FREEQ
EDITORIAL
Welcome to the launch issue of Freeq Manchester. After several years as one of Nottingham’s leading free creative publications we’ve decided to take on the UK’s second city and we hope you guys in Manchester enjoy the magazine as much as the creatives in Nottingham did. Freeq magazine blends music and arts with social conscience and we’ve featured some of the world’s most renowned artists on our pages as you’ll see from the cover designs below. It’s not easy to get quality print exposure so our commitment to supporting aspiring, and established, creative people is more important now than ever. We love to hear from people looking to further their careers in the arts so get in touch if you want to know more about what we do or to get involved with the magazine. Most of all, enjoy Freeq. Freeq was brought to you by: Sam Borrett, Mellisa Harrison, Brandi Milne, Claire Atkinson, Lyn Stafford, Jonny Dub, Ricky Fabulous, Will Perry, Tom Martin, Phil Robinson, The letter ‘P’ and the number 7. www.freeqmagazine.com info@freeqmagazine.com twitter.com/freeqmagazine Freeq Magazine, Landmark House, Station Road, Cheadle Hulme, SK8 7BS
POCKET £25 FESTIVAL PREVIEW GIG LISTINGS HAUNTS PISTOLA KICKS ALVAREZ KINGS SWOUND THE SMEARS DEAR SUPERSTAR ENVY & OTHER SINS THE TEENAGERS
Freeq MUSIC • ARTS • CONSCIENCE
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MEETTHE COVERARTIST
BRANDI MILNE Tell us about your work?
What themes do you pursue?
I am an artist (illustrator/painter). I paint with my emotions - the upsets and concerns I’m feeling at any given moment as I work. I use my art as a way to work through those different emotions and tell the stories I see in my head. I work in acrylics on wood panels (cut to perfection by my husband)! I show my work in fine art galleries around the world. I also have a book called So Good For Little Bunnies that I wrote and illustrated a few years ago - my first of hopefully many! I love what I do, and feel so blessed to be able to do it for a living!
The themes in my work are always changing depending on my personal experiences at the moment. You can find a lot of Halloween in my work, as well as carousels, animals, lettering and so on, which are pretty consistent. But if I’m looking ahead to start a new body of work, I will spend quite some time researching a look, feel or specific theme I’m after and right now I’m looking at a lot of vintage circus illustrations and posters, and old Christmas themed illustrations (cards, advertisements).
How do you work? I work to music most days, put my headphones on and settle into my work. I tend to be very structured, otherwise I can get distracted pretty easily. So although my work seems very whimsical and silly at times, I have to be very focused in my studio to create it. On a typically distracting day, I find myself sitting at my chair winding my hair in my fingers and dreaming away in my head. That’s not cool if you have 5 deadlines looming up ahead! What’s your background? I grew up in Anaheim, CA, the youngest of four children. I always loved to draw and I always felt creative. I didn’t go to art school however, but l’ve studied art in my own way, teaching myself how to do what I do along the way. At times I’m glad for it to have turned out that way, but then other times, I really think it would have cut out a lot of the time it took guessing and what not if I had gone to school. What’s your strongest memory of your childhood? I have a lot of strong memories growing up, but I guess I’d have to say playing with my sisters and brother. We all did everything together, and I’m glad I wasn’t alone (an only child). We were really close and I feel that’s where I picked up most of my interests that inspire my work to this day.
What superpower would you have and why? I wish I could transport myself anywhere in the world with a blink and a nod like I Dream Of Jeanie. And then I wish I could take people with me - I don’t very much like to be alone! Name three artists you’d like to be compared to or that inspire you? I don’t really like to be compared to any other artists, but plenty of artists inspire me. Three? I’d have to say Tim Walker, Pink Floyd and Billy Campbell. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? To always try. What’s next for Brandi? I have my next solo show coming up August 12th at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. I am very excited as it’s an all new body of work! I have my first fine art book coming out in the summer with Baby Tattoo Books, also very exciting! Brandimilne.com brandimilne.blogspot.com
FESTIVAL PREVIEW
If you haven’t yet sorted out festival tickets this year and fancy something other than the massively huge mainstream events, maybe with a big of guaranteed sunshine thrown in, then read our festival guide to some of the hottest (literally) and some of the most beautiful festivals for 2012.
photo by Tom Martin
SUMMER SUNDAE The increasingly popular, but still nicely intimate, Summer Sundae heads into a twelfth year at De Montfort Hall in Leicester. Now attracting 7,000 revellers to the three day event between 17th and 19th August Summer Sundae boasts an impressive line up with comedy and arts in amongst the music. Always a winning combination in our opinion.
SOUNDWAVE We flew out to Croatia last year to check out one of the country’s up and coming festivals and it has to be said that a beach resort festival does have its plus points. Much less mud and blistering sunshine while you dance in the sea with a cocktail or two. Obvious drawbacks are the travel implications but grab a cheap Ryanair or Easyjet ticket and you’ll have one hell of a holiday.
Headliners were being announced as we went to print but with confirmed acts including Death in Vegas, Ocean Colour Scene and Billy Bragg, plus freeq favourites Reverend and the Makers, Sway, and beatboxing legend THePETEBOX, Summer Sundae have kept to their eclectic mix but just taken it up a level this year.
Soundwave has moved up the coast this year to Tisno but Belleruche are back there again as are Manchester’s finest Hoya Hoya, whose boat party last year was immense. De La Soul make an appearance as does DJ Yoda and Craig Charles.
Festival organisers have managed to keep ticket prices down as well, reducing them to the 2010 figures with day tickets starting at just £35 for adults. The central location in the city, just minutes from the train station, make Summer Sundae an attractive option for festival goers across the country. www.summersundae.com
This year the festival runs from 19th to 23rd July and tickets for the four days are £105. However, we recommend booking yourself in for the week and taking in some of the stunning surroundings in the post festival wind down. www.soundwavecroatia.com
MEADOWS IN THE MOUNTAINS Another of the burgeoning European festivals, Meadows in the Mountains is a Bulgarian offering over the 8th, 9th and 10th of June. Set in the beautiful Rhodope Mountains near the Greek border, this new festival will be one of the most in demand events this year.
JUST SO FESTIVAL If you want family friendly festivals then look no further than Just So. Established by two mums a couple of years ago as a not-for-profit company, the whole ethos is for an event that you can happily and safely take your kids to.
For just £65 you get festival entry, and your own tent in the meadows. Food is locally produced and reasonably priced and the music is a blend of ‘soulful vibes and contemporary house and disco’ with Crazy P, Riot Jazz and Will Saul among the confirmed artists.
The weekend festival over 17th to the 19th August, blends music, art and literature in the woodland setting of Rode Hall in Cheshire. Having won the Green Parent Best Family Festival 2011, Just So looks to have found a popular niche in the festival diary.
You saw it here first.
www.justsofestival.org.uk
www.meadowsinthemountains.com KENDAL CALLING The UK has its own stunning scenery too and Kendal Calling takes full advantage of the Lake District’s vistas with an award winning festival that provides 8,000 people three days of music, arts and fancy dress from 27th to 29th July.
TRAMLINES Based in Sheffield this festival will unlikely be either hot or beautiful (sorry Sheffield) but it’s in our guide because it is completely free. Winner of Best Metropolitan Festival last year, Tramlines features Roots Manuva, We Are Scientists, and Mr Scruff among its 600 acts.
The event in a 1,000 year old deer park has won the UK Festival Award for Best Small Festival and should definitely be on your ‘to-do’ list if you’ve not already ticked it off. Dizzee Rascal headlines this year with other acts such as Maxïmo Park, Andy C and Shy FX providing something for everyone.
Last year over 70 venues across the city welcomed more than 150,000 festival goers and this year looks set to be even bigger. We’ve racked our brains but struggled to find anything else like this that won’t cost you more than a few pints of beer and a tram ticket.
www.kendalcalling.co.uk
Sponsored by Nokia, Tramlines is held from 20th to 22nd July and covers almost every musical genre you can think of. www.tramlines.org.uk
DE MONTFORT HALL & GARDENS, LEICESTER
AGNES OBEL • AKALA • ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION • BILLY BRAGG CELEBRATES WOODY GUTHRIE’S 100TH BIRTHDAY THE BLACK SEEDS • BOWERBIRDS • BUENOS AIRES • CASHIER NO 9 • CLEAN BANDIT • CLOCK OPERA • DAN MANGAN • DATAROCK THE DAYDREAM CLUB • DEER TICK • DJANGO DJANGO • DOG IS DEAD • ELIZABETH CORNISH • FRANCOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS FRIENDS • THESE FURROWS • GHOSTPOET • GOLD PANDA • GOODNIGHT LENIN • GRACE PETRIE • HEY SHOLAY • HIP HOP SHAKESPEAR JACK BEATS • JAKE BUGG • JERSEY BUDD • JONATHAN RICHMAN • JUAN ZELADA • KAPPA GAMMA • KENWORTHY LAZY LESTER AND FRIENDS • THE LEICESTER ALL SKA’S REGGAE BIG BAND • LEWIS FLOYD HENRY • LIANNE LA HAVAS LITTLE NIGHT TERRORS • LONEY DEAR • LUCY ROSE • THE MAGIC TOMBOLINOS • MAHALIA • MAYBESHEWILL • MOLOTOV JUKEBOX NANCY DAWKINS • OLUGBENGA (METRONOMY DJ) • PARK BENCH SOCIETY • PATRICK WOLF • THePETBOX • RACHEL SERMANNI SPEECH DEBELLE • STAY+• SWAY • TEAM ME • TIM EDEY AND BRENDAN POWER • TINY RUINS • tUnE-yArDs • THE TWILIGHT SAD UNCLE FRANK • WALTER BOTTLE • WILLY MASON • Y NIWL AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
TO BUY TICKETS AND FOR MORE INFORMATION
WWW.SUMMERSUNDAE.COM / 0116 233 3111 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SUMMERSUNDAE
DAY TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW!
LOCO IN BRUM Circo Loco, Birmingham, 07/04/2012.
Street Art, Kerri chandler, Matthias Tanzmann, Jamie Jones, breakdancing clowns, the contents of Pat and Bianca Butcher’s wardrobes and a collection of aviator sunglasses large enough to make Topgun movies 2,3 and 4. What more does one need to go Circo Loco down in Acapulco…I mean Birmingham. Best known for their parties every Monday at DC10 in Ibiza, Circo Loco features a mixture of fun loving random clubbers (myself included) and with spine tingling tunes and an atmosphere second to none on the island the crowds quite literally go Loco for it… After living in Ibiza a few years ago and having sampled the delights of Circo Loco before, I was looking forward to my next bite. Would there be sunshine like on the island? Probably not, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to party. After a mooch around the courtyard where there were stalls to grab a bite to eat, a ferris wheel and graffiti artists who were effortlessly spraying up a work of art. We ventured into the main arena to be greeted with Dyed Soundorom on the decks. Unfortunately we had just missed Adam Shelton as we had been on a wild goose chase around Brum (but that’s another story). There was an odd feeling that you were dancing in a car park for a short while but Dyed was flinging out some persuasive tunes and before long it was difficult to tear yourself away from the floor. By the time the break dancing clowns were released all sorts of characters had poured into the arena, and the randomness began! The music was electrifying and the sound system was immense where ever you stood in the arena. All of the DJs were quite frankly the mutts nuts, I found myself verbally agreeing with them all rather a lot throughout the evening…I think I said ‘Oh yes’ or ‘Yeah!’ more times than I care to remember, but I think the real highlights for me were Jamie Jones who was on tip top form and Kerri ‘The Legend’ Chandler who delighted the crowds with uplifting and soul injected house music and it was an absolute pleasure to witness his flawless skill. Being British I will have to have a little moan about rude people who don’t know how to queue for anything and the drinks tokens… Regardless of these small annoyances the night was awesome and we danced the night away till the early hours and headed home, feeling full up on good quality music and banter. Lyn Stafford
SOCIAL CONSCIENCE
To those of you who’ve not seen Freeq magazine before now, you might not be aware that we created a ‘social conscience’ section for each issue of the magazine and were the first publication to blend creative arts and social conscience. Over the past years we’ve proudly featured articles on ethical fashion, aid working in Sudan, democracy in the Maldives, the earthquake in Haiti, and we’ve worked with charities big and small, including Oxfam, Shelter, Christian Aid, and Cancer Research. We’re always interested in worthy causes that you know of, work with, or just want to generate some publicity for. Get in touch if you think there is something that people need to know about. In the meantime you should definitely check out an organisation called 38 degrees who work to bring important political issues to the public’s attention. They’ve been lobbying the Government to save the NHS and are currently campaigning to reduce gas and electricity bills. Founder of 38 degrees David Babbs explained his decision behind setting up the organisation. “We launched in May 2009 as there was an underlying assumption that loads of people in the UK were being dismissed by politicians as apathetic, but we felt they were just not being connected with. We wanted to set up an independent organisation that could connect with the public.”
KERRI CHANDLER
IT’S NOT EVERYDAY YOU BUMP INTO A HOUSE MUSIC LEGEND, SO WHEN WE SAW KERRI ‘KAOZ’ CHANDLER BOUNCING THROUGH THE CROWD AT CIRCO LOCO WE JUST HAD TO GRAB HIM FOR 5 MINUTES. I have read that you come from a musical family? Yes, my father was a DJ and I started DJing when I was 13. What was it like growing up in New Jersey? Everyday’s a Great Adventure - some places more than others. People from New Jersey know exactly what I’m talking about. What musicians or artists have had an influence on you? Roy Ayers, Kraftwerk, Kool and the Gang and most of my peers. I read that you built your own studio? I have been working on it for the last 25 years and it’s changing daily. If your studio was burning down and you could only grab one piece of kit what would it be? My TR909
What now for the NHS? 38 degrees exists on donations made by its members and if you’ve become disillusioned with how the country is being run then visit their website at www.38degrees.org. uk and get yourself involved.
Is it true that you pray before each set? I have a silent prayer. I’m not religious but I am spiritual. What things outside of music inspire and influence you? Lack of sleep, kite flying, skateboarding, the beach, shark fishing, biking, astronomy, physics, the Twilight Zone, electronics, robotics, AI, cooking. How did it feel to win deep house DJ of the year last year? It felt good especially to know that I’m appreciated for what I love to do. When can we see you in England again? You can check KerriChandler.com for upcoming tour dates.
WHOEVER YOU TALK TO IN MANCHESTER, CHANCES ARE THEY ALREADY KNOW ABOUT HOYA HOYA. AN INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL, CLUB NIGHT, AND COLLECTIVE OF TALENTED PEOPLE. WHEN THEY’RE NOT RELEASING EPS OR ROCKING BOAT PARTIES,YOU CAN FIND THEM AT THE ROADHOUSE EVERY MONTH WITH SECRET SPECIAL GUESTS, PLUS FOUNDERS JONNY DUB AND ILLUM SPHERE WITH REGULARS LONE, KRYSTAL KLEAR, JON K, ECLAIRE FIFI, CHUNKY AND EMN ON THE VISUALS. IT’S A QUALITY NIGHT AS WE CAN TESTIFY AND WE ASKED JONNY DUB TO GIVE US A BIT MORE INSIGHT INTO HOYA HOYA.
HOYA HOYA
What is your vision for the Hoya Hoya label? To hopefully grow as a label and continue to put out interesting music. I would love to see us in the kind of position someone like Warp is, where we have a solid fan base who trust the label as well as maintaining a high standard of releases and being able to put a bit more thought and money into the way we release music - the packaging and the design - to be able to give people who want to buy music something to treasure. I want to put out things that feel like a lot of care has gone into their creation. I don’t want us to be one of those labels that bangs out any old rubbish in order to keep current with musical trends, we want to do something that will stand the test of time. You’ll be back out hosting boat and beach parties in Croatia this year, where does that rank in terms of your favourite gigs and what’s above it? For me the Soundwave boat parties are one of the highlights of the year. It’s kind of like being in the best club in the world with the best crowd. Everyone’s really up for it and from the first tune to the last the dance floor is just rocking. Maybe it’s something to do with the motion of the ocean or the salty sea air but people just go absolutely mental for it out on the boat. I love it and can’t wait for this years party where we will be joined by Eglo records, one of my favourite labels. What is it about Hoya Hoya that you think makes it work so well? I think it’s a combination of things, the venue which is essentially a black box in the ground, so it is like a blank canvas that we can transform into something that feels unique to Hoya. The sound system which is a bit dated (the subs were taken from the hacienda) but with a little TLC can sound as good as any club PA out there. The residents who all bring a different flavour to the party and are all experts in rocking the club, Chunky
out front who pound for pound is the best club host on the planet without doubt. Emn out back with his incredible array of visuals who really helps to create the mood and he really knows how to fit his content to that of the music that is being played. Finally the crowd, who are just game for anything and we have lots of regulars who come by month on month so it really feels like a family affair Who are you listening to/following at the moment? Theres loads of really exciting music coming out all over the place but im really enjoying pretty much everything that comes out from om unit, floating points, lorn, space dimension controller, sand circles, kelpe the list could go on for a long time. The new quakers lp out on stones throw is awesome as is the most recent foo fighters lp. I have been really getting into old early electronica people like delia derbyshire & raymond scott, the bbc radiophonic workshop records are amazing, through to stuff like kraftwerk, dopplereffekt, aphex twin & dmx krew. The more i listen to and learn about music the more i can see parallels and influences in everything. I pretty much listen to everything and am of the opinion that there is really only 2 types of music, good music and shit music and i try my best to only listen to the good stuff in abundance. Hoya Hoya recently released a digi pack of their first 3 EPs which you can get from boomkat.com. Check out Illum Sphere’s new radio show over at beatwolfradio.com every Sunday from 8pm. Follow the guys on Twitter @hoya_hoya or @jonny_dub or see them at the Roadhouse on the last Saturday of every month.
FOR THE FIRST MANCHESTER ISSUE OF FREEQ, WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FIRST (LAND)LADY OF MANCHESTER? PROPRIETOR OF THREE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BARS IN THE NORTH WEST AND WITH A FOURTH IN THE OFFING, WE SAT DOWN WITH CLEO FARMEN FOR AN ODD LITTLE CHAT. Having been made redundant and following a frustrating spell as a secretary, Cleo’s vision for a bar that was “really laid back, that anyone could come to, and that didn’t take itself too seriously, somewhere that was like my front room” led her to enrol on an evening business course at Manchester Business School. Admittedly her original idea for a licensed jewellery studio was destined never to materialize when she discovered “you can’t put booze and blowtorches in the same room.” With the jewellery studio element taking a back seat, Cleo began her research for a new bar, which she admits involved a lot of asking around. “I just went to bar owners and asked them where they got their beer from.” With the success of Odd bar in the Northern Quarter, Cleo went on to open two other bars within four years and is now in the final stages of a fourth establishment, a restaurant bar, the Blue Pig, round the corner from Odd. Cleo explained the Blue Pig will be something quite different: “It’s going to be more foody. It’s going to be absolutely nothing like the Odds at all. It’s got a very continental feel that will be reflected in the food. It’s going to be brilliant, a completely different vibe but hopefully still cool.” Asking if she had a favourite bar was like asking a parent which child was their favourite: “I like all of them in different ways.” She said with a laugh. It was a politician’s answer, but the glint in the eye leaves you thinking you’ve not been given the whole story. “Odd’s the original one, and then you’ve got Odder, which is a giant and it’s lovely but it’s very different and at the appeals to students so you have a different market
down there and you can do more down there with music and DJs and film. And then you’ve got Oddest, which is where I go drinking when I’m at home in Chorlton.” Cleo also believes the success of her bars is down to the attitudes of people in Manchester. “There’s this sort of spirit where people want you to do well when you’re just setting out. It really feels like everyone is behind you. I couldn’t do this in London, no chance. I don’t think people would give you the money or take you particularly seriously but I think there is this atmosphere in Manchester where it supports people who want to give it a go.” A keen traveller before her businesses were launched Cleo recalled some of her most memorable moments abroad. “I love St Petersburg in Russia: I thought that was brilliant. We had to cross the Finnish border and we had to bribe some Russian guards with a big bottle of whisky in the back of a BMW; that sounds well dodgy!” She also spent time working for Richard Branson on his Necker Island retreat. “[It] was amazing! Where else do you get the chance to stay somewhere at $27,000 a week? That blows your head off: I’ll never get the chance to go there again so that’s mental.” And on the subject of successful entrepreneurs, Cleo gave some sage words of advice to anyone wanting to set up their own business. “Just stick to your guns, believe in what you’re doing, and be honest with yourself, particularly with financial planning. Don’t bend the figures to fit your vision and don’t forget to pay yourself, otherwise you can’t live and you can’t eat.”
CLEO FARMEN
ARTIST PROFILE
CLAIREATKINSON Tell us about your work? Quite often, street photography pays attention to extraordinary occurrences within a city. In contrast to the unusual and sometimes fantastical, I enjoy to capturing the more realistic, everyday perspective of daily life on the streets of Manchester and the places I photograph. Hometown? Manchester, England Tools? 35mm Rangefinder cameras and colour negative film. Inspiration? L.S Lowry, The Smiths, David Shrigley, Bukowski, Tom Wood, Harvey Pekar, Allen Ginsberg. Where can we find you? www.claireatkinson.net
BELLERUCHE
image: Rosie Godwin
ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING BANDS AROUND RIGHT NOW WITH A SOULFUL ELECTRONIC SOUND BELLERUCHE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE ON YOUR RADAR. WE SPOKE WITH RICKY FABULOUS JUST BEFORE THE TRIO HEADED OUT ON A EUROPEAN TOUR. When we met you at Soundwave last year you had been spending time in the studio and now Rollerchain comes out this month, what can you tell us this album? Rollerchain is the first time we’ve really locked ourselves away in the studio without doing shows to work on an album. Due to doing this we really pushed our ideas in the studio. It was the kind of stuff we had always tried to do, but this time we really had time to explore ideas. The process didn’t just stop at the initial idea we had for a song. We have about 50 versions of each song from the album in various states of stripping away parts, adding new ones and seeing what was really necessary to carry the song. We found ourselves always asking the question if something is really saying something or if it just fits. Frequently, like in the song Cloverleaf we realised that there wasn’t much need for anything but bass and vocals as there was something special in the space in the sound and gave freedom for each of the parts to breath. You’re about to head out on tour and obviously Soundwave will be near the top of the list of favourite destinations, but where else are you looking forward to playing? This whole tour is pretty exciting as it’s the longest we’ve done with about 30 shows in 6 weeks. We’ve got a full week in Germany which we’re looking forward
to as we haven’t played there much. We’ve also got a London show at Scala which should be great as it’s such a well known London venue. Apart from that we’re just looking forward to getting back on tour as it’s a great experience Why should any of our readers who haven’t been to a Belleruche gig come and see you live? I’ve always wondered what our show would be like to watch live, as I can’t see it as an audience member. I think it’s really energetic to watch and also quite interesting as we take more or less all of our studio equipment with us and try and recreate the studio sounds live. This time round we got a little more experimental in the studio so Kathrin and I are playing bass on some songs together as we did a lot doubled bass lines, kathrin’s looping vocals, and DJ Modest has all sorts of weird toys he’s using to make sounds. We’ve been rehearsing for the tour for a few months and the press shows we’ve done have gone really well so we’re looking forward to this tour. You know we’re all about creative arts and social conscience, what’s on your moral compass at the moment? I guess the main part of our ‘moral conscious’ is that we tour by train and don’t do short haul flights. A lot
of bands pinball around Europe when touring using cheap airlines, but we try and tour in a sustainable way. Sometimes it costs a little more money, but not usually that much. Money’s money when it comes down to it, but you can’t put a price on actually sticking by your values and principles. The train networks in Europe are amazing and we’re surprised more people don’t use them. Have you found a plateau with your music in this album or will you be continuing to evolve what you create? We’ve always been pretty forward thinking with the music we make, and I don’t think this is a plateau. It’s stuff which we loved making, but it’s not that far removed from our previous albums as there have been songs which have pointed towards the songs on this album. We were quite lucky with this album that we all seemed to be on the same page with the kind if sound we wanted to create but I think there’s ideas and sounds we discovered on this album which we’d like to push in the future. What are your favourite tracks on the album? Kathrin - my favourite track is Cloverleaf. Originally Ricky and I wrore it as an acoustic song.Then one day I turned up to the studio and DJ Modest and Ricky had been working on it earlier in the day. Everything about it has changed except the vocal. They stripped away the guitar and put a sub bass into it and kind of filtered drums. The vocals fit so well with it but not something I would have thought to sing over that Bassline. DJ Modest - I’ve always really liked 16 minutes. It started in an apartment in New Zealand and ended in a windowless studio in East London. It went through about 30 versions before it ended up where it is now. I also ended up doing backing vocals which is probably the first time I’ve sung since school choir. Ricky Fabulous - I reckon longer days, longer nights might be my favourite. I love the sparseness of it and and the space in the chords. Also the lyrics when you listen to them are really clever and describe a lover as an almost supernatural presence with you during the day. What will be on your iPods while you’re on tour? I (Ricky Fabulous) have been listening to a lot of 8bit LA music recently like Jonwayne and Groundislava. Kathrin’s on things like the Pixies and Jack White. DJ Modest the last time I peaked was listening to Elgar, so who knows what he’ll be listening to... We know you’re quite creative aside from your music, what do you enjoy most away from performing? DJ Modest has recently bought himself the Harley of Mountain bikes and has been bombing around various bits of the country on that. Kathrin has been reading up a lot on Environmental science. I recently got a new synth and have been playing around on that a lot recently. And getting drunk. Sometimes both at the same time.
The promo photos of Kat looking ‘fabulous’ in that white dress, what’s the story behind them? The photos were taken by a guy called David Yeo who’s really quite amazing. He usually works with models for magazines but he managed to direct us pretty well. DJ Modest had already had some modelling experience, but I was pretty new to the whole thing. The photos were taken in an abandoned office so we were breaking old computers and throwing things around which was good fun. In some of the photos is David’s dog called Audrey who is quite famous in her own right as she’s been in Vogue before. Finally, and most importantly, are we invited to your Manchester gig at the Roadhouse on 23rd May? Yes, you’re all invited to our gig at the Roadhouse. Just play nice...
Belleruche are giving away guestlist to their shows throughout the tour. You can enter this on the facebook app on their page. www.facebook.com/Belleruche www.belleruche.com
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ROLLERCHAIN NEW ALBUM OUT NOW belleruche.com buy the album from itunes and get and exclusive track www.tru-thoughts.co.uk