Guitars Are Back. Get Over It.
Blindness (above) hiatus finale show at The Lexington London being filmed by John Clay of Clark Kent's Rock n Roll Revue with deux furieuses (below) playing 'Tracks Of Wire' a key rock album of 2016, live. First weekend of June 2016. First hot day and night AND packed band shows.
Isn't it about time for the annual mainstream media articles about "Where are the women in music", "Where are working class voices?" "Rock/Guitars are dead". Blah blah blah...? In the year of #SoWhite (and the seven dorks? - Greedy, Bigoty, Violenty, Twatty, Arsey, Snooty and Tory?) nobody dares to ask if anybody in rock n roll is uniting with poetry, grime, theatre, fashion anything but the division they keep going on about without getting in a small venue to contradict themselves? To be fair, this piece of writing noodles unjournalistically, but I'm just saying.
Feeling an affinity with Smiley & The Underclass and all bands with something to say. Tipped off by Dizzy Spell n Bruno Wizard last January, got to catch them with Pink Cigar last Autumn. Hell yeah. If ever you need a replacement for Coldplay at a show, give this band a call for something lively and relevant to our lives.
Since Spring 2014, TheZineUK picture book has told a story fuelled by (gasp) all genders, genres, generations and generalisations that want to come together. We like sex, or maybe don't, in as many different ways as there are of our individual selves. Some of us take drugs, alcohol included. Some of us don't. Bollocks to labels, uniqulture - unique culture - is where we're coming from. Different backgrounds and opinions but as we met, mainly, at gigs, already united. Rock is making a melting pot with many other sounds so that we can make new futures.
Our legendary photographer, Jeff Moh, captured this #FuckAusterity Sisteray image from their guerilla gig at TheZineUK music social's debut Urban Bar shindig in January. That was some night out and, new futures WERE made. The openers (working band name of 'Eyelid Movies') joined the ArtBeatFest bill playing their first show as 485C and invited to play The Great Escape Festival by End Of The Trail Records from there. After a very original-punk feeling appearance at Camden Rocks last weekend, Sisteray are hitting the Isle Of Wight this weekend for This Feeling (also in our story) and ArtBeatFest stars, M O S E S are at Downloadfest
Team #COR - record label/clothing - at ArtBeatFest after their signings New Reign's live and glamorous RnB show. DJ MarkY (front) brought the party on the decks and is one of the seeds that sewed this tale as well) Our Co Records adventure began last Autumn at SoccerSixFest!
Considering that Austerity is meant to divide us, the Sex And Hugs And Rock n Roll happening in our Once Upon Another Time tale really is something else. All building a parallel music industry to complement whatever the current one is. It's not yet a business as the artists in the tale still have instruments held together by gaffer tape and, often, difficulty affording rehearsals and repairs, but there is something in the air, so watch this space.
You don't have to be over 60, 40 or even 20 for the true spirit of punk to course through your veins. Youthful rock n rollers, The Velvet Hands (above) are thrilling to experience. Listen out!
Celebrate #Punk40 / Fuck #Punk40 - whatever the opinion it feels like a movement. In February, at the Enola Arts David Bowie tribute show not only raised money for charity but left these words in the air from original punk legend, Bruno Wizard, when The Homosexuals brought the house down; "Punk Is Dead. Let's Do Something New". Ah, Dizzy Spell (Enola Arts - who just turned down a massive offer on principle), you sure know how to make a magic night.
DeGentrification Generations;
Dan of newer wave pro-actives, Sisteray, with Bruno Wizard at our music social.
Bruno was already weaved into our 2014 story, The Heart Of Bruno movie was UK released in 2015 (he was an exhibit in the window of Selfridges, on Oxford Street, for a month). His year ended filming a scene from the Nicole Kidman movie he was in. Martin Selfish Cunt on top form for their punk band scene at the George Tavern, where Bruno had also invited Nova Twins (he's got a lotta love for them and fellow ArtBeat faves deux furieuses and for Mourning Birds who he caught on our stage at The Great Escape Festival last summer with Saint Agnes, below, who have just played the Time Out Rising Stars event in central London this summer and are about to play a launch show with CuT and DOLLS who are also in this all rocking tale.
We bumped into Dead Belles (who Mourning Birds had originally recommended to us), at The George Tavern too that night (glad to hear the venue has been reprieved, this year, too). They had been in a studio up the road, and let us (myself and our StageStyle leader, Ben) listen to a new track they'd laid down, awaiting Zakk's vocals. The band had such a good night out that returned to the venue for their their Record Store Day 2016 show there in April with M O S E S. The song we listened to, sounds like this with the vocals on...
The tune, 'This Machine's Electric' has not only attracted huge praise across the board, but packed out small venues where even strangers were singing the chorus back by the end of the song. Hard not to notice, by those in the know, they got snapped up by End Of The Trail Records to play their stage at The Great Escape Festival - which TheZineUK repped at). DIY is key to the new musical foundations that have been laid.
In this climate bands change names, members and ways of doing things, or can just run out of money/energy/love. For posterity though, they leave songs that would make the best "Nah, fuck off, THIS is what WE call music" compilation.
A DIY case in point is the nurturing and cross-promoting by female A&R scouts, promoters, documentarians. This spring, we (supertalent and queen of hearts, Anita Maj and myself) were having such a brilliant night at Clit Rock (Dana Jade, you are a wonder woman musician who has created a FABulous good cause great event) where I got to see how fab Feral Five are live and snapped lovely shots of deux furieuses with Beth from Blindness. That vibe was united at ArtBeatFest a week or so later. It turns out Terry of co-promoters, Kitmonsters, had been at the Clit Rock event where we'd all first seen, and fallen hard, for deux furieuses. Serendipity as finance? We're defintely doing something different. Co-collaborating collectives x affordable communication technology. Passion, love and trust are key.
I love this image from Chapter 8 of the story book; Awesome Supergroup; deux furieuses with apre-shows Dana Jade and Kat Five of Feral Five at Clit Rock this Spring. Especially for having songs that would make the kind of day time radio that I would like to hear.
Rock, Electro, Punk, Blues, Technology and so many other skills... it's all in the above group, but the bottom line is SONGS. Yeah, you heard me. We don't need patronising tokenism or positive discrimination when we've GOT the talent on equal terms. Did you read The Rise Of The Cliteratti by Dizzy Spell? I'm loving the near future ever more, as I type!
For instance gimme #TheBritz over The Brits TV show. To me, Asylums (below) at Camden Rocks 2016 would make better viewing than the yawn-ups-MAN-ship dictates of telly. I was raised on the likes of The Tube and The Word (especially the episode that the Manics got thrown off mid live song for performing "Repeat" (google the song) instead of what they were supposed to. Yeah, TheZineUK are stepping up on the TV front. We are learning (thank you CIVX, Mourning Birds, Pink Cigar and The Velvet Hands so far). Watch our space! Ben has a filmer now, some ace DOLLS, Asylums, Sisteray to try to create something worthy of such great bands. #Britz16 baby, it's short code for 2017 Ones To Watch.
Above; Sam, Jimmy and Bill of Mourning Birds with Pink Cigar's manager, Tommy Kennedy IV last month at the ace punky Portobello Live Festival which he is a co promoter at (with Mick Jones of The Clash/Rotten Hill Gang and friends). Tommy (a legend in his own right of "Mr Lovely" proportions) is also involved with Musicians Against Homelessness this September. More about that to follow. He makes London's Mau Mau Bar on Portobello Road, under the westway, shake with Free Live Music Shows on Monday nights.
With the artists of our story being woven into the near future, parallel dimension, new music industry, Chapter 9 was a finale to setting up a guitar powered back-story where all styles, faiths, nationalities, ages, sizes, shapes, opinions and cults were involved in TheZineUK being something completely different. Prince had joined the other stars in the sky on the day of our second Whitechapel social, so in his honour our last cover was purple with SLAVEs on it's face.
Geddit? Oh, never mind. It's all good. With an expanded ArtBeat family of variety show talents, the parallel industry (i.e. everybody is really industrious to make things happen in the gentrification lie of the austerity age) is ready to step up with whatever happens next. Thank you all that take the time to deal with our little site and it's big dreams.;
Images courtesy of Smiley & The Underclass and The Velvet Hands. Our photographers; Saint Agnes by Dizzy Spell. Dan of Sisteray by Jeff Moh. Other images by Caffy. Words too.