2022 = Marshall's Swinging Sixties!
Happy 60th Birthday Marshall Amps!
Read MoreHappy 60th Birthday Marshall Amps!
Read MoreThe following was inspired by hearing this song which (for me) evokes images of a space ship in bright Bugeye grrrl colourful riot shades. It hovers above parks where humans are allowed outdoors, at main stage level and the band travel around lighting up hearts and souls into their brightest moves and shapes in their least-lockdown-look gear. It’s not more improbable than what passes for real life. Taken from their 2020 world class debut album, ‘Ready Steady Bang’ (Reckless Yes) and given a Duranesque feral energy of beats that turn your speakers or headphones into your personal nightclub. The LP is a year old this month. It’s a home grown classic in every sense.
If you want an entry point to the kindness, collaboration, gifted musical activism, artbeat and multi talent tasking that has made all the difference to the last few years, then newer wave faves, Bugeye, are your arts initiative point of call.
Download the song and all profits go to The Magpie Project community who help parents and young children at risk of homelessness. In a rich country, go figure. Poverty is something that more than a few of us can relate to.
Uniqulture: ‘Don’t Stop Reset’ Remix by Feral Five. Mastered by Paul Tipler. Art by 31% Wool.
Alongside founding involvement with Cro Cro Land (how to festival) and their always engaging Rock Pop Rambles podcast (recently endorsed by Radio X’s ace John Kennedy in Clash Magazine) there is a whole remix album to follow on July 9th! Bugeye are one of TheZineUK story fuelling power points - with stem-level tunes and musicality.
June 2021: Started the next picture book diary, recording a tiny fraction of TheZineUK interactions from mid April when lockdown started to unlock. Even in these few months it’s so obvious that misgovernment HATES music, musicians, music venues, music fans, music socials, music festivals, music education (for us “povs”), music tourism, live music and music festivals. It’s time that “hands in the air”, “singing along”, “buying music/merch” and “moshing” became sports. Music Fan Olympics are GO. As we emerge from our virtual yellow submarimes, far queue, blue meanies! *(Alien hearts ain’t too keen on women/womxn or even the planet, to be fair).
After the sold out Polarized Eyes headline, June 2021. Access All Ages Amersham Arms - Generation Tremorists power.
We are so obviously on our own, the parallel dimension where the biggest arts movements are soundtracked in the smallest venues. A genuine starmaker circuit that the selfservatives attempt to cull, consistently, for years now. In the last six years new possibilities and hopes have seeded against a backdrop of climate emergency. In the last five years kindness has proven itself a super power as hate multiplied five fold since the brexshit “win”.
School children see through the bullshit of Murderoch’s propaganda empire. (What has he GOT on the hisstablishment?). Adults who have “Seen/Done It All” ain’t so bright. I’m vintage and I think we are often just twats. Note how teen media editors Scarlet of Mash Zine and Arlo of Pint Sized Punk ain’t hung up on which decade musicians are born (that is SO last century!) but are inspirationally clued up on the music that they make. I dig that Punk Word Legend, Bruno Wizard said “punk is dead, let’s start something new” at Dizzy’s Bowie night (in, erm, Amersham Arms a few years ago), Gwan Generation Tremorists, all…
Kerrie & Angela Bugeye, with inspiring friends (including Kat Five of remi(n)xers, Feral Five) out in support of Kick Out The Jams, monthly music social June 2021. Amersham Arms is part of a nationwide grassroots circuit renaissance. Thank you Music Venue Trust.
2017’s rock n roll zeitgeist - where we shrugged off seeking interest, let alone approval, from the mainstream for a newer waver wave of generation tremorist graced, genre/gender fluid music industrious (r)evolution. Yeah, guitar bands ARE back. So what if they’re virtually banned from day time TV this century and the streets aren’t as clothing bright with music tribes - children got YouTube and don’t all see lying bully bigots as role models. The audiences are more reflective of the 21st century than profile artist/events based Arts Desks have experienced.
TheZineUK Punk Takeover of St Paul’s. The Blinders/485C after party AFTER party at Abbie McCarthy’s Good Karma Club and a cast and crew party on This Feeling Stage at Isle Of Wight Festival.
In all the noise we romance and giggle. It’s almost as if Earthlings are animals connected to a living organism planet that communicates with them through music and more, while celestial forces inspire water beings who also have weather (moods). Up yours, alien hearts.
Stick with the Zeenagers, we are hell bent on having FUN and may be as imperfect as any band, cos we are natureal - but we mean well and have LOVE at heart. ArtBeat heartbeat.
There is room for us all. Interdependent media support the artists that this new, skint, diverse, friendlier and rebelliously fun community recommend. We trickle up the talent, baby. Interdependent. Collaborative. Multi talent tasking. The #MusicPeopleParty years were born when Dizzy Spell used working class woman power wonders to learn website tech etc fro m scratch.Our allies complete the cast and crew picture. December 2017 first Party. Our friends, The Velvet Hands and Katie Owen topped and tailed the live music/DJ hosting).
laid some surreal, apocalyptic foundations …but so many wonderful campaigns and creations had pumped kindness and hope into the either, also.
A 2018 trip to Genesis Cinema (Eastenders Land) to see sparkle queens, Bugeye, play a Genesisters event with Lilith Ai and more at the L7 screening added a whole new tangent. In 2019 another musical trip to the movies with Simon Baker for his movie ‘90 Minutes’ produced by Rio Ferdinand and soundtracked by MOSES. Was it watching the Star Wars finale triple until the early hours, there, or their Chadwick Boseman display outside that endeared them? Either way, TheZineUK started 2020 with a collaboration of the Velvet Goldmine film, cocktails and photo session.
Season 3 of TheZineUK doc begins as humanity is adapting to the trauma of 2020 and 2021 Planet Earth (also on line, if they can afford it).
Ha, when you started a situationist tapestry about how good gigs can propel great potential and it turns into The Dystopian Rocky Horrow ShitShow.
Would always rather SEXit that Brexit. Compassion and courtesy are SO attractive that I fancy you all (good people). Onwards darlings, onwards, stay strong, we got this. Together. Don’t Stop.
It’s the 21st year of the 21st century and we’re trying everything to Revive Live amidst a barrage of bad news, environment fears, financial stress and then our mind/spirit-medicine; gigs and festivals, cancelled, postponed, cancelled, postponed, cancelled, postponed while the crime ring continue their herd immunity eugenics.
There’s more of a war cancelling culture and being aware, than there is (the destruction distraction of) “cancel culture”. Ain’t having it. Gotta ROCK, Gotta DANCE, Gotta LAUGH. Can’t hug? No problem. We’ve got a friend who is (literally) named Massive Hugs! amidst a cast, crew and story who often sound made up.
So we spend last month inspired by movies, by the live streams unification of Balcony Festival last year and having Music Venue Trust as our actual government since 2014. The force is strong in all of us and we have the very best tunes and pop stars. Yeah, you heard me, STARS. I don’t know the name of every bint in the sky but they still all twinkle. The Music People Party will be a multi dimensional December and we have no idea how it will need to be staged but as a Twitter survivor I know we will try to find a way to share JOY. come with. Don’t Stop.
Music Tourism: “The brilliant thing about a Bugeye tour is that no stage style is too glam to wear while shimmying to their sparkling Top Of The Pops/BBC Later-worth alternative art rock disco punk!” @TheZineUK tweet 29th June. Truth.
Tickets are on sale - NOW! Ready Steady Bang! https://linktr.ee/bugeye - photography by Keira Cullinane (bring your own spaceships)
GET ON! is the Friday music TV show online that is made in Chelsea’s 606 Club by Roobi Live in association with End Of The Trail and presented by entertainment’s Louise Schofield
Read More“There are SO many amazing and exciting bands within the UK alone, if anything the hard task is narrowing it down!” says Ghost Road Fest, an exciting new addition to the independent rock music festival circuit that debuts this November. More on that to follow.
Ah, but mainstream festivals…
Generic fame reflects society at mainstream level - and sells tickets. The pandora's box of pandemica exposed so much socially and politically, music industry included, that without change from the top, an eternal circle of conversations about rebuilding better, go nowhere. With fear and loathing in las plagus, we’re a nation that needs to party, sing and dance together. Tickets will still sell if some credible curve balls thrown in, enhance reputation.
Corporate sponsors of the biggest events may see otherwise to the statements of good intent or presume that us DIY girlies ain't as good at entertaining or scouting. The fact is, smaller festivals activate the cultural shift guidelines. “Cro Cro Land felt like a platform for tomorrow’s headliners to play a festival crowd. You know; the ones who haven’t necessarily come to see you but who fall in love with your band regardless.” (London In Stereo, whose reviewer fell for Nova Twins April 2019 - they play the main stage at Reading/Leeds Festivals this autumn)
There is often dismay at post lockdown bill announcements at a time when even next level talent is struggling. With up to three decades of the same names, old guard thinking looks dated without emerging star-turns injected as lifeblood. “Ironic there is a band on there called Scouting For Girls, which is how I feel every time I look at a festival poster.” noted Tiger Mimic of one event. This band (on the forthcoming Brits & Pieces II CD) are a face-the-stage commanding, alt-rock proposition who mix a little Queen into their tempo tangent punk. They play Jam On The Farm festival in July (tickets)
By 2021, when artists deserve acclaim for just surviving, the friction of mixing in a little risk invites extra thrill. Cosmic new discoveries please, or it's not a festival - it's just an outdoor concert in cosplay.
Impassioned independent media can decry, but still enjoy, major events. Mainstream journalists don't write/(know?) about art punky party love via a spectrum of scenes. True festival spirit is here:
Organic pioneers, the previously mentioned CroCroLand (2019, pix above), DecoloniseFest, Kick Out The Jams, This Feeling Club, Loud Women Fest etc. gift a (proven succesful) wealth of possibilities.
Eventually the “prickstock” mentality will go tits up as audiences change. “We are the future, stop fucking ignoring us”, Ms Mohammed told The Guardian newspaper (a clip from her set at the awesome and inclusively welcoming DecoloniseFest) - or, ignore and bore.
Bigger bookers, select your 2022 entry level artists with guitars from ground level curators. There’s wide acclaim to select. Hard work, talent (and (r)evolution) has EARNED it. #SaveOurVenues alumni contain (disproportionately fab) future heritage acts. Thank you John Kennedy (Radio X), a swathe of BBC Introducing/6 Music and a wealth of independent music media who are getting this noticed.
Also take note of how the fresh scenes fizz femme power. Never mind the bollocks, here's all the genitals. At the skint bottom of some imaginary heap, largely being talked over. But… being talked about in crossbreeding spaces.
Our voices are 4REAL. Agreeing to disagree, keeps it interesting, an all happening flourish of diversity in adversity amidst an array of achievements, often for good causes. Interdependence is where the true thrills-and-results-per-week exist. Says a DIY documentary of the action fraction.
Flavouring this surreal decade are affordable festivals with cracking guitars inclusion. Jam On The Farm (July 30th-31st) looks like a wow-some pick n mixed mix.
Autumn includes Wide Awake, (3rd September) Modern Age Music’s Soma Fest (4th) and before then, rad female fronted new ventures: ReclaimTheseStreetsFest in Sheffield on 7th August and No Man’s Land in Manchester on 14h August.
“Ghost Road Fest was born out of an excitement to change how things are done post lockdown. I feel like with this much time off there's a real scope for change in how the industry is run. It's really disappointing there is still in 2021 an outcry for (god forbid) inclusivity within line-ups.
I've seen a few festival line ups released and it's still very male heavy - and it's not like there is only a handful of bands with female and trans representation that are 'good enough' to be playing these events! There are SO many amazing and exciting bands within the UK alone, if anything the hard task is narrowing it down!
Our festival has an 82% balance of acts with female or trans representation in - and I'd love to say I'm proud of that - but that should simply be the norm and not something to be highlighted. Alongside the festival we are also running a mentoring programme to encourage young adults to pursue their career within the music industry - something I think is very important - as they are the future of this industry and I strongly believe if you're educated within the correct surroundings then that is how you'll carry on that ethos.”
Lori of #GhostRoadFest
Written by a vintage West Indian rock chick who has promoted/booked artists and events at all levels, and is excited by the Fertile Environment.
In association with Scotts Live and Pirate.com, the nation’s top new music promoters, THIS FEELING, present BIG IN 2021, 500 double vinyl LPs of 31 tracks and a moment in music history for Music Venue Trust.
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