WORM.General by WORM

krantzijde-algemeen-A2.pdf

1/5/09

10:11:04 AM

WORM NOW!

www.wormweb.nl

worm

— DIG/FEED/SHIT WORM is a Rotterdam based artists collective, a venue and A workspace for music, film and new media. Born under the stars of punk, dada, fluxus, situationism and futurism, WORM has grown to a tenacious organisation that combines the 'Do-It-Yourself' mentality of it's ancestors with ultra-pragmatism and good bookkeeping. The output of WORM is film, radio, concerts, performances, web-projects, installations, an array of tactile media and a 24/7 webstation. WORM focusses on OpenSource, re-cycled material, Superuse, seriousness and fun.

Openorg.nl is WORM's contribution to enhancing the quality of red tape. This wiki contains all the boring but necessary organisational information, standard documents, form and rules of conduct to be able to instantly set up your own 'professional (cultural) organisation' in the Netherlands. (www.openorg.nl)

WORM.cube

'The WORM.cube' is an online music game that will keep you in shape - a music machine, accessible through the Internet and playable by using a Wii-controller (a computer mouse will also do the trick). In the tradition of zanorg.com, worteldrie.com's DJ trainer and the dub machines of infinitewheel.com. (cube.wormweb.nl)

photos from left to right / top to bottom: WORM.Venue (bar area) *,WORM.Filmwerkplaats **,WORM.Venue (stage area)*,WORMshop*,WORM.studio. (* photography by Hester Blankestijn, ** photography by Nadine Stijns.)

Visit (venue, shop & studio) WORM ACHTERHAVEN 148 ROTTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS

Radio.WORM is the platform for new music and sound art in the Netherlands. Every month, Dutch and international artists deliver tracks especially produced for radio.WORM, which are then packaged and broadcast from a global range of radio stations in addition to being streamed on WORM.station. Radio.WORM offers an intimate insider's view of the studio activities and experimenting of a new generation of musicians; way ahead of trends and beyond genre.

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TAKE THE CALANDLIJN IN THE DIRECTION OF 'SCHIEDAM OR SPIJKENISSE', GET OUT AT 'DELFTSHAVEN'. WALK BACK OVER THE SCHIEDAMSEWEG, PASS THE VOORHAVEN ON YOUR RIGHT, THEN TURN RIGHT INTO THE ACHTERHAVEN.

COOLSINGEL

( CALANDLIJN )

WORM.bestuur

Letty Ranshuysen, Stef de Kroon, Mark Ripmeester, Kees Brienen, Carlos van Hijfte, Hans Walgenbach

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Next to our more tactile products we also releases (OpenSource) software applications and modifications consisting of, for example; games, browser hacks or a complete package to run the back-office of a venue.

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WORM BY TRAM: TAKE NO. 4 IN THE DIRECTION OF 'MARCONIPLEIN', GET OUT AT 'HEEMRAADSPLEIN'. WALK OVER THE BLUE BRIDGE, GO LEFT, THAN GO RIGHT INTO THE ACHTERHAVEN.

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WORM.new media

With the precision of a finely lubricated engine, WORM releases audio material on CD, CD-R, DVD or Vinyl offering sound, resistance and shelter from the ravages of time. WORM.label catalogue consists of not only the monthly editions of radio.WORM, but also music and sound art from our close-knit network of artists. WORM.releases are available through the WORM.shop.

WORM.releases

Hajo Doorn, Sascha Roth, Peter Taylor, Mike van Gaasbeek, Bjefke Bonnema, Henk Bakker, Lukas Simonis, Jan Trompper, Alexander van Straten, Katelyn Brand, Mariëtte Groot, Marjolijn Berger, Caroline Peeters, Marko Madunic, Joris Favie, Armeno Alberts, Laura Kranenburg, Walter Langelaar.

Openorg

TSKA

WORM.team

Radio.WORM

An Artblog which has been set up to re-digest WORM's program and make room for the creative outburst of the community. Post your stuff! (weekenders.wormweb.nl)

RECH

You can also visit the shop live from tuesday -saturday 12.00-18.00 hrs and during WORM.events. (www.wormshop.nl)

WORM.PRODUCTS

WORM.weekenders

AELB

WORM.shop brings you: Improvised music, jazz, electronic music in all its forms (techno, ambient, electro-acoustic, field recordings, industrial, noise, breakcore), eccentric pop and folk, avantgarde rock music, contemporary composers, spoken word and world music. Experimental film, live cinema, cult movies, animation, documentaries. Graphic art, comics, books & magazines related to music, film, sonology, art & media. (WORM.shop / Achterhaven 148 / Rotterdam)

The complete assortment of the WORM.shop (yes, even the collection of cassette tapes) online. The web shop does of course miss the personal listening tips from shopowner Mariëtte, but it’s perfect for rummaging through the record bins in search of that one special item. (www.worshop.nl)

AVENDIJK

We Dig, Come Feed!

Moddr_ is an experimental medialab compiled by a group of international artists. They function as an autonomous artistic collective involved in production, presentation and theoretical discourse around electronic media and contemporary fine art. Specialized in practical alternatives for existing and generally accepted methodologies, they look for solutions through unconventional approaches and the development of new techniques. In our contemporary society, which is ruled by hypes and standards, WORM provides a space for independent Do-It-Yourself artists and rebellious innovators. (http://moddr.net/)

WORM.shop

2. WORM.shop

WORM.Moddr_ lab

WORM.station is WORM's virtual theme park, crammed full of film, web and sound art as well as live streams and archives. Via this internet station, and an ultra fast connection; web artists, musicians and film-makers are able to reach a worldwide audience. WORM.station then, has an important role as a virtual podium and archive for WORM's activities. The radio archive contains mp3's of our label releases, radio plays, dozens of hours of radio and recordings of studio sessions by (inter-)national artists that have taken place in the WORM.studio. Furthermore, Live cinema performances, film and video productions and projects from the 'Filmwerkplaats' (Filmstudio) are there too, ensuring your eyes remain rammed open as with clock-like regularity, live broadcasts of concerts are being streamed and safely stored for the benefit of our offspring. With this internet station WORM stays one step (no, leap) ahead of the disappearance of TV and radio as we know it. (www.wormstation.nl)

WORM's film programme originally began in a stance of resistance against dreary art cinema. WORM pays attention to the obscured genres and films, guaranteeing their place beyond the inevitable top 100s of classics and evergreens in film history. Over ten years ago, we began to program rarely shown films and documentaries. Most of these films are imported and tracked down by ourselves, enabling us to present the most unexpected of long forgotten classics, climaxes of revisionist cinema and more new films from independent film and documentary makers. Next to that our focus is on short films. The annual production of short films has exploded in magnitude. However, anyone with a camera, software and a fast computer can call himself a film-maker these days but WORM picks the pearls from this ocean of silt, projecting prime time selections of humorously alienating and specially autistic short films fit for a full evening's entertainment. Additionally, we torture our archives and string together many thematic short film programs stuffed to the gills with classics of modernism, forerunners in visual experimentalism, American Independence, cinema concrète and guerrilla video. WORM also organizes crazy and exiting party's, festivals, debates, exhibitions, lectures and workshops dedicated to current issues in the scenery of the international underground and developments on the front of new media.

WORM.studio

Since 'One good turn deserves another' and 'You don't get owt for nowt', musicians and sound artists are free to use WORM's studio facilities. The studio is available for a fee of nil euros, provided that a couple of tracks or compositions will be produced for WORM purposes, such as recordings for radio. WORM programmes or WORM.station and live performances at the WORM.venue. Since 2006 the WORM.studio also contains the fully operational CEM (Centre for Electronic Music). The CEM is the oldest institute for electronic and electro acoustic music in the Netherlands, founded in 1957 with the remains of the Phillips research-lab. By now the CEM is a modern and fully equipped studio open to professionals and amateurs. The WORM.studio provides courses in composition, studio technique, introductions about the basics of synthesis and the history of electronic music. Also many special multimedia projects, live events, radio, vinyl releases and software development are supports and hosted by the WORM.studio.

WORM.station

In its music and sound art programmes, WORM selects according to musicality and raw gutted persuasiveness, choosing for good bad rather than bad good. Transgressing normal segregations within sound, we represent the unruly, the adventurers; those innovating beyond genre. We organize electronic music concerts in a 'club setting' but also believe in the electricity and eccentricity riffing through Avant-Rock, lazarus Exotica, and the voodoo of World Music which sticks a pin in the eye of the herbal tea drinking set – in short, all the unconventional un-conventionalisms that the ocean of sound blesses us with. Next to that we program musical forms based upon the art of improvisation. The use of laptops, samplers and other digital toys of today's musicians add a further dimension to this genre. Surpassing the canon of free jazz, the electro-acoustic improv employs the timing and sound of progressive electronic music (from 'dance' to sonology) alongside the new possibilities offered by the computer. Digital is the great common denominator in all this. Video artists and cineastes make a night at the WORM.venue often into a total experience of image and sound in which the most intriguing fusions between genres can find its place.

After declaring celluloid a dead medium, filmmakers have saved equipment from the modernising powers for projection, development and recording, creating a free port for authentic film making. At this moment the WORM.filmwerkplaats is one of a few places in Europe where you can work with Super8 and 16mm film. The roots of the film studio lay in experimental and D.I.Y. film making. With the available equipment all aspects and processes of film making can be dealt with and a 'no budget' work can be completed. We are an open studio in which you are allowed to work independently. Film makers and artists are free to use our equipment to be able to shoot, edit and complete an entire film at minimum cost. We can also act as a producer for film projects and assist in the production and completion of the films themselves. We also regularly organizes workshops on experimental film with international film-makers invited as visiting lecturers. The workshops offer beginning film-makers the opportunity to gloat at the celluloid. Experienced film-makers and artists will be bathed in the developing tray of various processes and film techniques.

A web crawler to help check the untempered growth of our digital lives. It can feed on all of WORM's databases, searching the web for specially tagged information, as well as skimming through our hang-outs at Flickr, Myspace and Youtube. Easter eggs galore, beyond usability, for hardcore lovers of clicky-clicky. (www.wormweb.nl)

Program

WORM.filmwerkplaats

(Capacity: 300) The WORM.venue is situated in an old 17th century shipping warehouse built for the former VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie), with views over the historical Delfshaven. The venue houses several studio's, a bar, a shop, a cinema and a concert hall. In 2005 this listed building was, under the supervision of ‘2012 Architecten’ and with the help of more than 50 artists, converted into WORM's home base. 90% if its interior consists of recycled materials with a bar made of just under a mile of re-used wood, furniture created from car tyres and re-used billboards, toilets made out of defunct industrial size water containers and a back office running on OpenSource software. With this, WORM can be considered as one of the pioneers in sustainable architecture.

3. 5. WORM.LABORA WORM.WEB TORIES WORM.web Portal

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1. WORM.VENUE

posterzijde-algemeen-A2.pdf

1/5/09

9:53:36 AM

WORM NOW!

www.wormweb.nl

—

INTERVIEWED hajo

sascha

Name: Hajo Doorn Nick/pseudonym: Date of Birth: 27-11-1968 Part of the WORM.team since: the beginning Function: (artistic) director Original profession: artist, musician Likes: good stuff Dislikes: unfortunately a lot more

do: We think of an idea and then be as radical as possible to realize this idea. No politics. The only reason I think we do it is to surprise ourselves, to force ourselves to take new paths, to stay fresh and sharp. It is not difficult to be radical or to be different, but it takes some kind of courage and a strong back. Even though many people have difficulties with this 'pragmatic radicalism' and our choices, I think I can say that over the years we have gained some respect for our persistence, our energy, our knowledge of subcultures and our original solutions and brinkmanship. I will spare everybody with all the hard times...

Name: Sascha Roth Nick/pseudonym: “what's the guys name?” Date of Birth: seventies Part of the WORM.team since: 09/99 Function: bookings, compiling radioworm, allround stuff Original profession: watchmaker Likes: Autopsy Dislikes: a lot of things

— WORM was founded in 1999 and you've been at its cradle. Can you tell something about WORM's early days?

— Since its birth, WORM has been expanding into many different directions. Next to the venue there are a number of workshops; WORM.filmwerkplaats, WORM.studio and more recently the Moddr_lab. What position do these workshops take in the overall mission WORM has set for itself?

— You have been involved with WORM from the start, doing bookings after being hired first for publicity / transport duties for the film programme. What has changed in the music programme when comparing today's bookings with those from about 10 years ago?

WORM started out as a collective of collectives. The three branches (a venue, a film workspace and a small cinema) came to the conclusion that in order to survive and to be more sufficient in providing good circumstances for the arts, a bigger organisation was needed. Therefore we started WORM. The idea was to grow. Not in size but in diversity. We wanted to provide a good atmosphere and good facilities for the multidisciplinary arts. In our eyes, there was not such an organisation. Following this strategy, we were able to obtain a certain 'mass' that – in our opinion – was necessary to survive these times in which numbers seem to be leading. In the early days we programmed mostly post-rock, improv, cult-films, abstract films (new and old) and shorts. We have always proclaimed that experimental art is fun and not 'intellectual'. I would say: true experimental art is a-intellectual. WORM was and is 'a feel'. — Since its birth WORM undoubtedly has evolved (or mutated). What are the main differences when comparing WORM as it is today to when it started out? I think the core of WORM hasn't changed. Only the arts changed and so did we and we of course became a lot bigger. We are always getting bored at some point and start looking for other stuff that is around. The only thing that changed is the way in which we present everything. Due to the fact that we want to share our love for the arts with as many people as we can, we try to be open and hospitable and put a lot of energy in attracting an audience. It's not always easy since the Arts we promote and produce aren't always very extravagant and/or joyful by nature. Sometimes it takes time to get used to the more hectic and crazy things we do. After the explosion of electronic music and visuals until the mid 2000's, we now see more performances, more banjos and more tactile films. And of course there is our focus on media-art (although I detest the word and the international scene). There is a lot of fun in making stupid machines, modifications and de-regulative internet-art. — WORM has always occupied a kind of outsider position within the Dutch cultural landscape. What do you see as the pro's and con's of having this position? My mother always asks me why I want things different. She thinks I'm against a lot of things, but in fact I'm 'pro other things'. When other organisations cover something really well, I don't see the point of doing it also. And there's a lot to be covered! I always wonder why so many people are taking the same path, while there is so much mind blowing stuff out there that doesn't get any attention. Also in terms of history, WORM puts a lot of energy in connecting the artistic tendencies with similar ones from the past. It is really amazing to see how little knowledge there is with some of the younger kids. All those fantastic bands from the past, all those remarkable films, all that early-days electronic art! So the question should be: why does WORM have an outsider position? Do you think it's fun always to explain why you take the difficult road, or, coming back to my mother, that she can't explain to her friends what exactly I'm doing and perhaps what kind of success it is.

As I said, it was part of the strategy to survive the 'accountabilty' times we live in, by broadening our activities. In this way we could stay specific and explicit in our choices and, on the other hand, meet up with the strong regulations and rules we have in this country, even if you would not get subsidies like us. Under this umbrella construction, the labs and venue have a relatively big autonomy. They can operate as separate small organisations and move within there own environment and network, while the 'mother' is taking care of the other parts that are necessary to run an organisation like the bookkeeping, the marketing and publicity. The different branches also inspire each other. It is really nice to implant a certain way of working within the field of film to music or new media. Thus you get interesting results. Also we 'stole' a lot of principles from the OpenSource Software community and implemented it in our own organisation. In the end we do this all for the purpose of bringing fantastic arts to the public and give artists a great place to work, perform, reflect and party. — In the summer of 2009 WORM will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In which direction do you want to take WORM in the coming years? I hope the credit crisis will bring us new energy. In fact, I was hoping this to happen for quite a while. Especially in the Netherlands where the arts have become less and less relevant and more so a nice time consuming activity. More and more we had to focus on countries like the US, Germany, Austria, South America and Japan. My primary focus has always been Dutch Art and artists: only when it doesn't meet our expectations, we go and look abroad. It is my aim to integrate fine arts, design and architecture in WORM and become producers of international devastating art. I hope people from all over the world will come and use our facilities and make fine and extreme things that will blow you away. And I hope that lots of people stand in line to see the results live, like them, and become inspired. — Many different kinds of events were organised by WORM during this turbulent decade. Which of them do you count to your personal highlights? Of course there have been many. But I recall acts like: Bodenständig 2000, Lightning Bolt, Captain Ahab, Dirty projectors, Sensational, Rammelzee, Candie Hank, Venetian Snares and Jason Forrest, Der Plan, Groenland Orchester, Neung Phak, Ruins, Thomas Jirku, Dj Elepahant Power, Guido Moebius, Phtalocyanine, Maga Bo, Gangpol und Mit, dj Lamzak, Ergo Phizmizz, Dead Sentence: Panda, 1 Speed Bike, Kornreiniger, Nihilst Spasm band, Apparat, Phono.o, Komet, Felix Kubin, Kap Bambino and improvs with people like Chris Corsano, Zach Hill, Gregg Kowalski, Martin Thetréault, Mattin, Mutamassik, The Owl Project, Toktek and FM3. Also films like: OTTO:, or Up with Dead People, Häxen, The spook who sat by the door, The American Astronaut, American Movie, Die letzte Tage im Führerbunker, Weltrevoltion, Short by Hanns Scheirl and Optical Machines.

— WORM's programme really distinguishes itself from what's on offer at other venues and for this takes a unique position. The choices are never easily digestible and always provoking. Will there be specific focal points in WORM's future music program and if so what will they be?

Name: Peter Taylor Nick/pseudonym: Date of Birth: 30/06/1974 Part of the WORM.team since: January 2007 Function: programmer (film and music) Original profession: Studied History and then did a postgraduate study in Arts Administration. Had a lot of jobs, some good, some very bad (NIKE, Amazon.com - I was curious and needed a job!). Hmmm a historian then? Likes: Soda Bread, Shreddies, Jam boiled up by grandmothers, Rotiland (but not for breakfast) Dislikes: Turnip

developments. What direction do you think things are moving musically in the next few years? It's a bit pointless to make predictions, but I'm guessing we'll see more stylistic crossovers hailed as 'THE shit' till kingdom come, some of them being more exciting than others. For genuine new sounds to come to the fore, new instruments will have to be invented, or humans would have to cross-breed with animals in order to make it happen. Overall, I have little interest in 'this' or 'that' genre, but it's my task to know what's going on. Ultimately though, once a fresh new music movement gets cultivated, it usually devolves into a genre shortly after - comfortably categorised with all the cheap name and price tags attached. It will lose it's urgency and relevance; critics will come up with the words and hordes of counterfeit musicians will molest it into formulas to flood the market with hollow adaptations, sometimes even blurring the lines that lead back to that verifiable origin, the authentic work of art. And although we here are forced to cater our audiences with many points of reference too, I'd much rather refrain from it and leave everything out in the open for people to think about themselves. Now, wouldn't that be beautiful?

— As you more recently joined the WORM.team, how did you come into contact with WORM and what can you remember of that?

— You're probably getting flooded by demo's, phone calls and emails of artists that want to perform at the WORM.venue. How do you decide which are suitable acts to feature in WORM's program and which ?

I think it must be almost seven or eight years since I crossed the threshold at WORM. Think it was for a Dat Politics gig (been three more since then I think!)... the first time unaccompanied (!) for Volcano the Bear... It quickly became an addiction! Really... in the beginning I couldn't believe the wealth! I'd read about something and then almost the next week it would be happening at WORM. From then on I think I was at something nearly every week.

We get tons of offers, mostly via mail. It has increased exponentially ever since we opened our 2nd, physical venue, and also because we host a very wide variety of styles in our programme which makes a lot of people think they can give it a shot here. That's cool, but we can only process a limited amount of incoming information and had to give up on trying to reply everyone. This is often viewed as arrogant and we might get dismissed as elitist bastards, which is a shame cause we'd like to support as many artists as possible. But as with all things, it's impossible to satisfy everyone. As for making choices, there's a certain set of parameters that I would apply but mostly it's gut feeling and intuition more than anything else.

— Many different kinds of films have passed through the film program over the last decade. As the films get only shown once, during the regular Wednesday night screening, the choice to screen a specific film must be based on certain criteria depending on the programmers. What are for you personally looking for in a film as to be suitable to get featured in WORM's film program?

When we realised we were considered radicals :) we thought well: let it be. Be radical, but not in its traditional sense. I always had problems with the conservative radicals: The 'against-groups', the house rules in squatted buildings and the wardrobe style sheets of punks. So we became radicals in automating our production process, the choice for recycled materials, drinks and above all: radical in being pragmatic in obtaining our goals. The questions were: Why are there always adds for Yoga-workshops in health food stores? Why are footballers always anti-gay? This is what we

I wouldn't say 'never easily digestible' nor 'always provoking' cause that's the typical stigma or prejudice which we're trying to turn into something positive. Because we balance on the fringes of music culture, some of the music we present might be hard to stomach upon first hearing, but our goal is also to entertain people and try to make everything easily accessible to them. There's plenty of shows at WORM where you can just rock out, dance and have fun, while being confronted with challenging music which is out of the norm. Everyone should enjoy themselves. We're not interested in provocation just for the sake of it. For example we would never plan a dj to play exclusively harsh music in our bar after we've tested people's endurance with a noise or a barrage of free jazz... and you'd be surprised to find out how many bands want to crank up their amps themselves, we actually never ask them to. Then again, we are here to not shy away from taking people to the outer limits in any direction. As for future focal points, there will be plenty. Amongst other things, we're trying to investigate territory that's devoid of 1st world, westernised music culture. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some stuff to work out around May / June.

Good cop, bad cop?! I programme mostly free, improvised/instant-ish or composed and electro-acoustic music. — If you were to name a few personal highlights in WORM's past programming in film and music, what would they be and why? There's too too many! Hard to think... Maybe Wolf Eyes and Ariel Pink for the most unlikely combination in a gig? Pere Portabella's 'Cuadecuc-Vampir'- beautiful, beautiful film - the high contrast nearly burning itself indelibly onto my eyelids! Laurin Federlein's "Build a Ship, Sail for Sadness" just for its joyfully unrestrained bitter sweet sadness...

Yes they're just guides and pointers... weights and balances, suggestions towards something. FLASH! Animation came about from a will to show films such as Barry Doupe's Ponytail or David O'Reilly's RGBXYZ - animation that looks like it’s made by technology that's on the verge of collapse. And there was also the will to highlight film makers such as Mary Ellen Bute who was already working in an extraordinarily vivid way with abstract animation in the 1930s but whose films have never been widely distributed. Correcting a balance then? With all the emphasis on the Oedipal 68 struggles in 2008 I was made very curious about the feminist media that emerged from the wreckage of the 60s and 70s? We'll have film screenings with Valie Export, Ursula Bieman.... I'd love to show some work from Vivienne Dick. What do these things mean to us now when we're so post, post, post. I'm happy to throw up some of these stronger flavours and see what we can do with them. Kino Illegal is just our way of being able to show some cinematic treasures to a membership audience that we'd otherwise be unable to if these screenings were to

Phone: WORM.office +31 (0)104767832 WORM.filmwerkplaats +31 (0)104762290 WORM.shop +31 (0)104152487

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/worm_rotterdam

— Next to the films you also are responsible for part of the music program. In which way does this program distinguish itself from that of Sascha Roth?

— Within the overall film programming there are a few returning themes as displayed by programs like Kino Illegal, FLASH! Animation and, next to that, retrospectives of film makers and/or movements. Can you explain in short what these programs are about?

see map on other side

WORM Portal: www.wormweb.nl

Yes! My involvement with IFFR goes back as long as that with WORM and could be characterised in a similar way... my amazement at having access in what became my home city to such an embarrassment of riches! It’s changed but in the Belfast I grew up in there just weren't these possibilities. I saw one experimental film in twenty five years growing up there. So I'm very happy to have had this contribution and to be in the unlikely position of being able to contribute back. I'm one of the team programming short films at the festival.

I'd say first of all that we grasp a lot more than we think and at WORM the entry barrier is always low... but the standards high. Maybe the films aren't necessarily the easiest but it's guaranteed they'll leave something with you, guaranteed to be as intimate an experience of cinema as you can get. One offs, up close!

— A common denominator for most acts performing at the WORM.venue are that they don't necessary 'sell' commercially although many have a large international following or gained much critical acclaim. Some prominent names have performed their first Dutch shows at WORM before moving on to perform at larger stages and festivals. Can you name a few and can you give a short impression of their performance at WORM?

contact

— Next to WORM you are also involved with IFFR. What is contribution to its program?

— The films at WORM are not necessarily the easiest to watch and/or grasp. Many people order/rent DVD's or download films from the internet. However your film program does have an edge which makes it surpasses the problems generated by. Can you explain why one should visit WORM on a Wednesday night?

Over the last decade we've seen a lot of different music genres rise, evolve and/or vanish. WORM attempts to be at the forefront of new

Visit (venue, shop & studio) WORM ACHTERHAVEN 148 ROTTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS

be publicly announced.

Yes a lot of films! I'm responsible for about 40 film programmes a year -it soon mounts up. Well one of the main criteria I would suggest is that you're unlikely to be able to see the film in a similar context elsewhere... we're operating on the hinterlands between cinematheque and archive, handcrafted d-i-y and musical... drive in and uhhhh? The film has to have some life in it, something taking it beyond genre restrictions. A gentle or painstakingly constructed openness and failing this, spades of bloody minded forcefulness in its narrative, texture, sense of cinema something under-represented elsewhere.

I think we were the first to have Venetian Snares play Holland early 2002 but I'm not 100% sure. Also other 'breakcore' pioneers (Hrvatski, Christoph De Babalon, Doormouse, DuranDuranDuran, Ove-naxx, Drop The Lime and many more) basically made their debut at WORM. We were also lucky to catch Dj/Rupture, Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt, Sunn O))), Secret Chiefs 3 and others on their early tours or welcome old heroes like James Chance, Silver Apples, Nihilist Spasm Band or Der Plan... those were all exciting times and the list goes on... to highlight just one or two great memories from a decade worth of shows is just impossible.

— With its never easy and radical choices in programming, design, products etc. WORM places strong statements. Can you explain some of the main issues WORM is trying to deal with?

visit

At the start the programme was mainly focused on improv, (free)jazz and avant-rock with some electronica slipping in occasionally. I started to do bookings when i detected some cool offers and was able to convince my colleagues it was worthwhile organising. The infamous Cock ESP / V/VM double bill was my first show in December 2000. I vividly remember the Cock ESP set that ended abruptly after about 7 minutes cause they fighting each other half-heartedly in crappy 'horse and cowboy' outfits - destroyed their contact mics and some gear during the process. V/VM's set was pleasantly annoying as well. Anyway, I tried to venture into different, new directions, answering to the collective desire to keep changing and expanding content wise. I've branched out to other extremities (occasionally even some cool hc/punk/grind type bands such as Shikari or pg.99 cause they had nowhere to go in R'dam) whilst also tapping into music that was deliberately more poppy and danceable (Dntel, Prefuse 73, Safety Scissors). I think that today's programme is only different from the early days, in the sense that I'm constantly adapting to what's going on in the present and always try to avoid repetition.

peter

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