Interview: White Dolemite

You probably didn’t realise that Nottingham had its very own action cinema icon walking the streets – neither did we until recently. But White Dolemite is to HoodTown what Shaft was to Harlem and alongside his buddy Video Mat (and let’s just say they share a similar relationship to that of Spiderman and Peter Parker) they have been creating some great movie posters over the last few years. The movies themselves are *ahem* not particularly easy to find though…



Who is White Dolemite?

I’m an actor known for sleaze and violence, pretty much. I’ve starred in exploitation movies since the 1970s with the director Video Mat. We both wanted to see the same kind of thing on film which was whitexploitation. Nobody at the time was making films like that and they just got more violent and rude as we went along. White Dolemite is based on the original Dolemite character (played by Rudy Ray Moore), but just a touch more gentlemanly, if that’s possible!

So what sparked the idea for whitexploitation?

We grew up with blaxploitation films and to us it was the pinnacle of cinema, but we thought there was a gap in the market. Whether it was wanted or not, we had a bloody good time doing it. When I had therapy for fear of flying, the doctor told me that I had the most overactive mind he had seen in forty years! I am now using it to dream up all these crazy-ass movie concepts!

There’s a lot of sex and violence in the movies, what attracts you to that?

First and foremost because it’s cool! What we threw into our films was everything we really loved which is guns, weapons, alcohol (particularly sangria), smoking and women. Rest assured that we won’t be doing a rom-com any time soon.

You’ve worked with many co-stars over the years... any favourites?

There have been two co-stars that I’ve worked with again and again. Firstly, I’ve got to mention Kenya Villanueva, an amazing actress from Manila. Basically, if it hadn’t have been for her encouragement, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today. I think I fell in love her time and time again. Secondly, no matter how crazy things got Kimberley Rose Gardner was with us through thick and thin! I don’t think I could have asked any other co-star to go through what Kimmy went through. Without those two on board, White Dolemite might have ended up a vacuum cleaner salesman!

You have some really cool film posters, are there any other iconic posters out there you like?

Not so much, that’s partly the reason I make my own. Posters today can be really dull and it doesn’t seem you really have to put a lot of effort in to make a nice piece of artwork for a movie in order to sell it. It sells on the strength of the actors or the director, so I think film posters have got a little weak over the years.

Are there any artists who help stimulate ideas for your posters?

Frank Frazetta, the illustrative artist, has been inspirational along with James Gurney. And, although I know I am a total pain in his ass, I run all the new work by my very close friend Stefan Kopinski. He’s an exceptional artist, and he’s always on hand to help me “up” the gore levels! But the one thing I’d never do is directly rip people off. I’ve been asked in the past if I can stick a head on Luke Skywalker’s body and make a Star Wars poster but it’s already been done. The thing with the original blaxploitation posters though is that nobody ever really knew who the artists were. But I do keep the layout ideas in mind.

What’s your favourite movie tagline?

The original Alien tagline was cool, “In space no one can hear you scream.” If this had changed into a White Dolemite movie it would be more along the lines of “In bed no one can hear you scream.” I spend so much time thinking of my own taglines. A particular favourite is “We live just to make sure you die” on the blood-drenched poster with Samurai swords.

If Richard Roundtree and Fred ‘the hammer’ Williamson had a real life fight who would win?

Fred Williamson would definitely win. He was a real man and he could hammer your ass! And he kicks vampire ass! If it was between Williamson and White Dolemite, he would probably kick my ass too, but I’d like to see that fight go down.

Tell us about your next exhibition...

It’s hopefully going to be quite an exciting one this time round and we’ve got a few surprises in store. Hopefully we’ll be premiering the first White Dolemite video and we’ve got guest artists, from fashion designers, cartoon artists and illustrators doing White Dolemite pieces from their perspective. Every bloke that I have starred with has been cut out and it will be called One White Stand, just White Dolemite and lots of women. But the men will be back in the next one, and that will be more brutal with lots of broken bones and fighting. We have a few venues in mind but as the work is not child friendly at all we’re not sure where it will be yet but keep your eyes peeled.

You say your exhibitions are crazy, sexy and dangerous, so what can we expect?

I might get a couple of bands involved just to stir the crowd up a bit. Lots of models will be there, hopefully in costume if I can persuade them. But it’s when the sangria starts flowing that it can start to get a bit messy. There will be White Dolemite cocktails on offer and that could be a little bit crazy too.

Where do you get all your sexy women from?

The first exhibition was a real struggle, it was basically me wandering around asking people if they wanted to be in a poster and people couldn’t really grasp the concept. After the first exhibition, people actually started asking to star in the posters which was really quite flattering! Then I got in touch with a couple of professional models who surprisingly said yes. Sometimes people will be perfect. I met this girl last week and I instantly dropped her into a seventies Italian-themed poster a little like Rebel Without A Cause, with scooters tearing up the place. I’ve got a feeling that if that movie goes ahead, it’s going to be called Death Without A Cause.

Are there any modern-day film stars that you look up to?

Vincent Cassel is an inspiration definitely. Eric Bana, but solely on the strength of Chopper and Bruce Campbell of course. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for ‘The Chin’ But I’ll give anything a try so everything from Brad Pitt to independents. At the moment I’m really enjoying guys like Steve Carrell, Michael Cera and Seth Rogen, who are like a new wave of independent actors with studio budgets. It’s weird what’s going on in Hollywood right now, but it’s also really interesting and exciting.

What’s been the best film you’ve seen recently?

I really liked District 9 because it took a really interesting alien genre and took it into a place where it would not ordinarily make sense, in Johannesburg. It was stunning and I hope they do not ruin it by bringing out a second one. Most recently though, Gaspar Noe’s Enter The Void. That is one insanely crazy-ass movie. I loved it! I’m also utterly charmed by Up and Wall-E.

What’s in the pipeline for the next few months?

Video Mat and I will hopefully film the trailer for Enter The Bastards but it’s going to be very difficult on a low budget. There are lots of special effects and every scene is dripping with blood but we’ll give it a go. I will carry on producing the posters but right now I am concentrating on the next exhibition.

So, in all seriousness, are you ever actually going to make these films?

That would be awesome but making films in this country at the moment is an absolute nightmare. If somebody else was interested in taking my idea I would probably say yes but I would want a hand in it creatively. I’ve got quite precious about it, it’s my baby which I’ve been working on for two years and now it’s almost growing on its own now, which is really cool. What would really concern me is if someone took the concept away and watered it down, whereas if I had the opportunity to make the film I would make it as messed up as possible and it would definitely end up nasty. Nothing less than a XX rating would be good enough.

Interview: Hatebreed

Jamey Jasta has been at the forefront of hardcore music since the 90s- a living proof of where underground bands can go. Hatebreed's frontman spoke about Slipknot's contribution to the band's success, his favourite festival and his thoughts on 2011.





In this band you have been through quite a lot with the death of a past member, the manager and obviously numerous line-up changes. What motivates you to carry on despite this?

I guess the main motivation now is the fans. Even when we want to take time off and we think we’ve over toured then fans pop up in different places and are like “Come here!”. I mean I still get letters, I had a look in my mail box right before this tour and there were a stack of letters from South East Asia from kids saying “Why don’t you come to Kuala Lumpur?”. So we keep thinking we’ve toured too much and then there’s new places that come up.


You played South East Asia for the first time recently didn’t you. How was it?
I was a little sketched out at first like when I got to Indonesia I didn’t realise how popular the band was. There was like people waiting in the hotel, the airport, you know everywhere. People were very excited so that felt good and then we started to get excited for the show. I mean we did a 90 minute, almost 2 hour set and tried to play songs from every album.


It’s well known that you’re really hard working having fronted a TV show and contributing to many different projects, so what are you upto at the moment?
I was doing a lyric book which was going to have loads of road stories then I stopped doing that. And I started writing my Headbanger Ball book. It talks about the four years I hosted a TV show and how I had no experience and the different interviews, so I really want to try and get those out soon. I’m going to try and work on them early next year.

But I do want to get another Hatebreed record out and I do wanna do some shows with my side project. I do have a record which I’m just calling Jasta that I have done. I don’t know when I’m going to put it out.

It’d be nice to do a Hatebreed documentary and we have a lot of old footage which we got fans to send in. I mean we’ve talked about so many different things; a tablature book, a re-release of the first record with lost tracks since that’s coming up with our anniversary...We’ll see. You know we’re going to come back here for festivals next year in between all the craziness.

You’re still doing stuff with Kingdom Of Sorrow as well. Where do you find the time to do so much?

I don’t really have a lot of time and I really need to get home and get my home life together too but while Crobar are touring right now and Hatebreed are touring right now its fine. The Kingdom Of Sorrow record is still kind of fresh and people are still getting turned on to the band. The record came out about six months ago, and we’ve been offered some festivals in Europe that we might do. But I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to do a full tour, it’d be nice to do a full UK tour.

What are the aims with Stillborn Records, the record label you set up?strong>

Originally my old band had no-one to put the demo out so we thought we would make it look like we were on a label and I would sell the demo at the merch table every night. Then I noticed that once people saw that I was doing a mail order and taking music and putting it out on 7 inch, a lot of bands would send their demos. So that’s kind of how it all started rolling.

Now I’m really not doing much with it but I do plan on putting out a couple things next year. I only had two releases come out this year and I moved my offices down to a smaller place. I’m working on a new distribution deal so if I get better distribution in the UK and Europe next year I'll probably put out some new stuff.

Obviously you’ve promoted a lot of shows yourself so do you think this helps you understand the industry?

Yeah it gives me a bit of empathy when the promoters are losing money and the economy’s bad because I’ve been there and I’ve put on a lot of shows. I’ve had shows that have had no presale tickets and I thought oh I’m going to lose my ass I’ll have to sell my car and then the day of the show a thousand people turn up. You know that happened to me with Gwar and Misfits, I thought I was going to lose my ass and then the day of the show everybody showed up and the show made money. This is going back almost 15 years ago but you know now that I’m touring in a really bad economy I can definitely feel the promoter’s pain.

You’re celebrating 15 years of your release Under The Knife, how does that feel?
It makes us feel good. Our original guitar player is back in the band and we’re still going strong and creating new places to play and putting out records. I mean we have been really busy since ‘08 from now. We’ve been to like 30 something countries and did a DVD, a covers record, a studio record and headlined a bunch of festivals. But it feels good now that we can do these four hometown shows and we dug out 100 or 200 of the original vinyls that have been sitting in storage, so we’re going to put them out at the shows.

You’ve done a lot of guest appearances on records, how do these come about?
Well recently I haven’t really done a lot just because I felt like in the past when I was doing them I didn’t know if it was really helping the band. If I can help the band then I want to do it. Sometimes I felt like I was spread too thin and trying to do too many things and I looked back and I was like man I’ve been on a lot of records. But recently I’ve started doing some stuff again. I was on the Acacia Strain record, the Skahead record and the Winter Plague record. So in the last year I’ve done three songs and hopefully all those records do good.


Which record are you most proud to have contributed to?
I mean I was really happy to be asked by the bands that I really looked up to when I was growing up like Biohazard, Sepultura and Napalm Death. I did that here in England and we drove out to the countryside where they were recording and I just sat there and listened to the whole record and talked with Barney and Mitch and the producer. That was a really surreal experience because I always idolised Napalm Death. Even as a young kid I had Scum and all the early records. Plus at that time I was more of a mainstream artist and I could see the backlash of the underground punk and grime fans going “Why are you having this guy who has been on TV and stuff?”. That was like a hard statement for them to put me on the record but it was really cool so that felt good.


When you released Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire on Victory Records it turned out to be the biggest selling album on that label, did you expect that to happen?

Well when the first couple 7 inches and the first demos started to sell a lot I thought we need to make a good choice about what we do with the album because there is the potential that it could be big. That big I didn’t expect no. But also the success of that record came in later years. That was a time when you could tour and then you could go back and then there would be nobody there. There was such a quick turnover. Kids would be into hardcore and punk then they’d go okay I’m into emo or techno and you would see that one day there was a scene and then the next day they're gone.

So we said right we need to tour with different bands and gain different fans outside of just the punk hardcore and underground scene. So that first two years of touring we did Warped tour 1998 which was Deftones and Kid Rock and Rancid and that gained us a lot of new fans. Then we did shows with Danzig and Soulfly, Motorhead and Dropkick Murphys and so we started grabbing people from outside our little circle which then helped that record to go on. Then of course we did the Slipknot arena tour and Ozzfest in 2001, so from 1997-2001 we toured just one record which was insane. We should have had like five albums out.

With Ozzfest you’ve played it quite a few times. Have you ever had to pay to play?

We were one of the very lucky bands that didn’t have to pay and I have to thank Slipknot for that because they really championed us and helped us get our first manager. They came from nothing and Paul and Shaun the clown were at our show singing along before Slipknot were even signed so they’re the real deal. They totally helped us become that breakout band and we were like the first hardcore band to do Ozzfest.

and now slipknot are headlining major festivals...
That was the funny thing because I said to Paul when he first gave me the casette, "If you ever get huge and sell millions of records will you take us on tour?" and they totally did and that’s a beautiful thing.

Your music is influenced by metal and hardcore so how do you target the different audiences or do you think they merge quite easily?
Now with the Internet people are very opinionated and they’re very outwardly angry and anonymously on the internet so I think it’s harder to be yourself without having a bunch of people critique you. So if you look at a band like Lamb Of God, they’re very talented at what they do and they ‘re probably the best at what they do. Randy's voice is very unique. So it’s either like you love it and its great or you’re like I don’t like it it’s not my thing.

But on the Internet everyone fights like well I like Hatebreed, I like Lamb Of God. I like both, I don’t like both. You know, it’s all stupid because all of the bands were doing the same thing like touring or working hard and writing music and we want the fans to be united which I think we’ve done pretty well with Lamb Of God by touring together. But there needs to be more of a crossover with the punk and the metal and the hardcore. We had Discharge and The Verrucas at the show the other night and we’re thinking of doing a tour with them to try and bridge the gap a little bit more and to try and get rid of some of this animosity that you see on the Internet .

You’ve toured with some amazing bands but who has been the most fun?
3 Inches of Blood. Those guys are great, I could tour with them until the day I die. Same with Toxic Holocaust, I could have those guys around for months and months and never get tired of them. Their anecdotes are always funny and there’s always something crazy happening where everyone’s talking about it.

What do you think about Leeds festival? I always find it weird that an indie pop band is on the main stage at the same time that the Lock Up stage is tearing it apart.

It’s cool because it’s like those guys have moved on, they were into hardcore music in their teenage years and now they’ve moved on and like Muse and other stuff. It’s funny to see them come over and when we’re playing they lose it and they start smashing people and it’s like they’re re-living their youth so that’s kind of interesting to see. You’ll see a guy in an Arcade Fire shirt, punching people and kicking people and you’re like what is he doing but he knows the words, he’s singing along.

What’s been the proudest moment of being in the band?
I would say every time we put out a record and it does good that’s a very proud moment. All the last four albums have debuted at number 40 in the UK and the US and our DVD went to number one that was a huge achievement for us. So like things that you never thought would be really possible but that’s pretty cool that the fans made that happen for us. Headlining with Full Force was huge for us as well, just to have like 40,000 people stay to watch just us, that was crazy.

There are certain Hatebreed songs that always really get the crowd going what’s your personal favourite?
I love playing Live For This and I Will Be Heard and This Is Now. I mean those songs never get tired, it always has some sort of new energy. Even last night 200 people with tickets couldn’t even come and I thought this is going to suck, everyone’s going to be bummed out and tired and they’ll have to leave but it was like 200 people who sounded like 20, 000 people. When we’re doing those songs they mean just as much to them as they do us and to see that translate in such a small little setting on this miserable cold night is cool.

So the live DVD that’s been out a couple of years now what was your reason for doing that?
Well he had a deal originally with Roadrunner where we thought we were going to do it with them and then different things happened and then we thought it was going to be delayed. But then we made it so we could do it with a different company and when they said to us that they wanted to make it a front line release and give us a nice budget, cranes with different camera angles and a great director and sound engineer, we thought it would be cool to get the real experience down on film to document.

It was good that we were able to do it because Sean left the band not so long after so I’m glad we got a really good show with him in there because he was such a force in the band from Perseverance to the Supremacy album. Now with Wayne being back in the band it would be cool to do a new DVD but that DVD was cool to do just because we really spent the money and tried to make a quality show.

Gig review: The Vaselines @ Rescue Rooms

“I wanted to give away a free blow up vibrator with the album,” says a belly-chuckling charismatic Frances McKee who talks to us with such warmth normally reserved for close friends.

Of course she’s talking about the album which took 21 years to follow debut Dum Dum released in 1989, a year the band perhaps regard with distaste if new song I Hate the 80s is anything to go by.But this is 2010 and their return couldn’t be more fitting with the supposed downfall of indie music.

The intimate affair rouses bopping heads and smiles all around as the scuzzy pop duo share their dirty thoughts and innuendos. Frances shamelessly comments on the pair’s former romantic ties but both satirically poke fun at this with album title Sex with an X.

Add jaunty pop hooks and endearing vocal harmonies and the twosome pretty much pick up where they left off.Frances face is filled with beaming joy as she plays those indie-pop gems from her younger years, including the hypnotic Rory Rides Me Raw and the subdued No Hope with its Lou Reed stylings.

But musically the new songs barely stand out and it’s those three classics covered by Kurt Cobain which inevitably receive the most appreciation. But as Eugene introduces Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam the crowd stand alarmingly still as if four horsemen are on stage signalling the end of time.

Luckily Frances perks up the mood with her inane take on Molly’s Lips but she makes it quite clear she expects more enthusiasm.She makes a member of support act Haight Ashbury parp a toy horn in the most frivolous of places that it effortlessly produces muffled laughs. The perfect way to show that a dose of Scottish charm is all you need to win over our affections.

After mocking the laughable opaqueness of an encore they walk off for a matter of seconds before asking us what we want to hear, despite the crowd having already shouted suggestions all night. It’s soon decided we hear their eclectic version of You’re Not A Man followed by The Stooge’s-esque Dum Dum which finally brings out the dancer in us all.

Here’s to hoping we’ll hear more in the next 20 years.

Leeds Festival 2010 round up

After four years of coming to my favourite festival (probably because it was the first one I ever went to and signified the start of my freedom after going straight from getting my GCSE results) I decided to be an Oxfam steward. For three reasons.

1) A friend told me how much fun it was 2) It's one way to get a free ticket and 3) It gives me pleasure to help people. (Apparently we raised thousands of pounds for Oxfam. I don’t know how, maybe the money they would use to pay people is given to Oxfam instead?).

I got to Bramham site on Wednesday to pick up my shift times, with fingers crossed that I wouldn’t have to miss The Libertines or Guns 'N Roses. Phew. My music angel is looking down on me. Turns out my shifts were almost perfect. My first task on Thursday was to "crowd control" the showers. I couldn’t say there were many queues but I did find out I was more liberal thinking than the festival allows. After letting both sexes in the same showers I soon realised they were not supposed to be mixed at all. oops. I don't mean to be stereotypical here but I was quite surprised that more men than women were using the showers. For me baby wipes and deodrant do the trick.

On more occasions than I wanted I caught a glimpse of some very unflattering naked flesh. (I had to peek to see if there were any problems or queues to control, I'm not a perv!).

After a very 'eventful' shift I was happy to have all of Friday off which meant I could get as drunk as possible for The Libertines.

So from worker to punter I started the day with Rolo Tomassi. I’ve always liked their math-rock style and hearing Eva's impressive screams, which are as good as any metal-loving testestorone-fuelled bloke out there, but live it didn't really do anything for me. Parts were out of tune and the sounds didn’t really gel together. The vocals were too low so Eva's transition from screaming to airy sweet singing didn’t really work.

Next I saw Random Hand on the Lock Up Stage to get my ska-punk fix. Robin Leitch has so much energy, alternating between playing the trombone, the next grabbing the mic and singing. Anger Management was the highlight with folk singing back the words and they managed to get a bit of a skank pit going. Always a bonus that early in the day! But the best bit was definitley seeing four men dressed as nuns crowd surf in succession. The frivolities of festivals!


Next I saw a band I have waited years to see, Modest Mouse. (It was the days before student loans and overdrafts when they last played in Nottingham!!) Isaac Brookes has a genuine passion for his music that he almost forgets there's a crowd who are being heavily rained on! But it didn't put a damper on things at all, with the band playing some of their best tracks including Black Cadillacs, The View, Dashboard and Dramanine,which was a nice surprise.

Next it was the festival's 'worst kept secret' with Gallows posing as The Rats who played an afternoon set on the Lock Up stage. Frank couldn’t be arsed with any contract signing and just wanted to enjoy a show with his mates,and he seemed to be a better front man for it. His aggression and infamous pub gig banter came out showing he is much more comfortable when he’s playing with his real fans. Frank's stage presence ensures they aren’t a band to be tired of just yet, with the early singles Abandon Ship and In The Belly Of The Shark sounding just as refreshing every time.



Next was Trash Talk, the brutal hardcore band who don’t mess around in their live shows, with fans jumping from pillars and band members stage diving all over the place. But with most songs being only 30 seconds long you don't have long to let out your aggression.




After seeing one of the best hardcore bands around at the minute, I went to check out former System Of A Down front man, Serj Tankian. He apologised for having a fever but you couldn’t really tell. He looked genuinely happy to be there and kept smiling when he caught a glimpse of the crowds reaction when he wasn't immersed in the music. He was backed by a beautiful orchestra who he calls the Flying Cunts Of Chaos and while it's a long way from his SOAD days, it looks like orchestral jazz-rock is here to stay.



After seeing a fair few bands I decided it was about time to start drinking properly for The Libertines, so with a bottle of whiskey and an adrenaline rush I was pumped and ready to see the band who were the soundtrack of my teenage days.

I've waited since I was 14 to see the band after I fell in love with their poetic resonance and British rock and roll swagger. The first album reminds me of being 15, drinking too much, doing things I wouldn't do now and not caring what other people thought. Essentially what being a libertine was all about. Next came the joys of finding older tracks, demos and b-sides. I remember loving the fact I was drinking a pint in the Filthy Mcnasty's pub, for two reasons. 1) I was only 15 and 2) It was where The Libertines played a few infamously rowdy gigs. The second album meant a lot more to me lyrically and the only thing I needed to do was to see them live. But circa early-2000 over 18 gig bullshit stopped me. So to see their reunion, whether they were paid too much for it or not, was so invigorating to finally sing back every word. It was a special moment and it felt like it was just me in the crowd. But alarm bells rang when they went off after the third song!

I felt an enormous sombre feeling thinking that something was wrong and that I had waited all this time to only hear 3 songs! Luckily it was due to safety issues so when they came back on and launched with Last Post On The Bugle, every pulse in my body wanted to let go and give the gig all the raucous vigour it deserved. It was so heart warming to see Pete and Carl infamously sing into the same mic and you can tell how happy they are to be together.

I don't think it would have had the same feeling if they had carried on and had another two albums under their belt. Of course I would love to see them again in an intimate pub, close up and back to their rowdy days, but would it be too nostaligic? But whatever the future holds and which ever way albion sails on course, this will remain one of the greatest gigs of the year for me.



Next there was a bit of an anti-climax as I was dragged by my boyfriend to see the digital hardcore Atari teenage riot who I'm really not a fan of. It seemed to just be music for pill heads and the repetitive droning drum 'n bass just does nothing for me. I love their anarchist anti-facist ideals but it's just not my kinda music.

I walked past Arcade Fire and was pretty shocked at how thin the crowd was. I reckon it was the poorest turn out a headliner has ever had. I chose to watch Bad Religion instead but from what I heard, Arcade Fire were the festival highlight for many. I guess you shouldn't judge a band by it's crowd.

I decided to watch Bad Religion for a variety of reasons. 1)The fact that guitarist Brett Gurewitz is the founder of Epitaph records 2) They have been going strong for over 30 years and 3)They have influenced so many punk rock bands out there, they could be called the grandfathers of punk. The drumming is infamously fast and front man Greg Graffin (who founded the band when he was 15) sings in such an effortless and cool manner about political ideals.Okay their energetic punk antics are long gone with bare minimum movement but it's hardly a surprise after they've been doing it for so long. The highlights were Do What You Want, Los Angeles Is Burning, 21st Century Digital Boy and Infected but oddly they didn't play anything off their forthcoming album. But this shows that they've still got life in them yet, and quite frankly they don't want anybody getting bored of them.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Saturday I had to work the evening shift which meant I missed Weezer, Cyprus Hill and Roots Manuva. But before my shift I watched The King Blues, who bigged up the punk-ska scene after proclaiming how happy they were to be playing the main stage. Their set was perfect for a sunny afternoon and it got people even standing as far back as the delay tower to dance away. After that I watched Thrice who didn’t really offer anything exciting, although it was great to see their progression which has evolved from their debut album.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Sunday I worked the day shift but knowing I'd be seeing Queens Of The Stoneage and Guns 'N Roses pulled me through! There are only so many wrist bands you can check before your eyes blur and you start to care less and less about who manages to blag you with a fake wristband. Once my shift was over I watched a bit of Biffy Clyro, who can be difficult to watch when you’re an original fan and first saw them play six years ago, but when they pull out oldies like There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake, it's always a nice surprise. But they seemed uncomfortable playing it, almost like they felt they were turning their backs on the new fans who propelled them to chart stardom. It was almost like it was their dirty little secret, but I must admit I was paying more attention to his white dyed beard!

Next it was time for Hatebreed, who were probably the heaviest band playing the whole festival so it was nice to see people there for some ‘proper’ music. They got the pits started by telling everyone to let out their aggression and to forget about the bullshit of going back to work. Tracks such as Live For This, Perseverance, This Is Now, and Diehard As They Come beg the question of why they have never achieved as much recognition as bands such as Machine Head.

After my hardcore metal dose it was time for the sexy Josh Homme and Queens Of The Stoneage. Josh has succeeded in being the only ginger I find attractive and he has a way of drawing every single person in the crowd in. They are a proper rock band and could teach hundreds of bands a lesson of how to do it properly. They have plenty of festival favourites to choose from and play some of the best including Feel Good Hit Of The Summer, No One Knows and Little Sister. Josh comments on how beautiful the day is before pointing to a girl's 'magnificent boobs'. Surprisingly they threw in Monster In The Parasol from their album Rated R which is the first time I've seen them play it. They chucked in a new song as well, but to be honest their wasn't anything invigorating about it and it seemed to have snippets of past hooks. I hope they haven't lost their touch! Maybe Josh needs to stop galivanting with his super group. The set was too short as ever which shows how easy it is for them to engage a crowd.

Next it was the waiting game for Guns N' Roses who were allegedly an hour late for their Reading performance the night before. Apparently they were half an hour late for us but I'm not sure if that was played up because it didn't feel that long at all. The light show was pretty spectacular with images from their latest album 'Chinese Democracy' as the band came out to the album's title track. DJ Ashba playfully played the opening riff to Welcome To The Jungle a few times before launching into it for a sea of happy faces. The stage show was complete with fireworks ensuring they get the attention they deserve. The set was full of classics including It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone and Nightrain.

The band did milk it a few too many times with solos from Richard Fortus, Dizzy Reed, DJ Ashba. Bumblefoot and even Axl Rose, who played his piano solo before going into November Rain. The fact is we don't really need to be reminded how good they are, it just adds to their notorious egoism! Never the less they try to keep grounded and not take themselves too seriously by playing the Pink Panther and James Bond theme. The most annoying thing was hearing a gaggle of people behind me relentlessly commenting on how DJ Ashba was trying to replace Slash, and after he did his solo he scraped an applause. Okay there are a couple of similarities, they both like to light a cigarette before their solos and both wear hats, but it doesn't mean DJ Ashba wants to be Slash! He adds the glamour reminiscent of the old Guns 'N Roses and is exactly what the band needs right now.

After all, there's only so long you can look the porky Axl Rose. Regardless of the fact that most people think he's a first class cock the band are here for the fans and play most of the tracks you would want from a Guns N' Roses gig. Strangely they only played two tracks from 'Chinese Democracy' which would have been more had the promoters let them play longer, apparently. But that's what makes Guns N' Roses. Hardly any bands have that Rock and Roll 'give a fuck' attitude anymore and telling the cops and promoters to fuck themselves is just part of their rock charm. Finishing with Paradise City it soon becomes clear that Guns N' Roses were one of the best headliners Leeds Festival has had. Hey, at least we didn't get the sound pulled on us!

2010 is one big side project

This week it was announced that Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters will be joining Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl in the side project world by fronting his own band The Dead Peasants.

This got me thinking about some of the best side projects of the year and it turns out you can probably see most of them at the festivals this year.

At Download festival last weekend Taylor Hawkins (drummer of Foo Fighters) graced the stage with his band the Coattail Riders. As most side projects go they usually consist of a few members from well-known bands and usually send people into excited spasms.

Joining Hawkins’ side project is bassist Chris Chaney (Janes Addiction, Alanis Morisette and Slash) and guitarist Gannin Arnold (session musician who has played with Cheap Trick, John Tesh and Kirk Hammett). The band actually released their debut album Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders back in 2006 but I think this is the year for them.

In April this year they released their second album Red Light Fever with guest appearances from Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, Elliot Easton of The Cars and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters.

Check them out on the Jimmy Kimmel show...





Hawkins might be cheating on Foo Fighters by swapping between bands when time suits but of course Grohl can’t really wag his finger as he is the King of side projects having worked with Killing Joke, Tenacious D, Nine Inch Nails, Slash and then forming Probot.

But past bands aside most recently Grohl joined one of the most exciting super groups of the year, Them Crooked Vultures, with guitarist Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stoneage) and bassist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). While some were disappointed with the watery epic guitar solos reminiscent of a familiar Queens Of The Stoneage. But with less attention on the music, it's still a thrill to see Josh Homme and Dave Grohl together with the bassist of one of the greatest guitar bands ever! Check them out at Reading Festival 2009.




Of course there are some side projects which cause a mere momentary blip of excitement. Bobby Gillespie, front man of Primal Scream, has announced a one off collaboration with members of the Sex Pistols and The Who, known as The Silver Machine. The band will play covers of The Troggs, MC5 and Creation at a one-off show at London’s 1234 festival on July 24th.
Check out Bobby Gillespie in Primal Scream action.



Another side project worthy of intrigue is The Dead Weather, mainly due to Jack White’s track record of turning everything he touches into gold. White rounded up
Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertia (Queens Of The Stoneage) and Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) to create moody blues rock and roll last year.

But it’s only really been this year, with the release of second album Sea Of Cowards, that people are paying serious attention. The recent track Die By The Drop may have helped too. Check out Blue Blood Blues.




Damon Albarn's probably feeling pretty smug at the minute having successfully reformed Blur causing as much commotion as the first time round,getting Lou Reed and Snoop Dogg to work with him, not to mention being part of one of the most original acts in the UK. Gorillaz, Albarn's best side project, returned after Blur's reunion with their best album to date this year. Check out Stylo off the new album here.




Now when people ask you to think up your dream band I must say that this group of people would definitley cross my mind. Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead producer), Joey Waronker (played with REM and Smashing Pumpkins) and Mauro Refosco (David Byrne) were discreet at first by simply putting Thom Yorke on posters for gigs, but they soon emerged as Atoms For Peace and threw in covers of Joy Division.
Check out Harrowdown Hill here.




The winners of the indie pop side project of the year goes to Broken Bells, especially if you're a Shins fan.

Brian Burton (Dangermouse) and James Mercer (The Shins) came together last year to produce beautiful, melodic and experimental music. But it was this year they released their self-titled album and some of the most soothing music of the year. Check them out at SXSW 2010.




Now if you're a fan of Slash you'll know his famous post-Guns and Roses side project was Velvet Revolver but in the last two years he's worked with such an array of talent for his solo project. He probably has every band in his phone book and knows that it only takes one call to get people to work with him. This time he worked with Chris Cornell, Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie, Ron Wood and Iggy Pop.
Check out Slash and Fergie-Sweet Children O'Mine.



But don't worry dance moguls. Look no further than Dave Sitek’s (TV on the radio) side project Maximum Balloon which will include Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs). The band will release the 11-track album on August 23rd and it could be one of the strongest dance contenders of the summer. Check out a snippet of track ‘Tiger’.




But will any of these bands still be talked about in a few years time?

Side projects may come and go but it takes something a little more special to be remembered. Some of the best side projects over the years include A perfect circle, Heaven And Hell and Audioslave but of course nothing good lasts forever. For now we'll enjoy those few minutes of overwhelming excitement when we see members of different bands we all love come together.

Dot to Dot festival 2010

Dot to Dot festival in Nottingham on Sunday 30th May

I started the day with a dose of indie pop from The Cheek (formerly Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds). The young Suffolk boys inject energy into their life performance with lots of exuberant dancing around. They’re definitely a band that all girls seem to love and they’ve managed to craft the perfect disco tune. ‘For Just One Night’ is a catchy winner with its stomping pop brilliance. Other songs emulate the sound of bands like The Departure and White Lies. Their sound is so infectious that they have impressed Huw Stephens and NME and will be playing a bunch of other festivals this summer.

Next I went to get my fix of electronic dub at the Student’s Union main hall. Casey Dienel and Shawn Creeden come together as White Hinterland to fill the venue with their unpredictable sound. You can’t help but feel like you’re in a trance like dream and visually they create a hippie haven with candles next to the electronic decks. Casey sings like Bjork and Bat For Lashes and its obvious she enjoys experimenting with her voice. Shawn Creedon mixes Casey’s vocals and loops them on the spot to create layers which add an euphoric depth. The music hypnotises you with the tribal earthy rhythms and thumping bass influenced by hip-hop, dub and jazz. The pair create suspension and ensure an original sound by throwing in a ukelele in there too.

Next was De Staat at Stealth which was probably the highlight of my day.
The Holland five-piece are a garage rock band that thrashed their way through the set with head banging and epic guitar solos similar to Queens Of The Stoneage. That’s the serious bit. Then infuse cheekiness with humour and you have a great band in the making. They manage to draw the crowd in instantly and almost everybody had a smile on their face. Think the energy of Eagles Of Death Metal and The Hives with a mix of noise rock and you have a band who know they’re bloody good but can have fun with it too. Then add a cowbell and a theremin and you have my new favourite band.

Next it was time for some punk rock with Sharks in the basement. The band who has often been described as one of Gallows favourites manage to bring together punk elements without trying at all. They don’t need tattoos or mohawks and they aren’t afraid to add melodic guitar riffs but the only problem was that more people seemed to leave as the set went on! This looked like it clearly annoyed the singer who pleaded with the rest of the crowd not to go but I think it was more the fact there were clashes than it being anything personal. They’re a pure British rock band who have mastered punk rock structures with songs like Common Grounds and Three Houses.

Next I went to listen to the big bold vocals of Peggy Sue in the pulse bar. On one level they’re a folk band with meaningful pop songs and on the other they’re a blues band with a ballsy and engaging stage presence. Both girls in the band are just as talented as each other and show this by singing powerful ballads and at the same time playing drums standing up. Add an accordion and you have a talented band whose only attempt is to draw the crowd into their Jeffery Lewis, Janis Joplin and Regina Spektor inspired sound.

Next was Wild Beasts in the main hall who had been creating hype all day with lots of people excited to see them play. Their experimental vocals takes them away from the indie drivel mix of bands very similar to them. Hayden Thorpe, known for his countertenor vocals, mixes deep vocals with vocals so high they could give Kate Bush a run for their money. Some parts are a bit sombre and fail to fully engage the crowd but when they do manage it everyone seems to go mad. Their lyrics might be nonsensical but musically they create a melodic wall of transcient uplifting music. Described as quirky and unique by most music moguls they play a mix of both albums and ensure that this is a band that will not be forgotten about any time soon.

Next was the most epic stage show of the day with The Chapman Family and their raucous sound. They aim to be as dark and noisy as possible so that in their words they can ‘get away from all the bands who sound the same’. After a day of seeing many bands who did sound the same it was definitely refreshing but they certainly love to cause a stir with their controversial antics. If dedicating a song to the crossbow cannibal wasn’t enough front man Kingsley Chapman strangles himself with his mic cable, pulls it tight like a noose and then attempts to scream in a chilling manner. They thrive off the crowd’s energy and immerse themselves in the mini moshpit at the front. With lots of jumping around clearly too mundane for them the guitarist jumps on the bar. When the set finished one of the band members saluted to the crowd before blindly falling into it. Luckily the crowd kindly held him up and it was clear that this cult band aren’t in any rush to please the bigwig record labels out there.


Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes

Next was Blood Red Shoes who are known to be one of the loudest duos around. Together they manage to write singalong tunes with a dose of rock grunge and its obvious that Laura-Mary Carter is in her comfort zone with her guitar. She’s in her own world with the nirvana inspired riffs and head bangs like a true grunge queen. The pair blast their way through cutting edge songs that have a raw energy that everyone seems to love. ‘I Wish I was Someone Better’ showed the duo’s compatability perfectly with the pair singing at eachother. You Bring Me Down and It’s Getting Boring By The Sea were live favourites with people having a little mosh and it just makes me wish there were more women singers like this!

Next I went to see Ellie Goulding in the main hall to see what all the mainstream hype was all about and it was certainly clear why all the high heeled scantily clad girls were in town! Ellie Goulding the latest woman to grab the mainstream press by its throat might appear to be a girl’s girl but she counter acts this by playing her guitar well and maintaining a down to earth presence. Being very talkative and thanking the crowd after every song shows that her whirlwind success hasn’t got to her head. She appears to mean every word she sings and shows passion with her hand movements and intensity while playing her instrument. Also a fan of standing up playing drums she tries to add a little difference to her mainstream pop persona. She’s an honest lyricist with songs about making mistakes and boys and everyone seems to feed off this charm. She sings big ballads with synths and makes heart break songs sound fun. Her hits Starry Eyed and Guns and Horses went down so well that getting people to sing along to her songs was effortless. It’s obvious why she’s had success and I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the coming months.



Blaine Harrison of Mystery Jets

Finally it was time for the headliners Mystery Jets who have played the festival twice before. The only difference is the sets are getting longer and the songs are getting better. Blaine’s 59 year old father Henry may no longer be part of the live set-up but the sound has actually matured into 70s inspired new-wave prog-pop. The set consisted of three quarters of new album Serotonin due for release on July 5th. Flash A Hungry Smile sounds gorgeously happy with its laid back high pitched vocals and the odd bit of whistling. From then on they alternated between old and new with the indie pop classics like Half In Love and Two Doors Down getting the best response. Lady Gray shows the love-induced lyrics are still there with ‘I hope you feel the same way/Will you still love me in the morning.’ The thing is with Mystery Jets is they manage to fully engage the crowd through out the whole set with everyone having as much as fun as they can jumping up and down and basically going mad. And the newer and slower songs are just as appreciated. Flakes was the ballad of the night with everyone waving their arms and singing along with Blaine. Melt, another new song, was heartfelt and dream like and aptly named, it sonically dispersed in the room with it’s uplifting chorus.

Check out the interview with Blaine Harrison and William Rees of Mystery Jets hours before their headline appearance.

http://www.mixcloud.com/kristigenovese/mystery-jets-dot-to-dot-2010/player/

Out Of The Wilderness

Out Of The Wilderness was at Bloc Projects, Sheffield between 8th-15th May.

The bloc project collective of group members came together for the first time to produce an exhibition that could be the smallest in Sheffield. The room is tiny holding 8 pieces of work but it offers a wealth of inquisitiveness and ambiguity. Curator, Robin Close, chose work that showed exploration and negotiation through different platforms and most pieces were not what they seemed on first glance.

The photographed dead lizard jumped out against the plain white wall and showed Louisa Harris’ skill to inject life into death through colour and a sense of mischief.

Sean Williams piece might be called ‘Castle’ but it immediately strips away connotations of wealth and nobility by creating a fragile and awkward looking shed. Williams’s use of watercolours emphasises its delicacy by making it look as if it will collapse any minute.

Alternatively Luke Chapman’s homage to the Holmdel Horn Antenna stands out in the form of a cosmic sculpture, which juts out in the middle of the room. Ever sat down and watched static T.V. to pass the time? I’d like to think nobody does but Chapman tries to evoke the sense that people are actually watching radiation from the beginning of time when they do. He does this by placing a T.V. underneath a dominant foil model to replicate the discovery of cosmic microwave radiation.


Luke Chapman's and Susanne Palzer's pieces.

Competing for your attention is Susanne Palzer’s twisted and broken table with blank postcards on the floor. Aptly named Postcards from Bloc the piece is a working project by which the creator plans to create a set of postcards of her studio pieces. It almost teases the audience into the type of work we can expect by cleverly keeping you guessing by not revealing much at all.

After your eyes have scanned between the prominent pieces you almost miss a pencil sketch taken straight from its pad in raw form. It’s a small A5 piece yet is placed on a whole wall to subtly show desolation and it’s like accidentally walking into a room of a person’s deepest emotion and feelings. It shows an environment lost and forlorn and the monochromatic sketched lines highlight this.

Mark Doyle’s projection of shadows catches your eye but the obscurity of it asks the audience to decide what the shadows mean to them personally. The composition shows the battle between light and dark and meaning and identity while Daniel Fogarty asks for a philosophical understand to his art.

Named Spinario it’s a page photocopied from the book Taste and the Antique: The Lure Of Classical Sculpture which tells the myth of a shepherd boy he had to deliver a message to a Senate before he removed a thorn in his foot. The artist transfixes a stapler to the page to represent the thorn that needs removing and places by the door of the exhibition it fittingly suggests the end of the boys journey.

The importance of reenacting Oscar Wilde

Sunday 25th April @ Sheffield Union's Auditorium



The Importance Of Being Earnest may have been written over a century ago but the platform festival managed to inject a fresh and lively approach.

The cast was a mixture of experienced MA theatre students to people who had never acted before in their life.

Every person managed to dive into character and immersed themselves in roles that showed off genuine talent. The set was very minimal but this allowed the acting and brilliant script to shine through.

The basic synopsis of the plot is that characters adopt a fictional identity so that they can escape from social obligations, while at the same time playing on the pun of the name Earnest.

The Platform version follows the same plot and chooses the best of Oscar Wilde’s witticisms that caused the crowd to burst into laughter.


Jack and Gwendolen

Angernon and Jack are best friends who soon find out that each of them make up the names Bunbury and Earnest, respectively, when they fancy a little break.

Two women, Cecily and Gwendolen, fall in love with the men believing that they both have the most desirable name of Earnest. Cecily is most impressed by Angernon while Gwendolen falls for Jack. But when the two women meet each other and both speak of marrying somebody called Earnest, a storm soon erupts when they initially think it is the same man.

The two girls who played these parts portrayed this friction very comically. Cecilly asks Gwendolen if she would like some tea and when her reply is “sugar is no longer fashionable” Cecilly proceeds to put as much in the tea as she possibly can.
She also throws a piece of cake at Gwendolen when she snubs her offer.

Lady Braknell, the controlling upper class mother of Gwendolen who enjoys a sip from her hip flask, was played brilliantly with apt and believable face expressions in all the right places.


Cecilly and Miss Prism


The girl who played Cecilly quickly adopted the role of a pretty and desirable young woman, while the two lead men had a chemistry that evoked everything well-off bachelors should.

The play soon has its twists and turns when it emerges that Miss Prism, the governess of Cecily, is Jack’s mother who accidentally left him as a baby on a train platform.

Due to his adoption it soon becomes clear that Jack is not his real name and it turns out that his birth name was actually Earnest the whole time. The play ends with the line "I've now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest."

It certainly doesn’t sound like the easiest story to follow but the actors pulled it off so well that it quickly became an amusing and talented piece of theatre.


Angernon, Jack, Cecilly and Gwendolen

Some of my favourite quotes of the play...

"Literary criticism is not your forte. Leave that to people who didn’t go to university."

"The amount of people in London who flirt with their own husbands is scandalous."

"Hestitation of any kind if a sign of mental decay in the young."

"Never speak disrespectfully of society. Its only those who cant get in it who do that."

My hindrance is hibernating

Forgive me for only just returning to the blogging world. For a while now I have been barricaded under a university deadline mountain and so I have had little time to do anything that would inspire me to share with the world.

The days of drinking at least three cans of red bull a day are over, as are the lonely nights where all I had for company was my ticking brain. Alas, I return to the world of culture, freedom, music, lights and people and so my fingers are more than ready to type away.

I will upload a few blogs that have been lingering in static for some weeks and from that point I will continue to convert my thoughts and experiences into a html bubble.

Ma créativité est de retour...

Amnesty International Fundraiser

The Black Light Parade played at Nottingham Arts Theatre on the 3rd April to raise money for Amnesty International. Joining them was Fists, Spotlight Kid and We Show Up On Radar.




The Black Light Parade, formerly known as The Kull, is a rejuvenated band with a fresh name and a new way of putting on events.

Instead of a generic EP launch in a venue like Rescue Rooms, they decided to host an event at Nottingham arts theatre to raise money for Amnesty International, and bought three of their favourite local bands to join them.

********************************************************************************

First on the bill was We Show Up On Radar whose music was very fitting given the surroundings. Remember sitting in school assemblies and being overtly conscious of talking to people so you wouldn’t get in trouble? Well that’s weirdly how the tranquil theatre felt which gave the atmosphere a certain charm. But much like the recent We Show Up On Radar library tour, every beautiful note sung by Andy Wright was distinctly clear.

His heart’s on his sleeve with lyrics like “I’m not scared of anything other than being alone.” but his sweet bashful presence shows in reality it’s quite daunting to be so emotionally open. He almost whispers the words to the acoustic guitar he delicately plucks and it’s quite impossible to ignore a second of the captivating honesty.

*********************************************************************************

Next was Spotlight Kid (who actually have a Wikipedia page by the way, next stop front cover of NME?) who show us why we should be paying attention if only for their track record. Between them the band members were formerly in established acts Six By Seven and Model Morning and a local appearance is a bit of a rarity.

The instrumental track they chose to open with really lays the foundations of what this bands about. The My Bloody Valentine and shoe gaze generalisations are obvious but their genuine passion for playing live music shows there’s a bit more to that. It’s like watching each member go off in the their own little world oblivious to their surroundings. Together they create a huge sonic wave that crashes and disperses into an alternative psychedelic world.

*************************************************************************************

Next up is the quirky experimental Fists who work on different levels to keep us entertained. On one side you have the sweet and slightly sombre vocals of Angi Fletcher who clearly immerses herself in the music, while the other side you have the upbeat and kookiness when Pete Conway gets involved (who also adds humour to the band with his witty remarks)

Not keen to sit on the generic shelf they use washboards to bring out the rockabilly sound and a megaphone to make sure they’re heard. Every gig is a motley of musical dimensions, which is what makes them the exciting band they are, and tonight was no exception.

*******************************************************************************

Before The Black Light Parade made their entrance they reminded us why we were all there with Amnesty International facts shown on the big screen.

As soon as they come on stage you could tell they’d been looking forward to tonight’s gig for a while and were determined to put on a great show.

Vocalist Andrew Shipley brings the forceful and diligent sound together with his intense and passionate voice. They played the best tracks from their Amongst The Trees album and showed that the craft they hone gets more proficient as time goes by.

Highlights included the solemn and slow burner The House, which evolves into a crashing sound of guitars while Andrew sings with all his heart “We should be making this now”. In other songs there’s a subtle dark Thom Yorke tone with the repetitive “We’re all looking for something” but whatever comparisons you can think of, you can’t deny they remain original and are definitely worth keeping your eyes and ears on.

The money raised for Amnesty International was originally intended for the violence against women campaign but as this ended last month, the money will go to any cause Amnesty sees appropriate.

Liam O'Kane & The Stabilizers, Flav Girogini, Basement Forte + Mike Scott (Phinius Gage) @ The Central, Nottingham (29/03/10)

I finally decided to pay a visit to The Central after hearing many good things about it and naturally I did expect a bit of a buzz and a few folk there. But this wasn’t the case as Liam O'Kane and The Stabilisers took to the stage.


Mike Moore, the usual bassist, wasn’t there so it was just drummer Ben Farnsworth (Captain Dangerous and Jimmy The Squirrel) and a few fans on the floor to warm the evening up but it wasn’t long before they had to play in complete darkness!


Before the set barely got it self off the ground the PA and lights went off but that didn’t stop Liam playing or the crowd singing along which created a brilliant intimacy. The duo carried on with Man From The Seasons, Postman, Happy Days Sad Songs and Runaway Boy giving their grassroots ska-acoustic sound justice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next up was Flav Girogini, formerly of pop-punk band Squirtgun who toured extensively with bands like Blink 182, Less Than Jake and Nofx in the 90s. Not only that he also designed Guitarpunk guitars for Alkaline Trio and his punk presence was saluted from the few fans there.

But with his solo tracks the punk-roots are subtle with an Izzy Stradlin feel to songs such as Dead, White and Blue. He merges a combination of politically driven lyrics with honest love songs that pull the crowd in.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After making my way from the bar the stage was suddenly swarmed with a collective of musicians that made up Basement Forte. The 8-piece consist of MCs and singers joined by a band that compliment each other in a unique and inciting way and are one of the most exciting new bands in Nottingham at the moment in terms of doing something different and fresh.

They blend Trip hop with blues with a cheeky bit of dub step and drum and bass thrown in but rappers Reuben Mead and Miah Jumbo add that hint of professionalism and passion while still clearly having a laugh.

Tracks like Come On Down and Dark Matters show why we might be hearing a bit from them in the future and they got the crowd to muster up energy to have a little dance.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


But it was quite clear most people had only came for them when the floor cleared before Mike Scott came on, which is a bit of a shame as his set was warming and honest with punk rock elements.

Originally in the band Phinius Gage Mike puts his heart on his sleeve in a nihilistic and archaic way and it soon becomes clear his music is an escapism mechanism that he wants to share with whoever cares to listen.

He talks of religion, nationalism, militarism and personal tragedies that really beg you to take it in. His influences from bands like Black Flag, Propaghandi and Pennywise give his a raw and raucous feel to his sound but he still retains a bit of originality.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately I couldn’t stay around for Robb Blake of Whitmore but it soon became obvious most of the bands that played tonight were very happy to be touring with him regardless of whether many were there or not.

Kristi Genovese

The Craft-Off Returns to celebrate a year of haberdashery antics

It’s been a year since The Craft Off and Spinsters Emporium was launched and to celebrate a mob of artistic crafty people were invited to trade fresh creative ideas for prizes. The idea was to get into groups and to create art from the briefs given by the organisers, with live music from Ryan Lauder and Cecille Grey to get the creative juices flowing.

The first task of making original origami saw people making generic birds, cars and boats, which were all suspended from the ceiling, but the customised swan impressed the most.



After making a mountain of paper mess, Ryan Lauder took to the stage with his very own origami hat.

The Scottish acoustic-folk songwriter was joined by a couple of friends on the cello and double bass which provided the perfect chill-out sound for folding paper and creating even more mess!

Next on stage was the slightly eclectic Cecille Grey who clearly looked like they were having fun dancing away to their French pop songs.

The next task resulted in lots of gasps and confusion making us all think we had missed something historically important that day. The brief explained how the leaning tower of Pisa had collapsed and asked everyone to make a piece to emanate momentous buildings that would be missed if we never saw them again. Of course the next brief explained we had been stitched and that it was time to get our own back by creating an object that could cleverly fool people to think it was real.

The best bit was helping ourselves to whatever crafts took our fancy, from string to feathers to fabrics to empty bottles and it didn’t take long to clear the shelves.
After over an hour of clambering over paper and scissors on tiny tables the winners were soon announced.

The prizes went to groups who came up with the best pranks in visual form. One group made their own football table explaining that footballers would be made to play on the biggest football table in the world, due to the world cup taking place in brazil this year.


Another group told us that McDonalds would launch a left-handed burger priced £7.99 available until 7/7/77 and created the meal from fabrics. Even better the group snipped away at the LeftLion logo to incorporate it in their title!


The next prize was most surprising as it was my group that won! I can’t create artistic pieces to save my life which I think goes to show it’s worth taking part because you never know what you might win.

Our prank was that big corporations like Nike had chopped off Banksy's hand taking him off the creative pay roll and that we would never see a truthful piece of art from him again.


But the winner went to the group who made an amazing colourful castle and pretended that Nottingham Castle was the home of King George, which was even acted out with a sword in tow. One group even dramatised the landing on the moon dressed as astronauts.

Nottingham Craft Mafia and Spinsters Emporium proved crafty prizes galore including vouchers, haberdashery magazines, t-shirts, wallpaper and buttons.

The Malt Cross provided the perfect surrounding with chocolate sprinkled coffees and beer on offer and everyone took part to create something original. It was a great night had by all and had all our creative imaginations ticking away.

Kristi Genovese

How to push boundaries by not doing much at all

Last week I went to an art exhibition called Life: A Users Manual, which showed every day objects and experiences with a richer cultural history. From made up slang that its creators used to escape the law, to postcards of battered sea ledges, it gave the feel of a 2010 that uses art to overcome uncertainty of global change.

But the piece that jumped out at me most of all was Haroon Mirza’s ‘An_Infinito’ which got me thinking about the richness of its influence.



http://www.clickfolio.com/haroon/


His work combines the typical dangerous elements of water and electricity to create a sound for the film clip he uses, but it says a lot more about the history of music and the objects we use.

For most of us our first ever music experience was probably shaking one of the many rattles we were given as a baby, or mixing hand clapping with nonsensical babbling. The idea of simply combining sounds with every day objects is music in its most primitive form. However music makers often go back to basics to shock and inspire people and constantly look for new and weird ways to do this.

A Darwinian would say that music began as a mating strategy as many birds produced music through bird song to attract mates. Others believe that pre-historic activities such as cracking nuts on walls created rhythms, which made workers more efficient.
But whatever you think was the very first music experience, it’s clear to see the people who have been truly inspired by primitive music making.

When Frank Zappa made his television debut on the Steve Allen show in 1963, he didn’t want that to be the only debut. He decided to bring a bike on the show and play a bicycle concerto.






As you can see he was quite openly mocked about this but Zappa fans quickly recognised his modern quirkiness and he was later awarded with the Grammy lifetime achievement award, inspired artists such as Alice Cooper and Primus, and released more than 60 albums.

One of the leading artists of Avant-Garde music, John Cage, produced one of the most controversial compositions of the 2oth century. He recorded environment noises, which appeared to be minutes of silence to critics, and people began questioning his talent. Many thought it was a philosophical masterpiece rather than a musical one.



He was a teacher of experimental composition and had an inquisitive love for aleatoric music, which meant leaving composition arrangement to chance.

In 1960, on the TV show I’ve Got A Secret, he performed the composition ‘Water Walk’ using sounds created from various objects including a bath and an electric mixer.


Once again it seemed absurd and comical to the audience but John went on to influence bands such as Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Aphex Twin.

Brian Eno, of Roxy Music fame, also delved into the innovative music world creating ambient music for sonic landscapes. The best example of this is the 1983 release of Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks.


He popularised the idea that composition could be arranged by chance and emphasised theory over practise. He later worked with David Bowie, John Cale and David Byrne.

In 1996 he helped make the Koan Generative system and was very interested in the way that music was ever changing and could be created by a system.

It allows a composer to control hundreds of sounds, which a computer improvises.
A basic example of generative music is a wind chime. The materials used determine the overall sound the wind chime produces.
The idea of Brian’s system was to create a unique piece of music every time by separating the artists from the creative process.

But these are examples of people whose whole musical career was based around innovation and there are in fact hundreds of thousands of music makers out there who delve once in a while.

Take Tilly and the wall who used tap dancing instead of drums, Gallows who used a the sound of a pig slaughter to cause effect, Rush used any type of wood they could find for percussion, Paul McCartney chewed carrots and celery on Super Furry Animals- Receptable For The Respectable, Pink Floyd used rubber bands and pencils instead of a bass, and Bjork used a man who shifted sand and stones with his feet.
Many noise rock acts including Mike Patton used the circuit bending process which emphasised spontaneity by using low voltage, battery powered guitar effects and children’s toys.






You don't need a Fender 60s Reverse Headstock Stratocaster to make good music, nor do you need a drumkit as big as Keith Moons. Making music is a creative process that allows for as much or as little eccentric absurdity as you like and if you can make demented and deranged sounds from it, all the better.

But the best thing about making music is that we can use any of the strange and wonderful objects we come across every day and create something original.