Epic, crushing, and heavy beyond words, YOB has achieved legendary status in recent years due to their unmatched aesthetic and incredible body of work. The band join a line-up with the likes of heavy noise legends Neurosis and Godflesh, bringing to the Supersonic stage their uniquely developed, modern sounding doom metal which harks back to the classics.

 >>> SUPERSONIC 2019 TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW <<<

Formed in 1996 in Eugene, Oregon under the leadership of doom metal mastermind Mike Scheidt on guitars and vocals, the group have continually reinvigorated and reinspired their sound over the years. From doom with a psychedelic twist (a sound referred to by Pitchfork as ‘cosmic doom’), to aggressive, impassioned riffs of their latest cathartic album Our Raw Heart, there are few bands that do what YOB do.

“The band envelops you without hard sell, in big and small ways…Yob might be one of the best bands in North America.”- The New York Times

With massive riffs and captivating vocals, YOB bleed out riveting performances of enormous volume with pensive, transcendental beauty. From their earlier, more grizzly sounds, their latest music exists in its own organic universe. The stirring Our Raw Heart album was created after guitarist and vocalist Mike Scheidt suffered from a severe episode of diverticulitis, and realised on stage shines with ebbs and flows from ballad-like meditations to the caustic grunge of the bands origins. Their performances move with a graceful molasses cohesion, moved by strong processional grooves from the bassist Aaron Reiseberg and the drummer Travis Foster, lightened by the unique tone of Scheidt’s guitar which continuously bends and transforms each careful note. They are the apex of what heavy music can achieve, and will melt yer face off this year at Supersonic’s very special 15th anniversary.

DON’T MISS OUT. Get your tickets NOW!

A recording project and live duo with an accompanying focus on analog film visuals, Jerusalem In My Heart performances feature a wide array of multi-media and theatrical elements, with no two shows ever being the same.

LIMITED TICKETS FOR SUPERSONIC 2019 ARE AVAILABLE HERE

Jerusalem In My Heart (JIMH) is the acclaimed Montréal–Beirut contemporary Arabic audio-visual duo of musician/producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and experimental analog filmmaker Charles-André Coderre.

Guided by Moumneh’s melding of ‘traditional’ melismatic singing (in Arabic) and buzuk playing, with modern deployments of modular synthesis, filter banks, power electronics, field recordings, JIMH pay homage to the blown-out distortions of historical Arabic cassette tape culture, processed through modern currents of electronic music. Moumneh’s lyrical themes are deeply expressive and rich in political and socio-cultural historical consciousness, all of which are complimented by the 16mm film loops and projections that are an integral part of the JIMH aesthetic identity.

With subtle drones and tensive ambiances coming together, JIMH builds an atmosphere that transitions organically into Middle Eastern melodies, with distortion and noise joining aspects of electronic production. Orchestrally, their music creates a potent element which results in a rich sonic offering, the joining of numerous instruments meeting to bring together transcendental experimental folk music.

There is a certain spiritual element that sprouts from many forms of traditional music, but there is something distinct about JIMH Arabic melodies. Carrying the listener through different areas, from minimalistic, to heavy atmospheres to moments of free-jazz spirituality and drunken rendition, the buzuk and percussion lead the way through bizarre, hazy projections while repetitive motifs build on a momentous sonic illusion.

With another 10 acts JUST ANNOUNCED for our very special 15th year anniversary, this is a Supersonic weekend NOT TO BE MISSED!

Get your weekend tickets here.

Anna von Hausswolff returns to the Supersonic stage once more after her stunning performance in Birmingham’s Town Hall, Supersonic Festival 2017, following the release of her critically acclaimed album Dead Magic.

With a dense atmosphere of cyclical soundscapes to dive into, the world of Swedish, Gothenburg composer Anna Von Hausswolff totally envelops the listener. Hausswolff brings an uncompromising intensity to her performances, with a live sound urging to be sliced open; revealing industrious rhythms and penetrating vocals. A fascination with death, mysticism and spiritual visions beyond mortality reign throughout the musician’s trajectory, outlined by the title of her debut album, Singing From The Grave (2010). Since this release, she has developed her sound from self-contained, intimate chamber-pop to a gargantuan, ethereal beast of sonority.

“Death is a good reminder of what you should be concerned about” 

As we learned from her stand-out 2017 performance at Birmingham Town Hall, the pipe organ features significantly in her work. In an interview with The National, she spoke of the physically-demanding nature of the instrument, “You are working with your hands and feet, and you have all these stops that you are pulling in and out to make flute sounds, or maybe trumpet sounds. If you are playing fast it’s like dancing – you have to move the entire body to make it work.”

Her first live performance on a pipe organ was at Lincoln Cathedral and in rehearsal, the church staff voiced fears her playing was too loud for the legendary Henry Willis organ and banned her from playing on certain reed pipes, which meant rearranging 20 minutes of her set entirely. Then, just 30 minutes before the show after practicing again she was banned from using any of the reed pipes at all. Sheer rock and roll.

Anna Von Hausswolff at Birmingham Town Hall, June 2017

“A supernatural soprano has earned Von Hausswolff frequent (and not unjust) comparisons to Kate Bush. Dead Magic sees her shaking off those parallels, stretching from honeyed laments to hex-breaking wails and alien ululations that feel entirely her own.” The Guardian

Another totally enigmatic element to Anna’s sound which is important to note is – her voice. It seems with her most recent outputs that it has been unleashed to it’s full potential. Moments of Bjork-esque cascading fragility are soon upturned with bone-shattering shrieks and growls, harking the influence of Diamanda Galás.

Over in Digbeth and across the 15 year anniversary weekend, Moor Mother shall bring her viscerally charged output, and unstoppable energy to an innovative new collaboration with Supersonic veteran The Bug- who first appeared at Supersonic Festival’s first ever edition back in 2003- joining the dots between mutant strains of dancehall, acid ragga and grime.

“It’s angry and ferocious, but always triumphant: When it threatens to bust out your windows and rip holes in your speakers, it crackles with the kind of force that makes you want to punch the air as hard as your subwoofers do” Pitchfork on London Zoo, released on Ninja Tune

The Bug: The main mutation of producer Kevin Martin who over the years has been, and is also currently, known under many guises, and has been screwing around with deep bass for well over a decade. From his first release in 1997, a concept album called Tapping the Conversation, his sounds have evolved from alternative prototypes of dubstep and instrumental hip-hop to a charged, digital ragga with a repertoire of grimy, distorted beats and mutated dancehall.

With punishing, acid-burnt dub electronics, The Bug’s music has been described as a manifestation of how London has transformed the sounds of Jamaica to its own ends, from 2-tone to jungle to dubstep, with rhythms so pervasive and locked in that after a while you start hearing the spaces in between as much as you’re hearing the beats themselves.

In light of this very special Supersonic year, The Bug will be joined by Supersonic’18 artist Moor Mother, a musician, poet, visual artist and workshop facilitator who has performed at numerous festivals, colleges, galleries and museums around the world. In line with her own description, the viscerally charged Philadelphia based artist and activist, Camae Ayewa, creates music which weaves between “blk girl blues”, “project housing bop” to “slaveship punk”, with these self made categorisations allowing Moor Mother to be fluid and interdisciplinary with her expression. Her music is often harsh, confrontational, projecting both the cathartic anger of punk and the expansive improvisatory spirit of Sun Ra into an output that is consistently grounded in a sense of history and story-telling. Through her blending of hip-hop, samples, spoken word and free jazz into collages that shudder with both pride and anger she charts centuries of abuse against black people, the differing textures working in tandum to create a strange, jarred beauty.

As Robert Aiki Lowe’s guest curation, Moor Mother made an impression not only with her enigmatic live set, but also with her compelling Q&A and time with the MOOG Sound Lab. Her collaboration with The Bug is set to be a hugely anticipated performance, and if their 2018 performance as ZONAL (The Bug and JK Flesh) and Moor Mother at Caixaforum, Barcelona is anything to go by, Supersonic audiences are in for a set of punishing volume and intense bass.

Tickets for Supersonic Festival 2019- 15th edition- are available HERE!!!

“If there is one band in 2018 that defines what it means to make ‘heavy’ music, then that band is Portland-based duo The Body.” – Metal Hammer

Absolutely no one makes music like The Body.

We’re so excited to be bringing The Body from Portland to Brum this July – adding to the ever raucous Supersonic Festival 2019 line-up & promising to be an unmissable set!

HAVE YOU GOT YOUR TICKETS YET?

With each release, the duo of Lee Buford and Chip King continue to defy the constraints of what it means to be a “heavy” band, seamlessly combining composition or production approaches from hip hop, pop, classical, as well as rock and electronica resulting in a rich and utterly singular sound. Equally at home on festival stages, art spaces, or in DIY basements, they transcend musical boundaries. Their ambitious creativity shapes their bleak worldview into propulsive, affecting, and even danceable music often drenched in distortion. On I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer The Body challenged themselves again by turning their compositional approach on its head, choosing to build the record on their own samples rather than recording the basic tracks of drums and guitars and processing those. The results carry the listener towards the brink of emotional and musical extremes. I Have Fought Against It… conjures the sublime from an unexpected and incomparable variety of sounds.

As they say themselves: “We’re not angry, we’re just really sad.” And it shows.

The Body are known for their intense, abrasive live shows, whose waves of dissonance create an abiding dread or an overwhelming sense of terror. They create a volume of sound almost unfathomable from a duo and are unaffected by instrument choice: guitar and drums, or keyboard and synthesizers. Inventive producers, the duo expand their recorded sound palate with regular contributions from the likes of Chrissy Wolpert (Assembly of Light Choir), and Ben Eberle (Sandworm), arranged with help of longtime engineers Seth Manchester and Keith Souza (Machines With Magnets). Wolpert’s ethereal calls and Eberle’s vicious growl are augmented by Lingua Ignota’s Kristin Hayter, whose impassioned voice features on the viscerally emotional “nothing stirs.” On “sickly heart of sand,” vocal tradeoffs between King and Hayter’s are punctuated with the howls of Uniform’s Michael Berdan. With The Body’s keen sense of balance, the ferociousness of these extreme performances are underpinned by the elegance of string swells and pensive, even melodies from a lone piano.

For The Body, any source of inspiration is fair game to achieve their distinct atmosphere of unbearable dread, pain, and sadness. “Partly alive” places rolling drum figures, commonly found in pop, and transforms them with a backdrop of horns, skittering synthetic hi hats, and pitched feedback. The oppressive groove of “an urn” pulls beat arrangement and melodic ideas from disparate electronic influences. Their eclectic sampling choices are both musical and literary from singjay star Eek-A-Mouse to a reading of Bohumil Hrabal to the Clarice Lispector quote on the album’s artwork and beyond. The album title, an excerpt of Virginia Woolf’s suicide letter, is an apt moniker for the pervasive themes of loss, desperation and loneliness throughout. Carefully selected samples and literary references bolster the album’s emotional heft. I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer proves how truly adventurous and diverse a creative force The Body has become. The Body continue to push the boundaries and definition of what is heavy music, their ingenuity unparalleled.

WEEKEND TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!!

On Saturday 9th February team Supersonic were thrilled to present the another night of leftfield oddities in the name of OUTLANDS, the UK’s new touring Network of experimental music. ‘Ecstatic Material’, the first Outlands tour of 2019, combined sound and substances from two original  figures in their respective fields; musician and producer Beatrice Dillon and artist Keith Harrison. Curated and produced by Jennifer Lucy Allan and Al Cameron, this live sound experiment was an immersive treat, conducted through a modular system made up of malleable materials, light and multi-channel audio which is constructed, choreographed and diffused by the artists at Centrala, Digbeth. 

READ HERE FOR THE 4* REVIEW FROM THE GUARDIAN OF ECSTATIC MATERIAL IN MANCHESTER!!!

Tour support came from DJs Copper Sounds from Bristol. Their primitive, tactile form of turntablism mesmerised the room, intrigued by their unique spinning of copper dubplates, ceramic pots, and heavy icelandic rocks. Earlier in the day the pair hosted a workshop in which Supersonic audience participants got to design and cast their own playable wax 7″ to take home.

After some warm up sets from both Copper Sounds and UUOO (from an impressively technical suitcase…), it was time for the live sound experiment to begin upstairs.

Drawing upon Keith Harrison’s renowned art practice transforming raw materials and Beatrice Dillon’s rhythmic computer music compositions, this jointly developed palette of playdoh pumping sound system and sound synthesis summoned a sensory site of elasticity, interference and reaction.

With Dillon playing through the multi-channel system, the speakers circling the room came to life in bounces and reverberations, each substance within- fluffy powers to coloured liquids- rippling in movement. This focus on interaction and the morphing of material is beautifully displayed, with Dillon’s music creating a trance like atmosphere.

Huge thank you to the artists and curators, and to all who came to experience the immersive piece. Keep an eye out on our website and socials for upcoming OUTLANDS events, or catch the rest of Ecstatic Material on tour at Cambridge Junction tonight, MK Gallery 13th Feb, South London Gallery 14th Feb and De La Warr Pavilion 15th Feb.

CHECK OUT SUPERSONIC’S UPCOMING EVENTS HERE!

We are delighted to announce that joining probably the heaviest night of music Brum has ever seen is… YOB

On Friday July 19th, opening Supersonic Festival 2019 in grand style at Birmingham Town’s Hall will be Godflesh and Neurosis.

Then join us for the after party on festival main site where we will host YOB and an array of experimental acts amidst the industrial back streets of Digbeth, Birmingham – the Home of Metal.

Friday tickets SOLD OUT in record time but you can still access both the Town Hall show and main festival site for 3 days of mind-bending music and art with WEEKEND TICKETS – ON SALE NOW!

So don’t miss out! More acts to be announced soon.

“Intimidating as it can sound, YOB’s music is some of the most inviting in contemporary metal. Scheidt can make the most grinding riff feel soothing, like a vision quest that comforts and imbues purpose even as it tests the listener.” – Pitchfork

Epic, crushing, and heavy beyond words, YOB has achieved legendary status in recent years due to their unmatched aesthetic and incredible body of work.

Formed in 1996 in Eugene, Oregon under the leadership of doom metal mastermind Mike Scheidt on guitars and vocals, the group initially released a three song demo tape in 2000 that garnered them international attention. Drawing comparisons to groups like Neurosis, Sleep and Electric Wizard, YOB succeeded in developing modern sounding doom metal that hearkened back to the classics.

In 2018, the band announced their newest album ‘Our Raw Heart’ to be released on Relapse Records. As for how Our Raw Heart will be received? Mike Scheidt (guitar/vocals) is wise enough to know that it’s out of his hands. “I think every era of Yob fan will find something on there to dig—it’s just a matter of whether they can go on the whole trip or not,” he ventures. “And that’s none of my business. The music has a life of its own. It goes out there into the world and it’s gonna be received however it’s received.”

Well, that was one bizarre-colourful-dada-krazykpop-hella fun weekend!

With two sold out shows we were crafting and bopping all over the place with Tirikilatops, bringing UFOs, snail parties and magic formulas to the streets of Birmingham at both Artefact and Mac Birmingham following their performance at Supersonic 2018.

>> TICKETS FOR SUPERSONIC 2019, OUR 15TH EDITION, ARE AVAILABLE HERE <<<

SATURDAY 2nd FEB @ ARTEFACT

An Evening with TIRIKILATOPS 

Starting the weekend we had a truly weird and wonderful night at Artefact, an artist-led, community-focused arts space in Birmingham. Acting as a pre-cursor to the Supersonic Kids Gig the next morning, Supersonic hosted an evening of mask making ahead of a more intimate- yet no less raucous- Tirikilatops show into the night. The k-pop duo led a Korean Dokkaebi Mask making workshop with some…err…interesting results…with these final products being shown on the dancefloor with the audience dancing to some Kimchi beats.

SUNDAY 3rd FEB @ MAC BIRMINGHAM

SUPERSONIC KIDS GIG

The following morning marked the return of the Supersonic Kids Gig at Mac Birmingham, bringing more almighty sounds for little people. If you couldn’t guess from the snappy title, it’s a gig, for kids and their families, which aims to introduce children to experimental music at an early age.

With the fabulous Sam Underwood introducing, our tiny audience members (and not so tiny parents) were taken on a journey through sound loops, Korean animal names, monster making and a bit of instrument playing themselves. With the forging of bizarre electro K-pop with kimchi beats, offbeat lyrics and super earworm melodies, this force of surrealism, dada, forteana and charity shop finds may have been our most eclectic Kids Gig yet!

Big love to all who joined us for this unforgettable weekend, with thanks to Artefact and Mac Birmingham for hosting and to Tirikilatops for guiding us through a surreally superb weekend.

DON’T MISS OUT ON OUR UPCOMING EVENTS! Both our Tirikilatops events were sold out shows, so CLICK HERE to see what’s coming up and get your tickets in time!!

^^^ Get yer lobes ’round that!

Join us for another round of the Supersonic podcast as we venture through the delights of 2019. We delve in to our jam-packed Supersonic schedule, taking you through our year-round programme and the newly announced artists for Supersonic Festival 2019 – the big 15! Yes, that’s right, it’s a special anniversary year for the festival and we’re celebrating in style. Be sure to tune in on a monthly basis to keep up to date with Supersonic announcements (as this year will be full of ‘em) and to get to know the artists ahead of the festival.

WEEKEND TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

_{(Tirikilatops performing at Supersonic 2018)}

WHATS NEXT?!

Feb 2^nd – An evening with Tirikilatops @Artefact

Feb 3^rd – Supersonic Kids Gig with Tirikilatops @MAC

Feb 9^th – Ecstatic Material: Beatrice Dillon & Keith Harrison @Centrala

March 9^th – #IWD Event: Youth Man, Bas Jan, Rattle, Sarah Farmer, Godspeed You! Peter Andre @Centrala

March 29^th – SOLD OUT Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs & Cattle @The Hare and Hounds

July 19^th – Neurosis & Godflesh opening Supersonic Festival at Birmingham Town Hall

July 19^th – 21^st – Supersonic Festival 2019, the 15^th edition, Digbeth Birmingham

2019 marks 15 years of Supersonic, meaning 15 years of the same adventurous, independent spirit playing host to some of the most ground breaking musicians and artists from around the globe, from LCD Soundsystem, Anna Von Hausswolff, Holly Herndon and The Bug to SUNN O))), Jenny Hval, Godflesh and Mogwai.

This year we have the honour of adding heavy music pioneers Neurosis to that ever growing list, but the fun doesn’t stop at one weekend. We have a consistently curious year round programme which promises to make 2019 a corker. Here’s what we have coming up…

January 28th

The Messthetics 

Hare & Hounds Kings Heath

The Messthetics are an instrumental trio featuring Brendan Canty (drums), Joe Lally (bass), and Anthony Pirog (guitar).

Brendan Canty and Joe Lally were the rhythm section of the band Fugazi from its inception in 1987 to its period of hiatus in 2002. This is the first band they’ve had together since then. Anthony Pirog is a jazz and experimental guitarist based in Washington, D.C. One half of the duo Janel & Anthony, he has emerged as a primary figure in the city’s out-music community.

The trio’s debut includes nine songs recorded at Canty’s practice space throughout 2017, live and mostly without overdubs. It’s a snapshot of a band dedicated to the live ideal, where structure begets improvisation.

Guitar + synth + guitar formation Matters will be supporting this event, who smashed their set at our end of year show at Centrala.

TICKETS

February 2nd 

An evening with Tirikilatops

Artefact, Stirchley

For a truly weird and wonderful Saturday night, join us in the lovely setting of Artefact in Stirchley for an evening of crafting and bopping with Tirikilatops. Acting as a pre-cursor to their Supersonic Kids Gig the next morning at MAC, we’ve invited the surrealist k-pop duo to lead a Korean Dokkaebi Mask making workshop followed by a live performance in this super intimate, relaxed local café because well, us grown-ups deserve some dada fun times too!

Come along for an hour or so of mask making over a lovely glass of vino, some local craft beers or a wonderful selection of teas & coffees, then finish it all off with a boogie to some Kimchi beats. Why not ey?!

Be sure to act fast for this one, with a limited capacity of 50 TICKETS.

February 3rd

Supersonic Kids Gig – Tirikilatops

MAC Birmingham

Big Sounds for Little People. If you couldn’t guess from the snappy title, it’s a gig, for kids and their families, which aims to introduce children to experimental music at an early age.

This event is led by Tirikilatops, an avant-garde, cross-cultural, collaborative effort between UK and South Korean artists/musicians who you may remember from last year’s Supersonic Festival. Together they forge bizarre electro k-pop from an ingredients list that contains kimchi beats, pop sensibilities, offbeat lyrics, hacked keyboards and super earworm melodies. Their guiding forces are surrealism, dada, forteana and charity shop finds. This could be our most eclectic Kids Gig yet!

Recommended for children under 10, all children must be accompanied by an adult.

TICKETS

February 9th

Ecstatic Material – Beatrice Dillon & Keith Harrison

Centrala

Supersonic Festival and Outlands proudly present ECSTATIC MATERIAL, a dynamic sound sculpture made and performed by electronic musician Beatrice Dillon and visual artist Keith Harrison in a brand new collaboration.

This live experiment with sound and substance will be conducted through a modular system made up of malleable plastics, coloured light and multi-channel audio which is constructed, choreographed and diffused by the artists into the performance space.

Tour support comes from DJs Copper Sounds who spin copper dubplates, ceramic pots, and heavy icelandic rocks, using these materials to create a primitive and tactile form of turntablism. They will also lead a daytime workshop at each tour venue, where participants can design and cast their own playable wax 7” and take it home with them.

TICKETS

March 9th

Supersonic presents Youth Man/Bas Jan/Rattle/Sarah Farmer/GSY!PA

Centrala

March 8th marks International Women’s Day…in celebration of this we’re throwing a party on March 9th because we just don’t think it should end after 24hours. We celebrate the incredible Women artists we champion in our Supersonic line-ups all year round. We celebrate the Women that work their bums off to make Supersonic happen. We celebrate the Women of our audience who sure know how to have a good time! From the production office, to the stage, to the mosh pit – Supersonic Women take up space!

Headlining, as they bloody well should be, local faves Youth Man are set to smash up the stage with their raucous punk energy.

Joining them on the line-up: experimental post-punk trio BAS JAN, explorative minimalistic drum duo Rattle, improv violinist, sound artist & instrument maker Sarah Farmer AND gothic duo Godspeed You Peter Andre colliding the world of pop royalty with deep dark witch music

Plus DJs til late and of course, Glitter Station.

TICKETS

March 29th

Pigs x 7 + Cattle

Hare & Hounds Kings Heath

The Pigs return to the Hare & Hounds for this sold out show with Supersonic 2018 faves Cattle. Strap in for a night of double drumming, heavy riffs, sweaty Pigs and thundering hooves in an intimate venue- perhaps your last chance to catch them playing in space of this size.

July 19th

Supersonic Festival 2019

Supersonic Festival are immensely proud to announce iconic pioneers of heavy music, Neurosis as their 2019 headliners, with some more incredible names on the horizon for a programme that has you shaking in your boots. Supporting them are Brum legends and pioneers of industrial sound, Godflesh, which promises to be an unfortgettable experience. Justin K Broderick has a longstanding relationship with the Festival, as Supersonic have presented (and premiered) a number of his musical projects over the years.

Over in Digbeth across the 15 year anniversary weekend, Moor Mother shall bring her vicersally charged output, and unstoppable energy to an innovative new collaboration with The Bug – who first appeared at Supersonic Festival’s first ever edition back in 2003. Joining the dots between mutant strains of dancehall, acid ragga and grime. Joining them will be a mixture of intense, mesmerising live performances from The Body, as well as Richard Dawson outfit Hen Ogledd and contemporary Arabic audio-visual duo Jerusalem In My Heart (JIMH).

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for further announcements around the festival for a Supersonic year not to be missed.

TICKETS

Hope you had a Merry Christmas folks. Here’s one last treat from us to you to enjoy in that weird flux of time – the Crimbo Limbo!

We’re sure you’ve had enough of the white noise of relatives, so tune in and zone out for couple of hours by listening in to our Supersonic Podcast 2018 year round-up.

Rounding off the Supersonic year, host Anna Palmer takes us through the trajectory of these last 12 months and the artists that wowed and stunned us at Supersonic year-round shows as well as the festival itself.

It’s been one hell of year.

Thanks to all who attended the shows, we’d be nothing without our wonderful audience.

See you in 2019 where we’ll be doing it all again for a SUPERSPECIAL anniversary year – our 15th edition!

Don’t miss out on what is set to be an incredible year for Supersonic.

NEUROSIS headline show has already been announced, kicking off the festival in July in spectacular style in Birmingham’s Town Hall.

More announcements to come early 2019 – keep your ears to the ground!

And get your WEEKEND TICKETS NOW!

SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2019

July 19th – 21st

Digbeth, Birmingham UK

See you there! xxx

‘Twas 17 nights before Christmas…

…and our end of year blow out at Centrala was a whopping night of noise and left-field festivities. On December 8th Supersonic saw 2018 out with a bang, with the last show of the year featuring the mighty Hey Colossus with Youth Man, Yama Warashi and Matters, with the mesmerising Ideas of Noise keeping us going throughout the night with sets downstairs. 

MAKE SURE YOU DON’T MISS OUT ON OUR UPCMONG EVENTS IN 2019

Starting the night downstairs we had the incredible musical offerings of Ideas of Noise, who those who attended Supersonic festival this year may well have caught on their curated Friday night stage. Produced by Andrew Woodhead and Sarah Farmer, IoN’s focus on connecting experimental audiences and performers undoubtedly shone through with SPACETIMEBAND (Sarah Farmer / Andrew Woodhead / Richard Scott / Aaron Diaz / Joe Wright), an exploration of General Relativity and cosmological curiosities through sound. Throughout the night they had the audience transfixed by their musical meanderings sonically and through animation. 

Kicking everything off upstairs we had Brummie babs Matters. The guitar + synth + drums had the audience moving with their building, electrifying instrumentals. Their blending of krautrock, psychedelic, post rock and techno left a powerful impression, with the visuals proving for a magical, hypnotic show.

Bristol’s Yama Warashi promised a dreamy, evocative sound, giving us a more chilled groove which eased into samba and saxophone sounds and slices of electric psychedelia that transfixed the room ahead of the throws of Brummie punks Youth Man.

“If this was a soundtrack for what we can expect in the UK during 2019, it’s time to batten down the hatches because things could get rough”- The Arts Desk

It’s been a big year for Supersonic and our pals Youth Man, with them supporting our Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs gig with Grey Hairs at The Hare and Hounds earlier this year, and of course on the third stage at Supersonic Festival. As per they delivered a shrieking, thrilling live show, fitting of their reputation as a powerhouse of hardcore performance matched by comic banter- who knew Black Sabbath were from Birmingham?!?!

After a short interlude of festivities and raffle treats (who says we don’t spoil you?) it was time for our headline act Hey Collosus, a cataclysmic whirlpool of free noise. Forging a completely idiosyncratic combination of power, control, miscontrol and more power. Their gigantic riffs and unhinged drumming let us in for an astonishing show, with lead singer Paul Sykes howling at the ceiling with as much force as the pounding beats behind him, finishing the night with the audience locked into a fierce motoric groove. Their set left us pounding, ready for some extra special DJ sets propelling Centrala into the early hours of the morning.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Centrala and all the reprobates who helped us see out 2018 with a bang. Make sure you catch our upcoming shows in the new year, starting with The Messthetics, OUTLANDS Tour 4 with Beatrice Dillon and visual artist Keith Harrison, Pigsx7 with #SSFest18 faves Cattle and, of course, Supersonic Festival 2019, headlined by the almighty Neurosis.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!!

Supersonic Festival are immensely proud to announce iconic pioneers of heavy music, Neurosis as their 2019 headliners.

Supersonic is proud to premiere the brand new video by Mésange – who appeared on our Supersonic Stage 3 this year at the Festival.

Mésange are pleased to announce the first single from their new album ‘Gypsy Moth’. ‘Foe’ is accompanied with a beautifully shot video by renowned photographer Steve Gullick.

Mésange is a collaboration between composer/violinist Agathe Max and composer/musician Luke Mawdsley (Cavalier Song).  Their second release, Gypsy Moth, anticipates the forces of nature, creation and rebirth. Mordant musical tapestries (Minimalism, Drone and Ambient) are washed in dense electric skies, exposing signs that flutter and flare in dark elegance. The listener, like the moth is drawn precariously on a journey towards the light, a parchment moon hovering on tides of vermillion heat, where eager wings beat and pulse abstract sounds. 

Ubiquitous modal loops, inspire tension and mystery, a golden harvest where forbidden fruits are gathered by furtive hands mindful of a coming storm. We expect the unexpected – a host of chimeric beasts and strange familiars that haunt and rehabilitate the souls of broken machines snarled in barbed wire and trembling flowers. Fleeting birds fall and spin in blue skies, surreal, sublime, queer and uncanny, as strangers ponder the summer snow that settles in the gloom of a shadowy forest. Possessed by electricity, a mercurial gypsy rides the fragile breeze inscribing designs that mesmerise the witness, whose solemn gaze is diverted from the earth and land towards the mystery of the stars, a canvass where conceptual essence finds a surface in black infinity.  Mésange implore you to explore the threshold between dawn and dusk, self and other, where unfettered territories are sensually intimated in fecund sounds that teeter between lightning and thunderclap. 

Are you sitting down?

Supersonic Festival are immensely proud to announce iconic pioneers of heavy music, Neurosis as their headliners for 2019- Supersonic’s 15th edition.

WEEKEND TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

“Its been a long time coming, but finally Neurosis is teaming up with the folks at Supersonic for a special event in Birmingham, a holy land for heavy music. We have known Supersonic to be kindred spirits since we first met years ago to discuss our mutual commitment to supporting independent, emotionally intense artists. Their lineup over the years has mirrored our own appreciation for eclectic sound with a depth of spirit and passion, creating a platform for some of the most interesting and inspired artists around. This is not to be missed.” – Steve Von Till

We unload this and much more in our latest podcast, with Anna Palmer and Alice Tomlinson discussing the many ecstatic events on Supersonic’s horizon. These include our imminent end of year party at Centrala (Hey Collosus/ Youth Man/ Matters and Yama Warashi), The Messthetics show at Hare and Hounds as well as the upcoming OUTLANDS tour ‘Ecstatic Material’, a brand new collaboration between electronic musician Beatrice Dillon and visual artist Keith Harrison.

As champions of new music we also share some reflections on Tusk Festival 2018, bringing you some exciting sounds that have got us going these past couple of months.

WEEKEND TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Supersonic Festival are immensely proud to announce iconic pioneers of heavy music, Neurosis as their 2019 headliners.

You’ll find a lot of our shows at Centrala recently, and with good reason. Since its inception, Centrala has become an integral part of Birmingham’s independent art & music scene- a frequent host of Digbeth First Fridays- championing an electric fusion of exhibitions and live performance. From our upcoming end of year show on DECEMBER 8^th (Hey Colossus, Youth Man, Matters and Yama Warashi) to our next OUTLANDS show, Ecstatic Material: a new collaboration between Beatrice Dillon & Keith Harrison mixing electronic music with heightened playdough visuals, Centrala provides a unique space to deliver unconventional nights & a good times all round.

Tucked away amidst the industrial warehouse spaces of Minerva Works sitting at the steps to the canal, Centrala is a multifunctional art space in Birmingham run by the Polish Expats Association. As a non-profit organisation presenting art from Central and Eastern Europe and the UK, Centrala- with it’s two gallery spaces and café/ bar area- is a place where art meets community in the edgy corner of Digbeth, Birmingham. The aim of the gallery is to create an inspirational place and platform for building social ties, with their innovative programme including socially-engaged contemporary art from Central and Eastern Europe. We see a strong shared ethos between ourselves and Centrala’s programming, seeing how both organisations continue to platform ambitious work, with international, intellectual and political stretch.

_{[Supersonic & Outlands presents…. Matana Roberts & Jelly Jayne Jones collaboration, May 2018 @Centrala]}

As well as all the shows we’ve hosted at Centrala so far, it’s awesome to see the influx of exciting musicians and artists who’ve had the tip off and headed straight for this diverse space to showcase what they do in this little pocket of weird Brum. Check out what’s coming up at Centrala in the coming weeks and see for yourself what all the fuss is about…

Stereocilia & Ate

Stereocilia is Bristol based guitarist and composer, John Scott. John uses his guitar, analog synths and live looping techniques to create dense, rich layers of sound.
His live show is centered around a visual backdrop he has created, with the improvisation acting as a live soundtrack. He will be joined by ate (Bulgaria/Poland) who- in searching for the unlimited rules of music theory- has create a project which creates hypnotic soundscapes with reverberation.

Waterflower, Sam Haven

Art pop/experimental pop/electro-acoustic/audio-viusual performance art. Sam Haven returns to Birmingham following a stellar show last year showcasing her unique brand of avant-garde pop and visuals.

And of course…

Supersonic Presents…Hey Colossus / Youth Man / Matters / Yama Warashi

Hey Colossus forge a completely idiosyncratic combination of power, control, tenderness, miscontrol and more power, this six piece band active since 2003 acutely channel the best of your record collections and spit them back out into some quite astonishing shows and releases. They will be joined by TWO brummie locals- Youth Man (Sexy punk band) and Matters (Synthy soundscapes)- as well as Japanese folk-fusion from Yama Warashi. Plus curated noise/improv sets from Ideas of Noise (Midlands experimentalists) downstairs & of course, DJs & DEBAUCHERY ’til late!

So come on down to Centrala on Dec 8th to see this year out in style with us in one of our favourite weird-Brum spots!

TICKETS

VISIT CENTRALA

We know and love Birmingham for it’s hotbed of musical talent. For too long the second city has, unfairly, had it’s wealth of output overlooked, noted for the kind of indie thumpers that soundtrack Snobs. We recognise and are excited by the increasingly experimental fusions that frequent our city, from the alternative improvisational jazz nights of Fizzle, to the bi-monthly left-field sets of Club Integral Midlands Branch, and the raucous offerings of DIE DAS DER. We have TWO brummie belters playing for us at our Dec 8th show at Centrala, Youth Man and Matters, with the eclectic groupings of Ideas of Noise treating us to some improv sets throughout the night too. Get to know them and the other names you should be keeping an eye out for around the city and beyond.

>>>TICKETS FOR DEC 8TH SHOW with HEY COLOSSUS/ YOUTH MAN/ MATTERS/ YAMA WARASHI <<<<

Youth Man 

Destructive Brummie sex punk.

Youth Man are the band you will wish you saw in years to come. Their live show is a shrieking, thrilling wrecking-ball of human bodies, flailing limbs and chaos. Brace yourself for an intense live performance matched by comic genius onstage banter.

Watch them below work our Supersonic third stage this summer.

“Their brand of punk leans heavily towards the weirdos (not the Weirdos) of early California hardcore, in which bands like Fear weren’t too afraid (or too unskilled) to throw in an odd time signature.”– Rolling Stone Magazine

Matters

Matters are the guitar + synth + drums instrumental trio, whose push and pull of the three different personalities on stage take their live performances in magical, unpredictable directions. Matters utilise their instruments to create expansive music, blending krautrock, psychedelic, post rock and techno into a rich and powerful sound.

‘This is something quite epic..another winner from Static Caravan Records’ – Steve Lamacq – BBC 6 Music

Ideas of Noise

Those who attended Supersonic festival this year may well have caught the incredible musical offerings of curated by Ideas of Noise fest. Produced by Andrew Woodhead and Sarah Farmer, IoN is an exciting new festival of experimental sound which started in August this year, with a focus on connecting experimental audiences and performers of different genres across the West Midlands. On Dec 8th they’ll be presenting SPACETIMEBAND (Sarah Farmer / Andrew Woodhead / Richard Scott / Aaron Diaz / Joe Wright); laser Interferometry, ripples in spacetime, black holes colliding, signal in noise; SPACETIMEBAND explores General Relativity and other cosmological curiosities through sound.

+ OTHER NAMES TO LOOK OUT FOR…

ON SATURDAY 24th THIS WEEK – TEARING UP MUTHERS – IRON FIST OF THE SUN // HAQ 123 // SQUALOR FAN // RAINBOW GRAVE

HIT UP THE EVENT PAGE

IRON FIST OF THE SUN

Personal obsessions, codes of behaviour observed by a misanthropic mind. Bitter and cold. Nihilistic and scornful. Elitist and Pure. Birmingham Nihilism!

HAQ 123

Zac (10) on drums, Millie (9) on vocals and Dave (old enough to know better) on bass make up HAQ123. A power trio from Birmingham, brought up on the sounds of Sabbath and super charged by Haribo. These guys are the future, and proving so throughout the city.

SQUALOR FAN

Squalor Fan are the 3 points of an odd triangle. Think reverb drenched fuzz bass, heavy precision drumming and twisted sampled electronics. A brand brand new trio with no music online yet but being very well received with their first few live shows:

“Their sound is lumbering and abrasive, melting into fizzy euphoria…Unrelenting and taught, Squalour Fan deliver a carefully constructed racket.” Counteract review

RAINBOW GRAVE

With James Commander on drums, Nathan Warner on bass, John Doom on guitar and Nic Bullen guitar/vocals, Rainbow Grave make Low Rent Caveman Hate Music. Listen for yourself…

DORCHA

Dorcha are a genre fluid 5-piece band of synths, strings, electronics and heavy beats. A dynamic, versatile group with a refusenik attitude, Dorcha obsess over transporting listeners to a pool of shifting, nearly gothic, barely pop, experimental songwriting.

KALI LOUISE

Kali Louise, local DJ of the avant-garde and creator of Brum Radio show ‘Melody and Concrete’ is a taste-maker to get listening to.

also broadcasting out of Birmingham on NTS Radio…

ARRHYTHMIA

Put together by Sarah and Matt, arrhythmia is a monthly exploration of interesting new audio and abnormal rhythms. Expect irregular, dark or heavy – but not always.

MOTHWASP

Mothwasp is a baritone/drums duo who employ field recordings, circuit bent SK-1s, tapes, 16mm scratch films and modified 35mm slide projectors the pair forge heavy abstract improvised soundtrack experiments.

GIANT AXE FIELD

A collaborative project formed by artist Sean O’Keeffe and musician Simon Bailey, exploring ideas around live and improvised audio-visual performance. They make, appropriate and combine a range of AV source material, such as digital video from classic genres like science fiction and cinema fantastique, using it as a conceit and starting point from which to create interpolations and fictive juxtapositions.

A Vigil Strange – trailer from Giant Axe Field on Vimeo.

“Standard-bearers for post-millennial British music which is au fait with punk and hardcore while not being punk or hardcore”. – The Quietus

****Don’t miss Hey Colossus at our anti-Chrimbo Chrimbo show at Centrala! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW***

Forging a completely idiosyncratic combination of power, control, tenderness, miscontrol and more power, these six piece band acutely channel the best of your record collections and spit them back out into some quite astonishing shows and releases. Hey Colossus spew forth a colossal heap of gigantic riffs amidst a gurgling sea of unhinged drumming, which we can’t wait to host December 8th with brummie punks Youth Man, Matters and Yama Warashi. 

Born as a crazed, cataclysmic whirlpool of free noise, Hey Colossus is a band which isn’t afraid to try new sounds, creating music which is increasingly more focused and getting better and better.

“Hey Colossus…stand as one of the most exciting UK bands around at the moment”. – Echoes and Dust

The band formed back in 2003, and have since become favourites of the UK’s underground scene with their records veering from drone metal to noise to classic psychedelic rock. 2015 saw two long players “In Black and Gold” and “Radio Static High” (both out on Rocket Recordings), albums which topped many end of year lists as must hear records and were both in WIRE Magazine 2015’s end of year Top 10 Avant Rock chart . The live events that followed only cemented a growing appreciation of what Hey Colossus have gone on to achieve over the years, with the psych-rock juggernauts releasing most recent album ‘The Guillotine’ last year, a phenomenal return that amplified their skull-crushing intensity, also on Rocket Recordings.

See them in full glory below with IMPATV’s live recording of their set for Rocket Recording’s 20th Anniversary show at The Garage, London, earlier this year. AND CATCH THEM LIVE DECEMBER 8TH FOR OUR ANTI-CHRIMBO BLOW OUT! Don’t miss out…

Photography: Matt Watkins

On Friday 9th November, team Supersonic were thrilled to present another night of leftfield oddities in the name of OUTLANDS, the UK’s new touring Network of experimental music, a tour curated by Fuse Art Space in Bradford. Taking place at Vivid Projects in Digbeth, we were treated to an experimental dancefloor experience like no other, with silky electronics from infamous electronic German label Raster artists Kyoka and Grischa Lichtenberger, plus support from creative technologist collaboration wetgenes and acid rave project YTAC.

>> REVISIT THE NIGHT VIA OUR INSTA STORY HIGHLIGHT <<

Part club, part installation, part immersive environment- YTAC (aka Rough Fields/ James, co-founder of Fuse Art Space) kicked off the night with a set filled with hypno-chaotic grooves and an introduction at full impact to the unique, all-consuming audio-visual environment. The installation-esque surroundings were mesmerising, and with rave-centric sounds that have been launched as the first releases in pirate-like parties on the EIS HAUS label, set the tone for the night.

Photography: Matt Watkins

YTAC’s set left us exhilarated, ready for electronic music producer, visual and installation artist Grischa Lichtenberger.

Photography: Matt Watkins

Grischa’s music tumbles between funky, highly energetic beats and trembling melodies. His set at Vivid packed the room with a pulsating mix of electronica. It’s a personal, intelligent play with sound, intriguing and beguiling in equal measure, placing him firmly within the context of Aphex Twin or Autechre. His immersive performance oscillated between abrasive, aggressive compositions and intricate structures of beat and melody.

Kyoka is known for her direct, chaotic musical approach to sound. Joining the Raster stable in 2012 as the label’s first female, her set was as enticing and individual as her signature broken-pop beats suggest. Playing a daring fusion of chopped up, scratched, rolling beats she kept us going well into the night, treating us with a rotated extra set with Grischa where the artists showed off their rawest, most experimental sounds.

Photography: Matt Watkins

Huge thanks to all who joined us, to Vivid Projects for having us and to OUTLANDS & Fuse Art Space for their extraordinary curation and for making this happen.

OUTLANDS Tour 3 continues until Saturday 17th November. Be sure to check for TICKETS via. the OUTLANDS website for an unmissable dancefloor experience. 

Photography: Matt Watkins

Electric Campfire 2013 VillaMassimo – Kyoka

We’re super excited for our show at Vivid Projects as part of Outlands Tour 3. Get to know the artists and involved in the upcoming part club night/ part installation…

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

YTAC is the incendiary club electronics project of James Birchall, also known to many as Rough Fields. His first bass-heavy percussion experiments appeared on the Bomb Shop label in 2010, a broad reaching label which he started, encompassing his DIY approach to releasing his own music. YTAC’s rave-centric workouts have been launched at high altitude EIS HAUS parties along the mountainous France/Spain border, forming the first releases on the ever mysterious, pirate like label. The coming months will see the YTAC phenomena explode, with Birchall taking on a persona project which harks back to the acid techno of the mid-90s. His part in the upcoming Outlands Tour with German electronic label Raster artists Kyoka and Grischa Lichtenberger will take on an experimental rave style like no other.

James is a co-founder of Fuse Art Space, Bradford, the curators of the upcoming Outlands Tour 3. The space has hosted artists such as Eartheater and Eric Chenaux, and a wide variety of sound art and music.

The space has developed DRIFT in collaboration with feral games developers and digital art technologists wetgenes following an original commission by the British Science Festival in 2014. An AV club project which started as an installation piece, their work for OUTLANDS Tour 3 is a feedback system which monitors movement, sound and image data, using custom designed algorithms to convert the data into an immersive visual display projected over the surface of the installation space. The result is a breathtakingly beautiful interactive experience in which creates live digital art on a massive scale.

LISTEN TO OUR OUTLANDS SPECIAL PODCAST BELOW where James talks with Sam Francis about the upcoming tour, with music from the artists involved in a meet the producer special.

DON’T MISS OUT on this EXTRAORDINARY experimental dancefloor experience like no other, landing in Birmingham at Vivid Projects on November 9th.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!!