Issue 85 / February 2018

ISSUE 85 / FEBRUARY 2018
NEW MUSIC + CREATIVE CULTURE
LIVERPOOL
RONGORONGO / HOOKWORMS / NADINE SHAH
MEHMET / WHERE IS THE UK’S LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL?

Sat 3rd Feb • £12 adv
Cash: A Tribute To
The Man In Black
Sun 4th Feb • £18 adv
Rend Collective
Tue 6th Feb • £18.50 adv
Hayseed Dixie
+ Emma McGrath
Fri 9th Feb • £18.50 adv
Alestorm: Piratefest
2018
Mon 12th Feb • £30 adv
Natalie Imbruglia
Fri 16th Feb • £16 adv
British Sea Power
Sun 18th Feb • £17.50 adv
Max & Harvey
Mon19th Feb • SOLD OUT
Dappy
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High Tyde
Fri 23rd Feb • £13 adv
Key West
Sat 24th Feb • £26.50 adv
Scott Bradlee’s
Post Modern Jukebox
Sat 24th Feb • £11 adv
Nearly Noel Gallagher’s
High Flyin’ Birdz
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Fredo
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Electric Six
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The Stranglers
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The Wailers
Thu 8th Mar • £20 adv
Mr Eazi’s Life
Is Eazi UK Tour
Sat 10th Mar • £13.50 adv
The Clone Roses &
The Courtbetweeners
Wed 21st Mar • £12 adv
Fickle Friends
Sat 24th Mar • £15 adv
AC/DC UK
& Dizzy Lizzy
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Sat 24th Mar • £29.50 adv
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Thu 29th Mar • £30 adv
The Wonder Stuff
& Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
Love From Stourbridge
+ DJ Graham Crabb (PWEI)
Fri 6th Apr • £22.50 adv
3 Generations of Ska
with Stranger Cole,
Neville Staples Band,
Sugary Staple
Sat 7th Apr • £18.50 adv
Showhawk Duo Live
Sat 7th Apr • £13 adv
The Smyths
Unite & Take Over Tour 2018
Sat 14th Apr • £17.50 adv
Aston Merrygold
Sat 14th Apr • £14 adv
The Amy Winehouse
Experience ...A.K.A
Lioness
Sat 21st Apr • £11 adv
The Verve Experience
Mon 7th May • £27.50 adv
Gomez
Thu 17th May • £10 adv
Tragedy: All Metal
Tribute To The Bee Gees
& Beyond
Sat 26th May • £15 adv
Deep Purple
Family Tree
Fri 1st Jun • £18 adv
The Beat starring
Dave Wakeling
Sat 2nd Jun • £22.50 adv
Nick Heyward
Sat 23rd Jun • £22.50 adv
The Skids
Sat 6th Oct • £12.50 adv
Definitely Mightbe
Fri 12th Oct • £13.50 adv
Elvana: Elvis
Fronted Nirvana
Sat 10th Nov • £12 adv
Antarctic Monkeys
Sat 24th Nov • £15 adv
Pearl Jam UK
Venue box office opening hours:
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BACK TO OUR ROOTS BACK TO THE HEART OF THE CITY
5TH - 6TH MAY • LIVERPOOL BALTIC TRIANGLE
SATURDAY 5TH MAY
DMA’S
THE SLOW READERS CLUB
IDLES • PICTURE THIS
BLACK HONEY • WYE OAK
SUNDAY 6TH MAY
PEACE
SUNSET SONS • BAXTER DURY
THE NIGHT CAFÉ • DERMOT KENNEDY
JAWS • YELLOW DAYS
BILLIE MARTEN • JADE BIRD • LOW ISLAND • MATT MALTESE
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WHAT’S ON
Liverpool Philharmonic
February – March
Monday 19 February 7.30pm
15
Film
FILM STARS DON'T DIE
IN LIVERPOOL
–
Tuesday 27 February 7.30pm
Film
PG
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
–
Sunday 18 March 7.30pm
Acoustic Tour
LEVELLERS
–
Tuesday 20 March 7.30pm
BUDDY HOLLY &
THE CRICKETERS WITH
THE ENGLISH ROCK AND
ROLL ORCHESTRA
–
Saturday 24 March 7.30pm
BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN
–
Thursday 29 March 8pm
NO SUCH THING AS A FISH
Box Office
liverpoolphil.com
0151 709 3789
–
LiverpoolPhilharmonic
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Principal Partners
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Thanks to the City
of Liverpool for its
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WOMENS DAY.
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08/02/18 TBA
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CONTENTS
New Music + Creative Culture
Liverpool
Issue 85 / February 2018
bidolito.co.uk
Second Floor
The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street
Liverpool L1 4BX
Editor
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
Editor-In-Chief / Publisher
Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
Media Partnerships and Projects Manager
Sam Turner - sam@bidolito.co.uk
Assistant Editor
Bethany Garrett - editorial@bidolito.co.uk
Reviews Editor
Jonny Winship - live@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - mark@andmark.co.uk
Branding
Thom Isom - hello@thomisom.com
Student Society Co-Chairs
Daisy Scott - daisy@bidolito.co.uk
Sophie Shields - sophie@bidolito.co.uk
Cover Photography
Robin Clewley
Words
Christopher Torpey, Craig G Pennington, Cath Bore,
Julia Johnson, Jake Roney, Danny Fitzgerald, Bethany
Garrett, Sam Turner, Georgia Turnbull, Jonny Winship,
Maya Jones, Glyn Akroyd, Sinead Nunes, Kieran
Donnachie, Sophie Shields, Daisy Scott, Yoanna
Karcheva.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Robin Clewley, Amin Musa, Paul McCoy,
Alison Bailey Smith, Tom Wood, Rob Battersby, Glyn
Akroyd, Michael Kirkham, Chris Rathe, Maria Damkalidi,
Hollie Fernando, Alex Smith, Faustin Tuyambaze.
Distributed by Middle Distance
Print, distribution and events support across
Merseyside and the North West.
middledistance.org.uk
The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the
respective contributors and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the
publishers. All rights reserved.
9 / EDITORIAL
Editor Christopher Torpey weighs the value of
nostalgia against the need to look to the future
with an open mind, and finds that a balance
needs to be struck between the two.
10 / NEWS
The latest announcements, releases and nonfake
news from around the region.
12 / RONGORONGO
This six-piece have constructed a body of work
that broods about the state we find our world in,
and seethes with threatening, infectious postpunk
energy.
14 / WHERE IS THE UK’S LIVE
MUSIC CAPITAL?
Songkick and Expedia’s latest research throws
up some fascinating trends about live music
across the world. Craig G Pennington chisels
away at the data for 2017 to see if we can draw
any lessons from the statistics.
16 / MEHMET
The Bard Of Bold Street’s distinctive voice
has become a beloved feature of the city – we
find out some more about his background in
performing in his native Bulgaria.
18 / ARTS CENTRAL
In her continuing focus on the ways arts centres
interact with our communities, Julia Johnson
looks across the Mersey to the WILLIAMSON
ART GALLERY.
20 / CLUB CORINTO
The home of the very first Africa Oyé was
demolished earlier this year – Jake Roney tells
the story of Hardman House’s origins as a world
music hub with radical allegiances.
22 / NADINE SHAH
The artist behind one of 2017’s most compelling
albums expresses her desire for a more inclusive
movement in the music industry.
28 / THE PSYCHEDELIC WORLD
OF BEN MONTERO
Danny Fitzgerald takes us on a detour to the
outskirts of Athens to feel the vibrations with
the woozy musician and visual artist MONTERO.
30 / SPOTLIGHT
We take a closer look at some artists who’ve
been impressing us of late: Exploring Birdsong
and King Hannah.
34 / HOOKWORMS
Georgia Turnbull catches up with one of the
brightest talents in the UK’s alternative music
landscape, ahead of an upcoming show at
Invisible Wind Factory.
35 / PREVIEWS
Looking ahead to a busy February in
Merseyside’s creative and cultural community.
38 / REVIEWS
Alfa Mist, MC Nelson, Duds and Nabihah Iqbal
reviewed by our team of intrepid reporters.
46 / THE FINAL SAY
Ahead of the very first Bido Lito! Student
Society meeting on 7th February, our society
Co-Chairs each give their individual take on
what makes Liverpool’s student population so
crucial to the city’s music scene.

40 SLATER STREET, LIVERPOOL. L1 4BX
THEMERCHANTLIVERPOOL.CO.UK

EDITORIAL
62 Falkner Street
“Specific places
can often be
the catalyst
for journeys of
discovery in to
untapped worlds”
The historical residents of 62 Falkner Street have become
unlikely TV stars at the start of this year, as part of the
BBC’s fascinating show A House Through Time. The picture
built up from their many personal stories is of fairly standard
family and working lives in constant flux, living as they did through
a period of seismic social change (from the 1840 onwards). This
one terraced house shows us that all of our homes contain so many
stories, from which a whole history can be extrapolated.
“Houses live longer than people and the harsh fact is that we are
just passing through,” says David Olusoga – the historian and former
University of Liverpool student who hosts the show – in a recent
article for The Guardian. “Our homes, the most acutely personal places
in our lives, come to us second hand, and invisibly link us to people we
have never met, people to whom we have no association other than a
single shared connection to place.”
I often get the impression that similar feelings of synchronicity
are at play when we’re putting together a new issue of the
magazine. Echoes from the past mingle with the thoughts of those
in the present, whose perspective is to look to what future they can
build. Sometimes I think the real picture can only be glimpsed by
holding all of these stories in your head at the same time, and looking
for the combined meaning where they all overlap. A bit like one of
those Magic Eye, 3D-within-2D pictures that were all the rage in
the 90s. The fascinating thing for me is that this underlying picture
doesn’t become visible until right at the last minute when all the
pieces are in place – and it’s very satisfying when it appears.
The tricky thing about this convergence of ideas is that it’s a
situation that’s difficult to chase, it just has to happen naturally. Our
feature story on Club Corinto in this issue came about when I was
approached by a friend and former DJ at the club, and when he
started telling me the story I could feel the barrels of the lock slipping
in to place. I’ve always been fascinated by the Hardman House Hotel
building, where the club was situated, but I never really knew why.
Despite never having been inside, or even been aware of it being
open in my lifetime, I harboured a dream of buying it if I won the
Lottery and opening a music venue there. Little did I know that it
was the place that Africa Oyé sprang from 25 years ago. Whether
it was the history of the place speaking to me on a fundamental
level, or just plain coincidence, that building just connected with
me. I have a similar feeling about the old Irish Centre at the top of
Mount Pleasant, which I have vague memories of going inside with
my Dad many years ago when he was playing in one of his bands.
That memory still feels impressive to me now, as though the weight
of the building’s history, or what the people there invested in it, was
seeping in to me.
Our walls are witnesses: there is so much information around
us just waiting to be discovered, and so much energy to tap into.
I recently picked a gem of a book from the shelf called 111 Places
In Liverpool That You Shouldn’t Miss. It features a number of
places that a lot of us will be familiar with, but is also a trove of
information. For instance, did you know that the American Civil War
officially ended on 6th November 1865 when the Confederate ship
Shenandoah lowered its flag while docked in the Mersey, seven
months after the Confederate surrender? Or, that the Eros statue in
Sefton Park actually depicts Anteros, Eros’ twin who represented
returned love in Greek myth? How about the row of decorated
houses on Duke Street that make up the Opera For Chinatown
artwork? Not only do the images, photographs and information
plaques provide a snapshot of the forgotten histories of Liverpool’s
longstanding Chinese community – The Blue Funnel Line and the
Ingrid Bergman movie The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness – but behind
those doors there are countless more stories that could be the key to
thousands more memories.
There are loads of rabbit holes to lose yourself in, webs of fact
and myth and speculation in which the essence of a location are
bound up. Specific places can often be the catalyst for journeys of
discovery in to these untapped worlds, where a tangential line of
investigation will reveal a connection that brings everything neatly
and satisfyingly back to the starting point.
Our relationship with the past is something that we’ve always
been very aware of at Bido Lito! as it can be a tricky course to
navigate. Certain chapters in this region’s history loom large over
us, especially when it comes to music and culture – we’ve never
wanted to be dismissive of the past, but we also believe that it’s
important that we’re not weighed down by it. It’s only worth having
a fascination with history if we’re willing to make use of it in the
present. Accumulating bits of trivia can be fun and give you mental
exercise, but it kind of misses the point if the romance of nostalgia
gets in the way of us affecting the here and now. In many ways,
the changes our society is making now are removing us from the
context of our personal and collective histories at a greater rate
than ever before. Resistance to change often comes about when
the pace of the change makes us feel uncomfortable – which is
why we constantly need to be challenged to look beyond our own
boundaries.
2018 holds a lot of opportunity for us, both in our wider society
in plotting a course towards greater equality, and closer to home: this
year marks the 10-year anniversary of Liverpool’s Capital Of Culture,
but also finds us on the cusp of great change within the creative
makeup of the city. It is with that in mind that we’re delighted to
welcome two new members to our Editorial team: Daisy Scott
and Sophie Shields will be heading up our new Bido Lito! Student
Society, and will be helping us to guide the conversations we have
towards the challenges facing our next generation of doctors,
teachers, artists, entrepreneurs, shop owners, designers, MPs and
gig goers. No-one ever got anywhere by standing still – the first step
starts here. !
Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Editor
09

NEWS
The Baltic Is Alive With The Sounds
Of The City
The heat is well and truly on for SOUND CITY 2018, as individual
day splits have been unveiled for the festival which returns on
5th and 6th May. Among the 60-plus names just announced are
Saturday night headliners DMA’S, the raucous Aussie rockers with
a penchant for Britpop melodicism. They’re joined on the opening
day by IDLES, BLACK HONEY and SLOW READERS CLUB, while
the closing Sunday night features BAXTER DURY, JAWS and surf
aficionados SUNSET SONS, with headliners PEACE bringing the
Happy People vibes. The action will be split across more than a
dozen venues in the Baltic Triangle, with spaces around Greenland
Street (Camp and Furnace, Constellations, Hangar 34, Great Baltic
Warehouse) and Cain’s Brewery (Baltic Market, Northern Lights, Red
Brick Vintage) forming two main hubs. Day and weekend tickets are
on sale now from liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk.
DMA’s
We’re Picking Up Good Vibrations
Summer already seems an awful lot closer now that the dates for
AFRICA OYÉ are set in stone. Sefton Park comes to life in the most
glorious way when the sounds, beats, colours and smells of the
African diaspora take over, and 16th and 17th June will mark the
26th celebration of the venerable festival. In addition, Oyé’s little
sibling POSITIVE VIBRATION (held this year on 8th and 9th June in
the Baltic Triangle) will be hosting a number of shows from reggae
legends and trailblazers in the run-up to their summer festivities.
The Sounds Of Black Uhuru (1977-1985), performed by Mykal
Rose, kicks off the run on 17th February in District, followed by
shows in March and April. The good vibes never stop.
Africa Oyé
China Dream
China Dream
As part of the city’s 10-year Capital Of Culture anniversary celebrations in 2018,
Liverpool and its Chinese community (the oldest in Europe) are celebrating the Year Of
The Dog in style, with a range of exciting events planned. CHINA DREAM is a ninemonth
festival that extends well beyond the usual New Year celebrations, showcasing
the best of Chinese art and culture. Kicking off in February with the arrival of the famous
Terracotta Warriors at World Museum Liverpool, China Dream will be exhibiting three
chapters of specially commissioned events right the way through til October. With
proceedings being held everywhere from St. George’s Hall to FACT, there’s an array of
Chinese culture to enjoy.
Youth And Young Everymanhood
The culmination of six months work, the Young Everyman and
Playhouse’s production The City And The Value Of Things takes
to the stage this month. Exploring themes around homelessness,
community activism and Brexit, the play focusses on how we
attribute value to different areas in our lives and society. The City
And The Value Of Things features a cast and crew of 60 people aged
between 16-25, who have all taken part in the theatre company’s
highly-regarded YEP programme. The production prefaces the
Everyman’s all-new Company Season, which begins in March with
innovative takes on A Clockwork Orange and Othello, and features
acclaimed shows Paint Your Wagon and The Big I Am.
Rapid Response
In the midst of a new year, a unique 10-month installation is
coming to life in Liverpool with a mix of commissioned national
and international artists and performers, and input from the public.
Running from the end of February to December as part of the
Liverpool18 celebrations, RAPID RESPONSE UNIT helps performers
and artists respond to world stories and global events from the
past year. The public have been made an integral part of the artistic
process and are asked to come forward with news stories that matter
to them the most. The commission will take up residence in St. John’s
Market, and the final artistic work will be performed at venues across
the city.
Kaleidoscope At The Walker
The latest in the Walker Art Gallery’s excellent Arts Council Collection
exhibitions opens this month with KALEIDOSCOPE: COLOUR AND
SEQUENCE IN 1960S BRITISH ART. Featuring works by artists such
as Eduardo Paolozzi and Anthony Caro, the show explores abstract
art with painting and sculpture from over 20 artists. The exhibition
follows the hugely successful show from Turner Prize winner Lubaina
Himid and the Coming Out exhibition which focused on LGBT artists
from various art movements. Opening on 24th February, this latest
exhibition continues the theme of social and artistic revolutions with
the pieces on display representing the radical transformation of British
art in the 60s through clever use of pattern, colour and shape.
10

DANSETTE
Jamie Backhouse, Austin Murphy
and Ned Crowther of THE FERNWEH
reveal some of the inspirational
records that were key touchstones
for the band in the making of their
debut, self-titled album.
Céramic Fantastic
Traditional ceramic techniques and digital
engineering rarely come together, especially in
today’s automated world, but a celebration of
both processes is now on show at RIBA North’s
Mann Island site. The CÉRAMICA exhibition
focuses on a more socially, ethically and
environmentally sustainable process, and has
plenty of opportunities to get hands on. Due to
demand the exhibition has been extended until
3rd March, which adds an extra clay workshop
in the February half-term (Tuesday 13th) and a
curators’ tour on Saturday 10th. Tickets are free
but interested parties are encouraged to book in
advance: for more info head to architecture.com.
Céramica
Nasty Women Exhibition
Beginning its life in New York, the NASTY WOMEN movement has
been raising money for a number of charities, including Planned
Parenthood in the US, through showcasing and auctioning the
work of female-identifying artists. With sisterhoods doing brilliant
work all over the world, a Liverpool branch of the organisation will
host an exhibition on 9th March at Constellations, running until
11th March, to raise funds for a Merseyside based women and
children’s refuge. Nasty Women Liverpool are currently looking for
female-identifying artists to exhibit fine art, illustration, graphics,
photography, film and more. To submit work for the exhibition,
email your ideas – along with clear images, dimensions and a
100-word description – to nastywomenliverpool@gmail.com.
All selected pieces will be shown during the exhibition and then
auctioned for charity.
Giles, Giles And
Fripp
Why Don’t You Just
Drop In (i)
Voiceprint Records
Rich vocal harmonies and raunchy, fuzzy guitar courtesy
of Robert Fripp’s pre-King Crimson group. As well as the
sounds, the self-recorded aspect drew me to this song. It’s
inspiring to find that you can achieve great sounds from
such simple equipment. Revox tape machine in their case
– a laptop and a cheap microphone in ours. It’s something
that is really exciting about the current state of music
making. Reminds me of when we took our entire ‘studio’
to Robin Hood’s Bay to record the album. AM
Alvvays
Archie, Marry
Me
Transgressive
There are lots of heavy folk and psych references in the
Fernweh camp, but we’re also pretty big fans of a good pop
song. And this is one of the best that’s been written for a
while. Lovely sentiment, huge chorus, proper middle eight.
And the stop before the final chorus is something every
song should have. JB
Across The Threshold
Kraftwerk
Neon Lights
Capitol
Across The Threshold
The new-look Threshold returns to the Baltic Triangle for a scaled down
mini-festival and industry event on 13th and 14th April, under the new
name ACROSS THE THRESHOLD. Bridging the gap between the Threshold
Festival we know and their new concept for 2019 and beyond, Across The
Threshold will act as a transitional event, welcoming some of the bestemerging
musicians alongside visual, conceptual and digital arts. The first
10 acts for this year’s event have been announced, including Tokyo-born
soul-meets-surf artist EMERGENCY TIARA and Norwegian bachata collective
SALSA GROOVE FAMILIA. Local doyens EMILIO PINCHI, MERSEY WYLIE
and HOLLOWS also join the bill, appearing across stages in District and Baltic
Creative. Full details and tickets at thresholdfestival.co.uk.
Bido Lito! Student Society And
Open Day
Are you a student in Merseyside and interested in music and
culture? Well, we’re launching a brand new monthly society, and
it’ll be right up your street. The Bido Lito! Student Society will
contribute to the production of the magazine each month; writing
and devising content, developing editorial angles, and generally
working with our Editorial team to make the magazine the best
it can be. The work of Bido Lito! spans writing and journalism,
photography, design and videography – so if you want to get
involved with any aspect and be part of a vibrant voice in the
region, head down to The Merchant on 7th February from 5pm for
our first society meeting. Turn to page 46 now to read a Final Say
column from our two new co-chairs of the Student Society.
I can vividly remember Austin putting this song on the
van stereo towards the end of a particularly gruelling bit
of a tour all three of us were on years back. It was just a
moment. Everyone was silent, half-asleep and emotionally
fried. Then suddenly this beautiful, healing music came out
as we pounded some British motorway in the middle of the
night. NC
Harmonia
Dino
Brain
Those dreamy, trance-like elements were definitely an
influence on the synth/keys sections on our first single, The
Liar, and Dressing Up Box. Rhythmically, that motorik drum
machine was a big influence on The Liar too. Mesmerising
stuff from Herr Rother and co. AM
Head to bidolito.co.uk to read (and listen to) more of The
Fernweh’s selections. Their first single, The Liar, is out now
on Skeleton Key Records, with the full album release to
follow in the summer.
NEWS 11

RONGORONGO
A six-piece whose increasingly impressive body of work broods about the state we
find our world in, and seethes with threatening, infectious post-punk energy.
That unease you can feel isn’t your paranoia talking. It’s
real. We can all feel it, like a pall hanging over us, a rain
cloud that won’t shift. Mick Chrysalid thinks he knows
what it is.
“There’s like a mind climate of a lot of people in the western
world. It’s horrible at the moment – and we all know that life
is beautiful and lovely – but not so much right now. It’s like an
existential dread.”
RONGORONGO’s vocalist and frontman has joined with the
band’s guitarist Jonny Davis Le Brun to meet up and talk about
the group’s two new singles, and things have already taken a turn
towards the macabre. Black Rain and Euclid are the six-piece’s
brooding new efforts, released either side of Christmas, which
serve as a precursor to an album due later in the year. Given that
the membrane between reality and Black Mirror’s all-too-real
dystopian fiction looks thinner by the day, this might just be the
perfect time for Rongorongo. “Sometimes it seems like the inner
world is wearing thin, the outer world is caving in,” says Mick on
the insidious creep of fear into our lives. “I think what we’re doing
is escapism, though. That’s what it’s always been about.”
Rongorongo have always had an inquisitive, slightly
unsettling nature, which chimes with the tone of Black Mirror,
with the potential to unspool in a bizarro breakdown ever
lingering. In reality, there’s a strong core to the band that allows
them to explore these themes with a lot of nuance. Their style
is a measured mix of post-punk, dream-pop and shoegaze,
from which they’re able to draw out a balance of textures.
Encompassing experimental rock and pop, Rongorongo can be
found at the place on the continuum where Television, Saint
Etienne and the verve of the 4AD roster intersect.
They manage to achieve such great feel because of the six
minds in the mix, who each push the band in a different direction.
“There are several bands in this band,” Mick says, “but you can
only get so much out. Choice always limits you.” The kernel of
the band is Mick and Jonny, who met (full disclosure alert) as
Bido Lito! contributors and bonded over each other’s good record
collections. Mick’s history with Phil Howells (Guitar) and Ourkeith
(Bass) goes back longer than the three of them care to remember,
and it was the four of them who made up the first incarnation
of Rongorongo. When Mick realised that being a drumming
singer wasn’t as fun as Karen Carpenter made it out to be, old
Wild Eyes mate Sam Gill joined behind the kit, freeing Mick up
to prowl about the front of the stage like a cross between Frank
Sidebottom and Kate Bush. The final piece of the jigsaw was
former Ticks man Alex Walker, whose guitar work adds a sheen of
magic over everything.
“It started off in a way our band [himself and Jonny], and
now there are six of us bringing different things,” Mick says of his
cohort. “But we all know, I think, what the direction is. There are a
load of songs that we write where we go ‘That’s not us’, and they
get parked. They don’t fit with how we all see things.”
The current songs that have made it through that process
are great examples of a tight group working in unison. Black Rain
starts off bleak as it details the dominance technology has over
our world, and the impact it has on our mental wellbeing – but
there’s hope there too, as well as a mention for outlaw troubadour
Blaze Foley. “Black Rain is more hopeful, not all doom and gloom,”
explains Mick. “It’s my way of saying that it won’t last forever, that
the clouds will eventually clear.”
Euclid is more of a slow build which ruminates on the
tempestuous political climate of today, which Mick confronts
through his lyrics. “It’s a mix, of my job, my private life, what I see
and feel around me.” Making a triangle shape with his fingers in
time with the melody, he explains the meaning behind Euclid’s
lyrics: “‘What’s the shape to be?/The future’s shaping me’ That
reads to me as: there’s a war over there, a physical war; there’s a
war over here, a political war; and there’s a war within yourself.
And that I see as a kind of psychogeographical climate of emotion
inside you, but affected by everything. It’s all a bit grim.”
The accompanying films for each of the singles encapsulate
these feelings with unnerving precision. Jonny made both of
them himself, which was a decision made more out of financial
necessity than by design. It did, however, enable him to hit
straight to the core of creeping unease that sits at the heart of
both songs. “When I was doing them, I wasn’t really choosing
what to put in there. We instinctively know the aesthetic that we
want, which can often be hard to put in to words to explain to
someone else.”
All roads are currently leading towards an album, which the
band hope to have out before the end of the year. “Capturing
what’s in our heads on tape, so to speak, in a digital age, is
something we’re really keen on getting right,” Jonny tells me. “It’s
a more cerebral process, and ultimately more satisfying, in the
studio.”
Mick, who takes the lead on production duties that they try
and keep in-house, agrees with this sentiment. “We’ve decided
that we’re gonna carry on exactly like this until we get the best
12

album out of it, present it as it is, then go ‘BANG!’ and do a
complete left turn. I suppose in that way we’re Bowie’s children.
The guitar’s gonna get fucked off…!”
“It feels like, when we get the album out, that’s almost like the
end of something rather than the start of something,” Jonny adds.
“It’d be more of a finale of what we’ve been doing over the past
three years. Partly because 50% of the songs we write get left to
one side because they don’t fit into the nucleus of what we are at
that time – but they might be in the future, in some shape or form.”
Does that, I wonder, make it harder to write and work within
such narrow guidelines? Especially when you’re trying to please
six members equally.
“No,” is the emphatic response from both, to which Mick adds:
“You’ve got to have a destination.”
“Everything gets written fully and we finish it, and it’s only
at the end that we decide if it stays or not,” Jonny clarifies, before
Mick sums it up neatly. “Live, once something takes shape, you
start to understand what the sound is. You do start to define
yourself. I don’t mind that now – because things have a uniform,
have a way of talking. So, people might notice it and think, ‘Oh,
I get that.’ But it doesn’t mean that it’s got to stay the same
forever.”
Which way Rongorongo will lean after they complete this part
of their journey is anyone’s guess – but there’s a long way to go
before we even have to consider that. Right now. they’re on the
crest of a wave, fine-tuning the setup they currently have. They’ve
never sounded better live than they have in the past couple of
months – even if it looks like they’re not enjoying it. Things are
moving so quickly for Rongorongo that I wouldn’t be surprised
if their album came out in the second half of 2018 in a flurry of
activity, sweeping everything in their path.
“To me, it’s all pop music – I’m a massive believer of that,”
says Mick as we near the four-hour mark in our rambling chat. “It’s
moved on so much now that [there] are loads of micro-genres that
define themselves, but I just think it’s all pop music. Like, Public
Enemy and NWA were rock bands as far as I was concerned, they
sampled it all: soul, rock, disco.” Both Mick and Jonny are students
of music, which is probably why our conversation runs off on so
many tangents – from Lana Del Rey’s dismal chart performance
to Slade to Smashing Pumpkins. My main take home from the
chat – aside from Mick exhorting me to put my laziness aside
and learn to play the guitar (“Just do it – writing songs isn’t that
hard!”) – comes back to something Mick said earlier: that music is
just escapism. We all need it, even if we do it through the prism
of the very thing that causes us disquiet in the first place. Perhaps
inevitably, the spectre of a Third World War is never far from our
discussion, but I’m sure it’s with a huge amount of tongue in cheek
that Mick leans in close to my recording device and leaves his
parting shot.
“Never think you’re at your worst because your worst is yet to
come…!” !
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Photography: Robin Clewley / robinclewley.co.uk
rongorongoband.co.uk
Singles Black Rain and Euclid are out now via War Room Records.
“Sometimes it
seems like the
inner world is
wearing thin,
the outer world
is caving in”
FEATURE
13

Shame @ The Magnet
“How central is live
music to the British
psyche? Are we,
as a nation, giggoing
people?”
WHERE IS THE UK’s
LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL?
Songkick and Expedia’s latest research throws up some fascinating trends about live music across the
world. Craig G Pennington chisels away at the data compiled for 2017 to see if we can draw any lessons
from the statistics.
So, it’s official. Worth Matravers – a sleepy Dorset village
which encompasses little more than a collection of
converted farm buildings huddled around a picturesque
lake – is the capital of UK music. Yes, you heard it here
first. With a stonking 36.1 gigs per thousand of the population,
this little-known nook sits atop a recent global survey conducted
by Expedia UK and Songkick, which seeks to find the world’s live
music capital. Liverpool, by comparison, scored a paltry 2.67 gigs
per thousand.
Now, before you pack your bags and flock en masse to this
new live mecca it is worth bearing in mind that, at the last census,
Worth Matravers sported a population of 638. Upon closer
inspection it seems the village’s chart-topping position is essentially
down to the folkie scene based around the village’s Square And
Compass pub, at which Sarah McQuaid and Lindsay Lou tread
the boards this month. A high number of shows in a place where
nobody lives does great guns for the ‘gigs per thousand’ stat. Of
equal interest to Bido Lito! is the pub’s annual week-long stone
carving festival and in-house fossil museum. Sign us up.
Statistical quirks aside, Expedia’s research draws from a huge
Songkick dataset – 370,000 concerts worldwide – and paints
an interesting picture of global live music trends. Clearly such
data comes with its limitations: principally, not all live events are
listed by Songkick, especially outside major western cities – for
example, the data would lead us to believe that only 419 live
concerts happened in Rio de Janeiro in 2017; and certain genres
are underrepresented on Songkick as a platform. But, as a broad
stroke, the project provides some valuable insight.
At the top of the pile, with 11,923 live performances, London
is positioned as the global live music capital. New York and Los
Angeles arrive in second and third place with 11,089 and 11,079
respectively. Given that in 2016 London sat in third place behind
LA and NY, this is an interesting flip. Perhaps this can be read as
the early green shoots of progress following London’s Live Music
Rescue Plan, the establishment of the London Music Board and
the city’s overarching re-prioritising of music.
The UK leads the way in Europe in terms of the total number
of live gigs; 46,176 in comparison to Germany’s 34,932 and
France with 15,926. But this only tells part of the story. We often
talk about the UK’s unique relationship with music and the huge
contribution music makes to our national economy, particularly
when it comes to export. But, how central is live music to the
British psyche? Are we, as a nation, gig-going people?
The data in relation to total gigs presents an argument that
this could be so. Following London, Paris (5,737) and Berlin
(4,679) are unsurprisingly the leading hotspots. These are
followed by Hamburg (2,546), Manchester (2,258) and Glasgow
(2,070). Three other UK cities are featured in the top 15; Brighton
(1,785), Bristol (1,686) and Leeds (1,626).
Liverpool, however, is nowhere close. With 1,293 concerts
in 2017 we sit below London, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton,
Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh in terms of total live
gigs. Having said that, Liverpool is a much smaller city than many
Total number of gigs
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
London
Manchester
Glasgow
Brighton
Bristol
Leeds
Birmingham
Edinburgh
Liverpool
Sheffield
Newcastle
Nottingham
Cardiff
Reading
of these, so this trend isn’t too surprising. So, what picture do the
figures paint in relation to number of gigs per thousand of the
population?
Places such as the aforementioned Worth Matravers – with
active music venues in tiny communities – ensure the need for
some common-sense sifting of the data, but places such as
Kinross (13.3 gigs per thousand), Canterbury (6.06), Norwich
(4.19) and St. Ives (4.19) show well, as smaller towns with
vibrant live scenes. Manchester, given its large population, still
scores highly with 4.17 gigs per thousand of the population,
evidence of the buoyant and healthy live scene we’re all
familiar with. Newcastle (3.96), Oxford (3.75), Glasgow (3.37),
Nottingham (2.92) and Exeter (3.57) all emerge ahead of
Liverpool’s 2.67 live gigs per thousand people in 2017 (neckand-neck
with Cheltenham).
Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff and Birmingham all fall in below
Liverpool by the measure, which is surprising, especially in
relation to Leeds with its large live music community. The fact
that London languishes with a statistic of 1.22 gigs per thousand
says more about its over-population than anything else.
Beyond casual analysis, what does this all mean? Clearly
the fact that the research is purely based on Songkick data has
its limitations if you’re expecting to distill a complete picture.
Yet, any metrics for accurately measuring live music are pretty
much universally compromised. Using PRS data is an established
technique – all venues should be PRS registered and report back
all performances within their venue to ensure artist royalties
are calculated correctly – though, when you move below the
established touring venues and into the DIY space, this is in
reality rarely the case.
Taking the data at face value, I would offer two readings of
the findings in relation to Liverpool:
1) Maybe, Liverpool doesn’t love live music as much as we tell
the world we do? When you profess to be the UK’s Capital of
Music, yet you’re comparable to Cheltenham when it comes
to the concentration of live shows in the city, perhaps the
whole idea is fundamentally flawed?
2) Or, given the perilous state of live music in the city, the
stream of venue closures in recent years, the lack of sector
support and the absence of any kind of strategy, these
figures are symptomatic of the slow strangulation of the city’s
live music culture (as highlighted by our Liverpool, Music
City report, published at the end of 2017 with LJMU). The
fact Liverpool plays host to more gigs per thousand of the
population than cities such as Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff and
Birmingham shows a fighting, vibrant music spirit, in spite of
the pressures and challenges.
Personally, I subscribe to the latter reading.
Returning to the Songkick data in relation to European cities
with the busiest live calendars, Hamburg comes in fourth behind
London, Paris and Berlin. It has a population roughly the same as
the Liverpool City Region. We don’t need to re-dredge the shared
musical and social histories between the two cities, but, they
offer a fascinating insight. Hamburg has managed to combine
its unique history and tourist offer with a structured support of
new music across a broad range of genres which has resulted
in the live music metropolis we see today; a live gig calendar
boasting double the number of concerts per annum compared to
Liverpool’s.
That is the opportunity.
That being said, perhaps it would be better all-round to just
douse ourselves in wholesome folk and search for Dracoraptor
fossils while whittling glum-looking liver birds at Worth
Matravers’ stone-carving festival. My chisel is at the ready. !
Words: Craig G Pennington
Photography: Michael Kirkham / michaelkirkhamphotography.co.uk
Read the full report at expedia.co.uk – or head to bidolito.co.uk
and look through the findings to compare statistics from over
4,000 locations.
14

16
MEHMET

You’ll be more familiar with the sound of MEHMET’s voice than you expect, even if you don’t
recognise the name; for the past three years he has been performing from his regular spot on Bold
Street, teasing heartfelt songs out of his guitar, accompanied by rich, baleful laments. His repertoire
of Balkan folk and Macedonian standards and warm, mischievous smile have become part of the
fabric of Bold Street, marking him as one of the city’s cast of colourful characters. Despite the fact that very
few of us can understand what the Bulgarian troubadour is singing about, there is still something about his
music and singing that speaks to us on a fundamental level.
Yet, the fact that Mehmet is a regular fixture is somewhat troubling itself: how many of us have passed
by while he’s been performing, smiled and nodded, but not stopped to think about him. Why is he out there
performing in the cold? Does he have any other source of income? Does he have somewhere safe and warm
to go back to when he packs his guitar away? I’ll admit that I’d not thought about any of this until recently,
when Mehmet’s predicament was brought to our attention by one of his friends.
He’d got behind on the rent on his flat in the weeks running up to Christmas and was facing eviction, as
well as having some dental problems. Fortunately, one of his friends (record producer Joe Wills) was so taken
by the timbre of his voice that he recorded some demos of Mehmet performing in his home studio. The music
was uploaded to Bandcamp and the message was sent out, with a show at Bold Street Coffee arranged at
short notice. Within a week, hundreds of people had downloaded the music, raising enough money to enable
Mehmet to catch up on his rent arrears and get back on an even keel. The songs he’s recorded have now
been pressed to CD, which will enable him to keep up a more consistent stream of income from his street
performing. Mehmet has complete agency over the money earned from sales, and with it he’s been able to pay
for some dental work, send money home to his family, and earn back a bit of family pride. He’s also planning
on making a short trip back to Bulgaria soon to visit his pregnant granddaughter and the newest member of
his family.
The songs that captured the attention of Wills – and that so often soundtrack our walks down Bold Street
– are rich and vibrant, hinting at a depth of emotion that we can only guess at. But I was fed up of guessing
– I wanted to know exactly what Mehmet was conveying when singing these songs. So, I sat down with this
warm, likeable character with a voice like treacle, to listen to his story in his own words.
Are the songs you sing traditional songs or your own work?
Traditional songs from Bulgaria – old hits, Macedonian songs – this is my repertoire. It’s Bulgarian folk music. I
don’t have my own songs.
What do you like singing about?
These songs are about love, separation… songs about life. For example, in the song Побелях и остарявам
(I’m Turning Grey And Getting Older), the singer remembers separating from his wife or lover, and so then:
‘I’m turning grey and getting older, but I hold you in my heart’. There are no jokey songs. They are all romantic
songs.
I’ve been singing these songs ever since I was a kid. When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, it was the
summer holiday, and there was a competition for young performers. Our school principal sent for me, she
knew that I [could] sing and play very well. And then for the first time I got an
award, first place, [winning] a vinyl record by Lili Ivanova.
I’ve been playing since I was 13 or 14 years old. It was actually my mother’s
“I have many friends
here who have
helped me so I can
be a musician, and
not a homeless guy”
‘fault’ that I became a musician. She bought me a guitar for my birthday. People
were having parties in the districts at that time, and I was visiting them so I can
learn from the musicians. I was watching and listening to them playing, then I
went back home and tried to copy them.
And little by little, I learnt to play. After serving in the army, I started playing in
establishments. While I was serving in the army, I was in the orchestra of my
division. After I left the army I worked in the shipyard. In the evening I would go
and play. I was very happy.
Tell me about your life back home, before you came to England.
Up until 1984, my name was Mehmet. In 1984, after the renaming process
began, I had to change my name to Miroslav. During Communism I was working
two jobs: during the day I was a founder in a shipyard and during the night I
worked as a musician. I was very satisfied back then but after democracy came,
I had no job, no nothing. Under Communism, I was doing very well. My family wasn’t deprived of anything.
I am a widow for seven years now. My wife was a very pleasant woman. We lived together for 25 years but
she got cancer. I had a flat which I sold, but I couldn’t help her. Even if you have millions, cancer is unforgiving.
Now that I am in England, I’ve been looking for a job for two-three years, but when they see me, an old man…
they need young people and I can’t find a job. I am forced to play on the street to make enough money to pay
for my accommodation, because I am 60 years old. I have never slept on the street and don’t plan to.
In your experience, do people in Bulgaria show more respect to musicians than people in England?
Not for street musicians. There was great respect for me when I played in Varna. From colleagues, from the
director of ОД Музика [OD Music]… I don’t know, maybe it was my voice. With my friends from the ensemble
in Varna, we played together in restaurants, we played together in a band at weddings. They have all
graduated from a conservatoire, I’m the only one without music education.
I played in restaurants for 25 years. There was a time when I played in this inn, there were so many people
that you had to wait for a table to free up. One day, the manager of the inn came and said to me, ‘Do you know
how many years I’ve been here? I’ve never had such high turnover.’ I played there for four years. So that’s why
he wouldn’t let me go anywhere else. But eventually we moved to another place, by the coastline, and all the
people came with us too!
Mehmet’s distinctive voice
has become a beloved feature
of the city, but his background
in performing in his native
Bulgaria is more suited to
prestigious surroundings than
busking on the street. Christopher
Torpey traces the story of The
Bard Of Bold Street.
Do you enjoy playing on Bold Street?
Look, this is the first time I’m playing on the street. I first came here in 2015, my son was already here with his
family. I was in the city centre and I saw musicians playing and earning money. I didn’t have a job, I couldn’t
help my son who has five children, so I said to him, ‘Why not get me a guitar? Seriously, get me a guitar so
I can earn something… as if I’m going to rely on you to get me a pack of cigarettes each day.’ We went and
bought a guitar for £25. However, that first guitar broke. On the upper side of Bold Street, where I play, a boy
saw that my guitar was broken and brought me another one. I’ve been playing with it since then.
It’s through [my friends in England] that I have achieved a lot, I can now help my children in Bulgaria. Before
I was only earning enough for myself, £10-15 a day, whereas now I can set aside some money to help my
daughter. She is alone with three children so she’s pleased. I am also helping my other son.
I am waiting now to become a great-grandfather. On 22nd of February my granddaughter is due to give birth.
I plan to go to Bulgaria to see my great-granddaughter. I have a return ticket thanks to my friends. Then I will
then return to Liverpool.
I have many friends here who have helped me so I can be a musician, and not a homeless guy. I am very
satisfied and thankful to them. Those friends who have helped me, I cannot forget them. I am very happy and
simply want to thank all the people who have helped me. !
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Photography: Amin Musa / aminmusa.co.uk
mehmet1.bandcamp.com
You can buy Mehmet’s music digitally on Bandcamp, or purchase a CD from him when he performs on Bold
Street.
Special thanks to Yoanna Karcheva for translating the interview, and to all of Mehmet’s friends who made this
possible.
FEATURE
17

“Arts engagement
should not just
be for those who
have the means
and time to reach
the city centre”
ARTS CENTRAL
In her continuing focus on the ways arts centres interact with our communities, Julia
Johnson looks across the Mersey to the WILLIAMSON ART GALLERY, whose work with
Birkenhead-based artist STEVE DES LANDES is indicative of positive local engagement.
It’s a few weeks before the opening of STEVE DES LANDES’
first solo exhibition in his adopted home town, and he’s
anxious. Having worked as an artist since the 1980s, des
Landes is one of the most significant artists painting in
the North West at the moment, but unknown to so many. It’s
perhaps not so unusual then that he questions his place in the
contemporary art world: “Why would someone be interested in
me?” he asks, half-jokingly. Over a cup of coffee and a wideranging
conversation in his studio, though, it’s a question which is
more than fairly answered.
Painting may be a traditional medium, but that doesn’t mean
it can’t be used for contemporary expression, and des Landes
is not an artist whose work has become comfortable over time.
If anything, experience has made him more determined to work
without compromise. “It doesn’t get technically easier to paint. But
it’s that struggle that keeps me alive. I paint pictures because I have
to: there’s this force that makes me carry on.” Our conversation
is peppered with references to his past experiences with the art
market’s preferences – and his refusal to change his vision to
meet its trends. It’s this desire to work away from these external
pressures that has kept des Landes from exhibiting for so long. And
as the art world continues its search for artists with an authentic
voice, rather than simply with the most fashionable means of
expression, des Landes has plenty of reason for optimism.
His exhibition is not taking place in Liverpool city centre, but
on the opposite shore of the Mersey, at the WILLIAMSON ART
GALLERY AND MUSEUM. Built in 1928 in what was the centre of
Birkenhead, its mission to be a welcoming space for all is literally
part of its architecture; single-storey, red-brick, familiar and
approachable rather than intimidating. After all, arts engagement
should not just be for those who have the means and time to
reach the city centre. Offering classes in skills from drawing to
silversmithing for all ages and abilities, Principal Museums Officer
Colin Simpson is proud of the Williamson’s support for “the best
of what’s happening in our community – both historically and
currently.” This is important: it makes creative activity something
which doesn’t just happen ‘somewhere else’, but something we
all have access to. The ethos of accessibility the building was
designed for extends into the exhibition spaces, where projects
like Joseph Venning’s Transformation Station give visitors the
opportunity to make comments which have a have a genuine
impact on the gallery’s exhibitions.
One of the region’s hidden gems, the Williamson is an
inviting gallery and museum space with plenty of heritage. Set up
and funded by shipping magnates-turned-philanthropists John
and Patrick Williamson (father and son), the centre houses the
largest public collection of Della Robbia pottery (locally produced
Art Deco ceramics that became the toast of the world at the turn
of the 20th Century) in the UK, and an extensive collection of
work by landscape painter Wilson Steer. Its 14 gallery spaces
mean it can host a variety of permanent collections alongside
touring exhibitions and workshops for a range of community
groups. Nestled in between Birkenhead town centre and the
picturesque village of Oxton, the elegant building is within easy
reach of thousands of day-trippers and residents – it is also the
perfect entry point for hundreds of local school students, many
of whom get their first taste of gallery life via the Williamson’s
renowned education outreach programme.
For his part, des Landes is delighted to be working with
the Williamson for his first exhibition in the town he now calls
home. He approves of their commitment to bringing art into its
community, away from what he refers to as the “bullshit glitz”
of the art market he’s experienced in the past. But he’s also
delighted to have the space to “let the work speak for itself.” The
gallery’s design means that they can – and frequently do – offer
more wall space to mid-career artists and community arts groups
than any other gallery in the North West. This is ideal for des
Landes, who is extremely interested in having a dialogue with his
audience about what his works actually mean. On first glance,
you might think that the figures and landscapes which occupy his
brilliantly executed canvases have a lesson to impart. But upon
closer inspection, it’s not possible to define exactly what this may
be. On the walls of the Williamson’s gallery space, the figures
look dream-like, searching for a meaning – a meaning for the
viewer to bestow. Des Landes’ own hopes for the longevity of his
show depend on the audience’s interaction with it.
“I’d like them to give me an interpretation. I need them to
understand what it is I’m doing!” Creating his works from what
he calls “an unconscious pull”, it’s always positive to talk to an
artist who is more invested in his audience’s interpretation of the
work than attachment to a particular intention.
Des Landes may surprise himself with “what ideas [he]
pulls out” artistically, but he is anything but unfocused. As our
conversation continues, it becomes clear that he is extremely
engaged with the social issues of the day. He’s seen the Liverpool
creative spaces he’s worked in from the 1980s eroded, pushed
further to the margins for the sake of gentrification, and he
worries about what it means for the creative future of the city.
He worries about “generation rent”, is a fan of Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s a conversation which puts to bed any questions about
his relevance to a contemporary audience. He might not be
addressing these issues explicitly in his works, but he is working
with an attitude of contemporary feeling and engagement with
issues relevant to his local community. It’s this willingness to
engage, this desire for his audience to feel empowered, that
makes his partnership with the Williamson so ideal, and that will
be the success of this show. !
Words: Julia Johnson / messylines.com
Photography: Lisa Waldman and Dave Dunlop
williamsonartgallery.org
Un-settled, Steve des Landes’ first solo exhibition in Wirral,
is showing now at Williamson Art Gallery, running until 4th
March.
18

DISCOVER
THE
OF
BRITISH
ROCK&POP
CUNARD BUILDING, LIVERPOOL • BRITISHMUSICEXPERIENCE.COM

“The bands
loved the venue
as did the
thousands who
came through
the door”
CLUB CORINTO
The home of the very first Africa Oyé was demolished earlier this year – Jake Roney tells the
story of Hardman House’s origins as a world music hub with radical allegiances.
Over the past few months we’ve been looking at the city’s current
state as a home and breeding ground for creativity. Those of us
with a vested interest in music and its development want to see
musicians and artists protected and valued, and given the tools
to progress their careers. We also want to see the flourishing of
spaces where people can come together and talk, dance, socialise
and enjoy the things they hold dear. One of the key things needed
for this is space: as we noted in last month’s issue, a number
of live music venues and clubs have faced difficulties operating
within the current creative and commercial infrastructure of
the city. But with an increased awareness of these issues at a
local level, and the Agent Of Change Bill being supported in
government, it shows that progress is being made. Cities need
noisy people, and those people need space to be noisy.
Venues, clubs, studios, workshops and bars where people are
free to gather, think and create are the kind of places where the
seeds of movements, large and small, can germinate. They offer
freedom to explore ideas, and can bring a sense of togetherness.
Occasionally you lose track of just how powerful this idea is,
but only if you forget to look. All around us there are buildings
that have been many things to many people, each with different
stories to tell. One such building is Hardman House, which has
recently been reduced to a pile of rubble. Its remarkable story
reveals that it played a vital role in Liverpool music’s recent
history – and gives us some insight into the kind of things we
need to bear in mind as we go about building the city’s future.
We can learn a lot from the hole it leaves behind.
Halfway up Hardman Street there is now a jagged gap
where Hardman House once stood. Closed and derelict
for years, the building was built around the former St.
Philip’s Church in 1882. After World War II it became
Atlantic House, a social centre for sailors from around the world;
but for music lovers, Hardman House is significant because it was
the home of Club Corinto and the nascent Africa Oyé.
Entered through a set of double doors covered by a rather
flash canopy there was a standard bar setup on the ground floor,
and some rather tatty ‘hotel’ rooms on the top floor – I guess
the sailors needed somewhere to sleep it off. It was the middle
floor, accessed through a central staircase, that made Hardman
House special – think The Conti/Kazimier, only more so. With a
capacity in the region of 300 (records showed 436 tickets on one
occasion), the venue had a huge, sprung dancefloor, overlooked
by a large comfortable bar area at the back and a full stage –
proscenium arch intact – with a DJ area in one wing and a band
room leading off the other.
From 1988 to 1996 this was the home to the monthly Club
Corinto. It is perhaps a little hard to imagine in these Brexit/
Trump-dominated times, but in the 80s Liverpool was home to
a number of radical initiatives and Club Corinto grew out of this.
Liverpool had been twinned with the Nicaraguan Pacific coast
port of Corinto, and leftwing activists in the city had formed a
Merseyside branch of Nicaragua Must Survive in support of the
Sandinista rebellion against the Somoza dictatorship. The club
was started in order to fundraise for Merseysiders who wanted
to head to Nicaragua to work on projects within the community
of Corinto: in fact, Club Corinto’s first DJ, Pete Hudson, the guy
who started the Latin/African/soul format of the club, soon
disappeared to Nicaragua never to return! This was the period
in which ‘world music’ was to make its mark, and the DJs – who
included Paul Harnett, Kenny Murray, Jim Mathias (a Northern
Soul student more into Quadrant Park rave than Womad) and
myself – played a mix of salsa, Latin jazz, boogaloo and, above
all, Zairean soukous to a mixed audience of lefties, trendies and
students, with a 2am curfew – oh, what fun we had!
Building on the success of Club Corinto and the growth of
interest in world music, club nights became interspersed with
live shows (at that time it was still easy for African bands and
other artists from outside of Europe to get entry visas to the UK),
with the mighty Thomas Mapfumo and The Blacks Unlimited
(Zimbabwe) the very first. They were soon followed by Orchestra
Virunga (Kenya/Zaire) and Sierra Maestra (Cuba) – these were
all world class acts; Juan de Marcos Gonzalez of Sierra Maestra
went on to become the musical director of Buena Vista Social
Club. Africa Oyé emerged out of these great live shows, and in
1992 the first Africa Oyé Festival kicked off with Kenyan band
Simba Wanyika onstage at Hardman House. They arrived after
midnight after their flight from Nairobi had been delayed: a
sprint from Manchester airport, a bottle of rum, and a storming
set followed. Many, many great bands followed over the years:
Oumou Sangaré from Mali and Zairean supergroup Soukous
Stars stand out. The bands loved the venue, as did the thousands
who came through the doors – for many, that fabulous dancefloor
has never been bettered. But, all good things come to an end and
when the building was sold in 1996, Club Corinto embarked on
a wandering existence first to the Irish Centre (now derelict) and
then The Flying Picket (long gone), before finally calling it a day
in 1998.
I guess every generation of clubbers and music lovers have
their special moment: the coming together of the overtly political
Club Corinto with the explosion of interest in world music – and
then Africa Oyé – in the brilliant setting of Hardman House was
one of those. Thanks to all the fabulous people who put so much
into making it such a joyous experience. !
Words: Jake Roney
Photography: Paul McCoy / photomccoy.tumblr.com
Simba Wanyika
20

22

NADINE
SHAH
The artist behind one of 2017’s most compelling albums and Independent Venue Week
ambassador expresses her desire for a more inclusive movement in the music industry.
NADINE SHAH has never been one to shy away from
difficult conversations. The daughter of immigrants
– a part-Norwegian mother and Pakistani father –
she was born in Whitburn, South Tyneside and is a
long-time spokesperson for mental health awareness. Her first
album was written around the time that two close friends took
their own lives, and she plunged herself into confronting the
stigmas around depression and anxiety as a way of working
through her feelings. After the Brexit vote and subsequent
societal upheavals, Shah found herself in a similar position
when confronting conversations around immigration. So, she
channelled those thoughts – and often the anger they provoked
– into her third album, Holiday Destination. Shah’s gothic vocals
are more understated on Holiday Destination than on previous
releases, but lose none of their substantial power in facing up to
the serious subject matter.
Ahead of Shah’s upcoming Liverpool show, Cath Bore caught
up with her over the phone to delve further into the background
behind the record. The interview took place the day after Oprah
Winfrey became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B.
DeMille Award at The Golden Globes, which makes for a pretty
obvious pace to start…
I read your tweets about how inspired you were by Oprah
Winfrey’s speech about #MeToo, privilege, and the rights of a
free press…
It was bloody beautiful. With a lot of these awards shows
everybody makes a speech and it becomes a bit ‘Oh well...,’ but
hers, fucking hell! It was heartfelt and honest. It was lush. She
was inspired by her mother, who inspired her, and goes on to
pass on the baton to inspire younger women. That was the crux
of it and it was beautiful have her stand there and say, ‘Enough’s
enough.’ Very cool. You know, sometimes it feels like T-shirt
politics? But, for me, [this] feels real. And there’s massive change
happening.
What movement do you want to see in the music industry?
More diversity, and not just a gender issue... We have to make
more of an effort to encourage those from ethnic backgrounds
and minorities. ‘If you can see it, you can be it’, sounds like such
a cheesy slogan, but there are young South Asian girls that get
in touch with me because my profile’s getting a little bit bigger
and they’re like, ‘Oh wow, there’s a South Asian girl that makes
music.’ I think we need to nurture people from all different
backgrounds.
You’re seen as more of a political musician because of Holiday
Destination, the theme of immigration showing itself so
strongly.
People were saying, ‘Ah, you’re a political musician now,’ but
my first album [2013’s Love Your Dum And Mad] was a reaction
towards those suffering with mental illness. I viewed that as a
political album because people with mental illnesses needed to
be taken seriously, to help dispel the stigma. So, I’ve always been
ranting about something.
You’re a northern woman. It’s what we do.
[Laughs] I’m always complaining about something! It didn’t
feel to me that I was doing anything different [with Holiday
Destination], but as soon as you do something overtly political
it does so many things. I was nervous about being perceived as
being opportunistic, really nervous about dividing an audience,
nervous about social media response, people trolling you, but the
reaction’s been lush. Heart warming... it’s been really inspiring.
Why did you concentrate on the theme of immigration for the
record?
Because ‘immigrant’ all of a sudden became a dirty word. There
was a noticeable rise in nationalism, globally, and a decline in
“We have to make
more of an effort
to encourage
those from ethnic
backgrounds
and minorities”
empathy. When did people stop caring about other people? I
don’t understand it, so I wanted to write about it more. I don’t
want to point the finger and say, ‘You’re wrong, racist, you’re this,’
because that’s not going to get us anywhere. I wanted to open up
a dialogue and immigration has been such a hot topic, especially
in the past couple of years, and it divides people. I genuinely don’t
think the majority of people who voted to leave the EU are racist
– [but] they get branded as it. There have been a lot of people
who’ve been manipulated, the most vulnerable people in society
have been targeted, told immigration is a problem, [but] it’s
definitely not the biggest problem that we have!
Fingers were pointed, especially towards the North of
England, and all these people who consider themselves very
liberal, leftwing and very well educated, were coming out and
saying, ‘They’re racist’. That’s not an informed thing to say. It’s
callous and it’s not opening a dialogue. There was no trying to
understand why people voted to leave: was it a protest vote, or
because this isn’t working and this isn’t working? Is it because
they’ve been manipulated? No one was speaking about that. It
was frustrating.
You went to live in London aged 16 with the intent of
becoming a jazz singer, and ended up a very opinionated
songwriter instead. What happened, Nadine?
I got bored of that quite quickly, because it meant singing other
people’s songs and there wasn’t a very young audience. I was
hanging out with people three times my age. And they were
great, but I wanted to make angry music, as an angry teenager. It
was difficult finding a producer for the first album. I met so many
producers and all of them wanted to do the same thing: ‘OK, we’ll
put strings on this bit and put your vocal really loud in the mix,’
and I think if I’d taken that route I’d have ended up, kind of… I
mean, I love Adele, I’m not slagging her off – but I’d have made a
safe album. I’d probably be more successful!
You’d be rich.
I wouldn’t be living in Tottenham! [But] I didn’t want to make
commercial music and fame wasn’t a thing that attracted me. I
wanted to make something more challenging.
As an ambassador for Independent Venue Week 2018 and
vocal supporter of the Agent Of Change bill, it’s obvious
grassroots music and venues are important to you.
Independent music venues are the backbone of the music industry,
it’s where we nourish and grow potential talent. If you go through
any archive of the greats, David Bowie or somebody, and look
back at these tiny venues they played in… look at the 100 Club
and the number of amazing artists that’s hosted. They really are in
jeopardy. If we don’t take care of them it’ll be a sad thing.
Last year you composed music for theatre, a production of Get
Carter. Is this a new direction for Nadine Shah?
It’s a completely new discipline to work to but it’s something I’m
going to be doing more of this year and next year, working in
theatre. My artist name is my real name but with that there are
a few challenges. I can’t veer too far off the path in terms of the
work I do because it’s almost like a brand. But there’s a bit of
freedom when your name’s not the focal point on something, to
be more experimental.
I’ve been listening to your radio show on London’s Soho Radio.
You play a very eclectic mix of music. I know every radio
presenter claims that, but you really do...
I’m watching more live music for it than I ever have, [I’m out]
about three nights a week. And I’m getting sent new music all
the time, and I’m having to listen to older music as well. It’s good
for my trade. I treat my music like a proper job. It’s enhancing my
knowledge. It’s given me a kick up the arse.
It’s good for girls and younger women to see female
broadcasters talking knowledgably about music.
And having women play other women as well. I did a talk with
Shirley Manson in Germany a few months ago and we were
talking about women in music and one thing I’ve noticed is that
I wasn’t getting a lot of support from other female artists. I was
getting offered tour supports from male-fronted bands and I was
wondering why that was. I don’t actually blame the women, I
think we have been conditioned to think that it’s a competition
and there’s only room for one woman. Female solo artists, oddly,
have become a genre. It’s not a frickin’ genre! It’s been great
having the radio show and being able to showcase amazing
female talent – pretty humbling, actually – and I’ve had a great
reaction from loads of young women sending me demos and
stuff.
Your performance onstage has changed quite a lot over the last
year, in part because you’re no longer playing instruments live.
It’s freed me up to perform properly. I think I’m doing my job
better now, I’m not restricted by having to play piano. It’s a more
visceral performance, especially with the nature of the new
album; a lot more energetic, and I think my fans got a bit of a
shock with this album performed live. Before I was quite static
and giving a sombre, intense performance. It’s still as intense, but
there’s a lovely energy; I come off stage knackered every night
now, it’s like I’ve been to the gym.
You earn your fee!
Well, it feels like it now! It’s the only tour where I’ve lost weight.
I’m like, ‘Why? I’ve been drinking loads, eating crap…! I’m so
passionate about the subject of this album that it feels like giving
any less than 100% live to an audience would be a massive
injustice.
What are your plans for 2018?
I’m learning to play lots of instruments. My house is getting
cluttered, my house mate hates it. Every day she comes in and
says, ‘What’s that? Is that an accordion?’ And I’m, ‘No…’ My friend
bought me back this instrument from India. It’s a little electronic
box, like a weird modulator, and it makes these wild synth sounds
so piercingly loud. It only does two volumes, one quiet and one
very loud… so, obviously, it’s very loud all the time.
I want to have my next album out by next year, too, so I’m going
to focus on writing. And I’ll be working with some younger artists
in the North East, but it’ll be very much behind the scenes. It
won’t be on Twitter and there won’t be news articles about it. So,
this year I’m going to be a little bit quieter. A little bit…!
Words: Cath Bore / @cathbore
nadineshah.co.uk
Nadine Shah plays Leaf on 1st February. Holiday Destination is
out now via 1965 Records.
FEATURE
23

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Danny Fitzgerald takes
us on a detour to the
outskirts of Athens to
feel the vibrations with
the woozy musician and
visual artist MONTERO.
“I’m possibly
just trying to
live in a world
that doesn’t
exist anymore”
“It was my first time doing anything like this. I was just
trying hard to concentrate on doing a good job and not
screwing up.” Ben MONTERO is recuperating after a
lengthy European tour with cult Canadian indie-rocker
Mac DeMarco, an expedition which included 11 dates in the
UK and Ireland, with four shows in London alone. He gratefully
explains from his home in the Exarcheia neighbourhood of
Athens that it was “an amazing opportunity to play shows like
this in front of so many people. I would drink a lot to overcome
nerves beforehand, then just be totally exhausted afterward
and want to crawl into bed.” The expat Australian musician and
visual artist has recently settled in Greece after leaving his native
Melbourne and “living out of a suitcase for a few years.”
A short walk from the hustle-and-bustle of tourism hotspots
that dominate the centre of the sprawling capital, the shady
streets and sun-beaten squares of Exarcheia have long been
associated with politics – inextricably bound to a history of
socialism, anarchism, and anti-fascism, from its days as a stage
for anti-junta unrest in the 1970s to more recent anti-government
protests. It is also a haven for intellectuals and artists, whose
high-rise post-war apartment blocks sit above countless
bookshops, organic food stores, coffee bars and restaurants. “It
just felt right to me. I like the buildings, the food, and the pace.
Though sometimes I feel like I can’t live up to all that sun.”
It seems the perfect, if unlikely, place for Montero to settle –
over the past few years, he has balanced his music career with
the cultivation of a colourful online comic series. Already boasting
over 80,000 followers on Facebook and 50,000 on Instagram,
Montero’s imaginative vignettes follow a cast of anthropomorphic
animal characters in a vibrant world of music, food, fun and
feelings, capturing relatable moments that highlight universal
worries, existential questions, and shared dreams. In one panel,
a bright green frog frets as he sips a cup of coffee: ‘Am I holding
my elbow too high up?’ In another, a small yellow bird laments
his disproportionately large head, complaining that ‘not a hat
in the whole world’ will fit. Elsewhere, a harmonica-playing cat
introduces a shy turtle to blues music – ‘Play it when you sad,’ it
sagely recommends.
Steeped in a nostalgic atmosphere, at once invoking the
hipster cool of counter-culture cartoonist Robert Crumb, the
cutesy innocence of children’s writer Richard Scarry, and the
sardonic wit of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s comic
strip Life In Hell, Montero’s artwork has provided album covers,
T-shirt designs and gig posters for a growing international
fanbase which includes lo-fi pop auteur Ariel Pink, indie folk
singer-songwriter Kurt Vile, tourmate Mac DeMarco and more
beyond. The clearly time-consuming ink and watercolour pieces
set Montero apart from many contemporary online comic creators
who choose to work with digital tools. “The whole thing, for me,
is therapeutic,” he explains. “I like the feel of the pen, and I even
like struggling to draw with a dying pen, or the various textural
obstacles of the paper, or the bumps from crumbs underneath
it.” He robustly rejects the notion of switching to digital media.
“I have zero interest really. Firstly; I have no idea how to do
anything digitally; and secondly, digital drawings just do not
connect with me on any level. With hand drawn things, no
matter what the level of skill, it’s always something I want to look
at.” Though he clarifies, “this is just personally what resonates
with me and certainly not a critique of anything digital,” before
conceding, “I’m possibly just trying to live in a world that doesn’t
exist anymore.”
Montero’s musical output has been similarly imbued with a
throwback feel, with his 2013 album The Loving Gaze drawing
frequently on the inspiration of bygone pop balladeers such as
Burt Bacharach and The Carpenters, the California sunshine
sounds of The Beach Boys, The Byrds, and Strawberry Alarm
Clock. He cites current influences as disparate as Alice Coltrane
and George Michael, from Aussie trip hop pioneers The
Avalanches to hairy 70s sex symbol Demis Roussos. “I guess it’s
melodic, round, and loud, with romantic muscle,” Montero muses,
when asked to define his sound. “Anxious soft rock with lots of
primary music radio colours!”
He has been honing this anxious soft rock at Mark Ronson’s
Tileyard studios in London for a new album, Performer, working
with Jay Watson of Australian psychers Pond and Tame Impala
and Grammy-winning engineer Riccardo Damian, whose clients
have included such superstars as Adele and Lady Gaga, as well
as 2017 Mercury Prize winner Sampha and young British jazz
royalty Binker & Moses. “The recording process was a pleasure,”
recalls Montero. “It ran so smoothly because there was just the
three of us, and our brains were tuned in together about what we
wanted to accomplish. Not in a high-brow concept prog way,” he
jokes, “just more fun and colourful. I don’t think I’ll ever want to
work with the whole-band-in-the-studio approach again.”
This focused, methodical approach has paid off on
Performer, which sports confident, concise melodies and a
lush instrumentation that recalls the 70s feel-good flavour of
Supertramp and Steely Dan, with an unapologetic romanticism
reminiscent of Montero’s own visual work. It’s not hard to imagine
his cartoon characters grooving along to the dream-pop hooks
of lead single Vibrations, and indeed they do feature in the
kaleidoscopic animated music videos for Tokin’ The Night Away
and Running Race, riding through the night sky in a floating bath
tub, staring into hypnotic TV static, facing their inner demons in a
spooky claymation forest.
“[It] all just came together pretty naturally,” reflects Montero.
“I have a really great band here.” The success hasn’t gone to his
head; gifted with an influx of fresh fans picked up during the 2017
tour, and an online audience that expands daily, he has not chosen
to rest on his laurels. “There are other shows in the works,” he
promises, and though he can’t deny that his newfound exposure
is tiring (admitting at one point, “I need a holiday”), the multitalented
Montero is already hinting at further exploits in the future.
There is, however, a caveat. “I need to finish the two books
I’m working on first.” !
Words: Danny Fitzgerald
Photography: Maria Damkalidi
bjennymontero.com
Montero plays The Shipping Forecast on 10th February.
Performer is released on 2nd February on Chapter Music.
28

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Fri 9 – Sat 10 February
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Sat 10 March, 7.30pm
Moya Brennan
Thu 15 March, 7.30pm
Carl Hutchinson
Fri 16 March, 7.30pm
Sign up to our e-newsletter at theatkinson.co.uk
for more info about the full programme

SPOTLIGHT
EXPLORING BIRDSONG
Step inside and marvel at EXPLORING BIRDSONG’s world of “pianodriven
progressive rock”
“A huge aim
for us has been
to bridge the
gap between
prog and pop”
How did you get into music?
For all of us, our parents were a big influence on the music we
grew up with and listened to. Funnily enough, Matt and Lyns
were both shown Rick Wakeman’s King Arthur as children,
and Pink Floyd’s The Wall along with Jeff Wayne’s War Of The
Worlds still remain as two of Jonny’s favourite albums after being
exposed to them as a kid.
What’s the latest song you have you – and what does it say
about you?
Back in October we put out our first single The Baptism. We
reckon it’s a song that encompasses what we do – weird
arrangements with pretty melodies on top. Though we have
something new to share in early March, which has been
described as our ‘great gig in the sky’…
Did you have any particular artists in mind as an influence
when you started out? What about them do you think you’ve
taken into your music?
There are tonnes of bands that we love and take little bits of
inspiration from, but the artists that spring to mind the fastest
would probably be Kate Bush, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and
GoGo Penguin. Lyns takes a lot of influence from Kate Bush and
her use of crazy vocal arrangements, and the keys/bass/drums
format that make up ELP and GoGo is something we stumbled
across when we first started writing, as opposed to set out to
replicate.
What are the overriding external influences on your music?
We have a really keen interest in writing conceptually, and have
had ideas about certain potential songs based on pieces of art.
As mentioned previously, a lot of our music is based on a concept,
and the largest influence on that has been poetry. In particular,
Seamus Heaney’s Bye Child. If you can, definitely check out the
story behind it.
How do you see your career progressing from where you are
now (in an ideal situation)?
Prog and the rest of the world of music seem to be pretty
disconnected, so a huge aim for us from the very start has been
to bridge the gap between prog and pop as best we can. We
might not top the charts any time soon, but we think a lot of
our music – especially melodically – is something a lot of people
would be able to enjoy. On top of that – we’d love to give an
answer slightly less cliché – but to be able to take our music all
over the world to audiences that genuinely love it is the dream.
exploringbirdsong.bandcamp.com
You can read an extended version of this interview at
bidolito.co.uk
30

KING HANNAH
Hannah Merrick is revelling in her band’s development into a growly,
country-tinged rock outfit – and so are we.
“I love trying to
set a scene, so
the listener can
really picture
what’s going on”
How did you get into music?
I’ve always sang since I was a child, like I was a musical and
Disney singer before anything else, lots of singing competitions
and stuff like that. Then I started loving female singers and
songwriters in my teens and loved the idea of being one so
decided to study singing at Uni, which I guess is when I started
getting into it properly. That was like 10 years ago now, so it’s
just been non-stop writing and bands since then.
What’s the latest song you have you – and what does it say
about you?
We’ve nothing out yet! We need to get a wriggle on.
Did you have any particular artists in mind as an influence
when you started out? What about them do you think you’ve
taken into your music?
I used to want to sound like Laura Marling but that’s gone
now. One thing I know I’ve definitely picked up on are lengthy
endings. That’s from growing up listening to 90s stuff. I love a
good 10-11-minuter, especially live! Radiohead and The War
On Drugs do it now, don’t they? As a band, we love all that.
Generally, I don’t know what we’ve picked up and who from
because I’ve noticed the artists most people say we sound like
are artists I don’t know, or don’t realise I know. So then I’ll listen
to those artists people compare us to and think, ‘Ah right, OK,’
and that’s it. It’s nice to hear what I can’t hear, definitely. Largely
though, everyone picks up ideas from the people they listen to
the most don’t they, I think it’s impossible not to. We do that as
a band.
Do you feel a responsibility to respond to current affairs or
contemporary situations through your music?
I don’t want to sound selfish at all, but no I don’t; maybe one day
but not now.
How does where you are from affect your writing (if at all)?
Well I’m from the world’s smallest village in North Wales, though
I never sing about that. I’ve been living on and off in Liverpool
for 11 years, so I reckon there’s stuff about this city in there, the
people I’ve met, deffo.
What are the overriding external influences on your music?
Individually, our music tastes are quite varied, so playing a new
song together for the first time always brings together those
influences. Listening to new music definitely, and writing about
people too, but I guess that’s pretty obvious. I find it’s better
when I don’t think about it, though. I’ve noticed recently that I
love singing about real ‘things’ and daily happenings/experiences,
like I’ve been singing a lot about clothes and shopping! It sounds
so incredibly boring and shallow, but the lines are actually very
personal without being in-your-face personal I reckon. I love
trying to set a scene too, so the listener can really picture what’s
going on. My favourite writers are people like Kurt Vile, where
there’s no filter, like it just all rambles out without trying.
How do you see your career progressing from where you are
now (in an ideal situation)?
I just want us to be 10000000% happy. With the band, I’d like
us to just keep going and to make music together forever, tour,
write, the works. I reckon it’s deffo possible. Personally, I want
to write really, really good songs too and I’d love to feature as a
singer on other artists’ work, that one’s always been a goal.
Why is music important to you?
Because it really is the only thing I properly, properly 1000000%
love. And it takes you to places nothing else can, doesn’t it?
Can you recommend an artist, band or album that Bido Lito!
readers might not have heard?
Craig told me to listen to Majical Cloudz. I quite like Drugstore,
Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions and Françoise Hardy,
but you probs already know all these!
@kinghannahmusic
SPOTLIGHT 31

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MISTERWIVES
SATURDAY 7TH APRIL
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PROUD MARY
SATURDAY 9TH JUNE
CLIUB ACADEMY
PLASTIC HOUSE
SATURDAY 17TH MARCH
ACADEMY 3
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
THURSDAY 4TH OCTOBER
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ALVVAYS
MONDAY 19TH FEBRUARY
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can be. We feature everything from the latest artists on Merseyside to art exhibitions and political think pieces.
For more information contact studentsociety@bidolito.co.uk or come along to the following events:
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Come along to The Merchant and acquaint yourself
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PREVIEWS
“If people hadn’t
donated money
towards the studio,
there’s a chance
Hookworms wouldn’t
exist now”
GIG
HOOKWORMS
Invisible Wind Factory – 23/02
The brightest talents in the UK’s
alternative music landscape
have spent the past three years
decanting an expanded, studioready
version of themselves into
their third album: the results are
mindblowing.
Any modern psych connoisseur worth their salt
will know of HOOKWORMS. The Leeds outfit
have taken the scene by storm ever since their
2013 juggernaut of a debut, Pearl Mystic. They
have proved themselves to be as ferocious live as they are on
record, selling out headline shows across Europe as they’ve
hurtled towards LCD Soundsystem levels of genre-straddling
brilliance.
As the years have gone on, the band have proved themselves
as more than just a meat-and-potatoes rock band and very much
an ongoing artistic concern. New album Microshift is as emotive
as the previous two albums, dealing with themes such as death,
heartbreak and even natural disaster; but the band’s third LP
has evidently given them more room for experimentation with
electronic elements, twisting their freeform sound pieces into
more standard song structures. Georgia Turnbull spoke to bassist
MB about the group’s reinvigorated approach on this record,
what caused this shift and how, without the help of fans, the
band might have ceased to exist.
Your new single, Negative Space, appears to show a significant
shift towards electronica, especially compared with The Hum.
What inspired this change towards sequences and loops?
I think it was to do with the gear we had at the time. When we
first started the band, we didn’t have very many instruments, and
all our gear was broken and a bit rubbish so we made do with
what we had. We’ve gained more equipment as time’s moved on
and we spent a bit more money on synths and other equipment.
It got to a point where we were using this stuff a lot more when
we were practicing and writing songs, and I guess it ended up
being the focus of the songwriting this time around. It happened
pretty naturally, to be honest, it wasn’t really an executive
decision that we all made. A couple of us do other things that
are more electronic so that fed back into Hookworms. It’s also a
continuation of things that were creeping in on The Hum: going
more electronic seemed like the obvious thing to do.
You’ve also said that this album is centered around the studio,
in regards to production and dynamic. How did the creation of
the album differ from the previous two?
With the last album, we had the songs completely written
and finished before recording live. There wasn’t a great deal
of thought [put] into post-production and making it fancy, we
just wanted to play the songs as we had written them. I guess
that was pretty much a straight rock record, whereas this time
around, rather than writing songs with us all in the room together
at once, we recorded little ideas here and there and dug them
up over a period of two or three years, using the computer to
piece things together. There are definitely some songs where we
used the computer as more of a tool and an instrument. And we
improvised a lot more, listening back and picking out short sound
bites. It was a cool and different way of working.
There are also collaborations on Microshift from the likes of
Richard Formby [producer of Spacemen 3 and member of The
Jazz Butcher], Christopher Duffin [XAM Duo] and Alice Merida
Richards [Virginia Wing]. How did these collaborations come
about and how was the experience of working with musicians
outside of Hookworms?
It was a really fulfilling experience because, other than a friend
on the first album who played a really small trumpet part, we’ve
never had anyone else involved in the band, and never had any
other artistic input. Richard’s one of our friends and we talked
about doing something with him before, so we set up in the
studio with him and just jammed. I think we recorded an hour and
a half of music, and then we worked back and edited it down. We
also did a live show with Richard where we improvised again,
and it all fed back into the album. Richard’s got a big modular
synthesiser and tape echoes that he uses, so we challenged
ourselves by working around that. I play with Chris in XAM Duo
and his other band have recorded with MJ [Hookworms vocalist
and chief producer] a few times, so it seemed obvious to get him
involved.
And then with Alice, we toured with Virginia Wing and I’ve
played on a couple of their records, so we’re really good friends
with them. With that, it was another different way of working:
we emailed her a demo we had and she sent it back with demo
vocals over that, which completely changed the direction the
song was going in. We rewrote it a little bit and MJ rewrote what
he was going to do, so working with her was collaborative in the
truest sense. We had a bare bones instrumental that she turned
into a bit of a pop song, and it might be my favourite track on the
album just because of how different it was putting it together.
The album has been described as a “euphoric catharsis”, the
music counteracting the lyrics dealing with the likes of death,
disease, and heartbreak. Would you agree that it’s euphoric
and cathartic, and did it feel that way when recording the
album?
Yes, definitely. The subject matter of the lyrics within some of the
songs is obviously quite dark, so I purposefully wanted the music
to juxtapose and counteract that, so the final outcome would be
heavy lyrical content with an uplifting, euphoric musical backdrop
so it wouldn’t become a really heavy album. We’ve always tried
to make the music cathartic and euphoric. I do think that the
way we build and write tracks has a lot more in common with
electronic and dance music than it does with rock, the way we
build stuff and drop it down, but again we’ve done it differently
this time around and that’s fed into this sound.
Microshift was fully recorded in your studio, Suburban Home,
that was devastatingly hit by the River Aire flood in 2015.
How you feel about the incredible response that followed, and
would you say the album became a response to the disaster?
Yeh, we’re incredibly thankful. If people had not donated money
towards the studio, I don’t think it would exist now, and there’s
a chance Hookworms wouldn’t have carried on either because
we can only do our music the way we do it because of our studio
space. We get to practice, record demos, write and record in
there, so if we didn’t have that space like that anymore, we might
struggle to function as a band. We can’t do what most bands do
and drive their equipment to practice once a week because of the
amount we have, so we need a static space like Suburban Home.
I don’t know if it was a reaction to the flood itself but having no
studio for six or seven months, then rebuilding it ourselves gave
us a kick and a spark to keep making the album. The flood caused
a massive delay to the album: Microshift has ended up coming
out six months later than we wanted, so when the second
studio was ready, we went full throttle on writing and recording
again. You’ve gone through all that effort, you’ve got to make it
worthwhile. !
Words: Georgia Turnbull / @GeorgiaRTbull
Photography: Hollie Fernando / holliefernandophotography.com
hookworms.website
Hookworms play Invisible Wind Factory on 23rd February.
Microshift is released on 2nd February via Domino Records.
34

Get The Blessing
FESTIVAL
Liverpool International
Jazz Festival
The Capstone Theatre –
22/02-25/02
Situated on Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus, the
Capstone Theatre is the home of classic and contemporary
jazz in the city, and an oft overlooked gem. It is also home
to LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL (LIJF),
which marks its sixth edition this February. With an emphasis on
experimentation, the festival takes audience members on a musical
journey that traverses numerous jazz variants and cross-genres.
The JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET kick things off on 22nd February,
with support from Manchester collective SKELTR. Taylor is regarded
as one of the great British instrumentalists of his generation, with his
trademark howling Hammond organ appearing on albums by the Manic
Street Preachers and U2. British-Asian clarinettist and composer ARUN
GHOSH brings his IndoJazz Sextet the following day, as well as hosting
a free masterclass on improvisation. Three quarters of the legendary
70s SOFT MACHINE line-up are still touring, powered by the virtuosic
sax skills of Theo Travis (who also hosts a saxophone workshop prior to
the band’s concert). Sola pianist JASON REBELLO and Luxembourg trio
DOCK IN ABSOLUTE also drop by.
LIJF are also teaming up with DJ and promotions collective Anti
Social Jazz Club on the festival’s centrepiece show with GET THE
BLESSING (23rd February). The Bristol-based quartet are famed for
their innovation, incorporating electronic signatures into their infectious,
beat-driven work. ASJC will also collaborate with the festival on a
number of after parties in Buyers Club and Fredericks, bringing a slice
of this jazz odyssey to the city centre.
Idles
GIG
Independent Venue Week
Various venues – 29/01-04/02
As if the start of 2018 wasn’t busy enough with a plethora
of live shows coming at us, INDEPENDENT VENUE WEEK
descends on several city centre establishments to make sure
there really is no excuse to stay inside. At a point when our
independent venues are finding it harder than ever to thrive, it is timely
that we celebrate these vital cogs in the industry by giving them our
patronage. The Jacaranda Club, Parr Street Studio2, The Zanzibar, Buyers
Club, EBGBS and The Magnet are all taking part, meaning there’s going
to be a feast of music for us to enjoy.
BBC 6Music will be broadcasting Steve Lamacq’s show live
from Studio2 on Friday 2nd February, which will feature a live set
with Bristolian punk outfit IDLES. Following this afternoon session,
Deltasonic Records host their own showcase which will be headed up
by SUNSTACK JONES. If your tastes run more to the raucous end of the
spectrum, the same night throws up the “greatest musical extravaganza”
in the form of SNAILMANIA. The Jacaranda Club’s basement is being
taken over by riotous noiseniks SALT THE SNAIL for the launch of their
new single, Spanish Announce Table, with support coming from BISCH
NADAR and WIFE.
EVOL and Skeleton Key Records are teaming up for a head-buzzing
night at EBGBS on Saturday 3rd, hosting a clutch of bands that “know
their shit”. PEACH FUZZ’s hazy cosmic jive is the night’s star attraction,
with rising stars (and Bido favourites) THE MYSTERINES and TY
FREEMAN (formerly of The Movamahs) on support duties.
And to round IVW off at The Jacaranda Club, we’re getting in on
the action ourselves to throw a closing party that’ll have you crying
tears of pure joy… for PURE JOY we have! The slimmed down version
of the band bring their spectral groove to the stage with their new …GO
GALACTIC! show – and that’s not all. Breakout garage freaks JO MARY
and psychy jazzers THE BLURRED SUN BAND represent the exciting
crop of guitar bands in the region right now, and their presence on the
bill will ensure that the grooves come thick and fast. With tickets under
a fiver, it would be rude to miss out on seeing Independent Venue Week
go out in style.
PREVIEWS 35

PREVIEWS
GIG
47Soul
24 Kitchen Street – 16/02
47Soul
Pioneering ShamStep collective 47SOUL have infused their self-styled
ShamStep genre with the history and traditions of the region they represent.
ShamStep is an infectious, cultural and musical homage to ‘dabke’, the
renowned traditional celebration music of the Shams: Bilad al-Sham is an
ancient province in the Levant that spans present day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan,
Palestine and Turkey, a region that the group’s four members identify with.
Their debut album, Balfron Promise, is a fizz of synthesisers, electronic guitar,
beats and bass, with the four members taking it in turns to rap and sing in
Arabic and English. Their message of embracing people and cultures that
transcend territorial borders is an empowering one, and makes for a blistering
concoction when paired with their high-octane, dance-friendly performance.
GIG
Ezra Furman
Arts Club – 04/02
Chicago singer-songwriter EZRA FURMAN is bringing new album
Transangelic Exodus to the Arts Club stage, with newly-named
backing band The Visions in tow. Inspired by America’s recent political
and cultural conversations, Furman treats the new album as a diary
of sorts, dubbing the LP as a semi-conceptual “queer outlaw saga”.
Shot through with a new glam feel, Transangelic Exodus is an intense,
dramatic projection of Furman’s narrative vision. Perpetual forward
motion is a mantra that Furman has always stuck to, and this is an
example of an artist operating at their peak.
Ezra Furman
GIG
Aviator
St Bride’s Church – 10/2
AVIATOR return to Liverpool for a winter warmer of a gig in the hallowed
surrounds of St Bride’s Church. The brainchild of Pete Wilkinson
(formerly of Shack, Cast and Echo & The Bunnymen) and producer Mark
Heaney, the band are taking a break from recording their fourth album of
psych-folk melodic wigouts to bring a set hewn from all four records.
Expect a special appearance from MICHAEL BLYTH, whose album the
band are also recording, and whose work follows in the songwriting
tradition of Lee Hazlewood. Opening on the night is PAUL CROWE
(ex The Aeroplanes and City Walls) with his first gig in over two years.
Tickets are a tenner a pop and include a 4-track AV8 Records sampler.
EXHIBITION
Warhol To Walker
The Atkinson – until 10/03
If your taste for pop art has been whetted by the Tate’s popular Roy
Lichtenstein exhibition, then this show at The Atkinson will be the perfect
follow up. Focusing on the greatest American printmakers, WARHOL
TO WALKER studies a range of work that encompasses contemporary
practitioners alongside heavyweights from the movement’s 60s heyday.
The show contains 200 works by 70 artists, from Andy Warhol and Robert
Rauschenberg to modern pieces from Kara Walker and Jim Dine. The free
exhibition is brought to the Southport arts hub in partnership with the
British Museum, and assesses the works’ impact on pop culture, music and
everyday life over the last six decades.
GIG
Beth Orton
Arts Club – 07/02
Beth Orton
Hailed as one of the most unique voices in British music, BETH ORTON is rounding off an impressive run of her most
recent album, Kidsticks with a string of UK tour dates. Constantly changing her musical style, Orton will be bringing her
new electronic venture to Arts Club. With a career spanning over 20 years and an impressive back catalogue to bolster
the new material, Orton’s folk and rock ‘n’ roll-influenced tracks will no doubt be carefully selected to please fans old and
new. You can expect that the introduction of keyboards alongside acoustic guitar will be perfectly piloted by a musician
who oozes craft.
CLUB
Cream Classical Ibiza
Anglican Cathedral – 16/02 and 17/02
The Balearic vibe comes to the Anglican Cathedral for the latest slice of
enlightenment from Cream. The clubbing institution has been taking the party
to the White Isle for the last 25 years, and they’re now bringing it back home
for an Ibiza edition of CREAM CLASSICAL. A 50-piece Philharmonic Orchestra
ensemble will join some of Cream’s famed DJs in performing live versions of
quintessential hits in the grandest of settings. The all-new show will feature
a brand new tracklist which has come all the way from the hedonistic party
island itself, including tunes that have defined the dancefloor from Ibiza to
Liverpool.
Cream Classical
36

GIG
Kelley Stoltz
81 Renshaw – 25/02
It can be a precarious balance to strike between quality and quantity
for the bedroom pop auteur, but that’s not something that KELLEY
STOLTZ struggles with. His songwriting is razor sharp, allowing him
to bend all genres to his will, from synth-pop to disco glam, while
still maintaining an air of Brian Wilson. Having released previous
LPs through Third Man Records, with new album Que Aura Stoltz
now resides alongside fellow Bay Area musical nuts Oh Sees and
Fresh And Onlys on Castle Face Records. Having played guitar in the
Bunnymen’s touring band, his affiliation with Liverpool runs deep,
furthered by the decision to take THE PROBES out on tour with him
across the UK in February.
GIG
The Lost Brothers
Leaf – 02/02
With the release of their fifth record Halfway Towards A Healing,
THE LOST BROTHERS are bringing the warmth from Tucson,
Arizona, where the album was recorded, to a cold February night in
Liverpool. The Irish duo came together in 2007 after their previous
bands slowly slipped away, but The Losties have found their own
niche and have developed a bit of a soft spot for Liverpool (and the
city them). Their exquisite harmonies and knack for a heart-rending
story have been bolstered by working with Irish songwriter and
actor Glen Hansard, with whom they co-wrote three songs that
appear on the new LP.
GIG
British Sea Power
O2 Academy – 16/02
After their most recent album Let The Dancers Inherit
The Party was entirely funded by pre-sales from
the band’s loyal fanbase, BRITISH SEA POWER
are set to play a huge show at the Academy. Their
windswept British rock sounds a little like the band
are eternally situated in the 80s, and new single Keep
On Trying (Sechs Freunde) displays some remarkable
flexibility and has a brighter disposition than usual
BSP fare. Those keen fans who inked themselves in
the crowdfunding cause of the band’s seventh album
get free entry.
EVENT
Ed Byrne
Floral Pavilion – 24/02
Is life that bad or have we good reason to complain
about it? Are we filled with righteous anger at a world
gone wrong, or are we all just a bunch of whiny little
brats? In short, are we spoiled? In his new Spoiler Alert
show, ED BYRNE takes this question, turns it upside
down and shakes it until the funny falls out. One of the
warmest observational comics on the circuit, Byrne’s
caustic wit and restless energy results in a set that
rarely lets up, with gags coming faster than you can
register them. Go on, spoil yourself.
Ed Byrne
GIG
Jorja Smith
Invisible Wind Factory – 08/02
Jorja Smith
Walsall born and raised, JORJA SMITH made an immediate impact on
British pop when she uploaded Blue Lights to SoundCloud two years ago.
Now having been nominated for a MOBO and recognised at the Brits with
the Critics’ Choice Award, Smith has gained fans in megastars Drake and
Stormzy. Awash with musical influence from all genres, Smith cites Lily
Allen, Amy Winehouse and Nas as artists who inspired her. A debut album
is due for release in 2018, by which time her Brit-centric RnB may well
have propelled her to the big league.
GIG
The Night Café
Arts Club – 03/02
A sense of yearning infuses the polished, indie-flecked post-punk of THE NIGHT CAFÉ, and it resonates with
people right across the country. Not many emerging Liverpool acts in the past decade have been able to sell
out shows across the UK on their first headline tour, and rack up over five million Spotify plays, but The Night
Café have not only managed this but taken it all in their stride. February’s Arts Club show will be an emotional
homecoming for the band, who host fellow local artists PARIS YOUTH FOUNDATION and CHEAP THRILLS as
support.
The Night Café
FILM + GIG
Mugstar – Ad Marginem Live Soundtrack
Philharmonic Music Room – 07/02
Ad Marginem
Bido Lito! members are in for a real treat with this month’s special event, as psych drone
legends MUGSTAR dust off the reels of their 2012 film Ad Marginem. The band will provide
the live soundtrack to the production which was written and directed by Liam Yates along
Mugstar’s guitarist Neil Murphy. Shot around Merseyside, the film was made in response to
the music created by Mugstar, rather than the usual process of a soundtrack reflecting the
action in a production. The black and white film, as well as the accompanying soundtrack EP,
are bleak atmospheric affairs and described by the band as “a meditation on isolation and
loss.” Tickets for this rare performance are shifting fast, so head to bidolito.co.uk or The Phil’s
Box Office to secure yours.
PREVIEWS 37

REVIEWS
MC Nelson (Chris Rathe)
MC Nelson
By The River Video Premiere
@ FACT – 08/01
What does the River Mersey mean to you? To Nelson Idama,
better known as the elusive South Liverpool rapper MC NELSON,
it means a catalogue of things. It’s childhood memories, it’s a
spiritual and cultural embodiment of the city, it’s the gateway
from other worlds, a catalyst that propelled Liverpool to a global
port, ascending its status from a quiet, sleepy Lancastrian town,
and a constant physical reminder of both the prosperous and
sordid past of the city. The river Mersey has many stories to
tell, and storytelling is something that Nelson feels is a duty of
his writing. “I feel as though the job of an MC is to provide new
perspectives and tell untold stories,” he explains as we discuss
his music the day after his successful By The River music video
premiere at FACT.
On the night of the premiere, a short documentary precedes
the video, detailing his influences that developed the song and
the accompanying video. From his upbringing on Aigburth’s
Riverbank Road, to the uncomfortable acknowledgement and
guilt of the city surrounding its troubling past. Most notably, the
often-forgotten slave trade that brought great affluence to the
city, albeit at the devastating expense of the millions of African
slaves in the 18th Century. Choosing the documentary as a
medium in which to expand his storytelling allows Nelson to
“I feel as though the job
of an MC is to provide
new perspectives and
tell untold stories”
explore beyond the constricts of a three-minute song. “You
don’t want to turn it into a history essay, which is why I decided
to explore other ways to convey my message, like through the
documentary.”
A large part of the documentary focusses on the dark and
harrowing tale of Charles Wootton, a 24-year-old ship’s fireman
from Bermuda, who fell victim to race tensions in 1919. The
young seafarer was reportedly chased from his home on Upper
Pitt Street to the Queens Dock where he was beaten with a
rock and drowned in the Mersey. It’s important and often untold
subjects like these that Nelson wants to focus on with his musical
projects. “All in all, I feel like my job is to tell the story of Liverpool
– the good, the bad and the ugly.”
The video itself is a sharply shot portrayal of Nelson’s literal
and symbolic relationship with rivers, water and Liverpool. Shot
by the local collective Leech, the video depicts Nelson through
various shifting scenes that scroll through different moods: it
begins warmly, a headshot suspended in vibrant waters of vivid
oranges and indigo petals, then switches to him meandering
in a raft in murky dismal waters, before finally morphing to him
frantically seething in the cold, ominous, livid grey of the sea.
These three distinct environments perhaps reflect his mixed
emotions and feelings towards Liverpool and the river Mersey.
The video also mirrors the contrasting themes in the
accompanying song; Nelson effortlessly spits over a cosy,
jazz-laden beat, with a languid flow rippling through the verses.
Midway through, the track spins away from the calm; the beat
spirals into a disorientating, hysterical jazz centrifuge as Nelson
repeats “time is a river”, while accompanied by the visuals of a
manic sea lashing at Nelson’s barge, before quickly returning
to the warmth and calm of the verse. Nelson’s lyrics in the
track evoke both a gritty realness, and a colourful metaphysical
imagery that relates both to nature and being.
As the video ends, Nelson gets up to perform a sharp set,
packed with unreleased and never-before heard tracks. He
exudes a bashful, yet confident calm in front of the audience,
dispersing the gaps between his songs with a coy wit. The list of
tracks performed tonight further showcase his considered style
and contemplative lyricism. Nelson a much-welcomed and longawaited
catalyst that the developing Liverpool hip hop scene
needs.
Jonny Winship / @jmwinship
38

Pier Head Exhibition (Rob Battersby)
The Pier Head – Tom Wood
+ Ferry Folk – Liz Wewiora
Open Eye Gallery and Museum of Liverpool
12/01
Ferries of some description have shuffled passengers across
the Mersey and back for over 800 years. They are a quietly
integral part of Liverpool’s identity; a rare constant in a city
characterised by renewal and change. THE PIER HEAD – TOM
WOOD is the UK premiere of over 90 photographs taken in the
70s and 80s on the commute to Liverpool. Wood’s ability to
capture fleeting moments of intimacy and variety in the everyday
commute brings life to the Mersey Ferries and their community.
As a daily commuter on the Mersey Ferries, photographer
Tom Wood had a wealth of different stories at his disposal. His
fellow passengers were ordinary people going about their daily
lives: workers in worn-out suits, mothers juggling children and
moody teenagers smoking. Their busy, chaotic lives converge
on the ferry like a perfect microcosm of Liverpool. Wood is
interested in this moment, but his subjects are on pause,
waiting to resume their day. His photography thus captures the
“Wood’s photography
captures the essence
of commuting, and he
invites the audience to
join him as an observer
of everyday life”
essence of commuting, and he invites the audience to join him as
an observer of everyday life.
Many of his subjects appear to be caught unaware,
engrossed in conversation or smoking a cigarette. Others
stare directly at the camera, offering Wood a glimpse of their
personalities. Perhaps my favourite photographs are those of
teenagers; he manages to capture their unapologetic attitude,
that spunk and style of Liverpool’s youth. They wear baggy
jumpsuits, vintage sportswear and leather tops; their faces
suggest boredom and amusement all at once.
Running parallel to Tom Wood’s exhibition is FERRY FOLK
by LIZ WEWIORA, which explores the relevance of the Mersey
Ferries today. As the demand for travelling by boat has fallen, the
ferries have become a tourist attraction as well as a commuter
service. Wewiora’s work is collaborative, involving photographs
and stories from those who still work for and use the ferries on a
regular basis. Wood’s exhibition feels nostalgic, but Ferry Folk is
hopeful that a new community now exists.
Wewiora has placed an interactive viewfinder in the Museum
of Liverpool by the floor-length windows. As I flick through
photos taken on board the ferries, I am aware of the Mersey
stretching out in front and of the Pier Head itself. Her interactive
project is simple but it joins Wood’s photography to tell a larger
story: one that pays homage to Liverpool, its community and the
river.
Wood’s links to Liverpool make this a particularly relevant
exhibition. His work feels spontaneous, and it is no surprise to
discover that he started this project almost by accident. These
photographs have been chosen from over one thousand rolls of
film, and I leave the exhibition wondering what other stories he
has hidden away.
Maya Jones / @mmayajones
Woodside Ferry Terminal 1979 (Tom Wood)
REVIEWS 39

REVIEWS
Mincemeat (Alex Smith)
Helena Hauff
+ Binary v Malchance
+ Breakwave
The Wonder Pot @ 24 Kitchen Street –
01/01
Some might say that putting on an electronic all-nighter
with a three-hour set from HELENA HAUFF as the headline
act on New Year’s Day is madness. In fact, it turns out to
be a form of genius. Whether still up from the night before
or opting for this as the night to welcome in 2018 (a good
move given the over-familiarity of a lot of what was on offer
for punters on New Year’s Eve), the crowd in Kitchen Street
is pumped. It’s a mixed bag of a room, made up of students,
twenty-something barflies and middle-aged ravers, all
ready for Helena Hauff.
The Hamburg-based DJ, producer and “queen of
the underground” plays an energetic, experimental and
characteristically dark set. Performing exclusively with
vinyl, Hauff showcases her stylistically broad palette,
playing a range of electronic hits and niche techno bangers.
Nabihah Iqbal
+ Giovanna
SisBis @ Buyer’s Club – 13/01
This being only the second of SisBis’ new regular
nights at Buyers Club, the duo behind the brand truly outdo
themselves in snaring Ninja Tune’s NABIHAH IQBAL. A
unique night offering a platform for female DJs on the
Liverpool circuit, SisBis’ resident DJ Giovanna Briguglio
offers up mixes from the disco/Afro/electro spheres broken
up by pop-infused intervals, warming up the crowd for the
main event, her self-professed latest “girl-crush”. SisBis isn’t
just about championing female producers and DJs; each
event raises money for MRANG, a Liverpool-based charity
that works with refugee and asylum-seeking women.
Formerly known by the moniker Throwing Shade,
Iqbal recently released her debut album Weighing Of The
Breakneck tempos morph into floor-shaking beats,
accented by gnarly acid infusions of digital waves, creating
an addictive and ever-changing three-hour journey of wall
to wall sound. Following her undisputedly hot closing set at
Dekmantel 2017 – Amsterdam’s multi-day electronic fiesta
– Liverpool audiences are lucky to welcome in the new year
with such a rising star.
Support on the night comes from a host of local DJs;
BREAKWAVE, James BINARY and Jacques MALCHANCE
alternatively sharing the stage. Breakwave (Jessica
Beaumont, founder of club night Meine Nacht and local
label Deep Sea Frequency) kicks things off with a pulsating,
acid-infused techno set to oil the gears for the early
doors ravers. Mixing things up later on, DJ duo Binary and
Malchance play a digital versus vinyl set to a much fuller
room, as the audience start to flood in. Featuring the likes of
CSMNT61, Randomer, Mr Oizo and Dopplereffekt, their set
fuses acid-techno, big bass riffs and rave stabs, setting the
scene for Hauff’s headline odyssey.
Those inside prove that there’s still a hunger to see
local performers sharing the space with a European
heavyweight, and more female DJs represented than that of
your average night. Who’s up for more?
Sinead Nunes / @SineadAWrites
Heart before Christmas, and takes up the headline slot
here. The Londoner’s set blends elements of her Pakistani
heritage with influences from her undergraduate degree in
ethnomusicology; from Turkey to Thailand, she showcases
music from across the globe – something fans of her biweekly
NTS Radio show will be familiar with, and clubbers
on this Saturday night enjoy into the wee small hours.
While her solo-produced work is often referred to as
“cosmic RnB” her sets are decidedly unclassifiable. From
American street jazz and field recordings taken during her
time as a barrister in South Africa, to snippets borrowed
from her university archive, Iqbal brings something fresh to
her show.
On working with the rising star, who has recently
performed at Tate Modern and the Barbican Centre,
Giovanna says, “Nabihah is such a lovely mix of friendly and
professional; the type of person who will make a joke at her
own expense, while wowing you with her work ethic and
vast music knowledge.”
Sinéad Nunes / @SineadAWrites
Duds
+ Mincemeat
+ Ohmns
+ Eyesore And The Jinx
The Bagelry – 13/01
Tonight, the tables in The Bagelry are gone, replaced by a makeshift PA
system and some hairy North West fellas with instruments. Happily, it’s also
full, reaching capacity just as the tonight’s opening act starts tuning up. The
first part of the night belongs to EYESORE AND THE JINX, who aren’t exactly
your typical garage punks. They squeeze in some twelve-bar blues, some
post-punk and just a little Midwest America emo. The musical equivalent of
that mulled wine at Christmas; you went a bit mad with the spice rack, but
everyone had red stained lips at the end of the night.
It’s with OHMNS’ largely instrumental set that we realise the PA isn’t
cooperating. A little disappointing, but there’s nothing more punk than broken
equipment, albeit, you’d normally trash stuff after you play. Ohmns are punk
right down to their frayed shoelaces, all punchy drums with fast, driving
guitar. As they’re hosting tonight’s proceedings, we can forgive them a bit of
scratchiness.
MINCEMEAT manage to squeeze something out the mics when they’re
up. We’re taken back into the smoky birthing pools of punk with their pub
rock swagger and sound; not even their lead singer can’t resist moving about
the crowd to their rough, loungey rock ‘n’ roll. He closes the set out from atop
the Bagelry counter, yelping the refrain “I love bagels/Do you like bagels?” at
the crowd. Vigorous nods, from the guy with crumbs and sesame seeds in his
beard.
It takes a little while for DUDS to set up, and with two percussionists and
a horn section swelling their ranks, it’s neither a surprise or a chore. When
there’s more than one cowbell about, too, you get the feeling something
special’s on the way. “Very Pre-Raphaelite,” someone quips, as the band
finally line up in their matching khaki shirts; well, there are only seven of them
and no one’s laying in a river, but sure. With their first album being picked up
by storied label Castle Face after very little in the way of a back story, you can
bet they know how to make their cowbells rock.
The moment they start, you’re ripped away from your expectations. The
dissonant guitar and odd marching drums show hallmarks of No Wave, with
the obvious comparison of A Certain Ratio or Minutemen also lurking in the
shadows. Duds set a fearsome pace and don’t let up, switching instruments
and throwing jazz licks in wherever possible. It’s the technical mastery of
math rock smashed into disco, keeping you guessing at all turns. Only after
does it sink in that you danced your way through the whole set. Grinned like
an idiot too, I bet.
Kieran Donnachie
40

Alfa Mist
+ Remy Jude
24 Kitchen Street – 22/11
Celebrated young jazz/hip hop artist ALFA MIST hits Kitchen
Street on a wild and windy evening. Having moved on from the
darkly chilled hip hop of 2015 EP Nocturne to the jazzier territory
of 2017’s Antiphon, such is his growing reputation that the
tempestuous weather fails to deter a sizeable crowd.
Local poet and rapper REMY JUDE delivers his verse in a
relaxed flow, pacing the stage, an intensity to his gaze, and
mixes up the personal (Miss Her, about his mother) with social
commentary (“The world is better when you sit and listen,” and
Lest We Forget). To the side of the stage Moon is dropping some
very cool beats for Jude to wax over (think Andy Compton/Amp
Fiddler), before some heavy dub really gets the crowd moving.
Anya Marsh joins Jude for a couple of numbers, adding a lovely
counterpoint to his spoken delivery to end a well received set that
definitely puts him in the ‘one to watch’ category.
Alfa Mist eases himself into position behind the keyboard and
without preamble the band slide into the chilled-out Intro from
Nocturne; a relaxed keyboard motif, drums and bass immediately
lock tight before a muted trumpet kicks in. It’s the only foray
into Mist’s earlier work, the rest of the set is taken exclusively
from Antiphon. The album has been heralded as something of a
contemporary jazz masterpiece, a progression to a more abstract
expression of the themes of alienation, insomnia and depression
covered in Nocturne.
Here, in the intimate confines of Kitchen Street, the band
begin to cook on Kyoki. Gaspar Sena’s drumming is unflashy but
totally on it, Kaya Thomas-Dyke’s bass bounces fluidly along,
providing a platform for spectacular solo contributions from
Johnny Woodham (Trumpet) and Jamie Leeming (Guitar). Mist
himself rounds things off with an exquisite keyboard passage,
leaving us in a state of anticipation, eagerly awaiting more from
each musician.
Mist’s rapping on 7th October is top notch, the crowd all
smiles and gentle movement as the band stay in the groove
before the funky keyboard intro of Errors ushers in a beautiful,
smouldering Woodham trumpet solo. A few of the crowd can be
seen enjoying an eye’s-closed meditation during this one.
Bass player Thomas-Dyke (who contributes vocals on
Nocturne, and also the album artwork for Antiphon) steps up to
the mic for the exquisite Breathe. She delivers a spine-tingling
vocal performance that carries the melody over Sena’s pattering,
delicate drum patterns, her phrasing crystal clear, a classic
performance that could have been plucked from a New York
speakeasy in the 40s. The song’s sudden switch to a cinematic
outro is typical of the mood changes that Mist effortlessly seems
to weave into the fabric of the album, and which this ensemble
have no trouble presenting live.
There are a few older jazz heads in the crowd, sagely
nodding in approval at this new kid on the block whose music
manages to feel both classic and contemporary at the same
Alfa Mist (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
time, its hip hop sensibility sitting easily alongside its jazz vibe.
However, it’s good to see such a predominantly young audience,
an audience who clearly know – and are enthralled by – the
music, and who applaud each sublime solo as the band play
us out with the funky riff of Brian and the uplifting optimism of
Potential.
Mist’s music may reflect his introspective character but is
delivered here with a masterful technique and a joyful feel that
elevates the spirit.
Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd
TATE LIVERPOOL
22 SEP – 17 JUN 2018
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
IN FOCUS
ARTIST ROOMS
FREE
@tateliverpool
#lichtensteininfocus
tate.org.uk/visit/tate-liverpool
Albert Dock, Liverpool Waterfront
The ARTIST ROOMS touring programme is delivered by the National Galleries
of Scotland and Tate in a partnership with Ferens Art Gallery until 2019,
supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council
England, by Art Fund and by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
Roy Lichtenstein, In the Car 1963 © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/DACS 2018. Photo: Antonia Reeve.
REVIEWS 41

REVIEWS
Eleftheria Kotzia (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
Terri Shaltiel (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
International Guitar Festival Of
Great Britain
Floral Pavilion – 04/11-25/11/17
As the INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL hits its 26th year
we thought it would be a good idea to check out a few of the, as
always, varied artists on offer, kicking off with festival favourite
and veteran purveyor of pop, ROY WOOD.
Wood’s career as a writer of some distinction is often
overshadowed by the annual tinselfest of I Wish It Could Be
Christmas Everyday (an appalling prospect but a jolly old
earworm of a song). Wood’s back catalogue runs to the early-
60s and encompasses the darkly psyched pop of The Move, the
baroque orchestration of early ELO and the glam accessories
of Wizzard, alongside some eclectic solo recordings before
settling into the relative comfort of the rock n’ roll revue that he is
currently touring.
Cut from a totally different cloth is classical guitarist
ELEFTHERIA KOTZIA. She is currently Professor of Music at
the Royal Welsh College of Music and a glance at a Savarez (a
guitar string manufacturer) biog reveals a dizzying itinerary of
worldwide festivals, symposiums, workshops and collaborations
over several decades. An ardent promoter of the music of her
native Greece, she is also committed to showcasing music from
sources as diverse as Persia, South America and the Balkans.
That eclecticism is much in evidence for tonight’s Mediterranean
Journey, but she starts, fittingly, at home, with Four Epitaphs by
Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (he of Zorba The Greek fame).
The Blue Room at the Floral is just about full and suitably hushed
as Kotzia immediately reveals a delightful delicacy of touch
during the gentle progressions of Locks Of My Hair, the first of
the epitaphs.
We travel East for a beautiful Persian Ballad by Aziz Joon,
which begins with the most delicate of plucked melodies before
running wild with some thrilling pizzicato flourishes. Over to
the Balkans for Tadic’s Walk Dance, which picks up the tempo
with complex, fiery finger work at both ends of the fretboard
punctuated by chords passionately slashed.
There is something calmly commanding about Kotzia’s
stage presence, even her re-tuning is done with a minimum of
fuss – where some artists feel the need to fill in these potentially
“It’s funky, it’s jazzy,
and the playing,
once again at this
festival, is virtuosic”
awkward silences with anecdotal bluster, Kotzia is confident
enough to allow the audience time for reflection. During some of
the pieces, there even are periods of unhurried silence in which
she seems to focus ever more intently, head held high, the crowd
holding a collective breath until she bows forward to begin the
next section with quicksilver virtuosity.
Playing with a quiet intensity, her head is bowed so low at
times that her breath must cloud the burnished shoulder of her
guitar – it’s as though she can barely hear the subtleties of her
own playing and the audience respond with a hushed reverence
punctuated after each piece by joyful applause.
ESMOND SELWYN returns to the festival following last
year’s superb show, not with a band this year but as a duettist
with blues-jazz singer TERRI SHALTIEL. Selwyn shares with
Kotzia an exceptional technique and feeling, capable of elevating
the emotional impact of the music rather than supressing it, and,
once again, he demonstrates his ability to bend a well-known
melody completely out of shape before bringing it back to its
recognisable form. He kicks things off with standards Blue Monk
and Moonlight In Vermont, the lovely, gentle swing of the latter
perfectly relayed, Selwyn inscrutable, channelling all emotion
through those flying fingers into the music.
Shaltiel, having taken a seat in the audience after Selwyn has
begun playing, takes to the stage quipping, “I’ll start with Just In
Time, in an ironic sense,” before revealing a lovely lightness of
touch in classic jazz chanteuse style.
It’s a stripped-back pairing that puts both performers firmly
in the spotlight, but they appear totally relaxed and their between
song dialogue is of the “what shall we play next?”, “let’s try…”,
“what key’s it in?” school of stagecraft, almost as if the audience
weren’t there at times, but there seems to be a quirky connection
between the two. They invest Bobby Hebbs’ Sunny with a bluesy
swing, Shaltiel’s voice easy on the ear, Selwyn’s restless solo
flying in all directions.
Shaltiel has proved herself to be an extremely diverse talent,
providing the bluesy swagger of Vinegar Joe-era Elkie Brooks,
the fragile confessional of Billie Holiday, and the sweet soul of
Aretha – a dynamic foil for Selwyn’s fluid, masterful, sometimes
challenging, explorations of the jazz songbook. The audience lap
it up.
And so to SOFT MACHINE; 51 years (give or take a couple of
breaks) and several incarnations later, the Canterbury psychfolk-cum-jazz-fusion
experimentalists are in town with three of
their mid-70s line-up (John Etheridge on guitar; John Marshall on
drums; Roy Babbington on bass) plus sax player Theo Travis.
This line-up has been together for a few years as Soft
Machine Legacy, and they waste no time in persuading the crowd
of aficionados that this will be an evening well spent. The titular
track from 1975’s Bundles kicks things off, followed by 2003’s In
The Back Room, which gives each musician the chance to show
off his chops amid myriad tempo changes and soloing. A rippling
Etheridge guitar slows beautifully as Travis takes it down with
a smoky sax solo – it’s funky, it’s jazzy, it rocks, and the playing,
once again at this festival, is virtuosic.
Etheridge proves to be an engaging host and he heaps
fulsome praise on band members old and new(ish), particularly
founder member Mike Ratledge whose songs Chloe And The
Pirates and The Man Who Waved At Trains are beautifully,
ethereally translated here. The former features a delightful Travis
flute solo played over washes of guitar, the latter, running at
less than two minutes on the original album, is here given an
extended reworking that really allows Marshall and Babbington
to hit a groove.
Given the audience demographic at the above shows, it
seems that the challenge facing the organisers of the festival is
to attract a younger crowd who can carry the festival forwards.
One thing is clear though, the International Guitar Festival seems
to have no trouble in continuing to attract performers of the very
highest quality to our parish.
Glyn Akroyd / @Glyn Akroyd
42

Soft Machine
Jason Rebello
Get The Blessing
James Taylor Quartet
@LpoolJazzFest
Liverpool International Jazz Fest
Tickets available from
22 - 25 February 2018
Dock in Absolute
Arun Ghosh
The Weave
Andchuck
Skeltr
www.thecapstonetheatre.com

Seacombe Ferry, 1985, Tom Wood
THE PIER HEAD - TOM WOOD
Between 1978-2002, Tom Wood took the Mersey
Ferry almost every day. Whilst waiting for the
boat or crossing the river, he took photos.
12 January - 25 March. Free Entry.
Open Eye Gallery.
Alkinoos
Ioanidis
Union Chapel, London
Thur & Fri 25TH & 26TH January
Lee ’Scratch’
Perry
Arts Club, Liverpool
Tuesday 13th March
Courtney
Marie
Andrews
Arts Club, Liverpool
Saturday 21st April
Peter
Hammill
The Stoller Hall,
Manchester
Wednesday 25th April
Michael
Chapman
Deaf Institute, Manchester
Sunday 22nd April
Michael
Chapman
Philharmonic Hall,
Liverpool
Thursday 26th April
Robyn
Hitchcock
Philharmonic Hall,
Liverpool
Wednesday 23rd May
The Rutles
Philharmonic Hall,
Liverpool
Friday 1st June
@Ceremonyconcert / facebook.com/ceremonyconcerts
ceremonyconcerts@gmail.com / seetickets.com

SAY
THE FINAL
“We want the Bido Lito!
Student Society to be one
of those places where
we can give students the
chance to have a voice,
show that we have every
right to be involved in those
conversations and listen
to some pretty good music
along the way ”
Ahead of the very first Bido
Lito! Student Society meeting
on 7th February, Co-Chairs of
the society Daisy Scott and
Sophie Shields each give their
individual take on what makes
Liverpool’s student population
so crucial to the city’s music
scene – and try to unravel
the bad reputation given to
students in the city.
Students. Can they be the scapegoat to all problems?
With 55,000+ in Liverpool it is hard to see how
they can be dragging down the city. It seems that
many can’t look past the eyesore flatpack student
accommodation popping up around the city – that’s all that
students can do for a city, right?
There has been frank discussion about what students bring to
the city. Controversy often leads to people questioning the extent of
property development, and to the underlying question; how many
more students can live in Liverpool?
Liverpool is a music-orientated city, and without a growing
student population would the music scene thrive as much as it
does? And would the music scene be as dominant as it is currently?
It isn’t worth the debate; Liverpool has, and always will have, an
impressive music scene. That is obvious. But what you can debate
is whether or not Liverpool’s music scene would have flourished as
much as it does if so many students didn’t move to Liverpool.
As a migrating student, Liverpool has become home. And I
couldn’t have wished for a better city to give that name. But it is
hard to see why the blame is often pushed onto students. The
scapegoating of students will not benefit anyone.
Coming from Essex, where there is a limited music scene, the
move to Liverpool was a shock to the system. Everywhere around
the city is full of fresh new music talent, and to my surprise is fully
supported by everyone in the city.
So, what does this have to do with students, and what impact
do they have on the music industry? You only have to look at how
many bands come together at university, and how many claim that
their influence comes from where they studied. This should be
something that is encouraged.
Along with the influx of student properties, there has also
been the build-up of independent music venues and bars that
thrive on the student population. Without that there would be a
piece missing from the city. The likes of Heebie Jeebies, 24 Kitchen
Street and Constellations are all embedded in the student scene
with events purely targeted at the student population. And this will
continue to grow with the increasing power of students, who can
help to better protect these venues by packing them out. Both go
hand-in-hand.
So, before you begin to blame students for the eyesores
popping up around the city, perhaps think a bit deeper and
contemplate how the city has benefitted from the influx of the
student population. The towering flatpack accommodations can be
an inconvenience. But students are not.
Daisy Scott / @chain_scott
I was born, raised and educated in Liverpool and I am so
proud to always be able to call this city my home. Over the years
living and studying here, I have witnessed the city evolve into one
of the most thriving musical hubs in the country, if not, the world.
Liverpool has always been a city famous for its musical roots
– mainly due to this little band called The Beatles; if anyone hasn’t
heard of them I would definitely look them up. However, recently,
so many new and up-and-coming artists have started to emerge
from the musical fold, with an immense amount of talent to boot.
One of the main reasons for so much new music in the city is
due to the large and diverse student population. Students from all
over the world are choosing Liverpool as their home away from
home and in my humble opinion, what better city to reside in than
one bursting at the seams with so much music and culture.
There are so many opportunities in Liverpool to explore
a range of musical avenues. Whether it’s in an old converted
warehouse, the back of a pizza bar or the upstairs of a tea shop,
there is always someone, somewhere looking to share music, arts
and culture with the rest of the world.
However, there is a problem. Students are being unfairly
blamed for the property development in the city and the closing
of certain music venues. It is true that student accommodation
has increased in the last few years, but surely we can turn this
around and view it as a good thing. It means there is a high
demand for students wanting to come to Liverpool. Without
students coming into the city, it would not be the cultural hub it is
known as today.
Students bring new and exciting ideas to the city, they bring
diversity and new cultures and they bring opportunity. They, or
rather, we have been wrongly tarnished with a bad reputation,
written off as the snowflake generation and consequently silenced.
What people are forgetting though is that music isn’t about being
quiet; music is about being heard and being able to exercise the
power of speech through song. Music is ultimately about getting
people to listen, change and create attitudes and start important
conversations.
We want the Bido Lito! Student Society to be one of
those places where we can give students the chance to have
a voice, show that we have every right to be involved in those
conversations and listen to some pretty good music along the way.
Sophie Shields
The first Bido Lito! Student Society meeting takes place at The
Merchant on 7th February. Head to bidolito.co.uk to find out more
and register to attend.
46

PRESENTS...
FINAL
100
TICKETS
CAMP AND FURNACE . 10PM-3AM
FRIDAY 26TH JANUARY
GOTSOME
LIAM ROSS
LOMAX & ANDERTON
Tickets: chibuku.eventgenius.co.uk