Tag: Ed King

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SINGLE: Four Sides and a Pointed Top – Ed Geater featuring VITAL 27.09.19

Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of Bona Fide Mangement

I’ll be honest, when I read ‘a hip-hop infused pop jam’ on the promo copy for Ed Geater’s latest single… my heart sank. It’s the first track of his new EP, IN, coming out on 1st November, and something about this six word description just didn’t sit right.

But why? Geater has embraced hip hop across his portfolio, whilst VITAL (the MC who appears with Geater on ‘Four Sides and a Pointed Top’) is an artist that will always grab my attention. And despite Geater’s six string melodies that have tugged at my heart so beautifully before, the man is an awesome beatboxer – as well as a seasoned champion of Birmingham’s roots and rhyme scene. If anything, I should be excited about the words ‘hip hop infused’ and complicit about it being a ‘pop jam’ (I have learned through heartbreak, long car journeys, endless decorating, and significant amounts of whiskey on my own that even I can find some pleasure in some ‘pop’). No, I can live with all of that. So, again, why the rock in my stomach…?

The truth is, right now, I’m a little scared of change. I’m tired, and in the hushed words of half of the Game of Thrones cast… winter is coming. My cultural and emtional shutters have come down and I want obvious familiarity, I want comfort. I want red wine in musical form. I don’t want to think, feel or challenge myself in any way. I want Ed Geater to do what Ed Geater has done for me before so I can lazily roll over and demand my brain cell absent belly rub. And OK, perhaps I had some issues at the term ‘pop jam’.

‘Four Sides and a Pointed Top’ starts with a short, echoed, guitar riff – quietly clinging to the background. Then an orchestrated cacophony slides into the spotlight, with Geater’s trademark acoustic splendour and broken beat backbone making the fire brighter and the hearth all the warmer for it. To continue the metaphor. But the real power and beauty comes at 16secs in, when Geater’s vocals strut confidently across the track – with a timbre comparatively unrecognised but sounding gloriously mature. I honestly had to double check it was him. It is. And it’s good, from growling deep to falsetto… it’s so, so good.

The music, melody and production then lead the charge. We are treated to a second verse, a second chorus. And just past the two minute mark VITAL steps in with a brief but quietly ferocious verse, delivered with the confidence of man in full control of his lyrics and voice. Tempered, beautifully tempered; it sits as the perfect jewel in this collaborative crown and a direct reminder of the vulnerability that even the strongest of us can suffer. It is also the beginning of the end, as all aspects are embraced for the final run and we are softly reminded that Geater has, in fact, been beatboxing throughout.

‘Four Sides and a Pointed Top’ is one of Ed Geater’s most accomplished tracks; it’s near perfect. The only real downside is that I’d like it to be longer, not as the uber-radio friendly 3min 21secs song that is has been gifted to us as. I’d also like to hear more from VITAL (their voices blend wonderfully) and the subject matter could be a little more prominent for a narrative junkie such as myself.

Plus, my future self is now wondering how it will sit alongside the other two tracks when Geater‘s IN EP is released at the beginning of November. But that’s the strategist in me. Right now, I’m just happy. I’m lying on the sofa with the following YouTube link on repeat. I’m warm; I’m content. And there’s not a trace of stone in my chest.

‘Four Sides and a Pointed Top – Ed Geater, featuring VITAL

Ed Geater releases his latest single, ‘Four Sides and a Pointed Top’, on 27th September – out via Bronx Records. Ed Geater will be releasing his new EP, IN, on Friday 1st November. For more on Ed Geater, visit www.edgeater.co.uk

For more on VITAL, visit www.IAmVITAL.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues surrounding sexual violence – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK website.

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BREVIEW: Dragpunk’s Ghoul School Grand Final @ The Nightingale Club 20.09.19

Words & illustrations by Emily Doyle

It’s a Friday night in September. The nights are drawing in, but it’s still mild enough to enjoy a cigarette on the balcony of Nightingales and watch life go by on Kent Street. Amber Cadaverous, dressed in white satin lingerie and draped in bandages, ushers the crowd into the venue for the Grand Finale of Dragpunk’s Ghoul School.

In July, Dragpunk opened applications for their contest to crown Birmingham’s first drag supermonster. Encouraging applicants from all backgrounds and styles, they stressed in the call out that this is a contest founded on learning and positivity, under the banner of ‘All Drag Is Valid’. In short, they’ve taken a lot more cues from underground hit Boulet Brothers’ Dragula than from Ru Paul’s Drag Race, in terms of values as well as aesthetic.

Both the heats of Ghoul School were well attended, but tonight it’s standing room only not long after the doors open. Plenty of competitors from previous heats have turned out to show their support. Lucius Blac, whose catholic-gothic aesthetic means he’d just as soon be referred to as ‘Father’ than as ‘Daddy’, is propping up the bar. Blac’s performances in heat two were whirlwinds of suave machismo, whether he was wearing a white suit and priest’s collar or a dishevelled clown costume. Sadly, this wasn’t his year – but most of the audience went home that night with pockets full of stickers proclaiming ‘once you go Blac, you don’t go back’ in an ornate blackletter typeface. Flanking Blac are fellow competitors Abel Valentine and The Vicar’s Daughter. Valentine won hearts in heat two with a playful lipsync to Smashmouth’s ‘All Star’. The Vicar’s Daughter, who’s heartfelt mime performance was a highlight of heat one, has fashioned an outfit for tonight out of one of her dad’s stoles, combining it with a barely-there bodysuit, sunglasses, and a fringed boater.

Waiting for the show to begin, heat one performers Cider Goblin and Frieda Brest are perched on the edge of the stage playing Pokemon Go. Cider lived up to their name and gave perhaps the messiest performance of heat one, scattering the stage with empty tinnies out of a bin bag during their lip sync to The Cramps’ ‘Garbage Man’. Frieda was responsible for a delightful chicken themed performance that same evening, it had a skillfully crafted mix featuring Lizzo’s 2018 hit ‘Boys’, but every time she said the word “boys” it was replaced with “chickens”. Often the simplest ideas are the funniest. Tonight, Frieda is here in their masculine alter-ego, Fred D’Coq, complete with a neon pink suit. Sitting in the front row along from them is Church of Yshee 2019 finalist Misty Fye, eager to show support for their partner in crime Glitter King.

Hosting tonight are Dragpunk’s own Lilith and Tacky Alex, a thoroughly odd couple who’ve got polar opposite dress senses and about a foot in height between them. Lilith, veiled in black lace and with eyeliner so sharp it would make Siouxsie Sioux’s eyes water, towers over Alex, who grins at the audience from under a pair of floppy rabbit’s ears and a smear of pink lipstick. The two heats were hosted by the baby of the group, Amber Cadaverous. After some outdated whispers went around the scene challenging the validity of a young queer woman hosting a drag contest, Paul Aleksandr took the stage at the beginning of heat two to make it very clear that as far as Dragpunk are concerned Amber’s place is on the stage. Beaming, Amber took the mic, ringing in the autumn with an enormous pumpkin costume. Paul, having affirmed his role as kindly-yet-creepy uncle of Birmingham’s queer community, returned to mopping up blood and other fluids between performances with an endless supply of blue roll.

The finalists tonight have been given three performance tasks each to determine the winner, who gets to take home a troubling trophy – one of Paul’s sculptures that makes use of a doll’s head and a liberal coating of glossy red paint. First, they’re invited to show off their skills with a narrative performance. Glaswegian queen Diana Morphine takes queues from Tim Burton’s campy classic Beetlejuice, strutting around in a black-and-white striped suit and flinging plastic cockroaches into the audience. Suzi Looz, who’s heat one striptease to Black Flag’s ‘Nervous Breakdown’ saw her booked for a show in London the following week by judge Mary Poppers, delights the crowd by disemboweling Boris Johnson (played with trademark swagger by Haus of Sauseej’s Christian Gay) before emptying a milkshake over his head.

Glitter King, who’s truly mastered comfy drag, cavorts around the stage in a Grumpy Bear onesie to Eiffel 65’s ‘Blue’. Sissy Punk invites Fred D’Coq to join her on stage for a deeply troubling performance, where dialogue from the episode of Always Sunny in Philidelphia where Frank Reynolds convinces the gang they’re eating human meat segues into ‘Truly Scrumptious’ from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as Sissy appears to carve slices of deli meat of Fred’s glutes with a sadistic flair. It’s a word perfect lip sync that has the crowd in stitches. The most unexpected performance comes from Nottingham queen and cosplayer Wyntir Rose, who’s interpretation of a viral episode of Peppa Pig is inspired.

The Ghoul School contestants are then invited to perform a brief runway performance. Local comedy-drag performer Cosmic Crum takes the opportunity to show off an impressive silicone breastplate, while Diana Morphine keeps it classy in a floor length red ballgown. Sissy slithers out of a latex dress to reveal an acidic yellow bodysuit, a look that’s almost as delightfully trashy as the camo chaps she wore for her heat one lipsync to Vengaboys. The star of this round is undoubtedly Suzi, who gambols onto the stage in a tartan suit and snaps open a fan which bears the legend ‘TIPTON’. She writhes on the floor, fluttering it coquettishly, to delighted chanting from the crowd. At the time of writing, Suzi is listed as a ‘notable resident’ on Tipton’s Wikipedia page.

For the final act of the night, performers are simply given the brief ‘freakshow’ – surely an invitation for chaos from Dragpunk. Cosmic Crum steps up to the plate with a wonderfully hairy striptease which must have been the final fate of at least three purple wigs. Diana Morphine is a picture of android glamour, glitching and death dropping her way through a slick mix of electronic pop and looking like Barbarella turned up to 11.

Sissy Punk gives one of the night’s most heartfelt and political performances about her trans experience, culminating in some defiant, full frontal nudity to the sound of ‘Sweet Transvestite’ to the adulation of the judges and the crowd. Horror queen Melancholy, who in the last heat stapled a rubber mask directly onto her face and subsequently bled so much her false lashes melted off, takes the stage as the evening’s final act to hushed anticipation, before engaging in some neon clad needle play that is enough to turn even the strongest stomach. Judges China, Ruby Wednesday and Misty Monique retire to deliberate, and at this point it genuinely feels like anyone could win it.

After a short break, Diana Morphine is crowned the winner of Ghoul School 2019 to much deserved applause. Her consistency and variety won the judges over, so she now has the honor of taking the baby head trophy back to Glasgow – as well as hundreds of pounds worth of drag supplies from Give Face Cosmetics, What A Drag, Offend My Eyes, Morphe and Urban Decay and a paid performance spots with Dragpunk in the future. So, look out as this won’t be Diana’s last time in Birmingham…

For more on the Dragpunk Collective, visit www.dragpunkcollective.wordpress.com 

For more from The Nightingale Club, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.nightingaleclub.co.uk 

‘I pick my way through the dressing room, stepping over debris from previous performances – a toy guitar, a picked-over sheet of stick-on moustaches, and a slowly deflating blow up doll. The front of my shirt is damp from where I tried to sponge out a pale purple stain from the Dark Fruits. I slip on my coat, grab my umbrella, and make for the stage with what I hope is an air of masculine confidence.’

Watch out for Emily Doyle’s Diary of a Short Lived Drag King, a 24 page A4 ‘zine recanting her own experiences of when she manned up and got on stage – with illustrations from Emily and photography from Eleanor Sutcliffe. 

Diary of a Short Lived Drag King will be available through Review Publishing from 30th September, click here for more details.

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues surrounding sexual violence – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK website.

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OPINION: A team effort (…we are greater than the sum of our parts)

Words by Ed King / Pic by Aatish Ramchurm

Whilst promoting the next NOT NORMAL NOT OK live gig fundraiser, being held at Centrala on 25th October, I was messaged by someone who’d just got their tickets saying: ‘thank you for making a positive difference’. Simple enough, but something in me was uncomfortable – from well planned birthday presents to professional praise I’ve been waiting too long to hear, I can feel awkward from adulation. This was different though.

NOT NORMAL NOT OK was launched just over a year ago in response to a deluge of stories we heard about sexual violence in the local live music scene. And it started where most things do, for me, as a piece of writing. Namely an op-ed featured on Birmingham Review, which originally ended on a general call to arms to tackle sexual violence – ‘we should join together and form a campaign…’ that sort of thing.

Then we thought, why not just put a campaign together and use that drum banging energy to get people to join in – the call to arms became a social media drive, with our sticker campaign as the initial outreach activity. And it went well; venues reached out in support, promoters and artists invited us to their gigs to hand out stickers, and a reasonable chunk of both the music and mainstream media got solidly behind the campaign.

We had achieved our aim of bringing the issue out of the shadows – our logo was appearing on t-shirts, guitars, drum kits, and the occasional toilet room door at venues across the city. Our social media spiked with sign ups, the mailing list gained traction, whilst countless people asked how they could get more involved. Plus, after a relatively short time, we had already started helping victims of sexual violence get the help they needed – linking them to our campaign partners at RSVP and West Midlands Police. We had even had a few curious phone calls, such as people asking “…should I be worried?” A question that answers itself if you stop and think about it.

(On that note, we would rather see someone get help to address and change their negative behaviour than burn them at the stake. If you need help, whatever your problems with sexual violence, be honest and reach out.)

But from my days evaluating consumer based PR campaigns, NOT NORMAL NOT OK launched with aplomb. We had reached our audience; the singular idea had grown into a force of its own, propelled and shaped by the ongoing support of people across the city. And right there… that’s why ‘thank you’ makes me uncomfortable.

There are a team of amazing volunteers who have supported NOT NORMAL NOT OK from day one – pushing the message at gigs and handing out stickers wherever they go. There are the people who take the time to read and share our social media activity – which encourages new people to learn about the campaign and seek help if they need it. There are the venue managers and promoters that have been so embracing – allowing us into their premises and supporting our campaign teams. There’s everyone who’s bought a badge, worn a sticker, or turned up to our events. And there are our campaign partners at RSVP and West Midlands Police – who have made this into something more than just a paper tiger, helping us get the right support to those who have suffered abuse.

I waited for a few minutes before responding to the message I mentioned at the start of this article, offering: ‘Team effort – thanks to you too’, as my reply. I hope it didn’t sound ungrateful. It certainly wasn’t meant to. But the absolute truth is that the successes of the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign comes when we make that team effort, when we are greater than the sum of our parts.

I love the picture at the top of this post. It was a great gig, with everyone on stage and off sharing in a sense of real group achievement.

And we’re asking you now, as we asked when we launched this campaign, please continue to help – come to the Centrala fundraiser on 25th October, be part of the next group photo we’re planning to take. Buy a pen, buy a fridge magnet. Help us hand out more stickers at more gigs and help us reach more people via social media. Get involved.

NOT NORMAL NOT OK has made some great progress in the past year and we’re about to embark on a new outreach activity that will help us make even more – click here for more info. But this only works, really works, if we don’t do it alone. And whatever ‘thank you’s are left hanging in the air can be more deservedly shared by all of us.

NOT NORMAL NOT OK is hosting a live gig fundraiser on Friday 25th October at Centrala – with Flight Brigade, Hannah Brown and Lycio all performing live. All money raised will be used to support the venue ‘tool kit’ and staff training programme, for more info visit www.notnormalnotok.com/venue-tool-kit-staff-training-programme

Tickets are priced at £5 Early bird / £7 standard advance, then more on the door – for direct event info and links to online ticket sales, click here to visit the Facebook event page.

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues surrounding sexual violence – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK website.

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BREVIEW: Pixies @ O2 Academy (B’ham) 16.09.19

Words by Abi Whistance / Pics by Phil Drury (2324 Photography)

Pixies have made it pretty clear in recent years that, frankly, they’re getting a little too worn out for the yelps, shrieks and piercing guitars of their adolescence. Settling nicely into Frank Black’s country grooves the band have mellowed in their releases, Beneath the Eyrie being no exception.

It was difficult to know what to expect with a world tour of their latest album; the worry that I’d gotten my hopes up for a surprise appearance of ‘I’ve Been Tired’ or ‘Nimrod’s Son’ was almost debilitating. With such a cult-like fanbase it would have been impossible to fulfil the wishes of every unshakable Trompe Le Monde buff on site, with at least a handful of the crowd crying for a rendition of ‘that B-side they did once that only exists by word of mouth’ or a 1988 debuted cover of ‘a classic’.

Yet as time went by and their arrival onto the O2 Academy’s stage crept closer, I couldn’t help but feel that high hopes weren’t going to be unwarranted.

Erupting into ‘Gouge Away’, I knew then my gut had pointed me in the right direction. Pixies weren’t here to tiptoe; this was floorboard-rattling, neighbour-waking material that pleased all the right people and pissed all the wrong ones off. A set peppered with phenomenal renditions of fan favourites made it nearly impossible to go without for more than a few minutes, even the pickiest were brought to a grinding halt when the likes of ‘Here Comes Your Man’ and ‘Planet of Sound’ were plucked from the hat.

The new album provided a breather in the set; thrashing and flaying ensued during the haphazardly selected relics of Come on Pilgrim and Doolittle, the latest ‘Silver Bullet’ and ‘Ready for Love’ alternatively offering a brief moment of reflection. Not just because they lack excitement, which undeniably they do, but also because we’re yet to warm to them.

Still, there’s no better way to fall in love than face to face, and Pixies are aiming for nothing less than head over heels with Beneath the Eyrie on tour. Snatching hearts one by one, Francis is leaving no survivors this lap of the globe.

Pixies – with support from The Big Moon @ 02 Academy (B’ham) 16.09.19 / Phil Drury (2324 Photography)


 
For more on Pixies, visit www.pixiesmusic.com   
For more on The Big Moon, visit www.thebigmoon.co.uk

For more on the O2 Academy Birmingham, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues surrounding sexual violence – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK website.

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SINGLE: ‘Hate Myself’ – Hannah Brown 20.09.19

Words by Ed King

On Friday 20th September, Hannah Brown releases her latest single – the somewhat troublingly titled, ‘Hate Myself’. Released via Brown’s own social media you can grab yourself a stop, look and listen courtesy of Soundcloud – click here or link below/ablum artwork to you left.

Launching off with a pop punk riff that makes me think of skateboards and summer, Brown’s latest single sounds more like a trailer for an American coming of age melodrama than a piece of emotional seppuku.

It’s fun, it’s vibrant; it has that slight staccato chord progression that makes me look back at my teenage years and sigh into my shoulder. But don’t be fooled, this single is entrails on the floor with a wry ‘yes, it’s your fault’ look as the last breath becomes a rattle… a fuck you, plainly put. And one that should make all those erstwhile school ‘friends’ wait nervously for the name drop.

But this isn’t a song about revenge, it’s about strength. ‘Hate Myself’, it’s quite clear; Brown is shining the light bright in her own face and casting shadows of the past that she wants kept rightfully behind her, where shadows belong. Lasting three and a half minutes, and bouncing through trauma and trouble, the song holds no punches. Especially when to the gut. It even proudly declares in its press release: ‘Hannah begins to let go of the power others previously had over the way she viewed herself, breaking the cycle that had bound her for years.’ So yeah, just in case it wasn’t clear before… fuck you.

‘Hate Myself’ continues Brown’s tradition of visceral lyrics and public therapy. But with no doom, gloom, or long sleeves in summertime to save an awkward downwards glance – this is empowerment. ‘Hate Myself’ doesn’t wallow in self-pity, it takes the bile, gives it a name, then throws it in the right direction. It’s a clarion call for the right of the righteous, as the chorus begins and ends: “I already hate myself, I don’t need anyone else… I don’t want to hate myself anymore.”

Brown is one of the more accomplished and hard working artists in the Midlands, having built her initial six string reputation into a ferocious full band sound; her material is valid and exciting. And fresh. Recent singles ‘So Should You’ and ‘Further Away’ have continued the melodic rock vibe from her awesome 2016 EP, Better for This – with melody and strong vocals leading throughout her work. And Brown’s live performances relay something so special it just can’t be recorded.

‘Hate Myself’ has been described as the single that has taken Brown ‘from folk singer songwriter to indie rocker’, and it’s certainly as radio friendly as such self-analysis is ever going to be. But hooking her work onto a genre shift doesn’t catch it for me.

What we’re witnessing, what we’re privy too, are the cracks in a chrysalis. And with this much honesty already seeping through we’re watching something of beauty start screaming to fly.

‘Hate Myself’ – Hannah Brown.

Hannah Brown releases ‘Hate Myself’ on Friday 20th September, available to stream for free via her Soundcloud page – click here. For more on Hannah Brown, including gig info and other releases, visit www.hannah-brown.co.uk 

Hannah Brown will be playing at the NOT NORMAL NOT OK live gig fundraiser on 25th October at Centrala, alongside Flight Brigade and Lycio. Click here for more direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, via the Facebook event page. 

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues surrounding sexual violence – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK website.