Ed King Archives - Page 32 of 34 -

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

FEATURE: Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt @ City Centre 23.04.16

Words & pics by Ed King / Artwork by Void One

Birmingham is full of ideas. The city of a thousand social enterprise starts ups is never quiet for long, as a maelstrom of rhetoric fills the coffee shops and square foot homes from home of the city’s eager creatives. God knows I’m one. Birmingham Review was one. Most of my portfolio started at the end of a pot of filter coffee. And as the wheat, chaff and Arts Council do their merry little dance, the city’s event programmes and flyers stands ebb and flow, and ebb again.

(I should at this point apologise for all the ‘lost’ features we’ve never published, or the pages of our website that are not yet online. Watch out for our Lost Review anthology – coming out both in print and online.)

Birmingham Review first interviewed Harley Davies, founder of Beta Birmingham and Beta Test Records, back in May 2013 – after the home grown label released its stonkingly solid album of mash up and homage, Council Pop. The cream of a precarious crop, Council Pop grabbed me as a local release benchmark worth writing about, with the man behind as someone to keep in the ‘Safe Senders’ list.

But often simplicity shines through; simplicity, alongside the graft and address book it takes to deliver a project. Oh yeah, tenacity helps as well. And cash. And time.

So with at least three of those foundations in place, Harley Davies had another idea – one that taps into our city’s desire for art, free stuff and a mad dash around the city. No, not another riot-by-twitter – something all together more creative and constructive. And following on from the beautifully curated The Big Hoot project, it’s planning to “celebrate our vibrant art community, framed by some of the city’s most iconic, intriguing and even notorious locations.” Go on…

On Saturday 23^rd April, armed with a treasure map and mobile broadband, the Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt will be swooping across the city centre. And it’s exactly what it sounds like. Let the numbers come, the pirate metaphors flow, and the slow loafer hipsters beware… the Captain’s got a canvas to catch.

Beta Birmingham is a local record label. And if you’ve never heard of a treasure hunt before, it’s where you hunt for treasure. Moving on. Beta Birmingham are using the streets of Birmingham city centre for their fast grab endeavour, hiding over 30 pieces of original art from a range of genre and artists. So far we’ve been told about illustration, photography and all sorts of mediums on canvas.

But with ‘why’ hovering on one shoulder, let’s quickly look at ‘how’. And again, the idea is simple. At 12noon on Saturday 23^rd April, Beta Birmingham will release a map via their website and social media channels – showing a series of locations across the city centre where they have hidden ‘X Marks the Spot’ signs. Tried and tested, even Enid Blyton children can pick this one up.

Then once a successful ‘player’ finds an ‘X’, they take the ubiquitous selfie (apparently now the world’s new form of colloquial transaction) post it onto the Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt Facebook page, and tootle down to The Custard Factory Street Art Treasure Hunt HQ to collect their loot. Kind of like Thomas Crown meets Treasure Island, with a bit of Gumball Rally thrown in. Or Battle Royale, if you’re really ‘passionate’ about your art.

The ‘why’ is a little more colourful, no pun, and Birmingham Review will be following this story with an interview from Harley Davies – letting them man behind the project explain it in his own words.

But for now, I’ll throw in a starter for ten. According to the initial press release, the Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt is being held to “celebrate” the city’s “vibrant art community” – whilst also being a showcase for “artists who may not have exhibited before to showcase their work alongside some of Birmingham’s more recognised and infamous characters”. Sounds like a solid grant application.

But what arguably makes this project stand out, alongside the unashamed variety of art being presented and the veracity of Beta Birmingham’s previous endevours, is a big fat ‘F’ word. Fun.

“I can’t give too much away at this stage,” says Harley Davies, as Birmingham Review catches him for a greedy pre-interview soundbite, “but we’re hiding the Xs in some iconic, intriguing and even notorious places. There’s original work from a range of this city’s artists and infamous characters; we wanted the treasure map to be just as colourful and just as exciting. You should see this as a friendly day time mad dash, a pedestrian Gumball Rally style race for hidden art treasure.

And everywhere is accessible – free to get to and open to all ages. It was important that everyone could be involved in the event at every stage. The Street Art Treasure Hunt map will show players places in the city centre they might never have seen before, but would love to discover. There are places with food and drink in there too, but a packed lunch and trainers might not be a bad idea.”

And if it all sounds like too much of a foot based commitment, you can always head down The Custard Factory Street Art Treasure Hunt HQ on 23^rd April and have a look at some of the pieces – as they wait patiently for their new owners to come and collect them. The ‘HQ’ is at the back of the lake, next to The Mockingbird Theatre & Bar – so it all goes horribly Pete Tong, and you find nowt on your hunt, you can still be a graciously sore loser. Or a full and tipsy one, at least.

But right now I’m off to sharpen my cutlass.

The Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt will take place across the city centre, from 12noon on Saturday 23^rd April – with the supporting selected pieces on display at The Custard Factory from 10am.

All aspects of the Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt are free and open to all ages. For more information, visit www.betabirmingham.co.uk

Or visit the Beta Birmingham Street Art Treasure Hunt Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/864333440332012/permalink/904617286303627/

March 8, 2016

BPREVIEW: Howl feat. Casey Bailey, Heather Wastie, Sean Colletti @ The Dark Horse 10.02.16

Words by Ed King

On Wednesday 9^th March, Howl returns for Round II at The Dark Horse in Moseley – presenting spoken word & performed poetry/prose from Casey Bailey, Heather Wastie, Sean Colletti + various open mics slots to be announced on the day.

Howl is a Sansho event, co-promoted & presented by Leon Priestnall. Doors open at 7:30pm with entry charged at £3 – for direct event info, click here.

Starting off their new monthly run at The Dark Horse in Feb this year, after having been previously fed & watered at The Sun at the Station for one turn round the sun, Howl began in pretty fine fettle. A full room, some cracking open mic spots (including a gherkin/felt tip pen/the frivolity of youth analogy… oh yes) and three different but solid headline slots – Howl once again avoided the uncomfortable self-congratulation that this genre can survive on. Genuine, funny, intelligent, endearing. Give it red hair and a piano, and I’ll walk it down the aisle.

March’s line up at Howl looks similarly eclectic, with three more headline performers who come from very different sides of the ring. For more info on each have a look at the Written Word below:

Casey Bailey / A Birmingham poet. A Birmingham rapper. Casey Bailey has a standalone, calm approach – writing and performing material about the more visceral end of the human endevour. He also teaches rap and poetry in workshops and classrooms, using his craft as a vehicle of expression for those who so badly need to express. Check out Casey Bailey delivering his personal ode to our city, performing ‘Dear Birmingham’ – click here. For more on Casey Bailey, visit http://baileysrapandpoetry.com/

Heather Wastie / Worcestershire’s Poet Laureate across 2015/16, Heather Wastie performs as a ‘poet, singer/songwriter, keyboard/accordion player, actor, humourist and facilitator.’ She promotes too, running/comparing the monthly Mouth and Music night at The Boars Head in Kidderminster – where Howl host, Leon Priestnall, performed last October. Also a published poet & oral historian, Heather Wastie has compiled four poetry collections – with her last, Weaving Yarns, regaling ‘a unique infectious cocktail of assorted snippets and stories about the carpet industry’ in Kidderminster. For more on Heather Wastie, visit http://www.wastiesspace.co.uk/

Sean Colletti / Born and raised in California (not the one near Quinton), Sean Colletti came to the UK to read Creative Writing at Birmingham University (BA) and the Universtity of East Anglia (MA). Choosing the lesser of two evils, Colletti returned to Birmingham for his PhD and to write his first novel – whilst performing ‘his first love’ at poetry events across the city. And if we’ve found the right Sean Colletti on Twitter, he also enjoys sci-fi, whiskey and losing at poker… sounds like a Friday night in to me. For more on Sean Colletti, visit https://www.facebook.com/sean.colletti

Howl feat. Casey Bailey, Heather Wastie, Sean Colletti returns to The Dark Horse on Wednesday 9^th March. For direct event info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/842848142527054/

For more from The Dark Horse, visit http://www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk/

February 25, 2016

BREVIEW: Fat White Family @ O2 Institute 20.02.16

Words by Helen Knott / Pics by Ed King

If you believe the band’s PR machine, Fat White Family are the “shot in the arm that independent rock has been ailing after.”

They’ve certainly gained plenty of notoriety since emerging from a South London squat back in 2012, but will they live up to their own hype at the O2 Institute, on the first night of an eleven date UK tour?

They do a pretty good job, for the first half an hour at least. An onslaught of songs in quick succession at the start of the set builds an early sense of momentum. Lead singer, Lias Saoudi, prowls around, topless, predatory, his hand occasionally creeping down his trousers. He’s a great front man, obnoxious to the point of almost being disgusting; commanding total attention from the excitable audience.

A particular crowd favourite is ‘Satisfied’, the second track of the band’s most recent album, Songs for Our Mothers. Typical of the album as a whole, ‘Satisfied’ has somewhat crass lyrics, at one point comparing a blowjob to life in a concentration camp. The words are lost live though, and you’re left with a sleazy foot stomper with a killer chorus. It’s probably for the best.

Mid-set the pace slows a little and the momentum peters out; the best thing about lumbering, dull ‘Goodbye Goebbels’ is its name, whilst ‘Wild American Prairie’ is a straightforward, sluggish blues dirge.

This points my main problem with Fat White Family – their lyrics are interesting, their politics are interesting, their wild antics are interesting, but the music itself isn’t really all that interesting. They write some good riffs and some catchy songs but it can often descend into arguable Fall and Clash rip offs.

There are exceptions. Songs like ‘Whitest Boy on the Beach’, the opening track from their latest album, suggest that Fat White Family could develop into a more musically interesting proposition. The guitar line grooves along, with the breathy vocals gradually submerged by melodic synths before re-emerging with greater force; it’s almost like disco music.

So, Fat White Family – a shot in the arm for independent music? Yes, probably, they really are a spectacle of a live band. But are they independent music’s new lifeblood? That remains to be seen.

For more on Fat White Family, visit https://fatwhitefamily.bandcamp.com

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

For more events from SJM Concerts, visit http://www.gigsandtours.com/

February 13, 2016February 13, 2016

BPREVIEW: Gabrielle Aplin @ O2 Institute 14.02.16

Words by Ed King

On Sunday 14^th February, Gabrielle Aplin brings her Light Up the Dark UK Tour to the O2 Institute – with support from home grown label mate, Hannah Grace + Warner’s new prodigal son, Lewis Watson.

Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets priced at £16.50 – as presented by Birmingham Promoters.

N.B Gabrielle Aplin has retained her record label, Never Fade Records, since her debut self release in 2010. The label has also been developing a wider roster of artists since 2013, including Hannah Grace and Saint Raymond – who both appear on Aplin’s 2016 Light Up the Dark UK Tour. For more on Never Fade Records, click here.

Gabrielle Alpin caught the crest of a YouTube tidal wave back in 2010 – you know, the way people could before certain ‘decisions to protect the artist’ were made by the online broadcaster. Just think… where would Jay Z or Chris Martin be without such a courageous artistic line in the sand.

But Ms Aplin was much more than just an ego on a small screen, having explored two ends of the Pop/Folk production spectrum with her first two self-released EPs, Aplin’s Home EP (Jan 2011) was a solid and self effacing 5 track declaration. Cue some well deserved online sales, supporting national airplay and knock knock… Parlophone signed Gabrielle Aplin, releasing her debut single with the major, ‘Please Don’t Say You Love Me’, in Feb 2012. Aplin‘s debut album, English Rain, was released in December the same year.

Birmingham Review eventually got to see Gabrielle Aplin about a year after the Parlophone machine started whirring, watching her take over the Institute’s main room on a Monday. Not an easy room on the crappiest of weekdays. Read Ed King’s Birmingham Review of Gabrielle Aplin @ Birmingham Institute 14.03.13 here. I think my favourite line is ‘….makes me imagine Mumford & Sons on meth.’

Now the Wiltshire born, Bath schooled (on and off a record label) singer/songwriter is back in Birmingham, and back at the Institute. And having been sans snapper the last time Gabrielle Aplin came to town, this time Harry Mills will be throwing DSLRs around the Digbeth venue – shooting a Birmingham Review to go into THE GALLERY. So if a picture tells a thousand words, you might be up late.

Gabrielle Aplin released her sophomore album, Light Up the Dark, in September 2015. Stop, look & listen to the album’s lead single/title track below:

‘Light Up the Dark’ by Gabrielle Aplin

Gabrielle Aplin comes to the O2 Institute (B’ham) on Sunday 14^th February – with support from Hannah Grace and Lewis Watson. For direct gig info & online sales, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/2016/02/02/gabrielle-aplin-lewis-watson-hannah-grace-in-bham/

For more on Gabrielle Aplin, visit http://gabrielleaplin.co.uk/

For more on Never Fade Records, visit http://neverfaderecords.com/

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For more from the O2 Institute, visit http://o2institutebirmingham.co.uk/

For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/

January 25, 2016January 26, 2016

INTERVIEW: Tom Dunstan

Words & pics by Ed King

N.B. Plaid come to The Dark Horse on 30^thJan, with Scratch Club further presenting Jehst (27^thFeb) and Akala (9^thApr) at the Moseley venue. For direct updates & event info, visit http://www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk/whats-on/

I’m sitting upstairs at The Dark Horse in Moseley talking to Tom Dunstan, aka DJ Automaton, about his recent flurry of monthly (and more) events here. It’s cold, the 200 capacity room has only 100^th of its potential body heat in it, and we’re camped out on two old leather sofas in the corner. Diametrically opposed a Funktion-One speaker glares down at us – a brand name not known for its subtlety.

Tom Dunstan’s regular Hip Hop night, Scratch Club, recently found its new home at The Dark Horse after losing the bricks and mortar of its birth when The Yardbird closed down – Birmingham’s renowned Jazz/ live music venue and Conservatoire hang out.

Taking on the Tuesday night hole in The Yardbird’s eclectic diary, Scratch Club began with beat boxer Bass6 as host, open mic sessions “and me being the sound man,” explains Tom. “We didn’t book anyone, we didn’t ask any artists to come down, we just said ‘we’re doing this Hip Hop night and there’s an open mic’ – that was it. I remember it vividly; at 8pm the venue was empty, by 8:30pm you couldn’t fucking move.”

Having already promoted DJ/Mr Switch to “rammed to the rafters” crowd at its new B13 venue, back in November 2015, Scratch Club has announced Jehst and Akala as its next two headliners. It’s an impressive addition to The Dark Horse’s events programme, a venue whose recent makeover harks back to the transformation of the Hare & Hounds – when Leftfoot founder, Adam Regan, waved his magic wand over the century old boozer. Provided they can book it out, that is.

“My initial agreement with this place (The Dark Horse) was to do a monthly Scratch Club here,” explains Tom Dunstan, “we did eight years, fortnightly, at The Yardbird and never flopped once; it was never empty once. That started in May 2006, so we are looking at Akala being out 10^th anniversary bash.” A birthday cake to be proud of, but why these headliners for a night whose “ethos is not to necessarily book ‘big acts’”?

“We book the best acts in our minds,” continues Tom, “I’ve wanted to book Jehst since I started doing this 9 ½ years ago; he’s one of those ‘on the list’ acts. We’ve booked bigger acts, we’ve booked Public Enemy, DJ QBert, Scratch Perverts, Souls of Mischief – but Jehst is something that resonates with me. His lyrics aren’t always happy, it’s not always a positive message, but are something intrinsic to a way a lot of people are living.”

And Akala? “Akala just oozes intelligence and the correct kind of consciousness. You get this kind of perceived reputation of Hip Hop, spitting all this big dick gun talk postcode bullshit, but he (Akala) resonates with my own ethos, and not just myself but the rest of the crew at Scratch Club. Yeah, you will see a bunch of dudes (at Scratch Club) with caps on from different ethnicities rapping, scratching and beat boxing, but there’s more intelligence in them than I imagine is perceived to be.”

Those “bunch of dudes” are probably worth mentioning too, with previous Scratch Club residents going on to be “world champions in their field.” DJ/Mr Switch is five times and current World DMC Mixing Champion, whilst Scratch Club’s original beatboxing host, Bass6, is founder of The Beatbox Collective – winners of the 2015 World Beatbox Championship (team).

Today’s Scratch Club line-up includes Superbamz, Mr FX, Redbeard (Eatgood Records) and Sam Stealth, “although all emcees are welcome to get on stage during the open mic points of the night”. There’s also the regular Scratch Club Celebrity Show, “where Bamz will pick someone from the crowd, name the celebrity that they look like, then insult them in rhyme,” warns Tom. “And Bamz is harsh; he doesn’t care how offended you’ll get. And you might do. Don’t get up close to the stage if you’re easily offended.” Perhaps a well timed bathroom break… I went to school; I know who I look like.

But before we skip-and-a-jump into the Hip Hop on the menu, there’s a small morsel of Electronica to chow down – as on Saturday 30^th January Tom Dunstan is bringing Plaid to play in this first floor suburban venue. That’s right… Plaid, The Black Dog founders and Warp Record stalwarts will be playing in Moseley. And on next week’s bill, a leprechaun riding a unicorn.

“Plaid is being booked as part of a new night,” explains Tom Dunstan, “which I’m running with a London Electro DJ called ADJ (Andy Jaggers) and one of the safest people I’ve met through music.” Both DJ Automaton and ADJ are featured on the night’s line up, alongside Plaid. “We used to DJ at Greenstreet together and hit off a friendship; every time I DJ in London he comes out to see me. Andy runs the Dodo Club, on a boat on the Thames, which Plaid are the residents at. So one drunken night after I’d done a gig at Brixton Hootenanny, we’re back at Andy’s flat hitting the posh whiskey and he asks ‘when we’re going to do something again?’ So I say, ‘…get Plaid.’ It took us from August 2015 to get it sorted.”

Were Coda (Plaid’s booking agents) concerned that you wanted to bring such a prestigious booking to a newly operated venue? “There are no agents or Warp Records involved. It’s on the official Warp calendar and they’re on the posters, but we’re doing this because we’re friends. If Andy (Turner) and Ed (Handley) say they’re playing, they’re playing.”

A useful black book to have, and one earned through a regular series of Earko events at The Medicine Bar in the late nineties – where Tom Dunstan and co-promoter Ben Henneman brought acts from John Peel to Aphex Twin to the bohemian Digbeth watering hole. Indeed, “Plaid were the first act I ever booked, for Earko back in 1998,” tells Tom. “They were just lovely blokes, and let me get on stage and start scratching whilst they were playing live.”

Memories of The Medicine Bar will bring tears, of both joy and frustration, to many in Birmingham – as Simon Jones’s war of attrition was the blueprint for Digbeth’s nightlife today. “I remember the magic of those years, how much it meant to us,” admits Tom Dunstan. “Trip-Hop came out, Mo Wax appeared, I was confronted with Ninja Tunes and Warp Records; all of a sudden everything changed.”

But after closing its doors in early 2010, The Medicine Bar (or Factory Club, as it was known when it ceased trading) left a legacy arguably not honoured by subsequent tenants. The Custard Factory venue has changed hands several times in the past half decade, with no would-be-pretenders matching the eclectic events programme that brought acts from Mr Scruff to De La Soul (on a Monday?!?!) to the city centre back streets.

The Medicine Bar’s most prominent Round Two happened in Kings Heath, when a late license gave the Hare & Hounds a chance to compete with its city centre counterparts – as Adam Regan brought an absurdly rich line up to the south Birmingham suburb. It marked a greater shift too, as the Hare & Hounds’ success greased the egos and wheels of further extended hours applications, and planted the seeds of the 2am turnout that now thrives across B12-14. But with all these neighbours turned venues, and the residents in between, is it still peaceful in the provinces?

“Certain folks ask me if it (Scratch Club) clashes with nearby venues,” explains Tom, “and no. Because I speak to those promoters; if we’re having a night on the same night we contact each other and wish each other good luck. I’ll give you a for instance, when we had DJ Switch here we sold out – rammed to the rafters. Roni Size sold out the Hare & Hounds – rammed to the rafters. And down the road at the Old Print Works there were over 300 people dancing to salsa, all on one night.” I recognise a look of both solidarity and relief. “There is no ‘rivalry’ or anything like that; we actually want each other to do well. We genuinely get happy when other people do well. And to quote a local venue owner, ‘it takes a lot more than one venue to create a scene’”.

A reassuring sentiment, and knowing some of the protagonists involved it’s one I can believe is believed in. For the most part. But having worked on two extended hours applications for venues in these suburbs, including the one we’re sitting in (when it traded as The Cross), I know there’s more to content with than competition. And the Funktion-One speaker stack continues to glare…

But the economic impact is palpable; with certain operators working hard to allay any fears or residents associations that might try to, literally, pull the plug. There are festivals in the Private Park for Christ’s sake. And the husband and wife team behind The Dark Horse have arguably already proved their scope with the phoenix like resurgence of The Prince of Wales, alongside a long fought battle at Epic Skate Park (you try heating a listed bus depot). But is this just a question of right place/right time, like Oscillate bringing Insanity Sect and APL to Moseley Dance Centre, or is it something more perennial?

“It feels like it’s meant to be,” answers Tom Dunstan, “the idea of going to my local boozer, seeing my pals, and seeing an awesome world class act is so much more appealing than going all the way into town, dressing up, blah blah, spending out.”

“Look at us,” continues Tom, “we can watch Plaid here in three weeks time, sat on these Chesterfield sofas, drinking tea if we want. Tell me in your late 30’s that’s not an appealing thought.”

Plaid come to The Dark Horse on Saturday 30^th January – with support from DJs ADJ, Automaton + Michael Valentine West. For direct gig info & online tickets, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1687029418177721/

Scratch Club presents DJ Jehst (27^thFeb) and Akala (9^thApr) at The Dark Horse in Moseley. For updates & event info, direct from The Dark Horse, visit http://www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk/whats-on/

For more on Tom Dunstan, aka DJ Automaton, visit https://www.facebook.com/automaton-111928481855/

For more on The Dark Horse, visit http://www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk/