As I'm sure you are aware last night Out Of Step welcomed four amazing acts who embrace folk in a completely different style. The night also included a stripped back approach to lighting with fairy lights adding a n intimate feel to the stage set up and projections of retro holiday and skate videos throughout each set.
As usual the next few posts will include individual reviews and a selection of the best pictures we could find from the night however if you'd rather see video of each band please head over to my Youtube channel here where you can find video of each band.
Out Of Step is a monthly night based in Wolverhampton at Alchemy Bar and every last Monday of each month with live bands and DJs. Their Birmingham clubnight takes place every first Thursday of each month at Island Bar. Their playlists cover alternative, electronica, shoegaze and punk showcase and their gigs usually feature up and coming bands. At their events Out Of Step give away a free zine, so far they’ve put two out which have featured the likes of Hot Club de Paris, La La Vasquezand Atta Girl.
We sent them a few questions to find out more about their zine.
Who is behind the fanzine? The fanzine is run by two people, myself (Richard Cartwright) and good friend Ben Adset.There are also a collective of writers, bands and illustrators who we have featured in the pages.
How often do you publish each issue? We bring out the zine every month before a live show. Yet sometimes it can run behind schedule with self funding.
It started when I asked the question for a post on our blog in the start of the year “what are the three records that changed and inspired your life”.The feedback was brilliant and the thoughts on the records chosen by the people, some as far as America was well worth the reason to print it. Also no one in Wolverhampton was doing it at the time.
Instead of flyers printed for our night I thought the zine would be the ideal method of printed material to get people to the nights we put on. With flyers people tend to throw away when given but a book I think people take notice.
What influeneces you when you’re putting together an issue? The D.I.Y culture of late 70’s and 80’s punk. But I would say drinking Earl Gray till the late hours of the morning, slumped over my Mac and scanner listening to My Bloody Valentine. But no the influence is in the love of D.I.Y and music helping spread the word about new bands in our area.
Production wise what kind of methods do you use? i.e. scanner or cut & paste for example. Well it’s cut and paste really, I will type it all up then print all the pages off. Add the artwork and pictures by hand. There are no computers involved in the final layout of the zine pages. Then it’s just the photocopier and me for a few hours.
Tell me how you distribute your zine
I go around to all the shops, bars and record shops myself and hope the owners don’t throw them away after I leave 30 odd there. If you go on the blog there is a distribution list up there somewhere. You can also get them from our live night at Alchemy Bar Wolverhampton and our DJ nights in Birmingham’s Island bar and Cheltenham’s Two Pigs
Why print a zine instead of other methods such as blogging? We do have a blog too. I like the idea of someone picking up the zine and spending time reading my printed thoughts on music. Most things on the net are very disposable nowadays. The connection to the people I feel is lost in blogs because anyone can do it. When I pick up a zine I look after it, I put it on my book shelf for safe keeping because I know someone spent time and money on that.
What was the first zine you ever read? I never really read zines that much at all but I came across the American zine ‘Touch and Go’ via a friend and thought that was pretty rad, reading Ian MacKaye cooking guide the straight edge way and the way the pages are put together in its cut and paste structure I think was a real big influence on the way Out Of Step zine looks. My friend James Nash does this great comic zine that documents his daily life through drawings. Also a great zine from Norwich called “What would Henry Rollins do”it features hardcore punk.
Are there any other zines you feel an affinity with? ATTA Girl zine is great. It comes from a club night in Birmingham at the Island bar. It’s influence comes from the Riot grrrl zines from the 90’s What is the future of self-publishing? For any Birmingham/ Midlands based people go check out ‘Birmingham zine social club‘ they are on Facebook and they’re all on there that do it. I think it’s good and healthy right now. There is so many Zine fairs up and down the country it will never stop. You go to any show in Birmingham and there is a table set up for zines all for sale.The worry I have is soon the zine will cost more to print. We only make 200 of each issue and now people are asking for more or back issues. Also the more things that go in there the more pages needed and being self funded it can be hard to do it for free. But until then we will keep it free so please don’t hate us when we ask for £3 in on the door at shows. Hopefully if all goes well we will be bringing out Bronze Medals and Moondad on a limited tape cassette run in June/July of this year so very excited about that.
Leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, the Rolo Tomassi headline tour rolls into its last port of call: the Flapper. Surprisingly it isn't sold out tonight, which is lucky for me as I hadn't got around to buying an advance ticket. Yet, despite this, the place is still packed to the rafters. After grabbing a pint of Red Stripe and trying to manoeuvre myself into a position where I can see the first act, Throats, take the stage. Well, I say the stage, their singer actually spent most of their set throwing himself around on the floor in front of the stage. Sadly, despite the energy these guys had they didn't do much for me. Their short bursts of noise remind me a little of Napalm Death, but not being much of a hardcore kid their 30 seconds of feedback and distortion did little to capture my imagination.
Trash Talk however were another kettle of fish. Rumour has it they got kicked out of the venue after playing. From where I was it looked like the guitarist started on the DJ or something. Anyway, it felt odd watching an American band (they are from Sacramento) as nearly all the bands I watch these days are from our home shores, but I was suitably impressed by their hardcore workouts which unlike the previous band had some good riffs going on to get my attention. Their singer liked to provoke circle pits around the room, which for anyone who has been to the Flapper will realise is near-lethal. He also had a penchant for grabbing fans by the head to let them scream down the mic. They were mental, and did have a real air of danger around them. I, for one, could understand why people like them so much. Certainly not a band I would listen to of my own accord, but as a live act tonight they worked well to warm up (most literally) the crowd for the mighty Rolo Tomassi.
I was little uncertain as of what to expect of Rolo this evening. Last time I saw them was one of the most intense gigging experiences of my life, an experience that cost me my brand new camera (lost in the mosh) and my dignity. Sadly, they don't sell the latter in Argos for £69.99. Since then, however, the band have holed up with Diplo and produced a new record. Now I quite like Diplo's work, but when I found out he was going to be producing Rolo I worried slightly. My thought was it would either be killer or catastrophic. Fortunately, if tonight's performance is anything to go by, the fans have nothing to worry about. The band thrashed their way through their set, sprinkling new material alongside tracks from debut Hysterics. New tracks such as the excellent 'Party Wounds' show Rolo are as exciting as ever. They still remind me of Refused; it must be that guitar sound, or perhaps those jazz breaks which simply rule hard. The band seem also keen to prove they're not a one trick pony too, and some of the new material shows the band experimenting with their sound, such as in my new personal favourite, 'Kasia', which starts all post-rocky with chiming guitars before building up into a super-massive Envy-esque tune complimented perfectly by Eva's stunning vocals, backed by some oh-so-throaty screams from her brother. Finishing with 'Abraxas' it is clear to see why Rolo Tomassi are one of Britain's most formidable bands, both in technicality and originality, and from the sound of things Cosmology is going to be slaying some stereos when it comes out at the end of May.
I caught up wit Hot Club De Paris at The Rainbow in Digbeth on the first date of their current tour to promote the new EP ‘With Days Like This As Cheap As Chewing Gum Why Would Anyone Want To Work’.
How is the Tour Going So far?
Matthew: You’ve seen 90% of it since you got here
Al: The van got here in one piece and we left Liverpool on time, which is very rare. Matthew and I have new earplugs, which knock 25DB’s off the volume. It’s the First time I’ve done a sound check in ages without wanting to cry.
New EP came out today on download when’s the hardcopy out?
Paul: The digital came out today but the digital isn’t due until February 26th, but people have started to receive pre-orders in the post. We also have some to sell on the tour with our merch, we checked on play’ download chart and we were at number 3 so I got in touch with Mishi Moshi (The bands record label) and told them there must have been an administrative error or something. It turned out the download was priced wrong and was being sold for ninety-nine pence. The EP then rose to number one in the play download chart over the week.
The new EP has a slightly different less polished sound from previous recordings how did this come about?
We wanted a record that was more challenging than the previous two and now we have the option to start recording for ourselves we have a lot more scope and time. There’s also no pressure to get out of the studio within a certain time or to get the mixing done in a certain time as if it takes longer than expected it doesn’t cost extra. It kind of gets fun not having someone else to make decisions for you and there’s less pressure not being on someone else’s time. We don’t think there is any great importance in polished production and it has let us get closer to sounding like the albums that inspired us.
How has the live sound changed to incorporate songs from the new EP?
We are stuck being a punk band as there’s only three of us when we play live but there are a few new pedals. We wanted to make a record that people could get as big a reaction form as when we play live. Obviously we throw ourselves around, get involved with the audience, and there are a lot of banter and discussion.
Who was the last band you went to see for pleasure?
We all went to see Jamie T because our mates Cold Ones were supporting him, Jamie’s also a friend that was at Manchester Academy.
A: I’ll be able to go to some gigs again soon now I have these ear plugs I can watch live music without being in pain.
M: A friend is a rep so we went to see Tinchy Strider it was quite funny seeing a mosh pit full of people in heals.
P: I Saw Max Tundra play in a house the other week, I also saw Vivian Girls with Veronica Falls as Veronica Falls are good friends of ours they were awesome. If you see them again you should ask them about going back to someone’s house and Googling themselves that happened when they stayed at mine we stayed up all night on the Internet with them showing me amazing videos on You Tube.
Which bands inspired you to start a band?
(Without any hesitation and before the question finished) QUEEN, Minute men, Joan Of Ark, Black Flag and classic rock.
P: When me and Matthew met I was just into loads of experimental indie rock like Owls and got him into it. I also love classic rock like Thin Lizzy and metal like Megadeath and Slayer I just like music).
A: I was just interested in learning the drums as I hadn’t played for ages
It’s mostly that we are music fans and make music without a need to sound like anyone else. Sometimes there’s one bit of a song like a guitar riff that sounds like someone but as far as taking inspiration and trying to sound like a band that just doesn’t happen for us.
Are there any bands you would recommend looking out for in 2010?
P:Cold Ones are and awesome band, unfortunately Nowhere fast have just split they were a great hardcore band.
A: Little Philistines from London sound great they have a really over the top XTC sound and sound like the first Supergrass album. Dutch Uncles are another great band and they are really nice guys.
P: I really like that band the poet Jack Underwood does Le testsuo, from London.
A: The Pharoes and Not cool are playing with us they are amazing. Going on tour gives us an opportunity to catch up on new music.
M: SSS, Indigo Ritual and Bow and Arrow are all great bands from Liverpool there’s plenty of stuff happening.
How would you define the style of music that you play?
A: We wouldn’t the only people who try and define you are journalists, they try and do it with an undercurrent of meanness not always but there is often the problem.
P: At the end of the day we are defined by a Journalists fame of reference,
M: It depends how old they are and what records they have heard, sometimes when you get compared it can be a compliment if they name check a few bands you like.
M: I’d say we are just an eccentric English band, sometimes there’s a reference that you think suits you and if people who listen to good music and see the references and might want to come and watch us.
How do you keep yourselves occupied when travelling between venues?
A: We mercilessly take the piss out of each other
M: Mercilessly, usually if we’re driving we will sit in a row and one of us will drive and we’ll all just be mean to each other.
A: We’ve always got something to do, whether it’s travelling between venues or setting up and sound checking.
M: There’s usually bits like this to do and I’m changing my strings as we speak, I also have to keep emailing people to make sure everyone knows what the hell is going on.
P: I’ve got some graphics work to do which is quite exciting.
Who does the bands artwork?
P: I do the artwork it’s the best way then we always like the end product.
M: It’s just a ball ache getting someone who’s not in your band to do something for you. If we do get someone to do the tee shirts or something it’s someone who’s work we’ve seen.
P: We try and keep the band as DIY as possible and involve as few people involved as possible, we have a booking agent and a label.
A: It’s important to have a booking agent if you finish a show and get told rather that three hundred quid your only getting eighty and you’ve just done a show in Dundee. The booking agent gets all that stuff arranged on our behalf.
P: At the end of the day the artwork is just another part of doing as much for ourselves as possible.
Where did the name for the new EP ‘With Days Like This As Cheap As Chewing Gum Why Would Anyone Want To Work’ come from?
P: That titles from a book by a Poet Called ‘The Book Of Matthew’ by Matthew Welton, there’s a poem called the A B C of American Suicide which is in three parts. The Third one is about Cobain and the phrase is the last line of that poem. It seemed the way we were making the record on no money with no pressure it was close to bliss and I adored the line and we decided it was the best name for the EP.
Where did your band name come from?
M: Bargain Bucket Jazz Compilations, it sounds and looks great and we didn’t want a macho sounding name so it’s a good banner to fly under.
P: Everyone thinks they’ve heard of us even taxi drivers; they’re familiar with the word hot, most people have been to a club before and everyone knows Paris is a city.
A: Everyone knows the letter D too so it’s a perfect
Scrolling through the Pitchfork Tv i came across the one week only feature on this amazing documentary directed by Matthew Robinson.It follows The Black Lips, Deerhunter, Gaye Blades, Coathangers, Mastodon, Bobby & The Soft Spots, West End Motel, King Khan & BBQ Show, Mark Sultan, The Coathangers, The Subsonics, Gringo Starr, Baby Dinosaurs vs. Extinction, Fiend Without a Face, The Frantic, The Carbonas, Baby Shakes, The Spooks, Demon's Claws, King Khan & The Shrines, All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, Anna Kramer, Herb Harris, Jason Harris, CPC Gang Bangs, Atlas Sound, Fe Fi Fo Fums, Old King Cole Younger The Lids, Snowden, The Spaceshits, The Mighty Hannibal, The Orphins, Thee Crucials, The Selmanaires, Rizzudo, Beat Beat Beat, Saba Lou, The Alphabets, Wet Dreams, Gentleman Jesse, The Lids, The Liverhearts, Knife & the 4th Ward Daggers, Mourdella, Each and Every Member of the Death Cult. Snowden, Mastodon, Hubcap City, West End Motel and the late great Jay Reatard
It's beautifully shot and has great insight into the way in which a new cultural scene inspired by the 60's garage rock has come from all the bands just continuously playing all the time in bar's,club's,their friends house party or just simply anywhere.
The live clip's of Black Lips is simply epic,nothing better then watching a band that play better when they sweet like their in Hell. It's a honest portrait of what band's can do and what not to do i.e just get stuck in the same city playing the same show's and calling that a tour.
"I was never afraid of being a little bit boring" Braford Cox
Last up was Failures union all the way from Buffalo NY, apparently we made a little bit of history for the band as we were the first venue they'd played outside the North American Continent. The band made a slice of Out Of Step history by becoming the first international band to take the Alchemy stage.
From the first moment of the set Failures Union balanced their material perfectly, the fast songs were loud and fast and slow songs were slow with smooth vocals. The musicianship from the whole band was spot on and they were genuine and funny when interacting with the audience.
Just like the other three bands they were great to have a chat to and you should take the opportunity to see them live.
The third band to take the stage were half local big beat act Joyous who like all the bands played their hearts out for the full set getting very sweaty in the process. They held the attention of the audience with their unique brand of electronic indie rock backed up with some powerful soulful vocals, deep bass and neat angular guitars.
Here's what their set looked like in a 5 photo's, again a lovely bunch to have a chat with and if you get a chance go see them live!
As promised here's some pics of Bronze Medals form Monday, they were really good live and had a tight live sound mixing vocal harmonies with angular guitars and the drummer didn't miss a beat for the whole set. Unfortunately for them Wolverhampton traffic wardens ruined their dinner plans so they had to get some to reheat.
I would definitely recommend seeing them live if you get the opportunity and make sure you go and say hello to them to as they're really nice guys and interesting to have a chat with.
Just 500 fans will get the chance to arrive unrushed, pick a prime camping spot and start the party early with bands performing at the Leaf Lounge marquee from 5pm onwards.
Many Early Entry Evening passes have already been sold and cost just £10, so the remainder are expected to disappear very quickly.
These acts are added to the full line up below, Rich and Ben are going and hopefully taking some Zines so if you see them go and say hello and grab a copy of the Zine!
2000Trees Festival has just announced the line up and released the poster (below). Rich and I are both going and you should come too! The festival is a great small unbranded festival with a focus on the environment and obviously great music.
Frank Turner is one of the greatest singer song writers around at the moment and his live performances are full of emotion, passion and Frank putting everything he has into every single performance. The Subways are also famed for the passion and enthusiasm they put into every show they play.
The Smaller stages also have some great acts for you to enjoy with Kill It Kid bringing a unique blend bluesy folk noise, Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun show anyone who hasn't heard of them why Cheltenham love his brand of folk punk (you can have a preview of them at May's Out Of Step), Aspen Sails (Out Of Step May) bring harmonic folk and beautiful lyrics and Three Trapped Tigers bring guitar driven Electronica. Personally I am looking forward to seeing as many bands as I can fit into one weekend. I'm sure 2000Trees is a large factor in Cheltenham being listed fifth in NME's most musical places in the UK. Tickets are £50 for the entire weekend including camping and the bar and food vendors are far cheaper than the branded festivals making the festival even better.
The full line up (so far) is below and the festival opens on Thursday 15th July to a select 500 VIP's for a surprise line up (rumors say Frank Turner fully acoustic)
Advantage completed the line up for our relaunch with an individual brand of 'Brass Rock' full of energy and enthusiasm. You can certainly see why they are one of 2010's hottest acts according to the music press. If you haven't heard Advantage yet you should go and see them live or get hold of a copy of the EP Future Echos as words cannot fully explain the 'Brass Rock' sound.
Still Bust became the first ever band to take the stage for Out Of Step and played out of their skins for us. They mixed energy and passion from their music with humor in between, if you haven't heard it all ready you should buy their latest EP Oh Long Johnson from I tunes or the band themselves.
Monday saw the relaunch of Out Of Step with the addition of bands and the Zine, the night was a great success and we'd like to thank everyone who came!
Two piece (guitar/drums/dual vocals) noisey-punk-pop inspired by the likes of Husker Du, My Bloody Valentine and Black Flag who recently completed a tour of California playing renowned DIY venues such as The Smell (home of No Age, Mika Miko etc) and Burger Records store (Ty Segall, Jay Reatard ).
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Hare & Hounds Birmingham
£3 Donation on the door
Out of Step is a D.I.Y promoter based in Birmingham (UK)
We play and showcase Alternative,Electronica,Noise, shoegaze,punk and thing's we like.
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