For the love of love of Shane Macgowan
Direct from their sensational 2024 Edinburgh Fringe sell-out run!
John McLaughlin (hit songwriter/producer/singer of Johnny Mac & The Faithful) performs songs of his friend and genius Shane MacGowan (The Pogues and The Popes). Johnny and his 7-piece band blast through the classic songs of the great man whilst McLaughlin shares fond memories of their times writing and recording together and of course going to the pub!
This homage is a celebration of the life and works of one of the greatest artists of all time and is endorsed by Shane’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke. So, let’s all raise a glass to Shane MacGowan!
“Shane loved working and spending time with John and would always smile fondly when John’s name came up in conversation. He said one of his proudest moments was shared with John at Celtic Football Stadium performing in front of 62,000 fans.”
Victoria Mary Clarke (Wife of the late Shane MacGowan)
“For the Love of Shane MacGowan vividly evoked the great man’s soul and his voice, clearly showing the love those behind the tribute had for him. I felt privileged to have attended.”
Miriam Trujillo (Binge Fringe Mag - 5* review)
“Johnny Mac & the Faithful bring such joy and happiness to the crowds! They are the best opening act I have ever had. I love them so much I got them to play at my Christmas party in my house!!”
Sir Rod Stewart
“For the love of Shane MacGowan! – John McLaughlin is first and foremost a music fan. So when he wrote and recorded songs with Shane MacGowan it was the ultimate labour of love. I know his heart will be filled with pride as he pays a personal tribute to his friend – in words and music – and celebrates the incredible achievements of the lead singer of The Pogues.”
Billy Sloan (BBC Radio)
The Wailers
The Wailers are a rare breed of musicians who have earned their place in the annals of music history. Their culture-defining music, embodying the spirit of the 70s reggae movement, has left an indelible mark on the industry.
Experience the magic of their timeless classics and incredible cuts from Bob Marley’s vast repertoire in a set that is truly unforgettable. Under the guidance of Aston Barrett Jr, son of the legendary “Familyman”, The Wailers continue to preserve the legacy of their iconic sound.
In 2020, The Wailers made a comeback with their new album, “One World,” produced by Emilio Estefan. The first single, “One World, One Prayer”, is a powerful anthem for unity, love, and inclusivity, and features a blend of Jamaican reggae and urban Latin music. The track includes international sensation Farruko, Jamaican icon Shaggy, and members of the Marley family, including Cedella and Skip Marley.
The Wailers’ long-awaited album, “One World”, earned a 2021 Grammy® nomination for Best Reggae Album, marking the band’s first recording in 25 years.
In 2017, Aston Barrett Jr. received a Grammy certificate as co-producer with Damian Marley for the track The Struggle Discontinues, featured in the Album “Stony Hill” which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
Aston Barrett Jr. is a co-owner of BAD Lions Productions, LLC. who operates a studio in Pompano Beach, Florida. He can be heard playing guitar, drums, bass, and organ for Stephen Marley, Junior Reed, Julian Marley, Kwame Bediaco, Aka Beka, Jessee Royale, Reggae Force, and many more. His sponsors include Rupert Neve (whose pro audio gear is heard on every album he has played on and every live Wailers show), as well as Fender, Mannabasso, Black Lion Audio, and Pigtronics.
Goethes Erben
Goethes Erben are regarded as one of the style-defining bands of the gothic scene in the 90's. The formation around and with frontman Oswald Henke has been active since 1989 and has constantly and consistently developed further since then. Henke describes his artistic work as "German-language music theatre". An apt description for such a multifaceted project, in which the lyrics (more spoken than sung) always have a very special significance. A total of nine studio albums have been released to date, with the tenth album, "X", to follow in 2023. But Goethes Erben is not "just" music: several musical theatre pieces (including "Rückkehr ins Niemandsland" and "Menschenstille") have premiered over the years and have been recorded for posterity.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ infectious blend of cinematic hip-hop, rock ‘n’ roll, blues-jazz , latin-soul burst onto the New York music scene in 1996 with the release of the worldwide multi-platinum debut album ‘Come Find Yourself’ on EMI Records. Their debut single ‘Scooby Snacks’, famed for sampling Tarantino movies such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, spent 17 weeks on the Billboard chart, quickly achieving gold status in the US.
The band became an international hit, settling down in the UK, where their multi-platinum debut album ‘Come Find Yourself’ spent an incredible two years in the UK album chart. FLC performed an infamously raucous set on the famous Pyramid main stage at Glastonbury ’99 and the rest - as they say - is history.
Fun Lovin’ Criminals have released 6 studio albums, 2 cover albums, 1 triple live album and various best of’s. They are putting the finishing touches on their 7th studio album to be released early 2023 to coincide with a world tour.
FLC are Europe’s best-loved “cousins from New York”, whip-smart story-tellers in smarter Saville Row suits who, through comically tall tales of living large in the neon metropolis via music, drugs, crime and existential ennui, launched a career in music.
The bands current lineup -
Brian Fast Leiser on lead vocals, bass, keys, horns, harp and programming.
Frank Benbini on drums, percussion and vocals.
Naim Cortazzi on guitar and vocals.
Go_A (UA)
Go_A is a Ukrainian band that combines authentic Ukrainian folklore, modern electronic beats, and a powerful guitar drive into an explosive musical mix. The band members are vocalist Kateryna Pavlenko, sound producer and keyboards/percussion player Taras Shevchenko, multi-instrumentalist and woodwinds player/backing vocalist Ihor Didenchuk and guitar player Ivan Hryhoriak.
Sananda Maitreya
Artist, composer, arranger, producer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur and Post Millennium Rocker, SANANDA MAITREYA was born in New York U.S.A. on March 15th 1962. He plays the basic instruments of Rock: drums, bass, guitar and keyboards; as well as a few others instruments besides and he can never remember a time when music wasn’t playing in his head. From the beginning of his professional career he has personally written arranged and produced all his music and has also collaborated with other top artists and producers.
Since his childhood he felt a very special connection with music, he had his light switched on at the age of 2 by the music of the Beatles and has been a fool for music ever since.
He was raised in America and during his high school years he was in the band “Modernaires” in Florida. In his youth he was trained as a boxer in Orlando and won the Florida Golden Gloves lightweight Championship in 1980. He served in the U.S. Army for 3 years, 1 spent in Germany where he also became the lead singer of the band ‘THE TOUCH’.
In 1987 his debut album “Introducing the Hardline”, gives him International success. Sananda wins a Grammy Award in 1988 as Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.In June 1988 he is on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine and he is nominated “Top International Newcomer” at the British Awards. In the following years 3 studio albums are published: “Neither Fish Nor Flesh” in 1989, “Symphony or Damn” in 1993 and “Vibrator” in 1995.The albums have many famous songs including the soundtracks of various legendary Hollywood movies such as: ‘Beverly Hills Cop III’, ‘Prêt-à-Porter’, ‘The Promised Land’, ‘The Fan’, ‘Shake Rattle & Roll’, ‘Frankie & Johnny’. These songs also do appear in more recent films such as ‘Knocked Up’, ‘Funny People’, ‘Up In the Air’, ‘Yoga Hosers’, ‘Am Ende Legende’ etc.; as well as in TV series such as ‘Sex Education’, ‘Camping’, ‘Schooled’, ‘Tiny Dancers’ and Theatre Shows: ‘Alvin Ailey’s Lazarus’.Maitreya in this period also works as an actor, he has a role in 1988 in the movie “Clubland” and in 1999 he plays Jackie Wilson in the CBS TV series “Shake, Rattle & Roll”.
In 2000 he opens the Sidney Olympic Games performing as the lead singer of INXS. In 2001 his fifth album “WildCard!” is ready and marks his new life as an independent artist.
Since 1995, at the age of 33, he adopts the name Sananda Maitreya that for the artist represents a new starting point, in 2001 this becomes also his legal name.
Sananda Maitreya has been a internet presence since the late ‘90s and was one of the first major artist to add credibility to the current explosion and acceptance of the internet music communication and digital world. He believed all along that the Internet would be his path to true musical freedom, without in his words, “the usual gains and compromises”.
He presents his music as POST MILLENNIUM ROCK, its main elements are heart and soul, its nature is passion, courage and curiosity and it acknowledges no rules but the goal to lead the listener back to his heart, to provoke his mind and re-approach him to his true feelings. His vision of Post Millennium Rock is a music free of restrictions and marketing pressures. It is a music that combines all the genres that the artist loved since his childhood: opera, country, classical, jazz, blues, gospel, pop, reggae as well as Rock!
After the studio album “WildCard!” Sananda has released with his independent label TreeHouse Publishing a whole new catalogue: the double album “Angels & Vampires” in 2006/07, “Nigor Mortis” in 2009 ,“The Sphinx” in 2011, “Return To Zooathalon” in 2013, the double album “The Rise Of The Zugebrian Time Lords” in 2015. In 2017 he has released a monumental work called: “Prometheus & Pandora”, a triple album that encapsulates the 21st Century Human Condition and is a smorgasbord of conflicting emotions: there’s wit and wisdom, anger and contemplative sadness and each volume contains a version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s I Don’t Know How To Love (Him) sanctioned by the song’s authors.
In most of his albums Sananda plays all instruments and all songs are written, produced, arranged, performed and conceived by the artist, except where indicated. The latest new double album “Pandora’s PlayHouse” has been released on March 15th, 2021.
On Dec 10th he has released the new video of the song HER KISS, filmed by Luciano Boschetti at Villa Arconati. Both the song and its 2 Video Versions, have been honored with a bountiful cache of awards and salutations.
The Dolby Atmos and remastered edition of his iconic Album “Introducing The Hardline” has been digitally released on July 8th 2022.
James Walsh (Starsailor)
James first found success as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist with multi platinum band Starsailor with whom he still tours and releases the occasional album. 'Everything Will Be Ok' is James's 4th official solo album following 'Turning Point','Tiger On The Bridge' & 'Small Illusions' He's also used his songwriting skills with artists as diverse as Professor Green and Melanie C
Rudeboy plays Urban Dance Squad ft. DJ DNA
After the break-up in 2006 Silver Surfinger Rudeboy, the MC of Urban Dance Squad will finally perform again with a complete Urban Dance Squad set that will include a mixture from all the 5 records UDS ever made. Not only Rudeboy will join this party but also DJ DNA, the original DJ, master of turntables.
Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch rap rock band formed after what was originally intended as a one-time jam-session at a festival in Utrecht on December 20, 1986. The band consisted of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, rapper, and DJ. Their music is described as a blend of genres including funk, soul, heavy metal, hip hop, reggae, jazz and ska. Urban Dance Squad was one of the most successful Dutch bands of the nineties, releasing five studio albums and toured extensively especally in France, Germany and the US.
Urban Dance Squad first got together in 1986, at a jam session in De Vrije Vloer, a club in Utrecht, a jam which resulted in the first Dutch rock band with a rapper (they borrowed the name from Parliament-Funkadelic's Urban Dancefloor Guerillas); a song, "Struggle for Jive"; and the blending of white and black music in the Netherlands, at the same time that Fishbone, Living Colour, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were doing the same in the United States. The band recorded its first album, Mental Floss for the Globe, in Brussels in 1989 (produced by Jean-Marie Aerts, of TC Matic), and came to instant success. It won an Edison Award, and the single "Deeper Shade of Soul" was a hit in Europe, and in the United States, where it charted at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two more singles were released from the album, and Urban Dance Squad toured the US in 1991, opening for Living Colour--The Pittsburgh Press described their music as "refried Zeppelin riffs and neo-Hendrix guitar solos complete with sound effects and old soul records to produce an exceedingly loud, densely packed, dissonant garage-rock stew."
In the middle of the band's career, to capitalize on the success of grunge and alternative rock, Urban Dance Squad released ersona Non Grata in January 1994. All of the tracks feature heavy use of distortion and guitar. The singles "No Honestly" and "Candy Strip Experience." were released, the latter single being released as a radio edit that cuts most of the pre-song noise.
Artantica saw release in 1999, and was a return to the band's hip-hop roots, and received critical acclaim. Urban Dance Squad disbanded the following year, though they did perform together again as late as 2006.
Silver Surfinger Rudeboy
After Urban Dance Squad disbanded in 2000 Rudeboy joined Junkie XL for 2 records and did a lot of touring with them. After Junkie XL Rudeboy made records with The League Of XO Gentlemen (Smiling At The Claptrap Circuses, 2003) and Club Of High Eyebrows (Older Now, 2007) and The Phantom Four & The Arguido (Sounds From the Obscure 2012)
Front 242 (BE)
When industrial music developed in England in the mid-1970s with Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, these groups used electronic instruments, percussion with found objects, and looped samples of "found" soundbites, elements later taken up by Front 242. These techniques can be seen as an extension of the use of electronic sources of sound as musical instruments and percussion with found objects by composer Edgard Varèse.
Front 242 was created in 1981 in Aarschot, near Brussels, Belgium by Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen, who wanted to create music and graphic design using emerging electronic tools. The first single, Principles, was released late in 1981. Although some members now claim that the name does not have a particular meaning, in an early '90s interview on Dutch TV, Daniel Bressanutti said that the '242' part comes from him swearing '242!' instead of 'damn!' when he was young. Also, the similarities to UN Security Council Resolution 242 have not been lost on those interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Perhaps more to the point, after the Second World War 242 Belgian citizens were condemned to death for collaboration with the German occupiers.
Patrick Codenys and Jean-Luc De Meyer had separately formed a group called Under Viewer at about the same time, and the two duos joined together in 1982. Bressanutti, Codenys and De Meyer took turns on vocals at first, until they settled on De Meyer as the lead vocalist (early recordings with Bresanutti on vocals have recently been released). De Meyer came to write most of the lyrics. They decided not to use the regular waveform settings on their synthesizers, arguing that creating the waveform for each note was part of the creative process.
Their next single, U-Men, was released in 1982, followed by the band's first album Geography that same year. These first releases were cited as influential to other artists in the genre; however, they were not strong and hard-hitting as the group's later efforts. In 1983, Dirk Bergen left the band to pursue graphic design, and Richard Jonckheere, referred to as Richard 23, joined as a backing vocalist and charismatic stage presence.
Rising Popularity
Front 242 became a popular musical group in Belgium. Their next album, No Comment, was the first to introduce the term "Electronic Body Music" in association with their sound. Front 242 signed with the Wax Trax! label in 1984, and started their first tour in the United States with Ministry. This tour led to the creation of Revolting Cocks by Richard 23, Luc Van Acker, Alain Jourgensen of Ministry and others.
The 1985 album Backcatalogue collected material from the group's earlier years, but their international breakthrough did not occur until the release of Official Version in 1987, on the Red Rhino Europe label, followed by their "Official Warfare" tour in support of the album.
The wildly popular 1988 "Headhunter" single (with a video by Anton Corbijn) and its accompanying album Front By Front would prove to be among the most commercially successful and enduring records in the entire history of industrial music and EBM. By this point, Front 242 had developed a style of strong backbeats, slices, samples, and ominous vocals. The band drew on militaristic samples, mock-evangelism, and television images, but without clearly defining a message. The band stated instead that they were merely presenting the world around them as it was.
1990s
In the 1990s, the band went through many changes. Tyranny >For You<, released in 1991, had a much denser, multi-layered sound. Tyranny was also the first album they released under contract with a major corporate label, Sony/Epic, after the widespread popularity of "Front by Front". Sony/Epic also acquired the rights to the band's back catalog from Wax Trax! and issued re-released versions of the albums with new cover art and bonus tracks taken from singles and EPs.
In 1992, Bressanutti returned to combining graphic arts with music, taking his lithographs on tour to three U.S. galleries. Bressanutti also composed a solo half-hour atmospheric recording called Art and Strategy (or The Art Corporation) to play during viewings of the lithographs, and released it in a limited edition of 1,000 CDs. This is the only known solo work from any of Front 242's members.
Front 242's style shifted abruptly with each of their next two albums, released in rapid succession in 1993 (originally planned as a double-CD): 06:21:03:11 UP EVIL and 05:22:09:12 OFF (the numbers correspond to letters, spelling "FUCK UP EVIL" and "EVIL OFF"). However, strains were emerging, with the band members apparently having different artistic views.
Neither of these albums had significant input from Richard 23, and 05:22:09:12 OFF only included their lead vocalist, Jean-Luc De Meyer, on a remixed track originally from Up Evil. On the other hand, a variety of new contributors were listed as members of Front 242 on these albums: Jean-Marc Pauly and Pierre Pauly (of the Belgian electronic group Parade Ground) on Up Evil, and 99 Kowalski and Eran Westwood on Off.
99 Kowalski is the stage name of Kristin Kowalski, making a tradition out of Richard 23's idea of number-as-name. Kowalski and Westwood were originally members of a New York City band called Spill who Bressanutti and Codenys had brought to Belgium to produce their debut album. After the recording sessions fell apart, they contributed to Front 242 on the Off release.
A broader public was exposed to Front 242's music in 1992 in the film "Single White Female" starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. In the film, obsessed roommate Leigh ties up Fonda to a chair but leaves her with the television remote control. In order to attract attention, Fonda tunes in to a music video channel and turns up the volume. The video playing at the time is Front 242's "Rhythm Of Time", from the album "Tyranny >For You<". Also in 1992, the television commercials for the film "K2" were set to the Front 242 song "Moldavia", also from the album "Tyranny >For You<".
After the release of 06:21:03:11 Up Evil and 05:22:09:12 Off there was no new material from Front 242 under any lineup. Instead, the band released a stream of live recordings and remixes. However, this period also saw a proliferation of side projects, an inordinate number of which involved De Meyer.
Earlier, Richard 23 played in the Revolting Cocks, and De Meyer had a side project doing vocals for Bigod 20 for their debut single, "The Bog" in 1990. In 1995, De Meyer met Marc Heal of Cubanate at a Front Line Assembly concert, and the two of them collaborated along with Ged Denton and Jonathan Sharp, to record as Cyber-Tec Project for the new (and short-lived) Cyber-Tec record label.
After the departure of Sharp and the demise of the Cyber-Tec label, the remaining group continued working under the name C-Tec. De Meyer also took over as vocalist for Birmingham 6 for their 1996 album "Error of Judgment". 1996 also saw the debut album "Elemental" from Cobalt 60, which De Meyer formed with Dominique Lallement and Frederic Sebastien of Reims, France, members of Kriegbereit. This was the start of a number of releases from Cobalt 60. Meanwhile, Richard 23 recorded with the groups Holy Gang and later LaTchak.
The four core members of Front 242 regrouped in 1998 to compose radically reworked versions of many of their songs, which they then performed on their first tour in five years, appropriately called the Re:Boot tour. They acknowledged the influence of The Prodigy and their "Fat of the Land" album in crafting the new, more techno style of Re:Boot.
The new tour material was the subject of Front 242's new recording contract in the U.S. with Metropolis Records. Front 242 also indicated at this time that they were recording new material. However, they had little activity after 1998, making occasional appearances in Europe and Mexico, while Codenys recorded under the name Gaiden with Steve Stoll in 2001.
2000s
Then 2002 saw the beginning of a wave of new material from Bresanutti and Codenys, and then from Front 242. In August 2002 a DVD/CD two-disc set called "Speed Tribe" was released by Dance.com. The DVD was a collaboration with experimental documentary filmmakers Rod Chong and Sharon Matarazzo, who filmed the 2001 24 Hour Le Mans. in the video, the racecars, clouds, rain and spectators form an impressionistic visual backdrop for the music.
Several months later, the first release from Male or Female, also known as Morf, a new project for Bresanutti and Codenys along with vocalist Elko Blijweert. In 2002 and 2003, Morf released an album, an E.P., a double album, and a DVD/CD two-disc combo, on the Belgian record label Alfa Matrix, and went on tour through the U.S.
Then, 2002 and 2003 also saw the release of the new material from Front 242 in a decade: the E.P. "Still and Raw" and the album "Pulse", released on XIIIBis Records in Europe and Metropolis in the U.S. These represented another iteration of Front 242's explicitly stated goal of reinventing itself. The style of the two new releases is more mellow than some of their past work, using more "glitchy" and "bleepy" sounds. As well, it uses the manipulated voice as a musical instrument. The new releases have a much more emotional style from De Meyer, which was presaged in his later recordings with C-Tec and particularly Cobalt 60 on its album "Twelve".
Front 242 promised a new U.S. tour to perform new material from "Still and Raw" and "Pulse". They have made occasional appearances in Latin America and Europe, even being rejoined by Dirk Bergen for a reunion concert in Aarschot (De Klinker club) in 2004 under the original lineup of Bresanutti, Bergen, Codenys and De Meyer. This performance was kept secret until two days before the show but when the scene magazine Side-Line and the band's label Alfa Matrix launched the news, tickets were quickly sold out.
The band has now also set itself to re-release its entire backcatalogue both as a normal CD and as a limited edition consisting of a 2CD set holding lots of previously unreleased material. For this the band is working together with the Belgian label Alfa Matrix label that already took care of releasing the albums of the Front 242 side-project Male Or Female. The first re-release is their debut album "Geography", this time newly remastered personally by Bresanutti to surprisingly powerful effect and including 3 extra tracks (two hidden ones) on the normal CD format.
Meanwhile their enthusiasm for side projects has continued, as Patrick Codenys started appearing with a new group called Red Sniper, Bresanutti started recording with a new group called Troissoeur, and Codenys and Richard 23 formed a quasi-DJ project called Coder23 which toured in late 2004 and early 2005 as the opening act for VNV Nation. Jean-Luc De Meyer contributed vocals on two studio tracks for the Glis album "Nemesis" in 2005. The lyrical content of the two songs ("The Irreparable" and "La Béatrice") were based on the poems of Charles Baudelaire.
Front 242 toured through twenty venues in North America in November 2005, their first tour as a full band since 2000. The band performed at the Roskilde Festival in 2006. The band's sold out two day performance at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels has been recorded for a future release via Alfa Matrix. More releases are expected in 2006 or 2007.
In December 2006, Front 242 announced from their MySpace page that they were writing music for a video game called Cipher Complex and provided a link to a teaser trailer with a short sample of one of their scores.
In 2007 Jean-Luc Demeyer announced a new project: 32CRASH via the Alfa Matrix label. The band is preparing for an album release in October 2007 after the release of the EPCD "Humanity". Early audiopreviews show that the project is very much electro(clash) minded.
2008
On June 1 the Alfa Matrix label announced that Front 242 would make an ultimate statement towards abusive audio compression by releasing the free 2-track download, "First moment", in 5 various audio sound quality formats:
1. Mp3 - 192kbit/s (medium quality) 2. Mp3 - 320kbit/s (good quality) 3. Wave - 16bits/44 kHz files 4. Free Lossless Audio Codec (Flac) - for PC 5. M4A Apple Lossless - for Mac
To get hold of this free 2-track download, which hit the online world on June 15th, fans needed to register on a special page. Unlike what fans and some media spread, the 2 track download was not new studio material, but 2 live tracks ("U-Men" and "Im Rhythmus Bleiben") in a rather stunning sound quality. Both recordings were previously unreleased. Over 60.000 people downloaded the tracks within hours of being made available.
On June 4th Alfa Matrix announced the imminent release of "Moments...", a 'Live' recording encompassing the very best of Front 242's compositions. The release is presented as a 2CD boxset and as 1CD which holds 4 tracks in alternative versions not featured on the 2CD box edition. And as a bonus with the limited 2cd boxset, Alfa Matrix will also include the FREE 18-track CD compilation "Sounds From the Matrix 007" with unreleased songs.
The fans who registered for the 2-track download "First moment" were given an extra reduction for 4 days if they wanted to order the packet. The label also confirmed that over 100.000 people downloaded the free tracks.
Juan Atkins (US) | Model 500
Juan Atkins (born December 9, 1962) is an American musician. He is widely credited as the originator of techno music, specifically Detroit techno along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. The three, sometimes called the Belleville Three, attended high school together in Belleville, Michigan, near Detroit.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, United States as the son of a concert promoter, Juan Atkins learned how to play bass, drums, and "a little lead guitar" at an early age. Atkins, along with school friends Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, tuned in regularly to WGPR to hear DJ Charles "The Electrifying Mojo" Johnson's genre-defying radio show.
At age sixteen, Atkins heard electronic music for the first time, which would prove to be a life-changing experience. In late-1990s interviews, he recalls the sound of synthesizers as being like "UFOs landing." He soon had his first synthesizer and abandoned playing funk bass.
Deep Space Soundworks
He bought his first analogue synthesizer, a Korg MS10, and began recording with cassette decks and a mixer for overdubs. He subsequently taught Derrick May to mix, and the pair started doing DJ sets together as Deep Space. They took their long mixes to Mojo, who began to play them on his show in 1981.Atkins, May, and Saunderson would continue to collaborate as Deep Space Soundworks, even starting a club in downtown Detroit for local DJs to spin and collaborate.
The 1982 single "Cosmic Cars" also did well. Cybotron recorded their debut album, Enter, and were soon signed to Fantasy Records. One track, "Clear," struck out in the direction that Atkins would pursue with what would later be called his "techno" music. Instead of merely reworking elements of, "Clear" fused them with club music.
Atkins considered Cybotron's most successful single, "Techno City" (1984), to be a unique, synthesized funk composition. After later hearing Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982), which he considered to be a superior example of the electro funk style he was aiming for, he resolved to continue experimenting, and encouraged Saunderson and May to do the same.
In 1985, Atkins left the group due to artistic differences with bandmate Rik Davis. Davis wanted the group to pursue a musical direction closer to rock, while Atkins wanted to continue in the electro-style vein of "Clear".
Atkins began recording as "Model 500" in 1985 and founded the Metroplex label. His friends Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson all recorded singles on the label.
Atkins' first single as Model 500, "No UFOs," was a hit in Detroit and Chicago. He followed it with a series of landmark techno tracks, earning him the nickname "the godfather of techno."Within a few years, Atkins' work was re-released in Europe.
Over the years, Atkins has also released works under the name Infiniti. He explained the difference in a 2007 interview: "Model 500 is really a continuation of Cybotron. That's one thing that I've always stayed the course with and I've always wanted to not deviate when I do stuff with Model 500. In the past year it's probably what Cybotron would have done had the partners not split. Its more song-oriented with melodies, not just dance track - that's always been my experiences with Model 500. Now if I do stuff under the name Infinity [sic], that would be the more straightforward form of pure techno, the purest techno what is deemed as techno right now in North America and in Europe."
Atkins' earlier works are generally considered electro. Over the years, his sound matured and grew in complexity, and many of his more recent works are heavily layered rhythmic soundscapes. Today, this techno is considered its own genre.
The Godfathers (UK)
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Legendary British rock & roll group The Godfathers celebrate the 35th anniversary since their formation with an almighty bang via a brand new double A side single, ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ & ‘Wild And Free. These recordings are the first to feature the newly revitalised Godfathers’ line-up of founder member & frontman Peter Coyne. guitarists Richie Simpson & Wayne Vermaak, drummer Billy Duncanson & bassist Jon Priestley. A highly anticipated new studio album will follow in 2021.
The release of ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ & Wild And Free’ represents an exciting new chapter for the London band, but The Godfathers have had a long & illustrious career. They were formed in 1985 by brothers Peter Coyne (vocals) & Chris Coyne (bass/vocals) from the ashes of their previous band The Sid Presley Experience. The Godfathers toured extensively & quickly earned a serious reputation for their electrifying brand of primal rock & roll & their incendiary live shows around the world.
Forming a recording partnership with famed producer Vic Maile they released 4 critically acclaimed, smash hit independent singles on their own Corporate Image label (‘Lonely Man’, ‘This Damn Nation’, ‘I Want Everything’ & ‘Love Is Dead’) which alongside a brutal cover of Lennon’s ‘Cold Turkey’ were compiled into their seminal debut album release ‘Hit By Hit’ in ’86 & signed a worldwide deal with Sony/Epic records in ‘87.
The Godfathers unleashed the storming rocker ‘Birth School Work Death’ as a single in ‘87 & scored a US Billboard top 40 hit after massive college radio airplay & heavy MTV rotation. Then the classic ‘Birth School Work Death’ album was released in ’88 (includes the ‘hit’ anthem title track, & singles ‘Cause I Said So’ & a re-recorded ‘Love Is Dead’) & was promoted with extensive tours of the UK, Europe & America as they cemented their reputation as one of the best live acts of the period. Celebrity fans included among others David Bowie & Johnny Depp.
The Godfathers’ mob inspired image, raw lyrics & guitar-driven, edgy rock & roll sound was in direct contrast to the clean, synthesized sounds that mainly dominated the mainstream charts at that time & foreshadowed the Brit-Pop/Rock resurgence of the early 1990’s.
1989’s album ‘More Songs About Love And Hate’ (with its iconic Liz Taylor/Richard Burton cover art & featuring the American college radio smash single ‘She Gives Me Love’ and live favourite ‘Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues’) was followed by the death of producer Vic Maile & the departure of guitarist Kris Dollimore, who was replaced on guitar by Chris Burrows for ‘Unreal World’ (which included the American radio hit ‘Unreal World’, ‘This Is War’ & a searing cover of The Creation’s psychedelic classic ‘How Does It Feel To Feel’) in 1991.
A provocatively titled live Godfathers’ album ‘Dope, Rock & Roll & Fucking In The Streets’ was issued in 1992 on Corporate Image & the band toured the globe constantly. With a new line-up The Godfathers released 2 further albums on Intercord Records, a self-titled album in ‘93 (AKA ‘The Orange album’ because of it’s distinctive cover art) & ‘Afterlife’ in ’95, before the group finally imploded in 2001.
In 2008 The Godfathers reformed their original line-up to promote a vastly expanded 2CD version of their seminal debut album ‘Hit By Hit’ & performed a select number of British, European & American dates & festivals together for the first time in nearly 20 years. These included the highly successful revival of their traditional Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre concerts with knockout, triumphant performances at The Forum in London in February ’08 & Chicago’s Metro in February ’09.
The Godfathers have become increasingly influential in recent years with Top 5 American artists Local H & Spoon releasing cover versions of Godfathers’ classics “Birth School Work Death’ & ‘This Damn Nation’ & Mars Volta citing The Godfathers’ primal rock & roll sound as a direct influence on their ‘Noctourniquet’ album.
‘The Godfathers - Shot Live At The 100 Club’ a Live DVD/CD was released November 1st 2010 to mark the 25th anniversary of the bands formation & ‘Jukebox Fury’ followed in March 2013 to significant critical acclaim.
A new studio album ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ was unveiled in February 2017, preceded by the single, ‘You Don’t Love Me’. Rave reviews hailed the album as the band’s best in many years, with Vive Le Rock claiming it was “up there with the Godfathers’ ‘80s classics”.
A critically acclaimed live album ‘This Is War! - The Godfathers Live!’ followed in 2019. The storming double A side ‘I’m Not Your Slave’ & ‘Wild And Free’ sees them taking another sonic step forward & they are currently writing new material for a 2021 album release.
The Godfathers now feature:
Peter Coyne - Vocals (The Godfathers’ founder member, ex The Sid Presley Experience)
Jon Priestley - Bass (ex The Damned)
Richie Simpson - Guitar (ex Heavy Drapes)
Billy Duncanson - Drums (ex Heavy Drapes)
Wayne Vermaak - Guitar (ex The Great St. Louis)
Wolfgang Flür (DE)
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1947 in Frankfurt born Wolfgang Flür is best known as the electro drummer of German electronic band Kraftwerk between 1973 and 1986 • Flür developed with his musical partner Florian Schneider the world first electric drum-pads-board for the Electric
Quartet • Since 1993 Flür is the founder of Yamo. The album “Time Pie“ (EMI Electrola) was released in 1976 in co-production with Andi Toma of Mouse on Mars • Flür’s next release, a 12“ with remixes of “I Was A Robot“ (Holon), climbed to number 6 in the German Club Charts • “I Was A Robot“ is Flür’s sung autobiography and was especially produced as giveaway of the German book in a parallel edition • The English edition was first published in 2000 called “I Was a Robot“ (Sanctuary), describing his view on the inner workings of Kraftwerk • The book was subsequently released in six different territories / translations and was in the Top Ten of best selling music books in 2004 (The Independent) and 2010 in the ten best music histoires (The Observer) • Flür also released a weird short story book on the Germans of the Rhineland Area in 2011 entitled “neben mir“ (next to me) • Wolfgang undertakes book readings in Germany and (very selected) in England) • Since 2004 Flür has been DJ’ing world-wide in clubs and on festivals, playing tech house, industry and electro specialities of his own, of Kraftwerk and of international artists who he’s friendly with • Flür has collaborated with Bon Harris’ (Nitzer Ebb) Shadow Bureau project and lent his lyrics and voice for the track “Axis of Envy“ • Flür also collaborated with Anni Hogan (former Marc Almond pianist) for the track “Golden Light“ (lyrics and vocals) as well as on “Fashion Machine“ (lyrics and voice) with Ramón Amezcua of Bostich / Mexico • Wolfgang Flür’s current stage performances show videos and rare images from his Kraftwerk past shot to his present projects added with selected electro tunes for dancing • Musik Soldat (music soldier) is the title of Flür’s program • Wolfgang sees himself as a music presenter with historical electric background.
For more information please visit:
http://eloquence-wolfgangflur.com/
Twitter: @iwasarobot
The Psychedelic Furs (UK)
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If you sit and talk to many of the alternative rock artists dominating today’s music, you’ll find that many of them pay homage to the The Psychedelic Furs. Led by front man and songwriter Richard Butler, the Furs won over fans and critics alike by combining poetic lyrics, innovative rhythms and melodies driven by an aggressive, punk desperation. Through it all, the band scored major hits with "Love My Way," "Pretty In Pink," "Heaven," "The Ghost In You," and “Heartbreak Beat” in all releasing seven studio albums and spawning several compilations, a boxed set, and a live concert DVD.
The Psychedelic Furs came together in England's emerging punk scene in 1977 initially consisting of Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass guitar), Paul Wilson (drums), Duncan Kilburn (saxophone), and Roger Morris (guitars). By 1979, this line up had expanded to a sextet with Vince Ely replacing Wilson on drums and John Ashton being added on guitar.
The Furs debut, a self-titled album from 1980 was produced by Steve Lillywhite. The LP quickly established the band at radio in Europe and was a top 20 hit in the UK. The album also found success in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand and Australia.
The Furs found success in the U.S. with their next release, 1981's Talk Talk Talk, which saw the band making its debut on the US album charts. In New Zealand, meanwhile, the band became immensely popular, as Talk Talk Talk reached the top ten in the charts, the first in a string of Furs' albums to chart in the New Zealand Top 10.
In the UK, the album spun off two charting singles, "Dumb Waiters" and the original version of "Pretty in Pink". The latter song served as inspiration for the 1986 John Hughes film of the same name, and was re-recorded for the film’s platinum-selling soundtrack.
In 1982, the Furs, now a four-piece with the departures of Morris and Kilburn, recorded Forever Now, with producer Todd Rundgren in Woodstock, New York. This album included "Love My Way", which became yet another UK and US chart hit.
Ely left the band after Forever Now, although he would return for the 1988 single "All That Money Wants" and the 1989 album Book of Days.
The Furs' 1984 release Mirror Moves was produced by Keith Forsey, and featured the songs "The Ghost in You" and "Heaven". Both charted in throughout the world, and "Heaven" became the band's highest charting UK hit at the time.
By the mid-80s, the band had become a staple on both U.S. college and modern rock radio stations. Simultaneously, they were experiencing consistent mainstream success, placing several singles in the pop charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1986, the band recorded a sax-infused version of "Pretty in Pink" for the soundtrack of the film of the same name. Released as a single, it became their biggest hit to that time in the U.S., and their biggest-ever UK hit.
"Midnight to Midnight", was their biggest Top 40 album success to date, but also a more overtly commercial effort than the Furs had ever recorded before. The album also featured the single "Heartbreak Beat", which became the Psychedelic Furs biggest hit yet on the U.S. Top 40. The album also featured drummer Paul Garisto and sax player Mars Williams, both of whom continue to tour with the band.
In the wake of Midnight To Midnight, the Furs subsequently returned to a rawer sound with "All That Money Wants", a 1988 track especially recorded for a best-of compilation album "All Of This And Nothing". 1989's Book of Days and 1991's World Outside also saw a return to the earlier Furs' style.
The Furs' steady chart success continued with three #1 hits on the newly-established U.S. Modern Rock chart between 1988 and 1991. "All That Money Wants" was a #1 hit in 1988, while "House" topped the chart in 1990, and "Until She Comes" was #1 in 1991.
The band went on extended hiatus in the early 1990s, with the Butler brothers going on to create the band “Love Spit Love” along with guitarist Richard Fortus and drummer Frank Ferrer. Love Spit Love released two albums and enjoyed some chart success as well.
After spending most of the decade apart, the Butlers and Ashton reignited The Psychedelic Furs in 2001, and released a live album Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live, which also featured a new studio recording, "Alive (For Once In My Lifetime)." A DVD version of the performance included live versions of "Alive" and three other previously unreleased songs: "Anodyne (Better Days)," "Cigarette" and "Wrong Train."
Since then, lead singer Richard Butler has released an eponymous solo album produced by Jon Carin, and has hinted at the possibility of a new Psychedelic Furs album.
These days, the band continues to tour around the world. The current Psychedelic Furs touring lineup remains Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass), Rich Good (guitar), Mars Williams (saxophone), Amanda Kramer (keyboards), and Paul Garisto (drums).
Joy Division Undercover (NL)
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In 2020 it is 40 years after ‘Joy Division’ singer Ian Curtis died. To memorize and honor the iconic singer and to the fact that Joy Division’s second album ‘Closer’ was released in that same year (1980), ‘Joy Division Undercover’ will do an intensive European club & festival tour between March and October 2020 (for Holland May and June). The band will play the entire album ’Closer’ and many more of their legendary songs. In 2019 they did a very successful Dutch tour with the album ‘Unknown Pleasures’, where most of the concerts were completely sold out.
The music of Joy Division had an enormous influence on many contemporary bands such as Arcade Fire, The Editors, Interpol, The National, Sixteen Horsepower, Palace Brothers and many more. They presented the ultimate sound of darkness and invented Post Punk.
Click here to see the official live video of the Joy Division Undercover 2019 tour:
BIO
Allready in 2008 the world's best (according to many fans and journalists) Joy Division tribute band 'Closer To Curtis' toured Holland for the first time and did sold out gigs in Prague and Budapest. Since 2013 Erny Green (vocals) and Gerald Roerdinkveldboom (drums) are re-united in Joy Division Undercover, accompanied by Dutch legend Henk Koorn (guitars), Edwin Oranje (Bass) and Thijs Heij (guitars & keys). The songs are brought with great authenticity. Close your eyes and experience the true intensity of a Joy Division concert.
PRESS QUOTES
**`Absolutely blown away, these are the best JD covers I've ever heard. Thank you.´
**´Good lord, this is spot on´
**´By far the best yet !!!!´
**´EXCELLENT........ And emotional´
**´I´ve seen Joy Division many years ago and I have to admit that this is impressive´.
**"This band does such a great job at capturing the dark atmosphere that can be heard throughout the studio albums. Joy Division's songs played live had an entirely different sound compared to how they sounded with Hannet's mastering on the album, but this group is able to pull off successfully merging the two."
**"You ARE just like J.D. You ARE like Ian Curtis."
THE BAND
Vocals: Erny Green
Guitar: Henk Koorn
Bass; Edwin Oranje
Drums : Gerald Roerdinkveldboom
Keys & Guitar: Thijs Heij
Sound: Martin Zijlema
Lights: Max De Lange
Blaine L Reininger (US)
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Blaine L. Reininger was born July 10, 1953 in Pueblo, Colorado. Then he lived a life. By and by, he founded Tuxedomoon with Steven Brown in 1977. He traipsed around America, tuxedomooning until 1980, when he began to traipse around Europe. As a direct result of all of this traipsing, many musical compositions were composed, most of which found their way to some sort of mechanical device capable of reproducing musical compositions. This was mostly for the good.
Time, Tide, Bold, Ajax, they wait for no man. Continuing to plow his way through Samsara with varying degrees of success, considerable ironic detachment, and frequent collisions with shicksal, he now makes his way here, to a place that is not really a place. Try explaining what you do here to your ancestors, next time they haunt your dreams.
For, it was written long ago, in the bit-rotten pages of Mundoblaineo.com "Many are cold but few are frozen." and "It is easier for a needle to pass through the eye of a rich man than for a camel to enter the kingdom of heaven." and further anon "Let a smile be your umbrella and you get a mouthful of rain."
Gary Numan (UK)
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In a castle in the San Fernando Valley lies the lair of music icon Gary Numan. Outside is an enormous statue of a dragon, inside a St Bernard (almost as large) greets you on arrival. He's a new addition to the family – a rescue pup, and huge. The lord of this manor could be as outwardly intimidating as this entire set-up, but he's a humble presence. Notorious for hits such as 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' and 'Cars', Numan's early career was too often misconstrued, tainted by a sometimes fraught relationship with the media and challenged by the hostility of the music industry at the time, still deeply committed as it was to the guitar, bass, drums approach of old. Numan, however, stuck to his guns, outlasted his naysayers, and became renowned not just as a pioneer but as an institution. Today, with a career that has spanned nearly four decades, his approach to electronic music remains an inspiration to artists across genres and eras, from stadium goliaths such as Depeche Mode, Prince and Nine Inch Nails to alternative heroes such as Beck, Damon Albarn and Marilyn Manson. Even Kanye West owes him a debt and David Bowie once credited him with ‘ writing two of the finest songs’ in British music. It's no surprise he recently received the Ivor Novello Award for Inspiration.
Now, Numan is preparing his 22nd studio album titled ' Savage (Songs From A Broken World)'. He's a busy guy. A self-proclaimed “one man band”, Numan has always been something of an outlier living on his own terms. These days he manages himself, so has to balance being the artist with all manner of other duties; booking shows, designing flyers, endless scheduling. A mark of overcoming that challenge is currently slightly red and raised on his forearms. The lyrics of the new album's opening track 'Ghost Nation' are now tattooed there, a reminder of the past 18 months of writing and recording in a studio at the side of his garden.
Numan moved to LA five years ago with his wife Gemma and three daughters. He's originally a West London, Hammersmith boy – born Gary Webb. His father drove buses at Heathrow Airport and, with his mother (who sadly passed away in 2016), bought him his first acoustic guitar at the age of five, kickstarting his obsession with music, and sound inparticular. “I had tiny little hands but I learnt a few chords and could strum very badly,” he recalls. Music was one of two obsessions. The other being machines, specifically airplanes and racing cars. The fascination with both machinery and music left the young Numan unsure of a specific future path, but he knew he wanted to do something that would be challenging, constantly evolving and take him around the world. He wanted something endlessly adventurous.
School was a troubled time unfortunately and he was expelled from multiple places due to bad behaviour. In machinery and music though he found a comfort zone. “Music became the thing I most wanted to do,” he says, “and school became just a huge wall in the way.” That was something that made a lot more sense to him once he'd discovered that he had Asperger's Syndrome. As he talks today he explains that he’ s “socially incompetent”and “terrible at eye contact.”He has a five second rule for that. “If I look at someone for more than five seconds I'm probably being too intense. If I look at them for less than three seconds I think I give the impression that I’ m not showing enough interest. So I'm counting all the time while I'm talking. It's hard work.” He laughs. “Interacting with people is, for me, just a series of rapid calculations, and worry.”
Expelled from school before sitting any exams and so leaving with no qualifications, Gary decided to forge a career in music while punk was all the rage. “Punk to me was a means to an end. It wasn't what I wanted to be doing long term." Nevertheless he started a punk outfit called Tubeway Army and signed to Beggars Banquet in early 1978. In the studio while making their debut self titled album a life changing moment took place, Gary discovered a Moog synthesizer in the control room and started experimenting with it. He reinterpreted all the punk songs he'd initially written and over the three day session turned them into pseudo-electronic numbers. After a huge argument with the Beggars Banquet label owners about this collosal change of direction, they eventually deferred to Numan and, to their credit (and good fortune), released those revamped electronic songs instead of making him re-record the punk album they’ d signed him to make. The follow-up record 'Replicas' contained 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' which went to Number 1. Then came the whirlwind. Three Number 1 albums in succession. Two world tours. All within a year. “
It came good so quickly but I didn't feel vindicated by it. I was absolutely trampled by the speed of it,”says Numan. “It was like standing in front of a fast moving train. I was on my own, same as now, but
with no experience whatsoever. I had no meaningful guidance. I'd only ever done a handful of shows in tiny little clubs. All of a sudden you're Number 1, the press are comparing you to these megastar legends and you've only been there for what felt like two minutes. I was overwhelmed, beaten up. I felt like I was fighting for my life.”
Resistance to this new kind of music, and Numan in particular, from some parts of the music business establishment was considerable, even the Musicians Union tried to ban him, claiming he was putting real musicians out of work, “How insulting is that?” He laughs. “It was an entirely new form of music and it caught a lot of people out,” he explains. Already existing underground electro artists were equally annoyed that Numan received success before them. Guitar bands, on the other hand, derided him for not making “proper music”. “I never really understood why it was as hostile as it was. All I'd really done was written some songs that a lot of people liked.” he says. “Luckily attitudes changed and things got better, eventually.”
After the Number 1 successes of his albums ‘ Replicas’ ,'The Pleasure Principle' and 'Telekon', he played three Wembley Arena shows in 1981 and then intended to retire from touring to concentrate more on studio work and developing his songwriting skills, although not before flying around the world in his own aeroplane, including an incident in India were he was arrested on suspicion of smuggling and spying. “That was interesting” he says. Musically though the career spotlight had become a monster and Numan a recluse. “Fame makes you a target for every disenchanted idiot with a grudge”. Music went form being a hobby to a huge global nightmare, “You couldn’ t escape from it. I was entirely unprepared for the extreme reactions from the media and the public, both good and bad, and I found all of it frightening. It took me a long time to even start to get used to it.” All that's changed now of course, as there's a tremendous amount of respect for Numan. At the time however, after ‘ retiring’ , it all started to slip away. He found himself getting sucked into bad decisions. “I was releasing an album a year, every year,” he says. “But it was getting worse. The success was sliding, album sales were going down, ticket sales were going down, I started to panic and I made that fatal mistake of listening to advice, and so I lost my way. I started to make music born out of career desperation and other peoples opinions rather than my own artistic satisfaction, a horrible period.”
All changed in the early '90s. Numan stopped listening to other people, and started listening to one significant person – his new wife Gemma. She convinced him to get back to his initial appeal, to stop hiding behind other players and other singers. “Gemma managed to make me understand, after a lot of arguing, that I'd progressively taken out the Gary Numan part of my sound because of my lack of confidence. I didn't like my voice or my playing, I had no confidence at all.” he says. “The “'Sacrifice' album in ’ 94 was a genuine return to doing it for the love of it. Not trying to revitalise a career, not thinking commercially. I'd given up to be honest, things had got so bad that I thought it was all over and so I went back to doing it for a hobby. I had no idea if ‘ Sacrifice’ would even get released. I had no record deal at the time and it looked unlikely I’ d ever get another one.” When the album was self-released in 1994 on his own label, Numan's career was simultaneously being reappraised by the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Saint Etienne and Damon Albarn. “I see influence both coming to me and from me like sparks,” he says. “People will see that spark and it'll ignite their own ideas. We are all triggered by something else.” Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor it’ s said listened to 'Telekon' when making the classic 'Downward Spiral' album. “I listened but I can’ t hear it,” Gary laughs. “I would never have known. That's a brilliant use of influence, to turn it into something entirely your own.” He adds “Luckily that wave of new interest in me came at a time when I’ d got my songwriting back up to a good standard. A year or two earlier would have been a disaster as I was still lost then.”
Numan had become part of the zeitgeist again. Later on he'd be sampled by Basement Jaxx (‘ Where’ s Your Head At’ ) and The Sugababes (on their huge Number one hit ‘ Freak Like Me’ ). “That 'Freak Like Me' song,” he says. “I was really proud of the fact that 25 years after I had written that music it still sounded cool and current.” His experience throughout the '90s gave Numan the confidence to be hellbent on never pandering to radio or to A&Rs or industry trends. He is staunchly independent. It's something even today's young breakthrough acts can look to for inspiration.
Fast-forward to 2017 and he's taking the exact same attitude forward in his songwriting now. Numan's past few albums have been much heavier and darker. Interestingly electronic music has now become the sound of the masses due to the availability of cheaper technology at home. Anyone can make music now, which Numan finds liberating and thrilling. “Everyone should have an opportunity and not be thwarted by needing expensive equipment. Those with talent will still rise above.” he says.
Carrying a recorder with him wherever he goes, his inspiration is sound, atmosphere, the wider world. There's a recording from the London Underground on one of the new tracks, such was Numan's obsession with a particular noise a train made on a recent visit to London.
Lyrically, however, the material for 'Savage' wasn't obvious at first. When Numan released his last album – 2013's highly acclaimed 'Splinter' – he had a deep well of real-life inspiration to draw from: a three year period of severe depression and family turmoil. This time around he went far more conceptual. As a child, Numan wrote short stories, influenced by Philip K Dick and William Burroughs. He was consumed by science fiction - “or epic fantasy”–, always fantasising about how civilisation might look in the near future and what the human race could become. His 1979 album 'Replicas' focused on that, but since then all of these ideas have been relegated to a novel that Numan describes as “never-ending”. He began to lift ideas from that novel to inform this record.
'Savage' is set in a post global warming, apocalyptic, Earth in the not-too-distant future. There is no technology left and most of the planet has turned to a desolate, desert wasteland. Food is scarce, water even more so and human kindness and decency are justa dim and distant memory. Western and Eastern cultures have merged, more because of the need to simply survive than any feelings of greater tolerence or understanding. It’ s a harsh, savage environment, as are the survivors who still roam across it.
While he was writing the record, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. It made sense to make him and his climate decisions the catalyst for the apocalypse theme of the album. “The songs are about the things that people do in such a harsh and terrifying environmnent. It's about a desperate need to survive and they do awful things in order to do so, and some are haunted by what they've done. That desire to be forgiven, along with some discovered remnants of an old religious book, ultimately encourages religion to resurface, and it really goes downhill from there.”
Made partly in his own studio in LA, and partly in the UK, the album was produced by long-time collaborator Ade Fenton. He also set up a Pledge Music campaign to create an experience for fans that would let them see how an album was put together from first note to the finished shrink wrapped package. A strategy that brought Numan closer to his fans, and allowed him to communicate the blood, sweat and tears that goes into making a record. “I find every album I make to be more difficult than the one before,” he says. “It’ s like climbing a mountain, and it gets ever steeper. I wanted people to understand what it takes, how hard it can be, the emotional roller coaster that is part and parcel of doing this, and that it can be a real battle, with yourself as much as anything. Confidence comes and goes and you can be your own worst enemy at times.”
With 93’ s 'Splinter' album having received the best reviews he'd ever had (not to mention the best chart position he'd had in 30 years), the pressure was on to beat it. “I don't want to repeat myself,”says Numan. “People who have been around for a long time often tend to bland out a bit and become more middle of the road, or they hide in nostalgia and live on the back of what they did before. Both of those options are awful. Being proud of your legacy is one thing, but becoming trapped by it is another thing entirely. I'm not one for self praise but I am very proud of the fact that as I've got to the more precarious latter part of my career the music's got progressively darker and even less radio friendly. I've done the opposite of playing it safe.
Honeymoon Cowboys (BE)
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Honeymoon Cowboys 'Liberating The West.'
Dark and gloomy sounds from the Wild West with great passion and a touch of joy.
Honeymoon Cowboys is a Belgian band formed by Antonio Palermo.
The Arch (BE)
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Friends before a band.
Passion before anything else.
Small town roots. Big ambition.
Love your heroes. Kill your darlings.
Never settle.
Sweat. Work. Delete.
Search. Find. Repeat.
Obsess. Discuss. Release.
Get snobbed. Get misunderstood. Get underground.
Dissapear. Come back. With a vengeance.
Conquer the world. One devoted fan at the time.
Heroes abroad. Aliens at home.
Love music. Love live.
ROCK THE MACHINES. RIDE THE WAVE.
Give goosebumps to the electronic body.
Angelic voices. Tortured screams.
Ripping riffs. Organic synths. Burning beats.
Deep reflections cloaked in black.
Shine a light on darker souls.
Give everything you’ve got.
Get even more in return.
Grow for 30 years.
Don’t get big.
Don’t care.
Don’t change.
Don’t stop.
If we’re in, we wanna be out,
if we’re out, we wanna be in.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. WE ARE THE ARCH.
The Church (AUS)
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A ringing 12-string guitar introduction. A dreamlike lyric that seems to hold the cosmos in its hands. It’s still the most recognisable, covered and widely beloved song in the catalogue of a band that’s released a remarkable 26 albums.
And it’s 30 years old this year.
The song is Under The Milky Way, from The Church’s most successful album, the undisputed classic Starfish.
In 2018, the Australian paisley underground pioneers are enjoying a year of unique celebrations, which started with a sold-out appearance at the Meltdown Festival in London on the personal invitation of curator, The Cure’s Robert Smith, on 15 June.
Followed by a string of dates in the UK – including a sold-out fan convention in Shepherds Bush which saw the band perform their second album The Blurred Crusade in its entirety for the first time in that country – The Church arrive in the US on 30 September for a month’s worth of shows, with a return early in 2019 planned to complete the US circuit.
Starfish 30th Anniversary Tour USA 2018- 2019
For these shows, Starfish will likewise be performed in its entirety, along with a selection of other gems from the band’s career, which now spans an incredible 38 years.
The band will return briefly to the UK in late October as very special guests of Fields of the Nephilim, a band whose music displays similar spectral soundscapes and whose leader, Carl McCoy, remains a big fan of the band.
From there a flight home to a fast selling Starfish 30th Anniversary National Tour of homeland theaters in Australia awaits to conclude the year.
Starfish remains best known for its iconic singles Under The Milky Way and Reptile. But like all classic albums, it’s a journey – and it starts with Destination, the six-minute epic that opens the album. In between it takes you to all point of the compass: North, South, East and West.
The sound of Starfish is open and uncluttered. That was a change for the band after the dense orchestrations of the previous album, Heyday. All 10 songs are individually memorable, yet speak to one other, making for an entirely cohesive, satisfying listening experience.
From there, the list of hits, band and fan favourites is long. Myrhh, which leader Steve Kilbey described in his memoir Something Quite Peculiar as the definitive Church song. Ripple, from the masterful Priest=Aura. Almost anything from 1982’s The Blurred Crusade.
Expect songs from Hologram of Baal, itself celebrating its 20th anniversary. And, of course, there’s The Unguarded Moment, the single that launched the band onto world stages on its release on its release in 1981.
But this is not just a nostalgia trip. The Church have been revitalised since 2014 with the addition of guitarist Ian Haug, formerly of another iconic Australian band, Powderfinger. Haug’s first outing with the band was on the acclaimed Further/Deeper, which yielded a new dynamic set-closer, the infinitely pyschedelic and earth shaking Miami.
Last year’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity strengthened the bond, cementing Haug’s place with long-time fans, as well as with the rest of the band: singer, bass player and songwriter Kilbey, fellow guitarist Peter Koppes and longtime drummer Tim Powles. “Ian is a big part of the band now,” Koppes says. “He’s a consummate, intuitive musician with fantastic tones.”
Koppes goes on to sum up the band. “Music is like inner space and we’re astronauts,” he says. It’s a spellbinding thing, it’s hypnotising. That’s why people like it. It takes them into another world and we’re here to open those doors.”
The Church’s strange journey remains an endless sea of possibilities. In 2018, it’s time for the band to celebrate one of their crowning glories, but always with an eye to the future. Further. Deeper. The Church truly are a rock band for the ages.
