 year old tower that I used to mind, making recordings of various instruments and items being used and abused. We then got our friend Olwen into the studio to work her magic before spending the next few years putting it all together. It was a long slow process but we’re all very satisfied that it’s finally done.

Supersonic: What has been one of the most memorable concerts you’ve played/been a part of?

Ian: At this stage we’ve played so many great festivals and met so many people that we’ve admired since we were teenagers, it’s been a really crazy and amazing time. Top moments have been George performing onstage with Godspeed when we were on tour with them, playing the Jacobikerk at Le Guess Who, supporting the Bug…the list goes on! My most memorable moment is playing at a session for Doom Yoga and having my own mid-set doom spiral about our performance. I opened my eyes at one point and looked up to see none other than Iggor Cavalera sitting in front of me in the lotus position after which I promptly closed my eyes again…

Supersonic: Do you have a favourite Supersonic/Birmingham memory?

Ian: Anyone who’s met us at Supersonic will know that we live for the Sunday night afterparty. It’s always our favourite part and personally I love to see all the hard working legends and other artists of the festival finally let loose and go for it. It’s always sad when it finally ends at 5am and you have to admit that it’s all over…

We are proud members of PRS Foundation, Talent Development Network (TDN) 2025. One of the many ways we are using this support is to produce a regular news item for UK music creators specifically designed to signpost the most significant national and international opportunities.

Please help us spread this work by sharing the newsletter resource with your peers, and also if you know of any other relevant opportunities that we haven’t included, please send any upcoming opportunities to us [email protected]

SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST

Photo by John Convery

BURSARY & GRANTS

PRS BEYOND BORDERS

Deadline: 30 June 2026

Funding of up to £20,000 is available for projects that include new commissions, recordings and repeat performances of music written in the past five years.

Support is given to up to 8-10 projects per year that represent:

• Innovation and quality within the music, programming and performances, and potential for national/international profile
• Strength and depth of collaboration between cross-border organisations/ensembles/bands and potential for partnership legacy
• Potential audience reach and impact and the strength of plans for public engagement.

RPS THEA MUSGRAVE FUND – COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE GRANTS

Deadline: 7 July 2026

The Royal Philharmonic Society are offering several grants for:

• Established composers writing a new chamber-scale work for an established solo performer, duo, or small chamber ensemble. This year, a total of £25,000 in grants are offered, likely split between 3-5 composers.
• Helping performers, ensembles, festivals and venues to put Thea’s music at the heart of their UK programming, and distinctively promote it to captivate audiences. This year, a total of £25,000 in grants are offered, likely split between 3-5 recipients.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

LIVE & LOCAL: DEVELOPING ARTISTS IN RURAL TOURING TRAINING DAY

Deadline: 8 June 2026

Developing Artists in Rural Touring (DART) is open to professional artists – you could be a singer, play in a band, a theatre maker, dancer or spoken word artist. You will be paid £150 to attend.

OPEN CALL FOR WE ARE THE UNHEARD ACADEMY

Deadline: 19 June 2026

Free development program, offering 24 weeks of online lessons, masterclasses from industry experts, and networking events to boost your music career.

Who can apply?

• Artists who want to learn music production
• Songwriters looking to produce
• Existing producers wanting to learn Ableton
• Producers/writers eager to master Ableton
• Women, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming & Trans Women.
• Open to all in the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales

PUNCH RECORDS: COMMUNITY ROUTES

Deadline: 28 June 2026

Community Routes is a programme supporting the next wave of DJs, vocalists, broadcasters, photographers and digital artists. This free creative development programme offers 50 fully funded places for 18-25 year-olds in the West Midlands with the opportunity to develop their creative and professional skills, with a residency, showcase and performance opportunities at Shambala Festival, a programme of workshops, and a chance to get an industry mentor.

CALL FOR SCORES: CAILLAGH, THE FIRST MANX LANGUAGE OPERA

Deadline: 1 July 2026

Caillagh is the first opera written in the Manx language – yn chied opera Gaelgagh. It is being created as part of Blein ny Gaelgey, the year of the Manx language. As part of this project, the Talland Quartet are offering a rare opportunity to Isle of Man composers to have their work professionally performed alongside the premiere of Caillagh. The performance will take place in at St German’s Cathedral in Peel on the 25th of September.​

Eligibility: Any composers based on the Isle of Man (including students studying elsewhere) may send in pieces. Composers of any age and level of experience are welcome!

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

ARTISTIC PLANNING DIRECTOR – NATIONAL CHILDREN’S ORCHESTRAS OF GREAT BRITAIN (PART-TIME)

Deadline: 8 June 2026

This new and exciting role will be responsible for leading the curation of NCO’s annual artistic programme across all areas of activity.

The role requires providing oversight and leadership for NCO’s creative freelance workforce including conductors, guest artists, composers, wellbeing and creative leads and will oversee the pool of c. 90 freelance music tutors.

Eligibility:

• A highly skilled and experienced musician, with substantial professional experience within orchestral performance and/or music education (typically gained over five years or more).
• Deep and wide-ranging knowledge of orchestral repertoire, alongside a strong understanding of and affinity with NCO’s artistic vision, values, and programming principles.
• A proven track record of co-curating ambitious, high-quality and diverse artistic programmes, balancing multiple perspectives and priorities to create exceptional musical experiences for young musicians, audiences, and communities.
• Demonstrable experience of working with composers and arrangers, including the commissioning and development of new work.
• Strong professional networks within the UK music sector, with the ability to identify, engage, and work collaboratively with conductors, guest artists, and specialist practitioners.
• 15 hours/week, although this may vary between peak and quieter times.

EARLY CAREER MUSIC OUTREACH FELLOW – StAMP (UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS)

Deadline: 11 June 2026

The St Andrews Music Participation group (StAMP) are seeking a highly motivated and creative graduate musician looking for their first job in the arts industry to join their team for one year.

The Early Career Music Outreach Fellow’s main responsibilities will be to support the Head of Outreach with project coordination, administration, event management and delivery across all strands of the StAMP programme. The post-holder will maintain relationships with schools, families, community groups and colleagues across the university as well as work creatively with a range of professional artists and local partners on programme content.

• Grade/Salary Range: Salary: Grade 3, £25,353 – £26,707 per annum.
• Fixed term for 12 months, 1 August 2026 – 31 July 2027.
• Working Hours: Full time, 36.25 hours per week.

CHAIR/CO-CHAR – THE GAP (VOLUNTARY ROLE)

Deadline: 14 June 2026

The Chair/Co-Chair will lead The GAP’s board of trustees as they move to a new venue, embark on a new organisational strategy prioritising arts education and continue to embed a new three-way directorship.

Looking for individuals with skills, knowledge and experience in the following areas:

• Leadership and Management: to support our governance and core team during a period of change.
• Fundraising: either through trusts and foundations or other revenue streams.
• Organisational Development: as we continue to transition from being mostly project funded to being core funded.
• Capital projects: to support the refurbishment and retrofitting of our new venue.

THE MIGHTY CREATIVES: CREATIVE MENTORS

Deadline: 19 June 2026

The Mighty Creatives are looking for individuals based in the East Midlands, West Midlands and South Yorkshire to join their pool of Creative Mentors working with children age 5-25 to build a trusting relationship, introduce creative activities and facilitate experiences to support personal, social and emotional development and educational achievement.

They are looking for creative practitioners from a variety of disciplines, including but not limited to:

• Visual arts (e.g. painting, drawing, sculpture)
• Performing arts (e.g. dancers, choreographers, musicians)
• Digital arts (e.g. photography, animators, graphic designers)
• Practical arts (e.g. carpenters, woodwork, mechanics)

FREELANCE MUSIC FACILITATORS/INSTRUCTORS

Deadline: 4 September 2026

Seeking passionate, reliable and professional music instructors to teach instruments such as drum, keyboard or guitar to the Music Relief Foundation team on a freelance basis.

Description:

• Freelance position, starting with approx. 1 hr per week with the possibility of building up more hours.
• Classes are usually held weekdays between 4-7 pm, with the possibility of Saturday mornings.
• Pay: £37 per hour

Eligibility

• Experience teaching both children and adults
• Ability to deliver engaging, structured, and enjoyable lessons
• Professional, punctual, and committed to regular attendance
• Must be reliable and able to work independently

With a stacked run of shows on the horizon, it felt only right to build this month’s playlist around the artists heading our way. Dip in as we move between genres, from immersive drone and avant-garde composition to post-rock, black metal and noisy punk.

Catch The Ex, the ever-evolving punk innovators, alongside the hypnotic weight of One Leg One Eye and the ecstatic extremity of Agriculture. Experience the full force of SUNN O))) and the uncompromising noise rock of The None, plus tracks from underground legends Tortoise and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy.

Supersonic Playlist! May: Next Up In 2026!

1. Agriculture – Bodhidharma
2. The None – My People
3. Machiavellian Art – Burning Mind
4. Smote – The Linton Wyrm
5. One Leg One Eye – Many are my Names Besides
6. SUNN O))) – Glory Black
7. Tortoise – On Noble
8. The Ex – Circuit Breaker
9. Tara Clerkin Trio – Somewhere Good
10. Bonnie Prince Billy – They Keep Trying To Find You
11. Haress – Skylarks
12. un.procedure – Polytunnel
13. Not Soup – Public Nuisance
14. Monoxide Brothers – Spine

OXN by Robert Barrett

We are once again completely heart warmed by the incredible press, artist and audience response from this year’s festival. A huge thank you to all that joined us in creating joyous memories together. The festival wouldn’t be what it is without the support from our wonderful audience.

“it feels like something wider can be said about Supersonic 2026, as a whole; that stripped-back doesn’t have to mean weakened, that short doesn’t have to mean limited.” The Quietus
| Read Review |

“we just want to reiterate how much we appreciate the effort, care and dedication that goes into planning a unique event like Supersonic, right down to the amazing festival-inspired nail art that one of the bar staff had! Get In Her Ears are a small DIY community based in London and we value connection and resistance through music, coming together to experience these things in a room with other like-minded people; something that Supersonic achieves on a scale that is deeply inspiring to us. We can’t wait to return to the festival again next year to have our minds blown by another immense array of experimental music (and to eat more samosas…)” Get In Her Ears 
| Read Review |

“It is almost without fail that Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival is guaranteed to be one of my annual musical highlights – and despite it still only being April, I suspect that it will be the same again this year. As is usually the case, the line-up of this celebration of the weird and distinctly wonderful was one where only the most musically literate would be aware of more than a handful of the performers. However, it was again a set-up where most would have gone home having discovered a new favourite band.” The Arts Desk

| Read Review |

“The action and production which once took place in those spaces has been replaced by businesses that only deal in consumption, but at night you can occasionally feel the echoes of past creation. In a landscape that has grown increasingly comfortable with unthinking passivity, Supersonic yet again proves itself to be a vital space for creative and cultural action.” God is in the TV Zine

| Read Review |

BBC 6 Music Freak Zone Supersonic 2026 Special
| Listen Here |

Prostitute by Sam Frank Wood

“Supersonic Festival is therefore both a meditation on and an escape from a hostile planet. It remains one of the only true independent festivals… one leaves with more hope than when they arrived.” Punktastic
| Review Here |

“Prostitute have grooves; not only can you dance to it, it hits you in the body so that you can hardly help it. It feels like a perfect end to the weekend, the madness of the world is burning ever hotter but we can still dance. The dull forces of capital are looking to mulch culture into profitably beige AI slop. We can’t be having that. Supersonic is not in the business of making its promoters wealthy, it’s about the life-enriching power of art and music. It gets ever more difficult to make events like these happen but they are not going to lay down, once again delivering an amazing weekend, a victory in the face of adversity.” Echoes And Dust
| Review Here |

“In the minutes leading up to their performance, the members of Milkweed were performing a soundcheck. At one point, a Walkman-style tape player was held up, with the request to the engineer that its level be adjusted to ensure, “the possibility of the tapes being crushingly loud”. Knowing chuckles filled the gathered audience. Because the possibility of being crushingly loud might well be the raison d’être of Supersonic Festival, seeking to promote the work of experimental, firmly underground sculptors of sound and song. Loathed to take a fallow year in the face of financial hardships, they instead chose to reduce capacity and billing for 2026, creating a more intimate, but no less special weekend of noise at The Crossing, the venue of Birmingham University’s student union.” In Spite Magazine
| Review Here |

BONNIE PRINCE BILLY + Guests
O2 Institute Birmingham
Friday 13 November 2026
| TICKETS NOW ON SALE |

As long-term fans of Will Oldhams profound output and after his jaw-droppingly brilliant set at Supersonic Festival 2024 we are beyond excited to be bringing him back to Birmingham this November.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy is the most enduring alias of singer-songwriter Will Oldham, under which he has released the majority of his work since I See a Darkness (1999). Drawing on vintage folk and country traditions, his songs explore the complexities of human nature with striking emotional depth and poetic clarity. A key figure in indie, folk and alt-country since the early ’90s, Oldham is known for ever-changing live performances intimate, unpredictable sets where familiar favourites and obscure cuts are delivered with equal sincerity and surprise.

Supersonic Marketplace 2026

Saturday 25 April 12:00 – 17:00

Zellig – Free to all!

The Market Place has been a vibrant part of Supersonic Festival for many years now. It’s a space for independent distributors, record labels, poster artists and pedlars of all kinds of curiosities to sell their wares, network and meet audiences & likeminded folks face to face.

Supersonic Festival’s Market Place returns to the Zellig Building in Digbeth on Saturday 25 April. A free, open-to-all celebration of independent creativity, presented in partnership with The Goths Playground. Expect a vibrant mix of record sellers, zine-makers, illustrators and DIY designers, plus free workshops, a special tattoo flash day hosted by House of Thieves and plenty of cake and cocktails from the Supersonic Tea Bar, all soundtracked by our guest DJs.

Expect stalls from:

Another Realm

Beetles Bones & Butterflies

Black Lodge Press

Black Raven

Boswellian Artifacts

Boulderdash Zine

Buffs Studio

Bunny Bissoux

D.F. Creations

Dean of The Dead

God Unknown Records

Gray & Co.

Miss Goodweather

Mute Records

Record Culture

Shelanu

Steel Kill

Supersonic + Home of Metal

The Voodoo Doctor

For further FAQs, please visit the info page here and read carefully for full details.

The Supersonic Festival 2026 timetable is here!

Plan your weekend of adventurous music, DIY culture, and mind-expanding experiences in the heart of Digbeth start plotting your journey.

| Box office |

Saturday 25 April
12:00 – 17:00
Zellig Gibb St, Deritend, Birmingham B9 4AT

17:00 – 21:00
The Crossing, 1 Milk St, Deritend, Birmingham B5 5SU

Sunday 26 April
14.30 – 19:00
The Crossing, 1 Milk St, Deritend, Birmingham B5 5SU

| SUPERSONIC 2026 TIMETABLE | 

For further FAQs, please visit the info page here and read carefully for full details.

We’re over the moon to welcome back One Leg One Eye to Birmingham, this time performing at the Castle & Falcon!

One Leg One Eye is the project of Ian Lynch (founding member of Irish group Lankum) and George Brennan (BB84, Melodica Deathship, Cholera House, Deep Burial). Musically they explore submerged leylines of music and song, drawing on the raw aesthetics of black metal, noise and drone, while also being deeply embued with a sense of history and myth.

| SUMAC TICKETS | COLIN STETSON TICKETS | ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER TICKETS |

| SUPERSONIC TICKETS | THE EX TICKETS | AGRICULTURE TICKETS | SUNN O))) TICKETS |

| THE NONE TICKETS | TORTOISE TICKETS | 

TORTOISE + SPECIAL GUESTS

SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER 2026
The Crossing, Birmingham

| TICKETS ON SALE NOW |

| SUMAC TICKETS | COLIN STETSON TICKETS | ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER TICKETS |

| SUPERSONIC TICKETS | THE EX TICKETS | AGRICULTURE TICKETS | SUNN O))) TICKETS |

| THE NONE TICKETS | 

With a huge array of gigs on the horizon we thought it was only right to curate this month’s playlist around these artists. Take a listen as we move between genres covering everything from avant garde saxaphone to post punk and sludge metal.

You can get tickets to see everyone of these artists live including SUMAC (Old Man Gloom, ISIS) with Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, Colin Stetson (grammy-award winning saxophonist and composer) with Dal:um, Orcutt Shelley Miller (Sonic Youth, Harry Pussy), the prolific The Ex, critically acclaimed Agriculture + Healing Wound, fan favourites SUNN O))) and THE NONE with their curated hometown line up of Machiavellian Art, Monoxide Brothers and NOT SOUP.

Supersonic Playlist! March: Music To Look Forward To!

1. Orcutt Shelley Miller – A Long Island Wedding
2. NOT SOUP – Public Nuisance
3. Monoxide Brothers – Spine
4. The Ex – Monday Song
5. THE NONE – At Hope
6. Machiavellian Art – Burning Mind
7. SUMAC & Moor Mother – Scene 1
8. Agriculture – Living Is Easy
9. Healing Wound – Purging Visions
10. Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – Upheaval
11. SUNN O))) – Glory Black
12. Colin Stetson – The love it took to leave you
13. Dal:um – Cracking

THE NONE + MACHIAVELLIAN ART + MONOXIDE BROTHERS + NOT SOUP

SATURDAY 18 JULY 2026
Castle & Falcon, Birmingham

| TICKETS ON SALE NOW |

On Saturday 18th July we welcome THE NONE for a curated hometown throwdown at the Castle & Falcon, bringing together a celebration of Birmingham’s music community with Machiavellian Art, Monoxide Brothers and Not Soup joining the bill.

THE NONE are a band of lifelong musicians. Comprising of Birmingham and Supersonic Recordings own Kai Whyte (Blue Ruth, Youth Man) on vocals, bassist Gordon Moakes (Bloc Party, Young Legionnaire), guitarist Jim Beck (Cassels) and drummer Chris Francombe (Frauds), they make an uncompromising vision of noise rock with melody at its heart, channelling the spirit of The Jesus Lizard, Silverfish and Unwound. The band formed at the start of 2023 and bonded over hours in the rehearsal room – making noise, discussing shared obsessions, and, most importantly, playing together. The anonymity of their name reflects a creative approach which favours egoless experimentation and open collaboration. This ethos, the combined decades of music making, and the unique musical identities of all four members can be clearly heard in the art they create.

| SUMAC TICKETS | COLIN STETSON TICKETS | ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER TICKETS |

| SUPERSONIC TICKETS | THE EX TICKETS | AGRICULTURE TICKETS | SUNN O))) TICKETS

SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2026 – LIMITED DAY TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

| DAY TICKETS | LINEUP | 

Supersonic Festival returns in 2026 for a joyful, limited-edition weekend in Digbeth, Birmingham on 25–26 April. We are thrilled to announce the release of a super-limited number of day tickets.

SATURDAY 25 APRIL

BONG II | GREET | MILKWEED | MMM | ØXN | TRAIDORA

+ WORKSHOP: ECO-FRIENDLY FABRIC SYNTHESIZER BUILDING WITH LIA MICE

+ SUPERSONIC MARKETPLACE

SUNDAY 26 APRIL

AMERETAT | ANCIENT HOSTILITY | DJ HARAM | FEEO | GUTTERSNIPE | MICROPLASTICS | PROSTITUTE

+ WORKSHOP: UNITE AND UNITE: PROTEST SONG – DEBBIE ARMOUR WITH ANCIENT HOSTILITY

+ FREAK ZONE PUB QUIZ

Saturday’s programme brings together a powerful and eclectic line-up: ØXN, featuring members of Lankum, Percolator and Katie Kim together they conjure experimental doom-folk shaped by motorik rhythms and Lynchian atmospheres, steeped in storytelling of love, loss and ritual. Milkweed weave British and Appalachian folk traditions with hauntological textures and fractured “plunderphonic” soundscapes that unsettle history and memory. Emerging from the cosmic remnants of Bong, Bong II reunite Mike Smith and Dawn Terry with Smote’s Daniel Foggin, pushing their ritualistic, drone-heavy repetitions into newly charged terrain. GREET crafts dark, cinematic folk rooted in the wild Yorkshire landscape, suspended between myth and reality. MMM is Gayle Brogan, Nick Jonah Davis and Elizabeth Still (Haress) together they offer a sonic response to the 5,000-year-old Calanais Stones on the Isle of Lewis, drawing on archaeology, astronomy and ancient lore. Led by Venezuelan-born trans artist Eva Leblanc, Traidora channel resilience and lived experience into raw, uncompromising music, now amplified by a powerful four-piece queer lineup. A late-night party will be announced soon.

Alongside the music, the Supersonic Marketplace, in collaboration with The Goths Playground, takes over the Zellig Building in the heart of Digbeth, free and open to all. A vibrant hub of independent culture, it brings together record labels, zine-makers, illustrators, DIY designers and curious traders offering everything from rare vinyl to handmade goods and folklore-inspired art. And Join Lia Mice, an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, educator, and pioneering maker of digital musical instruments, for a focused eco-friendly fabric synthesizer workshop.

Sunday plays host to Leeds duo Guttersnipe who will unleash their mutant, queer-fuelled rock assault with the feral intensity of new album Extinction Burst! (Night School Records), while London-based producer feeo threads hyper-personal storytelling through ambient, drone and minimalist electronics. Supersonic also hosts a worldwide exclusive from Microplastics, a new live project featuring 96 Back, aya and Jennifer Walton. Evolving from DIY roots into full-throttle band form. Iranian diaspora collective Ameretat fuse traditional musical and literary influences with crust, hardcore and drone. DJ Haram (also one half of 700 Bliss alongside Moor Mother) brings her incendiary blend of rap, club and Middle Eastern electronics. Detroit’s Prostitute channel volatile post-punk and Arab rock energy. Ancient Hostility join forces with the Supersonic Choir for close-harmony folk rooted in resistance and radical history.

Beyond the live programme, Sunday invites participation and play. Unite and Unite: Protest Song sees Debbie Armour (Burd Ellen) and Ancient Hostility lead an open, all-welcome singing workshop culminating in a pop-up Supersonic Choir performance, no experience needed. We present the ever-mischievous Freak Zone Pub Quiz hosted by broadcaster Stuart Maconie, promising leftfield trivia, deep musical cuts and plenty of surprises.

Workshops run all weekend, alongside a host of guest DJs.

SUNN O)))

THURSDAY 2 JULY 2026
O2 Institute Birmingham

| SKIDDLE TICKETS | TICKETMASTER 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..

SUNN O))) will be touring in support of their first album of new material since 2019’s acclaimed Pyroclasts. Their tenth album – their debut for new label Sub Pop demonstrates the duo’s mastery of time and space, light and dark, and their willingness to evolve their unmistakable sound into bold new forms.

Listen To the New SUNN O))) Track “Butch’s Guns” HERE

| SUMAC TICKETS | COLIN STETSON TICKETS | ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER TICKETS |

| SUPERSONIC TICKETS | THE EX TICKETS | AGRICULTURE TICKETS |

AGRICULTURE + HEALING WOUND

SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2026
Castle & Falcon, Birmingham

| TICKETS ON SALE NOW | 

Extreme music has the ability to be a powerful mode of expression for feelings of absolute bliss, overwhelming love, and awe-inspiring sublimity – extreme emotions no less, and those which black metal quartet Agriculture evokes with its ecstatic subversion of the sub-genre’s tropes. After having them join us at Supersonic 2024 while they were touring the Living Is Easy EP, they blew us away with their honest and powerful music. Now they’re back with their new album The Spiritual Sound.

| SUMAC TICKETS | COLIN STETSON TICKETS | ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER TICKETS |

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Photo by Paulo Gonzales

SUPERSONIC IN CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN COOK OF SUMAC‼

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We caught up with Brian Cook over email ahead of SUMAC’s show at The Castle & Falcon on Wednesday 8th April, where we spoke about the formation of SUMAC, the extensive musical backgrounds each member brings into the project, and their incredible collaboration with Moor Mother, released last year.

Supersonic: How did forming SUMAC come about?

Brian: It was a little unorthodox. Or at least it wasn’t the usual “I answered an ad in the local paper” or “me and my buds jammed one night.” Aaron moved up to the Seattle area from LA in the early 2010s and given that we’d known each other through music stuff since 1998 or so, we started regularly meeting up for coffee hangouts. Both of our old bands had broken up recently so we were commiserating a fair amount on that shared experience. Somewhere along the way we started kicking around ideas for a music project. It was nothing serious in my mind… I had started playing with Russian Circles a year or two earlier and wasn’t looking to add more touring to my plate, but there was a lot of crossover in the kinds of heavy music we appreciated, I remember Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and Khanate coming up a fair amount, and I think we were both interested in tapping into something that our other projects hadn’t explored. Aaron took the initiative and started inquiring about drummers. Kurt Ballou had just recorded a Baptists record and suggested their drummer Nick to Aaron. Next thing I know, I get home from a Russian Circles tour and find out Aaron has an hour’s worth of material with this Canadian guy I’ve never met. A few weeks later I tracked the bass for the album in our friend Mel’s basement. All this time I was thinking it was a pretty interesting endeavour, but it certainly wasn’t a “band.” I hadn’t even met Nick yet. It was a total studio project. But Aaron and Nick felt really good about the musical chemistry between them, and once we got a final mix of the first album The Deal, I realised that maybe there was something here that needed to be explored more deeply. Not long after, we started playing shows, and that’s when it felt like a real band.

Supersonic: How does your history in other projects shape what happens in SUMAC?

Brian: I think there’s always something to learn from working with other musicians, so our other bands all certainly informed SUMAC. One thing that has been frequently mentioned in our discussions is that SUMAC is definitely Aaron’s band. He’s the guy with the vision and the ideas. But Nick and I have plenty of room to shape the songs with our respective instruments. I think playing with other bands allowed me to get to a point where I can play in a band like SUMAC and have enough faith in Aaron’s concepts and Nick’s ability to create patterns and grooves out of Aaron’s riffs that I can play more of a supporting role. Traditionally, all my old bands were at least on the surface, total democracies. Anyone could bring in ideas. Anyone could veto something. There still tended to be an imbalance in creative input, but at least the door was open. But stepping into Russian Circles, where there was this established writing dynamic between Mike and Dave that I didn’t want to undermine, was helpful in learning to serve the band rather than showboat my ideas. So by the time SUMAC came around, I think it was a lot easier to check my ego and lean into a specific role. But strangely enough, there’s so much improvisation in SUMAC that it really does wind up being a sonic democracy in a lot of ways, but it’s housed in a framework built by Aaron.

Supersonic: What has been one of the most memorable gigs you’ve played?

Brian: Well, on a very basic level we’re a big loud rock band, though we do want to push back at and challenge a lot of the norms surrounding that classification. That said… we’re guitar, bass, and drums and we have a lot of gear and we want to play venues where we can do big loud rock band things. But we do occasionally venture into some non-traditional spaces. For example, we somehow got booked in Oxnard, California at this “coffee shop” called Mrs. Olson’s. I don’t really understand how this place was a functioning business. I believe there was a kitchen but they weren’t open for food service. It didn’t look like a place where you’d want to get a coffee. There was a bar, but even that aspect of the venue seemed barely operational. It was situated in a marina, so I imagine the rent wasn’t cheap, but it was fairly derelict, so maybe it was in its death throes at the time. The interior design aesthetic was a combination of patriotic slogans, camo tactical gear, medieval stage props, neon black light paint murals, and Tool memorabilia. As you can imagine, it had a very heavy “everyone here has a meth habit” vibe, which was confirmed at the end of the night when I walked in on a bunch of employees and their friends doing key bumps in the men’s bathroom. There was a stage but almost no PA. And of course, it was booked by an outside promoter, so no one on site seemed to know what was going on, and there was a palpable sense of hostility emanating from the staff. Everything really felt like a bad vibe. About 20 to 30 people showed up for the show. It should’ve been a disaster… one of those nights where you go to sleep wondering where you made the wrong turn in life… but it wound up being one of our favourite shows of the tour. The energy in the room was so fucked up that we just kinda leaned into it. It felt like a truly lawless space, and once we determined that we weren’t going to wind up like that band in The Green Room, we just kinda savoured the fact that we had this platform in this dodgy area where we could just kinda go musically feral. One of the joys of SUMAC is that the songs are very malleable and have a lot of space where we can explore, and as long as we’re allowed to play at our chosen volume, we can usually take advantage of even the weirdest rooms and bend them to our will.

Supersonic: Tell us about your latest album with Moor Mother, how did this collaboration come about?

Brian: Aaron was a big Moor Mother fan early on, and it wound up that there was mutual admiration. I think we’d talked about doing some tour dates together years ago, though they never came to fruition. Maybe that’s how we wound up on her radar. I don’t know. But I believe Camae was the one who initially proposed the collaboration. Though we’ve teamed up with artists like Keiji Haino for collaborative improvised albums in the past, we were trying to create something that was structured but that left a lot of room for Camae to be front and center, so there was a conscious effort to go a more minimalist route with the music. As with any collaboration, it’s an experiment in seeing how different musical approaches can feed into each other.

SUMAC play The Castle & Falcon on Wednesday 8th April, and tickets are on sale now. With April fast approaching, we’d strongly recommend grabbing yours sooner rather than later.

SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2026 – TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

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Supersonic Festival returns to Digbeth, Birmingham on 25–26 April 2026 for a special limited edition. As Digbeth continues to be reshaped by gentrification and redevelopment this more intimate edition is both a response and a refusal. While making space to imagine Supersonic’s future.

ØXN

Artistic Director and co-founder Lisa Meyer says: “Digbeth was once our wild frontier,  a place where anything felt possible. This edition gives us the breathing space to reflect, plan for the future, and come together once again through the power of art and music. In dark times, creating space for collective, joyous catharsis feels more important than ever.”

DJ Haram by Suchi Jalavancha

Though reduced in size, the 2026 programme remains rich and adventurous. Supersonic is proud to present a worldwide exclusive from Microplastics, a new live band featuring 96 back, aya and Jennifer Walton, whose evolution from DJ collective to rock band has been years in the making. Detroit’s Prostitute bring volatile live shows fusing experimental post-punk with Arab rock, while ØXN (featuring members of Lankum, Percolator and Katie Kim) return with their haunting, motorik-driven doom-folk.

Traidora by Doomridermedia

Elsewhere on the lineup, Milkweed weave British folk, Appalachian song and hauntological sound collage; Bong II reunite members of Bong and joined by Daniel of Smote for ritualistic, drone-heavy explorations; and DJ Haram delivers boundary-pushing club, bass and rap-rooted electronics. The bill is completed by Ameretat, blending Iranian musical traditions with crust and hardcore; cinematic Yorkshire folk project GREET; site-responsive collaboration MMM brings together Gayle Brogan, Nick Jonah Davis and Elizabeth Still of Haress who have immersed themselves in the archaeology, astronomy and lore of extraordinary 5000-year-old Calanais Stones on the Isle of Lewis and Traidora, whose raw, uncompromising sound channels lived experiences of resistance and survival.

Stuart Maconie at Supersonic 2024 by John Convery

STUART MACONIE’S FREAK ZONE PUB QUIZ RETURNS!
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“We at the Freak Zone are delighted to once again be involved with Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival, the UK’s home of left field and experimental metal, folk, electronica, sludge, doom, drone and all genres in-between. We feel we are kindred spirits; both keen on both challenging, adventurous and unusual music and committed to having fun as well as having our heads expanded. Come and join us in Digbeth this spring!” – Stuart Maconie BBC Radio 6 Music

Further artists will be announced in the coming weeks, alongside a full programme of workshops, talks and guest DJ sets.

SUPERSONIC 2026 LINEUP ANNOUNCED AND TICKETS ON SALE

THURSDAY 29 JANUARY AT 12:00

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The time is nearly upon us. This Thursday at 12:00, we will be announcing the Supersonic Festival 2026 lineup. At the same time, remaining tickets for this year’s festival will be released via our website.

With 50% of tickets already sold through our earlybird release, and a reduced capacity for this year’s event, only a very limited number of tickets will be available. We strongly recommend acting quickly if you’re hoping to join us.

We are proud members of PRS Foundation, Talent Development Network (TDN) 2025. One of the many ways we are using this support is to produce a regular news item for UK music creators specifically designed to signpost the most significant national and international opportunities.

Please help us spread this work by sharing the newsletter resource with your peers, and also if you know of any other relevant opportunities that we haven’t included, please send any upcoming opportunities to us [email protected]

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Photo by John Convery

BURSARY & GRANTS

PRS Foundation: Early Career Promotion Fund

Deadline: 12 February 2026

Grants of up to £3,500 will be available to support a range of activity, including:

• The booking, programming and promotion of gigs, concerts, club nights, showcases, tours and other performances
• Costs associated with those activities (including venue hire, production, artist and/or DJ fees, crew fees, administration and other related costs)
• Capacity building (including mentoring, coaching, shadowing, workshops, masterclasses, and other skill building and networking opportunities)
• Other expenditure which helps grantees to programme a diverse range of artists, develop new audiences and build their skills

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

Serious & Black Lives in Music: Equaliser Mentorship Programme 

Deadline: 28 January 2026

Supporting emerging live sound engineers from Black and global majority backgrounds with paid opportunities across the Barbican, the Royal Albert Hall and Britten Pears Arts.

Successful applicants will partake in a year-round programme where you will have the opportunity to:

• Paid placements with live sound teams at the Barbican, Royal Albert Hall and Britten Pears Arts
• Practical experience in sound engineering, technical setup, and concert production
• Participation in Serious’ Take Five residency (23–27 February 2026) a fully residential programme where the mentee will shadow production staff, support live sound tasks, and mix a final performance
• Mentorship, seminars, panel sessions, and networking across the wider music industry
• Opportunities to work on major events such as the EFG London Jazz Festival

Eligiblity:

• Be based in the UK (nationality not required)
• Be from a Black or global majority background
• Have a minimum of one year’s production or engineering experience
• Be available 23–27 February 2026 for the Take Five residency

Brighter Sound: Change the Record Retreat

Deadline: 6 February 2026

Brighter Sound are inviting people of marginalised genders working across the music industry to join them for a four-day retreat in March 2026.

Supported by Sony Music, it’s a supportive, open space to step back from day-to-day pressures and explore the core question: What tools can I use and develop to drive change in the music sector?

The programme has been curated around six key themes: Agency, Autonomy, Social Justice, Care, Vision, and Belief.

B:Music: Aspiring Music Leaders

Deadline: 16 February 2026 

This is for 18-28 musicians with an interest in teaching or community work.

• Receive mentorship
• Develop skills to lead your own music workshops to classes and groups
• Shadow secondary and primary outreach including Generation Birmingham and B:Music Summer School 2025

This is a paid learning opportunity, with the intention of welcoming successful applicants to our B:Music team of tutors once they have completed their training.

Manchester Collective: EXPERIMENTA 

Deadline: 19 February 2026

Manchester Collective invite three music creators without formal training in classical music

• to work with singer/composer Héloïse Werner and percussionist Beibei Wang to experiment with new techniques in writing for other musicians
• receive mentoring from Héloïse Werner and Jasmin Kent Rodgman and be invited to showcase their work (or work in progress) at The White Hotel (Salford) in July 2026.
• Receive a bursary of £1,125 to support your participation.

EXPERIMENTA 2026 is open to music creators who

• create original music
• are based in the north of England OR are from the north of England and based elsewhere in the UK. The north of England includes Cheshire, Cumbria, County Durham, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire
• have experienced barriers to entering the classical music sector. This could be due to disability, neurodivergence, socioeconomic disadvantage, being a woman (including trans women), non-binary, trans, global majority, and/or LGBTQ+
• have not completed conservatoire training or studied classical composition at university level
• are not currently in full-time education
• are aged over 18

Fierce Festival: Fierce Jams

Deadline: 2 March 2026

Exclusively for Birmingham-based live artists and contemporary performance makers.

Fierce Jams is a new, ongoing, and nomadic performance series, indulging small-scale experiments in contemporary performance and live art. It is an excuse for Birmingham’s performance community to gather and to develop their practice in conversation with each other.

Each edition will feature 4 local artists – selected through a mixture of invitations and an open call – plus a guest national or international artist.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Tomorrow’s Warriors: Learning Outreach and Engagement Office

Deadline: 4 February 2026

A full-time year long paid internship (and bursary) working withing a learning, outreach and engagement office.

Career development opportunity for a bright, hardworking young person passionate about music, especially jazz.

Tomorrow’s Warriors seek to address the under-representation in the music industry of Black talent, women/girls and people from working class backgrounds.

Fierce Festival: Festival Producer

Deadline: 23 February 2026

Experience freelance producer wanted to shape and lead the delivery of the longest-established live arts festival in the UK – which will take place this October.

• Work with the festival co-directors, the production manager and wider team, to deliver an extraordinary programme of local, national and international performance.
• Manage teams, co-ordinate with artists and partners, and work to create a festival which embeds our values of Trust, Rigour, Disruption and Joy.