THE RETURN OF THE FUTURAMA FESTIVAL – EASTER 2021

THE RETURN OF THE FUTURAMA FESTIVAL – EASTER 2021

  A UTOPIAN FESTIVAL FOR DYSTOPIAN TIMES

THE LEGENDARY 2-DAY POST-PUNK FESTIVAL RETURNS TO LIVERPOOL APRIL 3-4, 2021

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT CONFIRMED TO PERFORM JOY DIVISION’S SET FROM FUTURAMA 1979!

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM SEE TICKETS HERE:

Website

Futurama, the legendary post-punk festival is back after 40 years and takes place at the Invisible Wind factory / Make Arts Centre and Ten Streets Social in Liverpool over two days, 3rd and 4th of April 2021.

The Futuramas were a series of ground-breaking and innovative post punk and electronic music festivals in the late 70’s and early 80’s. They were the brainchild of one-man, John Keenan, a legendary Leeds promoter who has put thousands of bands on over 40 years at his famous F Club. In 1979, he decided to do a 2-day festival at the Queens Hall in Leeds and put on all of his favourite up and coming bands and curated the first alternative indoor festival in Britain. Nearly all of Britain’s most important and influential independent bands played these festivals and many of them went onto considerable success in Britain, Europe, and the US. The roll call reads like the greatest who’s who of alternative music and they include Joy Division and New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, PiL, Killing Joke, Teardrop Explodes, Bauhaus, The Fall, The Smiths, Gang of Four, Sisters of Mercy, Theatre Of Hate, The Psychedelic Furs & even a fledgling U2. The Futurama festivals caught the zeitgeist perfectly and not only put on many female fronted bands, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Young Marble Giants, Bow Wow Wow & Altered Images, but also many of the new wave of electronic & synthesizer acts including Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, OMD, Simple Minds, Clock DVA & Vice Versa who later became ABC.

The post-punk era still casts an enormous influential shadow over contemporary music, making the timing perfect for the festival to return, combining both legendary acts from the festival’s history with the absolute best in up-and-coming talent.

pic by William Ellis – www.william-ellis.com

Bringing Futurama full circle, Peter Hook & The Light are confirmed to perform Joy Division’s set from Futurama 1979 in full, promising to be an absolute thrill for fans of the iconic band.

“Futurama was one the first festival experiences I ever had,” remembers bassist Peter Hook. “John Keenan the promoter became a lifelong friend. He was one of the first legends. The gig was the first time I’d ever seen caravans used as dressing rooms indoors, but it had a great atmosphere. It really put Joy Division on the map and the groups on the bill were very well matched to the audience. There weren’t many indoor festivals prior to Futurama so it was quite ground-breaking for the genre in the north. Funnily enough it gets talked about a lot even now. John became a legend and, in many ways, so has the festival. Let’s hope we can capture that wonderful atmosphere again.”

Also linking the festival’s history are Kirk Brandon’s Theatre Of Hate who will be celebrating their 40th anniversary of playing Futurama 3 in 1981, returning in 2021.

With a headliner still to be announced, these iconic acts join a host of bands from the many different strains and spectrums of alternative music, with respected website Louder Than War hosting the main stage on one day, and the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll and punk magazine Vive Le Rock the other day, whilst The AF Gang (the IDLES legendary fan club) host the up and coming stage.

There are 4 stages at the Futurama.

Invisible Wind Factory Main Stage: Headline acts and supports

Substation Downstairs in IWF: Electronic, synth and experimental noise

Make Arts Centre: Some of the best new and vintage post punk bands on the circuit

Ten Street Social: The AF Gang hosts the up and coming stage plus DJ sets

Other acts confirmed to appear include Warmduscher, The Chameleons, The Blinders, The Lovely Eggs, Spizz Energi, Imperial Wax, Just Mustard, Membranes, Evil Blizzard, Sink Ya Teeth, John, Heavy Lungs, We Are Not Devo, DSM IV, Bob Vylan, Billy NoMates, Witch Fever, Tokky Horror, Pozi, Crows, St Agnes, LibraLibra, Courting, Crawlers and Joe & Shitboys, with many more to be announced.

Tickets are Early Bird £80 for the weekend from See Tickets HERE:

£20 deposit scheme and four payments scheme in place

For more info head to: futuramafestival.com

The DeRellas Interview Exclusive

The DeRellas Interview Exclusive
Having played the last couple of Rebellion Festivals and turning the Opera House into the DeRellaDome we thought it was time to fire some questions at founder and Bass player Timmy DeRella. When we spoke at the last Rebellion last August with one thing or another we never quite got together to have that chat.
As we leap into a brand new decade we finally catch up and all isn’t as it seems in camp DeRella with the ever-revolving Revolving door turning and another two new faces emerge with big changes in the band.  I’ll let Timmy fill you in…”As you know, I’m now fronting The DeRellas – which is probably something I should have done when Robbie left the band.  It’s a pity things didn’t work out with Joe, he’s a good guy, he has great style and we did some brilliant gigs together, but we had different ideas.  The new lineup is fab – we have Luca on lead guitar of course and a new rhythm guitarist – Marky T, formerly in London glam band The Bad Girls and more recently starring as Steve Jones in The Sex Pistols Experience  (he looks very fetching with a knotted hanky on his head, how could we say no..?!).  And I’m pleased to say that Steve Grainger (Chelsea) will be playing drums on the new album and hopefully playing a few gigs with us – true rock n roll.  So I might fall on my arse with the singing but it’ll be 100% the band I want it to be.”
So there you have it folks that’s where we are as of February 2020. Soooo, onto the questions, I originally had seeing as a whole bunch are now irrelevant.
Tell us when did you first pick up the bass and why the bass?
Not until I was 21 – I had tried to play drums and keyboards first, I just wanted to get a band started as quickly as possible.
You’ve put out a couple of albums on cd and vinyl and a few singles you always kept it real and never bowed down to going digital and kept true to releasing records.  Is it important for you to keep making records? And 7″ singles?
Vinyl rules but you have to be realistic about the future and about costs.   Our new single ‘Soho Hotel’ is currently on download only (check it out on CDBaby), but it will defo be on the shiny new vinyl album.  
Yourself and Luca have been the mainstays in the band how does the writing process go?
Luca and I just get together – I will have some lyrics or even just a title, he’ll have a guitar riff and we come up with songs.  We’ve always worked well together.  Sometimes some lines or a riff will be sitting around for a while until something clicks into place.  
The latest line up of the band is really strong and the last Rebellion Festival performance was by far the best I’ve ever seen you guys or any line ups that have performed under the band name. How do you see that performance?
Obviously the line up has changed since you asked me that question!   Billy’s joined The Godfathers and I’m now fronting the band.   Last year’s Rebellion was brilliant, but we can only get better.   
It’s a big old stage in the “DeRella Dome” that is the opera house but you guys made it feel intimate what other venues have you loved playing?
We’ve played some legendary venues – although one of our most mental nights was in an old garage in Liege!   Favourite places – Freakshow in Essen, 100 Club in London of course, Bannermans in Edinburgh, Wild at Heart in Berlin, Mondo Bizzaro in Rennes, the Wurlitzer in Madrid.. and I have to mention Rockaway Beach at the Hope & Anchor, Islington (the club night I run with my missis).  But it’s down to the people – the punters of course, and the owners and promoters who put their heart and their wallets on the line to keep a venue alive.  It’s tough and good places are closing all the time because of developers, local noise laws, etc..   Support your local venue, kids!
 
What’s next for the band? A new album?
Yep, the new album is well underway — hopefully out this summer.   The new songs sound brilliant.   We have a video out any day now for Soho Hotel, and we’ll be promoting the album in the second half of the year, but before that, we are booked for Scotland Calling in April and we’ll do a few dates around that.  And we’ll be back at Rebellion again of course.
Who would you say are your biggest influences musically and bass playing-wise?
Clash, Manics, Hanoi, Bauhaus, Banshees, Heartbreakers, Adam and the Ants, Lords of the New Church…  
You guys always look as if you’re having the best time onstage is it as much fun as it looks?
It has to be fun.   Like Viv Savage (Spinal Tap) says “have a good time all the time”
The last ep was your strongest work and ‘high rise’ is a great track are there many new tracks demo’d?
The new album is going to have more of a High Rise Supersize feel.   We got a little bit of stick for being political when High Rise came out, but it’s a tough world out there.  We just want people to have a voice, not take things lying down, to ‘stick it to the man’.  
That’s all for now from The DeRellas but rest assured we’ll be back for more when the record is ready for release until then check out the most excellent ‘Soho Hotel’ and we wish the band all the success and extend that to Billy and Joe.
Currently only available on download through CD Baby
Pic of Timmy courtesy of ‘David Newbold’

David J- Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure (Glass Modern)

David J- Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure (Glass Modern)

Where do I start with this one, I’m sure that anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of the alternative/ independent scene, especially if your of a certain age would know David J from his part within potentially one of the best bands Britain ever produced Bauhaus, (just a personal view but one I’m happy to debate).

 

Before I start, lets put something out there this LP sounds absolutely nothing like Bauhaus, instead showcasing a musician happy to trade on and work with possible influences, while taking on board a real depth of knowledge learned within and from any number of cultural musical identities. Take first up Mosaic imagine Lou Reed half spoken vocals over an almost eastern esoteric guitar run, giving the song a real depth.

 

While next up Blue eyes in the green room picks at gentle, acoustic Americana, while third in Baudelaire, introduces a classical violin lead which the vocals weave around giving the song a very different structure and feel.

 

What I’m picking up at this point is what an emotive LP I’m listening to, one that needs you to sit back, listen to and allow the music to wash over you, which got me to thinking who else is part of this LP it’s so diverse, checking in on the press blurb, I find contributions from Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre), Toby Dammit (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds), Paul Wallfisch (Swans), Sean Eden (Luna), Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, Emily Jane White, Annabel (lee) and the great Czech violinist Karel Holas. Only then do you start to realize the pedigree of what your listening to.

 

This is 100% an LP that fits within the late night, lights turned down time to contemplate the day just past and what’s to come. Time blurs as you drift, while imagery comes and goes. If I had to pick a fave it would probably be the poetic ‘Migenta and the frozen roses’ harking back to earlier times, hinting at Jim Morrison’s American prayer, with the female spoken vocal giving a real counterpoint as the guitar builds and weaves an almost industrial tone, seriously good stuff.

 

There’s a gorgeous San Francisco 60’s feel to ‘Pre-existing Condition’ really setting it apart from what’s come before while the trumpet that cuts in just gives it a different depth. As you drift through the next thing that catches you is ‘Missive to an angel’ a time for self reflection and internal focus. This is a seriously strong LP, but won’t be for everyone, one to approach with an open mind and the time and space to listen.

 Buy ‘Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure’Here

Author: Nev Brooks

TOUR DATES
Oct 08 Prague, Czech Republic @ La Loca
Oct 12 Berlin, Germany @ BiNuu
Oct 13 Cologne, Germany @ Helios 37
Oct 15 Rome, Italy @ Traffic Club
Oct 16 Lisbon, Portugal @ Musicbox
Oct 17 Leiria, Portugal @ Teatro José Lúcio da Silva
Oct 18 Porto, Portugal @ Hard Club
Oct 19 Barcelona, Spain @ Salamandra (with The Psychedelic Furs)
Oct 20 Madrid, Spain @ Teatro Kapital (with The Psychedelic Furs)
Oct 22 Paris, France @ Le Petit Bain
Oct 24 Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
Oct 26 London, UK @ Moth Club
Oct 27 Nottingham, UK @ Beta
Oct 28 Newcastle, UK @ Cluny
Nov 03 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Paladium (as Bauhaus)
Nov 04 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Paladium (as Bauhaus)
Nov 08 Austin, TX @ Elysium (with Curse Mackey, Rosegarden Funeral Party)

Happy Birthday Daniel Ash

Happy Birthday Daniel Ash

Born on this very day in 1957 Daniel Ash of the parish of Bauhaus.  Ash played guitar in the Goth legends before forming Love & Rockets and going on to enjoy artistic credibility as a solo artist and most recently he reunited with bandmate Kevin Haskins to form Poptone a friend he has known since infant school. 

Ash had become friends with Peter Murphy during his teenage years. Ash went to art school and Murphy went to work in a printing factory. They met up again five years later and Ash suggested forming a band. Rigging up a makeshift rehearsal space, Ash played an Echo 12 – bar blues, while Murphy sang a series of newspaper articles. Four weeks later, they formed Bauhaus and recorded “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”.

After nearly five years Bauhaus fell apart and Ash put together Tones on Tail again with drummer Kevin Haskins. As Ash described them: “We were a motley crew of individuals who essentially wanted to sound like a band from Venus or Mars!” it was to be a band that lasted until the mid ’80s.

Ash founded Love and Rockets in 1985 with Haskins and David J, also of Bauhaus. The band lasted until 2009 when Ash called it a day and stated that was it and a band he would never return to.  During the last ten years, he has been experimenting more with electronic music, both with Love and Rockets and as a solo artist. Since the last reformation of Bauhaus, however, he has been returning to a more guitar-based rock sound. In 2008, Bauhaus released ‘Go Away White’, (their first studio album in 25 years) which was followed by a world tour.  Funnily enough the very same year Love & Rockets played Coachella Music and Arts Festival, funny that.

It was March 2017, Daniel Ash, Haskins (obviously) and Haskin’s daughter Diva Dompé formed POPTONE and a US tour, featuring songs by all the three bands the pair had performed in together.

Ash has so far managed five solo albums, Five with Bauhaus, One with Tone & Tails and one with poptone as well as a plethora of EPs live albums compilations and anthologies. Ash has and continues to be a pioneer and influence plenty of guitar players and songwriters.

 

From The Vault – Boy could he play guitar!

From The Vault – Boy could he play guitar!

On this very date David Bowie unveiled his landmark album, ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars’. His breakthrough LP, it sells over 7 million copies and is hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time. As genius as it was it has to be said that without his Spiders Ziggy would have been nothing (or at least not a fraction of the success) Ronnos guitar playing was exceptional throughout as were the bass lines. Of course, the image was mind blowing even for the early ’70s.

The concept album serves as the introduction to Bowie’s most iconic of reincarnations: Ziggy Stardust, a flame-haired Martian messiah who visits Earth in an attempt to bring a message of hope to humanity in their final five years of existence. Flamboyantly dressed and dazzlingly androgynous, Stardust helps revolutionize ideas about gender and sexuality like never before.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars is recorded over a two-week period in November 1971 at London’s Trident Studios – the same place where The Beatles made “Hey Jude” in 1968. The legendary album cover depicts a resplendent Bowie posing outside of a Mayfair furriers named K. West.

The album peaks at #5 in the UK, and remains on that chart for two years, bolstered by a groundbreaking performance of “Starman” on Top of the Pops in July 1972.

Although “Ziggy played guitar” for the final time in July 1973, his blazing legacy lives on.  The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is about Bowie’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust, an androgynous bisexual rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings (drugs who mentioned drugs). Bowie took Ziggy on tour through the United Kingdom, Japan, and North America. The album and the character of Ziggy Stardust explored themes of sexual exploration and social taboos and it wasn’t until that fateful night in The Hammersmith Odean that Ziggy made his last appearance as Bowie ruthlessly ended the characters existence.  this after shipping over seven million copies worldwide – still to this day an incredible decision from a man at the peak of his powers.  Amazingly the album only made it to number five in the UK charts whilst barely denting the US top 75!

 

Its no question one of the most influential albums for many reasons would there have been the huge new Romantic explosion of the post-punk 80s had it not been for Ziggy?  Also, it was a big influence on the UK punk scene with many of its detractors since citing this particular tour as being very influential fashionably and musically.

 

Track from the album has been covered many times over by many different artists including Bauhaus who did ‘Ziggy Stardust’ as did Def Leppard and RPM favourite Jeff Dahl.  ‘Moonage Daydream has also been covered by varied artists such as LA Guns, Mike Scott and Tim Wheeler of Ash. whereas ‘Suffragette City’ has been covered by such polar acts as Boy George, Steve Jones, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Turbonegro and god forbid Poison! As well as recently on volume 1 of The UK Subs covers album.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-17521244/site-of-ziggy-stardust-album-cover-shoot-marked-with-plaque