ArtBeatFest New Music Expo Artists Triumph
The New Arts Industries are uniting under the radar in the small to medium venues circuit that is under threat from a dalek like from "culture to vulture" campaign being inflicted, along with much else, on Britain's much needed creativity and escapism. So the grass roots musicians just write bigger songs!
April Fool's Weekend 2016, TheZineUK joined forces with Kitmonsters, Playhard, Panda Power and an extending family of documentary creators and artistic performers (on stage, or in the audience supporting their peers) to create #ArtBeatFest starring: Anita Maj, Arrows Down, Blindness, Bubbles, The Connectors, Dedwardians, deux furieuses, Disco MarkY (DJ set), Emily Magpie, Enne, Eyelid Movies, Feral Five, Jean Genie's Massive Hugs, M O S E S, Mourning Birds, New Reign (#COR), Rhiannon The Nightmare, Richard Lomax, Simeon's Mobile Disco (DJ set), Spears, Thomas Cameron
(above, a born entertainer blessed with an amazing vocal range; Enne)
The growing results (click here for TheZineUK's live events feedback and artist contact info page) of staging what was basically a scouting-come-photography /film session in London's "next music industry hub", speak for themselves. No fooling.
“It wasn’t like I was taking pictures of rock stars.
These were just friends, they weren’t famous yet. At most CBGB shows Zone went to, there would only be 40 or 50 people in the audience, and 90% of them were band members or friends of bands. It wasn’t until 1975 that magazines like the Village Voice started paying attention to any of these bands, so Zone was among their first documentarians."
The above quote is taken from the Brooklyn Magazine article "Rare Photos of NYC Punk Legends Before They Were Famous."
The picture article is about early 1970s photographer, 14 year old, Paul Zone.
He would get chased around his (now hipster gentrified) Brooklyn neighborhood for being the only kid in school wearing sequins and glitter.
Reading it reminded me very much of the artbeat of uniqulture in our daily, 21st century lives, in fact the above will sound very familiar to anybody that was in the back stage bar of Amersham Arms in New Cross on 2nd and 3rd of April for our "DIY Poundland budget music festival".
There is a lot of glamour involved at the austerity inflicted end of Broken Britain. TheZineUK attracts #StageStyle - musicians as models. Above, Gaff of Dedwardians, below Feral Five also going down a treat (with Jimmy of The Glass Collectors, making their next radio show podcast over this weekend, wanting a shirt made to match Kat Five's dress!).
Did I mention that there was not one single set that didn't win new friends and contacts and a massive cheer? Not one. I keep going on about it. That's important because so are all of the ArtBeatFest artists showcased at this Expo of Entertainment. Bookers, do your thing while you can get them at reasonable rates.
It's not about the money though. We don't have any. It's about credible, marketable, exportable, publishable and career worthy potential being seen and heard. Within days cool independents and reputable majors have already been in touch. The most used question I heard this weekend was "how did you find... (fill in live set of the time, as applicable)?".
We (the organisers collective) all have backgrounds and connections in the music industry. Many thanks to them for the faith, to the multiple documentarians of #ArtBeatFest and especially to all the performers and DJs concerned. They started something completely new. Above Team #COR (record label and clothing!) in the house with new signings, New Reign (they of the very cool, classic girl group vocals) and DJ Disco MarkY who tore the dance floor up at the After Party on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Mark is one of London's Faces, and also part of the ongoing travelling circus that is our Uniqulture Road Show.
Image: On stage; In after show conversation, Guitar hero, Debbie Smith, at the end of deux furieuses and Blindness, following their respective live sets by coming together on stage. Beside her, new Drums hero, Vas Antoniadou.
A plethora of links and pix are going up at TheZineUK's FB page from 2nd April onwards.
In mid April, Chapter 9 of TheZineUK music (and new Arts riot) movement story (now an industry case study with 53,000+ views and reads too, apparently!) will be an ArtBeatFest special with more images from the weekend - as well as a link to all involved, like a proper Expo Programme.
Above: From tech savvy, cheerleading electro pop charmers, Bubbles to ferocious Punk n Rolling duo, The Connectors (being photographed by Paul Maps of a UK's key music culture and connect site, Joyzine) and everything in between. It would be flippant to call Arrows Down "The New Radiohead", and not do him justice, for he is so much more, but the adoration rising like steam from the dance floor on Sunday night felt like they could have been making a low key appearance...
Following ArtBeatFest this week started with calls and emails abut the line up from interested parties. Stay tuned for whatever happens next to
The results aren't going to stop because this isn't the "360 degree" music industry model of a few years ago. This is something more akin to the 60s and 70s organic, punky reggae party where everybody is connected by 6 degrees of separation. With no money in this industry, these artists have the material for psynch publishing deals, the melodies and hooks for bigger artists to work with and more ideas up their collective sleeve than you can imagine, without the imagination to escape Planet Earth for a few hours. If you have a small music venue near you, step away from the stream and, affordably, experience the new rock n roll dream.
We are situationists. So when (Mourning) Birds tweeted (naturally!) me. I fell for their 105 seconds of chaotic garage punk ear bomb.
They tipped Dead Belles who floored us in Autumn. Their singer, Zakk, bringing back the projector they borrowed to make their recent video, tipped M O S E S (pictured below) who, totally awed the Amersham Arms ArtBeat crowd on the same day as Mourning Birds.
All these bands mentioned in this article are not only in the vanguard of the best of new thrills, but showing the Selfish Selfie Age how the new rock rolls... Get involved with them right here http://hyperurl.col/ArtBeatFest right now, please. This is just how we START things...!
Thank you for your time, Caffy x (ps snap shots by me, but there was some proper photographers over the weekend, some of their images will be in the above mentioned flicky picky story book of Once Upon Another Time, chapter 9 x