Only the Lonely September 2017
Free access to the best concerts and events. Join us for â‚Ź8 a month. subbacultcha.be
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at the Mykki Blanco show, shot by Lotte Koster for Subbacultcha
New Music for New People
s u b b a c u l t c h a e v e n t s in September music
film
1.9
Girls go BOOM: Dirty Girls Edition
15.9 Floating Clouds Cinematek, Brussels
In De Ruimte, Ghent
6.9
CFM
22.9 Una Cinema Zuid, Antwerp
Madame Moustache, Brussels
23.9 The Odd Hour Cinema – 8.10 Argos, Brussels
15.9 Chastity Belt Botanique, Brussels
theatre/dance
15.9 Blank Banshee Beursschouwburg, Brussels 16.9 Heartbroken x Garages Numeriques Galerie Horta, Brussels 19.9 Next Level Shit & Het Bos present: Blank Banshee
14.9
Love At First Sight: 1095
15.9
Love At First Sight: Pygmalion
29.9
Jan Martens: Rule Of Three
Monty, Antwerp
Arenberg, Antwerp
deSingel, Antwerp
Het Bos, Antwerp
expo
21.9 W.I.T.C.H. ft. Jacco Gardner + Radio Martiko DOK, Ghent
— 30.9 The Still Point of the Turning World – Between Film and Photography FOMU, Antwerp
22.9 Molly Nilsson + Ducktails + Skiing + Perera Elsewhere Vooruit, Ghent
— 7.1
26.9 Palm Reflektor (PopKatari), Liège
BPS22, Charleroi
— 5.11 Herman Byrd Argos, Brussels
11.10 Better Person + GENTS De Koer, Ghent
All events are free for members. Join at subbacultcha.be
Riding Modern Art
23.9 For a Time Light Must be – 17.12 Called Darkness Argos, Brussels
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DEMOCRAZY 20.09
PORTUGAL. THE MAN
DOKBOX
21.09
W.I.T.C.H. FT. JACCO GARDNER + RADIO MARTIKO
DOKBOX
23.09
LIVE TRACK CINEMA: STEIGER
24.09
JEN CLOHER + CABLE TIES
30.09
MICHAEL NAU
03.10
BIG NEXT: KIRIN J CALLINAN
NEST
06.10
HONG KONG DONG + BOROKOV BOROKOV
NEST
KASKCINEMA DOKBOX DOKKANTINE
12.10
FALLING MAN + CRITES
NEST
15.10
SPIRAL STAIRS + CANSHAKER PI
NEST
18.10
NEWMOON
NEST
19.10
NELE NEEDS A HOLIDAY
MINARD
20.10
THE WEATHER STATION
TREFPUNT
21.10
GABRIEL RIOS SOLO
24.10
WWWATER
26.10
BEN MILLER BAND
VOORUIT
26.10
NATHAN FAKE + THROWING SNOW, HARING
VOORUIT
27.10
BIG NEXT: JAPANESE BREAKFAST
27.10
CURTIS ALTO
31.10
CHAD VANGAALEN + MAUNO
31.10
MILO MESKENS + EMIL LANDMAN
MINARD NEST
NEST VOORUIT NEST VOORUIT
01.11
JOEY BADA$$
VOORUIT
02.11
LEFTO & RED BULL ELEKTROPEDIA PRESENT: JORDAN RAKEI, WAYNE SNOW, ALFA MIST, GABRIEL GARZÒN-MONTANO, JAMILA WOODS, SUPAFLY COLLECTIVE, …
VOORUIT
03.11
AMY SHARK
NEST
MUZIEKCLUB GENT
DEMOCRAZY.BE
intro
Only the Lonely As embers fizzle out and the sun goes back into hiding, it seems like even the crickets have somewhere better to be. Summer is waning and, with it, the dreaminess of endless sun-kissed afternoons. Our land is not a sympathetic one; come September, it suddenly hurls us into an unforgiving lurch towards the greyness and isolation of watery skies, of cranky containment. But were it not for those lonely hours, nothing worthwhile would get made: they lend themselves to contemplation, to creation, to the appreciation of the time spent on your own and the time you eventually share with others. 5
by
This p
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tion was a c pr li b i u
Drukkerij GEWADRUPO bvba Hoge Mauw 130 B-2370 Arendonk info@gewa.be +32 (0)14.67.86.69 6 6
content
Only the Lonely
subbacultcha events 8—15 Better Person 16—21 ssaliva 22—25 NAH 26—31 Perera Elsewhere 32—37 artist 38—43 style 44—47 book 48—49 recent finds 51—59 we visit you 60—61
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CFM
music
6 Sep – Madame Moustache, Brussels 19.30 – €10 – free for members
Girls go BOOM: Dirty Girls Edition
What do Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, Fuzz and GØGGS have in common? Right, Charles Francis Moothart! As one of the core members of the contemporary American garage scene and Ty Segall’s BFF, CFM’s show is a mandatory checkbox on the bucket list of garage heads. Expect rambling up-tempo garage rock and lazy slacker ballads.
ft. Petrol Girls + Cocaine Piss + Dream Nails
Chastity Belt
15 Sep – Botanique, Brussels 19.30 – €14 – free for members
1 Sep – In De Ruimte, Ghent 20.00 – €6 – free for members
On their latest, I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, the Seattle girls showed a refreshingly heavier side, mixing their slacky post-punk vibes with some tight shoegaze. Their recent work explores feelings of despair and emptiness, moving a bit away from their playful and fun-loving past. But don’t stress: the tunes are still as melodic as ever — and sometimes even catchier.
Art space In De Ruimte hosts another edition of Girls Go Boom, the concert series focusing on all-female or female-fronted punk and indie bands. DIY punk witches Dream Nails share the stage with raging feminist post-hardcore rockers Petrol Girls. Cocaine Piss will blast a glitter shitstorm as the cherry on the cake. Girls to the front!
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Blank Banshee
Next Level Shit & Het Bos present: Blank Banshee 19 Sep – Het Bos, Antwerp 19.30 – €12 – free for members
15 Sep – Beursschouwburg, Brussels 20.00 – €14 – free for members
Attend, vapour-wave freaks! Stop collaging dolphins making out with a windows ’95 logo on a purple sunset! That’s right: the cyberpunk master from Canada is in town. Blank Banshee’s 0 was considered a pioneering album of the genre back in 2012. So drop your Macintosh for a sec and come check out the man with a glitter-ball mask playing OS Start Up and 1990s-era video game sounds.
Heartbroken x Garages Numeriques
ft. ssaliva + J.G. Biberkopf + Toxe + Heartbroken DJs liyo steff and Munix
W.I.T.C.H. ft. Jacco Gardner + Radio Martiko
16 Sep – Galerie Horta, Brussels 22.00 – €10 free for members before midnight ssaliva’s Greenery project presented on page 22 will be presented at the next Heartbroken night alongside new audiovisual performances by JG biberkopf (Knives, LIT) and Toxe (Staycore, SWE). Taking place at the Galerie Horta, this event is a collaboration with Les Garage Numeriques’ digital art exhibition. You will also get to witness the usual emotional DJ sets of Heartbroken’s residents, only with huge projection screens, mega lasers and a lot of fog.
21 Sep – DOK, Ghent 19.30 – €16 – free for members
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Do you even psych? Yep, the legendary Zamrock troop has been brought back to life. Psych baroque Dutchman Jacco Gardner traveled to Zambia to meet Emmanuel ‘Jagari’ Chanda, the last surviving original member of the band that shook the Zambian garage rock scene back in the ‘70s. Today a new
GIRLPOOL us CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH us THE RUBY SUNS be
15.09 18.09 29.09 29.09 07.10 30.10 03.11 06.11 19.11 21.11 27.11
CHASTITY BELT us BEACH FOSSILS us THE DRUMS us FAIRE fr - PÉPITE fr SLOWDIVE gb Sold out (SANDY) ALEX G us KEVIN MORBY us PRINCESS NOKIA us ALGIERS us PROTOMARTYR us - HEIMAT fr ALEX CAMERON au dans le cadre d’Autumn Falls
CONCERTEN AGENDA
11.09 12.09
BOTA’CARTE
We’ve altered the way the Bota’Carte works, find out the advantages below:
• We’ve lowered the price of the Bota’Carte to €13 (instead of €25) • The card is valid one year from the date of purchase • You get a €3 discount on all presale tickets, and a €6 discount on tickets bought at the ticket desk on the day of the concert • You receive a monthly newsletter which includes exclusive contests and offers • You get a chance of buying tickets before the general sale starts • You receive one free ticket for an exhibition of choice and a €2 discount on all exhibition tickets
MORE @ WWW.BOTANIQUE.BE | 02 218 37 32
Palm
band has reformed around Jagari and is due to tour Europe, with Gardner on bass! A documentary, We Intend To Cause Havoc, about this resurrection is due for 2018.
26 Sep – Reflektor (PopKatari), Liège 20.00 – €7 – free for members Palm is not your typical guitar band. Their deconstructed songs are like a carefully composed mikado tower on the edge of falling apart. Repeating offbeat drums and dissonant stabs dissolve into yet another mildly unpleasant harmony. Like a vinyl stuck in the groove. Disoriented, the vocals seem to dangle on top. Yet somehow there’s a pop sensibility hidden in these restless songs. And their music skills are a feast for the eye. Warmly recommended!
Molly Nilsson + Ducktails + Skiing + Perera Elsewhere
Better Person + GENTS 22 Sep – Vooruit, Ghent 20.00 – €15 – free for members Subbacultcha darling Molly Nilsson returns to Ghent on the heels of her new album. On Imaginations, she retains the mix of vintage electronics and ice-cold vocals of her previous albums. Her usual dark and funny lyrics are warped by the zeitgeist and she presents her ideas about the quickly changing political culture and the aspiration for a better world. Sharing the bill with her are the trip-hop-infused gothic pop of Perera Elsewhere and the ‘Berlin post-adult contemporary music’ — think Everly Brothers and Brian Wilson — of Skiing.
11 Oct – De Koer, Ghent 20.00 – free for members and their +1
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If Sean Nicholas Savage is in your backlog of favourite artists, you’ll quickly add Better Person to the list, who shares an equally elegant and pained voice. Adam Byckowski, the man behind the project,
Una
creates romantic synth-pop ballads that tell stories about love, intimacy and vexation. Also on the roster are Gents, a duo hailing from the forever-amazing Danish scene. With their moody crooning pop, the boys are bringing new wave music back into the light.
film
Floating Clouds
22 Sep – Cinema Zuid, Antwerp 18.00 – €5 – free for members
15 Sep – Cinematek, Brussels 19.00 – €6 – free for members
Rooney Mara stars as a troubled woman whose confrontation with a man from her past threatens to derail her from her long sought-after stability. This sombre drama touches on subjects that can be difficult to swallow, with characters mired by complexities that we often seek to whittle down in an effort to cast judgement on others. While certain to divide viewers regarding the subject matter and treatment of it, Una is worth a watch, if only for Mara’s mesmerising embodiment of a lost girl for ever residing within a broken woman.
Set in the aftermath of WWII, Floating Clouds reflects on the sense of loss and aimlessness experienced by those affected by the horrors of war. Mikio Naruse’s 1955 masterpiece follows Yukiko as she tracks down a man she loved while she was working in French Indochina as secretary. An exploration of the relationships and experiences that stem from turbulent times, serving as an observation of the chaos and emptiness that are left in their wake.
The Odd Hour Cinema 23 Sep -8 Oct – Argos, Brussels 11.00-18.00 – €6 – free for members The Odd Hour Cinema collects the most fascinating single-channel pieces of Belgian artist Anouk De Clercq. In her work she uses the audiovisual potential of computer-generated images to imagine
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possible worlds, many of which strongly reflect architectural practices. Existing buildings such as the Concertgebouw in Bruges and imaginary buildings are dissected, and the allegorical tension between inside and outside and immensity and intimacy are investigated. Other works focus on the swan song of fading pixels, extraterrestrial contact beyond time and space and conducting the movement of clouds.
theatre/dance
Love At First Sight: 1095
1095 — a text written by wordsmith Viktor Lauwers. 1095 was the year Pope Urbanus II gave his notorious sermon in which he urged the people to free Jerusalem from the enemy: the Muslims. Sounds familiar? The story might date a bit, but the premise is still as relevant as ever. Lisaboa Houbrechts and Kuiperskaai will perform the story with the ambition of researching the alienation and appropriation of history. Does a historical performance even exist? Acclaimed in the past for their exuberant imagery, this promises to be a pure and raw performance. Members, make sure you’re on time ‘cause there’s limited capacity.
Love At First Sight: Pygmalion 15 Sep – Arenberg, Antwerp 21.30 – €12– free for members
14 Sep – Monty, Antwerp 20.30 – €12 – free for members
A group of young people with different backgrounds found each other in a common artistic vision: to look at the world and each other with amazement and turn indignation into comforting theatre. And so Compagnie Frieda was born. Their play, Pygmalion, praises the human as a creator and invites you to look at the world with a more creative eye. It promises to be a wild flow of images representing our ever-changing world. Born out of dark philosophical brooding, what came forward was a fun play, which will surely resonate for all of us. Members, make sure you’re on time ‘cause there’s limited capacity.
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Jan Martens: Rule Of Three
expo
The Still Point of the Turning World – Between Film and Photography
ft NAH
29 Sep – deSingel, Antwerp 20.00 – €18 – free for members
until 30 Sep – FOMU, Antwerp 10.00-18.00 – €8 – free for members
Jan Martens is a choreographer whose work focuses on contemporary social topics with humour and a talent for gentle controversy. His latest work, Rule Of Three, is a piece somewhere between a concert performance, a short story collection and a Facebook wall/YouTube channel, which navigates between contemporary dramas and everyday occurrence. For the very first time, music will be the driving force of his work and for this occasion, Martens has teamed up with the rebellious American producer and drummer NAH. Find out more about NAH in the feature on page 26.
‘Photography is truth. And cinema is truth twenty-four times a second.’ There’s no second guessing which of the two artistic media Jean-Luc Godard preferred when he uttered this aphorism, but what he certainly didn’t want is to place a wall between photography and cinema. Neither do the filmmakers and shutterbugs included in this exhibition. Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jeff Wall, Jason Dee and Mekhitar Garabedian show that beauty can be found on the dividing line between the still and the moving image.
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Riding Modern Art
and define new concepts. Byrd is at the same time mysterious and intriguing and will present his latest edition exclusively under the label MAGNUM.
until 7 Jan – BPS22, Charleroi 11.00-18.00 – €6 – free for members
For a Time Light Must be Called Darkness
Raphaël Zarka transforms the great hall of the museum into a skate park for Paving Space, where both skaters and visitors will get to stroll through his modern sculptures. His photographic series, Riding Modern Art, is displayed at the same time. It holds black-andwhite reproductions of photographs ripped out of skateboard magazines. Zarka wants to show the ways in which skaters can appropriate urban space through his installation and exhibition.
Herman Byrd
until 5 Nov – BPS22, Charleroi 11.00-18.00 – €6 – free for members Herman Byrd, art lover, will reside at BPS22 for two months to reveal one of his latest projects. Byrd has been publishing artists’ books and collecting artwork fervently for years. He loves to experiment, play with the codes of art
23 Sep-17 Dec – Argos, Brussels 11.00-18.00 – €6 – free for members That seeing is never an innocent act is the axiom central to the work of Lina Selander, one of the most important contemporary Swedish moving-image artists. During her journeys, she reflects on the history of the places she visits. Like an archaeologist she digs in their past, their monuments, museums and archives, analysing her findings and supplementing them with her own texts and footage. In this way she creates new narratives from hidden links between imageries, correspondences and analogies, ultimately creating a tension between what is perceived and what is portrayed.
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music
Better Person ‘I’m a fallen entertainer’, says Better Person with a wry twinkle in his eye. He’s topless on video chat, puffing on cigarettes, backlit by afternoon light in his hot Montreal apartment. Better Person is Adam Byczkowski, a Polish artist based out of Berlin who we caught in a period of nomadism as he finishes his record in Canada and prepares for tour with no final destination. We discuss forbidden aesthetics, intense pangs of nostalgia and rocking white suits in Miami; the twinkle never disappears from his eye.
Interview by Zofia Ciechowska Photos by Kasia Zacharko shot in Berlin
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Where’s your head at? I’m working on a record in Montreal this summer at the Arbutus studio. I got kicked out of our apartment in Berlin, so I’m homeless. There’s a lot of touring coming up in the fall, I just have to finish this record, so I thought — whatever — there’s not so much for me in Berlin these days, so I’m just going to be on the road like this. I’m going to be nomadic. Do you feel like you’re running away or running towards something? Essentially and ultimately always running away, no matter what. But just in the last few weeks, whether I want it or not,
I’m definitely running towards something. Is being nomadic in your nature? I thought it wasn’t, but the more I live this kind of life, the better I get at it. I got rid of all my stuff before leaving Berlin. When I started moving around I realized that all my stuff is just a pain in the ass, so I kept on minimizing. I gave my books and records to friends and donated my clothes to refugees. Now I only have a small backpack, a computer, my small keyboard, underwear, and a toothbrush. I have one suit and a t-shirt. I usually wear a suit until I wreck it and then I get a new one at a second-hand store.
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Musically, are you seeing any changes since this new nomadic period? Yes. I guess most of my music from before as Better Person was based on lacking something, a kind of sadness. But I’m pretty happy right now so the music is changing. I also think that sadness is kind of the cheapest inspiration. When most of my favorite artists were at their peak as songwriters, they were successful and happy. But sad songs are so beautiful! I know! I love sad songs! My music is going to be sad anyway, but I guess I was recently thinking about the Bee Gees and Barry Gibb when I said that. He was just living with his family in Miami wearing white suits and hanging out on boats and writing super great songs. Do you miss anything or anyone even though you’re happier right now? That is my big problem. I feel like I constantly miss everyone and everything all the time. It’s just this nostalgic crazy thing that I have. Recently in Montreal I’ve been very happy, but generally when I’m in one place or with one person I miss another. I get insane attacks of nostalgia over even the smallest things in the world, which also has a big impact on my writing.
Sometimes I’ll be at a party and I feel this attack coming as I’m talking to someone. I just jump on my bike and and speed home to write in this moment of feeling very fragile and moved. What makes you laugh and what makes you cry? I’m a big crybaby. The last time I cried was when I was moving out of the apartment in Berlin, I was so bummed. I also cried on the balcony two days ago because I was so happy. Apparently crying out of happiness is because you know it’s not going to last forever.
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I laugh a lot. I really value a good sense of humor, it’s just as exceptional as a good musician or writer. My sense of humor is pretty Polish, which is also a bit of a forbidden fruit. It doesn’t work well in translation in Canada where everyone is super PC, which is also really good, ‘cause it’s about time. My Polish humor makes me laugh at dumb bold statements. Generally, anything that feels a little bit too much I’m very interested in. Like wearing big white suits in Miami. I would definitely do that if I lived in Miami and I would rock mine as hard as I possibly could.
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Better Person + GENTS 11 Oct – De Koer, Ghent free for members and their +1
‘Essentially and ultimately always running away, no matter what’
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music
ssaliva Veteran Subba members will be familiar with our long-term bud ssaliva, a prolific sound trailblazer. Today, we’re bringing another side of the man. For many years, ssaliva has been documenting places as ethereal as his music, another compulsive and lonely process that has led him to accumulate thousands of strange, escapist mental landscapes. On his latest project, Greenery, a live coding platform generating infinite new landscapes in motion guided by the pulse of his music, ssaliva is finally blurring the limits between his explorations in sounds and spaces. The project is to be premiered at the next He4rtbroken night.
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Previews of Greenery, screenshot on the web
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ssaliva at Heartbroken x Garages Numeriques 16 Sep – Galerie Horta, Brussels free for members before midnight
music
NAH Michael Kuhn, the (only) man behind the abrasive drum-centric project NAH, has an eclectic musical style, taking roots in punk, old-school hip hop, free jazz and noise. Straddling our flat land and the home of the Philly cheesesteak since 2012, the American experimentalist has gone through 30 or so releases evenly produced on each side of the Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, NAH’s musical collages ought to be experienced in a live setting. Though pretty brief and loud, the sets are bound to take you to a trance-like state as you watch Kuhn jump around while dripping sweat over his drum kit, MIDI controller and sampler. We visited the one-man multidisciplinary band at his apartment in Antwerp, on a quiet and deserted Saturday afternoon.
Photos by Miles Fischler shot in Antwerp
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NAH will back the soundtrack of Jan Martens’ Rule Of Three 29 Sep – deSingel, Antwerp free for members
music
Perera Elsewhere London-born Sasha Perera, now making darkly intimate pop experiments as Perera Elsewhere, this is a performer marked by an extreme openness. Supremely open to sounds, her spaciously textured music inhales UK bass culture even as she samples birds outside her window or mimics a Turkish colleague humming 50 Cent’s ‘Candy Shop’ like a fugal ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’. And she’s long proved open to different places and cultures, recording second LP All of This between Mumbai, Istanbul and the Berlin home studio from where she now calls — wide-eyed and verbally scattershot as if recounting everything for the first time. Elsewhere is here, and it’s somewhere you want to be.
Interview by Callum McLean
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Photos by Ériver Hijano shot in Berlin
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How do you go into performing your solo music now as opposed to your work before with Jahcoozi? With Jahcoozi I was basically MCing, singing and playing trumpet. I didn’t have to think about anything, I could literally just drink three quarters of a bottle of vodka before a show. I knew that shit backwards. But with this project I can be much more creative. The kind of music I produce is pretty wide, between electronic and twisted acoustic, organic music. I’m freed by the fact that I don’t have to make dance music for people. It’s amazing that you can light a room on fire in 20 minutes, but there’s also this certain entertainment aspect where as much as I love it I’m like, ‘Fuck it! Why should I do that! Fuck you all, light your own room on fire!’ Does that ‘fuck it’ attitude guide your lyrics too? My own sister keeps saying, ‘Why does she write such depressing lyrics?’ The funniest comment I got recently was: ‘What’s her problem, man? She looks good, she’s got a dude, she’s got a kid, what’s her issue? Why’s she so critical about everything?’ When you meet me you see that I’m not there slitting my wrists, but my positivity has definitely got
‘Sentimentality is so overused in our society, we’re just victims of branding’ a dark streak of ‘You’ve got nothing to lose because everything is fucking shit, fucking fucked.’ You described your last record in a similar vein: ‘It’s on this weird emotional border where you feel like you’ve missed or lost something but you’re also savouring something too’. And I’m struggling to place the mood of your new album — even in its bleakest moments there is something very warm about it. What I like and what I make is within quite a small margin, and if that margin was a bit bigger, with some strings or something, I’d probably be getting advertisement spots. I think sentimentality is so overused in our society, we’re just victims of branding. Sometimes I hear music and it’s nice but then there’s this moment where I feel like I heard it in a British Airways advert already. I think I’ve found a kind of human corridor which still touches human emotion but doesn’t place it in Hollywood sentimentality. I don’t want it to be fucking brainwashing music.
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You also recorded in a lot of different places around the world. How do you think travel feeds into your music? So I was in LA recently and I saw a pool from my friend’s yard. I wanted to go there and my friend said, ‘You’re literally gonna be the only non-Mexican person there’. But I’m usually the only non-… whatever! I’m not only a woman but I’m also a person of colour — in this time and this environment. So I went to that pool. I was just in the deep end on my own, I enjoy that stuff! Because you don’t necessarily fit in anywhere, you keep looking for transitional places. It’s definitely a form of escapism — musical escapism, physical escapism. So then how do you negotiate between music as escapism and music as political, as relating to the world? I really try to escape something by leaving my life and starting to make music — I go to the zone where I am composing. That is ultimate escapism, and I am very lucky to be able to do that.
I like to have sounds which I call ‘UFOs’, which are unidentifiable. It might have started as a mandolin but then it’s totally compressed and reverbed and side-chained so now it’s just a ‘pffsssht’! It might be a sheep’s toenails. That’s also escapism. And usually when I’m writing the text it’s on the border — something that’s slightly emotional, positively abstract but has a political element to it. Because why are we dissatisfied? Some of this has to do with ourselves and our self-image, a lot of it has to do with what is actually happening or what we think is happening. So everything is political. Why are so many pop songs about heartache? That is also political. Women, at the weekend they’re supposed to have a girls’ night out, right? Go to a spa, spend money and get their toenails painted and get fucking sushi afterwards and talk about heartache. It’s such a weird, stylised world. I’m not just an individual who’s thinking but I’m a product of my environment. So there’s nothing that’s not political, unfortunately.
‘Because you don’t necessarily fit in anywhere, you keep looking for transitional places’ 36
Perera Elsewhere + Molly Nilsson + Skiing + Ducktails 22 Sep – Vooruit, Ghent free for members
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artist
Bram Demunter
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Interview by Isaline Raes Photos by Tiny Geeroms shot in Ghent
Bram Demunter is a young painter who lives and works in Ghent. His colourful oil paintings on wood and panel draw you into a mysterious universe stuffed with all kinds of people, animals and hybrid creatures who are interacting with each other. While sipping on coffee, we discussed Christian iconography, dogs, Ferdinand Bardamu and human nature. Looking at your work, I spot a lot of references to Christian and medieval iconography. Where does this fascination come from?
history, etc., but also the environment where I live, has a great impact on my creative process. During the period I worked in a centre for psychiatric patients, I was inspired by their way of looking upon people and experiencing emotions. Now that I live in Ghent and have a studio at HISK, the engaging conversations I have with other artists are influencing my work. However, despite the fact that my paintings arising rather spontaneously, there’s a common thread running through them.
The Middle Ages are part of my DNA. Growing up in Kortrijk and currently living in Ghent, I’ve always been surrounded by cathedrals and churches. The big themes and emotions treated in ancient Christian art are still relevant in our time. But I do not only draw on Christian iconography. I also pick from other religions, like Hinduism, ancient Greek mythology or Judaism.
Which is?
How do you build up your images? My paintings are always the product of an interactive process between the things I read, hear, see and think. They function as a sort of collage of my impressions. Literature is an important source of inspiration: books about the brain, slavery, the animal in human
The axis around which my paintings revolve, — is the behaviour of people and how they cope with each other and their surroundings — nature, animals and institutions. In comparison with my early work, where the emphasis was on the symbolism of each figure, my focus shifted to the interaction between the characters, always touching
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the ‘rough’ human emotions, like hate, happiness, pain, lust, … The diverse sources of inspiration I mentioned before, serve as viewpoints to approach these big themes. For instance, once I made a painting based on the Game of the Goose. The life path-like, winding form of the game and the mellow symbolism of the goose squares — the well, dead, prison — provide an interesting angle to look upon people. Same goes for the book I’ve read about how the dog is looked upon by humans through time. Then, I used the perspective of the dog to depict people. So my topics are always the same, but I like to approach them from different angles. What’s the most recent book you’ve read? The last book I’ve read was Journey to the End of the Night by LouisFerdinand Céline. The narrator in this semi-autobiographical novel is Ferdinand Bardamu, a nihilistic antihero who is involved in World War I. The way he describes what he experiences and feels when he looks upon human nature, society and life in general, is very inspiring. How he can kick one dog and pet the other, for example, or how he shows empathy for the poor souls.
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Bram Demunter is taking part of the group expo Extra Citizen at the Reopening of Kunsthal Extra City in Antwerp from 8 September on. extracitykunsthal.org
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book Uzumaki Junji Ito
text by Gabriela González
While I haven’t completely broken out of my summer reading stalemate (shout outs to the single, sympathetic email encouraging me to seek comfort in Adventure Time), it felt like the most apt transition between reading comics and reviewing books was to review a comic. Or a manga, as it turns out. I don’t actually remember how I chanced upon Junji Ito’s 1999 serial; I’m quite possibly the least manga-savvy person in the shire. Perhaps it came from a Tumblr trip, where I crossed the crude black-and-white image of a girl with a vortex for a third eye; or maybe it can be chalked up to a rabbit hole I fell down during a frantic dig for cartoony things to read in bed. Either way, it was immediately clear that a) Uzumaki has more than enough imagery that would create its own vortex in my head, and b) it is not bedtime material. This story of a town cursed by spirals sinks you into a void of potential disquiet, making for a bizarre and often unsettling experience. The scenarios witnessed by our teenage heroine are as unlikely as you can get (think school bullies turning into humanoid snails, hair curls taking on a life of their own, vampiric foetuses resewing themselves into their mothers’ wombs, that kind of thing). Yet the mundanity of small towns offers the perfect setting for the eerie and the horrifying, to the point where they seem completely feasible and likely. Some of the images in Uzumaki, once seen, will never really leave you. My advice: try not to read it at night, and try not to think about the spirals within you.
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GrOEPstENtOONstEllING en PublIEk PrOGramma
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08 . 09 09 . — 09 . 10 . 12 . 17 OPENING
recent finds Sound of the Belgian Underground III
subbacultcha.be
Because it’s never too early to get psyched: Sound of the Belgian Underground, our biannual foray into our little land’s current soundscape, is already taking shape. As always, this sonic rendezvous will take place at the AB in Brussels, and will include ten of the most trailblazing acts Belgium has to offer — la crème de la crème van België — as well as a record fair for Belgian labels to strut their stuff. Mark your calendars for 28 January 2018 and be part of the new year’s reception for the underground. Image by Amina Saâdi.
Le Dernier Cri lederniercri.org
For those who enjoy the ins and outs of the publishing underworld, here’s something great to look at: the brainchild of Marseille fixture Pakito Bolino, Le Dernier Cri is a publishing house like no other. Specialising in heavily layered silkscreens and pressing a limited amount of prints, Bolino’s work is as intrinsic as it is subversive, often using several colours to give extra depth to the myriad books, posters and other printed goodies he churns out. You’ll get a chance to check out his work at Sterput in Brussels on 21 September, where he will exhibit alongside French cartoonish Mattt Konture followed by a second serving at Cinema Nova on the 22nd.
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SORRY, NOT SORRY
ZATERDAG & ZONDAG 23–24 September 2017
#sorrynotsorrygent festival.sorrynotsorry.gent
STRAATKUNSTFESTIVAL
in de Oude Dokken, Gent
recent finds Lait de Coco
facebook.com/LaitdeCoco
Because Liège just won’t stop blowing our minds, we’re seriously digging this new collective that is making a name for itself through good vibrations and sunny sounds; indeed, if you’re looking to pack some heat, Lait de Coco is the answer. Counting names like Mil0, Jeuneclyde and BB.Bok (who were all at this summer’s Supervue festival, by the way), these guys get into everything from dancehall to ambient to kuduro to crunk, bringing some flavour and colour to our glum flatlands. Check out their latest mix made entirely by Liège-based producers, free via Soundcloud!
Golin
facebook.com/Golin5lin
This month, Golin — the artist and 20-somethinger formerly known as Rin — will begin a one-year residency at Beursschouwburg. Adding to the momentum will be the release of her EP, Momo, and to mark the occasion a free (free!) launch party will take place on 22 September. With a lineup including frequent collaborators and Subbafaves Kassett, doro, samuelspaniel and more, the evening promises not only a glimpse into Golin’s current artistic direction but also what the future of the Brussels electronic music scene is shaping up to be. Be part of that scene on the 22nd at Beursschouwburg!
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recent finds STOFWOLK
stofwolk.be
The Ghent-based STOFWOLK is a collective run for and by young artists with the aim of encouraging collaborations between established and upand-coming artists and focusing on spatial-based projects. Last year they were able to invade _Plek for a project called What’s in the basement, where a handful of artists from different disciplines were asked to ponder this question and interact with each other in order to provide an answer. This year they’re at it again — same place but different question. Details are still sketchy so keep an eye on their website if you want to know this year’s question and, by extension, its answer.
Neverland Clan
neverlandclan.bigcartel.com
Back in 2016 they were hailed as ‘the most right now group of right now’ by i-D, but the UK’s Neverland Clan have already transcended relevancy. In the same vein as SMIB et al., Neverland Clan are a collective churning out a multiverse that embraces music, fashion, art and everything in between. Ryan Hawaii, Omelet, Okimi and Daniel OG are the main figureheads with their individual projects and solo acts, but together they combine their skills to weld their own weird vision heavily rooted in DIY and punk aesthetics. Perhaps ‘the Odd Future of the future’ is just as fitting.
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CONCERTS FRI 22.09
THU 05.10
MOLLY NILSON / SKIING / PERERA ELSEWHERE Start new concert season with an avant-pop night deluxe!
VOORUIT & DE CENTRALE PRESENT
KASAI ALLSTARS
Heroes of Congotronics do Balzaal in collaboration with De Centrale
THU 12.10
GAUSSIAN CURVE (VISUALS BY HELEEN BLANKEN) VISIBLE CLOAKS (VISUALS BY BRENNA MURPHY) + AFTERPARTY WITH YOUNG MARCO / HELENA HAUFF / BAFANA
Exclusive Belgian show by ambient supergroup in collaboration with Film Fest Gent & Springstof
THU 19.10
FELIX KUBIN PLAYS ‘TAKT HIELE (VISUALS BY GABRIELA GONZÀLEZ)
DER ARBEIT’
First ever Belgian performance of new soundtracks for vintage communist propaganda shorts in collaboration with Film Fest Gent & Springstof
INFO & TICKETS:
WWW.VOORUIT.BE - T. 09 267 28 28
recent finds Au hasard Balthazar Robert Bresson, 1966
by Sabzian Sabzian is a collection of online reflections on cinema, and maps cinephile events in Belgium and its surroundings. Articles are written in Dutch, English and French. sabzian.be
2, 11 & 14 September Cinematek, Brussels
There is no better film to end your summer or start your fall with than Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar ‘The world in an hour and a half’ Jean-Luc Godard on Au hasard Balthazar ‘There is a truly astonishing moment in the film, one where Balthazar arrives at the circus and stops four times in front of the cages, where a lion, then a bear, a monkey, and finally an elephant are locked up: each time Balthazar looks at the animal who looks at him. What is astonishing is that the reciprocity of looks constitutes for us an indecipherable abutment: that they have an exchange, a recognition that testifies to the thoughtfulness or the screams of animals, is perceptible but always inaccessible. It is, for us, without symbol, without the possibility of transmission […] This suspension of all possible meaning, appropriate to these looks, redistributes its force throughout the rest of the film.’ (Philippe Arnaud, ‘Robert Bresson’, Cahiers du cinema, 198, 62–63) ‘Precision rather than beauty — each shot shows only what is absolutely essential, each sequence has been compressed to its most concise form and briefest duration possible. Even so, the length of the shots and cuts are — even for the period when the film was made (1965) — unusually calm. Never do pauses create room for sentimentality, in its simplicity everything gives the impression of having developed naturally and, while being in the service of a rigorous aesthetic concept, is never the victim of the latter. Bresson reportedly intended to personify the seven deadly sins in his characters — but against a declaration such as this can be placed a sentence from his Notes sur le cinématographe: “Hide the ideas, but in such a way that they can be found. The most important will be the best hidden.”’ (Michael Haneke in ‘Terror and Utopia of Form: Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar’)
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Go to Sabzian.be for our Dutch translations of Michael Haneke’s text and Bresson’s ‘Notes sur le cinématographe’
recent finds Hitmakerchinx
by Hannes Rooms
hitmakerchinx.com
Since the glory of FKA Twigs we’ve learnt not to underestimate back-up dancers’ other talents. Now former Rihanna tour dancer Hitmakerchinx is stepping into the spotlight with the release of Shades and Monsters: FDM Classics on the request of Nightslugs and Fade to Mind. ‘They perceived my sound in a new way and they’re responsible for bringing my music into a club environment. I’ve now learned to love my old material again,’ he says, referencing the fact that some tracks were created as far back as 2010. Hitmakerchinx is seen as the originator of FDM or Flex Dance Music, which combines raw riddims, chopped-up vocals and aggressive drums and draws inspiration from dancehall. The genre blend is mainly engineered for flexing, the Brooklyn-born dance style. Flex dance battles consist of bone-breaking, gliding and twisting movements, indebted to Jamaican Bruk-Up. ‘When I dance and I battle you, I want to bring you into my world. That’s where FDM came from,’ says its pioneer.
Insomnia festival 26 – 28 Oct insomniafestival.no
Last year we visited Insomnia in Norway’s techno capital Tromsø to witness three nights full of different shades of electronic music. Taking place a month before the polar night kicks in, the city is only blessed with a couple of hours of sunlight. Which means that no matter what time you leave the club, the Northern Lights will appear bright above you. The 2016 line-up included electronic clairvoyants Kablam, M.E.S.H., Jlin, Voiski, Klara Lewis and Peder Mannerfeldt but also Ghanaian hit-sensation Ata Kak and electro-pop phenomena Jessy Lanza. Personal discoveries were Chilean techno producer Hyperaktivist and local heroine Charlotte Bendiks. Insomnia is part of the SHAPE platform alongside other challenging festivals like CTM, Unsound and Schiev. First announced artist for this year’s edition is our current most popular export product SKY H1. Truly recommended.
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recent finds The Living Room XL
by Isaline Raes
2 September BODEM, Antwerp free entrance airantwerpen.be
Inaugurated by AIR Antwerpen, The Living Room XL is an experimental exhibition format echoing the form of a ‘happening’. Initiated by Allan Kaprow at the end of the ’50s, happenings are multidisciplinary events with a non-linear narrative wherein chance plays a key role. The expo will take place on Saturday 2 September starting at 2 PM. Get ready for an eight-hour wave of 30-minute interventions performed by 16 international artists (Jurgen Ots, Wim Catrysse, Stijn Van Dorpe and Jelle Spruyt, Aymeric de Tapol among others). In order to survive the whole happening, food and drinks will be provided at democratic prices.
Brussels Gallery Weekend 7 – 10 September various locations, Brussels free entrance brusselsgalleryweekend.com
Dress up and put on your favourite walking shoes to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Brussels Gallery Weekend (formerly known as Brussels Art Days). After their summer break, the city’s most cutting-edge galleries and nonprofit spaces are fresh and fruity, ready to reopen their doors and kick off the new art season. Over the last decade, the Brussels art scene has expanded significantly, transforming the city into a sort of mecca of contemporary art. This year you can take a tour through more than 40 galleries and a dozen institutions and artists’ spaces. Highly recommended are the expo of Christiane Blattmann at Damien & The Love Guru, Anne Neukamp & Joe Zorrilla at Galerie Greta Meert and the group show Vacanze in Italia at Komplot.
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we visit you
Name: Telma Lannoo Age: 24 Zodiac sign: Aries Website: vertelma.tumblr.com Subbacultcha member since: July 2017
Tell us, what do you do in life? Document and attempt to remember everything in my head instead of my phone. I just graduated as an illustrator and I’m figuring out a way to keep on rolling with this in the big, overwhelming world. I’m also collecting cardboard boxes ahead of relocating to Antwerp.
and this time also to Vaal, new from Ghent. I still have to visit the expo in FOMU in Antwerp. I’ll do that after I’ve unboxed my junk.
What do you like best about your place? Having no upstairs neighbours and the attic-shaped cabin feeling. But most of all the collected junk that I keep moving with me. The tinier, the more valuable. What kind of music are you listening to at the moment? Soul music from Nigeria. What’s the first record you bought? Jeff Buckley’s Grace in a supermarket in Bruges. What’s your favourite pastime? In an attempt to not be stuck behind a drawing table all the time I started tap dancing this year. It’s sport and making music at the same time — couldn’t ask for more. Any guilty pleasures? Singing karaoke with me, myself and YouTube. Which future Subbacultcha show are you looking forward to? I’ll be present at Different Class, second surrender to Marching Church
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Photo by Tiny Geeroms shot in Ghent
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front cover: Kasia Zacharko
thank you: Isaac Barbé, Mattias Baertsoen, Koi Persyn, Niloufar Nematollahi, Hannes Rooms, Vicky Derweduwen, Lindsey De Laet, Mert Sen, Jules Labath, Jeroen Albertijn, Vincent Vanhoof, Maria Antchougova, Junior Bokele, Paulina De Vleesschouwer, Margaux Fabris, Emma George, Kellan Smith, Lynn Cailliau, Anna Hortense Vanden Brande, Naoki Karathanassis, Eva Menga, Virginie Van de Casteele, Nelson Henry, Lara Decrae, Anna Hortense Vanden Brande, Eline De Vos, Axelle Vertommen, Gert Van Dijck, Lisa Alemán Arévalo, Sofia Van Laer, Amaury Wilkin and friends, Hanne Konings, Emilia Vangrinsven, Frederic Busscher & Mika Lebbe
editors in chief: Herlinde Raeman & Kasper-Jan Raeman magazine editors: Julien Van de Casteele & Gabriela González copy editor: Megan Roberts design: Chloé D’hauwe website editors: Valerie Steenhaut & Thomas Vanoosthuyse
partners: Botanique, Beursschouwburg, Het Bos, FOMU, GEWADRUPO, Vooruit, Democrazy, Circa, Bozar, Campo, Cactus, ICC Distribution, Extra City, deSingel, In De Ruimte, Madame Moustache, JauneOrange, PopKatari, Heartbroken, De Koer, BPS22, Cinema Zuid, Argos & Toneelhuis
community management & social media editor: Lisa Wallyn (lisa@subbacultcha.be) advertising & partnerships: Kasper-Jan Raeman (kasper-jan@subbacultcha.be)
office: Subbacultcha Belgium, Dendermondsesteenweg 80A, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
distribution: Herlinde Raeman (herlinde@subbacultcha.be)
contact: magazine@subbacultcha.be
printer: Drukkerij GEWADRUPO, Arendonk, Belgium contributing writers: Gabriela González, Julien Van de Casteele, Liyo Gong, Zofia Ciechowska, Ériver Hijano, Callum McLean, Isaline Raes, Valerie Steenhaut, Hannes Rooms, Sabzian, Denis Wouters, Laura Ramos, Anaïs Violet Van Eldere & Bart Bruneel contributing photographers: Tiny Geeroms, Femke Fredrix, Kasia Zacharko, Ériver Hijano & Miles Fischler contributing artists: Gabriela González, Bram Demunter & François Boulanger
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New Music for New People Free Access to the best concerts and events. Join us for €8 a month. subbacultcha.be
SEPTEMBER 2017
HETBOS.BE
WO 6 (20:00) THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA (W/ ALAN BISHOP) + JOOKLO & RICCARDO SINIGAGLIA (FUTURO ANTICO) DO 7 (20:00) BECOMING THE FOREST #2 UNA HAMILTON HELLE / LOTTE DE BRUYNE (BOEKPRESENTATIE) + WIEGEDOOD (CONCERT) DI 12 (20:00) VALLENFYRE + IMPLORE DO 14 (20:00) CLOSET OF RECORDS: OEI LABEL PRESENTATION (IN DE BOSBAR) + ATA KAK (CONCERT IN DE ZAAL VANAF 20:00) VR 15 (21:00) ENDLESS BOOGIE ZA 16 (22:00) FOOTJUICE DI 19 (21:00) NEXT LEVEL SHIT: BLANK BANSHEE
DO 21 (20:00) CLOSET OF RECORDS: ENERGIE01 TRA1N1NG (IN DE BOSBAR)
WO 20 (20:00) ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O + BEAR BONES, LAY LOW
VR 22 (20:00) BAD BREEDING ZA 23 (21:00) BOHREN AND DER CLUB OF GORE + JESSICA MOSS
DO 28 (20:00) KOER PRESENTS BOMBATHAZZ & IN EEN DISCOTHEEK
VR 29 (20:00) RODE BIET (ETEN + CONCERT)
ZA 30 (21:00) DIRAR KALASH, DANIËL DUCHAMP, DISPOSICIÓN ASOLEADA ISM KRAAK/ OORSTOF + NINOS DU BRASIL
ANKERRUI 5/7, 2000 ANTWERPEN
EXPO
MUSIC
BOZAR ELECTRONIC ARTS FESTIVAL 14 — 30 SEPT. ’17 JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON PANTHA DU PRINCE THE BUG VS EARTH BEN FROST WILLIAM BASINSKI CENTRE FOR FINE ARTS BRUSSELS
EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES: TENDENCIES ’17, STARTS PRIZE ’17 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SCREEN MICHELA PELUSIO & MANY MORE www.bozar.be/beaf - #beaf2017
Copyright image : © Harrisson