Alternative music documenting inspirations

#Zeenagers EXPO is go

As a documentary, #TheZineUK doesn’t function on the chart/competition December/January Listmas format of music sites any more than running regular reviews etc. The following names are from on line conversations, What’s App and gig chats. Nowt from December’s version of Twitter.

As usual, doing our own situationist thing outside “how it’s supposed to be done” and social media trends, the story evolves organically outside of major hype but noticeably. From this tapestry, there are Weekend Recovery, Cold Water Swimmers, Feral Five and Cross Wires amidst albums coming in 2023. Bands who are creating notable legacies for their names.

If you’ve ever been aware of our Picture Story Diary Doc (first uploaded Spring 2014), you’ll notice the Fertile Environment seeding in a variety of real time. Some developing into unimaginable moments that, when they happen, make total and deserved sense. Bands come, go, evolve, get on, sod off as things go right or wrong. When wider attention hits, ya love to see it, right?

Decolonise Fest stars Big Joanie, Nova Twins and Bob Vylan playing this year’s Glastonbury Festival and being half of the inaugural MOBO altnernative music group nominations this year, is a strong case in point.

There are so many more of our cast and crew from TheZineUK pages and socials! We couldn’t make it up. We don’t have to. Bang Bang Romeo toured with Pink, False Heads in the charts, Benefits all over the place. Here’s 42 Seconds of The Mysterines by Monefa Walker for her interview with them for TheZineUK, early 2020. They’re on tour with Arctic Monkeys in 2023.

Working Class women powered (with Tory-unfriendly-heritages and political views) TheZineUK’s 2023 adores the diversity of backgrounds and foregrounds of generation tremorists (i.e. all ages, it’s the 21st century!) in the vanguard of newer wave music industrious movement.

Big up the grassroots venue circuit, the likes of Music Venue Trust and Independent Venue Community and please play respect to all the technicians, promoters, producers, presenters, DJ and expanded fun-fam of media/industry and audiences support that makes this a genuine game changing era. The documenting by photographers, writers and film makers is incredible. The illustrations and graphics are part of the exhibiton. We need each other.

This music site x events creator may be only a small “Rocking Pebble” or “New Whimsical Express”, but our inclusion ain’t delusion. Everybody’s invited, watch all their/our spaces.

2018. That time the legendary promoter and connector, Kick Out The Jams (rock n roll circus) hosted a night of good mixing that has become one of music’s “I Swear I Was There” moments. Roger Kent of Kent and his extended fam of fun signed off with a final event in December 2022 but is a space worth watching for future hopes. The line ups helped to fuel what is happening. It’s All Happening!

Uniqulture’s tapestry weaves through the interaction, co-promotion and collaboeration of friends, strangers or otherwise. We’ll document 2023 with a view to creating the Zeenagers Expo from the reality of soundtracking escapism from dystopia’s now and next…

Gen and the Degenerates wowing This Feeling’s Leeds/London festival ReWired in August. Spotting members of JW Paris in the crowd, this is one of the live music clubs where musicians and their followers make friends with like minded souls. Another reason for the fertile environment starting to really take seed.

Some 2022-flavouring artists to look out for in 2023

Anna Wolf
Arxx
Bugeye
Cobain Jones
Coco and the Lost
Colossus
Dictator
Eternum Joy
Fitzroy Holt
Gen and the Degenerates
gglum
Glytsch
Hotwax
JW Paris
Kill The Icon
Lime Garden
Lufe Tempo
Mango In Euphoria
Megan Wyn
Nadia Sheikh
Noah and the Loners
Ramona Marx
Ruby J
Small Miracles
Something In The Lake
Spangled
Teenage Sequence
The Dead Freights
The Kairos
The Molotovs
The Now
The Outers
The Velvet Hands
Venus Grrrls
Weekend Recovery
Wharves

February 2022, caught Arxx at The House Of Vans Next Generation shows and later in the year at Croydon’s As The Cro Cro Flies. Exceptional bands that rock with credible composition and performance abilities. There’s a lot of DIY development since the new world began in 2020 vision. As we adapted together we have created brighter possibilities for balance.

Albums

Adwaith 'Bato Mato'
Arctic Monkeys 'The Car'
Asylums 'Signs Of Life'
A Void 'Call Of The Void'
Bait 'Sea Change'
Beabadoobee ' Beatopia'
Berries 'How We Function'
Big Joanie 'Back Home'
Black Country, New Road 'Ants From Up There'
Bob Vylan 'The Price Of Life'
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard 'Backhand Deals'
Deux Furieuses 'Songs From Planet Earth'
Dry Cleaning 'Stump Work'
Enjoyable Listens 'The Enjoyable Listen'
Fontaines D. C. 'Skinty Fia'
Ghum 'Bitter'
Gwenno 'Tresor'
Johnny Marr 'Fever Dreams'
Kid Kapichi - 'Here’s What You Could Have Won'
Louis Tomlinson 'Faith In The Future'
MOSES 'I Still Believe! Do You?'
Nova Twins 'Supernova'
Peaness 'World Full Of Worry'
Pillow Queens 'Leave The Light On'
Rina Sawayama 'Hold The Girl'
Sinead O Brien 'Time Bend And Break The Bower'
Soccer Mommy 'Sometimes Forever'
The Assist 'Council Pop' 
The Linda Lindas 'Growing Up'
The Shop Window 'A 4 Letter Word'
The Snuts 'Burn The Empire'
The Smile 'A Light For Attracting Attention'
Wet Leg 'Wet Leg'
Witch Fever 'Congregation'
Wynona Bleach 'Moonsoake'

We doff our documenting cap to Simon Williams of Fierce Panda. In the newer wave are a wealth of 1990s shapers involved with guiding, while learning from, up and comers of the scenes. The beauty of generation tremorists is ideas and experience exchanging excitedlly. A revision of the widespread zoomer-v-boomer division. Instead, the tunes go zoom, results go boom. Woven into our tapestry, respect to you all!

Thanks for reading/creating/performing/supporting this genuine arts movement.

Dizzy Spell (Editor)/Caffy St Luce (Events)

https://linktr.ee/thezineuk

JPGs of above mentioned artists:

2022 Term Freshers

AWEtumn 2021, hope that you are having fun.

SHADE, EBGS, Liverpool Sound City Festival, 2 October 2021

SHADE, EBGS, Liverpool Sound City Festival, 2 October 2021

Many musicians have 2022 plans pencilled since “post-lockdown” days. TheZineUK doc’s most recent pix-diary - July 2021 (thank you for the many reads, already) - felt like a new dawn.

Whether it was the necessity for heroic England FC to lose THAT historic match and open truth gates, or how Generation Tremorists are super-glued into this tapestry.

All ages, backgrounds and ability fused with all arts (i.e. “Nature”) = uniqulture in genre-fluid ACTion.

Take the force of Nature known as Tiger Mimic.

Here’s a live version of their newly released single, ‘Silence Of The Night’. The one-band dramarock scene are a gateway into the grassroots music (r)Evolution. Also, this summer, they were to be found supportively in the audience of their peers. Musicians, creators, connectors - organically they rise. Get Tiger Mimic on your #2022SoundsLike radar.

In the July issue, Tech (Flare Audio) and Industry (Music Venue Trust) threads are woven with Tim Burgess’s Twitter Listening Parties into must have audio-joy headphones (OK, we just photographed Tim through a window at The Great Escape 2017, but hey - it’s all meant to be).

Situationist magick also gifted us an early Freedom Day at SNCFest. Music world’s Jean Genie, is “The Bringer Of Sunshine”. She really did inspire warmth THAT hot, hot weekend! JG is so key to the new music scenes that this is key to our documenting. July’s saw Manchester’s SHADE start to bloom and lovely Denise Johnson never forgotten (while she also helped raise over £18,000 for Music Venue Trust).

TheZineUK story has declared an Interdependent Music Industrious. The elements consistently prove themselves. Sussex/Kent’s End Of The Trail and Kick Out The Jams are increasingly industry/media hook up hang outs - and more of us getting away from our home towns again. Check out the multi-tasking energy pulsing from Weekend Recovery as a great example.

Sneak preview of the August issue

Bruvs out supporting the sisters-fronted-pop star turns (Cruel Hearts Club, Cat SFX, Kin and Mango In Euphoria) who were playing Kick Out The Jams that evening. Ace to see The Gulps, Alan McGee and Carl Barat back at ArtBeat HQ (Amersham Arms) - amidst a flock of flock of industry and media. (Carl is also the venue’s Halloween DJ).

Sister’s are doing it for themselves.

Louise Schofield and Megan Wyn, mid September 2021, This Feeling at Isle Of Wight Festival.

Louise Schofield and Megan Wyn, mid September 2021, This Feeling at Isle Of Wight Festival.

In September, July’s cover star, Louise Schofield, conducted a series of chats for TheZineUK at Isle Of Wight Festival’s buzzing (and then some!) This Feeling Stage - where she also DJd.

A theme of 2021 interviews from TF’s Zone is the artists talking about the art pumped newer wave of industry mixing DIY with ethics and opportunities.

Isle Of Wight Fest head, John Giddings, acknowledges This Feeling being a rung on the ladder for artists towards bigger stages.

To The Chase, Spyres, Lock-In and The Skinner Brothers interviews the Zine And Heard playlist has been updated with Tom Lumley & The Brave Liaison and Megan Wyn conversations. What is all this if not giving hope to the near future?

This month, the (very hard working and very modern) Louise - also presented for our friends, Modern Age, at SOMA Festival and for Modern Sky at Sound City Festival - then, at Manchester’s The Yard, now hosts her own music show, Spill The Sound (first guest is Julia Bardo). Joe Cross (The Courteeners) composed the defining theme music. Interdependent.

“Lullaby Lou” is a gateway into what’s really going on - as is another of our crew, Monefa Walker, who graced September with such an awesome observation: “Let Me Tell You About Artists” - click this link for the full post, it’s a 2021 classic)

Our writer and punky Music People Party host - Monefa Walker - became a released, classical music recording artist this year (on Anita Maj’s Lil Minx Records). Keira Annee photography

Our writer and punky Music People Party host - Monefa Walker - became a released, classical music recording artist this year (on Anita Maj’s Lil Minx Records). Keira Annee photography

Continuing to cut n paste n report, especially over the last two years has created a new, super hero cross breed of emerging artists in TheZineUK.

The cast and crew keeps growing through ups and downs, life and death, changes, failures and achievements for all of us.

Aaaahh… All those cutie pie baby faces, new to this world, courtesy of our friends, urge us to keep making as much wonder in the world as possible for decades of generation tremorists and love for children of all ages.

On the artist side, everybody is brand new again from mid July 2021 and TheZineUK, as a community of creatives, is so here for it.

Big up the high profile media getting involved over the last couple of years (NME with Music Venue Trust and the FAC, while featuring rising stars Nova Twins and Bob Vylan) who are also connected to both of these essential industry shakers - (both bands have also played Amersham Arms - the latter at this weekend’s punk rocked, New Cross wide #TillTheFest).

A uniqulture of positivity is blooming in the #FertileEnvironment - without permission of the hostile environment.

As Diary/Events Department, I’ve lived through decades when these talents/TheZineUK team weren’t yet born - I assure you NOBODY has “seen/heard it all before”, only tedious fuckwits imagine that. Note how generation tremorists like Pint Sized Punk and MASHZINE (who stage a show in New Cross on 19th October) ain’t hung up on stale journalism values.

This year, via End Of The Trail, Roobi TV, Amersham Arms and Sound City, I’ve found myself (again!) grinning in the audience of a Polarized Eyes gig. (It’s not an accident, it’s LOVE!)

Come on, friends, keep the 20s Roaring!

Me me me. Continued. From August to October I’ve adventured outta Deptford Fun City! It’s so emotional to return to cities that I’ve been free to visit all my life pre-pandemic. So many memories flood the senses. There are myriad artists at all levels, to soundtrack our times (including a 2022 Billie Eilish Glastonbury headline set).

Win fucking WIN the future.

TheZineUK day out, Friday 1st October!

Not a pic of the Manics but a reminder of the thrilled anticipation I was feeling, just going to the bar before their set.

Not a pic of the Manics but a reminder of the thrilled anticipation I was feeling, just going to the bar before their set.

(Dizzy Spell - TheZineUK Editor (NHS professional who also became a released recording artist this year) and myself Caffy - Events Department).

We were time out gal pals in Stoke On Trent for the Manics (thank you our Gill for the tickets and a right royal view).

We sang our hearts out to a rock band with decades of chart hits on top of their entertaining, and ever politically relevant, poignant, national treasure game).

Melancholic new album, ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament’, is affecting - yet uplifting.

Look out for actual Manics images in the next issues from our fab Dead End Doll, Lorna Cort (whose photography graces the Manic Street Preachers special edition of Record Collector). Gwan Zeenagers!

2nd October - Liverpool/Loverpool is sound.

Oliver Clare of SHADE assisting MOSES with the kit at Sound City Festival. End Of The Trail - another industry shaker with opportunies.

Oliver Clare of SHADE assisting MOSES with the kit at Sound City Festival. End Of The Trail - another industry shaker with opportunies.

I was at the buzzy AF End Of The Trail Sound City Festival stage - friendly faces and fun in EBGBs - WITH guitars.

Some of us were documenting the near future of Ones To Watch off stage in the rain, between the live sets, also.

Results coming in for ALL the line up of that day (and I’m only writing this ten days later!)

I came back from Liverpool seeing light at the end of this murderous tunnel called NOW.

That hope continued on 6th October ArtBeat staged it’s first proper gig since 2019.

Yay, TheZineUK Events Department is back, gonna be looking at 2022 wishfully staging events.

Full circle back to Amersham Arms in New Cross.

Brand new exciters, Helve, headlined an electric evening - again, movershakers like the above mentioned Jeanie, Monefa alongside Lisa of Knight PR, Paul Joyzine, the band’s (key) producer Harri Chambers (Yard Act etc) and the door host we love most, Sonja Amoretti in the house. This story would not be the same without them all.

Helve then picked up a last-minute, bigger stage show supporting The Howl & The Hum at the 500+ capacity Gorilla in Manchester a few days later and release the second part of their debut single, ‘Snakes And Ladders’ on 15th October before gracing Live At Leeds Festival . (Events Department works with various artists connected by interdependence and story telling. DIY promoting is part of the picture when music media is a different concept - especially in the last decade. Adapting daily).

A minute and a half of something very much happening - as we say - under the radar and over the rainbow. We can only point you in the direction of these artists and let you have your own opinion.

Friday 8th October, SHADE released a trippy-tempo-tangent new single ‘Fallen Skies’. It was produced by Gavin Monaghan at Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton (“the urban Rockfield” and released on Fear Records - another of the industrious independents)

Photography by Blue Shift Studios

Photography by Blue Shift Studios

Heard on telly (Champions League/BT Sport) it also received ‘Track Of The Day’ accolades, XS Manchester Radio playlist and is a bona fide iTunes chart Top 5.

Saturday 9th October, they triumphantly headlined Manchester’s Night & Day with This Feeling (who are celebrating fifteen years of shaping the music world, this month).

TF have supported the band from early doors (and via this, they play the inaugural Sound Sounds Festival next April). #2022soundslike it rocks, already! I’m not the only person I know who is cautiously looking forward again.

The Newer Wave is a post-lockdown reality of artists who would not be out of place on BBC’s Later With Jools Holland (but some of them have been captured Earlier: GET ON! with Roobi TV).

WHAT a harvest above and that’s just a (pre Ghost Road Fest in November and CroCroLand hitting Manchester on 5th December!) fraction.

Now imagine involving these interwoven, blossoming stories into movies and campaigns for people power and the planet. Now is the time. Have faith in their songs . Support their good souls. Find the media who review and interview them. As they interact, harvest the potential of Britain Ireland’s Roaring 20s soundtrack of NOW. The interdependent music industrious is ON.

I repeat…

it’s an awesome AWEtumn 2021!

EBGBs, Liverpool

EBGBs, Liverpool