With less than a week to go until Supersonic’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the festival’s running order has almost fully taken shape and is gearing up to be one of the best editions in Capsule’s illustrious history. We can now unveil the icing on the cake of this year’s delicious looking lineup; an exclusive Q&A session with artist Edwin Pouncey (AKA Savage Pencil). Pouncey’s lurid, halucinatory artwork will be familiar to any readers of the Wire, as his intensely vivid and sharply satirical Trip or Squeek strips have been gracing the publication’s pages for over 10 years. Therefore, it’s only fitting that the Wire’s deputy editor Frances Morgan will be sitting down to quiz Pouncey on his artistic process.

Though his acerbic work can be seen as part of the rich lineage of satirical illustration, Edwin’s distinctive style is informed by a myriad of fascinating influences, assimiliating the ’60s freak scene, Japanese monster movies and the weird fiction of HP Lovecraft into own his eye scorching vision. Casting a wry and intoxicated eye at pop culture (and contemporary avant-garde music in particular), Pouncey makes use of a recurring cast of characters including such luminaries as Steve Reich, Stockhausen, Moondog, Mark E Smith, Sonic Youth, Robert Wyatt, Suicide, Kraftwerk, Crass, Lou Reed, Jandek, Throbbing Gristle and Sleep, weaving them into his obtuse visual tapestry with aplomb. In the process, Pouncey’s art itself has become as much a part of the current experimental art landscape as the artists he has paid tribute to, with the works of Savage Pencil adorning album covers and shirts from the likes of Sonic Youth, The Fall, Sunn O))) and numerous others.

With a career spanning almost four decades, Edwin is celebrating by compiling all of his Trip Or Squeek cartoons in one weighty tome for the first time. Containing over 100 comic strips, the book features extensive notes, a discography and never-before-seen preparatory sketches by Savage Pencil, in addition to an illustrated foreword by artist Gary Panter. The book is indenspensible for anyone with a passion for experimental art and psychedelic illustration, and it’s an honour to welcome him along to our tenth anniversary. We urge you to grab this opportunity to gain an insight into the mind that guides the Savage Pencil…

Nottingham’s Grey Hairs have been causing quite a racket of late with their raucous, grungy rock’n’roll, leading some critics to describe them as sounding like “Pissed Jeans ripping off Status Quo!” Featuring ex-members of Skull Tanker, Harvey Half Devoured and Nervebomb, the band have paid their dues on the live circuit and are currently gearing up to put out their debut release. We caught up with vocalist James Finlay to find out what they’re looking forward to at this year’s festival…

Supersonic – Could you tell us briefly about how Grey Hairs came into being?
James Finlay – Grey Hairs came into being through just having lots of stuff in common. We all live really close to each other. We go to the same shows; we watch each others bands, we like having beers together and we’re all the same sort of age so it just kind of made sense for us to try and turn that common ground in to some sort of document of this part of our lives.

Why should Supersonic attendees check out your set?
Supersonic is as much about new discovery as it is about watching stuff that you already know. I only know about 50% of the acts on the line-up this year but that’s what’s so exciting about the festival. You know that there’s going to be a load of totally mental, uncompromising, underground music that you never knew you loved until it’s melting your face off. I’d like to encourage the attendees this year to embrace Supersonic’s spirit of adventure and allow us the chance to hopefully melt your face off. We’ll be treading the boards at the Old Library at approximately 10pm on Sunday.

If time, money and space were no object, what would you do with your performance?
I’ve always wanted to try out some crazy quadraphonic sound system stuff with noise coming at the crowd from all around so that you feel kind of wrapped up in the chaos of the music. Other than that probably just sensible stuff like buying a gym membership and using it so I don’t feel like puking 15 minutes into our set.

Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival this year?
I’m really looking forward to catching up with my old friend John who I haven’t seen since Supersonic last year (another plus of the festival: catching up with old friends). Musically: Goat, Drunk in Hell, Hey Colossus, Hookworms, Oxbow, Merzbow, Dylan Carlson, The Bug, loads of stuff. I’m praying that we don’t clash with any of it.

Who would be the ideal artist for you to collaborate with at Supersonic 2012?
The Bug.

If you were curating Supersonic, which three artists would you most want to have on board?
I’d love to see Naked City era John Zorn, Lungfish, Pissed Jeans…I could go on.

Which items would you say are essential for festival survival?
For Supersonic, a hotel! I almost slept in the back of a white van last year with our drummer just outside The Paragon. It wasn’t an especially exciting prospect for two, middle aged men. Thankfully we managed to sort something out.  Money and Alka Seltzer of course. Fuck earplugs. Actually maybe bring earplugs.

Finally, what does the future have in store for Grey Hairs?
We’ve just finished recording this week and plan to have the fruits of that session out on 7” through Gringo Records hopefully in time for Christmas. We’ve also got plans for a couple of split 7s early in the New Year and I expect we’ll be traversing the M1 quite a lot over the coming months for live shows too.

Grey Hairs will play at Supersonic Festival on Sunday 21st October.

Hey Colossus are extremely busy right now; in addition to putting out their new record (‘Witchfinder General Hospital’), preparing for their set at Supersonic and being interrogated by us recently, they’ve somehow found the time to give some more interviews, for Trebuchet and The Quietus respectively. The Quietus asked guitarist Joe Thompson about clotted cream, the music industry and what we can expect from their Supersonic performance, to which Joe replied –

Crunkkkkkk…screeeeeeee, grrrrrrrrrr, eeeeeeeeeeek, thunkkkk, clunk clunk clunk…..muted clapping…..unplugging guitar leads, packing guitars away, carrying of amps.

You can read the full Quietus interview here, and head on over to the Trebuchet site to read their interview and find out what prompted vocalist Paul Sykes to utter the immortal line –

It’s not a show if people don’t enjoy it, it’s just a bunch of people turning up somewhere.

You can rest assured that Hey Colossus will be putting on quite a show indeed at Supersonic this year. You can catch the band perform on Friday 19th.

Baltimore’s Dope Body have just released the video for their song ‘Weird Mirror’ (taken from their new album ‘Natural History), a raucous noise rock knees-up set to some grainy, vaguely menacing VHS style footage of the band kicking out the jams and destroying their practice room in the way that only Dope Body can.

DOPE BODY – WEIRD MIRROR from dope body on Vimeo.

The band have garnered something of a reputation of late for their sweat drenched live shows, so if you’d like to experience Dope Body’s frenzied, mutant punk outbursts in the flesh, you’d better get yourself down to Supersonic this year! Dope Body will perform at the festival on Sunday 21st October.

Kyeo.tv, the North-East’s arts & culture dispatch, have recently written up a preview of Supersonic Festival, which you can read in full here. Focusing on the local names that will be appearing on the bill, the preview features interviews with acoustic troubadour Richard Dawson, krautrock inspired electonica merchants Warm Digits and intimidating noise-rock terrorists Drunk In Hell.

In fact, it seems Kyeo are just as excited about the Drunk In Hell / Imperfect Cinema workshop as we are, describing it as thus –

The atmospheric festival setting – Digbeth’s appropriately named, post-industrial Custard Factory – lends itself to what they describe as a “stark, aesthetic that played such a pivotal role in the creation of Heavy Metal.” The footage that results will get used for a visual document but, more importantly, will also serve as a visual backdrop for Drunk In Hell’s performance the next day. So if having your face torn off by blistering hardcore while watching film of your friends filming you throwing up in a warehouse the day before is your particular cup of blood (and it should be) this is a must-see.

We couldn’t agree more! There are still a few spaces left for this workshop, so book now if you’d like to get involved – you can click here for more information.

With exactly one week to go until we open the doors to the 10th edition of Supersonic Festival, we partnered with the wonderful Network Awesome to put a selection of related films together from the last decade of Supersonic. It contains rare footage of Coil from our first ever festival as well as tracks by Broadcast, Nisenenemondai, Zu and a whole host of interviews. Enjoy!

Network Awesome is a new online TV site that curates the media film, documentaries, and video collections from all eras of broadcast history. It’s free, not full of junk, and it broadcasts 6 new shows each day. The archives are stand-alone repositories of media, available anytime and are, like, totally social so you can share it with your friends. Root around in there! You’ll be amazed at what you find.

If you haven’t bought tickets yet now is your chance, they can be purchased HERE

Ahead of the release of his new ‘Trip or Squeek’ publication, Edwin Pouncey aka Savage Pencil will make a guest appearance at the festival, in conversation with Frances Morgan of The Wire and Strange Attractor.

Savage Pencil’s Trip or Squeek strips have been appearing in music magazine The Wire since 2002.

Acerbic, lysergic and razor sharp observations on music, art and life, Trip or Squeek continues a tradition of satirical illustration dating back to the 18th century, albeit one that has been dosed up via the ’60s freak scene, Japanese monster movies and the weird fiction of HP Lovecraft. Musical guest stars appearing in the book include: Steve Reich, Stockhausen, Moondog, Mark E Smith, Sonic Youth, Robert Wyatt, Suicide, Kraftwerk, Crass, Lou Reed, Jandek, Throbbing Gristle, Sleep and many more. Containing over 100 comic strips, collected together for the first time, the book features extensive notes, a discography and never-before-seen preparatory sketches by Savage Pencil, and an illustrated foreword by artist Gary Panter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Savage Pencil  has been writing and illustrating for music newspapers and magazines for almost four decades. His artwork has also appeared on album covers, posters and T shirts for bands including Sonic Youth, The Fall, Sunn 0))) and numerous others.

http://strangeattractor.co.uk/books/trip-or-squeek/

http://www.savagepencil.com/

I dare you to type Hookworms into Google. What you will be treated with is a selection of images that will be enough to make you bring up your dinner. A Hookworm is a parasite that feeds off its chosen host, making them weaker and itself stronger; what an awfully fitting reference. Hookworms are a band that beat their audience down to the ground with noise, repetition and psychedelics. As their audience gets lulled into a state of confusion whereby they are unaware of which way is up and which way is down, Hookworms make their bass stronger, bounce their vocals around and create a tornado of sound that will suddenly and unexpectedly knock you off your feet.

Does this all sound slightly unfair? Being aurally abused by a band who have named themselves after something that may live in your intestines? Of course not. Because what Hookworms promise to bring to the stage is more than music; it is a cataclysm of sound itself, a ripping up of the rule book and a set of pure escapism.

The band hail from Leeds, a place where a new music act seems to pop up every hour, but Hookworms are different to other various incarnations of sound. For example, their first EP was released on cassette tape- an interesting choice as I think 95% of people have longed ditched their trusty tape recorder in favour of something slightly more 21^st Century. You cannot help but respect their decision however, as it makes you think; it is only the people who really want to listen to their music who will go out, dig out a device to play the tape on, get some new batteries and sit back ready to revel in 8 minute tracks that will make them seriously wig out.

Catch Hookworms on Saturday at Supersonic Festival. For more information or tickets visit www.supersonicfestival.com

Friday 19 October, 7–8.30pm
Featuring Arc Vel, Papa November, Them Use Them and The Plague Doctor.

First Fold records artists will perform a spectacular audio visual response to Necrospective, an exhibition exploring theories in relation to violence and acting out, the suppression of our fear of morality and how that embodies itself in technological man-made structures.

Using the exhibition as a backdrop, artists Arc Vel, Papa November, Them Use Them,  The Plague Doctor and more tbc, will create their own layer of sound and vision in this pre-Supersonic Festival event.

First Fold is an independent record label and publishing company managed and funded by the individuals involved in developing the first fold product. First Fold’s focus is to maintain a self regulating and enthusiastic approach to the creation of music and visual media and aims to encourage a dialogue that constantly challenges the people involved to generate exciting and relevant work.
www.firstfoldrecords.com

Grand Union
19 Minerva Works
Fazeley Street
Birmingham
B5 5RS

Open 22 September to 27 October, Thursday to Saturday, 12-5pm.

Featuring work by Craig Fisher, Thomas Johnson, Alexis Milne, Takeshi Murata and Motohiko Odani. Necrospective is a group exhibition exploring theories in relation to violence and acting out, the suppression of our fear of mortality and how that embodies itself in technological man-made structures.
Curator Thomas Johnson examines the relationship between Baudrillard’s notion that science and technology produce objects and experiences that embody the death drive, and Freud’s notion that the death drive leads people to re-enact and repeat traumatic experiences. This relationship can be realised by viewing technology as a form of performance or acting.
The works in the exhibition envision a sanitised invention of the world; a technologically mediated environment, in which mucky nature has been eradicated. This environment is presented as one in which the death drive is satisfied, where violence and the abject have been displaced through a technological, man-made infrastructure.

Grand Union
19 Minerva Works, Fazeley Street, Birmingham B5 5RS

http://www.grand-union.org.uk

Curated by Maria Lind and amended by Eastside Projects

6 October to 1 December 2012

José Léon Cerrillo, Zachary Formwalt, Goldin+Senneby, Wade Guyton, Yelena Popova, Alejandra Salinas and Aeron Bergman

Why abstraction today? While no prominent neoabstract movement has been heralded since the 1960s, abstraction has remained present but ‘out of sight’ and could be seen as redundant as an artistic tool. Since the late 1990s there has been a palpable interest in abstraction, particularly among younger artists and other cultural producers who both reinterpret the legacy of formal abstraction and shape performative, social versions of abstraction with regard to its meaning — to withdraw.

‘Abstract Possible: The Birmingham Beat’ is the latest iteration in a research project exploring notions of abstraction, taking contemporary art as its starting point. The artworks in this exhibition involve and complicate the three strands of abstraction: formal abstraction, economic abstraction and social abstraction, with an emphasis on economic abstraction. This is the first main gallery exhibition at Eastside Projects to be curated by an external curator, Stockholm based Maria Lind, who has invited an array of international artists to exhibit.

‘Abstract Possible: The Birmingham Beat’ suggests that we pay attention to and reconsider certain crucial aspects of the phenomenon of abstraction as it pertains to its intriguing resurgence in contemporary art.

Eastside Projects
86 Heath Mill Lane
Birmingham B9 4AR

www.eastsideprojects.org

Noise Box designed by Simon Fowler

To celebrate 10 years of Supersonic Festival, musical instrument designers MortonUnderwood have created ten unique noise box synths as a gift for Capsule. Each one is hand-painted by a talented designer in the Supersonic 2012 colours. The result is a beautiful set of bespoke synthesisers which capture both the visual and sonic aesthetic of the festival.

Contributing artists:

An Endless Supply

Ben Javens

Ben Sadler

Conny Prantera

David Hand

Richard Sayer

Sarah Coleman

Simon Fowler

Stephen O’Malley

Tom Hughes

MortonUnderwood will be bringing  more boxes and merchandise along to the Supersonic stand in the Market Place. Come and try them out or just pop along to meet Sam and David.

www.mortonunderwood.co.uk

Supersonic’s 10th anniversary celebrations are drawing ever nearer, with only a week and a half remaining until the all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza of avant-garde art that is Supersonic 2012! To mark the occasion, UK music and fashion magazine Clash recently caught up with Capsule co-founder and Supersonic organiser Lisa Meyer to discuss the inner workings of the festival, the inspiration behind Supersonic and what the future has in store for Capsule over the next decade! When discussing the ethos of the festival, Lisa had these wise words to impart –

It’s really important that we make everyone feel welcome. It’s very much at the core of what we do. Ultimately, people are giving up a weekend to come to this, so it shouldn’t feel like a hard slog. They should leave elated that they had a good time and listened to some interesting music.

Given the absolutely stunning lineup that Capsule have prepared for us this year, it’s hard to imagine that the audience will leave feeling anything other than ecstatic! You can read the full interview here, and if you still haven’t secured your Supersonic ticket yet, you can purchase one here.

By now you’ve probably heard all about our Kids Gigs, a series of concerts designed to introduce your young ones to the power and beauty of live music in a safe, child friendly environment (if not, where have you been?). This year we’re proud to present the Flower-Corsano Duo on Saturday 20th, and Islaja on Sunday 21st, but it’s not just art of the musical variety that we’re offering to your kids this year. The fantastic visual arts collective Juneau Projects will be offering a 20 minute animation workshop at both gigs, with the aim of gently introducing your child to the art of creating moving pictures. Using coloured lights and a series of basic images, your children will be encouraged to bring these pictures to life before letting their hair down for the following musical treat.

This combination of visual arts and experimental music is the perfect gift for a precocious child (ideally under the age of 7), and this is a great opportunity to share an artistic experience with your young ones. There are barely any tickets left for Flower-Corsano Duo, but we still have plenty for Islaja; spaces are limited however, so book now to avoid dissapointment!

Tickets cost £10 (parent and child) or £12.50 (parent and two children), and this includes both the gig and the workshop.

Buy Tickets – Saturday with Flower/Corsano
Buy Tickets – Sunday with Islaja

Tim Hecker is a master of sound, crafting beautiful waves of feedback and allowing them to gently wash over you whilst anchoring them to a rich, melodic core. Hecker has established himself as one of the world’s premier ambient musicians, but just in case his charms have somehow passed you by, here’s a brief taster of some of his impressive discography to prepare you for his set at Supersonic this year…

2001 – Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again

Hecker’s debut album was a startling mixture of glitchy electronica and post rock melodies, ammounting to a stunning ambient soundscape that signalled the sound of jaws hitting the floor worldwide. Hecker summoned all of this using only guitar, piano and a laptop, an early indication of how much sonic depth Hecker is capable of wringing out of basic instrumentation.

2002 – My Love Is Rotten To The Core

Hecker’s third release revolves around a somewhat bizarre concept; the dissolution and break up of the band Van Halen. Taking snippets of interview footage and using Van Halen songs as sound sources, Hecker constructs a narrative chronicling the rise and fall of the band, set to a melancholy precession of electric drones and soothing, crackling ambience.

2006 – Harmony In Ultraviolet

‘Harmony In Ultraviolet’ is perhaps Hecker’s masterpiece, a monolith of sensual ambient waves that caress and envelop the very core of your being. The album’s lucid flow and incredibly affecting tones create the perfect sonic caccoon in which to wrap yourself in and forget the world. Few ambient records are as immersive and emotive as ‘Harmony In Ultraviolent’, the record in which Hecker truly came into his own. Essential listening!

2008 – Fantasma Parastasie

This album found Hecker in collaboration with Nadja’s Aidan Baker, a combination that makes perfect sense given both individual’s penchant for deep, warm soundscapes. Songs like ‘Hymn To the Idea Of Night’ and ‘Auditory Spirits’ perfectly illustrate how nuanced Hecker and Baker’s sonic craftsmanship has become, whilst the extraordinary ‘Skeleton Dance’ pits Baker’s droning guitar wails against Hecker’s keen ear and intricate feel for sound manipulation. The results are astonishing, and will surely captivate anyone with an interest in ambient music.

2011 – Dropped Pianos

Following his stunning new record ‘Ravedeath, 1972’, Hecker released this EP consisting of his untreated source material for the album, a revealing glimpse into his working process. A very different beast to ‘Ravedeath’s expansive, widescreen scope, ‘Dropped Pianos’ is a sparse yet incredibly intimate collection, showcasing the kind of stark, elegant beauty that some artists spend their entire lives trying to attain; if ever more evidence were needed that Hecker is a master of his craft, just allow these delicate sketches to caress your ears and you’ll see what we mean!

Tim Hecker will be performing at Supersonic Festival on Sunday 21st October.

 GET A GRIP specialise in screenprinting merchandise, and are back for Supersonic’s tenth anniversary to hold a workshop that is available for all festival ticket holders. Get a Grip came into being from a combination of DIY ethics, ecological thinking and a mutual love of Punk Rock, therefore they are the perfect candidates to bring you this unique workshop. The two-hour workshop, run from their poolside studio and shop front, gives you an informal introduction to their manual water-based screen printing techniques and gives you the opportunity to create a one of a kind t-shirt that will serve as a lasting memento of Supersonic 2012.

The workshop is open to weekend ticket holders for £25 which includes guidance, materials and a 100% organic t-shirt to take home. Using elements developed by an independent illustrator, taking inspiration from the festival design, you’ll put together a multi-coloured design to print onto a t-shirt. No experience required – you’ll enjoy this workshop whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced printer.

Time and places are running out! So to make sure you don’t miss out email admin@capsule.org.uk with ‘SCREENPRINT’ in the subject line – please also include your T-shirt size (Male or Female S/M/L/XL/XXL).

The Quietus recently spoke with Sir Richard Bishop about the new Rangda album, his decision to stream all his solo albums for free and of course, his upcoming Supersonic experience. Richard’s live performances are never less than incredible, and it sounds as though this is a musician who is truly firing on all cylinders at the moment –

[Rangda has] certainly become more confident working together since the first record came out. That only happens over time. You have to remember, the first time the three of us actually played music together was two days before the recording of False Flag, so we didn’t have much of a chance to get to know each other musically on a direct experiential level. That came later when we began touring, working things out on the battlefield, in the trenches, so to speak. But now, I know we’re capable of doing anything we want in a musical sense. It’s just up to us to determine what that will be.

You can read the entire interview here, and you can watch both Sir Richard Bishop and rangda perform at this year’s Supersonic festival on Saturday 20th October.

WE NEED YOUR RECORDS

Capsule need your unloved / unwanted records to be reused to create Vinyl Rally at Supersonic Festival.

Vinyl Rally,created by Australian artist Lucas Abela is a large-scale installation combining sound art, video art and kinetic sculpture and every kidult’s dream-hybrid; an immersive work playing off vinyl fetishism, video arcade mystique and the machismo of motor sports in a video game played within a real world setting!

The track is made up old vinyl records and we’re having a vinyl amnesty so that you can get rid of any unloved and unwanted records, and know they’re going to a good home; Records can be donated to the Vinyl Rally on

Saturday 13th October at
Birmingham Zine Festival’s Independent Publishing Fair
125 – 127 Hurst Street,
Birmingham, B5 6SE
12noon till 6pm.

And anybody who has a whole hoard of records to donate can get in contact in advance to arrange an alternative drop off, via admin@capsule.org.uk

It’s an honour and a total privilege to be able to witness the breath taking Bohren & der Club of Gore at this year’s Supersonic. The self-styled “doom jazz” masters haven’t graced these shores since 2008 and there’s no guarantee they’ll be returning anytime soon, so fans of their elegant, captivating sound are understandably freaking out right now. If you’ve yet to become acquainted with this stunning four piece, then allow us to introduce you to your new favourite band…

1994 – Gore Motel

On ‘Gore Motel’, the band’s debut, the Club of Gore adhered to a more traditional rock structure of guitar, bass and drums (oh, and mellotron, naturally), and this startling album comes across like a jazzy Earth, juxtaposing ominous downtuned dirges with subtle jazz flourishes. The band would mine similar territory with their 1995 double album, ‘Midnight Radio’, before embarking on an even darker, jazzier direction…

2000 – Sunset Mission

Losing a guitarist can be a crippling blow for many lesser bands, but after six-stringer Reiner Henseleit had bowed out, the Club of Gore recruited the inimitable talents of saxophonist Christoph Clöser and delivered one of their greatest records, the stunningly beautiful ‘Sunset Mission’. A richly atmospheric journey through dark city streets, this was film noir jazz at it’s most gripping, slowly enveloping the listener in it’s sumptuous soundscapes and smoky, late night ambience. The word ‘masterpiece’ is oft abused in this day and age but this is one record that truly deserves such an accolade; mandatory listening for both jazz and ambient fans!

2002 – Black Earth

After the stunning ‘Sunset Mission’, the Club of Gore were clearly on a roll, and delivered their break-through album ‘Black Earth’ just two years later. After catching the attention of musical maverick Mike Patton, ‘Black Earth’ was reissued on his Ipecac record label, bringing the beautiful sounds of Bohren & der Club of Gore to a much wider audience. Musically, ‘Black Earth’ shares many similarities with ‘Sunset Mission’, but pushes the material in an even darker direction; this is a progression, rather than a sequel.

2008 – Dolores

If 2005’s ‘Geisterfaust’ had hinted at a more ambient manifestation of the Club of Gore, ‘Dolores’ was where the band wholeheartedly embraced the minimalist ideals they had toyed with all along. Evidently this move paid off, with the quartet managing to evoke a vibrant cornucopia of emotions with some of their starkest music to date. This was Bohren’s sound reduced down to it’s bare skeleton, allowing the sombre and beautiful core of their music to ring out between the sparse, isolated notes, and it was no less gripping for it!

2011 – Beileid

Never a band to conform to expectations, their last album ‘Beileid’ saw the Club of Gore recruiting the vocal talents of Mike Patton for an utterly bizarre yet strangely beautiful cover of the German hair metal band Warlock’s ‘Catch My Heart’, mutating the song into a melancholy jazz ballad and stretching the notes out to dwell in the spaces inbetween. ‘Beileid’ may be Bohren’s shortest record, but it packs no less of a punch, as the band continue to expand their sound and subtly branch out into new territory. Where they progress from here is anyone’s guess, but it’s going to be a pleasure finding out!

Bohren & der Club of Gore will perform at Supersonic Festival on Saturday 20th October.

We have a real audio-visual treat in store for you this year; a screening of Belgian artist Shazzula Nebula‘s experimental film ‘Black Mass Rising’, a mystical lo-fi experience examining occult and apocalyptic themes through a dark procession of creepy, faintly psychedelic visuals. As you would expect from an ex-member of bands like Aqua Nebula Oscillator and White Hills, Shazzula has put just as much time and effort into the film’s soundtrack as she has its visual aesthetic, with a soundtrack consisting of exclusive tracks from the likes of Master Musicians Of Bukkake, Sylvester Anfang II, Burial Hex, Kinit Her, Cultus Sabbati, Aluk Todolo, Menace Ruine and many, many more. We got in touch with Shazzula to find out more about this extraordinary film, and why she’s just as excited to bring it to Supersonic as we are to screen it!

BLACK MASS RISING movie (Official Trailer) from shazzula on Vimeo.

Supersonic: What inspired you to create ‘Black Mass Rising’?
Shazzula: In terms of cinema…

*    “Visa De Censure X” by Pierre Clementi.

*    “Invasion Of Thunderbolt Pagoda” by Ira Cohen.

*    “Le Frisson Des Vampires” by Jean Rollin.

*     “Lucifer Rising” by Kenneth Anger.

*     “Nosferatu” by F.W. Murnau.

*     “Begoten” by E. Elias Merhige.

Other things that inspired me:

The ‘Pre-Raphaelism’ Art movement, the dark side of things and of course MUSIC.

Why should Supersonic attendees check out the film?
Well… if they like those movies… and if they like the bands on the soundtrack… They really should get into it… It would be an opportunity to hear in one project all those great bands, all finally united. Like a Sound & Visual Communion!

The list of contributing artists reads like a fairly comprehensive list of contemporary avant-garde/ esoteric musicians. How did you get all these bands involved in the project?
I love them all, they all are unique and they are indirectly related! For some of them, I was in contact or they are friends or we met…

When the idea of the movie first came to my mind, I did not want to do the whole soundtrack myself (I’m not really into “me myself and I”…). I thought it would be great to get all these music lovers in one crazy D.I.Y project!

I never thought the movie will have success or anything, I just wanted to do it and believe in it 100%, and I was so glad they all accepted to follow the Dark Path To The Light !

If time, money and space were no object, what would you have done differently with the film?
Well… I never wanted to have money for this project… it was from A to Z all improvised on my travels with friends & yes: The baby was born after 9 months…

The next movie project is heavier, it will be filmed in Mongolia.

Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival this year?
1- Dylan Carlson project with Teta Colamonaco on Vocals !
2- Six Organs Of Admittance
3- Sir Richard Bishop
4- Goat
5- Lichens /Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
6- Gnod
7- Merzbow

If you were curating Supersonic, which three artists would you most want to have on board?
So many!!

– Master Musicians Of Bukkake
– Om
– Sayona

Which items would you say are essential for festival survival?
Unfortunately : Earplugs!

A Camera & bunch of  filters.

Finally, what does the future have in store for Shazzula?
Limited 300 Copies LP reissue of RUTH WHITE “Flowers Of Evil” on Our label, BLACK MASS RISING.

A tape of SAYONA on Brave Mysteries.

MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE will make the whole soundtrack of the next BMR Movie…

Patience!

For more information about Shazzula Nebula, you can visit her official website and the Black Mass Rising Society page.

Noise fans are in for a treat this year, with several extremely prominent noise artists gearing up for a full-on audio assault that will shake the very foundations of Birmingham’s Custard Factory and push the limits of what you quaintly consider to be ‘music’. So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the individuals who’ll be doing their utmost to blow your mind and perforate your eardrums this year…

Merzbow

Masami Akita, the undisputed king of squealing feedback and the most recognisable name in noise, will be gracing us with his infamously abrasive and intricately layered sounds. This isn’t the first time Akita has played at the festival (veterans will recall his threateningly loud collaborative set with Keiji Haino back in 2008), but this time round he has the entire stage to himself. We’re not entirely sure what Masami is planning, but given his vast back catalogue of skull shatteringly brutal noise, it’s probably best to pack your earplugs if you want to stand a chance of hearing the rest of the festival afterwards…

KK Null

KK Null’s highly distinctive and dynamic brand of noise has made him a firm favourite amongst fans of the genre, and his enthusiasm for furthering his own musical output through collaboration has seen him progress through a variety of different sounds. Following on from the sensory bombardment of his set with Lash Frenzy back in 2010, KK Null will be performing with inventive tuba-drone pioneers ORE; if you’ve ever wondered how the deep tones of a tuba would sound resonating across acres of white noise, now’s your time to find out!

Kevin Drumm

Kevin Drumm is the great unsung hero of modern noise. After mastering his own style of sparse, prepared guitar tweaking minimalism, Drumm began to experiment with dense, abrasive soundscapes and rose up to become heralded as one of noise’s most prodigious sons. His 2002 album ‘Sheer Hellish Miasma’ is considered a classic of the genre, a bold and devastating collage of powerful sounds and terrifying aural outbursts that certainly lives up to its name. Drumm hasn’t played in the UK since his European tour with Prurient back in 2008, and his Supersonic set will be the only British show of his current tour, making this an unmissable chance for noise fans to watch a true master at work.

Lash Frenzy

Supersonic isn’t the only entity to be celebrating its tenth anniversary this year – noise provocateur Lash Frenzy (AKA Andrew Moscardo-Parker) will be celebrating a decade of existence with ‘Ver Heroicus Sublimis’, an unscripted performance that represents the culmination of all his previous works. Andrew has been quite secretive about what exactly ‘Ver Heroicus Sublimis’ is going to entail, but backed by an all-star noise ensemble that includes members of Anaal Nathrakh, Beestung Lips, Benediction, Sally and Einstellung, this performance promises to be an all-out sonic massacre that will leave you crippled and broken. Bring it on!

Clifford Torus

Anders Hana (Moha!, Ultralyd & Noxagt), Leon Barnett (Horacio Pollard, Neigh%Music) and Kjetil Bransdal are Clifford Torus, a power trio as reimagined by the warped mind of a distraught acid casualty in a psychiatric ward. Their confrontational, highly textural and utterly deranged noise chews up elements of free jazz, power electronics, drone and sludge, before spitting them out and sculpting the subsequent mess into an imposing and unsettling kaleidoscope of noise. Despite being relative newcomers, Clifford Torus are definitely a force to be reckoned with, and fans of loud, harsh and unpredictable music should make these guys a major priority on their festival schedule!

Merzbow and Kevin Drumm will play Supersonic on Saturday 20th October, whilst KK Null, Lash Frenzy and Clifford Torus will perform on Sunday 21st October.

The response to our Kids Gigs this year has been truly humbling; it seems many of you are eager to share the beauty of experimental music with your young ones! The Flower-Corsano duo gig on Saturday is close to selling out, but fear not! On Sunday 21st October, we’re proud to present the unique acid-folk stylings of Islaja, an enchanting prospect for listeners of all ages.

Merja Kokkonen (AKA Islaja) has been at the forefront of the Finnish folk scene for almost 10 years now, with her distinctive and daring style often drawing comparisons to Bjork, Syd Barret and Nico. However, Islaja’s music is very unique, bringing in more Eastern sounding influences to weave a truly fascinating musical palette. Her soulful yet icy voice soars over her own compositions, that manage to attain a certain level of majesty without losing sight of their innate sense of playfulness, a combination that’s certain to charm you as much as it will your children!

In addition to sharing the power of live music with your kids, this event also presents the opportunity to engage them with other forms of art too. The fantastic Juneau Projects will be offering a 20 minute animation workshop at both gigs, with the aim of gently introducing your child to the art of creating moving pictures. Using coloured lights and a series of basic images, your children will be encouraged to bring these pictures to life before letting their hair down for the following musical treat. If you think your child would enjoy an artistically stimulating experience in a safe, child friendly environment, then this is the perfect gift. Spaces are limited, so book now to avoid dissapointment!

Islaja will perform on Sunday 21st October. Tickets cost £10 (parent and child) or £12.50 (parent and two children), and this includes both the gig and the workshop.

Buy Tickets – Saturday with Flower/Corsano
Buy Tickets – Sunday with Islaja

British mavericks Hey Colossus are one of the country’s most overlooked musical exports, with a fearlessly experimental and thrillingly visceral sound that occasionally sounds like Fudge Tunnel and Faust having a full-on fist fight whilst the Butthole Surfers jeer them on and hurl vintage loop pedals into the ensuing fracas. They’ve previously released splits with Nottingham’s riff worshippers Lords and Tokyo’s sludge lunatics dot(.), and their new 12″ (the awesomely titled ‘Witchfinder General Hospital’), is a bleary eyed kraut-noise odyssey deep into the heart of the sun, culminating in a gigantic sonic fireball as the group burns into a million tiny cinders upon impact. Put quite simply, this is a band you need in your life right now! Hey Colossus are currently preparing to ransack your grey matter with their performance at Supersonic on Friday 19th October, so we caught up with guitarist Joe Thompson to ask him a few questions about what you can expect…

Supersonic: Your new record (‘Witchfinder General Hospital’) is fantastic – is the title a loving tribute to the 1968 British horror film or the early 80’s NWOBHM band from Stourbridge (or neither?)
Joe Thompson: It’s where we all work aside from Dunc’, who is a butcher.

Why should Supersonic attendees check out your set?
We’re quite the party band, get yer glad rags on.

If time, money and space were no object, what would you do with your performance?
Get Mark E Smith to do our onstage sound.

Who else are you looking forward to seeing at the festival this year?
Drunk In Hell + Grey Hairs.

Who would be the ideal artist for you to collaborate with at Supersonic 2012?
Walter Hill needs to let us re-record, note for note, The Warriors Soundtrack. We’ll be back next year to perform it.

If you were curating Supersonic, which three artists would you most want to have on board?
Brainbombs, Carly Simon, Tusson.

Which items would you say are essential for festival survival?
Blankety Blank chequebook + pen.

Finally, what does the future have in store for Hey Colossus?
New album in March, shows in March and April. Book us, especially if you do shows in hot countries.

Hey Colossus will perform at Supersonic Festival on Friday 19th October 2012, and their new 12″ ‘Witchfinder General’ is available now from One C Records.

 GET A GRIP specialise in screenprinting merchandise, and are back for Supersonic’s tenth anniversary to hold a workshop that is available for all festival ticket holders. Get a Grip came into being from a combination of DIY ethics, ecological thinking and a mutual love of Punk Rock, therefore they are the perfect candidates to bring you this unique workshop. The two-hour workshop, run from their poolside studio and shop front, gives you an informal introduction to their manual water-based screen printing techniques and gives you the opportunity to create a one of a kind t-shirt that will serve as a lasting memento of Supersonic 2012.

The workshop is open to weekend ticket holders for £25 which includes guidance, materials and a 100% organic t-shirt to take home. Using elements developed by an independent illustrator, taking inspiration from the festival design, you’ll put together a multi-coloured design to print onto a t-shirt. No experience required – you’ll enjoy this workshop whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced printer.

To book a place, email admin@capsule.org.uk with ‘SCREENPRINT’ in the subject line – please also include your T-shirt size (Male or Female S/M/L/XL/XXL).