live gig Archives -

September 22, 2019

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.

June 22, 2019

INTERVIEW: Joe House – Outlander

Words by Ed King / Pics By Richard Lambert

Outlander will be supporting Mutes at The Sunflower Lounge on Saturday 22^nd June – for direct gig information, including venue details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

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“It’s more thematic than anything really; a lot of the themes are about hopelessness and loss… all the big ones. But the narrative we tried to apply to it was very much a local one. We’re very keen on our music existing within a context, and that context being Birmingham.”

Back in April, Outlander released The Valium Machine – the latest in a line of post rock shoegaze, spawned from their rehearsal lock up in the backstreets of Hockley. Or from the rooftops of Hockley, depending on whether it’s time for work, rest or play.

Out on the Birmingham independent label FOMA (home of Mutes, Repeat of Last Week and Hoopla Blue) some called The Valium Machine an album and some called it an EP. But considering each track on Outlander’s latest record stretches between five and nearly fourteen minutes, the words ‘long’ and ‘extended’ all seem a little moot.

Birmingham’s answer to Explosions in the Sky are unperturbed: “I guess it must feel right to us, to play longer songs,” explains Joe House – one Outlander’s two guitarists. “We’ve never been able to come out with something that’s in the three to five minute area. But as the years are coming and going, we’re trying new things; we try and add new elements.”

The “most noticeable” of which on The Valium Machine are vocals. But no Whitney Huston sustained high note, or even Leonard Cohen gravel fed lament – more an ethereal cry through the rising waves and walls of sound that define this genre. “We’ve definitely taken influence from bands like Hum,” continues House, “that are more on that space rock kind of tip. It’s been nice to experiment with something more… I suppose it is more conventional, in a sense. In terms of the song structures, maybe not the length.”

Conventional is not the word I’d immediately run too, which is no bad thing. But is there ever a desire to be more… radio friendly? “‘Sinking’ off the new record (The Valium Machine) is, I think, the closest we come to something that makes sense on the radio. But even that’s like nine minutes long…” Free Radio will have to hunt elsewhere for their playlist.

“I’d heard Ian (Grant – guitar/vocals) doing bits in rehearsals,” continues House, “but we didn’t apply vocals to the songs until we got into the studio.” Sam Bloor’s Lower Lane studios, in Stoke-on-Trent, are the home from home where Outlander have recorded all but their debut release. “I’d read the lyrics and I knew more or less where the they were going to be, like the chorus in ‘Sinking’. But I didn’t hear it until we were in Sam’s studio, about a week in by that point. Sam and I sat there listening to Ian doing the takes and straight away we thought this is a new dimension – we’ve become fairly competent at doing these lengthy instrumental tracks, but then you apply the vocals… I didn’t think we could sound like that, but I’m really pleased that we do.”

Evolution is a tricky thing, just ask the Dodo. Or any vertebrate fish. But as House states “one thing I’d hate is if every record came out the same… that’s Outlander again doing the same thing they always do,” change is set to be an inevitable challenge. And that can be hard enough amongst artists themselves. But what about their audience, what was The Valium Machine’s reception like when it grew legs and crawled ashore?

“Muted,” is House’s immediate and impressively honest reply, “but that’s always the way with us – we’re trying to do something quite niche, so it doesn’t tend to explode on the Internet.” Ouch, cries the ego. Well, mine would. But despite the kudos of having “a couple of interested parties in America and Germany,” wouldn’t Outlander want a bit more support from the home crowd?

“Not really, it’s one of those things. In Birmingham there is a scene for a lot of different niches of indie, but we don’t really fall into any of them. Not particularly well. What we’re doing is more on the shoegaze post rock side of thing, and there isn’t a lot of that – it’s more psych and garage… which is fine. I suppose we don’t really go too well on a bill with that sort of thing. But we don’t feel aggrieved about it – we just do our own thing and hopefully, eventually people pick up on it… which I think is slowly happening.”

God bless FOMA, who are backing a few of the Midlands’ more talented waif and strays – and who threw the “really nice and intimate” album launch party for The Valium Machine back in April. “There were a couple of other shows on the same night in Birmingham,” tells House, “so it was a quieter event. It ended up being about 30 people, but 30 really close friends and family. The Hoopla guys are always amazing. Mutes… James is always doing amazing stuff, incredible musicians. I love Muthers as a venue too, there’s a real community of more outside the line artists rehears there. It was a really nice vibe, a good atmosphere – we got to play for a bit longer than usual as well. As you can image, playing ten minute songs… most support sets we get to play two or three songs at most.”

Having programmed a few gigs over the years, I can sympathise with the issues around support slot times. And whilst The Valium Machine is a worthy way to spend 45mins, it doesn’t feel like an album that should be broken up into more set list sized pieces – not too often, at least. The packet says swallow whole, further compounded by the fact “the middle three tracks… were one song that we divided up into a song with three movements – which then became three separate tracks. But in concept it was one piece of music.”

Plus, there’s a significant side to The Valium Machine that is more visual than audio, with local photographer, Richard Lambert, being brought in to help deliver the album’s aesthetics. A series of photographs accompany the physical album, “helping to tell the story (of the album) and figuring out that narrative in general. I actually first spoke to him (Lambert) about the last record, but it wasn’t the ideal time.” I am reminded of the cover photograph on Outlander’s previous release, ‘Downtime’, which features children playing amidst a partially knocked down housing estate in Ladywood, “…you see the kids in the main shot, that are playing despite the ruins around them. I just thought it was a really beautiful shot.”

So, which came first – did your environment effect the sound of The Valium Machine from the start, or was the egg hatched way before Lambert and his camera got a phone call? “The thing with Birmingham is that it wears itself on its sleeve,” explains House, “you walk through Digbeth and see all the old warehouses. Then you walk through Hockley… Our sound is quite doomy, quite heavy – in places anyway. And we’ve always been influenced by the harshness of the very functional utilitarian architecture around us, like the brutalism that you can still see everywhere in Birmingham. The city’s got a really distinct vibe, cut halfway between something that’s being invested in and is a shopping metropolis – very modern in places – but that’s set on a backdrop of functional utilitarian spaces that have started to decay and stand as relics to a time gone by. You can see as things sort of change and money comes in, old buildings get knock down to make way for these new futuristic things. It’s just a really odd place. It’s quite unique in that sense, which is an influence on us.”

The word that sprung to my mind, when I first heard The Valium Machine and flicked through the black and white images that accompany the album, was ‘dystopian’ – a cordial nightmare, somewhere between a Terry Gilliam film and a Raymond Briggs picture book. And I’m a born and raised Brummie. And perhaps more of a cynic.

But Outlander’s eyes are seemingly much more optimistic in their vision, with House assuring me, “We’re all regular people, we like to have a laugh. I wouldn’t say that any of us are particularly miserable.” Plus, the fourpiece (three from Birmingham and one from neighbouring Stourbridge) clearly have love at the heart of the second city – especially when it comes to their creative hotspot in Hockley.

“We all really like the Jewellery Quarter and Hockley,” explains House, “because of the red bricks, it always looks like it’s had a long day in the sun. And it’s uphill – I always look at Digbeth as a bit dingy and in the shadow of the city, where as Hockley is a bit above it, in a sense. It’s more open. And even though there’s some definite urban decay, and some very big horrible looking flats, I always find it quite an uplifting vibe.” A feeling many people will recognise, as the north side of Great Charles Street Queensway continues to be a hub for burgeoning independent businesses and creatives with a penchant for city centre living. And perhaps a bit more money.

And whilst The Valium Machine is an homage not just to Birmingham, but to the “Birmingham Metropolitan Area, the Black Country, Wolves… it’s all part of the same vibe. In the bigger picture there’s no point distinguishing between those areas,” – it does leave a warm fuzzy feeling to imagine it being born from the skylines of Hockley.

As House surmises, “when we started practicing there that’s when the influence started creeping in – we spent a lot of time on the roof of our lock up complex just looking at it (the surrounding city). It’s an interesting place; it’s quite an impressive thing to look at.”

Outlander released The Valium Machine on 19^th April 2019 – out via FOMA. For more on Outlander, including links to The Valium Machine, visit www.outlandertheband.bandcamp.com

Outlander are also supporting Mutes at The Sunflower Lounge on Saturday 22^nd June – alongside Magik Mountain and Exhailers. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com/event/mutes-magick-mountain-outlander-exhailers

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For more from FOMA, including links to all Outlander material on the label, visit www.wearefoma.bandcamp.com

For more on The Sunflower Lounge, including full event listings and links to online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com

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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.

June 21, 2019June 21, 2019

ALBUM: Pareidolia – Mutes 21.06.19

Words by Ed King / Pic courtesy of FOMA

Pareidolia: ‘The perception of apparently significant patterns or recognisable images, especially faces, in random or accidental arrangements of shapes and lines.’

It’s been nearly two years to the day since Mutes released their debut album, the nine track No Desire that was self-described as ‘urgent noise-fests, slow-burning drone sequences and seductive siren songs with assured ease.’ Honestly, I love a Mutes press release. But packed with angry jam, dark imaginings and the occasional pop-rock sacrifice to the Gods of radio friendly playlists, whatever words you throw around it was a pretty impressive debut.

But that was then, now is sometime later, and the sophomore proffering from James Brown & Co is an altogether different affair. Pareidolia is released through Birmingham based FOMA, as with No Desire, and will be available in the big wide world and web from Friday 21^st June onwards. And for those too busy to read on, here’s a single word review: corker. But for those of you who can spare a few more syllables…

Pareidolia opens with the expected fuzz and distortion that must be permanently squatting in the back of James Brown’s head – sweeping in with just over a minute of echoed guitar tuning and white noise gone rogue. No surprises. Then the curiously chronological ‘Swallowing Light’ stamps Mutes across the front of this new LP, mirroring all we’ve grown to love, loathe or lament about this one-man-band split into three. Still no surprises. But no complaints either.

Then it changes. Everything shifts. Soft strumming and softer vocals cascade across the record, as the gentle melody of ‘Guarded Young’ moves us into an arena of almost indie pop – until the Swervedriver effect takes over at about 2mins 32secs. And despite the deluge of spangly guitar music in the Midlands, this Steve Lamaq championed single still feels fresh. Let the surprises begin.

The rest of the album jumps from one wonderful edge of this dichotomy to the other, combining Brown’s perfect homage to the ‘Stala’ side of those battered butternut sqaushers with what could, would, and perhaps should be described as even tender acoustic-electro.

Tracks such as ‘What It Takes’ and ‘Systematic Bliss’ bring out an almost vulnerability to this LP, whilst the unashamed freneticism and rabbit punch percussion of tracks such as ‘False Promise of Protection’ and ‘Men of Violence’ break this eleven track experience into an opposing battle of wills.

The production is superb, throughout, which the press release tells us is the silver lining when ‘principal songwriter James used the lack of any real support network as an opportunity to go it alone.’ Someone give that man a hug. Or a whiskey. But with a Mogwai-like intensity and sensitivity embellishing an album that is already melody heavy, whatever drove whoever to this point of wherever is no bad thing. For us, at least.

A few pockets of mad glory stand proud, with the dark dream instrumentals of ‘A Coloured Loss’ and ‘A Mercenary Change’ woven into a track listing with moments that would make George Martin blush. And as for the closing track, the curiously titled ‘Form/Colour’… well, I’ll leave that to you and your audio God. But lay me down on my flag and let the fields wash with blood, the king is dead. LONG LIVE THE KING.

However, as with many great works the strength of Pareidolia could also be its downfall. Accessibility. James Brown has long been a voice of dissent amidst the crowded cacophony of the Midlands’ music scene, challenging – verbally and musically, rightly or wrongly – the carbon copy creations that he often claims grab all the attention. From the crowds, from the venues, and from us, your humble music media. And he’s right, to a point.

But even if he’s not (everything by nature is subjective) it’s an important counterpoint to have in the conversation. And Pareidolia is dangerously close to making him popular with the pack, as the wolves of Radio 6 are already howling out around him.

But that’s me, perhaps I think too much. Perhaps I should just put my earphones back in, skip to track eleven and walk home enjoying the sunset. And as I stumble into the world’s most subtle framing technique, perhaps it’s just a beautiful body of work and I’m making something out of nothing. Regardless, Pareidolia is an exceptional album.

Mutes release Pareidolia, on Friday 21^st June – out via FOMA. For more on Mutes, including links to online purchase, visit www.mutesuk.bandcamp.com

For more from FOMA, including links to all Mutes material on the label, visit www.wearefoma.bandcamp.com

Mutes are also celebrating the release of Pareidolia with special gig at The Sunflower Lounge on Saturday 22^nd June – support comes from Magik Mountain, Exhailers, and Outlander. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com/event/mutes-magick-mountain-outlander-exhailers

For more on The Sunflower Lounge, including full event listings and links to online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com

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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.

June 20, 2019

BPREVIEW: Mutes – Pareidolia album release party @ The Sunflower Lounge 22.06.19

Words by Ed King / Pic courtesy of FOMA

On Saturday 22^nd June, Mutes celebrate the release of their new album, Pareidolia, with a special gig at The Sunflower Lounge – support coming from Magick Mountain, Exhailers, and Outlander.

Doors open at 7pm, with tickets priced at £7 (+booking fee) – as presented by FOMA. For direct gig info, including venue details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Ah, the tortured artist… we have a small gooey soft spot for the one-man whirlwind of frustrated angst that sits at the centre of Mutes. Not just because, let’s face it, the man is pretty damn talented. But also because he’s kind of right. Most of the time. Some of the time. A bitter pill that leaves you a little sore to swallow, but one that will probably help clear away the mucus and bile that rests in the belly of Birmingham’s musical guts. Or who will one day go fully mad and burn down half the venues and recording studios in the city, so you know – either way, there are worse things than the occasional clean slate.

So… what’s all the fuss about, eh? Mutes have a new album coming out, that’s what – on Friday 21^st June, Pareidolia will be set free into the world and you all are being invited to embrace it. You lucky lot.

More about that later… but what we can do right now is plagiarise the press release, which describes Pareidolia as ‘a meandering, exhilarating record that sees the Birmingham post-punk group delivering something entirely new.’ And whilst I’m not sure about ‘meandering’ (more a sneaky creeper that kicks you square in the throat) it’s certainly a step into more digestible territory than its predecessor, No Desire. Although we did like No Desire.

Currently being toured across the UK, with The Sunflower Lounge show being the midway mark, Mutes’ new LP has already been picked up by the great and good of Radio 6. Lamo (a nickname that reminds me of bullies at a Grammar school) even debuted the single ‘Guarded Young’, so for that we salute you Sir Steve. And you can’t get much more of a high profile new music endorsement than that.

Although it did, with Pareidolia also having a healthy thumbs up from Tom Robinson, DIY Magazine, Louder the War, and The Line of Best Fit – so prepare your greasy hands Birmingham, there’s a rising balloon leaving soon and you’ll want a firm grip.

It’s a pretty stonkin’ line up at The Sunflower Lounge release party too – with those ‘playful proto punk’ers, Magick Mountain, coming down from Leeds to play in the second city. Or third city, depending on which tour bus you’re on.

Lining up the local support are the ‘three-headed apeoid’ art-rockers, Exhailers, who also have a release on the table – their latest single, ‘Planetary Spin to the Stomach’, is now available via the usual online suspects.

Then breaking the magic number rule on this bill are Outlander, who’s latest five track release, The Valium Machine, came out in April this year – more about that later too…

So there you have it. And if all this well rounded/meaning foot stamping hasn’t convinced you to shimmy on down to The Sunflower Lounge on Saturday 22^nd June, then perhaps a little AV persuasion is in order. In fact, have two. We’ve got a few minutes (seven) to spare:

‘Overfed’ – Mutes

‘Guarded Young’ – Mutes

Mutes perform at The Sunflower Lounge on Saturday 22^nd June, celebrating the release of their new album Pareidolia – with support from Magik Mountain, Exhailers, and Outlander. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com/event/mutes-magick-mountain-outlander-exhailers

For more on Mutes, visit www.mutesuk.bandcamp.com.

For more on Magick Mountain, visit www.facebook.com/magickmntn
For more on Exhailers, visit www.exhailers.bandcamp.com
For more on Outlander, visit www.outlandertheband.bandcamp.com

For more from FOMA, including new releases and back catalogues from all the artists on their roster, visit www.wearefoma.bandcamp.com
For more on The Sunflower Lounge, including full event listings and links to online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com

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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.

May 25, 2019

NOT NORMAL NOT OK: MeMe Detroit, The Butters Aliens, Sofa King – live gig fundraiser @ Hare & Hounds 07.06.19

On Friday 7^th June, the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign hosts it’s first ‘live gig fundraiser’ at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) – with MeMe Detroit, The Butters Aliens and Sofa King all performing.

Doors open at the Hare & Hounds from 7:30pm, with tickets priced at £5 (early bird) and £7 (second release/otd) – as presented by NOT NORMAL NOT OK. For direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here. The event is further supported by BBC Introducing West Midlands and Birmingham Review.

Tickets can be bought through See Tickets (click here) and through Skiddle (click here). Physical tickets are also available from the artists themselves, or by contacting the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign team directly (click here).

NOT NORMAL NOT OK was launched in June 2018, set up ‘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.’

Following an op-ed piece published on Birmingham Review, citing the actions of two Birmingham based promoters – one who sexually assaulted a singer of a band they were promoting and the other who made some frighteningly misogynistic comments about women attending their venue – the NOT NORMAL NOT OK partnered with West Midlands Police and the Rape & Sexual Violence Project (R.S.V.P.) to begin outreach work at live music venues in the West Midlands.

For the past year, NOT NORMAL NOT OK has been distributing campaign stickers at live music events across the region – with both the gig going public and the artists performing donning the black and yellow NOT NORMAL NOT OK logos at the gigs they attend.

Venues across the Midlands have been welcoming the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign into their events, from the Town & Symphony Halls to independent venues such as the Hare & Hounds and The Dark Horse – showing solidarity for the message of zero tolerance when it comes to sexual violence.

Now the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign is launching its own programme of live music events, starting with a ‘live gig fundraiser’ at the Hare & Hounds on Friday 7^th July – with MeMe Detroit, The Butters Aliens and Sofa King all performing on stage. The event is being supported by BBC Introducing West Midlands, one of the first media outlets to get behind the campaign, who secured MeMe Detroit as the headline act.

A second fundraising gig is being held at Centrala on Friday 25^th October, with electro-rockers Flight Brigade coming to Birmingham for the penultimate date on their Chased by Wolves album tour – Flight Brigade‘s new single, ‘Tinderbox’, will be played on BBC Introducing Solent on Saturday 25^th May between 8 and 9pm.

All money raised from the NOT NORMAL NOT OK live gig fundraisers will go directly back into the campaign – supporting continued outreach work with live music venues, alongside bespoke counselling/advocacy training for NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign staff with R.S.V.P.

“NOT NORMAL NOT OK was born out of a reaction to stories of sexual assault, intimidation and violence within our local music scene,” explains NOT NORMAL NOT OK Campaign Director, Ed King. “It began with one person’s story, a singer in a band who had been sexually assaulted by the promoter who was putting their gig on. But as we started to talk to people about sexual violence in the music scene, towards those both on stage and off stage, we were told about a frightening number of cases – from people being sexually assaulted in a crowd, to rape.

It was a horrible realisation and one that I, both personally and professionally, had been naively unaware of. But many people want to see change and with the help of both the music community and our campaign partners – including West Midlands Police and the Rape & Sexual Violence Project – we are now shinning a light on the issue, talking about the ‘elephant in the room’ and exposing a culture of sexual violence that is disturbingly commonplace in the music scene.”

NOT NORMAL NOT OK hosts it’s live gig fundraiser with MeMe Detroit, The Butters Aliens and Sofa King at the Hare & Hounds Friday 7^th June – with tickets priced at £5 (early bird) and £7 (second release/otd). For direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here.

For more on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, or to seek help and advice about issues surrounding sexual violence, visit www.notnormalnotok.com

For more on MeMe Detroit, visit www.memedetroit.com
For more on The Butters Aliens, visit www.soundcloud.com/buttersaliens
For more on Sofa King, visit www.sofakingqueen.bandcamp.com

For more on the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), including venue details and further event listings, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk