In their own words, Pharaoh Overlord play “hypno-improv-stoner-rock”. Featuring three members of the Finnish group Circle (also playing Supersonic 2011), Jussi Lehtisalo, Janne Westerlund and Tomi Leppänen started up Pharaoh Overlord just over a decade ago to explore their love of stoner-rock. Since then, they’ve boiled it right down to its essence, each new record taking a different trip. Then again, their ‘Out Of Darkness’ album from earlier this year took a sharp, unexpected turn into the heart of true heavy metal. Their ‘Live in Suomi’ album even features Joachim Irmler of Faust, both performing and remixing. All of which was enough to inspire Roadburn Festival to host them as artists-in-residence this year.
The band’s new record ‘Horn’ (Ektro Records) is a further departure for the band. This is nasty, noisy full-on art rock from the outer reaches of space, like early Sonic Youth tearing it up with Crazy Cavan & the Rhythm Rockers. We reckon this is really satisfying head-music that’ll move your body too. The album features a cover of Spacemen 3’s ‘Revolution’, which may or may not be the tune they’re playing on the Roadburn 2011 clip below. You tell us. Either way, it’s a quarter of an hour of zoned-out, one-chord magic.
Hiroshi Hasegawa was in the band C.C.C.C., one of the biggest Japanese noise groups, and Astro is his solo project.
Born in 1963, Hasegawa first worked on improvisation with just his voice and drums before forming C.C.C.C in 1989. Astro began in 1993 as a project using analog synthesizers. He formed Cosmic Coincidence as a new configuration of C.C.C.C. in 2010 with the members Manuel Knapp and Rohco. To date, he has released an enviable 50+ releases across all his projects. Throughout, Hiroshi describes his playing style as “like drifting between the meditation and awakening state with electronics”. Astro in the recent past plays with electronic-noise, frequently an assault on both his equipment and the audience. It’s as close to a rock-band destroying its gear in last-rites death throes as we’ve seen in the recent electronics scenes. Judge for yourself in the clips below.
We’re always making links between the disparate worlds of artists here at Supersonic and today we bring together three unique artists who all share a simple common bond. Pekko Kappi, Tony Conrad and Agathe Max all use bowed instruments in their music, all with very different techniques and to different ends, each highly skilled.
Finland’s Pekko Kappi plays the Jouhikko, the ancient Finnish-Karelian bowed lyre. He got involved with the Jouhikko in 1997 in the Ala-Könni–institute of Kaustinen and ever since has been studying the tradition with the master players of Finland, Estonia and Sweden. This particular lyre was played with a bow as early as in the European Middle Ages although in the area around the Baltic Sea there is evidence of both bowed and plucked lyres. In Estonia and Eastern Finland the Jouhikko remained in use until the beginning of the 20th century. Kappi is one of a number of players investigated this instrument and bringing it alive for new generations.
Tony Conrad is a legendary figure in both film and music for many people. He was an early member of the New York-based ensemble The Dream Syndicate alongside La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela and John Cale, using continuous tones to create what they called ‘dream music’. Conrad’s first musical release was 1972’s ‘Outside the Dream Syndicate’ collaboration with Faust (check out our Spotify playlist for a track from that) but he released very little work until a series of box sets in the past decade. His film work is justifiably lauded too and his early piece ‘The Flicker’ is considered a landmark of the late 1960s structural film movement. One more fact? His father was Arthur Conrad who worked with Everett Warner during World War II designing dazzle camouflage for the US Navy.
Agathe Max is a violinist from Lyon, France. With an elegant command of melody and a strident use of rhythm, Max creates dynamic, fast-flowing loop pieces that encompass noise, post-classicism and krautrock with nods to the High Lonesome Raga as filtered through Henry Flynt. Her current album ‘This Silver String’ has been really well received in many places. “Agathe Max delivers a drone to keep the earth turning on its axis, with a keen and romantic sense of swing. Everything you need to have a good time” – Jonathan Kane.
The eighth in our series of Supersonic Q&As, introducing you to the artists playing in 2011 and giving you an insight into their world. Today, hailing from London, a little known treasure named Slabdragger. A band who sing about epic quests to Nepal to find killer weed, rubbish Roman Centurions, battling huge Octopian creatures and drinking rum. They also feature the one and only Sam Thredder (Dead Swans, More Than Life, Last Witness, Throats). And, as their label Holy Roar says, they’re sludge as. Answers courtesy of bass player Yusuf Tary.
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
THIS IS SOME HEAVY SHIT.
2. What can people expect of Slabdragger at the festival? A lot of massive, driving, noisy riffs that your mum would not like very much.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does? It takes away the pressures of the ‘life competition’ that we all seem to be involved in. Music seems to be the one thing in our existence that is not (or shouldn’t) be competitive because everything else seems to be. People are generally so wrapped up in what their job title is, how much money they’re earning, what car they have blah blah blah. Our music, for us, transcends all that….. and we get to shout a lot.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?) I for one am looking forward to Electric Wizard as I’ve seen them before and they were amazing. I would also like to see Zombi as they have a real interesting sound.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are… It’s probably going to be fucking freezing in Birmingham so warm clothes and lots and lots of BEER.
Supersonic 2010 attendees will perhaps need no introduction to the stunning dust-trails of sound that San Franciscan duo Barn Owl create. The band were so well received that we just had to get them back for Supersonic 2011. In the past year, the praise for their mesmerising drones and layered feedback has slowly built up into a huge wall of superlatives. It’s taking all our strength here at Capsule to avoid waxing lyrical about “hauntingly beautiful sonic waterfalls” and the like! Rock-A-Rolla even went so far as to say that their 2010 album ‘Ancestral Star’ on Thrill Jockey was “the most significant experimental drone album since [SunnO)))’s] ‘Monoliths & Dimensions’”.
What you definitely get with Barn Owl is a hugely powerful immersive experience. Frequently playing in front of modified super 8 footage, the twin guitars of Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras intertwine instinctively, equal parts slow-burning twang and spaced-out feedback drone. It’s hard to stop those superlatives flowing. The band have just released a new EP ‘Shadowlands‘ that adds a devotional aspect reflective of artists like Popul Vuh (especially their soundtrack for the Werner Herzog film ‘Fitzcarraldo’) and Alice Coltrane, and their new full-length ‘Lost In The Glare‘ will be out on 13th September. (Free mp3 here.) Both Caminiti and Porras are solo artists releasing on labels like Root Strata and Three Lobed Recordings and Caminiti is also an established visual artist.
For our seventh Q&A the questions are being fired at British experimental musician Alexander Tucker. Tucker has become a established presence in the freak-folk-improv scene since his debut album was released by Tom Greenwood (Jackie OMF)’s U-Sound Archives label in 2003. He released his new album Dorwytch on Thrill Jockey Records in April 2011 and will be performing it in its entirety at Supersonic. The record breaks new ground for Tucker by combining minimalist string arrangements with electronic manipulations and drones to produce doom chamber-pop songs and psychedelic music-concrete collages. Tucker also has a duo with Stephen O’Malley and is an established visual artist.
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic? Sonic, hairy, friendly, psych, people !
2. What can people expect of your set at the festival? The set will include hairy yeti beings, fog, mind-bending electronics and astral projections.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does? I make music to illuminate the inner being, escape the doom, conjure up the almighty spirit and to communicate with my fellow human beings.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?) I want to see both Circle and Pharaoh Overlord because they are both fuckin awesome, Bardo Pond because they are the best band in the world, Tony Conrad because he’s shit hot.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are. Mary Jane, Stout, food and water, outrageously over sized metal t-shirts.
Big news came our way recently when the self-proclaimed “Third-biggest Formula Rock Band in the World” Turbonegro returned with news of a brand new front-man, Tony Sylvester. It has been a whirlwind few weeks ever since, having returned to the stage at the annual Turbojugend Fan Club Convention in Hamburg on Friday July 15, after a two year hiatus to the roaring approval of their denim-clad fans.
Now, Supersonic have ensnared the almighty Kings Of Deathpunk for a UK exclusive headline performance at the festival. Bringing all the glam, good tunes and great vibes (and hopefully hordes of denim-clad followers) we couldn’t be more excited!
The line up includes, Tony Sylvester (Vocals), Happy Tom (Bass), Euroboy (Guitar), Pål Pot Pamparius (Keys/Guitar), Tommy Manboy (Drums/Percussion) and Rune Rebellion (Guitar). Tony Sylvester comments on playing the festival:
“I was so chuffed that Lisa and Jenny asked Turbonegro to headline Supersonic and that the first show with the new line up in the UK will be there. Not only are they the best promoters in the UK, but I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved with the festival itself since its second year: announcing bomb threats, swimming in the fountains, playing Northern Soul, arguing on panels, you name it. This will be the first time I’ve actually played there however!”
ARE YOU READY?
They join the current line up of: ALVA NOTO / a.P.A.t.T. /AGATHE MAX /ANTILLES /ASTRO /BARDO POND / BARN OWL / BYETONE/ CIRCLE/ CLOAKS /CUT HANDS /ELECTRIC WIZARD / ENVY / ETERNAL TAPESTRY/ FIRE!/ KOGUMAZA/ LUCKY DRAGONS/ MONARCH/ NATHAN BELL/ PART CHIMP/ PHARAOH OVERLORD/ PEKKO KAPPI/ SCORN/ SECRET CHIEFS / SILVER APPLES / SKULL DEFEKTS / SLABDRAGGER/ TEETH OF THE SEA / THE BERG SANS NIPPLE/ TONY CONRAD/ WHITE HILLS / WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM / ZOMBI / ZU93
Tickets for the festival are only £75 for three days of music, film, art and cake and are available HERE
Wolves in the Throne Room announce new album ‘Celestial Lineage’ (artwork pictured)
We’re delighted to have finally booked Wolves in the Throne Room for Supersonic. The band have wanted to play for some time now and 2011 is the year. The band, from the Pacific NorthWest of the US, have been highly acclaimed since their debut album ‘Diadem of 12 Stars’ in 2006. Core members Aaron and Nathan Weaver formed the band with an intention to blend 90s Norwegian black metal with something approaching “a sense of spirituality that is rooted in the landscape and natural cycles of the Northwest”.
And, just in time for Supersonic, the band will release their new album ‘Celestial Lineage’ on 13th September through Southern Lord. Intended as the final part of a trilogy begun with their 2007 album ‘Two Hunters’ and continuing through ‘Black Cascade’ from 2009, the album is in their own words “about temple building and establishing traditions – we wanted it to have a more refined and imperial quality [than the two previous records].” Judge for yourself, as an exclusive preview track has been shared via NPR. Featuring vocalist Jessika Kenney, ‘Woodland Cathedral’ is a pagan hymn that partly explores the influence of folk rituals and traditions on the band.
Lastly, illustrator, and past Supersonic collaborator, Simon Fowler has also just unveiled his fantastic submission for the ‘Celestial Lineages’ tour print series. Here it is:
Supersonic 2011 tickets now on sale in Manchester at Piccadilly Records, Oldham Street, M1 1JR.
That’s right, any Greater Manchester dwellers can get their Supersonic 2011 tickets over the counter at Piccadilly Records. Available from today for £75 + booking fee. Save yourself the worry of the postal service and support your local record shop, especially after the devastating fire at the PIAS warehouse last week. Even better: order a PIAS-distributed album by one of the artists playing at Supersonic and support the labels and distribution network in a time of much need. Could we suggest maybe Alexander Tucker, Skull Defekts, White Hills, Barn Owl or Eternal Tapestry (all on Thrill Jockey)?
Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple to play Kids Gigs at Supersonic 2011
It’s hard to imagine to two more perfect bands to play our Supersonic Kids Gigs than Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple. These will rule! If everyone isn’t running around clapping and smiling in five minutes, we’ll need to think about refunds.
Lucky Dragons are all about people coming together to make sound, to make an event, to make something new and joyous. It’s not by accident that they refer to their live shows as ‘actions’. They encourage participation and this Supersonic live show promises to be all about (re)discovery and (re)turning to play to learn about ourselves and make new connections. There’s a live video link below and more Lucky Dragons live films are here.
The Berg Sans Nipple are a Frenchman and a Nebraskan. With two drums, synths, samples, a ton of percussion and vocals, their sounds hop-skip past each other, caught in devastatingly beautiful melodies held tight by a mind bending rhythm section. Their new video ‘Changing the Shape’ (link below) is a fantastic twist on the age-old game of exquisite corpse where an image or story is built up person-by-person using instinct and imagination. Let’s play!
In case you missed it with all the other exciting Supersonic news, Alexander Tucker will be giving a very special performance at this year’s festival. Tucker will be presenting DORWYTCH CYLCLE, a performance of his new album Dorwytch which incorporates electronic manipulations and string arrangements with his trademark psychedelic doom and freak folk.
Films made specially for this event will be projected to match the haunting sounds. The performance is an extension of the Alexander Tucker visual world of hair beings and other worldly creatures.
Australian guitarist and sound designer Oren Ambarchi is performing at Supersonic 2011 in collaboration with the FIRE! trio of Mats Gustafsson from The Thing (saxophone/rhodes), Johan Berthling from Tape (bass) and Andreas Werliin from Wildbirds and Peacedrums (percussion). Originally a drummer, he came to the guitar by accident, investigating its sound properties rather than learning traditional techniques. A good entry point into his work is ‘Grapes From The Estate’ album (Touch, 2004), a masterful exploration of ambient guitar and electronics. More recently, he has collaborated with Stephen O’Malley and Attilar Csihar as Gravetemple.
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
Lovely people and killer shows
2. What can people expect of your collaboration with FIRE! at the festival?
In all honesty I don’t know what to expect as the Supersonic show will be the first time we’ve worked together(!).
Additionally I’ll be flying all the way from Australia for 30+ hrs, landing at Heathrow, driving straight to Birmingham and hitting it immediately so…it should be awesome, hahaha. I must say that I’m a fan of all the guys in the band so I’m really excited to work with them.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
I often think about what drives us to do this stuff, this stuff that continually tortures & haunts us..(or me anyway as it can be a struggle at times). Mostly for me I think it’s the search for beauty/ecstasy. When I’m going for something & it doesn’t work, I can get super depressed for days. But when it ‘works’ there’s no other feeling that comes close and I’m always striving to get to this state again & again. I’m really addicted to it.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?)
Well, definitely Tony Conrad. I’ve seen him a number of times but I can’t get enough of his work, especially in a live context. He’s super important to me. Also totally psyched to see Cut Hands. I’m a huge Whitehouse/Bennett fan, I love the way he’s fused this ecstatic trance inducing voodou vibe with noise. There’s plenty of other friends playing at the fest who I’m looking forward to hanging with & listening to, there’s definitely a great breadth to all the lineups at Supersonic.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
Melatonin, ear-plugs, finding a decent restaurant (ahem) and a good single-malt.
“Fuzzed-out motorik space-rock” is what the band call it. There’s more than a little twisted psychedelic glam in there too, but White Hills are really one of those bands that creates their own worlds. Check out bass player Ego Sensation’s video channel to get an insight into their visual style. It reminds the Supersonic team of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s films like El Topo and Sante Sangre – they’re filled with violently surreal imagery, all warped-out montages and jump-cut shocks. It’s hard to work out whether this is serious, fun, deliberate or insane – or all of the above – but the sensory onslaught definitely starts to get a little more understandable when you hear from Ego Sensation:
We can barely pay our rent each month but we are willing to pull out our credit cards and go into debt each time a new iPhone promises a better connection. The joke is on us. Our greater connectivity has caused us to disconnect from our humanity. We have been sold the religion of consumerism to feed the corporate machine. We have been tricked into believing that wanting our tax dollars to pay for our own health care is treacherous to the ideals of a democratic society. H-p1 is symbolic of the simplification of complex ideas to keep the masses from questioning the system.
From London, Teeth of the Sea play a wild, mixed-up strain of what sounds like semi-improvised jams. Structures are amorphous, reference points are redundant as they switch modes from song-to-song – noise-rock, electronics and dubbed-out trumpet all get a look-in. As DROWNED IN SOUND said in their review of current album ‘Your Mercury’ (Rocket Recordings, 2010), the band create “a steamy, light-starved jungle of tangled electronics and feral distortion occasionally punctuated by startlingly lucid bottom end. For the most part Teeth of the Sea’s second record defies any worries about genre categorisation, a hermetically sealed unit with such a strong sense of self that comparisons to other music seem perverse.”
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic? Jimmy: An embarrassment of sonic riches. Mat: Great method of karma scouring. Mike: It goes up to 11.
2. What can people expect of Teeth of the Sea at the festival? Mat: Manifold contact highs. Seeing us should lead to elevation. Being down wind of us should lead to inebriation. Mike: Hair raising, teeth grinding, ear bleeding, knob twiddling, move busting, figure hugging, fist pumping, face melting, load blowing, psyche fucking rock. Jimmy: It’ll be a bit like that climactic scene in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, only with four skinny blokes instead of the seraphim, a total absence of the Third Reich, and the added bonus of just about being able to survive to tell the tale afterwards.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does? Mike: We’d have to hand over to philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist Friedrich Nietzsche here, with his celebrated quote “Without music, life would be a mistake. Besides which, whenever I hear the sound of a needle hitting wax I get as hard as a diamond in an ice storm.” I think he speaks for us all. Mat: Seriously, it’s the art form that allows for the greatest breadth of thinking and technique. Approach it from any angle and you can still make it dance. Which is what Supersonic is all about, right? Jimmy: Music. Makes The People. Come Together.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?) Mike: The fact we’re on the same bill as Zombi is making us collectively weep tears of joy and blood. Also looking forward to Alva Noto + Byetone quite possibly ripping a hole in the fabric of space and time above the Custard Factory. Jimmy: I’m pretty excited about withstanding Astro’s cosmic assault, but there’s literally nobody on the bill I wouldn’t pay to go and see at their own show. Plus Electric Wizard as headliners are going to be one unholy rite. Mat: I’m already upset that I won’t be able to see everything, but I’m really excited about seeing Circle again. Mainly because the rest of TOTS have never seen them and I want to be there when THE GREATEST LIVE BAND IN THE WORLD tear them all fresh ones.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are… Mike: all essential. Trust me. Jimmy: We’re still trying to secure lucrative sponsorship deals with Ginster’s Pasties and Anadin Extra, so I should probably say those. The only problem with Supersonic in my experience is that I end up so thrilled by the whole shebang that I’m a mess by about 10PM, but far be it from me to suggest something as vulgar as pacing yourself. Mat: The Bat Belt will be equipped with nerve agents, tranquilizers, military issue med kit, Tescos coupons, guitar picks and holy water. As standard.
ENVYare now confirmed for this years festival line up. They have become a dominant band in the independent hardcore scene in Japan, their music, through their own evolution, encompasses a sound where intensity and beauty coexists. They have recorded a number of singles and albums in Japan, including split albums with bands like This Machine Kills, Endeavor, Six Pence and Yaphet Kotto. Since their beginning, Envy has toured all throughout Japan with Mogwai, Isis and many more. They have laboured and toured their songs relentlessly for over a decade, and will continue to do so well into the next.
Secondly, a hot topic thanks to their recently acclaimed album Lost In The Glare, Barn Owl will return for another year, bringing the well honed dual guitar interplay between Caminiti and Porras, only this time in a different performance space. Producing a spiralling web of interlocking gestures that give way to bone rattling, monolithic progressions and dusty drifts. The mostly finger picked guitars weave in and out of each other in precise movements that recall the hypnotic influence of American minimalists.
They join ALVA NOTO / a.P.A.t.T. /AGATHE MAX /ANTILLES /ASTRO /BARDO POND / BYETONE/ CIRCLE/ CLOAKS /CUT HANDS /ELECTRIC WIZARD / ETERNAL TAPESTRY/ FIRE!/ KOGUMAZA/ LUCKY DRAGONS/ MONARCH/ NATHAN BELL/ PART CHIMP/ PHARAOH OVERLORD/ PEKKO KAPPI/ SCORN/ SECRET CHIEFS / SILVER APPLES / SKULL DEFEKTS / SLABDRAGGER/ TEETH OF THE SEA / THE BERG SANS NIPPLE/ TONY CONRAD/ WHITE HILLS / WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM / ZOMBI / ZU93
Tickets for the festival are only £75 for three days of music, film, art and cake and are available from HERE
There will still be more news to follow in the coming weeks as we get ever closer to the festival but for now, please feel free to spread this news far and wide!
Using all-analogue vintage synths and sequencers, coupled with live drums and bass, Zombi’s sound is far more expansive than you’d imagine a duo could ever be. Taking inspiration from progressive rock and soundtracks, their music appeals to both fans of Genesis and Pink Floyd as well as touring partners like Dillinger Escape Plan and Red Sparowes. Steve Moore, bass & synths, is the man answering our questions.
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
Eclectic, hospitable, punctual, loud, fun.
2. What can people expect of Zombi at the festival?
Golden oldies.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
I ask myself the same thing every day, I have no idea why I still do this.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?)
Tony Conrad! I’ve never seen him perform live. Also Secret Chiefs 3 and maybe Wolves in the Throne Room, haven’t seen either of them in a while.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
Korg Polysix, Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Dave Smith Tetra, Fender Jazz Bass.
It’s that time of year again when things start hotting up on the Supersonic front. The wonderful Little Chrisof Brumcast fame has lovingly put together a series of podcasts together for your listening pleasure. Here is the first Supersonic special – ENJOY!
Tracklist Zombi Slow Oscillations Wolves In The Throne RoomDea Artio A.P.A.T.T.Purple Ackee Secret Chiefs 3Akramachamarei The Skull Defekts No More Always White HillsUlan Bardo Pond Destroying Angel (Peel Sessions) ScornName’s Not Down Not Coming In Electric WizardTurn Off Your Mind Lucky Dragons I Keep Waiting For Earthquakes ZuBeata Viscera Current 93Sunflower Eternal TapestryHermetic Secrets Cloaks Junk Pharoah OverlordTest Flight
Monarch.
Described in one review as a “deep black minimalistic, slow, humongous doom monster”, Monarch are not a band for the faint-hearted. Since their 2002 founding in the Basque region of southern France, the band’s concept hasn’t change drastically – in some ways, it’s the slow, persistent hunting-down of a single thread. Guitarist Kaïdine says simply: “The main idea was to play slow and loud as fuck. We were all playing in fast bands so we wanted to play something very different, something new and challenging for us.” The band toured the US last year with fellow Supersonic 2011 artists Wolves in the Throne Room and Village Voice concluded a review of their New York show by saying “a focused, intense performance, utterly lacking the catharsis that’s metal’s usual stock-in-trade”.
You can see that focus in this nicely shot full-length set from Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran in the Basque region of Spain. Slow, yes, but also strangely uplifting.
For our third Supersonic artist Q&A, we present – from Baltimore, USA – Nathan Osmodius Bell. Bell plays astounding, cyclical banjo pieces making creative use of delay and bowing techniques. His music is sometimes sparse, sometimes urgent, but always inventive and the current album ‘Colors‘ on Lancashire & Somerset Records is as good a place as any to enter his world. Bell was also the bass player in Lungfish and has a duo called Human Bell with Dave Heumann from Arboretum. Clever name, clever musician.
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
Five times speed of sound.
2. What can people expect of you at the festival?
The channeling of music five times the sound of speed, a one man band with the help of a few others, jamming out cosmic rhythms, in a string ensemble crafting poignant melodic scores, elevating and resonating deep in internal tunes. A church of the metaphysical “Tall Praises High Spirit band.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
Because music is a gift and to truly appreciate this gift then one should be able to submit, to channel it thru. music is medicine, medicine is music. Soul food for the brain. It closes two eyes to open the third.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see?
Bardo Pond, Skull Defekts.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
One banjo, guitar, drums, harmonica, a prayer and a praise for the music.
Listen to songs from Nathan Bell’s current album ‘Colors‘ (Lancashire & Somerset Records).
We announced more fantastic bands for Supersonic 2011 a fortnight ago, including Cut Hands, Berg Sans Nipple, Part Chimp, Alexander Tucker and Alva Noto/Byetone. For your listening pleasure, here is a new Spotify playlist featuring all the artists. Enjoy!
Here’s our second artist Q&A to give you an insight into the inner-workings of Supersonic 2011. Part Chimp bring their heavy noise-rock to the festival in what will be one of their last ever performances. It’s a real shame they’re splitting up, but that could also give you reason no.137 to book your ticket.
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
Harvey
Milk
Birmingham
Dirty
Burgers
2. What can people expect of Part Chimp at the festival?
One of our last UK shows. If you haven’t seen us before, or it has been a while, now’s the time. If you’ve seen us loads of times, come celebrate the death throes.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
It’s a team version of primal scream therapy.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?)
Alex Tucker, Kogumaza, and a bunch of other mates. Bardo Pond, Alva Noto, WitTR, Tony Conrad and others. Supersonic’s a good opportunity to check out an extreme blend of stuff.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
Earplugs, spare earplugs, the green cross code, & the paperback of “how black was our sabbath”.
Skull Defekts news – 12″ EP out in time for Supersonic
News just in from via the Skull Defekts Tumblr site is that they should have a brand new 12″ EP out in time for their show at Supersonic 2011. If it’s anything like their stunning ‘Peer Amid’ album released earlier this year, fans of anything from Krautrock to post-punk to shamanistic yowling are in for a treat. That last element comes from legendary singer Daniel Higgs – the ex-Lungfish man has added an extra wow-factor to what was already a pretty powerful, muscular sound. If you want more words, direct from the horse’s mouth, there’s an interview with Joachim from the band on their Tumblr here and a video from a recent live show is below. Does anyone know what effects have been used on the footage? We like the grainy, washed-out look here in the Capsule office, but tell us how it’s done!
After the success of last few years of our ’Market Place’ we’re really excited about developing this area of the festival, a space for independent distributors, record labels, poster artists and peddlers of curiosities to sell their wares, network and for you to meet face to face. The Market Place is also where the bands sell their merch. This area is equipped with a tea room serving a selection of epicurean delights. Open to the public on Saturday 22rd of October through to Sunday 23rd.
Previous stall holders have included: Rough Trade, Southern Records, Conspiracy Records, Burning World Records, Future Noise, First Fold Records, Wonderleague, Bad Egg Records, Polar Bear Shop, Eat A Book Records, Cold Spring.
“Sitting behind our stall at Supersonic last year was the highlight of the year for Bad Egg. The atmosphere was excellent, the banter was rowdy and the chance to engage with so many people in such a short space of time was intense. As a DiY label it’s almost impossible to reach such a wide and receptive audience like the Supersonic crowd – we not only sold some records but also made some friends in the process. REAL ones too.” Dave – Bad Egg Records
We have a limited number of stalls available – if you’re interested see HERE for more details
1. Which five words describe what you know about Supersonic?
“I think I’ve gone deaf”
2. What can people expect of Kogumaza at the festival?
I’m not best qualified to answer – my friend Hoppy said we were like a hot bath for his ears so I’ll go with that. A hot, never-ending bath made of fuzz and echo.
3. Why make music – what does it do for you that nothing else does?
Sometimes when you’re experiencing music, usually live music, it can feel like no one party (the audience or those making the music) is in charge and there’s some sort of 3rd element involved. Like the experience transcends the sum of the parts. It doesn’t happen often (rarely as an audience member and even less so as the person making the music) but it’s enough of a unique and beautiful situation to keep returning to music-making again and again in search of it. I can’t think of any other sensory experience that is able to take shape quite like that. Apologies for sounding like a hippy.
4. Who else on the bill are you hoping to see? (And why?)
I helped promote a show for Bardo Pond about 14 years ago in a bar in Colchester, Essex. It was the first proper band I ever helped put on. The bar had a noise limiter. They soundchecked and it kept showing red but didn’t seem to do anything bad like turn the power off, so we thought “to hell with it” and left it loud. Turned out that when the sensor went red it turned the room lights off so they played most of the show in the dark and it was awesome. That’s an important lesson to learn right there. I’m really excited that they’re playing. Looking forward to seeing Skull Defekts and Part Chimp too. Supersonic’s always been about surprises as well though, so I’m hoping the best thing on the bill is something I’ve never heard of before.
5. Finally, your essential ‘surviving-Supersonic’ items are…
Ear plugs for sure. Also, in the middle of the outdoor area there is this weird metal pipe-like fixture sticking out of the ground with warning tape on it. I think they slot a fountain in it normally. At about 1am, if you’ve had your brain fried
enough, it might start to resemble an empty beer can, just sitting there. No matter how good you feel and how much you want to express how amazing Harvey Milk were (as was the case), don’t take a run up and kick the “can” in celebration of the majesty of rock like my good friend Ross did 2 years ago because you’ll spend the rest of the night in Sellyoak Casualty waiting for some nurses to stick your toes back together.
