BPREVIEW: Hannah Brown @ The Sunflower Lounge 12.06.19

Words by Ed King

On Wednesday 12th June, Hannah Brown performs at The Sunflower Lounge – with support from Bryony Williams and Watermark.

Doors open at 7:30pm, with tickets priced at £6 (plus booking fee) – as presented by Indie Midlands. For more direct gig info, including venue details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

Hannah Brown is somewhat of a stalwart on the Midlands music scene, having cemented her place on the cultural landscape with her debut six track acoustic EP, The Highbury Sessions – recorded at the Kings Heath studios and released in 2015.

Brown’s 2016 follow up EP, Better for This, followed in the footsteps of her first – delivering another six track analysis into the fragility of the human endevouor, with all the raw strength and determination that you need to survive it. Stretching from strings to keys and back again, Better for This is an inspiring record – covering the visceral themes of youth and identity, with well-rounded production from Rob Derbyshire and Ben Stancombe.

Supported by BBC Introducing and a variety of music focused media, Brown started to develop the ‘full band sound’ that came through on Better than This – progressing as a songwriter and performing artist, with singles such as ‘So Should You’ and ‘My Home’ released across 2018.

Then in early 2019, Brown released ‘Further Away’ – a track of faster paced melodic rock, telling the troubles of disaffection with a confident vocal lead and lyrics such as “I’ll work ‘till I am eighty, or die when I’m not ready… I just wanna stay in.” Super stuff, Brown’s latest single is an exciting stamp of authority from an artist that has embraced their own development and shows more promise than most egos can healthily handle.

There is an album floating around too, the composite The World Still Spins – made up of cherry picked tracks from Brown’s back catalogue, alongside previously unreleased recordings of some of her more tried and tested tracks. But the music wolf still bays for blood, and you can’t release something as solid as ‘Further Away’ and not expect the howls of “ALBUM…????” to be too far behind. Have a stop, look, listen below and you’ll see (hear) where we’re coming from.

‘Further Away’ – Hannah Brown

Hannah Brown plays at The Sunflower Lounge on Wednesday 12th June, with support Bryony Williams and Watermark – as presented by Indie Midlands. For direct gig info and links to online ticket sales, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com/event/hannah-brown-bryony-watermark

For more on Hannah Brown, visit www.hannah-brown.co.uk
For more on Bryony Williams, visit www.soundcloud.com/bryony-williams
For more on Watermark, visit www.facebook.com/WatermarkUK

For more from Indie Midlands, including further event listings and stories from the region’s indie and alternative music scene, visit www.indiemidlands.com

For more on The Sunflower Lounge, including venue details and further event listings, 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.

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.

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

On Friday 7th 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 7th 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 25th 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 25th 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 7th 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

BPREVIEW: The Performers: Part 2 – EKKAH, Hunger Moon, Kim’s Cold Food Company, Hayley Frances (poetry) @ The Sunflower Lounge 05.05.19

Words by Ed King

On Sunday 5th May, Bad Girls are back at The Sunflower Lounge with The Performers: Part 2 – a showcase of music, modern beat poetry and art, with a positive message of gender equality (and basic respect…) at the heart of it all.

Doors open at 8pm, with tickets priced at £7+booking fee – as presented by Bad Girls. For more event info, and links to online ticket sales, click here to visit the Facebook event page.

Following on from The Performers: Part 1, again at The Sunflower Lounge back in 2017, this sophomore event will see acts and art once again across the whole venue – taking over both floors, the Bank Holiday closer will showcase a local musical line up featuring EKKAH, Hunger Moon, and Kim’s Cold Food Company. Hayley Frances will also be performing some ‘modern beat poetry’, alongside ‘an array of Birmingham’s best artists showcasing their female inspired art’. All for well under tenner, simples.

The event will also be raising money and awareness to support Safe Gigs for Women, a nationwide organisation that works with gig goers and venues to promote safe event spaces for women and to encourage the entertainment industry to speak out and challenge sexual assault. For more information on Safe Gigs for Women, visit their website by clicking here.

The Performers: Part 2 is also championing the message ‘MY CLOTHES ARE NOT MY CONSENT’ – appearing in bold type on their promotional posters and publicity material. Sadly, there are still people who hide behind the idea that the way someone dresses makes it OK or acceptable for them to grab, grope, or to give it its legal term SEXUALLY ASSAULT someone based on what they are wearing.

The event’s response and message is simple, ‘you can wear what you want, when you want, to where you want it and no outfit or item of clothing gives anyone the right to believe that means that you want to be touched, harassed, or “asking for it”.’ A message I hope most humans don’t need reminding of – but one that also (due to a sad splattering of sh*theads) can’t hurt to reiterate once in a while.

The NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign team will also be at The Performers: Part 2 event, handing out stickers and helping to spread the message of respect and inclusivity across the music scene – ‘from dancefloor to dressing room’. If you see the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign at The Sunflower Lounge, stick a sticker on your sweater and post a pic of yourself to the NOT NORMAL NOT OK Instagram page, Twitter feed, or Facebook account. For more on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

But with music also at the heart of this event, it’s a pretty strong line up to round off your Bank Holiday Sunday. Headliners EKKAH are a seriously fun modern day Chic, with a glorious fusion of electro, pop, disco, funk and this-is-my-serious-face’ dance routines. Birmingham Review last saw EKKAH again at The Sunflower Lounge a few years ago, whilst they were riding the wave of their Last Chance to Dance EP, and the words ‘gold’ and ‘dust’ sprang to mind. Should be a few new tracks getting kicked off stage on Sunday ‘an all.

Hunger Moon have been making some well deserved waves since their debut single, ‘Oh Friend’, came out in March 2018. Nominated for the ‘Rising Star’ category in this year’s Birmingham Music Awards, Hunger Moon are a somewhat delectable dish of haunting vocals and brooding melodies. Getting a healthy portfolio of performances under their belt, with their third single ‘Feel It Sometimes’ also released in March 2019, Hunger Moon are a muso-duo well worth some attention.

And despite having the best band/artist name that we can think off in recent times, Kim’s Cold Food Company is also the new manifestation of Diane Burdon – keeping herself busy whilst Sofa King jump on the ‘short break’ train along with so many others of late. We don’t know much about the music, or if indeed there will be any sandwiches or ice cream available, but it can’t hurt to have a stop, look, listen.

Hayley Frances rounds off the bill, performing some ‘modern beat poetry’ – so expect wit, humour, and some intelligence yet acerbic observations. Having worked with organisations including the Rosie Kay Dance Company, IKON, Writing West Midlands and the Birmingham REP, Frances is a well rounded and confident poet. With the backbone of this event being safe spaces, respect and inclusivity, it will be especially interesting to hear what she has to say.

The Performers: Part 2 comes to The Sunflower Lounge on Sunday 5th May – with performances from Ekkah, Hunger Moon, Kim’s Cold Food Company, Hayley Frances. Doors open at 8pm, with tickets priced at £7+booking fee – as presented by Bad Girls. For more event info, and links to online ticket sales, click here.

For more on EKKAH, visit www.facebook.com/WEAREEKKAH

For more on Hunger Moon, visit www.soundcloud.com/hunger-moon

For more on Kim’s Cold Food Company, visit www.soundcloud.com/kimscoldfoodco

For more on Hayley Frances, visit www.hayleyfrances.com

For more on Safe Gigs for Women, visit www.sgfw.org.uk

For more on NOT NORMAL NOT OK, visit www.notnormalnotok.com

For more from Bad Girls, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/BADGIRLSpresents

For more on The Sunflower Lounge, including venue details and further event listings, 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.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this feature – 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.

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones @ Café Artum 01.12.18

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed King

Words by Emily Doyle / Pics by Ed King

Café Artum, a vinyl-filled setting nestled at the far end of Corporation Street, is busier than usual on this Saturday afternoon.

“This one’s for my mum, over there. This is the first time she’s ever seen me play, today” says Liám Mckeown, taking his seat in front of the window. The room grows quiet. At the back of the cafe, one guy listens to a record on headphones, seemingly oblivious.

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed KingMckeown builds up loops of rhythm guitar before layering effortless lead over the top. Best known for his role in local psych-rock outfit Brain Food, solo he conjures up a much more mellow sound. His singer-songwriter vibe verges on jazzy at points, but always has a psychedelic tinge.

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones – Liám Mckeown @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed KingMckeown covers Neil Young’s 1972 release ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ – it’s ambitious but heartfelt; the audience listens in stillness as the X51 bus rolls past the window behind him. The set also features stripped back versions of Brain Food songs, including ‘Lemon & Lime’ from the band’s debut EP Get One On. These feel more vocal-led than the rest of Mckeown’s performance and round off the set nicely.

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones – Handwaxx @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed King

The first full band of the bill, Handwaxx, have made only minor concessions to Bare Bones’ advertised ‘raw, stripped back’ ethos. New member Will Sutton, having been recruited to the group just a month ago, has traded out his Vox Phantom for an acoustic guitar, but otherwise the only thing especially stripped back about the outfit’s sound is the lack of a proper PA.

Handwaxx describe themselves as ‘psychedelic indie pop’, which seems like a fair label. Their sound blends a brit-poppish sensibility with a sprinkling of dreamy shoegaze, backed up by impressive lead guitar work from Ryan Baynham. Their set reaches a high point with the last two songs, which move in a more Morricone-esque direction. Handwaxx’s reverb drenched surfy sound is perfect for brightening up a gloomy Saturday afternoon.THE GALLERY: Bare Bones – The Mighty Young @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed King

The promo material for Bare Bones argued that The Mighty Young ‘could probably still melt your face off with an acoustic set’, but it’s clear we won’t find out about that today, as the only acoustic instrument on stage is the drum kit. This is loud, raucous garage rock ‘n’ roll from one of Birmingham’s trusty trios, and there’s not a Cajon in sight.

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed King

The Mighty Young have always embraced a stripped back, DIY ethos with their sound, though. Reminiscent of The White Stripes, their straight-to-the-point performance and songwriting are a joy, unphased by some minor technical hitches.

A jubilant sing-a-long cover of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ provides the soundtrack as one of the bar staff weaves through the dense crowd, putting tealights out on the tables – it’s grown dark out. A passerby outside stops by the window to listen, intrigued.THE GALLERY: Bare Bones – The Mighty Young @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed King A few younger audience members, who’ve got another ten years to wait before they can get in to any other Mighty Young shows, are growing a little restless, but the rest of the crowd are fully engaged.

As six o’ clock approaches and the trio draw things to a close with a slow, bluesy ballad; it’s clear that this inaugural Bare Bones session was a success. And although perhaps not as ‘stripped back’ as originally intended, neither the performers nor the audience seemed to mind. Watching the punters filter back out into the cold and on to the next stop on their Saturday nights, there’s a sense that things are only just beginning.

THE GALLERY: Bare Bones – with The Mighty Young, Handwaxx, Liám Mckeown @ Café Artum 01.12.18 / Ed King 

Gallery not found.

 

For more on Liám Mckeown/Brain Food, visit www.facebook.com/brainfoodofficial

For more on Handwaxx, visit www.soundcloud.com/handwaxx

For more on The Mighty Young, visit www.facebook.com/ruttingdevil

For more on further events from Bare Bones, visit www.facebook.com/whiskpresents 

For more on Café Artum, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.cafeartum.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 raised in this feature – 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.

BREVIEW: Katie Melua @ Symphony Hall 30.11.18

Katie Melua & the Gori Women's Choir @ Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre 28.11.18 / Allan Jones – courtesy of Republic Media

Words by Ed King / Pics from Symphony Hall by Dave Cox – courtesy of the Express & Star. Pics from Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre by Allan Jones – courtesy of Republic Media

So, I have this thing about honesty. It’s a rule and a burden. Yet it’s also a freedom, if you can understand why. One that keeps us in bed with the truth and one that’s behind anything I put into the public domain. I also have this thing about framing techniques.

Katie Melua is in Birmingham tonight, stopping of on her European tour to play to a sold out Symphony Hall crowd (no mean feat) with a set that promises tracks from her latest album, In Winter – joined live on stage by the Gori Women’s Choir, who were a home grown backbone to her 2016 release. That in itself carries a high expectation; the Gori Women’s Choir’s three albums are all quite powerful collections (thank you Spotify) and tonight’s marriage of a strong vocal ensemble with an acoustic lead are a tempting hook to this little fish.

Katie Melua @ Symphony Hall 30.11.18 / Dave Cox - courtesy of Express & StarBut my interest has been further piqued by the lack of a Mike Batt signature anywhere on the paperwork. Locked into an arguably suffocating six album deal whilst still in her late teens, I’m curious to see a Melua set without Orinoco waiting in the wings – although I suspect there will still be a few laments about to two wheeled statistics and borderline personality disorders.

As we file slowly, languidly, into the hall, the stage is set simply for Melua and her band. Large screen backdrops host a medley of soft illustrations, pastels, and swirling patterns of light against water – eight mics, for the sixteen extra mouths that will fall in and out across the evening, stand ready and waiting stage right. We are poised for a dimple yet elegant display.

Melua’s opening number is sung solo (in what I assume to be as Georgian) and begins the evening with something seemingly untouchable, yet once embraced – as music can allow you to close your eyes and accept without shame, query or question – quite beautiful.

Her immediate follow up, ‘Plane Song’, brings in her younger brother on guitar accompaniment – layering a subtle red brick onto the Cyrillic foundations. And by the time we are halfway through ‘Nine Million Bicycles’, I am yearning for the return of a language that I don’t understand. Melua, even from this immediate dissection, offers a much firmer delivery when her performance is less obvious. To a solely English speaker, at least.   Katie Melua & the Gori Women's Choir @ Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre 28.11.18 / Allan Jones – courtesy of Republic Media

A curiously saccharine cover of ‘Just Like Heaven’ gets served up next, giving Robert Smith a sugar coating that was endearing but perhaps misjudged, before the Gori Women’s Choir return for another homage – this time to the prickly Christmas tree of Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’. Now there’s a moment when every evening finds its point, and when the words that were first delivered in 1971 – exorcising Mitchell’s broken heart – are reissued by nearly 50 years later, I can’t move my attention away from the following:

“I’m going to make a lot of money and quit this crazy scene”.

Katie Melua is a widely respected artist, with both a strong international fan base and public appearance track record. She has travelled the world and the world has travelled behind her. But I have not, with tonight being my first encounter of seeing this artist on stage. And when I’m watching a seasoned performer, walk with well rehearsed blocking around a stage set designed for a cause, planting every note with the precision of a LAMDA exam distinction, I clap with only half of my heart. No matter how surprising or wonderful the occasion has turned out to be.

Katie Melua @ Symphony Hall 30.11.18 / Dave Cox - courtesy of Express & StarBut here, echoing the words of a woman who will always be remembered for brave intent and anti-establishment honesty, I want to stand in ovation and solidarity. Bill Hicks wanted his rock stars dead, and I’m not Bill Hicks (and Katie Melua is not a ‘rock star’) but the request is the same. And when it is answered, in whatever language, with whatever accompaniment, the more visceral response is quite a spectacle.

I wasn’t sure how much of this evening I’d enjoy, it had been a long day in a longer week, and when the Gori Women’s Choir sang I simply acquiesced and stopped thinking. But Katie Melua is a much more impressive artist than I had I walked into this room believing, and with all the set’s manicures, pop infused covers, and platinum achieving polish, the most glorious of moments were the ones from an older heart.

I surmise, as such: discernible talent deserves the rawest and most truthful of edges, for else what are we but obligation or ego? So let go. More. Scream if you have to, with a yawp or elocution. But give this world what you want it to see and trust in this, anyone who challenges a truthful intent is simply not worth appeasing. What’s left is heartfelt and an honest delight.

For more on Katie Melua, visit www.katiemelua.com

For more on the Gori Women’s Choir, visit www.facebook.com/GoriWomensChoir

For more from the Town & Symphony Halls, including venues details and full event programmes, visit www.thsh.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 raised in this feature – 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.