We are on the lookout for some wonderfully creative minds to bring us unusual, imaginative and engaging new workshops that will take place as part of the festival weekend.  

Supersonic Festival 2022 is returning on the weekend of July 8 – 10, celebrating our 16th edition with an ambitious programme of mind bending music, sense shifting art and life altering experiences. From in-depth sessions to indulgent fun, we want you to craft something extraordinary for our curious audiences. Whether you’re flying solo, a group or an organisation, we want to hear ideas that embrace our passion for collaboration between both artists and audience alike, forging lasting and meaningful connections across art forms. 

We are a festival which celebrates expressive, challenging and generally out-there music and art. We remain inclusive, accessible and engaging to varied audiences; new and returning. Workshop proposals should present a singular, innovative idea that encapsulates a clear understanding of what Supersonic is about. 

To apply, please complete the online form (link below) the deadline is 5pm, 25 April, 2022.  

There is a fee of up to £150 available for the workshop (also to include materials), as well as 1 weekend ticket to the festival. 

What are you waiting for… send us your proposals! 

GOOGLE FORM: https://forms.gle/L1Jp3ecAtegbPCHk9 

We are thrilled to announce the remaining acts that complete our Supersonic Festival 2022 line-up; Divide & Dissolve, Grove, Pharaoh Overlord with Aaron Turner, Big | Brave and more. Our brilliant guest curators, Radwan Moumneh (of Jerusalem In My Heart) and Decolonise Fest also reveal their invited artists.

DRUM ROLL! Here is our full line-up*, including day splits…

FRIDAY

ABRONIA | BLUE RUTH | FÖLLAKZOID | GROVE | HOLY TONGUE | MATTERS | ORCHESTRA OF CONSTANT DISTRESS | THE BUG FEAT. FLOWDAN

SATURDAY

BISMUTH | BLOODY HEAD | BUÑUEL | DJ AWKWARD BLACK GIRL | NADJA | NEKRA | NO HOME | OLD MAN GLOOM | PHARAOH OVERLORD WITH AARON TURNER | PRNCSS | RACHEL AGGS | THOU

SUNDAY 

AA WILLIAMS | BIG|BRAVE | BINT7ALAL | DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE | FARIDA AMADOU | J.ZUNZ | JERUSALEM IN MY HEART | JESIKA KHAZRIK + NURAH FARAHAT | JUNE OF 44 | RICHARD DAWSON & CIRCLE | SHOVEL DANCE COLLECTIVE

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We can’t wait to bring our global community together once again to challenge the mainstream and champion the weird. Weekend Tickets, plus a limited number of one day & two day tickets are now on sale.

*line-up subject to change

[Divide and Dissolve – photo credit: Billy Eyers]

Following our spectacular sell-out 2019 edition, the “mother of all British underground festivals“ [The Quietus] will return on 8-10th July 2022 at a new location on the outskirts of Digbeth in Birmingham.

Since 2003, we have hosted our superior weekends for adventurous and curious audiences, bringing together live performances by some of the world’s most extraordinary artists and audience participation to create a one-of-a-kind festival. Whilst the music takes the forefront of these announcements, you can expect to see a coming together of artists and audiences from all over the globe as we celebrate the best in creativity that the underground has to offer. We balance the familiar with the new, delivering you the most inspiring weekend.

[Pharaoh Overlord + Aaron Turner]

New to the line-up, we are extremely proud to present Divide And Dissolve, who use a compelling blend of guitar, drums, saxophone and live effects to create galvanising music designed to decentralise and destroy white supremacy (#1 on Mary Anne Hobbs’ album of the year list). About their appearance at Supersonic Divide and Dissolve comments…

“Supersonic is an awesome festival we are deeply honoured to be a part of. Supersonic Festival continues to curate inspirational mind bending events. Our music aims to decolonise and dismantle systems of oppression and Supersonic Festival is a congruent part of those goals” – Divide & Dissolve

We’re also proud to present a new project from powerhouse percussionist Valentina Magaletti (Tomaga, Vanishing Twin) and her ever in-demand sticks as Holy Tongue. Pharaoh Overlord with Aaron Turner present their glorious and surprising collaboration of motorik soundscapes, Italo-pop, EBM and corrosive vocals.

Grove’s ingenious noise concoctions come from the ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ energies that reside within, filtering them through a sensuous; rave-a-licious lens, with lyrics inspired by political angst, queer euphoria, and the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in the city of Bristol.

[Big | Brave – photo credit: Mathieu Ball]

BIG|BRAVE join the line up on Sunday evening to immerse audiences in their heavy waves of sound, in which minimalism, structural freedom and meticulous timing form the cornerstones of their precise, rhythmical sound. Swedish collective Orchestra of Constant Distress, comprising members of The Skull Defekts, Union Carbide Productions, Brainbombs and No Balls have prepared something special and unique especially for the festival – all we know is to expect the unexpected!

[Shovel Dance Collective]

Abronia‘s mixture of free-jazz, Morricone-soundtrack twangs via German kosmische, 60s Folk, and ritualistic drone envelopment will bring a taste of unbridled psychedelia to the proceedings. Eerie industrial synths come from Birmingham’s very own gloomy duo Matters. Last but not least, Shovel Dance Collective are aiming to uncover proto-feminist narratives and queer histories, and will explore the folk traditions of England through a melding of drone, improvisation and metal.

Additionally, sound artist and musician Paul Purgas shall reveal a new work as a special commission for the festival, which will combine the trailblazing reel-to-reel tape experiments of the Radiophonic Workshop and the exploratory spirit of Musique Concrète.

[Farida Amadou – photo credit: Laurent Orseau]

Our guest curators, Jerusalem in My Heart have invited Bint7alal, a Palestinian producer/rapper who specialises in smooth flows and energy-filled sounds from the depths of the Arab underground. Farida Amadou, one of the up-and-coming Belgian artists on the international free and improv scene, will bring her unique approach to electric bass – making use of pedals to create fuzzed out noises and textures – to the stage. Jessika Khazrik scavenges sounds from the debris of online media and militarised ads & technologies, and will be performing alongside 3D/real-time visual artist Nurah Farahat. In addition there will be a screening of a selection of films by Erin Weisgerber, a Tiohtia:ke/Montreal-based artist working with photo-chemical film to produce installations, performances, and short films. She manipulates the photographic, chemical, and material properties of film to transform the world framed through her camera, rendering moving images that exist between figuration and abstraction, external vision and internal landscape.

[NEKRA]

Decolonise Fest have invited Rachel Aggs who, having found acclaim with Shopping, Sacred Paws and Trash Kit, will deliver her distinctive guitar and vocal style, mixed with a lo-fi pop sensibility. Hardcore punks Nekra, will raise the tempo as they serve up blistering mosh-inducing tunes with themes ranging from Bell Hooks’ theories to the trauma of immigration. PRNCSS‘ will no doubt be an enigmatic presence, hitting on an expansive formula that mixes voodoo vibes with trap, grime and outré electronics. Additionally, DJ Awkward Black Girl, an avid vinyl collector of over 20 years, who spins a mixture of rock, R&B, soul, funk, garage, disco and more to get you on your feet.

Talks, films and workshops will also be included in the program, and will be announced in the near future.

Ahead of the weekend, please find useful information about accommodation (including local hotel deals) and the festival here.

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We’re chuffed to be back with a new episode of the Supersonic Podcast as part our celebrations for International Women’s Day 2022!

Featuring music from a whole host of amazing women artists; including those performing at our upcoming IWD bash on Sat 5th March in Birmingham. We also revisit the The Oram Awards (which we had the honour of hosting) and spin sounds from their six brilliant winners.

It’s an absolute stonker of a programme with music from Alpha Maid, Lia Mice, un.procedure, Grove, Emma Ruth Rundle, Blue Ruth, Venus Ex Machina and more. Tune on in!

LISTEN HERE

And don’t forget on Saturday 5^th March we are hosting a big bash at Centrala for International Women’s Day 2022. ALL are welcome to join us for our first live event in two years, as we rejoice and celebrate the incredible women artists we champion in our Supersonic line-ups all year round!

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Alpha Maid (aka Leisha Thomas) is a guitarist and producer from South East London who crafts compositions heavily drawing from lo-fi punk, grunge, and glitch electronics.

Lia Mice is a multidisciplinary artist whose works include experimental electronic music production, large-scale digital musical instrument design, live A/V performance, composition for film and interactive sculpture making.

un.procedure are an experimental-jazz-rock outfit, with members hailing from both Birmingham (synth player Piera Onacko and drummer/electronic artist Nathan Jones) and London (alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi).

PLUS DJ SETS from Blue Ruth, Old Bort & McSaima.

If you’re in a position to support the artists in this podcast too, we’ve put all their Bandcamp links below for your convenience…

Tracklist

un.procedure are an experimental-jazz-rock outfit, with members hailing from both Birmingham (synth player Piera Onacko and drummer/electronic artist Nathan Jones) and London (alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi).

The trio deliver a frantic collision of free improvisation with spiralling, 70’s rock influenced grooves and heady, sci–fi tinged soundscapes. A project born initially as a commissioned work, the band has since sprouted legs of its own. Having played shows nationally and internationally in 2021, un.procedure have sights set for a debut EP release this year. Multi-faceted artist David Stanley (GURIBOSH) provides a live, reactive visual spectacle to accompany their pummelling performances.  

Ahead of their performance at our International Women’s Day bash we ask band instigator & synth whizz, Piera Onacko a few questions…

Hey Piera. We’re really looking forward to having your trio un.procedure perform at Centrala on Sat 5 March, it’ll be our first live show in two years! So we’ll definitely be having a good old knees up! What can our Supersonic audience expect from your live performance?

Loud…! Lots of electronics, lots of pedals. There’s some improvisation, but plenty to groove to. We’re very much looking forward to playing! Being relatively new on the scene, having the opportunity to perform live is still in the honeymoon phase for us.

How did un.procedure come to be? You’re all very skilled musicians in your own right…

Thank you! un.procedure grew from a B:Music commission. Cassie and I (Piera), began working together on a set of music, and Nathan was recruited too. We gelled really well as a unit, and decided to continue the project as a band. 

We love the live video of you performing on the Symphony Hall stage. There’s so much energy there! How did you come together to forge this material as a trio?

It was by and large getting together and recording everything as one long jam. We’d then go through and pick bits out that seemed to have legs as musical ideas. We came up with a lot of material recording in the studio too.

Any plans to release this music in the big wide world?!

Absolutely. We have a five track EP ready to go, with a release date for sometime in spring of this year.  Watch this space.

Do we detect some Krautrock, Faust and CAN-like influences in there amongst the jazz and electronics…? 

I am a huge Krautrock fan, and have always fancied the idea of incorporating some of those influences. There is something really special about the raw edges of early electronics, and I tried to bring a bit of that to the parts I’m playing. 

We’re big fans of immersive live experiences, and we hear you’re bringing along some live visuals for the show created by multi-media artist Guri Bosh. How did that all come together?

Guri Bosh has been following our creative process from the get-go, and we’ve talked at length on the subject of visuals reacting with music. It all started with some family video footage I had of rural Ukraine, and kind of kept building from there.  

Thanks for chatting to us. It’s great to get to know our Supersonic artists a little better and introduce our audience to your work! and in the Supersonic spirit of sharing great unclassifiable music – what’s going to be your International Women’s Day anthem of 2022?!

My anthem of IWD 2022 is Yang Yang by Anika – fuzzy, noisy, catchy!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE SHOW

FOLLOW UN.PROCEDURE ON INSTAGRAM 

OPEN CALL
Join Decolonise Fest & Supersonic Festival for a round table discussion on Race and Diversity in the Alternative Music Scene 

Saturday 5th March, 5.30-7.00pm  

Grand Union, Birmingham, B5 5RS 

Free to attend, please book here.

This event is for people of colour only. Please respect this space.  

Supersonic Festival and Decolonise Fest have come together to host a space for a community discussion on race and diversity in the alternative/punk scene, ahead of Decolonise guest curating part of the Supersonic Festival 2022 line-up. 

We invite you to this informal event to discuss the ways to improve attitudes around race in the alternative music scene . Meet other people of colour that are into alternative music in your local area and help us improve the way we organise future events while chatting over drinks and nibbles.  

We want to know:

• How did you first get into alternative music
• Your experiences as people of colour going to gigs
• Do you feel represented in the music scene?
• Your thoughts on race and racism in the music industry
• Do you go out to gigs in the Midlands?
• What would make you feel safer / more likely to go to gigs in the scene?

Make sure you stick around as later in the evening for Supersonic Festival’s International Women’s Day Event featuring performances from Alpha Maid, un.procedure and Lia Mice. If you attend our roundtable discussion you can also get into the gig for free. More details on that show here.

Decolonise Fest is an annual London punk festival run by and for *people of colour in the punk scene. Our collective is made up of activists, militant community organisers, musicians, and artists. We are the global majority. We will celebrate all the brilliant punx descended (through one or both parents) from the original inhabitants of Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Australasia, North America, and the islands of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean, and of Romany Gypsy or Traveller heritage.

For more details, visit the event page here.

Chile’s Föllakzoid began 10 years ago as a trance experience between childhood friends Domingae & Diego. Heavily informed by the heritage of the ancient music of the Andes, the band has learned to integrate their origins with contemporary sounds and technologies of our times, creating a rich yet minimal electronic-organic atmosphere.  

Föllakzoid create extended tracks that fill longer spaces of time with fewer and fewer elements. The creative perspective of the band has always been about unlearning the narrative that shape physical and digital formats of music, instead they make a time-space continuum of trance-inducing sound.

With a number of records out on Sacred Bones, Föllakzoid make long, slow, hypnotic pieces that shimmer and throb, evolving until they’ve infected your mind and body, not a million miles from the traditions of German bands like Can, Kraftwerk and Neu! 

“an all-enveloping experience both sinister and slightly disconcerting”

– LOUDER THAN WAR

With each release they reduce the components of their music more and more, resulting in the most sublime minimalism. They call the process “depuration”  – literally freeing their music from impurities. ‘I’ their fourth full-length release is the perfect example of this.

From Domingae, vocalist and guitarist… “We invite you to join us in sharing the experience of being led by this non-rational, sonic artform and its energy. It is also an invitation to connect once again with your inner master and his intuition, erasing the systematic rationalization that usually follows creative forces when perceived, to guide you on this holographic simultaneous simulation where reality is rooted in” 

Föllakzoid perform live at Supersonic Festival 8-10 July 2022. Weekend Tickets are now on sale here.

The New Music Biennial 2022 will celebrate its ten-year anniversary with previous works performed at the festival alongside brand-new commissions – including one from us! We’re delighted to announce we have commissioned sound artist and musician Paul Purgas to create a new work with tape.

The New Music Biennial as a festival is free (ticketed) and will take place across two weekends; the 22 – 24 April in Coventry and 1 – 3 July at the Southbank Centre. The festivals will comprise 20 new pieces of music: ten brand new works selected from an open call and ten pre-existing New Music Biennial works from across the last 10 years to mark its launch back in 2012. With pieces from across all genres: from classical and chamber opera to jazz, folk and electronic, each work is no longer than 15 minutes in duration to create a pop-up, interactive way for audiences to discover new music by some of the most exciting composers and music creators in the UK today.

The project we’ve commissioned with Paul is a celebration and exploration of Tape. In the footsteps of the trailblazing reel-to-reel experiments of the Radiophonic Workshop and the exploratory spirit of Musique Concrète, Paul Purgas delves into the medium with a contemporary lens, utilising new technologies. For the New Music Biennial 2022 we present the next generation of tape music.

Paul Purgas is an artist and musician working with sound, performance and installation. Originally trained as an architect he has presented projects with Tramway, Tate Modern, Camden Art Centre and Spike Island and is currently a resident at Somerset House Studios. He is also one half of electronic duo Emptyset.

Thanks to support from PRS Foundation and the Southbank Centre these new works are presented in partnership with Coventry UK City of Culture, BBC Radio 3 and NMC Recordings with support from Arts Council of England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. 

Programme for New Music Biennial 2022 announced!

We’ve buddied up with B:Music to bring you not one, but TWO new Supersonic Kids Gig workshops for girls aged 8 – 13! These workshops are designed for families to introduce the joy of experimental music to children. BIG sounds for little people!

Both workshops will be led by Sam Topley, a sound artist and educator from Leicester (England, UK). She works with textiles to create handmade electronic musical instruments and interactive sound art work, including giant pompom musical instruments, knitted or ‘yarnbombed’ loudspeakers, and ‘craftivist’ musical instruments with e-textile interfaces.

Supersonic Kids Gigs, are designed for families as a way of introducing young people to experimental music. Created for girls to nourish future creators. No prior knowledge or skills are required.

Have a gander below for the details…

Supersonic Kids Gigs: STITCH-A-SYNTH WORKSHOP  

Sunday 20 February 2022, 11-1pm at Symphony Hall, Birmingham

For girls aged 8-13 // limited places available 

£5.00 per child, must be accompanied by a guardian 

BOOK HERE via B:Music

In this 2-hour workshop, we will craft with electronic textiles to make an electronic musical instrument, played from DIY canvas banners – so you’ll learn how to stitch your own synth! For more info, read on here.

Supersonic Kids Gigs: NOISY POMPOM WORKSHOP  

Saturday 23 April 2022, 11-1pm at Symphony Hall, Birmingham

For girls aged 8-13 // limited places available

£5.00 per child, must be accompanied by a guardian.

BOOK HERE via B:Music

Back by popular demand, we are excited to host another Noisy PomPom workshop led by Sam Topley. We will craft with electronic textiles to make an electronic musical instrument, played by squeezing pompoms! For more info read on here.

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

This year, the Market Place will be situated in a new home as part of our 16th edition festival, taking place on the weekend of 8 – 10 July 2022. We’re bringing our global community back together with an ambitious programme of mind bending music, sense shifting art and life altering experiences.  

We’ve invited old friends and new to join us including… A.A. Williams, Bismuth, Bloody Head, Blue Ruth, Buñuel, Föllakzoid, Jerusalem In My Heart, J. Zunz, June of 44, Nadja, No Home, Old Man Gloom, Thou, Richard Dawson & Circle, The Bug feat. Flowdan and invited guest curators Radwan Ghazi Moumneh & Decolonise Fest to add to our line-up in the new year. 

Want to join us?! A weekend Market Place stall booking costs £130 which will include 2 x Supersonic Festival weekend tickets.  

To apply for a stall booking please complete the form below by Monday 25th April 2022.  

For enquiries please contact: [email protected] 

APPLY HERE: https://forms.gle/SDbbJnCz3pBCuRwZ8 

Newcastle folk singer and dark-humoured bard Richard Dawson and Finnish experimental rock veterans Circle have joined together for a joyous new collaboration.

The result is ‘Henki’, an album of metal music unlike any you’ve heard before. Released via Weird World records, their material deals with special plants throughout history, making it the greatest flora-themed hypno-folk-metal record you’ll hear this year. Dawson’s singular voice and shambolic guitar-driven arrangements weave in and out of Circle’s Krautrock beats, heavy riffs, arty noise & dark psychedelia. Highly acclaimed, the album recently earned its spot at no.1 of the Official Folk Album Charts alongside 5* from MOJO. Congrats lads!

Here at Supersonic we’ve had the pleasure of knowing these friends apart (both having performed on a number of our line-ups) but together, live on the Supersonic stage, we know we’re in for an extra special treat.

“a tour de force of botanical rock” – The Guardian

Formed in 1991, Circle is the most visible and prolific name in the Finnish avant-rock underground. Having survived innumerable lineup changes, the band and its founder, bassist/vocalist/guitarist Jussi Lehtisalo, have constantly reinvented themselves. They rarely stick to the same genre from one album to the next, but their chilling hypnotic mantras have served as the lone unifying theme throughout three decades of spandex-clad experiments.

Circle first performed at Supersonic all the way back in 2006, we even have a video to prove it!

From the seed of a twitter conversation, the collaboration was planted. Circle invited Richard to join them for a festival show that later sprouted demos shared remotely, in-person recording sessions on the Finnish coast, with the album finally completed remotely as Europe entered lockdown in spring 2020. Wild, protean hard rock songs rooted in psychedelic folk and delivered with gusto – this suite of stories will take us on a journey of ancient history and deep time.

When asked about coming together with these Finnish rock legends, Richard Dawson described “It was like being a teenager and suddenly being asked to go onstage with Iron Maiden, that’s how important this band [Circle] are to me.”

A singular voice, part savant-genius, part court jester, Richard Dawson’s music echoes with the voices of the past, present and future. Following memorable performances on our 2012, 2015 (where we invited him to guest curate part of our programme) & 2017 line-ups and awould-have-been headline slot at our 2020 festival, it’s safe to say we’re eternally cemented as fans of his dexterous work.

“When I appeared at Supersonic 2012 it was the largest event I had performed at and was very significant in raising awareness of my work and in my artistic development. I am grateful to Capsule for their support of me and my music and the benefits this has brought.” – Richard Dawson

Whether solo with guitar, alongside cosmic pop quartet Hen Ogledd or in wonky lockdown duo Bulbils, Dawson tells stories that pin a crowd like no other. Louder Than War penned this glowing review of Richard’s performance at Supersonic Festival 2015… “With a set so stunning that it reduces a packed room to silence Richard Dawson is like nothing else out there. One man and his occasional guitar, a disrupted, distorted amp, and an intense range of impassioned vocals he taps deep into the heart of British folk music.”

Richard Dawson & Circle perform live at Supersonic Festival 8-10 July 2022. Weekend Tickets are now on sale here.

The forthcoming Godspeed You Black Emperor show at the Coventry Empire has been postponed – the new date is 17 Sept 2022.

All tickets purchased for this show will remain valid for the new September date. You do not need to contact us unless you want a refund on your ticket via emailing us with your ticket details to —
[email protected] title GYBE

Here is a statement from the band:

hey & hi & howdy.  this is us, bummed. upcoming scotland, u.k. and euro shows are all postponed. not because of pandemic, but because we’re living through the mess that austerity has wrought- a death narrative writ by dumb boss-logic, where workers are expected to slave thru plague years w/no reward but more precarity. 

we’ll announce rescheduled dates once we know them, and u.s. and kanada shows will move forward as long as the numbers fall. 
after the deluge we’ll see younext to the ocean somewhere, lit by burning megayachts, every star in the sky an asphyxiated billionaire entombed in their vain mars-rockets.  
all power to the people all power to workers. fuck their world their world is death. our world is golden and our side has to win.
xoxoxoxgod’s peemontréal, québec, kanada 30/12/21

SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL IS BACK and we are delighted to announce our return on 8-10th July 2022 with a bold line-up and a new location on the outskirts of Digbeth in Birmingham. 

For our 2022 edition, we have programmed an inspiring weekend to explore mind-bending music and sense-shifting art that celebrates our global community. 

>>> Weekend tickets on sale now. <<<

____________________________________________

Get stuck into our line-up…

We welcome back old friends, the dark-humoured bard of Newcastle Richard Dawson & Circle, the genre-straddling pioneers of The New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal, who will be presenting their new collaborative project together.

Firm festival favourites The Bug feat. Flowdan will bring the noise with the heaviest of bass sounds. Eugene S. Robinson is no stranger to Supersonic, and the last performance in 2017 with the fantastic Oxbow choir was unforgettable, this time Eugene is the vocalist of BUÑUEL which also boasts the sound work of the Italian trio of guitarist Xabier Iriondo (Afterhours), the bass of Andrea Lombardini (The Framers), and the drums of Francesco Valente (Snare Drum Exorcism).

The extraordinary A.A. Williams with the rapturous blend of post-rock and post-classical, which smoulders with uncoiling melodies and haunted atmospheres, shifting from serenity to explosive drama, often within the same song. 

Old Man Gloom, the notorious experimental super-group continue their legacy following the passing of bassist/vocalist Caleb Scofield.  The remaining members Aaron Turner (Sumac/Isis), Nate Newton (Converge), and drummer Santos Montano continue to forge on and bring in Scofield’s Cave In bandmate, Stephen Brodsky, to take Caleb’s place amongst the pulse and throat. Expect earth crumbling riffs, post-hardcore brutality, sprawling noise transmissions, experimental ambient sonic-subdivisions and epic impenetrable melancholy. 

Thou, the Baton Rouge collective, who blend shuddering heaviness with oppressive atmospherics, giving the band a monolithic sound. 

June Of 44 are a group with a lineage that includes beloved underground bands – Rodan, Lungfish, Codeine, Rex, Hoover, and Shipping News. They have chosen Supersonic Festival as the place for them to return to the stage, and will be performing in the UK for the first time in 23 years.

“It felt like the ideal place for us to re-emerge in the UK. There is an honest, gritty, hard-working, direct carefulness with the way it seems Supersonic has been built and continues to develop – in both its curation as well as its organisation. The approach resonates with us, it’s attractive and runs adjacent to the way June of 44 digs to construct itself.  ” – June of 44

Chile’s Föllakzoid are heavily informed by the heritage of the ancient music of the Andes, the band has learned to integrate their origins with contemporary sounds and technologies of our times, creating a rich yet minimal electronic-organic atmosphere.

From Mexico J. Zunz (Lorena Quintanilla – otherwise known for Lorelle Meets The Obsolete) creates a thick atmosphere of experimental post-punk, using wonky synths and crafting haunting melodies that shine through cold repetitions. 

Nadja combines the atmospheric textures of shoegaze and ambient/electronic music with the heaviness, density, and volume of metal, noise, and industrial music. No Home is the moniker of London based Charlotte Valentine who has been releasing music for more than half a decade that shape-shifts through an array of styles. Through a distorted cacophony of sound, Blue Ruth presents part-fiction, part-abstract stories, scribbled down from a morbid vision of their Birmingham hometown. From Nottingham (UK) come two very different sonic forces, the duo Bismuth bring their colossal earthshaking sounds and Bloody Head shall offer up their bleak party bangers.

Supersonic are thrilled to invite two guest curators in 2022, Jerusalem In My Heart (the immersive audio – visual performance project, with Lebanese – Canadian producer / musician Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Montréal – based filmmaker Erin Weisgerber) and Decolonise Fest (annual DIY punk fest who advocate for emerging artists of colour to connect against the global struggles of the legacy of colonialism, and indulge in their love of punk). We look forward to revealing their invited guests next year. 

“Supersonic has been a festival that I have followed closely for many years, and always have been very impressed by the amazing and challenging programming that the festival proposes to its audience. Performing at the festival in 2019 was such a beautiful experience, where I realised how truly special of a community the festival has managed to create around the event. I am so thrilled to be invited to curate a portion of the festival in 2022 and be an active part of Supersonic.” – Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, Jerusalem In My Heart

“Decolonise Fest is excited to collaborate with Supersonic as a guest curator at the 2022 iteration of the festival and as a collective we can’t wait to work with Supersonic more in the future. Whether as attendees, performing artists, or workshop leaders, many of the Decolonise Fest collective have been involved with Supersonic previously. We are looking forward to bringing our ethos of inclusive, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, DIY punk organising to Supersonic.” – Decolonise Fest

This is just the beginning with more of the programme to be revealed in the coming months. 

“★★★★★ UK’s best small festival – By embracing the heaviness in Birmingham’s heritage, and adding a strong dose of eccentricity, Supersonic is world-class.” – The Guardian 

______________________________________________

Supersonic 2022: First Line-up Announcement & Useful Information

Supersonic Festival is returning in 2022 on the weekend of July 8 – 10, celebrating our 16th edition with an ambitious programme of mind bending music, sense shifting art and life altering experiences. 

After two years of being apart, going virtual for Sofasonic in 2020, and everything that’s happened since the fifteenth anniversary edition in 2019, the team behind Supersonic Festival are more ready than ever to make a comeback. We cannot wait to once again host our cherished audience, wider festival team and incredible volunteers. There is one hell of a line up on its way, featuring live performances from the best experimental practitioners out there – expect new commissions, collaborations, workshops, talks and much more!

Our evolution continues as we move to an exciting new home on the outer edges of Digbeth, Birmingham. With our venue partners we will ensure the spaces where we work are safe and inclusive for everyone. Our Code of Conduct clearly outlines the behaviours that we are opposed to and will not tolerate. Furthermore we will continue to work with our staff, volunteers and artists to ensure our work is as environmentally conscious as it can be – and we know our audience is on board with this too. 

We cannot wait to welcome you all back, and share the first of our line up announcements with you.

The last two years have been wrought with challenges, felt by everyone on all levels. However, we promised We Will Rise Again, and that’s exactly what we are planning to do, with your support…

Nowhere else will you find a festival experience quite like Supersonic’s – since 2003, we have been hosting superior weekends for the adventurous audience, taking care to present only the most artistically relevant and irreverent acts from the UK and across the globe, while simultaneously making sure to fill every moment with the opportunities to let loose and party, or sit down at engaging talks, discussions and workshops, or take in exclusive screenings and exhibitions.

“Supersonic reasserts itself as the best European festival for new music” – The Quietus 

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Tickets will go on sale, along with our first lineup announcement, on Thursday 4 November 2021 at 18:00 GMT.

Ahead of that please find some useful information here.

If you have any specific enquires related to Supersonic 2022 that hasn’t been answered please email [email protected] and we will get back to you asap.

The Supersonic Podcast is back with a new episode – celebrating and recognising women, trans and non-binary artists who are creating extraordinary new music.

As Supersonic was founded and is led by women, one of our key aims is to be an inspiring space where these formidable artists and our supportive audience come together and make some stellar things happen. In this new episode, we get ELECTRONIC and throw the spotlight on some pioneering women in electronic music and the artists who are carrying on their flame.

Earlier this year we had the pleasure of hosting five-time Grammy nominated composer Suzanne Ciani as part of the film release of Sisters With Transistors. So we’ll be playing you a bit of that interview, alongside snippets from Moor Mother, our Supersonic Recording’s artist Blue Ruth and plenty of music from AJA, Alpha Maid, Beatrice Dillon, Delia Derbyshire, No Home, Sarah Angliss, The Space Lady and Godspeed You! Peter Andre.

We’ll also be sharing samples of our interview with the pioneering performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti in conversation with award-winning actor & writer Maxine Peake.

What treats we have in store! This is show is absolutely jam-packed.

So tune on in! Treat your ears, and enjoy your podcast journey with us…

LISTEN HERE

If you’re in a position to support the artists in this podcast too, we’ve put all their Bandcamp links below for your convenience…

Tracklist

1. Grime – AJA Ireland

2. SUM1 – Alpha Maid

3. Air Loom (live at Supersonic 2019) – Sarah Angliss

4. Closed Circuit – Suzanne Ciani & Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

5. It’s okay to cry/Ponyboy (SOPHIE cover) – Godspeed You! Peter Andre ft Beau Azra

6. Pot Au Feu – Delia Derbyshire

7. Freshhh – Blue Ruth

8. I Couldn’t Cry Before I Wrote EPs – No Home

9. Workaround One – Beatrice Dillon

10. Zami – Moor Mother

11. Synthesise me – The Space Lady

Supersonic & Thrill Jockey present…

In Conversation: Marisa Anderson & William Tyler

with Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo)

Thursday 7 October 2021, 19:00 BST

Live stream via Bandcamp Live

$1.00 to watch * 

*This conversation is $1 to watch with the option to pay more if you can. We ask if you’re in a position to, you please contribute what you can afford. Your donations will help support production costs.

We’re excited to partner with Thrill Jockey as we continue our series of online talks.

Streaming via Bandcamp live, we’re delighted to present the duo Marisa Anderson & William Tyler in conversation with Yo La Tengo guitarist Ira Kaplan. The event will feature a conversation between the three guitarists, with an audience Q & A, followed by live performances of music from Anderson & Tyler’s Lost Futures, their new album out on Thrill Jockey records.

For more info visit the event page.

The Supersonic Podcast is back with a new episode – celebrating and recognising women, trans and non-binary artists who are creating extraordinary new music.

As Supersonic was founded and is led by women, one of our key aims is to be an inspiring space where these formidable artists and our supportive audience come together and make some stellar things happen.

In our new podcast ‘Spinning Plates’ we throw the spotlight on some women-led music labels and their respective formidable label heads; all spinning their many plates, making their own rules and carving their own path in the music industry. We interview Julie Weir from Sony’s Music for Nations, Bettina Richards from Thrill Jockey & Vinita Joshi from Rocket Girl – all who provide an incredible insight into how they have navigated their way through the music business.

We’ll also talk a bit about our very recent exciting news – Supersonic Recordings (our very own label) has been re-launched! We’ve just released the debut EP of Birmingham artist Blue Ruth, so we interview them about that and spin some tracks from it!

We’ll also be spinning some stellar sounds from Suzanne Ciani, Sofa King, OOIOO, White Ring, Helen Money, Blóm, Loraine James and Spellling.

Tune on in! Treat your ears, and enjoy your podcast journey with us…

LISTEN HERE

If you’re in a position to support the artists in this podcast too, we’ve put all their Bandcamp links below for your convenience…

Tracklist

BLUE RUTH – MAUSOLEOUM EP

Released: Saturday 3rd July 2021

Through a distorted cacophony of sound, Blue Ruth presents their debut EP ‘Mausoleum’; part-fiction, part-abstract stories, scribbled down from a morbid vision of their Birmingham hometown.  

“Synth based, blown out and sickly – it’s a shut-in’s death disco of disfigured beats and fried industrial tones.”
– Echoes & Dust

Six of Blue Ruth’s thundering tracks will be released exclusively on the newly re-formed Supersonic Recordings – a label championing the best in experimental and genre-bending music for the ears of curious audiences. The EP will be available as a limited-edition batch of 150 tape cassettes and as part of a T-shirt Bundle – all featuring artwork by Supersonic designer David Hand.

Pre-order the Cassette Tape + T Shirt bundle here for £22.00

Pre-order the T Shirt + digital download here for £15.00

Just the digital download is available here for £5.00

Listen to preview:

Tracklist:

1. Almost Gone
2. John Wick
3. Freshhh
4. Mausoleum
5. Pure
6. Wide Eyes

Blue Ruth will be launching ‘Mausoleoum’ with a *sold out* live show at Centrala on Saturday 3rd July in collaboration with Supersonic Festival as part of Centrala’s #AllSystemsGo series.

Rodgers & Onacko Play the Broadcast Songbook 

From the depths of Kings Heath, singer-songwriter William William Rodgers and pianist/synth player Piera Onacko present a stripped back, jazz-inflected EP of reworked songs by the Birmingham legends, Broadcast.

Created by the duo as an enjoyable lock-down project, these thoughtful reinterpretations are a beautiful ode to Trish Keenan’s immense songwriting talents. In the sublime spaciousness of Onacko’s delicate piano approach and Rodger’s vocal depth, another dimension is added to familiar songs. They capture a range of moods from misty jazz melancholy to jerky cabaret all happily existing within the limitations of just piano & vocal.

The whole four-track EP was released on Saturday 12 June and is available to listen to on streaming platforms here.

For now, we hope you enjoy this dreamy re-imagining of Tears In The Typing Pool for voice and piano, teamed with visuals by Kings Heath artist Dom MacMillan Scott…

We’ve been big fans of Broadcast at Supersonic HQ for two decades now – it was an honour for us to have them play at the 2006 edition of the festival. This project from Onacko & Rodgers is a fitting tribute to an immense Birmingham talent, and it’s release now is even more poignant with it being 10 years since Trish’s passing – RIP. We’re feeling all warm and nostalgic listening to the incredible set they performed at Supersonic Festival 2006 on the Custard Factory Pool…

We’re chuffed to continue our Supersonic Podcast series celebrating and recognising women, trans and non-binary artists who are creating extraordinary new music.

As Supersonic was founded and is led by women, one of our key aims is to be an inspiring space where these formidable artists and our supportive audience come together and make some stellar things happen. Earlier this year we teamed up with Swamp Booking, one of Europe’s leading independent agencies, to launch a series of talks that amplify these voices – happening as live streams on YouTube.

In today’s podcast, we focus on our third talk of the series, “Sounding Out Intersectionality” with Stephanie Phillips from Big Joanie, Lorena Quintanilla aka. the Rocket Recordings signed artist J.Zunz and Shannon Funchess founder of US act Light Asylum.

We’ll also be spinning some BIG sounds from Special Interest, Divide and Dissolve, Pretty Grim, Big | Brave and The Linda Lindas.

Tune on in! Treat your ears, and enjoy your podcast journey with us…

LISTEN HERE

If you’re in a position to support the artists in this podcast too, we’ve put all their Bandcamp links below for your convenience…

Tracklist

Supersonic presents…

In Conversation: BIG | BRAVE

Thursday 10 June 2021, 20:00 BST

Live stream via YouTube

FREE (donations welcomed*)

*Whilst these conversations are free to watch, we ask if you’re in a position to, you please contribute what you can afford. Your donations will help to secure the future work of Supersonic, enabling us to support the artists we host and our freelance team. You can donate by buying our merch or making a donation.

Supersonic was founded and is led by womxn, one of our key aims is to be an inspiring space where womxn, trans and non-binary artists who are creating extraordinary new music are celebrated and recognised.

We’re excited to partner once again with Swamp Booking as we continue our series of online talks that amplify the voices and experiences of womxn, trans and non-binary artists. We’ll be exploring how to create a better working environment and a more cohesive scene, sharing wider perspectives first-hand, whilst also focusing on more specific topics such as the notion of ‘Heaviness’ in creative practice.

With this in mind, we’re delighted to present the trio BIG | BRAVE in conversation on Thursday 10 June 2021. Hosted once again by journalist, Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley, this new edition of our series will explore ideas of great force, intensity and turbulence within music.

The Montreal, Quebec trio BIG | BRAVE create heavy, vast post-rock. Minimalism, structural freedom and meticulous timing form the cornerstones of their precise, rhythmical sound.

The band formed in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession. Band members Robin Wattie and Mathieu Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs together. After an incident where an acoustic guitar broke, the electric guitar became the permanent replacement, bringing with it larger amps and mass of amplitude. Third member Tasy Hudson joined the ranks in 2018.

It became clear that loud volume would become just as effective as the lowest possible ones and the juxtaposition of both would become something of a signature sound for them.

“Even at their heaviest though, there’s a brightness and optimism radiating at the core of the trio’s sound. Their folky roots really shine through”

– The Quietus

Above is the band’s latest music video ‘Big Brave’ – it consists of a single shot of a single performative action that can be read as the representation of the damage an external force can have on someone or something without ever having to bear any responsibility and consequence.  BIG | BRAVE adds “The action of shovelling dirt onto the person, also acts a way to discredit, shame and discriminate the individual. With the victim (on screen), being painfully covered with dirt by the perpetrator (off screen), all we have to witness is the damage done and left behind. We are aware of what is happening, what has happened, but the source is kept anonymous and can easily be missed and overlooked.”

In 2015, the band entered the studio with Menuck and recorded “Au De La”. With no home for the record, they decided to take a chance in writing to Southern Lord. As luck would have it, Greg Anderson happened upon their email among hundreds and responded. Since then, BIG | BRAVE have had a home with Southern Lord Records – they’ve released the band’s latest outputs; Ardor in 2017, A Gaze Among Them in 2019 and VITAL in 2021.

Since their inception, the band has had many honours and privileges of touring a number of times in North America and Europe with bands such as Sunn O))), MY DISCO, The Body, Thou, Primitive Man and Thee Silver Mt Zion.

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[image by Joe Singh]

Thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting to hear from us about our plans for Supersonic Festival 2021. Many of you have been getting in touch to find out about the next festival and when it will take place.

We have made the decision not to go ahead with Supersonic Festival in 2021. The festival will return in 2022.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and reshaped our lives, the Capsule team have been working closely with our board to think through possible approaches and different scenarios. During lockdown last year, our digital edition Sofasonic was a big success, and we have discovered a lot about producing digital events. We didn’t want to repeat Sofasonic this year, especially as we are not in a full national lockdown. Sofasonic (an online only edition of the festival) felt like an idea that was of the moment, and whilst digital broadcast will remain part of our future, we also want to return to producing in-person events.

Equality and accessibility for a wide range of audiences is a core part of our ethos as an organisation and it doesn’t feel right to produce an in-person festival when a lot of people are still unable to attend safely. We understand this personally – some of our team have been shielding throughout lockdown. The safety of our team, artists and audience is so important to us.  We want people to feel comfortable and confident, and to be able to engage with the festival safely. This is especially important for Supersonic as we are a city-based festival working mostly in indoor venues.

It’s also risky for independent festivals and event organisers to plan events when there is still no insurance available to cover cancellations connected to COVID-19.  We hope this issue can be addressed soon as it’s affecting many independent festivals in the UK. We hope that the government might work with the insurance sector to develop or underwrite such a scheme.  This would enable the independent sector to plan more confidently.

Supersonic is an international festival and currently international touring is on hold. It’s important to us (especially within the context of Brexit) that we remain outward facing and can host artists from all corners of the world. We’re exploring new collaborations that can help international touring, and we are also looking into greener ‘slow touring’ models which could support our goal to reduce carbon emissions and reduce our climate impact.

We miss seeing our audience, team and amazing artists face to face. Thank you for the support thus far – attending our online events, buying our merch, and for all your generous donations – which have enabled us to raise money not only for Capsule but also for the Trussell Trust and RSVP.  Your loyalty and generosity means the world to the team and keeps us going – making us more determined to make 2022 our come back year. We’re planning to come back with a bang in 2022 – and are already working on exciting plans.

For those with tickets for Supersonic 2020 please hold onto them and they’ll be valid for 2022. If you need to request a refund for your ticket at this stage, please contact the Capsule team on info[at]capsule.org.uk. We can refund the full cost of your ticket but sadly cannot refund booking fees.

We know you are a knowledgeable and opinionated bunch and so we wanted to take this opportunity to ask you the fans what you’d like to see at Supersonic 2022. What artists do you dream of seeing live? What ideas for new forms of events and festival strands could make Supersonic 2022 extraordinary? What could make the festival more inclusive? Let us know in the comments on our social media here.

In the meantime, you can relive the some of the highlights of past Supersonic festivals on our Youtube channel.  We’ve also been dusting off vintage footage from the archive and getting ready to share with you publicly. As a very special treat, today we are publishing the live set Fugazi played in 2002 – see below.

We miss you!

With love,

The Capsule / Supersonic family and team

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To soften the blow, we share with you now some rare footage from our archives – Fugazi (Dischord) live at one of our earliest Capsule shows in 2002 at the then Institute in Birmingham, UK.

A massive thanks to Fugazi for the permission to share this footage, and to Tom Wagstaff for editing it.

Filmed by Lisa Meyer & Jenny Moore 

Supersonic presents…

In Conversation: DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE

Thursday 6 May 2021, 19:30 GMT

Live stream via YouTube

FREE (donations welcomed*)

*Whilst these conversations are free to watch, we ask if you’re in a position to, you please contribute what you can afford. Your donations will help to secure the future work of Supersonic, enabling us to support the artists we host and our freelance team. You can donate by buying our merch or making a donation.

Supersonic was founded and is led by womxn, one of our key aims is to be an inspiring space where womxn, trans and non-binary artists who are creating extraordinary new music are celebrated and recognised.

We’re excited to continue our series of online talks that amplify the voices and experiences of womxn, trans and non-binary artists. We’ll be exploring how to create a better working environment and a more cohesive scene, sharing wider perspectives first-hand, whilst also focusing on more specific topics such as the notion of ‘Heaviness’ in creative practice.

With this in mind, we’re delighted to present the multidimensional heavy duo, Divide & Dissolve in conversation on Thursday 6 May 2021. Hosted once again by journalist, Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley, this new edition of our series will explore ideas of great force, intensity and turbulence within music.

DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE members Takiaya Reed  (saxophone, guitar, live effects) and Sylvie Nehill (drums, live effects) create instrumental music that is both heavy and beautiful, classically influenced yet thrillingly contemporary, and powerfully expressive and communicative. It has the ability to speak without words, and utilises frequencies to interact with the naturally occurring resonance. There is an undeniable chemistry between the two musicians when interlocked in their waves of sound.

Both from indigenous backgrounds, Divide and Dissolve aim to secure Black futures, liberation, and freedom; demand Indigenous Sovereignty; uplift people of colour’s experiences; and destroy white supremacy.  They use their pummelling performances to carry the fight of their ancestors, and to draw attention to the ongoing battle against systemic oppression. 

Their new album Gas Lit  was released on  Invada Records on 29th January, and produced by Ruban Neilson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra.  About the signing, Geoff Barrow from Invada comments: “I first became aware of Divide & Dissolve through a mutual friend. She then sent me their album and it totally freaked me out with its beauty and extreme heaviness. Takiaya & Sylvie are brilliant people who feel like part of the Invada family already.” He continues, “I’m really looking forward to them releasing their new album with us and we 100% support their fight to abolish white supremacy with their crushing doom.” 

As part of this event, we are delighted to be premiering ‘Many Arms‘ the new single of Helen Money to be released on Thrill Jockey.

Helen is a unique and versatile cellist who uses her instrument to access and channel the extremities of human emotion. By employing extensive sonic manipulation and an array of plucking and bowing techniques she summons an astonishing breadth and depth of sound. She has toured extensively with Shellac, Russian Circles, Earth, Bob Mould and MONO. On her new album Atomic, she pushes even further out towards the extremes of her output with a daring leap forward in her songwriting through minimalist arrangements that stand as her most intimate, direct, and emotionally bare work to date.

Her music has been described by Louder Than War as “emotionally stunning, flipping between tenderness and fear, rage and serenity. A perfect example of a universal story being told by a master of their craft.”

In partnership with The Wire, Supersonic Presents…

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS: film screening + in conversation with Q&A

In Conversation: Suzanne Ciani & Lisa Rovner (Director)

hosted by Louise Gray from The Wire

Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 20:00 BST

In Conversation is free to watch via the Supersonic YouTube channel here.

Tickets to film screening are £9.99 available here. Watch anytime after April 23.

We are delighted to be partnering with The Wire to present a Virtual Screening of the film SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (released by Modern Films) accompanied by an In Conversation with legendary electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani & the film’s director Lisa Rovner – hosted by Louise Gray from The Wire.

Sisters with Transistors is the remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today.

The film maps a new history of electronic music through the visionary women whose radical experimentations with machines redefined the boundaries of music, including Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Maryanne Amacher, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, and Laurie Spiegel.

Supersonic was founded and is led by womxn, one of our key aims is to be an inspiring space where womxn, trans and non-binary artists who are creating extraordinary new music are celebrated and recognised. This event takes place as part of our wider series of online talks that amplify the voices and experiences of womxn, trans and non-binary artists. Exploring how to create a better working environment and a more cohesive scene, sharing wider perspectives first-hand.

SUZANNE CIANI (born June 4, 1946) is a five-time Grammy award-nominated composer, electronic music pioneer, and new age recording artist. While in grad school in Berkeley, Suzanne became entranced with the ability to produce music with a machine, and devoted herself to the Buchla synthesizers for the next two decades, pioneering live electronic performances in quadrophic sound. Alongside a successful artistic career, she was also responsible for scoring TV spots and crafting iconic sound bites for some of America’s largest corporations throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. The sound effect of a Coca-Cola bottle being opened and poured is one of her most famed achievements. Ciani was also the first woman to score a major Hollywood film (Lily Tomlin’s ‘The Incredible Shrinking Woman’ in 1981).

LISA ROVNER is a French American artist and filmmaker based in London. Her films spring from her fascination with archives and her underlying aspiration to transform politics and philosophy into cinematic spectacle. Rovner has collaborated with some of the most internationally respected artists and brands including Pierre Huyghe, Liam Gillick, Sebastien Tellier, Maison Martin Margiela and Acne. Her films have been presented internationally in art venues and theaters. Currently, she is in development on an episodic comedy about the art world and on a television series about revolutionary architecture. SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS is her first feature documentary.

HOSTED BY LOUISE GRAY from The Wire – a writer who specialises in music and visual arts. She has written for many UK-based publications, including the NME, Guardian, Index on Censorship and the New Statesman. Formerly a music critic for The Times and culture correspondent for the Independent on Sunday, she currently writes for The Wire, Musicworks, New Internationalist, Tempo and Museums Journal.

Especially for International Women’s Day 2021, we commissioned six artists to pay homage to their own personal Pop Icons – the result? ICONIC SONICS! 

In celebration of some iconic womxn music makers and shakers, expect wild interpretations and creative covers of pop royalty presented by Lone Taxidermist, Godspeed You! Peter Andre, Conny Prantera, Blóm, Blue Ruth & Sofa King.

They are now all available to watch again on our YouTube channel for your pure viewing enjoyment! Get stuck in below…

LONE TAXIDERMIST covers Cosey Fan Tutti

Supersonic veteran, Natalie Sharp aka Lone Taxidermist is known in equal measure for her cosmic synth creations and otherworldly costume designs. Sharp is a disabled artist at the forefront of a new wave of underground musicians, creating immersive worlds for their audiences to participate in. Often working in non-conventional settings, she challenges existing frameworks and expectations whilst exploring issues around gender and sexuality, pain and the body. She effortlessly blends stagecraft with costumes, graphic art, video making, face paint, vocal technique, remixing and DJing, pushing the parameters of live settings. 

“I feel like Cosey paved a way of doing art that deeply resonates with me. There’s a lot of parallels between us, not just because we’re from hard ass northern fighting towns and have sea fairing fathers but also because of her approach to art. Through actions and her own personal corporeal expression, Cosey puts her entire being into her art I can hard relate to that”

GODSPEED YOU! PETER ANDRE ft BEAU AZRA covers SOPHIE 

This dark electronic duo are set to collide the world of pop royalty with deep industrial witch music. Based at the Islington Mill in Salford, the duo first met back in 2008 at a Fat Out gig (of Supersonic googly-eye fame). Together, they explore the realms of the dark psyche, taking the audience from depths of meditative intensity to rhythmic industrious beats.

CONNY PRANTERA (aka THE SEER) covers Nico

Artist Conny Prantera has built a striking career in illustration, video art, music and multimedia work that takes inspiration from symbolism and visionary art. Her creations are full of dark meditations on man’s relationship to the natural world and the historical vanquishing of matriarchal systems, drawing lineage from magic and esotericism through dreamwork and self introspections. Mostly performing as The Seer, she has produced a multitude of performances that take form as solo or collaborative pieces.

“My fascination with Nico has a lot to do with her as a performer and especially in the beautifully raw underground short The Inner Scar, a strange and spellbinding film by Philippe Garrel. Like the very few successful women artists of her times, Nico’s life was complicated and put under scrutiny in a way that her male counterparts never had to endure.” 

BLÓM covers SOPHIE

Forming mid-way through 2017, Blóm describe themselves as “three cute punx playing pua radge shit”.  Comprised of former members of Tough Tits and Yume Hayashi, Newcastle Upon Tyne’s Blóm fuse together genres to create their unique DIY Queer Feminist anthems. In 2020 Blóm released their debut album ‘FLOWER VIOLENCE’ on Box Records, and played only two shows: Borealis Festival (Norway) and TUSK Festival. This year they will be supporting Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs on their rescheduled 2021 UK Tour dates.

“We chose SOPHIE as she is a hugely inspirational artist and soul who has influenced us collectively and individually. This reworking of FACESHOPPING, has been dissected and reworked by BLÓM, recorded in our practice room, never to be played the same again. This is our tribute to a pioneer, it tastes good and it’s like moisturizer.”

BLUE RUTH covers Grace Jones

Noisy, synth led, electronic, industrial music with post-punk sensibilities. Blue Ruth is a semi-improv genre crossing experience by Kaila Whyte of Birmingham punk band Youth Man and noise-trio Pretty Grim.

“Grace Jones is just a badass. Firstly, her music and film career is iconic (her performance as Katrina in Vamp is a highlight!) And on a personal level, she’s one of few prominent people I can really recognise myself in. To see an androgynous, Jamaican woman who is sex-positive without being hyper-feminine is something I really valued as a child and still today.”

SOFA KING covers Kate Bush

Leeds based experimentalist Sofa King, is the musical output of pop-obsessed transgender individual Dianne Burdon. She treats reverb and feedback like a chemical formula with raucous clashes of Tetris-like guitar beeps. 

“What’s important about Kate Bush is her ability to take risks without compromise, it’s why her music holds up, it’s both classic and timeless, something I aspire to with my music. She’s someone who understood what it took to sit at conception of pop as art, without watering anything down. ” 

If you enjoyed this Iconic Sonics series, why not check out our Sofa Sabbath collection from last summer? We’ve also got many performances, panel talks, make-a-longs and more from our Sofasonic weekend over on our YouTube Channel. So make sure you Subscribe!