The other ‘Super’ festival Supernormal, present a programme of selected music videos and footage from the Supersonic archives. (also catch the SN team playing some rad tunes from Supernormal’s bill as one of our guest DJ’s)

Over the past two years, Quietus co-editor Luke Turner and director Ethan Reid have wandered the UK making a series of films about the non-musical habits and hobbies of some of The Quietus’ favourite cult musicians. We love them for their art, but what do these people get up to in their spare time, and what can we learn about them from it?

Premiering at Supersonic 2014 are two short films from this series, Steve Ignorant needs no introduction: a righteous son of Dagenham, he was the voice of Crass for years, and with new band Paranoid Visions continues to fly the flag for no compromise punk rock. It’s an attitude that extends to every area of his life – now living in North Norfolk, Steve has managed to find himself on the crew of an autonomous, non-RNLI lifeboat. You might not ordinarily associate indie rock with the macho rough and tumble of American Football, but Alan Sparhawk is a lifelong enthusiast for and player of the sport.

In addition we’ll be screening two further films: Cosey Fanni Tutti (COUM, Throbbing Gristle, Carter Tutti) on vegetable gardening and striving to attain self-sufficiency without using pesticides, and Stephen Morris (Joy Division and New Order) demonstrating and discussing some of his collection of military vehicles

For One Night Only, the two kings clash – on one side the king of obscure oddities from London – The Duke Mitchell Film Club. On the other – the king of rare sounds from all across the globe – Death Waltz Recording Company – a boutique label specializing in obscure, rare-to-find and brilliant soundtracks.

The result can only be brilliant chaos.

For a special, one-off Supersonic event the minds behinds these two labels are putting their heads to create a one-of a kind evening stuffed with wall-to-wall madness – taking over the cinema tent at supersonic on 31^st May 2014, they will be presenting a programme of cinematic and audio-visual madness the like of which is never to be seen before or after.

There will be VHS tapes, an ever-decreasing quality of carbon copy films,  their respective inspirations, the worst music videos in mind, weird shorts and more than a fair share of crap horror music as well as rare and secret clips, videos, shorts and more. Nothing will be sacred, nothing will be off-limits – this will not be your usual film slot, that’s for sure.

If you want to experience something alternative, if you’ve had your fill of the bands, the tents and the music, come and join Spencer Hickman, Alex Kidd and Evrim Ersoy as they bring down the house for what promises to be a super-special event.

Richard Windley’s Stroh guitar; Run What Ya Brung – If Wet #4. Photo: Pete Ashton

If Wet at Supersonic will be extending their usual Run What Ya Brung feature. In collaboration with Stryx, they will select people to show and tell by providing a platform for short, informal presentations of your sonic delights; The theme of the day is ‘Extraordinary Objects‘ you can bring anything along from a Stroh guitar you might’ve made yourself [pictured] to a dolls head theramin…

Call out: Due to anticipated demand we are running this as a call out, so if you fancy showing something for a few minutes in an informal setting then please pop us an email to discuss what you might present and we will be in touch  hello[at]ifwet.org.uk. Four artists will be selected by If Wet/MortonUnderwood to show work alongside artists selected by Stryx.

If Wet is a monthly event of sonic exploration, held in a rural Worcestershire village hall; chaired by musical instrument designers David Morton and Sam Underwood (Ore, Glatze) who together form MortonUnderwood. Part show and tell, part test bed, part salon. A place for artists to showcase their latest sonic works and research. A place for you to revel and discuss.

After a successful inaugural season MortonUnderwood have decided to extend the reach of If Wet beyond the village hall and it is with great pleasure that they will transport their distinctive event to Supersonic 2014.

They will host a salon event to introduce a selection of artists that create ‘extraordinary objects’.  This will be the first commissioning opportunity as part of Capsule’s Labs and provide a creative exploration. Confirmed participating artists will include:

Ryan Jordan

Ryan Jordan conducts experiments in derelict electronics, possession trance, retro-death-telegraphy and hylozoistic neural computation. He builds crude instruments that replicate fundamental electronic components which are the foundation of current digital technologies. Performing these live alongside high powered stroboscopic light he attempts to induce the hallucinatory and trance like states of the (oc)cult arts.

In this presentation/performance he will demonstrate his self constructed hardware built with raw minerals and metals and then spiral sideways into theories of cybernetics, neuroscience, art, music and physiology in an attempt to piece together our fragmentary daemons and split the nine-fold reality layers of human perception; from communing with the dead to disturbing the holographic brain; from trance states to opening flicker portals in optic nerve fibres; these practitioners practice dark hypnosis in psychoactive hyperventilation clubs.

http://nnnnn.org.uk/

Sarah Kenchington

Sarah Kenchington builds her mechanical instruments from discarded materials. Bicycle spokes, typewriters, the inner tubes of tractor tyres are combined to create unique musical machines which emit a discordant array of moans, squeaks and chimes. Kenchington’s work offers a contemporary manifestation of a long history of the artist giving birth to machines (from Leonardo da Vinci, through to Heath Robinson, Tinguely and Michael Landy), yet Kenchington’s machines are anything but automata, remaining fundamentally dependent on an interaction with the human to come to life. Kenchington relishes the unpredictable nature of her instruments, a quality which means that despite being author of both instrument and the music it emits, she is never entirely in control of what happens. Her performances evolve in conversation with or in response to the machine, a process which for Kenchington is akin to playing an improvised duet with another musician.

watch video

For the past 4 years Birmingham based filmmakers, and music lovers HTF Media have been documenting the festival, from live performances to interviews with artists such as Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, Godflesh and William Bennett. Here’s a selection of some of the Supersonic highlights captured on film. A lovely opportunity to relive previous editions of the festival and get you hyped for the rest of the weekend.

http://htf-media.blogspot.co.uk/

A collection of music shorts from the mighty Drag City label.

Among the bands that have released material on Drag City are Cave, Joanna Newsom, Pavement,[1] Royal Trux, Cynthia Dall, Faun Fables, Scott Walker, Bill Callahan, Will Oldham , Jim O’Rourke, Six Organs of Admittance, Loose Fur, Scout Niblett, David Grubbs, U.S. Maple, Alasdair Roberts, Papa M, Pearls and Brass, White Magic, The Renderers, Espers, Silver Jews, Monotonix, Nig-Heist, Michael Yonkers, The Red Krayola, Om, Sun Araw, Baby Dee and William Basinski.
http://www.dragcity.com/

Short film specialists KINO 10 join us at this year’s festival with a specially curated programme of short films, exploring bizarre rituals, strange traditions, mythical beasts, peculiar creatures and fantastical folk tales. Highlights include the magical Oh Willy… in which Willy, a middle-aged man grieves for his late mother, but finds protection from a big gentle hairy beast, and The Last Norwegian Troll which tells the animated story of just that, the very last Troll of Norway, voiced by everyone’s favourite Jesuit exorcist Father, Max von Sydow. There’s also some gems from the archive with a selection of shorts from as early as 1927 which look at Britain’s eccentric rural traditions and rituals, with footage of children playing with burning barrels in East Devon, Dwile Flonking in Harleston, and some amazing pictures from Stonehaven’s New Year Fireball Festival in 1965.

http://www.kino10.com/

A lo fi experimental film exploring visions of the darkness, The Mystic, The Occult, The Religious and The Apocalypse. The film is made by Belgian artist  Shazzula Nebula who has performed in psychedelic band White Hills and is an ex member of Aqua Nebula Oscillator.

The soundtrack features:

Master Musicians of Bukkake
Kawabata Makoto
Bobby Beausoleil
Horror Illogium
Yoga
Sylvester Anfang II
Burial Hex
Sayona
Kinit Her
Rose Croix
Mourning Ring
Ga’an
Shazzula
The Entrance Band
In Zaire
Cultus Sabbati
Mater Suspiria Vision
L’Acéphale
SUM OF R
Aluk Todolo
Menace Ruine
Demonologists
http://blackmassrisingsociety.blogspot.co.uk

Walking his dog late at night in the back alleys of his hometown of Nashville, Harmony Korine encountered trash bins strewn across the ground in what he imagined as a war zone. Overhead lights beamed down upon the trash in a Broadway-style that Korine found very dramatic. They began to resemble human form, beaten, abused and “very humpable”. Korine remembered, as a teenager growing up in Nashville, a group of elderly peeping toms who would come out at night. He has described them as “the neighborhood boogeymen who worked at Krispy Kreme and would wrap themselves in shrubbery, cover themselves with dirt, and peep through the windows of other neighbors.” Putting these two ideas together, Korine found conception for this film.
Trash Humpers is a 2009 American drama film directed by Harmony Korine. Shot on worn VHS home video, the film features a “loser-gang cult-freak collective”and their whereabouts in Nashville, Tennessee.

http://warp.net/films/trash-humpers

A strand of film programming curated by Jason Forrest at Network Awesome.

“A look at the wild stuff that happens way out on the back roads. Wildmen, talking animals, folk tails, and some of the culture that surrounds them all. Our hour long presentation of animations, short films, and video clips is sure to provoke and inspire.”

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

That which is below is like that which is above that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing. And as all things have been arose from one by the awareness of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
The Sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth its nurse.

A performance inspired by the Heavens Above, created by Mark Wagner and Sanna Charles of S&M and Conny Prantera, with the collaboration of Emiliano Maggi of Estasy, photographer Marko Righo and costume designers Kamellia McKayed and Gloria Carlos.

http://moonn.bandcamp.com/

To honour the occasion of Supersonic’s 10th anniversary and the recent discovery of the lost Festival of The Rea, the SOUNDkitchen collective will give a special performance of Earth Ears: A Sonic Ritual by Pauline Oliveros. Known for her ritualistic and meditative approach to sound and listening, Oliveros’ work invites performers and audience to engage in a Deep Listening experience.

For this performance each member of the collective will invoke one of the four classical elements Earth, Air, Fire and Water, central to ancient pagan practices and magic rituals. Each performer will reveal their sonic manifestation through musical actions, recorded representations and improvisation. Through collective expression and meditation we invite you to celebrate the spirit and history of the River Rea in Digbeth as an historic site of community, creativity and mystical energy.

SONICritual will be performed by: Iain Armstrong, Julien Guillamat, Shelly Knotts, Annie Mahtani. Sound engineer: James Carpenter

SOUNDkitchen are a collective of composers and sound artists dedicated to promoting artists working in the medium of sound. Their ongoing series of live events present emerging and established performers from Birmingham and beyond with a focus on current and emerging approaches to experimental electronic music. They also curate and create sound art installations and exhibits, initiate collaborative projects and give live performances.

http://soundkitchenuk.org

For his new documentary the Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller and his sometime accomplice Nick Abrahams turn their attention to fellow film pioneer and iconic performance artist Bruce Lacey.
Three years in the making the film examines Lacey’s remarkable legacy as a painter and sculptor (creating extraordinary mechanical devices in the 1960s), an avant-garde filmmaker (alongside Dick Lester and Bob Godfrey) and as an all-round cultural chameleon, working with The Goons, The Beatles and even folk-rock super-group Fairport Convention. An intimate portrait of a self confessed ‘silly bugger’ and true visionary artist who, at the age of 85, still lives the bohemian dream; creating art and magic in a farmhouse near Norwich.

Offering an insight into some of the hows and whys of maintaining an independent spirit whilst on the very edge of the avant-garde, this panel will feature a number of maverick artists. How is the drive to make art sustained under sometimes-difficult circumstances? After many years of writing and touring music, will the desire to create ever be satiated?

Supersonic Festival is now in its 10^th year, beginning as a one-day event it has become an internationally renowned weekend of music, art and more. The panellists have hugely influenced the festival producers, as well as many other artists performing at Supersonic. ‘You Can Be You’ (the title of the Honey Bane / Crass EP) will offer a fascinating insight into the drive and motivation behind some of the most prolific experimental artists around.

Panellists include:

Penny Rimbaud is a musician, poet and co founder of anarchist punk band Crass in 1977. A prolific writer, he has published over 14 books, set up Dial House and Exitstencil Press plus continues to release music three decades after Crass disbanded.

“If there was one message we had in Crass, it was that ‘there is no authority but yourself’. You don’t need to accept that you’re nobody, you can trust in yourself.”

Jarboe is a musician and artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the highly influential Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998. Since the band’s split she has made 17 solo albums, many self released and is a prolific collaborator, often working with new and emerging artists.

Eugene Robinson is the vocalist and co founder of the legendary avant rock band Oxbow. They formed in 1989 and have since been a prolific force in the experimental music world, touchng noise rock, musique concrete, free jazz and blues over the years. Oxbow are tireless touring band and the subject of a series of films looking at the whys of art creation, touring life and 20 years in, the motivations for continuing to do what you do.

Chair – John Doran is the editor of The Quietus and a music journalist/cultural commentator for many a publication. He is a regular columnist for Vice.

A strand of film programming curated by Jason Forrest at Network Awesome.

“Everyone likes to make things, sometime they end up being famous for it but often they just end up looking like freaks. Here’s a salute to those people who either did it themselves, made something up, or just did it like no one else.”

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

http://networkawesome.com/

Mariexxme’s lush documentary “The Luxury of Empire”, filmed on the French leg of Oxbow’s 2009 European tour offers an intimate portrait of a band in full artistic maturity. It sees them undergoing the daily trials of touring with grace and provides sometimes touching and humorous insights into an otherwise mysterious band. The film’s dark, cinematic aesthetic was inspired by the atmosphere of Oxbow’s recent work. It echoes its title and is interlaced with live performances and candid interviews in which the band peel away the layers of their processes and which bring the viewer as close as it’s possible to get to a band without being in it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oxbow-The-Luxury-of-Empire/230372437010276

A sneak preview of the collaborative documentary which examines the cultural significance and legacy of the legendary CRASS Records compilation album releases (1980-1984) and which explores synergies between these and the Imperfect Cinema project.

The CRASS ‘Bullshit Detector’ compilation albums were DIY in ethos and were absolutely not concerned with traditional ‘production values’ as a criterion for exclusion or inclusion, but rather the sentiments and ideas expressed within each recording.

No two tracks on these compilations are the same, many utilising home recording technologies and improvised instrumentation. This was nothing short of groundbreaking, as by eschewing a traditional ‘industrial’ production value system, CRASS actually provided a venue for participation which valourised experimentation, resourcefulness and individual expression. In rejecting the codes and conventions of the ‘professionalised’ production value system, the Bullshit Detector compilations gave voice to those whom otherwise might have never have had their ideas and actions disseminated to a wider audience.

These fascinating releases provide the basis for Imperfect Films’ first feature-length project.

Nicholas Bullen is an artist and composer whose work encompasses a range of fields and media (including performance, sound art, installations, text, and film).
Beginning as a founder member of the ‘extreme’ music group Napalm Death at the age of 13, he has a 30 year history of composition (releasing over 40 recordings and developing graphic scores for ensemble performance) and live performance (both solo and collaboratively).
His performance for Supersonic combines an improvised sound field (combining concrete edits and metallic abrasions with extended gas tone drifts and radiator drones, exclusively composed from electronically processed field recordings) and an excerpt from his film The Inverse Heliograph, an abstract meditation on memory constructed from up to four layers of Super 8mm cine film which have been overlaid, re-framed, temporally altered and re-photographed through coloured lenses.

SWLLWS is the dream-based solo project of Midlands artist Sian Macfarlane. Channelling electronic transmissions from the owl house, swathes of synths, found sounds and whispers interact with delicate melodies and choirs of ghostly vocals.
SWLLWS arrives at the Supersonic festival after a trail of limited edition tapes and cd-rs and well received slots at the Rammel Weekender, Nottingham, Radio Black Forest’s Fell Foot Festival, and support slots for the likes of US Girls, Josephine Foster, Peaking Lights and Grouper, where she performed a specially commissioned piece ‘SÉANCE”. The Supersonic performance will continue to explore these themes.

http://swllws.bandcamp.com

Thomas Ankersmit is a musician and installation artist based in Berlin and Amsterdam. His main instruments are the Serge analogue modular synthesizer, computer and alto saxophone. He frequently works together with New York minimalist Phill Niblock and electroacoustic artists Valerio Tricoli and Kevin Drumm.

http://www.thomasankersmit.net