feat. 2 by Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival

feat. Joanna Newsom John Grant Asian Dub Foundation Godspeed You! Black Emperor Bianca Casady (from CocoRosie) Elaine Mitchener Akala Sufjan Stevens

feat. 2 Welcome to the second issue of Brighton Dome feat.

feat. is a free music & culture magazine featuring exclusive content, interviews, and photos of some of the contemporary artists that we’re so proud to have gracing the stages of Brighton Dome’s iconic venues. Much of this content is brought to you straight from our enthusiastic staff. Brighton Dome boasts a diverse, dynamic team of music lovers, culture-buffs and arts obsessives. From technicians to programmers, front of house to finance, we’re a knowledgeable bunch and you can always find one of us getting nerdy and excited about something going on here. feat. is one way of showing you why we put on the stuff that we do, and why we’re so excited for you to experience the acts that we work hard to bring to Brighton. If you want to get involved or just share your thoughts about feat. then we’d love to hear from you. Pop us a line at emails@brightondome.org or tweet us @brightdome and use the hashtag #feat

Brighton Dome is a multi-arts venue and a registered charity. Our Artistic Planning team strive to push boundaries, deliver art for change and bring you the most exciting artists from across the globe. feat. focuses on our contemporary music programme, building on our legacy of musical history – being a concert venue for almost 150 years, hosting musicians from Jimi Hendrix to Beyoncé.

SPECTRUM Music on your wavelength from Brighton Dome and Resident’s monthly night

earsthetic with Laura Ducceschi

Sam Walker

Brighton Dome’s Music Producer offers an insight into curating and producing a contemporary music programme…

Our SPECTRUM Residency Artist talks about his exciting new project, and how to navigate the Brighton scene…

Elaine Mitchener

Asian Dub Foundation

The unique songstress speaks to us ahead of performing new work Industrialising Intimacy at earsthetic 2015

ADF talk us through the process of re-interpreting the score for George Lucas’ dystopian fantasy THX 1138

John Grant

Akala

Find out more about the inspiration behind new album Grey

We caught up backstage with urban wordsmith Akala, who heads back to perform in our Studio Theatre this December

Tickles, Black Pressure ahead of John’s sold out show on 13 Nov

Godspeed You! Black Emporer In their own words… from the band that very rarely grant interviews, plus Resident review their new album…

Listings

Sufjan Stevens

A look at what’s on at Brighton Dome over the next few months including Daughter, The Maccabees and Ludovico Einaudi

A round-up of what the critics and audiences had to say after his memorable show in September…

Joanna Newsom

Brighton Dome

Our cover artist and pick of the season heads here on Sun 1 Nov to perform latest album Divers

Staff picks, BD memories and enter our Band T-Shirt Competition…

Brighton Dome

earsthetic art amplified

Your guide to 2015’s line-up Brighton Dome Music Producer and earsthetic curator Laura Ducceschi explores each act taking part in earsthetic, a week-long celebration of audio-visual works

The Tiger Lillies Mon 30 Nov, 8pm Concert Hall

Other-worldly vocals and an unnerving performance style has carved them a unique niche in the cabaret and music theatre scene. They’ll stage an adaptation of macabre classic Lulu – A Murder Ballad, performed alongside a stunning, projected large-scale virtual set. They say… ‘When Opera North approached me with the idea of creating a production, I went away and wrote 120 songs in a month. I then had to throw 100 away.’ – singer Martyn Jacques in The Guardian. Laura says… ‘I’d never seen anything quite like Matt’s visuals. Anyone who saw the Rime of Ancient Mariner in Brighton Festival 2013 will know what I’m talking about.’

Bianca Casady & The C.i.A. Tue 1 Dec, 8pm Corn Exchange

One half of cross-disciplinary performance artists CocoRosie Bianca Casady presents her new musical-performance project. They say… ‘This is the first music project I’m doing outside of CocoRosie… I often play the dark side of CocoRosie and now I don’t have to worry about being too dark, too scary, too weird.’ Bianca Casady, Kampnagel.de Laura says… ‘She’s the most creative artist I’ve ever worked with. She’s the Yoko Ono of the future.’

Supported by PRS for Music Foundation

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Alex Smoke and Florence To Fri 27 Nov, 8pm Studio Theatre

Artist Florence designs and produces spatial light installations whilst Glaswegian DJ Alex Menzies — aka Alex Smoke — uses classical composition and form and electronic music's darker recesses to create a unique sound. Together they create a visceral live show of visual rhythms and future sounds. They say… ‘Every shape I create I think about the rhythm,’ Florence To, Dummy Magazine Laura says… ‘Alex’s sound is really interesting – he’s a techno DJ, but he has a really strong classical influence in his work. When you see the visuals, which are sort of like an animation, the texture is so beautiful it just pulls you in.’

Sculpture Fri 27 Nov, 8pm Studio Theatre

An opto-musical duo made up of Dan Hayhurst (media devices and electronic instruments) and Reuben Sutherland (who plays video zoetrope turntable). Their performances are an amalgam of electronic music, kinetic art, comic strips, abstract animation, audiovisual cut-ups. They say… ‘I feel like music is this liquid substance and you just sort of trick it into assuming temporary forms… We know that we’re going to merge the visual and audible elements musically – and we know each other’s style – we have this in mind all the time. We’re imagining how things might work in combination,’ Dan Hayhurst, The Quietus Laura says… ‘They’ve been working together for years. What Reuben does is kind of play the visuals. It’s really unusual and experimental turf.’

Mikhail Karikis’ SeaWomen

An installation work which focuses on a community of female sea workers living on the North Pacific island of Jeju — a volcanic rock between South Korea, Japan and China, depicting their unique and ancient vocal practices.

Wed 25 Nov – Tue 1 Dec Founders’ Room

They say… ‘They produce this incredible sound – very high pitched – when they emerge out of the water, which makes them sound like dolphins or birds; it’s like a signature of their community,’ Mikhail Karikis, The Wapping Project podcast Laura says… ‘Mikhail is interested in taking the way that we use the human voice and completely breaking it down to go beyond the boundaries of language, to challenge it. It’s a two screen film piece with surround sound – it’ll be lovely to just come and watch it.

Elaine Mitchener’s

Industrialising Intimacy Sun 29 Nov, 7.30pm Studio Theatre

Vocal improvisation, movement and sound collide to create an original work of contemporary music theatre with the audience invited to share the exploration of the many facets of intimacy. They say… ‘It is much more than whether we communicate well – or not – with each other through technology. For me it’s an examination of loss or the fear of losing personal interaction on many levels,’ Elaine Mitchener, The Oxford Culture Review Laura says… ‘Elaine is a master of the voice in its many incarnations, and David is the master of many, many things – these guys working together deliver a moving, immersive, intimate and primal theatrical experience.’

Brighton Dome

Elaine Mitchener Elaine Mitchener is a classically trained vocalist, noted for her unique mixture of styles ranging from avant-garde and improvisation to gospel and jazz. Elaine spoke to us ahead of performing her new work, Industrialising Intimacy as part of earsthetic 2015… You’ve worked with an incredibly broad number of artists including the likes of Goldie, Christian Marclay, Astronautilus, Sonia Boyce, Irvine Arditt, Attila Csihar, Maggie Nicholls, and more. What do you most enjoy about collaborating? Collaboration can stimulate, feed and broaden creativity. That’s the best case scenario when a spark sets off an intensely exciting creative fire. Not all collaborations work even if the artists are amazing because it boils down to personalities coexisting and building together. You’re a classically trained vocalist, but this performance is a collaboration with two composers (David Toop and George Lewis) and a choreographer (Dam van Huynh). How did you meet? What attracted you to their work, or what attracted them to yours?

Sound artist/musician David Toop heard me sing on the day of Obama’s Inauguration, so I was pretty charged up, then he invited me to be in his opera Star-Shaped Biscuit; Dam Van Huynh and I were introduced via a mutual friend when Dam needed a vocalist for a work he had choreographed; I approached composer/ musician George Lewis as I had been interested in his music for some time and sent him some examples of what I did. I am lucky to be working with such remarkable iconic artists.

‘The work isn’t a critique of social media, rather an investigation of the loss of privacy in our society versus the strength of true intimacy’ Where does the title Industrialising Intimacy come from and what issues does the piece explore? I heard the term used to describe how pop artists are able to connect with their fans via social media. It’s the modern version of tearing off a pop idol’s garment which happened in the 60s/70s even 80s. Sounds a long time ago. The work isn’t a critique of social

I’m classically trained with a background in gospel, soul, jazz along with freeimprov contemporary new music.

feat. earsthetic

ÂŠ Kin Ho

Brighton Dome

and jazz. What excites you about creating and performing a piece like Industrialising Intimacy as opposed to your more typical live music concert?

media, rather an investigation of the loss of privacy in our society versus the strength of true intimacy in the search for one’s centeredness.

My work is constantly evolving as I develop ideas and work with different artists being challenged along the way. I approach each project with the excitement of something new and rewarding and even if it doesn’t work that’s okay because that’s an object lesson in itself. This work brings together many of my ideas into one piece and the immediacy and close proximity of the audience provides another edge of excitement.

You explored some of the early parts of the piece as part of Brighton Dome’s earsthetic: The Works, a work-inprogress evening. How important is it that arts venues offer these opportunities for mid-level artists? I cannot think of a better environment in which to test and challenge one’s artistic ideas. It is unique in its set-up and what it provides for musicians who wish to work across visual art/music/dance.

The final work now appears in Brighton as part of earsthetic 2015. Was it a natural home and is there more scope for festivals like these that celebrate boundary breaking, risk-taking collaborative interdisciplinary work?

You describe your work as ‘contemporary music theatre’; a term that — for some — may conjure up images of the West End and big song and dance shows. What does that phrase mean to you?

Absolutely! I’m delighted and thrilled to be presenting this work at earsthetic which has an artistic team who aren’t afraid of taking risks. This aesthetic (!) doesn’t suit all festivals but there are audiences out there who are curious, open and ready to experience these works with the artists. Work cannot be created without support on all levels and for this I am also grateful to Sound and Music and ACE who are funding the tour, Oxford Contemporary Music and VLC in London who like earsthetic, have supported the project by providing essential creative space for R&D and sharing the work.

I wouldn’t change the description because I understand it. However, if someone turns up thinking they’re going to see a West End Musical style show, they will be certainly be faced with something surprisingly different. You’re a vocalist noted for a unique mixture of styles ranging from contemporary classical, gospel

Elaine Mitchener presents Industrialising Intimacy on Sun 29 Nov in Brighton Dome Studio Theatre as part of earsthetic 2015. Tickets £8.

feat.

John Grant ‘I do think the album’s great, and I’m really proud of it. I wanted to get moodier and angrier on this record, but I probably had a lot more fun making it.’ ...So says John Grant of his latest album Grey Tickles, Black Pressure – his third release following the 2010 solo debut Queen Of Denmark and 2013’s Pale Green Ghosts. The last few years has been nothing but the most spectacular of journeys for Grant, from a place in time when he feared he’d never make music again, to winning awards, accolades and Top 20 chart positions, as well as collaborating with the likes of Sinead O’Connor, Goldfrapp, Elton John and Hercules & Love Affair. The fact he subsequently won a Best International Male Solo Artist nomination at the 2014 BRITS alongside Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Bruno Mars and Drake, seemed like some fantasy dreamt up in a moment of outrageous hubris. Just months later, the BBC’s request for a session with a symphony orchestra followed by Grant taking the Royal Northern Sinfonia on a UK tour, confirmed that it was simply the latest spectacular chapter in his personal and artistic renaissance. Such recognition, iced by years of sell-out shows across Europe and a recent US tour as special invited guest of the legendary Pixies, should allow the notoriously self-critical and insecure Grant the passing thought that his latest album will deservedly cement his reputation as the most disarmingly honest, caustic, profound and funny diarist of the human condition in the persistently testing, even tragic era that is the 21st century.

Ongoing health issues (not least of which is handling his HIV Positive status), still processing ‘decades of brainwashing,’ he says from a traumatic childhood, Grant still manages to keep fighting the good fight, and writing his way out of trouble. The end result is indeed a moody, angry record, laced with levering humour and wounded pathos, packed with beautiful and icy synthscapes, contagious, gleeful buzzing rock, plenty of orchestral drama and funky Crisco-disco. ‘I want to continue to challenge myself,’ he says. ‘To keep collaborating, to get the sound or the direction that will take me where I need to go. To keep taking the bull by the horns.’ And that title? ‘‘Grey tickles’ is the literal translation from Icelandic for ‘mid-life crisis’, while ‘black pressure’ is the direct translation from Turkish for ‘nightmare’,’ Grant explains (FUN FACT — he’s also fluent in German and Russian).

Grant is no stranger to Brighton Dome. He both won and broke hearts with just a piano and his sublime voice in a support slot with Danish band Efterklang in 2012, and returned in 2013 with his very own full show. Now he’s back to tour Grey Tickles, Black Pressure – a veritable tour de force that further refines and entwines his two principal strands of musical DNA; namely the sumptuous tempered ballad and the taut, fizzing electronic pop song – which was released on 2nd October. ‘It was all recorded and mixed in a month — which for me is insane, because I always want more time and I’m such an over-thinker,’ he explains. ‘I intentionally put myself into that situation because I wanted to challenge myself, as I’ve done with every album.’

John Grant performs at Brighton Dome Concert Hall on Fri 13 Nov at 8pm.

Brighton Dome

Godspeed! You Black Emperor Fresh from releasing their fifth studio album Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress earlier this year, Canadian post-rock juggernauts Godspeed You! Black Emperor head to Brighton with a distinctive live show. The band very rarely grant interviews, and when they do they generally communicate via collective statements – however, co-founder and guitarist Efrim Menuck and drummer Aidan Girt have been known to discuss the band when promoting their other bands (the former plays in Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, the latter in Exhaust). Notoriously hard to track down, we’ve scoured the internet for a small handful of quotes taken from the small handful of interviews out there to sum up Godspeed You! Black Emperor ‘In Their Own Words…’ On the beginning of the band… ‘We started making this noise together when we were young and broke – the only thing we knew for sure was that professional music-writers seemed hopelessly out of touch and nobody gave a shit about the shit we loved except for us. Talking about punk rock with freelancers, then as now, was like farting at a

fundraiser, a thing that got you kicked out of the party.’ The Guardian, 2012 On turning down label offers when the band got ‘big’… ‘There was a lot of it. But the one thing I realise now, in hindsight, you only have to say ‘No’ a couple of times before the word goes out. It felt like we were representing our town and we didn’t want to shit on that. Jesus, man, when we first started playing regular rock clubs, that was a stress for us as a band. Our first exposure to professional rock music infrastructure… We were appalled and horrified. We were worried about ending up in situation that we didn’t want to be in it.’ Clash, 2013 On their surprise at winning the 2013 Polaris Music Prize… ‘You have to remember that Godspeed's relationship with the Canadian music industry has been terrible from the beginning. It's been antagonistic from the beginning so it wasn't unreasonable for us to be like, 'We're not going to get this thing. Why would they give us this thing?' We said it in our press release: we feel like orphans in our own country. We feel fairly invisible here.’ Vish Kanna’s Kreative Kontrol podcast, 2014

On being political without using lyrics… ‘You do it through long song titles. I don't pay much attention to music journalism, but one thing that stuck with me is that often people will say that we're an outstanding band with a political vision. I grew up listening to albums like Crass' Feeding Of The 5000 or [Public Enemy's] It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, and if you just look at how many words are in those albums compared to us, it's crazy. It Takes A Nation… has two hundred thousand words in it or something, and we have a song title and some crazy movie. I think it's a sign of a problem where us taking the stand that we do is so profound for people. There is so much more talking that needs to be done in the world. We just scratch on the surface of things. We are babies next to Chuck D, we are toddlers in terms of his eloquence or ways of explaining how things are fucked in the world. We didn't come to exist in a vacuum, we have influences too, and things came before us.’ The Music, 2013 On reforming the band after their long hiatus… ‘The first time around we felt this defensiveness about where we were coming from. I think it’s good we went through that, but this second time around, we feel protective, but our scene is a weird scene. At the end of the day, all we do is throw our amps onstage, put our heads down and play. Hopefully everything will be okay.” Self-Titled, 2014

Godspeed You! Black Emperor play Brighton Dome on Wed 28 Oct, 8pm. Words: Chris Challis

Resident reviews… Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress Constellation

Clocking in at a succinct 40 minutes, this is arguably the most focused recording of the band’s career — a mighty slab of superlative sonics, shot through with all the band’s inimitable signposts & touchstones. Huge unison riffage, savage noise/drone, oscillating overtones, guitar vs. string counterpoint, inexorable crescendos & scorched earth transitions are all present but what is noticeably missing (although to be honest, not lacking) are the quieter moments that build between these onslaughts. Gybe has gradually distilled their new work down to a fastidious & uncompromising essence in the studio — an exhilarating immersion in the harmonic power of massed amplified instruments & some of the most visceral & unalloyed noise/drone the band has yet committed to tape. if you enjoyed the recent albums from a place to bury strangers or hey colossus, this one's for you! ‘As devastatingly effective as ever’ – Guardian, ‘Enduring glory’ 8/10 – Uncut. Buy in store or online at resident-music.com

OCT

For full listings see: brightondome.org/whats_on

Daniel Kitson

ADF live score THX 1138

Mon 26 Oct Concert Hall

Tue 27 Oct Concert Hall

NOV NOV NOV DEC

Normanton Street

One Man Breaking Bad

Music of Benares

Oska Bright Film Festival

Fri 6 Nov Studio Theatre

Fri 6 Nov Concert Hall

Sun 8 Nov Studio Theatre

Mon 9 Nov Corn Exchange

SPECTRUM: Olivia Louvel

SPECTRUM: BYC Takeover

Sรถndรถrgรถ

The Maccabees +

Fri 20 Nov Studio Theatre

Sat 21 Nov Studio Theatre

Sun 22 Nov Studio Theatre

Mon 23 Nov Concert Hall

The Works

Elaine Mitchener

The Tiger Lillies

Bianca Cassidy & the C.i.A (cocorosie)

Sat 28 Nov Various

Sun 29 Nov Studio Theatre

Mon 30 Nov Concert Hall

Tue 1 Dec Concert Hall

Noel Fielding

Daughter

Stewart Lee

Massive Attack

Sun 13 Dec Concert Hall

Sun 17 Jan Concert Hall

Wed 27 Jan Concert Hall

Mon 1 Feb Concert Hall

support from Drenge

Joanna Newsom

Wed 28 Oct Concert Hall

Fri 30 Oct Studio Theatre

Sat 31 Oct Studio Theatre

Sun 1 Nov Concert Hall

John Grant

CHVRCHES

Disco Pigs

Herbert (Live)

Fri 13 Nov Concert Hall

Mon 16 Nov Concert Hall

Wed 18 Nov Studio Theatre

Thu 19 Nov Studio Theatre

Men in the Cities

earsthetic

Sea Women

Sculpture & Alex Smoke

Wed 25 Nov â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Tue 1 Dec

Fri 27 Nov Studio Theatre

Fri 13 Nov Concert Hall

Wed 25 Nov Mon 1 Feb 2016

Akala

Paul Foot Trilogy

Kate Rusby

Wed 2 Dec Studio Theatre

Thu 3 Dec Studio Theatre

Fri 4 Dec, Sat 5 Dec, Sun 6 Dec Studio Theatre

Fri 11 Dec Concert Hall

DEC

SPECTRUM: Sam Walker

NOV

African Night Fever

NOV

SPECTRUM: Gaps

NOV

Godspeed You! Black Emporer

image needed

City and Colour

Ludovico Einaudi

Wolf Alice

Mon 15 Feb Corn Exchange

Thu 18 Feb Concert Hall

Fri 11 & Sat 12 Mar Concert Hall

Tue 22 Mar Concert Hall

MAR

Gabrielle Aplin

Brighton Dome

Pick of the Season:

Joanna Newsom

‘Joanna Newsom can make a 30 minute meal in 20 minutes’

‘Joanna Newsom is capable of growing unicorns out of her shoulder blades’

‘Wherever Joanna Newsom goes, a garden starts to grow’

Attributed to joannanewsomisperfect.tumblr.com

whilst third album Have One On Me – all 125 minutes of it! – arguably saw Newsom let her hair down as she explored ditties, weepies, court dances, rump-bumpers and epics across 18 tracks. In Divers, however, she presents a more distilled collection of songs which swerve from sea-shanty balladry to conseratoire-prog; each heavily saturated with stunning wordplay and her inimitable vocal style.

The plaudits for Joanna Newsom’s latest album Divers – her first in five years — are certainly gushing; ‘sublime songcraft’ cries Uncut and The Skinny declares ‘this is surely one of the albums of the year’, MOJO promises the album’s title opening track Anecdotes will remind you ‘just why Newsom is a 21st century one-off’, whilst lead single Sapokanikan’s melodies ‘are more than infectious enough to leave it ringing in your head long after its five minute run time has passed’ says NME. The praise is valid – Newsom’s fourth album is exceptional and her return to live performance is an exciting prospect.

In concert she’s been compared to Björk and Kate Bush with a healthy dash of the theatrical. Happily flitting between harp and piano, recreating her often epic songs live is no mean feat; often leaving audiences agape (and somewhat smitten) thanks to the truly magical atmosphere she’s renowned for creating.

Since Joanna Newsom's first album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, came out in 2004, her music has been an ever-growing category unto itself for listeners around the world — as a consequence she’s moved away from the initial label of ‘freak-folk’ into something truly unique. Second album Ys (pronounced ‘ees’ fact fans!) offered listeners a wide-screen beauty of sound and lyricism,

Joanna Newsom, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Sunday 1 November 2015, 8pm.

SPECTRUM In association with

IN YOUR CITY. ON YOUR WAVELENGTH

SPECTRUM In your city. On your wavelength

Each month, Brighton Dome joins forces with our favourite record shop Resident to put on SPECTRUM, a night that cultivates music from all corners of the Brighton scene. Check brightondome.org and follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date line-ups and news:

Supported by

ALL SPECTRUM GIGS £5 | STUDIO THEATRE GAPS Tiger Lion | Astra Forward Fri 30 Oct, doors 7.30pm A series of happy accidents brought this duo together for a creative match made in heaven, with Rachel’s soulful, folk-tinged vocal and guitar finding a perfect resolution in the immaculately placed loops, repetitions and samples that recall Steve Reich as much as Four Tet and Jon Hopkins.

Olivia Louvel Bunty | Lu’ami | Blumenkind Fri 20 Nov, doors 7.30pm Headlined by award-winning French-born Brit Olivia Louvel, October’s SPECTRUM special focusses on Women in the Electronic Music Scene. Within a few bars you know you are in the world of Louvel; unique, minimal, weird and wonderful electronica with a human breath.

Venue B Takeover Sat 21 Nov, doors 7.30pm Venue B is a group of young people from Brighton Youth Centre who create and organise events by teenagers for everyone. This month the group take the helm of SPECTRUM. Expect raw energy, humour, political savvy and huge talent. The future is very bright and quite loud too.

Sam Walker Collectress | Dan Smith Wed 2 Dec, doors 7.30pm December’s headliner, Sam Walker is this year’s SPECTRUM Residency Artist. He will be premiering his new show The Sweetness of the Gathering Night, which promises to be a one-man, multi-instrumental, multi-media performance full of soaring melody, elastic vocal chords and stunning visuals.

Full line-ups on brightondome.org There is a £2 per order charge online/by phone. Additional postage charges (50p standard or £1.50 recorded delivery) apply

brightondome.org

01273 709709 16

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brightondome

feat.

Sam Walker Sam Walker is this year’s SPECTRUM Residency Artist who’ll be heading up the last SPECTRUM of the year, premiering his latest project The Sweetness of the Gathering Night. We caught up with Sam about his experiences of the music scene in Brighton and find out more about this exciting project… Are you from Brighton? What do you love and loathe about the city?

The sound of marching bands echoing through the streets of Lewes on bonfire night, the wonder of my mother’s record collection to my toddler ears, being squashed against the barriers at Levellers gigs as a teenager, falling asleep in cathedral organ recitals and classical concerts with my parents, my primary school music teacher and countless more.

I’m from round these parts. Born in Brighton. Raised in Lewes. I Live in Brighton now. It is really a town dressed up as a city, small enough to meet someone you know nearly every time you leave the house. I love Brighton for its rebelliousness and independence, for its transience and acceptance of all the different people constantly moving through it, for its seaside seedy underbelly. I loathe that renting a house or a flat here seems to get relentlessly more expensive. Where will it end?

I grew up around people who do what they love to do, without compromise. My father is an artist, my mother is a teacher and speech therapist. I gravitated quite naturally towards music, without pressure or agenda. The biggest opportunity my parents gave me was just to let me sit for hours exploring instruments, plonking on a piano or banging drums without judging me or telling me to shut up. They also surrounded me with art and interesting people. Me and my sister started a band with two of our friends when I was 8 and I’ve been playing in bands, orchestras and performing and writing ever since.

What opportunities and experiences growing up led you to music…

Brighton Dome How’s your SPECTRUM residency going so far? It’s going like the clappers. It’s been inspiring on loads of levels and its only just getting started. Being asked to do the residency was a big kick up the arse for me. I’ve done hundreds of gigs over the past three years all over the world on a shoestring, but never had a chance to really take the time and delve a bit deeper… to craft a Sam Walker headline set. A real opportunity to notch things up a level. It’s been great to work in the space, and to meet and start to work with the attendees and staff at the Brighton Youth Centre. A properly talented, inspiring and great bunch of people. Thanks SPECTRUM!

and audiences so I have to remember to make the show as adaptable as possible. The show should be able to be performed in a living room or a stadium. Either is a possibility.

Tell us about the project? It is a bringing together of many different experiences, dreams and memories into a one man multi-instrumental, multi-media live show. Sometimes sweat drenched and rocking, sometimes tender. Full of different moods and textures. My songs are different realities to me. They are films that play in my head. I will be falling through these different realities, exploring each world sonically and visually. We are living in times of huge shift and there are many changes coming our way from all directions, good and bad.

What advice would you give to local artists starting out? Don’t wait. Do stuff. Do as many gigs as you can, in all kinds of places. Build your own networks and ways of working. Meet people. Share information. Listen. Try playing in other countries. There are no rules. Everyone is making it up as they go along.

Where do you get inspiration?

Have you released any music? Where can we buy it?

From the whistling of my kettle and the drumming of the rain on my roof, to the sound of the raging sea, a white noise barrage, a conversation, an improvised jazz melody or an orchestra in full flow. Melody falls out of the air and inspiration is to be found in the infinite originality of moments, people and places, beauty, confusion and nature.

I have released two albums. The first is under the name The Muel and is a multi-layered studio record called Once at Everywhere.

‘My songs are different realities to me. They are films that play in my head.’ What are your plans for this project post-premiere at SPECTRUM?

The second is a limited edition live recording of my current One Man Band set up called Point which is only available from me at gigs or through my website. I only have a few copies left…

Sam headlines SPECTRUM on Sat 2 Dec, Tickets £5

I will be taking this show on the road far and wide after the premiere. I hope to take it to (and already have offers to perform it) in Montreal, Germany, France, USA, UK and anywhere else that will have me. Every gig will be different in hugely differing sizes of venues

Find out more: brightondome.org/spectrum or get involved: spectrum@brightondome.org www.samwalkermusic.com

Brighton Dome

Asian Dub Foundation

Retaining much of Lalo Schifrin’s distinctive score and soundtrack, Asian Dub Foundation create a memorable live experience to George Lucas’ 1971 cult, sci-fi chilling dystopian fantasy, where mood-stabilising drugs are mandatory, sex is prohibited, and a young Robert Duval rages against the system. It’s an incredibly iconic soundtrack — what prompted ADF to re-interpret it?

to a viewer from 500 years in the past was a brilliant idea. The film’s impenetrability made it more believable as possible future. But when I watched it again after 25 years this was no longer the case: THE FILM HAD BECOME VERY RECOGNISABLE! Incessant, over-whelming digital bleeps and squelches, out of control consumerism, mass surveillance, fundamentalist religion, desensitisation to violence....sound familiar? Perhaps the most frightening bit of prophecy for me is the kids with syringes permanently stuck in their arms. Ritalin and ‘ADHD’ springs to mind. Walter Murch, after he saw our show said when one of the characters says ‘This is not a race issue’ he found that uncomfortably prophetic given the way organisations like Fox News have dealt with the spate of police killings of unarmed Afro-Americans. Additionally the reduction of black people to the status of entertainment holograms in the world of THX is an incredible and chilling form of futuristic racism quite unlike anything I've seen in Sci-Fi before. I could go on for a while here!

We’ve always been big Sci-Fi fans and I remembered that there was a lot of sonic space in it and so it might work as a rescore. When did you discover the film and why are you fans? How do the film’s messages resonate in today’s society? What's great about it is that it’s become more prophetic as time has passed. There was a lot of criticism of it for a while as being too impenetrable, too alien. This was never a problem for me. I thought that Lucas and Murchs' stated intention to make what they called an "Artifact from the Future" which would be unfathomable

feat. best two-note baselines ever put down on vinyl. If you ain’t heard it, check it now on YouTube (search ‘Lalo Schifrin — Jaws‘). And of course, everyone knows Mission Impossible. The fact that he personally gave us permission to do this project is unbelievable. His music on THX is very different to his usual monster grooves though, it’s more avant-garde classical which just shows the guy’s incredible range.

Creating a live soundtrack is an epic task — where do you begin? Do you split the film into segments and work on them as a band, or do individual members tackle the entire thing? There’s a lot of methods. Mostly we work on ideas together as a band and yes it is quite a segmented process. It’s great to find, as we did with two tracks, that something you’ve done before works well with the film. Cyberabad from our 4th album was exactly the sound of ADF doing THX — the sound of a grinding industrial, claustrophobic future city in India.

What is your favourite part of the soundtrack to perform and why? Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee — When LUH (THX’s roommate) alters his drug intake and creates an initial psychosis. Dr. Das — The conversation in Sen’s apartment on which we do a very dark but classic dub jam.

You’re no stranger to performing live soundtracks – you’ve tackled both La Haine and The Battle of Algiers in the past (the latter premiered at Brighton Dome) – what is it about this medium keeps you coming back for more?

Brian Fairbairn — The very end moment (I won’t spoil it for you). Steve ‘Chandrasonic’ Savale — Where THX is examined by robotic arms and measured by weird meters. A week before the initial offer for a new live soundtrack came through I’d written a piece inspired by a scene in Winter Soldier where Captain America discovers that an old Nazi has downloaded his conciousness into a vintage IBM machine. It worked so well for the THX scene and kicked the whole thing off.

I realised for me personally I’m trying to recreate the feeling I had when I was 11 and went on a school visit to Rank Studios where I saw a live soundtrack was being dubbed to a horror film. It takes you to some very interesting places as composers.

You’ve performed in Brighton several times over the years. What memories do you have of the city?

Lalo Schifrin did the original soundtrack. Are you fans of his? Does his original work influence your take on the music? Was there a certain sense of trepidation when approaching something so revered?

I have a deep subliminal yearning to be in Brighton. When I was 8 my father had the offer to be a site electrician on the Brighton Marina, so I thought we were going to move there and I was dead excited. Beach! Rides! Amusement arcades! Sadly didn’t happen so it’s an unrequited love for me.

An absolute genius and I’m happy to say a formative influence on me. When I was 7/8 years old I recorded his theme to the first season of Starsky and Hutch (very different from the more well-known later one) on my portable cassette recorder and couldn’t stop playing it. It is the most brutally exciting bit of drum n’ brass ever made, and sadly there isn’t a decent recording of it other than “off the TV” versions. Schifrin’s music is mean, sinister, orchestrated funk with a forward propulsion of a bullet train. Again, as a child I bought his discosuspense version of Jaws — one of the

Asian Dub Foundation score THX 1138 on Tuesday 27 October 2015 at Brighton Dome Concert Hall

Brighton Dome

Akala We grabbed urban wordsmith and political thinker Akala for a quick chat just before he headed on stage to join Seun Kuti – son of Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti — and his band Egypt 80 for a special performance at Brighton Dome on 19 Sep… What was it like working with Seun Kuti on the show for tonight? Seun’s a great artist — someone whose work I’ve loved and respected for quite a while. I’ve seen him perform a bunch of times before, I interviewed him a few years ago for The New Internationalist, so you know, to be working with him in a collaborative capacity is great. And actually over the process we’ve kinda — we were cool anyway — but you know when you start to build a friendship as well and you’re like yeah! [He’s] someone not only do I like as an artist but I like as a human being. Our programme will be focussing more on the idea of ‘Art for Change’ across the next year. Do you believe that art can facilitate change in society? I think art provokes thought, and then people enact change. I think it would be kind of arrogant of us as artists to think that our art alone changes anything. We provoke thoughts, different ways to view the world, different ways of viewing particular issues and then people change society. But people sometimes need provocation – and art can be that provocation sometimes.

way around that. The con… erm the ‘pro’ side to it, is obviously potentially it can expose you to a much bigger audience, but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. You founded the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company, which reaches out to young people considered ‘hard to reach’ through education programmes, live music events and music theatre productions. What advice do you have for a venue like ours trying to engage ‘hard to reach’ audiences? I think it’s just about space, you know – making space available regularly for new ideas, new thoughts, new people, and new ways of seeing the world. Making it a space that is comfortable at facilitating new ideas and new ways of thinking and viewing the world is really what a venue of this size, this prestige in a town like this could be doing, in my opinion. And it may be already doing that, there may be programmes of that kind year in year out.

‘I think it would be kind of arrogant of us as artists to think that our art alone changes anything’ Your latest album, Knowledge is Power II came out in March this year. Has much changed in the music industry since the mixtape Knowledge is Power I came out in 2012? Yeah, I think the streaming of music has become the big change to the way people receive music and consume music — I mean there’s pros and cons to it. On the one hand, the pay’s ridiculously terrible and the idea of not owning music to me seems problematic, not actually having ‘a thing’. But that’s the way it’s going and there’s kind of no

Akala heads back to Brighton on 3 Dec to present his solo tour Knowledge is Power II in our intimate Studio Theatre. Words: Adam Wilson

audiblethoughts.co.uk

Sufjan

Stevens Brighton Dome was in for a treat when Sufjan Stevens performed his critically cherished album Carrie And Lowell played in its entirety on Fri 4 Sep. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a round-up of what critics and audiences had to sayâ&#x20AC;Ś 23

Brighton Dome

Sufjan Stevens

At Brighton Dome, Fri 4 Sep ‘Blue Bucket Of Gold was to provide the evening’s centrepiece. Firstly, the song itself is a gem – swelling, swirling and twisting – utterly compelling, but then Stevens had the Dome transformed into a spinning planetarium via focusing the stage’s spotlights onto two enormous disco balls suspended from the ceiling. Everyone’s gaze was trained upwards as a set of dreamy loops and hushed female vocals made it feel like you were traversing space in the comfiest of bubbles. Vangelis-like bleeding synth chords of grace sashayed over the top and suddenly I felt like Harrison Ford, lost in a daydream… or was it a daydream?’ Adam Atkins, brightonsfinest.com

‘Inspired by his grief over his mother, it was so heart-rending and intimate it felt like we were intruding on private family moments.’ êêêêê Finn Scott-Delany, The Argus ‫@‏‬DailyKayleigh Sufjan Stevens @brightdome verdict: classiest use of disco balls I’ve ever seen.

feat.

‘The audience cheer his entrance, and some holler and whoop, which feels a bit odd as we’re about to be immersed in stories of his bereavement. It’s a truly devoted crowd though, one which hangs on every whispered word’ Stuart Huggett, SOURCE

@daveymcbride Sufjan Stevens, you are genuinely a genius! @Brighton Dome

@KeithLightle Sufjan Stevens excellent at the Brighton Dome, played for over 2 hours. Hadn’t realised Brighton Dome was where Abba won Eurovision in 1974

@finn_with_1_n Saw the flawless Sufjan Stevens at @brightdome. A beautiful experience; his delicacy struck nerves. Heart-warming, yet heart-breaking. 10/10

Seen something inspiring at Brighton Dome recently? Tweet us your gig reviews @brightdome and use the hashtag #FEAT

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Our Top Picks Brighton Dome staff tell you what’s good in plain English. No jargon in sight…

Hannah W-W, Programming Coordinator says: I’m excited to see Chris Goode’s new theatre piece Men in the Cities because he’s known for brave, thought provoking work that challenges audiences. His show also has my favourite review of the season: ‘Chris Goode’s new show is exquisitely angry. Beautifully f**king furious. A throbbing red vein of humane, poetic rage’ (Exuent).

Kata Gyongyosi, Development Manager says: earsthetic will have a lot of different bits to do with sound and visual arts — art forms particularly close to my partner and me. I’ve seen a video of Elaine Mitchener’s work and it really made me want to see what she does live — can’t quite imagine how her throat makes sounds like that — her movement is also so beautiful.

Chris Challis, Senior Press Officer says: I’ve heard that seeing GY!BE live is like an all-out assault on the senses (they’re epic enough just on record – songs often last twenty minutes or so!). I’ve never had the opportunity to see them before. They broke up for seven years and they keep a relatively low profile, making this live date a really exciting occasion. I first discovered them in 2000 with the release of Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven and it just blew me away. It was through that record that I discovered all sorts of epic, instrumental post-rock (a label I’m sure they’d refute) music, including Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mono and early Sigur Rós.

Looking Back John C’Ailceta, Head of Finance, remembers March 1985 – The Smiths supported by James This was such a great night that I’m not afraid to show my age… The support band were widely unknown at the time and played a very short set. At 9ish the lights dimmed, the band appeared one by one on stage to the backing music of Prokofiev. From the first bars of the opening song William, It Was Really Nothing this was always going to be a gig to remember. The surge of adoring fans towards the stage was unstoppable but of course these were the days of permanent seats and a few were lost in the tide!

awesome Still Ill. Morrissey, complete with gladioli in back pocket quickly built a bond with his followers who clearly didn’t want the show to end.

The set continued apace with highlights being How Soon Is Now, the first single Hand in Glove and the

@brightdome using the hashtag #feat. Our favourites will win free

The Smiths finished on a second encore with the song Miserable Lie with the lyrics ‘I need advice, I need advice, because nobody ever looks at me twice’. How wrong he was. A superb gig!

Share your favourite Brighton Dome memories, tips & reviews to us tickets to Brighton Dome shows this season.

Illustration: Isobel Lundie, isobellundie.com

Band T-shirt Competition Pick out your top 3 Brighton Dome shows featured in feat. and design each of them a band t-shirtâ&#x20AC;Ś

Take a photo and tweet your entries to us @brightdome and the best will win tickets to the shows!

Did you enjoy this? Let us know by tweeting us @brightdome #feat Editor: Lucy Brooks Designer: Will Mower

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Be first in line with priority booking Over the last year we’ve offered priority booking for members on loads of events such as Underworld, Massive Attack, Joannna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens and lots more. This is just one of the many benefits you can enjoy as a member of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. Don’t miss out, become a Member today from £30. Find out more brightondome.org/support

feat. is a free music & culture magazine featuring exclusive content, interviews, and photos of some of the world-leading, contemporary artists that set foot in Brighton Dome’s iconic venues. Brighton Dome is a multi-arts venue, hosting over 600 events every year spanning music, theatre, dance, comedy & more. Brighton Dome, Church Street Brighton BN1 1UD brightondome.org 01273 709709