Asylums; Alien, Human and Emotional
The otherworldly rock band headline Camden Assembly to round off 2018, before starting 2019 in Europe with Iggy Pop. Way to celebrate five years of being Asylums!
Asylums are a gang of individuals who appeal to a diversity of individuals.
As per all the best counter cultures of music's multiverse, they are the calibre of band that mythical heritage is made of.
Spacepunk, Art, Photography, Southend, Philosophy and the expanding cottage industry that is Cool Thing Records
... all, and more, are fused to radiate the unique waves that unleashed mindwarping alternative rock albums 'Killer Brain Waves' (2016) and 'Alien Human Emotions' (2018).
Both incited an outbreak of spluttered praise.
On Friday 9th November 2018, Asylums round off their first five years of existence and activism at Camden Assembly in London with a grand bill of special guests.
It's their last show of the year and a much deserved celebration - click here to grab remaining tickets.
"Maybe an alternative education would breed an alternative situation."
The Cool Thing dimension goes beyond being a DIY label run by multi talents musicians; Luke Branch, Jazz Miell, Henry Tyler and Michael Webster.
TheZineUK asked Luke; "Did you set out to be an art powered community at the start, or has this evolved organically?"
Luke :
"I have to say in a genuine way we did want to achieve that at the start.
We kind of started the band and label project by quitting the centralised music business and wanted something different for ourselves.
As time has gone on we have worked with lots of lovely people that are part of the centralised system but in terms of the creative work that we do, we exist in a self imposed vacuum outside that.
As new bands and artists have joined the family we have realised a community spirit, it is our emotional and mental safety blanket as creatives.
As a band, we all speak to each other everyday on group threads, but we also speak with our extended universe of label mates and collaborators too.
Life is rewarding, mutually supportive and full of happiness as a result.
On the outside of our vacuum the country is cold, unkind and very very scary right now.
This is our survival mechanism.
Video: 'Millenials' (from the 'Human Alien Emotions' LP) - It's #AnotherCoolThing
TheZineUK : "In a nation fracked by austerity, it's almost impossible to sustain a career as a band, even a highly acclaimed and credible one. Have you ever thought of giving up?"
Luke : " You have the occasional day where things don't work, we call them 'contemplaters', but we don't see what we do as a career, it's an art project that can support a career in other areas.
Music has always been hard to survive in financially, when you use lateral approaches to achieve what you want without the expectation of a career things change, your decisions become routed in creative expression and fun.....would we like to do what we do full time? I really don't know. For now there's joy in a small wage.
A song for the many, not the few, from some of Britain's weirdest pop stars.
Once seen live, they are never forgotten.
Their entertaining reputation is proving to be a growing attraction at key festivals including Manchester Neighbourhood, Hamburg Reeperbahn and most recently 2Q Lincoln.
When Asylums headline their own shows, there's a tint of "congregration" to their crowd. It's a loving escapism.
We can't help but feel uplifted afterwards.
TheZineUK :
"Music can radiate positivity as an antidote to the scarier side to the world on the "news" and spills out from the Asylums live and recorded experience. Is addressing some uncomfortable issues any kind of release?"
Luke : "We like to be thought provoking rather than preachy, although we have extremely strong ethics this is ultimately art and all messages visually, musically and lyrically are open to interpretation.
Over five years of creating we have put some messages out into the world that I'm proud of.
I feel they are coming from an empathetic place which embraces the human spirit, our generation, our digital lives, austerity, gender, politics, mental health, sexuality and spiritually.
Here are a few key lyrics as an example:
1. Reject a second class sex
2. Living in obscurity is killing the community
3. If the high street closes down should we leave town?
4. Maybe an alternative education would breed an alternative situation.
5. It's hard to cry when we have all been too desensitized.
6. Hand me down debts, a generation outpriced in characterless buildings.
7. Are we millennials? Are we temporary? When your perrenial the definitions boring.
8. Information genocide, too much honey in the hive.
9. In this short life our souls are drawn together to remove us from the dark.
10. You can loose some sleep fighting with the beast, it's the company, the company you keep.
Make of them what you will."
TheZineUK : Made of them: A blueprint of studies for an alternative education syllabus.
Thank you, yet again, Asylums, for having 2020 vision. Since 2013!
Additional words; Caffy St Luce
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