IS S U E:7.1
RHUBARB BOMB X LO N G DIVISIO N
WRITE PLACE, WRITE TIME
IN CONVERSATION WITH BILLY BRAGG AND LAURA SNAPES RAISING MONEY FOR MAP (MUSIC AND ARTS PRODUCTION)
02/06/2018
WAKEFIELD TOWN HALL - 7PM - £10 TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW LONGDIVISIONFESTIVAL.CO.UK
Presented by:
E DIT O RI A L “Whittaker, from West Yorkshire? But, they’d be the oldest yet, think about our demographic…” Unlike the casting of my namesake Jodie as the 13th Doctor, the announcement that I’ve taken on the task of editing the re-launched Rhubarb Bomb is unlikely to have generated column inches and thousands of tweets. Thankfully the return of Long Division festival, which is the subject of this issue, has been heralded by press and fans alike. With thousands of fans set to visit Wakefield for the event in less than two months’ time. So here I am, stepping into shoes previously filled by the enigmatic ‘Roland X’ who steps down as editor but returns with their regular ‘Follow the Drum’ article. As with the Doctor I’m reliant on a team of assistants, who have ensured this issue exists, several of whom return. This includes the zines longest serving previous editor Dean Freeman, who interviews Long Division headliner Billy Bragg. Plus, designer Adam Hayward, returning for his first issue since 2.2 in 2011. My deepest thanks to both for their invaluable advice, input and most importantly time. Paul Bateson, who has taken a break from teaching, writes about the lead up to his current travels and how a rest can lead to a change. Long-time contributor Laura Thompson has illustrated his story and is also joined by her sister Amy Hodgins, whose Rhubarb Bomb debut looks ahead to this year’s Long Division and how the event itself can provide a boost both personally and for the city.
Amy’s illustration in my trusty notebook when Long Division made our first line-up announcements as part of January’s edition of Artwalk perfectly captured the excitement that the return of the festival inspired. Artwalk organiser Amy Lilley looks at the phenomenon that is ‘Hang The DJ’, the now traditional end to the bi-monthly event, which like much of the evening actively encourages participation. I’d love to hear a similarly diverse range of tunes in May, when Artwalk launches 4 days of Long Division festivities across the city. She also recalls being on tour around Europe last autumn with Wakefield band Drahla. I talk DIY approaches to music with Long Division favourites The Lovely Eggs and Adore//Repel, who both return to the festival. I’ve also resurrected the Endtroducing feature; FloodHounds are a new name to myself and were selected to play Long Division by a panel of our curator ticket holders. There’s enough interplanetary travel (Eggland on Planet Oeuf!) and adversaries (Vampiric Teenagers and Killer Robots) in those 3 articles to keep Doctor Who busy! Finally, if you haven’t already bought your ticket for this year’s festival there’s a chance to win a pair as it looks as though we’re set for a sell-out. There’s just the small matter of some actual long division to contend with. See you at the festival - Andrew Whittaker, Editor
CREDITS Andrew Whittaker
Writer & Editor
Dean Freeman
Writer & Executive Editor
Adam Hayward
Designer
Paul Bateson Amy Lilley
Writer Writer & Photographer
Amy Hodgins
Writer & Illustrator
Laura Thompson
Writer & Illustrator
Roland X
Writer
MEET TEAM LD Long Division Festival was originally created off the back of the fanzine Rhubarb Bomb and as such has always had a DIY focus and approach, relying on goodwill and massive dedication from those involved. Over the years it has steadily grown, always maintaining its dedication to local music, by placing it alongside nationally touring acts such as The Cribs, British Sea Power, The Fall, Ash and Pulled Apart By Horses in the city’s quirky and diverse venues. But during it’s hiatus in 2017, one of a string of major changes took place; Long Division formally set itself up as a Community Interest Company and recruited a Board Of Directors, a collective of grassroots creatives from across a wide range of artistic mediums. It has expanded its remit to include the wider arts, spearheaded by its “Manifesto For A New Wakefield” Arts Council funded project. We spoke to the members of the team to hear their picks of the festival and their top picks for other things to do in Wakefield over the Long Division weekend. 1. Dean Freeman - Festival Director www.longdivisionfestival.co.uk Pick of the Festival: “A Romantic Destination” is one of our commissioned shows this year, by Mi Mye frontman Jamie Lockhart. It’s been amazing that we’ve been able to fund the creation of brand new work by people from Wakefield and I can’t wait to see this show. Wakefield Recommended: I’d encourage everyone that attends to search out as many venues as possible as there are some real gems. A lunch time curry at Silver Spice is highly recommended and it’d be rude not to call in Wah Wah Records to peruse the vinyl whilst you are in town. 2. Paul Bateson - Teacher, Writer, Theatre Maker www.paulbatesonis.co.uk Pick of the Festival: Billy bloody Bragg! In Wakefield Cathedral! This is what the power of Team Long Division can do, putting on a musician of such brill back catalogue coolness and experience and stature;
alongside CAPA, local arts college performing a newly commissioned piece of dance ; in this historic setting together on the same day - inspiring stuff. Wakefield Recommended: You should visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Amazing national and international artwork in a rolling West Yorkshire rural setting. Perfect for walking off a hangover, getting your fine art fix for the weekend before Saturday’s bands, or a Sunday morning family outing before the Beatles Experience. 3. Adam Hayward - Graphic / Motion Designer www.copypasterepeat.com Pick Of in the Chilled when it
The Festival: Charlotte Hatherley - The alien music video for A Sign has me intrigued. electronic music is a break from the norm comes to indie rock-loving north.
Wakefield Recommended: I’d have to go with YSP too. Been going regularly since I was around 12 years old. The walks, the nature, the art. Simply one of the best places I’ve ever been to and it’s in my home town. 4. Amy Lilley - Programme Producer and Photographer www.artwalk.org.uk Pick of the Festival: Galaxians, my fav Leeds trio back in Wakefield! They’re always bringing the party to whereever they go, a proper good band to dance to. I remember seeing them perform with their fierce female singer Emma for the first time at Neon Workshops at LD2016 and it was fantastic, so definitely check them out! As well as that though i’m excited to see all of the ‘Manifesto for a New Wakefield’ commissions come to fruition, especially Alicia Wallace’s - i’ve been a fan of her work for a long time! Wakefield Recommended: Enjoy Wakefield’s wide variety of independent bars and restaurants! A few of my favourites include Harrys Bar, Wakefield Beer Exchange, Damelio, Jose’s Tapas, Duchniak, Qubana, and Silver Spice. If you have a few spare hours over the busy weekend it’s always worth visiting Yorkshire Sculpture, Newmiller Dam and of course The Hepworth Wakefield.
5. Ruth Offord - Marketing & Communication Manager www.thelbt.org Pick Of The Festival: The Lovely Eggs. They’ve played Long Division in the past but this year feels like their year. It’s fantastic to see a band come back to the festival after having a successful record. The audience feel like they’ve followed them on their journey. Wakefield Recommended: Estabulo Rodizio Bar & Grill - I love this place! It’s the biggest meat buffet in Wakefield. Full of cosy charm the servings are delicious and you just can’t stop eating. Even when they offer you a third portion… 6. Ash Scott - Film Maker www.skysailstudios.co.uk Pick Of The Festival: The Surfing Magazines. Being a big fan of The Wave Pictures I’m really looking forward to catching this supergroup. I’m loving what i’ve heard from them so far. Wakefield Recommends: Go see Luke at Urban Quarter to get a fresh haircut for the festival, seriously the greatest barber ever! Then head straight over the road to Mocha Moocho for a brew (my number one choice for business meetings). When it comes to restaurants i’d recommend Delphi beautiful greek food. 7. Laura Thompson - Art Lecturer, Illustrator/Printmaker www.laura-alice.co.uk Pick of the Festival: Marnie - Hypnotic, electronic beautiful sounds on a monochromatic backdrop
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that takes me back to the start of my obsession with electro-pop in the early naughties as a huge Ladytron fan. Wakefield Recommends: Visit the library, museum and Create cafe, great for kids and yummy affordable food. 8. Andrew Whittaker - Zine Editor and Musician Twitter: @AGWhittaker1979 Pick of the Festival: The Membranes - Dark Matter / Dark Energy was one of my favourite albums of 2015 and in turn they were a highlight at LD2016. That was around the time they’d started working with choirs and although they didn’t have one with them at that gig I asked John Robb a question about those collaborations during his Q&A. I’ve been itching to see them with a choir in tow and what more appropriate place than the Cathedral! Plus they’ve been working on a new album so I’m hoping they’ll introduce some new material Wakefield Recommended: If they make it to the Quarter finals of the Rugby League Challenge Cup and get a home draw you could take in a Wakefield Trinity match at Belle Vue. Being the quarter finals it’s likely we’d be playing one of the big guns, possibly even a Wakefield v Castleford derby. Fingers crossed we can make if to Wembley this year, it would be apt as it’s the 50th anniversary of the infamous ‘Watersplash’ final against Leeds. As for my ‘Trinity’ of eating places, start with a Full English at Create Cafe in Wakefield One, grab a curry and read the inspirational / thought provoking quotes in Silver Spice later in the afternoon and finish up in the legendary Pie Shop in the evening. That should see you through the day.
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THE YEAR OF T H E EG G RB: The reaction to ‘This Is Eggland’ seems to have been overwhelmingly positive, including the David & Holly vs Goliath attack on the album charts! Does 2018 feel like the Year of the Egg? TLE: Yeah it does. We’ve been doing the band for 12 years, playing here there and everywhere, meeting new people and getting new fans. It’s just been part of our life. But yeah the reaction to the new album did shock us a bit! I mean we were number 9 in the Independent UK Album charts. And that’s just two idiots doing everything ourselves. No management, no booking agent, no label behind us. Our distributor told us that if we had towed the fucking line (which we never do) and not sold the album in advance on our website and at gigs then it would have been top 45 in the proper UK charts. Fucking madness! It’s a sign though. People smell bullshit. It’s refreshing to do a band our own way and have none of that hype smoke and mirrors bullshit and STILL sell out gigs and sell records. They tell you the industry way is the only way but we’re telling you it’s fucking not! The UK British Underground scene sez frigging otherwise. So yeah we’re proud of how well the record has done. We couldn’t have done it without our fans backing us up though and buying the record. They’ve always been there for us and we’ll always be there for them. It’s that DIY punk rock ethos. We’re all equals having a party and putting two fingers up out the window at life. Yer either in or yer out. RB: You created a fanzine to accompany the album, including contributions from your recent touring partner Phil Jupitus. A question we’ve asked many times in Rhubarb Bomb is why zines? TLE: For us it gave us a chance to expand on the new record and include lyrics to the album (which many of our fans often want.) It also gives our exact perspective on stuff and fans can hear it from the horses (mouth), it gives us chance to show people our favourite things, or what we’ve been reading or stuff our friends have drawn. We’ve always loved zines. You know they are interesting and full of random stuff and there are no rules in making them. We’ve seen some photography only zines and another great zine by a guy called Phil in Derby who just
does these amazing psychedelic drawings in day-glo marker while he does the door at gigs and he makes zines out of em. Our friend Casey Raymond (who also makes a lot of our videos and does the artwork to our records) does loads of really warped illustrative zines that come out from the putrid sinkhole of his mind. Check em out on Etsy. We also really love Poor Lass Zine and Lady Fuzz. Zines highlight subculture and empower and encourage their readers. It’s really important to feel when you are sat in yer bedroom in Grimsby listening to a Lovely Eggs record that you are not alone. There are other freaks out there like you too! And zines help to spread the word on the underground. RB: You’ve already done a run of dates earlier this year, does the reaction to the album along with a tour that seemed to be a lot of fun give you a sense of momentum going into what will soon be festival season? TLE: Yeah we suppose so. On the last tour 9 out of 10 tour dates sold out and it was such a good laugh. We’re being booked for more and more festivals this summer which is great. Looking forward to hanging out with our little lad at them and getting a tan and waking up in a hot tent at 7am with a hangover. Festivals can be a bit more tricky cos you’re not playing to hardcore fans, and a lot of people you play to won’t have heard you before, but you know we don’t mind that. We quite like a challenge! RB: I wonder how it compares going into festival season where you’ll be playing to quite varied audiences such as headlining Indietracks versus appearing at Rebellion Festival in Blackpool? I get the sense from reading your No Fake Encores stance that someone catching you several times this summer would get a different experience each time TLE: It’s part of life innit. People are different in different places and situations but let’s put it this way we are ready for anything! I think the beauty of live shows is that anything could happen! And it probably will! Bring it fucking on!!
RB: We’re welcoming The Lovely Eggs back to Long Division for the third time. You appeared at the first edition of the festival in 2011 and in 2015. What memories do you have of those visits? TLE: In 2011 we remember driving over in our little blue VW Polo with all the stuff piled up in the back and I remember clambering over the furniture in Henry Boons in my stocking feet and then meeting Darwin Deez and hanging out with our mate Ewan and going to some fucking Cowboy Wildwest Ranchhouse (AW – That was Mustang Sally’s). Doing shots and can’t remember the rest. In 2015 we’d had our little lad by then who was about 18 months old so we remember playing at Unity Works and mostly hanging out in the dressing room with Sweet Baboo who had also just had a baby. So our kids had a wrestling match and we watched and drunk beer. Both years were great gigs for us. Wakefield has always done us proud.
ensure the show went ahead after the closure of the original venue. That really made me sit up and take notice of what you’re doing and your work ethic has shone through. Was it a case of taking that hiccup all in your stride or were you busting a gut to ensure the show went ahead? And did you feel an extra sense of achievement as a result? TLE: We absolutely busted a gut to keep that show on. We lost loads of money because See Tickets paid a lot of the ticket money to Unity Works in advance to help with their cash flow problems and that money was never paid to us. Although we honoured everyone’s original tickets, we will never get the money back from the administrators. As we said before, we will never let our fans down. We would have been gutted if we would have had to cancel the do in Wakefield so we didn’t let it happen, even though it did nearly give us a nervous breakdown two days before the tour.
RB: This year will see you playing the largest venue of your three appearances, Warehouse 23, which holds over 800 people. You’ve gone from the back room of Henry Boons pub in 2011 to the Minor Hall at Unity Hall in 2015. Is the increasing size in venues a fair reflection of The Lovely Eggs profile overall? I notice that your upcoming appearance with The Membranes at Manchester Ritz is billed as your ‘Biggest Manchester show yet!”
I don’t think we felt a particular sense of achievement, we were just pleased not to have let our fans down in Wakey.
TLE: It never matters to us where we play or where we appear on the bill. We never think that sort of stuff matters to the enjoyment and good vibes of a gig. But yeah I think we are getting more fans and so venue capacities are going up. The biggest headline gig we’ll be playing this year will be at The Scala in London in October. Water off a ducks to us though. We could be playing to 40 people or 4000 people, if the vibe is right it’s gunna be a good do.
We’re going to be playing an instore live gig at Rough Trade in Nottingham and then in the evening we’re gunna be playing Nottingham pop fest. Not actually had a proper look at the list left to be honest. Have you seen the size of it!! Will have to have a look!
RB: Your autumn tour kicked off in Wakefield at The Snooty Fox Club, I couldn’t make the gig, but was really impressed at how hard you worked to
TLE: You’re putting out a ‘Fried Egg’ pressing of ‘This Is Eggland’ for Record Store Day and helped launch this year’s list at Vinyl Tap. How are you going to spend the day itself and any items you’ve got your own eye on?
- Andrew Whittaker ‘This Is Eggland’ is out now on Egg Records, the band play Warehouse 23 as part of Long Division Festival.
A R E S T IS G O O D FO R A C H A N G E They say a change is as good as rest, but sometimes I think you need a proper good rest in order to really make a change. And that’s what I did. On the 30th January 2018, me and my girlfriend and life team mate Helen flew to Kathmandu, Nepal. This marked the start of a six month journey taking in ten countries, fifteen flights, some boats, trains, rickshaws, tuk-tuks and plenty of walking! It’s now March and we’ve quit our jobs, sold our cars and rented out our homes. We’ve spent our savings and put ‘normal’ life on hold. After ten years teaching in a tough school for me; and six years in fast paced finance management for Helen we were burnt out and exhausted, timetabled every minute of the day at work and working all hours at home. We’d like to have a family one day, but where would that fit in? It’s a cliché but taking this break (that we saved hard for) we want to find ourselves – and have a big rest. Maybe we’ll be back in three weeks with a bad tummy and tail between our legs; or perhaps in five month’s time I will refuse to ever wear shoes and have opened a meditation retreat in the Ghillie Isles. We thought we might love it or hate but we feel we had to do it, now, or we’d never know. Well it seems to be working for me. Now I’m not suggesting that Long Division was burnt out or exhausted as an event, though the festival director, Dean, might have been from putting it all together. But for whatever reason LD took a break last year. After six successful festivals between 2011 & 2016, there was no LD in 2017. No LD!!! Gutted! What would we do that June weekend? Where would we get our diet of Wakey music fun? Well Glasto do it and take a year off. But why? LD was growing each year and aspects were added and tweaked each time. New line ups. Different venues. It was changing.
I’ve known Dean since we were 5, so I know he has big plans for the festival. And yes, last year he could have added something, changed it a bit. It would have been great and would have grown as it has year on since it began. Since I said ‘yes’ to being a volunteer. But for the new direction of LD to evolve, for the fresh ideas and energy that has come with LD2018 - it needed a rest. Sometimes you need a break. Just as I need some headspace away from work, in order to think about my work. We need headspace to really bring about change. So for LD to mature into a truly grassroots arts organisation, working year round, rather than a one weekend indie fest in June. We needed some time to think. And have we. We’ll shortly look back at some LD highlights and look forward to future successes with some good old lists. One bad habit I’m hoping to kick (or at least curb) during our six months away is ‘letting go of my to-do list’. I’m terrible for it. It started as a way to sort my day; jotting down jobs in my iPhone notes pages. But it turned a little obsessive and pretty unhealthy. I began putting things to do in my notes when my ‘reminders’ app froze. Then it was helping for work; setting meetings, creating a marking rota; planning rehearsals. I’m now clicking everything down for what seems like each hour of the day, always looking at it, adding and thinking what I need to do next before I’ve even finished the first thing... I can’t seem to relax Short of reminding myself to wake up and go to the toilet I am scheduled for almost everything; ‘Text Gaz’, ‘Gym’, ‘Go to Nans’, ‘Get chicken out of freezer’, ‘write blog article’, ‘watch ‘Inside No. 9’ was a recent list. It strangely got worse when I finished working, as though not having the structure of a daily job would mean I would waste the days if I didn’t diarise as spe-ci-fi-call-y as possible. And then I started adding the times; ‘8.30am – 9.30am breakfast and reading’...
When I signed up to 6 months travelling there were clearly a lot of unknowns ahead, and lots of jobs to do; my ‘list’ went off the scale. There was a lot I really wasn’t expecting. Big jobs were obvious, but there were things to sort that I thought would be easier and some stuff had never even crossed my mind...
I spent days unsubscribing from email mailing lists, redirecting my post, cancelling Netflix, pausing gym membership, using up freezer meals, declaring my car off road, passing the 6-a-side footie team manager responsibility to my mate Joe, giving back borrowed DVDs, packing up and renting out my house and going to the dentist... So to humour my love for lists, and as a sort of staggered withdrawal, I’ll finish with some more!
List of unexpected pre-travelling stuff: •
Seeing just how many bloody e-mailing lists I am subscribed to
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How sentimentally hard it is to e-bay an old CD collection
•
VHS are twice the size of DVDs to store don’t you know
•
Finding out the early adopter
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Realising I would need five trips to the travel clinic and spend £500 on travel vaccinations
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That I owned over 200 copies of Sidewalk Surfer Skateboarding Magazine, 150 of Viz and 120 of NME
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The joy and satisfaction of finishing a bottle of shampoo or Sweet Chilli sauce
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Cancelling the wheelie bin cleaner man
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Realising how many lovely friends I have
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Realising how much I will miss people
girlfriend
was
a
Looking back Long Division top five: Being the venue coordinator for Emmy the Great at Wakefield Cathedral (2011) 1.
Too Many T’s impromptu encore in Bank Street Car Park (2013)
2.
‘The Westgate chapel gigs’ - RM Hubbert, Gilmore and Roberts, Jamie Say Smile (2014 2016)
3.
Manjit’s Kitchen Indian street food van (2014)
4.
Rhucello Cocktails (2015 & 2016)
Mini-Disc
- Paul Bateson You can follow Paul on Twitter - @WakeyDramaPaul and read further tales of his travels at www.paulbatesonis.co.uk/blog
HANG THE DJ Hang the DJ at Wakefield Beer Exchange - a typical way to end my Artwalk night. I’ve just installed artwork by Jennawennabobenna here as part of WE ARE’s ongoing ‘Art and Ale’ series, which opened on the Artwalk and is on show until May 28th. It’s always great seeing different artists, venues, performers and visitors of the Artwalk get together at the end of the night to enjoy a few drinks and a catch up! This time I photographed a few folk that had brought records with them to play and asked them a few questions, (words and photography: Amy Lilley):
Rob Dee
Lucy Norton
Your 3 records & where you bought them:
Your 3 records & where you bought them:
Lovely Eggs - This Is Eggland. Manic Street Preachers - Know Your Enemy. Neon Neon - Stainless Style. Wah Wah, Discogs, Discogs.
Let the Rhythm In - Galaxians, I got it at their album launch at Brudenell. Hounds of Love - Kate Bush, inherited it from my mum. Cripple crow - Devendra Banhart - I got it when I saw him supporting Arcade Fire in 2010.
Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk: Jonathan Lang’s exhibition at Neon workshops.
Favourite thing from Wednesday’s Artwalk:
Dylan Cartlidge, Peaness, The Lovely Eggs.
Obviously Jenna’s beautiful prints at Beer Exchange and also Neon Workshops was absolute magic! Super impressive artist.
What you’re drinking:
Top 3 Long Division 2018 picks:
Saltaire Amarillo Gold.
Galaxians, Mush, Drahla.
Top 3 Long Division 2018 picks:
What you’re drinking: A Great Heck beer called Hapi, that was nice.
Richard Wheater
Nick Singleton
Your 3 records and where you bought them:
Your 3 records & where you bought them:
A Ride on the Bosphorus - Peter Broderick (playing at my warehouse in September!). Exchange - Massive Attack. Sometimes - Peter Broderick. Records bought from Eyewood & Discogs.
Building Steam with a Grain of Salt - DJ Shadow. Two Thousand and Seventeen - Four Tet. The Living Daylights - A-ha. Had them years, can’t remember where I got them now!
Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk:
Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk:
Call me biased, but fav thing was Jonathan Lang’s exhibition at Neon Workshops.
Tango Unchained show at Unity Works.
Top 3 Long Division picks: Top 3 Long Division picks: John Welding, Galaxians and Jamie Lockheart.
I’ve not had a chance to check out the bands yet but I’m looking forward to seeing all of the artist commissions.
What you’re drinking: The only lager beer Beer Ex have on tap (we checked it was Veltins).
What you’re drinking: Veltins but it was actually Coors light I think...
Amy Cooper
Helen Field
Your 3 records and where you bought them:
Your 3 records and where you bought them:
Lady Marmalade - Christina, P!nk, Mya and Lil’ Kim. Lets TalkAabout Sex - Salt-N-Pepa. Hanky Panky Madonna. I’m never sure which records I got from where but generally Wah Wah records, Discogs or a Charity Shop/bargain bin.
Baccara – Yes Sir I can boogie. The Go Gos – Cool Jerk. C&C music Factory – Gonna Make You Sweat. I buy from various places, locally Wah Wah Records, Eye Wood and Criminal Records.
Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk: Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk: The best thing about the art walk is always Helen Field’s Messy Messy studio and beautiful abstract paintings (at Westgate Studios).
Roger Gardner – Westgate Studios, always love Rogers use of colour, and this exhibition of paintings is his best yet.
Top 3 Long Division picks: Top 3 Long Division picks: The Lovely Eggs: Because last time they played LD it was amazing! Peaness: Sound fun. Alicia Wallace Interactive LED performance.
Both Ali Bullivent (& Guests) and The Bleeding Obvious are joyous to watch, and the Galaxians sound like I want to hear more.
What you’re drinking: What you’re drinking: As we are in Camra Wakefield’s Cider pub of the year I am having a lovely Thistly Cross original.
A dark and delicious, date and liquorice porter called Medjool.
Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk: Neon Workshops for sure!
Top 3 Long Division picks: Adore//Repel, Dralha and Zozo.
What you’re drinking: Drinking - Lager (it was literally just called Lager) haha!
Mike Ainsley Your 3 records and where you bought them: Hookworms - Negative Space bought from Wah Wah records. Galaxians - Let the Rhythm In - bought at their album launch at Brudenell. The Who - Who’s Next - a little record shop called in York. Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk: Loved Jonathan Langs interactive exhibition at Neon Workshops and i’ve enjoyed seeing more of Jenna’s work at Beer Exchange after she painted a huge mural for us at Crux last year.
Top 3 Long Division picks: Galaxians, Mush and Jamie Lockhart - all completely different styles, all brilliant.
Harry Rhodes
What you’re drinking:
Your 3 records and where you bought them:
The draught lager.
Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles - Captain Beefheart. Monster - Chad VanGaalen. Running Up That Hill Kate Bush. I bought all three albums from Wah Wah Records.
Favourite thing from tonight’s Artwalk: I really enjoy the changing installations at Beer Exchange so the new Jennawennabobenna exhibition is a great addition and brings colour and vibrancy to the place.
Top 3 Long Division picks:
Jenna Coulthard Your 3 records and where you bought them: Cats (the musical) - Andrew Lloyd Webber. This was a pleasantly surprising drunken eBay purchase! GOAT World Music. Del The Funkee Homosapien - I Wish my Brother George Was Here. Both were birthday gifts.
Firstly The Lovely Eggs, I saw them last year and they put on a great show. Secondly, I saw Jamie from Mi Mye do a really intimate one man show last year, so to see that evolve into a full show at the theatre is going to be unmissable. Lastly, Galaxians are always a line up highlight wherever they play.
What you’re drinking: I’m drinking the imaginatively named ‘Lager’. It’s quite nice!
G R E A T DI V ISIO N Musician and Activist Billy Bragg spoke to us ahead of his appearance at Long Division Festival - the only performer to have ever appeared on both the Friday and Saturday of the event.
“It’s like different tools to get different responses really isn’t it?”
“My son used to say to me ‘when are we going to have our punk rock, dad? When are we going to have our miners’ strike?’ And I’m like, ‘son, pick up your guitar and get to work’.”
RB: Would you say your music is just a means to get a message across?
RB: Without being too bleak… you turned 60 last year. What did that mean to you? BB: Well, I think it’s about trying to keep on top of the incredible changes in the music industry. You need make sure that you’re not making records the way that you did in the 20th century and wondering why they’re not connecting. I’m never gonna be popular in the charts again but remaining relevant is possible. Just don’t expect people to find you, you’ve got to make some accommodation that music has changed and in order to do that you have to kind of suss out where you think it’s going. RB: Do you think recognising that?
that
was
NME’s
failing,
not
BB: I think NMEs failing was down to something that we all have to deal with, that music no longer has a vanguard role in youth culture that it used to. In the 20th century there was only one social medium and it was music, and it had to encapsulate everything that young people wanted to talk about, all the way from love to politics and everything in-between. The music press was where we debated those ideas, where we spoke to one another, where we compared notes. And now you can do that in so many different places. You don’t need to go out and buy a Billy Bragg album to identify who you are. There are other ways that are more personal now, so I think the music press has suffered greatly from that, but conversely more and more people now want to go to gigs, and festivals like Long Division are proof of that.
BB: If I’ve got something hard and punchy, I’m going to crank it up… y’know something like ‘Why We Built the Wall’. Then if the message is a little bit more laid back and a bit more soulful I’m going to try and find a way of playing that in. I’ve always looked back to my old records, I’ve always messed around with styles, I’ve never been just one particular style. I’ve always found that to be a strength of what I do. RB: And do you have a similar approach to the live sets too? BB: Well festival set that I’ve been doing by its nature tends to be a bit shorter as you only get to play for an hour. You’ve got to try and connect with people and I’m doing some shows over the summer with Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, and I think I’m only playing for 45 minutes. I really have to be on my toes and if I start rambling I’ll lose the songs, and I don’t really wanna do that. I have a little bit more scope with my show at Long Division. I’ve been working with a guy from Stoke, CJ Hillman and he plays pedals and jangly Rickenbacker, and he’s pretty good at getting on top of the Americana side of songs but also the songs country-style, Johnny Cash, he’s really good at playing that kind of guitar. He’s quite a versatile asset for me to take out on the road, and I find in festivals that really helps to connect with the audience.
“We’re in a time of great division” RB: It feels that through my lifetime we’ve had this pendulum swinging back and forth; things are terrible, then perhaps not so bad. And you keep asking yourself, are things getting better or worse? But over the last 2 or 3 years, the decline feels absolute and inarguable. With your wider perspective, where are we at right now? BB: I think we’ll look back on the day of the referendum as the most divisive day in our post-war history. I think the country is more divided than it was in the miners’ strike. And that’s the only time
I can think of in my lifetime when there‘s been a stark division. The miners’ strike was a struggle, a physical struggle, but there was an end-point that we all knew would come one way or another. The government would win, or maybe the miners would win like they did 10 years before. With Brexit, you don’t know, because once it happens we’re into this situation where things can continue to get worse. So, I think these are dire straits we find ourselves in, and at the same time as Trump in the White House and Putin in the Kremlin, we’re really between a rock and a hard place here. The whole sense of how we’ve kept a kind of stable government and economy is starting to slide, and with the case of China, where they’re delivering tangible improvements to the majority of their people without having a liberal democracy, then they can go around the world and say ‘well, if you have democracy then the economy gets messed up. Whereas if we were in charge, it would get better and better’. And that’s not actually true because in a way they’ve crashed their economy too. But the days when liberal democracy was seen as a cure for everybody’s problems and a way to get a secure stable environment, to bring up a family in the knowledge that your kids will be better off… that’s starting to fade away, and I’m very concerned about that. Very concerned. Because it only takes that to move a few degrees and you start seeing the kind of far right racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric which is sadly all over the UK, and everywhere at the moment. So, yeah, I think these are the most challenging times I’ve lived through. RB: It’s twelve years since your book The Progressive Patriot which (among other things) looked at the left taking back the ideas of being patriotic and finding the positive in that. It feels more pertinent than ever. BB: Yes, very much so. I don’t think the left has really got to grips with the ideas of patriotism and identity. I think it still has a problem with that. And we need to clearly state what we think it means to be English, so that we can have our own sense of belonging to challenge the narrow definition of belonging that the far right use that’s based on race, rather than place. You could be talking about place and community and bringing people together, and with Brexit it’s been hard to do that because Brexit is a specifically English nationalist project. So it’s tough to get the left to look at it in that way.
“It should be about people in Yorkshire making those decisions.” RB: I wonder a lot about devolution and whether devolving power further and further and splitting us into smaller and smaller communities is a good idea. I identify more as a Yorkshireman than an Englishman, but I do worry about Yorkshire Devolution as an idea. BB: It’s your prerogative, and nobody should be able to tell you who you are; that’s your personal
identity. But, having said that, it should be possible to devolve power closer to people in England on a similar level to what they have in Scotland, with the same tax for power, and those kind of things. But on a regional basis, the happy thing for that in Yorkshire’s terms is Yorkshire is constituted as a region in the European Union. Most of the English regions including Yorkshire are around 5 million, which is the same as Scotland, which makes it viable. Where I live in the South West we have a lot of old people, so the idea of free care for older people or something like that down here, and other places would have other priorities. But Yorkshire could be a
leader in the idea of regional devolution, because we live in a very central country and y’know, Wakefield city council is probably suffering from cuts from the centre. So having those decisions made closer to you would surely help, because of course you would have proportional representation as well, so everybody’s voice would be heard. So, you wouldn’t end up in such a divided situation where the DUP are more or less keeping them in power now, so electors in Northern Ireland are guaranteeing cuts to council service users in Wakefield, and it shouldn’t really be like that. There is one absolute key difference that you have to understand in Yorkshire though. RB: What’s that? BB: You can’t have a team in the World Cup like Scotland. I know you want it! That is one precedent that has gone too far. You can go off and play and still have a Cup with Catalonia and all these weird places.
“I’m one of those people who believes the glass is always half full.”
And I refuse to give in to my cynicism, which I find coming up in the back of my throat all the time. Because I look at the telly and I read the newspapers. But I think if you’re gonna believe in a compassionate society, if you’re gonna believe in a progressive idea like socialism you have to be someone who believes in humanity, you can’t think that everyone’s out to get you. You’ve got to have a more broad sense of humanity than that. So I work very hard at keeping my cynicism curbed. And when I see people letting their cynicism run away with them, it disappoints me. I try not to shout at them. I try and say ‘look man, curb your cynicism, we’re on the same side here, we’re trying to be positive’. And at the next election we may have the opportunity to vote for a genuinely radical government. So all these things together give me cause for encouragement not to give up. So that’s what I’m trying to put out that vibe when people come to see me. That’s probably the most you can do with music; music can’t change the world, only the audience can change the world. It’s all of us together. Just a person on stage leading from the front. A person on stage is like a lightning rod, he’s trying to throw back the responsibility to the audience.
RB: What are your beacons of hope? BB: Oh, there are plenty of signs if you want to look for them. The fact that the Tories didn’t win the last election outright when everybody was putting the boot in on Corbyn and even the Labour MP’s saying it’s gonna be a wipe-out. What happened was a lot of young people turned up to vote. And I’m encouraged that they will remain engaged, and that their view of Brexit is that they’d like to reverse it, so it’s not over yet. And in cultural terms, there is also a lot of positives going on by the #MeToo movement; we could do with that in the music industry, it shouldn’t just be confined to the film industry. We perhaps need it more in the music industry because in the music industry there’s much more kudos to people who misbehave. It’s as if rock n’ roll gives you a licence to be an arsehole, and unfortunately sometimes the media celebrate that arsehole tendency so we have a lot of work to do there. So the way that women are responding and taking control on those issues, I find that very inspiring. And Stormzy at The Brits talking about Grenfell, for him to stand there and speak out like that on live TV, I found that very encouraging. And the fact that number 10 felt they needed to respond. Number 10 never used to respond when I said shit on TV. It never happened. I think it’s a mixture of Stormzy’s courage to get up and say that and the way the audience reacted in the O2. Those two things combined both forced the government to respond and gave me cause for hope.
“That’s an interesting festival y’know, it’s not just turn up and play. Get engaged with it“ RB: How are you feeling about joining us in Wakefield for Long Division Festival? BB: There’s a difference between turning up in a field or people corralled in an auditorium where you play your song and you go home. When you come into a town and you engage through the record shops and a debate, doing a gig, a few things, that’s much more interesting. I don’t know if other bands are like that but I find that much more engaging for me because I’ve been doing this for a long time. So consequently if someone has an interesting way to do a gig I’m much more likely to connect with that if there’s time. You’re putting down some interesting possibilities with your festival and I think that’s a really good way to bring interesting people to Wakefield. - Dean Freeman
Billy Bragg will appear at Wakefield Town Hall on Friday June 1st at Write Place, Write Time, an In Conversation event alongside journalist Laura Snapes (Guardian / Q, Pitchfork). He will also perform on June 2nd at Wakefield Cathedral.
A N E W W A K E FIE L D Long Division has commissioned 13 Wakefield artists to create new pieces of work for the festival in 2018. This work was made possible by funding from Arts Council England.
A Romantic Destination It’s 1851. Two brothers share a book of music, handed down through the family’s generations. In it they scrawl their own particular notes and reminders, alongside these crochets and semitones, tempos and metres. One is a Folk Songwriter. One will make it to Buckingham Palace, as the 1st Piper to Queen Victoria. Many generations later, that book is unearthed on the North Coast of Scotland, in a small town called Skerray. And like its previous owner, it too goes on a journey south, but only as far as Wakefield.
It now rests in the hands of Jamie Lockhart, a man who spent the first 18 years of his life in Scotland and the second 18 in Wakefield. What does this songbook tell him about his ancestors, about our journeys through life and about the importance of music capturing moments, and documenting time? Jamie will tell his story with fiddle and piano backing at Theatre Royal Wakefield on May 30th. Tickets are £8 and available through Long Division’s website.
Toria Garbutt
John Welding
Fresh from a run as John Cooper Clarke’s tour support, Spoken Word artist Toria has been commissioned to create a new piece of work “Cups Of Tea And Me”, a series of new poems created in Wakefield’s Cafes and meeting places, those informal places where ideas and dreams are formed. They will be available in the venues that inspired them during the festival.
A highly renowned illustrator and comic book artist, John will be present across Long Division festival using his skills to capture the scale (both large and small) of the event. Look out for an exhibition of his existing work too.
Richard Wheater
Using the May 68 revolutionary era as a jumping off point, @.ac will take Long Division’s call for a Manifesto at its most direct, creating new and rethought revolutionary materials and running workshops
Head of the internationally renowned Neon Workshops (also Long Division’s spoken word venue) Richard has created a piece “Visible Words From Invisible People”, a series of astounding neon works based around interactions with the city’s homeless population. They will be displayed in empty shop units around the city during Long Division. CAPA College The performance arts college has teamed up with soundscape / soundtrack artist Thomas Ragsdale to create a contemporary dance response to this set in Wakefield Cathedral during the festival. Nicholas & Alex Vaughan As part of a larger project “Grassy Slag Heaps” being undertaken whilst in residency at Wakefield’s Art House, Nicholas and Alex will present a large scale etching reflecting on the mining heritage and landscape of the city. Ali Bullivent & Friends A mix of soundscape and live perfomance, Ali and friends will use the voices and stories of a wide range of ethnicities and nationalities that create Wakefield’s unique community to create “Landed”, performed across various locations during the festival. The Merry West Collective Long Division’s first ever Theatre commission will see the collective create a new piece of work based around an intimate conversation. What happens when you finally get the confidence to do what you want to do? It will take place in various locations across the city during the festival. Alicia Wallace A highly creative response to the festival’s live performances using light, audience interaction and projections to create unique and vibrant documents of the excitement and communal energy of Long Division Festival.
@.ac
Shout! Sister Shout! A newly formed all female street performance, mixing traditional brass with the shout band traditions of South Eastern USA. If you don’t see them performing around the city on June 2nd, you are sure to hear them! WE ARE Long Division is clearly keen to document all it can of 2018’s festival and WE ARE are perhaps the most direct example of this; a huge photography project that sees them work directly with the public, using disposable cameras to capture a unique perspective of the event. Mark Radcliffe A long time documenter of the city, Long Division has commissioned Mark to mount a major exhibition of his work, combining new and traditional ideas of the city and its people.
/// T H E Y’R E G O N N A BE AD ORED “I’m missing the match for this interview!” states Adore//Repel drummer Waggy, turning on coverage of Huddersfield Town vs Crystal Palace to find The Terriers a goal down.
Following the interview both the weather and Town’s season have taken a turn for the worse; they lose 2-0 in snowy conditions.
The Terriers are struggling to score on the pitch, Adore//Repel on the other hand have goals a plenty. Only theirs are the sort they set and consistently achieve. The quartet’s future certainly looks bright as I meet them at their Daisy Hill Studios base in Dewsbury.
Previously they’ve indicated to me their plans to tour locations including Iceland and California. Sure enough, those plans have always come to fruition and September will see them far away from today’s snowy West Yorkshire climes touring the West coast of America for two weeks.
It seems a fitting way to mark the band’s fifth anniversary. Danny, who along with twin brother Jimmy handles guitar and vocal duties takes up the theme of objectives. “We’ve always set ourselves little targets, even in previous bands. We’d look at venues such as the Joseph’s Well in Leeds and say we’re going to play there. Once we had, it gives you that sense of momentum, that you can achieve other things. For Adore//Repel playing Leeds Festival was a big goal and in 2016 we got to do that.”
They appeared on the BBC Introducing Stage at Leeds and its sister festival in Reading, earlier that year they’d recorded a session for Alan Raw’s Radio Leeds edition of the Introducing show. Whether or not Alan was aware, the band, in particular Waggy, had pulled out the stops to make sure the session went ahead.
“We’d left some gear here and I’d not got my keys with me, so I had to come back, climb up the down pipe and get in through the bathroom window!”
Jimmy continues “It was great though. You have acts on there doing really polished vocal takes. Ours was pretty much a case of walking in, setting up and playing. It ended up being in the top 10 sessions when they did the review of the year.” Clearly they left a lasting impression on Mr Raw as their Long Division slot will see them take to the BBC Introducing stage again in Wakefield’s Precinct. Aside from actively gigging themselves they regularly put other bands on under the banner of their own label ‘Shove It Up Your Cult Records’.
After the interview they were running a gig at Bad Apples in Leeds headlined by SIUYCR label mates Zapiain (Their guitarist / vocalist Chris Hall sat in on the interview). A split single with them is another one of their ‘goals’ ticked off and ready for release. I was interested to learn their contribution was produced by Dan Mullins (Drummer with death metal veterans Blasphemer and formerly of My Dying Bride and numerous other extreme metal bands) at Academy Studios in Dewsbury.
/// The studio was the spawning ground for classic albums by the aforementioned My Dying Bride, alongside label mates Anathema and Paradise Lost. It’s fair to say that at one point Dewsbury was synonymous with Doom metal, as perfected by the ‘Peaceville Three’. Long-time Rhubarb Bomb readers will remember from my ‘The Death of a Disco Vendor’ piece, that it also had a great market where I bought a number of the albums that shaped my life.
These guys are busy ensuring Dewsbury will once again be a destination for vinyl junkies and crate diggers, as the ground floor of their base is home to a record shop which should be open in time for Record Store Day. But it’s not just about the music, the band are passionate about bringing like-minded folk on board. “We want to make this a real cool area, we’ve got a friend from Iceland whose hoping to run a pop up bar. We’re looking at opening a barbers as well.” begins Danny, before expanding on why this plan is entirely feasible. “There’s a new Dewsbury college site opening soon so there’s going to be a real influx of young people coming into the area.” Waggy, who had been out of the room for a few minutes, re-joins the conversation with much enthusiasm “Tell him about the college! There’s a new site and there’s going…”
Danny allows him to repeat enough for us to all have a chuckle, before he interjects “I already have.”
Jimmy explains further how they envisage getting involved “We want to do workshops as well, get young people involved. Me and Danny went to one this morning at Dewsbury library called Sounds Rubbish. It’s run by a Brazilian guy called Claudio who we know and he teaches people to build instruments out of rubbish.” He continues “Claudio has a Berimbau (Mid-nineties Sepultura fans should be familiar with this Brazilian instrument, Google it if you’re not one!) and when he’s carrying it round town the police think it’s a bow & arrow!” Such an instrument / weapon may come in use when they head Stateside as one of their gigs is taking place in the vampire capital of California, Santa Cruz aka Santa Carla which served as the back drop for what is unanimously the band’s favourite film, The Lost Boys.
Bassist Bob has already visited and as well as taking in the comic shop which stocked ‘Vampires Everywhere’ and Grandpa’s House, also swung by Street Light Records who along with a host of other Californian record stores took in copies of the band’s debut album on vinyl.
“I took about 50 over with me and they all ended up in record shops. Some places like (Californian chain) Amoeba I’d been in contact with. Others I’d just go in and talk to the staff.” As our conversation today reinforced, the band are adept at talking to people, who in turn will more than likely spread the word further still.
However, as I wrote in the 2014 Long Division programme they’re a ‘Largely instrumental’ band, by and large it’s their music which does the talking on stage and record. Experiencing them live it’s easy to let yourself get lost in their music, and although there might not be the choruses to chant back they have noticed their “Fan’s singing our riffs back at us ala The Courteeners.”
Mentioning a band such as The Courteeners as a reference may throw some people, as the band are usually termed Post-Hardcore. Yet you don’t have to dig deep to find Oasis t-shirts sported in their photos and Danny brought them up when he discussed the photo of the band that adorns the cover of Empty Orchestra, which was captured during their 2016 tour of Iceland. “I’d have loved to have had some original art, in the end we didn’t have the time.” He begins, before continuing that he’d had to compromise on this, ensuring the band were all pulling in the same direction.
“I had to accept the other guys were right. You don’t really have album covers with the band on these days, but there’s so many great covers with the bands themselves on them, Ramones, Minor Threat, even Oasis. Nowadays everyone just wants a tree on their cover!” Jimmy continues, “Doing the vinyl was a massive thing for us. We learnt so much from making this record ourselves. Like if one element is delayed, it’s a domino effect which knocks on. So we ended up doing the inner sleeves ourselves. We’re not of the internet age, we remember buying a CD or vinyl and wanting to read all the sleeve on the way home.”
They’re certainly avid readers of Long Division programmes, as a discussion of the notes relating to their previous three LD appearances brought the memories flooding back. But Adore//Repel are very much a forward looking band. So I hope you’ll join me down the front in the Precinct come June. - Andrew Whittaker
The band play the BBC Introducing stage, Wakefield Precinct as part of Long Division.
D O E S W A K E FIE L D H AV E S E L F- E S T E E M? Feeling good about yourself is a hot-topic. There’s a lot of pressure to give yourself a metaphorical stroke these days, perhaps by eating better or exercising. Or trying not to live up to the lifestyles of Disney lives on Facebook. My own selfesteem shivers at the very thought of it. But I wondered, does the city give itself some selflove? Or does it look longingly at Leeds and feel sorry for itself? I’ve been sullying the streets of Wakefield for 25 years in various ways. My sister, illustrator Laura Thompson, for fewer, but more than would be strictly legal. I wouldn’t say that I’ve ever been at the heart of anything cool, but it’s hard not to have been part of something pretty wonderful growing up in 1990s Wakefield. Like Alice, I fell down a hole that brought me to Players in around 1992 and I don’t think I came up for air until I had to seek an education in another northern city (other cities are available). There, I became immersed in a world of music that was to shape my passion and preference for the next three decades. That punk spirit was at the soul of the underground ‘snooker’ club, and it didn’t matter whether you were a raver or a riot grrl. Mostly, nobody in Wakefield gives a fuck. And that is the essence of being kind to yourself.
Laura and I both have our own struggles with selfesteem and mental health but draw heavily from the example the city sets. It has provided a platform for us both to produce art and feel a part of a community. Laura as an illustrator, musician and art teacher, me as an author and as teacher of English. We’ve both been in Wakefield bands and been lucky enough to stand on a stage and play music that we love and be who we want to be. The city has sold a book for me. The city has shown Laura’s work. It has given our friend’s the same chances, never asking for anything in return. For every moment of despair, there is something here that propels us towards picking ourselves up, making something and feeling a little sparkle. Long Division has long since been a highlight in both of our mental healths’ calendar. Laura’s band ‘The Fur Blend’ have played regularly; she has contributed art work and this year she is on the wonderful new committee. I, on the other hand, go along with my friends, have a few drinks and see Wakefield put on its best jacket and strut its stuff. Showing that its self-esteem is just where it should be. - Amy Hodgins Laura Thompson’s top five: 1.
Marnie - Hypnotic, electronic beautiful sounds on a monochromatic backdrop that takes me back to the start of my obsession with electro-pop in the early noughties as a huge Ladytron fan. This lady is everything I’ve always thought of as cool.
2.
Peaness - Super cute indie pop with gorgeous vocal harmonies. Again, they hark back to the sound of my youth with a 90s vibe of Letters to Cleo and The Chicks.
3.
Shout! Sister Shout! - A female brass shout band?! What more could you want?! Being born and bred in Wakefield, the haunting cacophony of brass runs through my veins and this just adds another fantastic and inspiring element showing the diversity, relevance and history of Wakefield all in one.
Perhaps it’s because the city has always been steeped in its own cocky sense of its own importance. It was the only the fucking capital of the West Riding! That coupled with a left-wing and an even anarchic punch of political blood cells bobbing about since the industrial revolution and most recently, the miner’s strike, makes Wakefield a place ready for a fight. Ready for action. It is no wonder that this city feeds so many young minds with an urgent need to be artistic. Many of these are women, which tells me that Wakefield should feel less shame than many of its adversaries.
4.
Toria Garbutt - A former bandmate from another era of kick ass riot grrrl punk, which Toria now exudes through her exquisite poetry and performance. A perfect blend of love, chaos and humour in stories of her Wakefield past.
5.
Doodle Beats - I’m looking forward to taking my 3 year old to this, so she can carry on her creative scrawl, whilst I also enjoy a bit of meditative doodling.
D R A H L A, L E T O U R Aside from having to put up with constant tapping, twitching feet and partial deafness in my partner, there are benefits to going out with a drummer and here’s one… On 10th November 2017 I headed to London with Sam Juniper, our designated driver for the tour. It was the first ‘proper’ tour Drahla had done, as support to Canadian’s METZ. As a non-musician I felt well lucky to have been able to tag along! The two of us and Drahla (Mike Ainsley, Luciel Brown and Rob Riggs) picked up our van from Gearooz near Brighton the following day. Apart from the bold dark lettering on the van, which basically said “LOADS OF EXPENSIVE BAND GEAR INSIDE - BREAK INTO ME”, it was fab. After a lovely first night in Le Treport, France we arrived the next day in Le Havre and pulled up at the venue ‘Le Tetris’. I was glad to have Sam around for le tour and we quickly took on our ‘Merch and roadie’ roles, loading the gear in, setting up, sitting around, smoking and drinking lots of free beer. It’s a hard job I swear… The first gig was great, and METZ were SO good. Me and Mike listened to them loads before the tour, getting ourselves psyched up, but nothing prepared us for how ace they are. What a band.
Afterwards we got our first taste of the French band dream with a bit of backstage luxury. I’ve never been in a band, but from my experience of hanging around backstage with Mike, when a venue offers ‘catering and refreshments’ you prepare yourself for warm cans of Carling, some crisps and maybe even a pizza IF you’re lucky. NOT IN FRANCE!! Together with the METZ guys we shared an endless homemade buffet and bottomless wine. Over the tour we’d enjoy loads of homemade meals, cheese, hummus (in the fridge especially for Mike) and lots of booze. I had it so lucky, I wasn’t driving (I knew not learning would pay off one day) and not being in the band I didn’t have to worry about much at all. Me and that wine had a great time! The first few days of the tour felt pretty breezy. We had days off in-between gigs and wanted to make the most of driving around France, so before heading to Nimes we managed to find time to stop off at the Palace of Versailles and took a quick detour over the Viaduct de Millau. We enjoyed that time exploring, before the mega stint of gigs, 14th Nimes, 15th Bordeaux, 16th Toulouse, 17th Barcelona and 18th Madrid. If you look at a map and see where those cities are, they’re all over the bloody place! I have a new-found respect for bands that go on tour for weeks and weeks at a time, and still show up every night with as much energy as they did the first night. I don’t know how
world in the middle of the tour, so it was a good reminder of how bloody incredible it all was. As if we’re all here watching our mates play this heaving Blade Runner venue in Barcelona. Nuts really! A total of 3300 miles driving around France and Spain and everything went smoothly. It was the best trip ever, thank you Drahla for letting me join you. After a packed-out gig at The Garage back in London, I headed up North to meet Drahla at their last gig of the tour at the Brudenell. they do it. By the time we got to Madrid I could no longer string a sentence together and Drahla had to perform like normal, so bravo to them. I’m glad I took my camera and plenty of film. The whole tour zoomed past. Different cities and landscapes every day, so it was important to document as much as I could. I borrowed a 35mm Samsung compact camera from my friend Jess which was perfect for taking quick shots. All these photos were taken on it, you can’t beat film! The trip got me back into taking photos, in turn prompting me to set up the project foh-toh that WE ARE will be running for Long Division. Each city and venue was completely different. In Nimes, La Paloma was a huge modern Star Wars shiplike monstrosity (in the best way), which was followed by Theatre Barbey in Bordeaux, a small grungey Wharf Chambers-esque venue with the catering on an old red bus. Absolutely worlds apart, it was great! But no matter how big or small most of the venues were all music/art centres in their respective cities and had something else about them. Either combined theatre, education, music spaces or they had a gallery space and studios in the same block. They were all these vibrant heavily funded creative hubs that knew how to treat their bands. After working in different arts centres and co-running our creative hub Crux in Wakefield, this is what we strive for, but often it feels like that will never happen. That amount of funding just isn’t available, there aren’t enough people to fill up spaces or people are too ‘skint’. It really opened up my eyes to how it could be. If only every city had a space like that, it would make such a difference. My favourite thing about the drive was seeing how the landscape changed. One day we were high up near the Alps in France where it had snowed, then the next we were in desert-looking Spain. It was crazy how the temperature changed as well. It was a frosty -2 in Toulouse morning of the 16th then later that day we drove to Barcelona and enjoyed 20 degree sunshine! A load of our friends came out to Barcelona and Madrid which was ace! We kind of got into our own
I got a bit too excited ordering rounds of Tequila at Wax bar which resulted in a glass throwing Bar brawl. At least I waited until I was on home soil until I made a tit of myself, aye… My top tour tips: •
Take a ‘dad’ character with you on your tour. Sam was great for that. You need someone saying ‘whaddduppp’ to a French guy, pulling out the plastic cutlery packed from home when in need and buying the most floral speedos possible at the first mention of ‘spa facilities’.
•
Betting games are good to keep you entertained. The METZ guys taught us how to play dice, and we made up one of our own, ‘How many times will Mike go to the toilet today’ Catchy name!
•
Take photos all the time
•
Get google translate
•
Download the Ricky Gervais Show and My Dad Wrote a Porno podcasts to kill some hours
•
Enjoy those Egyptian cotton sheets because they won’t last
- Amy Lilley Drahla play Warehouse 23 on Saturday 2nd June at Long Division. Head to the Long Division website to find out more about how you can become involved in foh-toh.
FO L LO W T H E D R U M VS N O M A NIF E S T O The term manifesto is one of the few vibrant and romantic terms left in modern politics. We exist in a realm of spin, focus groups, polls and careerism. Yety the term manifesto is still used every time an election comes around, but less as a firm projection of ideas and vision and more like a Terms & Conditions document presented with the verve of a weekend spa brochure for the over 50s.
The idea of wisdom is their armour. Once it was a suit, and for some it still is, sat on boards of directors with other besuited busy bodies too afraid to admit they only do this because otherwise their irrelevance would consume them. But others have reinvented themselves as social warriors (often through the medium of social media) keen to impart their wisdom, but never pass it on and walk away.
Wakefield now has a Manifesto, or at least Long Division Festival plans to form one; it’s Manifesto For A New Wakefield is a compilation of newly created work by artists from the Wakefield postcode which will be collected into a physical form with a bold and possibly over ambitious intention of throwing that document down in front of the doubters, the old skoolers and the money people and saying ‘look at this…’
These who have dilly-dallied through life, cashing in on one fad to the next, these Patrick Batemans, these Mother Earths - they must end. We need to confiscate their keys and take control of the wheel.
Manifestos should be over the top. They should be dreams in text form. They should offer glimpses, suggestions, hints and opportunity. They aren’t a roadmap of how to get there and in this sense, I think this new Manifesto could work. Because a new way of living needs to be found in this city, and in many others like it. I see us all now in the depths of a hole we have been dragged into by the baby boomer generation; not every single one of them. Some of them get it, just like some millennials aren’t passionless wasters. But this group who cannot let go. This decline we’ve felt - or at least, I’ve felt - for at least a decade is partly them refusing to let go of the reins. They are this type; self created experts in fields which bare no relationship to the modern world, but project through their every living breath that knowledge is king. And yet more than this, they have somehow evolved beyond knowledge into that even more inarguable state; wisdom. They have wisdom, and damn us all to hell if we won’t listen.
A Manifesto For A New Anything needs to do this. These people cannot fund it, they cannot influence it, they must be cut out completely and given that they have hoarded all the power, money and influence over the last thirty years - that can be hard. Starting from the grassroots up is key. They second challenge is the naysayers. Because the idea of a Manifesto is divisive. I’ve written many an article that has upset people. Believe it or not, it is not my intention. I question so hard my own motives to an almost paralysing degree that I guess I expect others to do the same. I’ve reviewed bands so negatively that they have split up afterwards. They may have been a stain on humanity, but do I have that right? Discussion, exploration and daring to take your thinking to new places. That’s the goal and none of us are perfect. I balance it for myself that those people in those bands and the other things I’ve criticised have gone on to better things. Asking something to stand up to scrutiny is not a crime, but it can feel that way in the days of social media.
And that must be the final consideration of this Manifesto. Because there will be criticism, from those feel they are excluded. Rhubarb Bomb was seen my some as elitist because it only covered the parts of Wakefield music its writers liked. I don’t really know what people expected from enthusiasts working for free. Likewise for Long Division. It’s not called ‘Wakefield Music Festival’ for a reason. There will always be a queue around the block to criticise, often from people who believe they have the answer when really they are part of the problem. Because the question is only ever - what’s in this for me? - disguised around some supposed wider concern for the ‘scene’ or ‘community’, one that just involves them and their mates, the exact criticism they enjoy throwing at others. Every year Long Division is criticised. One year people said there weren’t enough ‘heavy bands’ whilst others bemoaned the reliance on… yes, heavy bands. Some complained about the repeating of the same old bands, but after promising that 90% of the line-up would be brand new to the festival this year, some of those bands who assumed they would play until the day they fall into their grave have become upset. Some complain it isn’t diverse enough and in a year where there are more genres than cashin picture discs for Record Store Day, and a public dedication to gender equality in the programming, you quickly realise that to some diversity basically means ‘my band’. So - small town politics. That needs to be part of the Old Wakefield. Criticism; that’s something I think is actually missing a lot right now. Honest, objective, delivered and received with the right intentions. I would love the Manifesto idea to create a swell of open discussion. Those complaining they are on the outside of the project or the festival; it’s all about communication. In this horrible world of Brexit where, regardless of your views, it is impossible to express them without encountering a barrage of single-minded, black & white, dug in rhetoric, communication is the key. Talk. Get involved. Pitch in an idea. Help. And if it doesn’t speak to you, or about you? Create your own. Fanzine. Website. Festival. Manifesto. Write it big and bright. Put your heart and mind into it. And commit to it. These things used to be our bread and butter. We used to called it DIY Culture. Let’s step back from the Complain About It Culture, from the Somebody Else’s Problem Culture and the Why Not Me? Culture. Let’s all create new culture. That’s my Manifesto. What’s yours? - Roland X
B B C IN T R O D U CIN G I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite sure where I’d be without BBC 6Music. Not just on a personal level, though it’s a great mix of the familiar and the new, comforting but daring. But I also wonder where the kind of music I like would exist without it. A great thing about it is that it feel accessible. I know people in bands who’ve had sessions with the likes of Mark Radcliffe and they weren’t huge when it happened. He may have heard one great single and decided to get them in. That’s amazing and a vital lifeline. Still, that world can seem distant and unobtainable. Thank goodness then for BBC Introducing. It’s the perfect entry into that slightly larger world and are run by a dedicated and knowledgeable team. BBC Introducing In West Yorkshire have always been huge supporters of Long Division, having them on the show to promote the event. Previous festivals have included live broadcasts of the show and even a two hour filmed show streamed live during the event (Well worth tracking down on YouTube).
2018 sees this relationship grow with BBC Introducing bringing a stage to Wakefield for the first time. New to Long Division is the fact that it will be outside, on the main precinct. The best brand new music from fresh artists thrust directly into the faces of Wakefieldians as they emerge from The Pound Bakery sounds pretty fun. BBC Introducing in West Yorkshire’s Producer Cameron Robson told us “it has always been about shining a light on lesser-known artists making incredible music. There’s some crossover there with Long Division, which has such a great track record there, too. It’s a superb festival, especially if you’re an independent band or artist.” “I hope that the people who come see our stage will enjoy the huge variety of sounds there, from hip-hop to jazz to post-punky stuff. Just like our weekly radio show, it’s a melting pot of sounds and influences – I really believe there’s something for everyone.” It runs early in the day to catch Wakefield at its busiest, so from 11:30am be sure to catch Mugen, Prince Omari, Mamilah, Adore//Repel, Mi Mye and ZoZo in the *guaranteed* hot Wakefield sun. - Dean Freeman
A L E S S O N IN LO N G DI V ISIO N ‘Local music brainbox’ Andrew Whittaker has attended every LD so far and he’s raided the archives to set a trivia teaser that will find out just who else has been paying attention to the numbers game. The dates of the first Long Division festival expressed as a whole number is 1012062011, divide that by each subsequent answer and you could win 2 tickets to this year’s festival.
1. Fonda _ _ _ appeared at Wakefield Town Hall in 2011. 2. Sam Forrest of _ Black Alps appeared solo in the Town Hall’s Old Courtroom in 2012. 3. _ _ ex Fall members Dave Simpson had tracked down by the time he finished writing ‘The Fallen’ which he read from at The Orangery in 2013. 4. Wakefield’s Top _ Studios worked with a band to create ‘A Song In A day’ as part of the Fringe Festival in 2014. 5. _ Man Cuppy were Wakefield’s premier exponents of ‘Flange’ in the early nineties, they reformed to appear, appropriately enough, at Players in 2015. 6. Gang Of _ Friday night headliners in 2016. 7. “I was _ _ years when I wrote this song” sang this year’s headliner Billy Bragg on New England. Now round your answer up to the nearest whole number and e-mail it to agwhittaker79@gmail.com by the 1st of May.
E N D T R O D U CIN G F LO O D H O U N D S Where are FloodHounds from / based?
Who are your Long division top 5 picks?
Lauren’s from Derby, Jack is from London and Joel is the Sheffield native in the band. We live, rehearse and record in Sheffield now.
Fizzy Blood are number 1. Really like those guys, having seen them a few times. And we’re at the same venue so that’s perfect! Hot Soles are excellent. I Set The Sea On Fire are awesome, The Harriet’s are really good and Thomas and The Empty Orchestra is great too.
Who are you? We’re FloodHounds, there’s three of us, and to sum it up, we’re into fuzzy bluesy guitar solos, rollin’ swampy beats, and thumping, punch you in the gut basslines.
Describe your sound in 5 words.
What should people watch? Check out our videos on YouTube, then the killer robot question will make sense. Then get onto Soundcloud or Spotify and check the rest of our stuff out.
Groove laden thunderous punch o’blues Your plans for the rest of the year? Joel has just joined recently on bass, what’s his background? We were recommended to him by our pal Jamie, the singer from Brooklin, when we needed an emergency bass player. He learned the whole set in a week and was out gigging with us almost instantly! He’s bringing a new twist on the music too, as he’s coming from a rawer, heavier punk and psychedelic rock background, which we’re loving!
When was the last time killer robots showed up at your gigs?
We’ve got a new single mixed and mastered ready to go, so that’ll be announced very soon, follow us on Facebook for the update! Then it’s lots of gigs including a few great festivals, like Tramlines, a good hometown festival for us and a big highlight of the summer! Potentially a couple of gigs abroad if we play our cards right! Lots kicking off, which is exciting.
FloodHounds perform a special acoustic set at St Austin’s Theatre as part of this year’s Long Division.
Well it’s been a couple of months but you can never rule it out. However, they made an appearance at Shangri La in Glastonbury around 2am. That’s a nice bonus of these DIY robot heads that we made, they’re a big hit at festivals. Our annual Boomtown festival trip hasn’t been the same since.
Well Def Leppard’s drummer is a badass. One arm, that’s incredible! Monkeys are great too, but they’ve ejected beyond Sheffield into outer space via the Californian desert. We’re the new creature based steel city band in town. But Sheffield musos we absolutely love are Drenge, Moonlandingz, and Jarvis of course.
LEWIS EVANS PHOTOGRAPHY
Which Steel city based creature featuring band wins out for you Def Leppard or Artic Monkeys?
THE MAGIC OF THE BEATLES
02/06/2018
WAKEFIELD PRECINCT - 5:30PM - FREE SHOW LONGDIVISIONFESTIVAL.CO.UK
Presented by:
BILLY BRAGG / KING CREOSOTE / CHARLOTTE HATHERLEY CUD / THE LOVELY EGGS / MARNIE / THE SURFING MAGAZINES THE MEMBRANES / EVIL BLIZZARD / THE MAGIC OF THE BEATLES MUSH / CATTLE & CANE / FIZZY BLOOD / GALAXIANS WIYAALA / DRAHLA / DYLAN CARTLIDGE / SHATNER’S BASSOON LIFE / RIVAL BONES / GLASS MOUNTAIN / MI MYE / ZOZO TEAM PICTURE / ADORE //REPEL / CAPE CUB THOMAS RAGSDALE / I SET THE SEA ON FIRE / PEANESS THE FIRE HARVEST / TORIA GARBUTT / LAMINATE PET ANIMAL SIMON WIDDOP / COLOUR OF SPRING / ENGINE / THE BOXING LOUX / GENEVIEVE WALSH / MUGEN / BEARFOOT BEWARE RADIDAS / THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV / PRINCE OMARI THE HARRIETS / HOT SOLES / NAPOLEON IIIRD ONE DAY, AFTER SCHOOL / DARK DARK HORSE / KERMES / CRAKE BROADS / YOI / SILVER WILSON / SARENA LEE SATTI BETH HOLLAND / JAMIE THRASIVOULOU / FLOODHOUNDS KIEREN KING / THOMAS & THE EMPTY ORCHESTRA LAURA TAYLOR / THE BLEEDING OBVIOUS / SUX BLOOD ROSE CONDO / MAMILAH / FIG BY FOUR / EMILY JANE LOZ CAMPBELL / LOUIE JAMES / NO FIXED IDENTITY GEMMA BAKER / BEDFORD FALLS / MAYA KALLY / MIGGIE ANGEL RICHARD DANIELS / CHARLIE PADFIELD / THE TIDY WIVES
02/06/2018
ACROSS WAKEFIELD CITY CENTRE FULL ACCESS £25 / FREE LIMITED ACCESS TICKETS AVAILABLE AT LONGDIVISIONFESTIVAL.CO.UK Presented by: