Come Play With Magazine #20 by Come Play With Me CIC

COME PL AY WITH TOVE ST YRKE CONFIDENCE MAN

S E R AT O NE S / A NNIE H A MILT O N / S O P HIE P O W E R S DEHD / TA M Z ENE / DA IS Y BR A IN / A RT D ’EC C O T HE B Y K E R G RO V E FA N C L U B / P I T P O N Y MAIUS MOLLIS / GINEVRA AND LOTS MORE...

BEHIND THE SCENES AND UNDER THE SKIN OF ALL THINGS MUSIC

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DEADLETTER / MEMES / Rebecca Lou Sunflower Thieves / Blue Bendy / Seazoo Mi Mye / Komparrison / Shelf Lives / Pit Pony Veira / Josephine Sillars / Household Dogs Pleasure Centre / Fuzz Lightyear / RUBY Dilettante / Gad Whip / Teah Lewis / ODAS DeadWax / Terror Cult / Piles of Clothes The Sunkissed Child / Little Planets Claudia Fenoglio / Mia Jade / Dan Greaves Laura Kindelan / Valley Of Arches Carmen Mclean / Katerina / Neeto Straight Girl / Ava in The Dark / Hang Linton Downtown Kayoto / Yusuf Yellow longdivisionfestival.co.uk

18 FO R U

Sea Power Field Music The Howl & The Hum LIFE Pictish Trail W. H. Lung LYR The Clockworks Haiku Salut VENUS GRRRLS Deep Tan Honeyglaze Modern Woman Low Hummer Chloe Foy Rachel Sermanni ĠENN Fiat Lux Prima Queen Bored At My Grandmas House Team Picture Van Houten Scarlet Mollie Coddled

ES FR O

£33+BF

Across Wakefield City Centre

11 June 2022

WHAT'S INSIDE

NEWS 04 FROM THE TEAM

DIRECTOR Tony Ereira (he/him) tony@cpwm.co

LONG READ 06 TOVE STYRKE 22 CONFIDENCE MAN

MAGAZINE Andrew Benge (he/him) andy@cpwm.co

AWAY FROM THE NOISE 12 SERATONES 26 ANNIE HAMILTON

LABEL Eva Davies (she/her) eva@cpwm.co ARTIST DEVELOPMENT Scott Lewis (he/him) scott@cpwm.co

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH 14 GINEVRA / MILAN 30 PIT PONY / NEWCASTLE

DIVERSITY PROJECTS Antonia Lines (they/she) antonia@cpwm.co

THE KIT LIST 18 MAIUS MOLLIS 32 THE BYKER GROVE FAN CLUB

DIVERSITY EVENTS Lily Sturt-Bolshaw (she/her) lily@cpwm.co

PHOTO BOOTH & ART WALL 16 DEHD / ON TOUR 28 SOPHIE POWERS / FASHION

SPECIAL THANKS

5 QUESTIONS 21 TAMZENE 25 DAISY BRAIN 34 ART D’ECCO

and in no particular order... Matilde, Beth, Steven, Steve, Sophie, Evie, Keong, Sarah, Liv, Anna, Gordon, Jamie, Emily, Scott... all of the artists, industry representatives, other contributors and everyone else who took the time to tell their stories and helped make this happen.

POLITE NOTICE

This publication may contain personal views and opinions that are not representative of Come Play With Me CIC. It may also contain language some readers may find offensive.

SMALL PRINT

Come Play With is printed by Mixam. Copyright © 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher at andy@cpwm.co. Printed in the UK.

TOVE STYRKE COVER Andrew Benge (@andrewbenge) CONFIDENCE MAN COVER Jamie Heath

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NEWS

FROM THE TEAM Hi! Welcome to issue 20! As I type this my upstairs neighbours are singing Alanis Morissettes ‘Ironic’ through their karaoke machine and it’s only 3pm in the afternoon on a Tuesday, make of that what you will and let it soundtrack this team update. We’ve had a bunch of new releases since our last issue, The Household Dogs/52 Hertz Whale split was great to see finally out in the world! Household Dogs did a run of 3 live shows supporting the release, so if you came to those then thank you for your support! You can still grab copies of the record at our bandcamp page and when you see them out on tour, its such a great record and they are a great bunch to work with. We also had the pleasure of releasing ’Someone To Be There For’ the latest EP by Sunflower Thieves, which

is one of the most beautiful Upcoming events include: things we’ve ever heard, so • Beyond the Melodies at go grab a copy of that too! Hyde Park Book Club, Both bands are playing Long 14 June with Restless Division Festival in Wakefield Youth, Eletto, Katie on the Saturday. Alice and loads more Speaking of which, a bunch emerging artists. of our favourite artists and • How Do you Do? alumni are playing including At Sheaf Street, 12 Fuzz Lightyear, Teah Lewis, June, a panel and Pleasure Centre and Venus live event curated by Grrls, it’s through the Morgan Smith and a weekend 10-12 June across collaboration with Sofar Wakefield so hopefully we’ll Leeds and Backpocket. see you there! We had a run of great events Tickets are all available through our Come Platform online! Me project, including an We’ve had some exciting LGBTQ focused show in news about bringing back Huddersfield, it was our our podcast, Connected first time promoting in Sounds with a new host and Huddersfield and we had an some exciting new releases absolute blast - the line up on the way… was brill and we ended up See you next time! showing a short film about the history of Huddersfield Antonia and the pride march move to the city 40 years ago Diversity Project Manager, thanks to everyone involved! CPWM

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TOVE STYRKE 6

"It's insane," Swedish pop star Tove Styrke declares. "Both music and fashion, it's like somebody made a comedy about trend cycles." Speaking from an inside perspective, she has a point. 7

To read the full version of this magazine you can buy print copies delivered direct to you from our Bandcamp or support us via Patreon for even more exclusive goodies! Just click on the links below: BANDCAMP

PATREON

In the years passed since Tove released her 2010 self-titled debut, times have indeed changed. Where once "everything back when I started was so slow," nowadays it's ten-thousand miles an hour as the world grasps at every straw it can find. Tove has no intention of participating in such modern pitfalls, however. "That's how the world feels right now," she continues. "It's almost like you can't take it seriously when there are new trends. You're like, 'I can't jump on this because it's gonna be over literally tomorrow'. It's so consumer crazy, it's stupid. I think that it's gonna slow down eventually because our brains don't work like this, but we'll see." Those heady days of people buying songs on iTunes – or perhaps donning their best eyepatch and peg leg to find a cheaper alternative – are long gone. A time back when the industry saw itself moving away from videos and digital, attempting to be more conducive to a physical world way before the meta one was even a pipe dream for Mark Zuckerburg: "we've come so far from that," she marvels. "Do you have a MySpace page!" She recalls cackling. "Or a SoundCloud, it was more about the music in a way people could find music by themselves. More underground artists would find their platform through

SoundCloud and stuff. I don't know…I think I would have had fun with it," she reckons on her faring if she were starting out now. "But it could have also just stressed me out to get anything out."

"I'VE HEARD IT BEFORE, IT'S SO EASY TO GUESS WHAT A LOT OF THINGS ARE GONNA SOUND LIKE IN THAT WORLD… THERE'S SO MUCH THAT FEELS CYNICAL. I DON'T WANT TO MAKE THAT STUFF." Fortunately, Tove isn't starting in 2022. In fact, this year sees her releasing her fourth album – Hard. Another entry for the vibrant outskirts of pop where everything feels free, and there's room to breathe amongst the lusting, yearning, and empowering facets of Tove. On how she's feeling for it to enter the world she blurts out, "It's so scary! I'm like, wait, am I ready? I don't know. What am I doing? Fuck.” "But also, I love this album," she continues, beaming. "I think it's a brilliant album, and even if nobody fucking cares… whatever happens, I'm really happy about it, and 9

I want to put it out. I think these days, you can push it out, see what happens and go with it. You can't really control the process that much. You never really know what you're going to get out of something or what is going to work or what is going to resonate or," she quickly adopts a mocking whispered tone, "what's going to trend on Tik Tok or whatever." Hard's disjointed parts – where caustic guitar rouses a snarl ('Cool Me Down') or tender droplets sum up the depth of feelings ('Bruises') – play into the humanity Tove is bringing forward away from the mechanics of the industry. Mentioning that her third outing – 2018's Sway – came from her "more control, freaky perfectionist side", this time it's about embracing her "less censored" self both as an artist and as a person while relinquishing any pressure because "if something doesn't work, who cares? It's fine. There's a lot of shit music on the internet and I don't think that this is shit music!" When it comes to being a pop star, you tend to be defined by your era. Tove's four have been filled equally with her winking attitude, but each separated by a sense of elevated self. Yet determining where an era starts once one has ended, "that's really tricky," she admits. "Because the inbetween phase, that's the worst before you find the

"The beautiful thing about it, and about things moving so fast and being weird is that you can't predict it," she says with the air of someone bearing a secret. "So, it's better to just do stuff that you This setup is how Tove sees herself going forward. think is awesome and that sounds special." and then Lamenting the time she's that you're having fun with spent not creating, now she's full steam ahead she and like show it off on the platform or like just live encourages any budding "I REALLY BELIEVE artists to do the same. with it on the internet and THAT YOU HAVE "You can never stop writing interact with people on the TO BE YOUR OWN and making things because internet. And if it happens, it has happened. And if it I feel like creativity sparks BIGGEST FAN AND more creativity," she doesn't, it's not your fault because it's so saturated THE BIGGEST FAN implores. "Every time I'm To read the full version of magazine youit's can buy to print so tricky release working onthis a project, I get and OF THE MUSIC YOU ideas for like three new music to that." copies delivered direct to you from our Bandcamp or support Her ideal scenario for PUT OUT." ones. So stopping, that's musical discovery would thing that you us via Patreonthe forworst even more exclusive goodies! be "without everything can do usually, and I'm being so scattered – I going to try not to do that The spark that lit the fire want to go into a record timeon justthe because of Hard was 'Show Me Justthis click linksI below: store but online and I release the album and go Love'. Setting the tone there to be visuals out on tour and stop – I'm for the album and what BANDCAMP gonna try and stay active." want PATREON as well – thank you! Can Tove wanted to achieve, somebody just programme she mentions she wanted this?!" Admitting through Her opinion on the state to "combine classic embarrassed chuckles of the pop landscape is references and classic things with a more acutely, formed by the exasperating that her current musical exploration only tends formulas that keep direct modern way of to stem from when she's cropping up. "There's writing. Specifically lyrics asked to provide curated the Spotify streamline, and trust the process and playlists. "That's when I very effective pop song trust the songs and the find most new music," gut feeling you know – just that I've grown to kind of she explains. "because if letting them become what hate," she admits. "I feel somebody puts me to work like everybody sounds they wanted to become." like ‘Okay you need to put the same and rewritten together things that were through every little splice The confidence she has in released recently that fit sound – I've heard it this new era comes from this theme’, that's usually before, it's so easy to the owning of self. It's when I find a lot of stuff, guess what a lot of things something she's become are gonna sound like in that just researching. But then grounded in over the I'm really happy because world…there's so much years. Particularly after then I can live off of that that feels cynical. I don't realising that you simply music and the artists that I can't chase anything other want to make that stuff." found for like a year." than your own recognition. For all its downsides, She happily admits that The fact the world is so however, Tove reckons "as a body of work this borderless when it comes there's an upside to the album, this era, it's the best one I've had because current Tik Tok A&R trend. to genres means that song. Once you find the core of the project it's so obvious, but before you often spend so much time on stuff that's not it at all. But you have to do that to eventually get to that golden little thing that's gonna spark the whole thing."

Words by Steven Loftin

there's a lot of different things. There's dynamic, everything is not the same. Everything is not that polished and I think that humaneness is really nice."

Photography by Andrew Benge

over-saturation is like trying to punch up through quicksand. Remembering once upon a time Scandipop's subgenre draw had rooted, invested fans, now it's a scope wider than the horizon. Except

around and it's up to people to find it on their own or stumble upon it somewhere." Truthfully, the only artist Tove is interested in sounding like is herself.

time understanding when artists sort of trash talk their own music – they talk as if they're not happy about it or 'No, it's not perfect'. It's never gonna be perfect because I don't understand…like if I'm not happy about it if I don't think that this is the shit – why do I want to put it out into the world?” "Why am I going to force this onto other people? I don't understand it. I've said this a million times," she continues. "But I really believe that you have to be your own biggest fan and the biggest fan of the music you put out because what's the point," the question hangs heavy. "Otherwise, what, are you just trying to please other people? That doesn't sound like a fun life." Digging back into those trends Tove loathes, they all have one thing in common. The aspect which is the most important of being an artist – bar none: "It's never the big artists. It's never the major labels - nothing ever comes from there. You've got a bigger chance of making something great and super insanely successful on your own with your brain, with your friends. Go nuts!"

"the gays in New York!" she laughs. "They will know when a Swedish person releases something! But it feels like everything is a little bit more scattered

It's that freedom which radiates through Hard. "It's fun because I love just making beautiful things that I find beautiful. I've always had a hard 11

The new album ‘HARD’ is out 3rd June via RCA/ Sony.

AWAY FROM THE NOISE

SERATONES LEARNING FROM PLANTS... are creator and destroyer,

Greetings Earthlings! I’m A.J. Haynes: lead lady of Seratones, abortion access advocate, and your new favorite space disco swamp fae auntie. My main interests are liberation and time travel. When I’m not playing/writing music or practicing resilience in the hellscape that abortion access in the Gulf Coast South, I’m learning from plants.

nurturer and poison. When I garden, I am tapping into the multiversed intelligence of plants.

Plants are our direct lineage to the cosmos. They are our guides to help fulfil our destiny to, as Octavia Butler wrote, take root among the stars. Plants are portals to accessing multiple timelines. The first life to crawl from the cosmic cataclysm. They 12

Some of my earliest memories growing up in rural North Louisiana were watching my Uncle Louis meticulously turning the soil around my

great grandmothers house for rows of corn, tomatoes, peas, and turnip greens. I was always tasked with shelling purple hull peas that smelled of sweet earth. Summers brought watermelons from our neighbor Mr Booker’s garden. All from seeds, they’d kept and that kept us fed. I remember my great grandmother telling me how her mother showed her which tree bark could be boiled to make a cough remedy. My mama loved to play in the garden, pulling up weeds by hand. The long memories of how we are shaped and shaped by plants come to me every time I sink my hands, that now remind me of my mamas, in the dirt. I now reside in a small cabin in North Mississippi with my partner (and some very mischievous hummingbirds). The land here reminds me so

forth from the soil. The kale I planted before this past winter frost has sprung forth hardy and generative. They remind me that scarcity is a myth created by greedy small-minded people with too much power and not enough loving-kindness. When I garden, I make sure to honor the indigenous plants that are in communication with their new transplanted neighbors. I watch the cleaver, chickweed, and purslane cluster move where they are needed. Notice how the small mycelium tends to the soil. All moving together in concert, sending signals of resilience and resistance. much of my childhood, the dense clay so fecund and rich with nutrients and narratives. I just planted some okra a few days ago and the tender seedlings have already burst

Words and images provided by A.J. Haynes

Seratones new album "Love & Algorhythms" is out now.

Main photograph by Joshua Asanti

PATREON

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

MILAN, ITALY WITH GINEVRA

my favourite artists on the Italian indie scene.

INTRODUCTION Since I started as the Magazine Assistant here at Come Play With Me, I’ve been wanting to write about GINEVRA, one of

GINEVRA’s songs blend innovation and tradition, creating a world between FKA Twigs and Lucio Battisti, one of the most appreciated Italian songwriters of the 70’s. She’s from Turin, but for the last 10 years, she has been based in Milan, the driving force of the music 14

industry in the country.

VENUES Speaking to GINEVRA on the phone, she told me all about her favourite venues in Milan, starting from the

outside stage at ‘Triennale Milano’, where she was able to perform over the past couple of years in spite of the pandemic. `Magnolia’, she said, it’s also a must of the Milanese scene. With its multivenue space close to the ‘Idroscalo’ park, it’s also the home of ‘MIAMI’, one of the most important\ influential festivals in the country for emerging talents.

immediately. ‘La Nina is not only an artist that I admire, but also a friend’ she says, ‘our creative visions align, and we’ve been growing together as artists over the past few years.’ In 2021, La Ninā and GINEVRA collaborated on a musical short film called ‘La Notte Delle Lumere’, in celebration of an ancient Neapolitan festivity, honouring their ancestors and the occult.

There are also a couple of venues she’s got her eyes on to perform, she adds, TUNNEL CLUB and the celebrated Fabrique, where FKA twigs and Little Simz have also hosted their Italian tour dates this year.

LGBTQ+ SCENE Talking with GINEVRA about the LGBTQ+ scene in Milan was really interesting. I haven’t lived in Italy for years and it’s hard for me to fully understand the cultural shifts that are happening in our country. Italy as a whole ARTISTS\BANDS is still a problematic place Over the past 5 years, Milan to exist for the queer has become the centre community, but Milan of Italian cultural life - a is quickly becoming a city with international model of openness and aspirations and filled with inclusion. GINEVRA tells talent. me about Porta Venezia District where there are GINEVRA’s favourites are lots of safe spaces for Tropea, an indie-pop the queer community to band with unmatched live party and socialise, like the energy and Venerus, a ‘Love’ and the ‘Rainbow’. born-and-bred Milanese We also talked about artist with an international, fluid and queer artists in Brit-inspired sound. Milan, like David Blank, Boyrebecca and M¥SS When I ask her what KETA, who are championing female artists she’s been representation in the listening to, the name ‘La media and driving cultural Nina del Sud’ comes up change. Words by Matilde Mirotti

VINYL SHOPS Finally, I ask GINEVRA about the best spots for a vinyl hunt in Milan and she mentioned two: ‘Dischi Volanti’ (flying vinyl), for vintage and contemporary records, and ‘Serendeepidy’, a new spot focused on electronic music and techno.

GINEVRA is releasing her new single ‘ANARCHICI’ on June 10th, ahead of her debut album this year. This summer, she’s touring around Italy - the next two dates are in Rome at ‘Spring Attitude’ on June 24th, and at ‘La Prima Estate’, Lido di Camaiore, on June 25th. Instagram - @ginevra.ig Tik Tok - @ginevra.tk

Main photograph by Tommaso Ottomano

PATREON PHOTO BOOTH

ON TOUR WITH DEHD

Hi, my name’s Emily and I’m in a band. On tour, many funny things happen!

Here are 4 special pictures from the band tour group chat… the first picture is also the group chat icon photo. It’s Eric’s loose socks as he stands on a giant dirt hill in Utah. Eric is the drummer in our band and the shyest member. As you can see his socks are coming off a little…well, a lot!!!!! We like to call this phenomenon “the lazy sock.” His slides are also pictured nearby, none of us knows why he took his slides off or why his stocks are so lazy! Eric is the best. The next picture is of our tour manager Bailey. They have been trying to touch 16

their toes for 2 weeks! Each day they reach for them and we take a picture to

document their progress. Hopefully, they make it to the ground by the end of the tour!!! Everyone pray for them every day, please.

Ok now we’re getting to the real funny stuff - the next picture is of Rita from the band Pixel Grip. They are on tour with us and this

picture was taken after a house party in Dallas. A lot of us drank too much of a mysterious orange drink that apparently was just a handle of Vodka! Not me though because I’m sober!! There were tears and card tricks and hugs that lasted a little too long, there were light cowboy hats and four-foot lizards and 2 cats, and as pictured there was passing out on the lawn! Last but not least is a picture of Emilio, our fearless merch boy. He was caught red-handed like this as he was going to bed! We call this “the coffin pose.” This means when someone is too scared to touch the gross bed because there are strange stains or bedbugs or mystery hairs! Emilio apparently sleeps while also frozen in laughter - pretty cool and sign me up!

Words & images provided by Emily / DEHD

Thanks for reading. I’m Emily and I’m in a band. And it’s called DEHD!!!! The new album “Blue Skies” is out now on Fat Possum, and DEHD will be playing UK dates in November.

THE KIT LIST

MAIUS MOLLIS catharsis. No exception to this, her debut single “The Tide Turned” is a sombre and efficacious composition, discussing love, grief, and mental health.

INTRODUCTION

Maius Mollis is a Northeast based singer-songwriter making tracks into her early career. Gentle and brave in the way she tells stories and drawing listeners in with restrained guitar accompaniment and commanding vocals, Maius Mollis creates a space for emotional Words by Maius Mollis

Since the release under label Both Sides Records she has performed prolifically in the 18

North of England, garnering press from well-respected platforms and local radio play.

WASHBURN BT-2

This guitar was kindly given to me by a family friend who hadn’t found a use for it. It is also a short scale which is perfect for my small stature of 5”1. When previously playing electrics, I often found they were just that wee bit too big, but the Washburn feels like an extension of my body; my ultimate goal when playing an instrument. I love this wee guitar and it has quickly become a core part of my sound. I also found out it was bought with a tax rebate in 1997—the year I was born—which felt

quite cosmic!.

BOSS TU-3 + POLYTUNE PEDAL

The Boss TU-3 has been an essential staple for live performances, recording, and rehearsing for me for over 6 years. Tuning pedals have the clever feature of cutting off the signal when on, meaning the audience can’t hear when tuning and you can chat without the distraction of hearing tuning coming back through your monitor. Every now and then I do accidentally leave it on, starting a piece and leaving me with no guitar coming out front, but it’s a small price to pay for the convenience of this piece of kit. They are also highly customisable.

In my other project, Northering, my duo partner, Anna Hughes plays an Indian harmonium that has chaotically slid into 443Hz. While this isn’t a huge disparity from standard 440Hz, we notice it enough to be unsettled. There is a feature to change the Hz so I tune to 443Hz when playing in Northering. Sadly there’s a scarcity of parts to build the TU-3 at the moment, and I needed another pedal when playing two different guitars on stage, so I went for the Polytune—which isn’t my preference as I find it can cause “popping” noises out front when turning on and off—but

does the job too, and is also Hz customisable.

and keeps me neat on stage. Nothing worse than watching a guitar slowly slide and crash to the floor after being lent against a chair.

GIGGING ESSENTIALS

A flask of warm water, headphones and a small blanket.

SE V7 This is not necessarily essential, but a new preference. Well known as being a mic Billie Eilish uses for picking up the subtleties of a quieter and more nuanced voice. Having a softer voice is something that I have at times had a complex over, but am now embracing, and realising that there is nothing inherently wrong with this in soundchecks and that I just need the right tech. The SE V7 is a supercardioid microphone, whereas your standard SM58 is a cardioid pattern. As I understand it, the main difference between these two is that the SE V7 has a tighter pick-up pattern than a cardioid or sm58. Basically, the SE V7 is more sensitive. This means FOH can hike up gain without me feeding back. I first used one of these a few weeks ago at The Cluny and was refreshed by the clarity I heard back in my monitors.

HERCULES GS402BB GUITAR STAND

Basic but essential. Comes with a drawstring bag and folds up nicely, packing away in a rucksack. This is perfect for venues that might not have a guitar stand, and saves me having to carry around a larger stand, Words and images provided by Maius Mollis

I am a creature of comfort through sensory experiences. Noise-cancelling headphones help me block out any distracting noise that might be happening pre-gig, a blanket keeps me comfy and warm, ready for the inevitable post-adrenaline temperature dip. And lukewarm water is just about all I can drink before going on stage, so that’s where the flask comes in handy.

‘The Tide Turned’ is released under Both Sides Records and out now on all streaming platforms, along with the official music video

5 QUESTIONS

TAMZENE

WHO ARE YOU? I’m Tamzene. I’m a singer, songwriter, emotional overthinker and blind optimist from the Highlands of Scotland. WHAT DO YOU DO? I sing and play piano, guitar (average busker level) and violin (was good when I was 12). I write songs about my life, other people’s lives, things and people that I care about and things that I haven’t figured out yet. I sometimes get to play them live for beautiful audiences and thoroughly enjoy spending most of my days in studios with creative and talented humans. WHY DO YOU DO IT? Nothing makes me feel more like myself! I feel truly alive and at home when writing Words by Tamzene

and performing. It’s my way of expressing myself and reaching people and hopefully allowing them to feel something or identify with a part of it too. I also do it because I’m not much good at anything else. Terrible cook, terrible at languages, the list goes on. WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? What isn’t happening?!?! I am about to put out an EP called ‘details’ which I’m super excited about. It has my recent songs Called You Out, Cut Me Out Your Photos and Dance With You Again on it plus three more brand new ones. It’s just the beginning but feels like a big, special moment. Then I get to play it at loads of super cool festivals this summer such as Latitude, Cross The Tracks, Boardmasters and 21

Sziget, followed by my very FIRST ever headline tour in November! WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? The hot topic for me has to be representation within the UK music industry. There is certainly a very long way to go, but there’s been some really exciting and positive forward motion in terms of female representation and diversity. It’s beautiful to see walls kicked down all over, and I want to be a part of making this industry even better, brighter and more of an even playing field for everyone. My ‘Details’ EP is out now. Come and see me at a festival (dates at tamzene.com) or on my headline tour in November.

CONFIDENCE MAN If ever there were a group of people you could guarantee a good time with, it would be Confidence Man. That’s why, when an opportunity arises to chat with them - even if it’s on the other end of a crackly phone line and in two different countries, you do not say no. Capeesh? 22

And if you haven’t heard of Australia's biggest party band, aka Janet Planet, Sugar Bones, Reggie Goodchild, and Clarence McGuffie, the only simple explanation would be that you’ve taken a six-year hiatus from the internet and the last time you partied hard was at Fatboy Slim’s 2016 Glasto set.

century is far from finished - and far from slowing down in its elaborateness. “It would be a completely nude party. But there’d be a giant pile of really expensive designer clothes just mounted in the middle of it. If you’re getting a bit cold, you can just chuck on a Gucci jacket - and whatever you want you can just take home at the end of the party.”

their debut, Confident Music for Confident People, (which, by the way, is an album that is welcome at many a party when the atmosphere needs to be taken up a notch) is very cool, too.

“I think we got deeper and deeper into the world of dance music through a whole bunch of different So, in the spirit of parties, artists compared to the and the release of ConMan’s previous album. We just second album Tilt, what wanted to cast the net a better way to celebrate bit further and try and "IF YOU’RE GETTING than getting them to design go a bit bigger and wider A BIT COLD, YOU CAN their dream bash? And with the sounds.” And it JUST CHUCK ON A what better tastemaker to shows. While the tracks orchestrate this extravagant are still as subtle as Grace GUCCI JACKET - AND To read the full version of this magazine you can buy archive print soirée than Sugar himself? Jone’s wardrobe WHATEVER YOU WANT The man who so boldly direct to you from our Bandcamp (an analogy they’ll probably copies delivered or support YOU CAN JUST TAKE declared that we’re all just very much resonate with) HOME AT THE ENDexclusive OF usbeautiful via Patreon for even more goodies! animals with hair. the band is happy to steer (What I Like, track three away from the standard pop THE PARTY." from the album - it will be length and give 90s-esque your new party anthem. Just click on the links below: rave instrumentals just as Trust.) One can only presume much attention as they that tiltyourself.com, the give their ridiculous (in the PATREON “We’d have BANDCAMP Grace Jones. I band’s geniously sarcastic most loving way possible) feel like she’s a centrepiece merch site is sponsoring storytelling. in any top level party. this mammoth event. With Then Nina Simone would an ‘about me’ section “Relieve the Pressure is a be on piano, but it would that declares: “Boredom favourite. I love the feel be broken and she’d be will never take us alive, or of it, and I love that we let getting really angry and dead. Contort. Maximalise. ourselves go a little longer yelling at it. And there’d be Blow it up. Go beyond the than the typical 3 to 4 a full breakfast buffet that monotony of the everyday,” minutes. We took it on its goes on for 24 hours just so you can’t deny that own little journey at the people could grab a sausage they’re completely rinsing end. Basically, every time to keep them going.” Smart. this mantra with their we would write a song, we contagiously ironic sense of would just let it go where “It would have to be on a humour. it wanted. Like Toy Boy. We private island as well, so But that’s just what makes had a few different beats not just any old riff raff. We Confidence Man so great. kicking around and the toy don’t want them to stumble Very rarely do you meet boy idea and concept, and on in and kill the vibe. And a band that doesn’t take Janet just called it a J. Lo it would be well guarded themselves seriously - but slut jam one day. I think there’d be armed guards. really, genuinely mean it. it’s an absolutely great Or aardvarks?” It’s hard to It’s not just an act they explanation for the track. decipher over the phone, put on to make people We wanted to crack the but for such an eccentric think they’re cool. They’re door a little further open band, heads would not turn actually cool, and they can’t to what ConMan songs if it was the latter. help it. could sound like. And there should be more J. Lo slut What’s squaring up to be The way in which they’ve jams out there.” the album launch of the sonically levelled up from 23

The writing process also found the rave professionals upping their game on the live front. Which, if you’ve seen them live, it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly put on any more of a show.

It’s this nonchalance that normal people who just captured the attention have millions and millions of Noel Gallagher, who and millions of dollars, is (arguably) a British Confidence Man has bagged icon - depending on themselves a support slot your Gallagher brother with the man himself on preference. “The first June the 15th at the Eden time we met Noel was just Project. So artists, listen before Covid, and we were up. It seems like if you want “Janet can get everyone to playing a UK festival. A guy to make it in this industry, dance. I’ve lived with her came backstage after one you’ve got to really try hard my whole life, and she’s of our shows, introduced to not take it seriously. always like ‘get the fuck up’ himself as Andy Barlow and And it’s a method that has and grabs me by the ear was like ‘I’m U2’s producer obviously worked up until - sort of beating me into and I saw your gig.’ He was now if you’re someone who submission. But she can just a cool guy but we weren’t measures success with make a whole room start too sure. Every fucker says almost 40K followers on dancing. I don’t know what they’re U2’s producer. But Instagram, an Australian she does.” If you’ve seen we thought let’s hang out Independent Record Award, their 2017 Golden Plains set even if he’s not who he says millions of streams on on YouTube where Janet he is. We stayed in touch Spotify, a string of major To read the full of this magazine you can buy print literally got thousands of version and it turns out he actually festivals under their belts, hungover to “get direct was.to Heyou played all ourour stuffBandcamp and a soon-to-be support copiespeople delivered from or support down” for a 2pm Sunday to U2 and they really liked slot with one of the Oasis via Patreon evenwhich more goodies! slot, you’ll us know what he itfor somehow wasexclusive frontmen. Not bad, really. means. bizarre.” And when met with the “We just wanted to make Just click on the links below: generic question of what it a 360° submersible does the rest of 2022 hold "JANET JUST CALLED experience. And we had - which, if you’re a fan is a BANDCAMP PATREON IT A J. LO SLUT JAM so much time to plan it genuine question that will ONE DAY. I THINK out and come up with all literally help you plan your the new dances and gags year around the FOMOIT’S AN ABSOLUTELY and tricks and music. It worthy antics of Confidence GREAT EXPLANATION was just endless days of Man - it can be verified that FOR THE TRACK." getting drunk and being like you will not be let down. ‘what if we do this?’ and just suggesting the most “We’re a month through stupid ideas to each other. “They were doing a gig in this three-month tour, Also, we’ve got nothing else Australia and they [U2] but we’ve still got a whole to do - we’re not playing reached out and asked bunch of Europe and UK instruments so we need to if we wanted to hang shows and festivals. All we do something. We’ve got to out after the show. Noel want to do right now is get make ourselves useful while was supporting them, so out and play these shows we’re up there.” afterwards, we went and and see our fans who we met them at this hotel and just fucking miss so much Again, it’s the ambition it was a total headfuck. They and who are the best fans of countless bands out were really sweet to us and ever. We just want to dance there - to create such a we were just trying to treat and party around the world. spectacular experience them like normal people. That’s it.” as this, developing And they are. They’ve all got cryptic concepts that problems and lives, except The new album "Tilt" is out are purely invented to they’ve just got millions now. Confidence Man are give the choreography an and millions and millions of playing a mixture of gigs ‘artistic’ depth. But no. For dollars.” and festivals during June. Confidence Man, it’s just a convenience thing. Fast-forward from the night in the hotel with the Words by Sophie Williams

Photography by Jamie Heath

5 QUESTIONS

DAISY BRAIN WHO ARE YOU? My name’s Will, I’m a producer-songwriter based in Dalston London releasing music under the alias Daisy Brain

early 2000s guitar music, and I’m totally here for it. Artists like Avril Lavigne, Green Day and Blur are my biggest inspiration for the music I make and the lyrics I write, I couldn’t have WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? asked for a better time for I write guitar music with my Right now I’m getting ready this to happen really. best mate Dan in my room, for the biggest headline Following my London show we both balance that and I’ve ever done, in my last week there's a string working at a pizza joint in hometown, London. After of crazy festival dates Hackney. rescheduling my entire UK including Community tour to November, it only Fest, 2000 Trees, feels right to make sure WHY DO YOU DO IT? Boardmasters, and R&L. this particular show goes It started as a hobby, off like never before. then a distraction from My UK tour is also in early everything going on in November!!! my life growing up. I do WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? what I do now because There seems to be a big it’s all I know. There’s a revival of the late 90s/ Words by Will Tse / Daisy Brain

lot bubbling up inside me (more so now than ever) and if I can’t express myself through this creative outlet, I’d probably explode.

Photography by Dan Sullivan

AWAY FROM THE NOISE

ANNIE HAMILTON

IT'S ALL CREATIVE ART...

My name is Annie Hamilton and I'm a musician, artist and designer based in Sydney, Australia. I've just released my debut album, "the future is here but it feels kinda like the past", and I also run my own eponymous clothing label. I've spent the last few years chipping away at both music and fashion after launching both projects in 2017 following a stint in Iceland as an artistin-residence. I have a pretty DIY approach

to creativity - I love making things, whether that be music, clothes, art, photographs, food... to me it is all the same creative energy going into whatever project I'm working on. Since I was a kid, I've always loved sewing and making myself weird costumes - giant fairy wings, elaborate headpieces - give me any excuse to make a costume and I will always go way over the top. As my music has evolved over the last couple of years, I've started making more extravagant outfits and costumes for my videos and live shows. Throughout the course of writing the album, I realised that bats were starting to emerge as a bit of a recurring image, weaving their way through the songs... This wasn't really intentional - I 26

tend to write as a way of navigating, documenting and processing my experiences, and I guess I just happened to have a lot of experiences with bats over the last two years, as bizarre as that sounds. Every night at sunset, thousands of fruit bats fly over my house on their nightly ritual, so my nightly ritual became going outside at dusk to sit and watch them fly over.

They started to take on new meanings for me, symbolising cycles, the passing of time, the way we try to find patterns in life in an attempt to make sense of it all these things that I was trying to explore in my writing. There was also a period last year when I was living in an old house in the Snowy Mountains that had a nest of tiny microbats in the lounge room wall. Every night the bats would come out of the nest and fly around in circles in the lounge room - I

had to stand on the kitchen table and catch them in a tea towel to release them outside (fact is truly stranger than fiction) - this scene is now immortalised in my song Bad Trip. After writing a few lyrical references to bats I started drawing them and using them as visual symbols, and made a giant glittery pair of bat wings to wear for a few of my music videos. I also designed a top with black glittery sequin

Words and images provided by Annie Hamilton

bats flying across the chest to wear in my Exist music video. I love when these symbols and metaphors emerge organically from the music - I didn't have to sit down and plan out what the imagery of the album would be - they just naturally fluttered their way in. Annie Hamilton's debut album, "the future is here but it feels kinda like the past" was released 20th May on [PIAS] Australia & she plays London's The Social on 31st July.

Main photograph by Jordan Kirk (XingerXanger)

PATREON

ART WALL

SOPHIE POWERS WHO ARE YOU? I'm Sophie Powers :) WHAT DO YOU DO? I'm a singer, songwriter, and wannabe fashion designer.

WHY DO YOU DO IT? II want my music to make an impact on kids in the same way it made an impact on me. I'm

so passionate about music, fashion, and art in general. I hope I can break boundaries surrounding mental health, feminism,

in my world right now with preparing! relationships, and bring joy/comfort to people with my song lyrics. WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? I'm releasing my debut EP on May 20th. Shows, followed by a tour starting May 21st for me, so everything has been crazy

WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? I think a hot topic right now in music is touring. With the pandemic somewhat coming to an end, live shows are resuming, and major festivals are back on. The public really missed live entertainment, as did

Words and images provided by Sophie Powers

artists such as myself. I haven't gotten a chance to perform my music live since I started releasing music in April 2021 during the Covid lockdown. I am so fortunate to be able to tour with Noahfinnce, in America this May-June and the UK in September. I'm looking forward to connecting with those who support me in person, not just online.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND WITH THE PIT PONY

INTRODUCTION

We’re Pit Pony, a five-piece rock band recently signed to Leeds based Clue Records. Hailing from all across the North East (Teesside, Durham, South Shields, Newcastle & Northumberland) we all now call Newcastle and Gateshead home. Here’s our take on this wonderful city.

Teeth, Ghost/Signals we could go on and on, and that’s just Tyneside, there’s even more in Sunderland and beyond.

can’t speak highly enough of the place. Especially Chris McManus who has worked on all our stuff. Who as well as being amazingly talented is literally the nicest chap in town.

BANDS & ARTISTS

We obviously have a few big hitters from Tyneside doing really well at the minute, Sam Fender and PigsX7 spring to mind, who despite being really different we both really love. Under that though the area really is packed with local talent of all different genres. Smote, Ceitidh Mac, Wild Spelks, Martha Hill, Hector Gannet, Me Lost Me, No

STUDIO AND RECORDING

For a relatively small city, there’s some great spaces. In previous bands, we’ve used the likes of Blast Recording Studios and Polestar in Byker which are both brilliant, but in Pit Pony we’ve recorded everything at Blank Studios on Warwick Street and we 30

VENUES AND HANGOUTS

Everything tends to centre around the Ouseburn area which sits between Heaton/ Byker/Shieldfield and a short walk from the city centre. It’s littered with venues and bars such as The Cluny, The

Cumberland Arms, The Tyne Bar, Ernest, Cobalt Studios and Brinkburn Brewery to name a few in a very small area. Special mention though to Zerox on the Quayside who since moving from their previous shoebox sized venue next to the central station has created a fantastic genrespanning, wholly inclusive bar and venue space which is definitely everyone’s new favourite spot in town.

& The Cluny continue to push boundaries and bring a massive range of global acts to the city.

PROMOTERS

We have some cracking record shops in the city centre. RPM and Reflex Records have long been favourites and have great reputations far beyond the region. Beyond Vinyl is a more recent addition and JG Windows in the beautiful Edwardian Central Shopping Arcade is both a record and instrument shop so always worth a visit.

You might know the city had some bother recently with a large promoter who was exposed for some pretty disgusting work practices. Thankfully in the aftermath of this lots of the brilliant independent promoters who have long been doing great things really seem to be thriving. The likes of Wandering Oak, f54 and venues like The Boiler Shop

RECORD SHOPS

Words by Pit Pony

INSTRUMENT SHOPS

Top billing here goes to Heaton’s Curvy Sounds. A lovely family run business that as well as selling new and second hand instruments does the best guitar setups and restorations in the area. I think the three of us with guitars have all used Curvy Sounds for setups and modifications in the past and there’s a reason there’s always a waiting list for their services. If any of that has piqued your interest, as well as booking a train ticket to toon, our debut album ‘World To Me’ will be released on 1 July and is now available to pre-order from pitponyband.com. You can also get an exclusive gold vinyl version from indie stores including those we mentioned above.

Main photograph by Nigel John

PATREON

THE KIT LIST

THE BYKER GROVE FAN CLUB INTRODUCTION

Hey, we're The Byker Grove Fan Club, A Post Macho Noise Pop Trio from Bath consisting of Connor (Guitar) Huw (Bass, Vocals) and Louis (Drums). We sound Like a much angrier Talking Heads, or a much softer Mclusky, either way, is acceptable. Our gear Choices are generally pretty straightforward, usually just loud, LOUDER.

GUITAR AMPS

Connor: I got really into using duel amps a few years back and haven't really looked back since, it’s an

incredible sound when you get the balance right.

really see that setup changing… plus it looks cool and everyone knows music is 90% about looks and only 10% talent.

BASS PREAMP

Huw: Probably the most interesting thing I use is my Rusty Box.

Currently, I'm using an 80s Roland JC120 combo and Selmer Treble n Bass from the 70s going into a really beautiful Zilla 2x12 cab. I don't really know much about amps beyond "big speaker make noise" but I seem to have gotten really lucky with the combination and I can't 32

It's essentially the preamp section of an old transistor amp that Shellac and Jesus lizard used to use called the Traynor ts50B. The amp sounds like grinding metal, and as such probably isn't everyone’s cup of tea.

Unfortunately, if it is your cup of tea, it can be a hard amp to get your hands on as it's pretty rare, and for a long time there wasn't much on the market that sounded similar. Enter the Rusty Box, letting you live your Albini fantasies all day long. It's not for everyone, but it is for me, and I love it.

DRUMS Louis: I use a Tama Granstar with a 22” kick drum, 13” rack tom and 16” floor tom. The snare is a 13x5in Ludwig Supraphonic. I like the deep heavy birch shells as they produce a very loud and full tone which works great for our chaotic live sound. The Words by The Byker Grove Fan Club

Supraphonic snare is a tried and tested classic, you don’t even need to tune it and it still sounds good! For my cymbals, I have an 18” Istanbul Xist, 20” Paiste 2002, 21” Zildjian sweet ride and 15” Light Hi-hats. My setup is left-handed, right-footed, and played open-handed. This was never intentional and really came about from a lack of knowledge when I was a kid trying to teach myself, I watched footage of bands playing live on TV, tried to recreate it and got it wrong! Now it has just sort of stuck with me.

take. Nothing can get you quite as pumped for a sweaty noise show as the horrendous horns at the beginning of this 90s staple. I can’t really imagine us hitting the M4 without this absolute classic queued up somewhere down the playlist. “Happiness is just around the corner” - Kim Sassabone (I had to Google the lead singer's name). Our second EP drops on the 9th of June just before we go back in to record again. We have a couple of tours lined up through October, our UK tour with our buddies in The Pleasure Dome and then off to Europe for a week. It's going to be an incredibly busy year but we’re really excited to continue playing shows and meeting incredible people.

TOUR ESSENTIALS

“We Like To Party” by Vengaboys, essentially the 4th member of the band in any car journey we

Portrait & Press Photography @andrewbenge andrewbenge.com

To read the full version of this magazine you can buy print copies delivered direct to you from our Bandcamp or support us via Patreon for even more exclusive goodies! click 5Just QUESTIONS

on the links below:

ART D’ECCOPATREON

BANDCAMP WHO ARE YOU? My name is Art d’Ecco, from Victoria BC, Canada.

WHAT DO YOU DO? I’m a singer-songwriter and producer. I take things I hear, see and feel - and stitch them up into a sonic patch quilt to wrap your ear holes in. WHY DO YOU DO IT? Because it helps me make sense of this cruel, cold world we all struggle to co-exist in. JK! I dunno? It’s fun and I enjoy it. It’s like making crafts, with sound and emotion. WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? I’m in the UK on a mini-tour promoting my upcoming album AFTER THE HEAD RUSH, which will be coming out June 24th on Paper Bag. The band and I have been enjoying the views whilst Words by Brooke Combe

here - the pastoral plains of rolling rapeseed in Wales in all their flaxen beauty, keep us company as we traverse along the highway south to London. Next week we’re in Brighton for the Great Escape. So far so good!

there).

A recent tweet from the band Wednesday went viral and sparked a conversation on the economics of touring, and the risks and obstacles many musicians face on a goingforward basis. I’m grateful WHAT'S THE HOT TOPIC? that there’s been a spotlight Touring for artists right now is shined on this, we need to incredibly difficult (financially keep this discourse going. The speaking, it is impossible for next time that band you listen most bands to even venture to on Spotify comes to town out of town at all, without on a weekday (or work night... suffering a huge loss). Inflation school night etc) - grabbing a has sparked a sharp increase friend, buying a pair of tickets in hotels, gas, and food costs. and going to that gig can Fleets at van rental places are sometimes make a difference in short supply due to chip between them surviving to shortages, which has driven the next album cycle, or the costs of rentals across disappearing into the ether. North America to obscene prices (with some websites The new album "After The quoting as high as $2,000CAD Head Rush" is out on 24th per day!) COVID - is still a June via Paper Bag Records. threat (you all know the deal 34

Photography by Elijah Schultz

COME PL AY WITH CONFIDENCE MAN TOVE ST YRKE

BEHIND THE SCENES AND UNDER THE SKIN OF ALL THINGS MUSIC

PICK ME UP FOR FREE OR BUY PRINT COPIES ONLINE / #020

COME PL AY WITH WALT DISCO YONAK A

MUSIC VENUE T RUS T / JAGUAR JONZ E J O S H U A Z E R O / B R O O K E C O M B E / H E . S H E . T H E Y. COSMIC NINJA / CHARM OF FINCHES/ FES GÉRALDINE Z ANASK A / ADAM PITS / LIV & LIZ AND LOTS MORE...

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Come Play With Magazine #20

Articles inside

THE BYKER GROVE FAN CLUB

SOPHIE POWERS / FASHION

PIT PONY / NEWCASTLE

ART D’ECCO

ANNIE HAMILTON

TOVE STYRKE

SERATONES

DEHD / ON TOUR

DAISY BRAIN

TAMZENE

CONFIDENCE MAN

GINEVRA / MILAN

MAIUS MOLLIS