Turné dagbok - England oktober o november 2022

To say that this decade has been an "interesting" one is a bit of an understatement. Continual climate breakdown, politicians who are merely there to serve a handful of motherfuckers who need ALL the resources and wealth of the world apparently and a pandemic that has seriously beaten, both physically and mentally, a lot of people and put a lot of artists, who were never far from the breadline, closer or over it. Some hope is needed and with this in mind, I set about trying to organise a tour of England, my old place of residence as a now Swedish-based noise artist. 

As anyone who has tried to organise these things before will know, there us usually a lot of hanging around waiting for replies to emails and the realisation that things might not pan out as you'd hoped. I am delighted to report that this is the easiest ever tour I have organised, ridiculously easy and that is purely down to the fantastic people and connections I have with people in the UK and they will receive glowing comments in this continually updated blog post. There will be loads of external links to click on to music and info and I very much recommend that you visit said links and listen to the great music contained therein. 

(1) Wonkystuff @ The Fulford Arms, York 

Wonkystuff is the label/promotion/gadget-making collective formed by John Tuffen and Ash Sagar, who I have had the pleasure of performing with over a number of years in a number of acts (Aperitif of Crippling Malaise, The Wharf Street Galaxy Band, Polynomial, etc.....) and this event, like the majority of the previous Wonkystuffs, takes place at The Fulford Arms, which is one of my favourite spaces in York, The beer is good, the PA is good, the sound is great and the lighting is very flexible. As is usually the case, the Wonkystuff team have collected together an eclectic line up of musicians coming from West, North and East Yorkshire and in my case now, western Sweden. The show also gives me the chance to catch up with people I have not seen for years, 5 years in some cases and the familiar smell, taste and price (compared to where I live) of local beer puts me in a relaxed state and after a lot of lockdown anxiety, my social skills make a welcome return. 

As is traditional, the Wonkystuff night kicks off with the Wonkystuff houseband, this time as Deluxe Hugs. John mans the drum machines at the back with professorial concentration, as Ash sets up the punk-funk-squelch grooves for Simon Hickinbotham to postpunk guitar and surreally snarl over. Catchy, chaotic and loads of fun. 

Numbers of members slim down one, as we have the first duo of the night, Spore from Hull. Watching them perform shapes and pulsing and interfering with Kaos pads and pedals and pushing the limits of everything over 30 minutes is a fascinating watch. I am constantly wondering how further it can be pushed and secretly want them to play for twice as long to see big it all becomes.

Glider Theory are some old Hogwash acquaintances of mine Chrissie and Stuart who calm us down from the big industrialness of Spore with some flowing, drifting, guitar-synth ambience that washes gently over you  and puts me in the calm state of mind needed for an opening tour show. 

The stage is bathed in blood-red light and I sit in front of my new minimal setup, both practical in terms of weight and making me stretch my ideas of creating sound. A cheap radio into an octave shifter and a kaosilator into a Boss MT2 pedal is all I have going into a passive mixer. It's an experiment and a gamble, but the results I am really happy with and I'm looking forward to listening back to the audio. Stuff is packed, I have one less tape to take back (!) and off to bed. Many thanks to the Wonkystuff crew and John Tuffen and his family for the hospitality.  More comprehensive thinking and writing about the night provided by the fine people at Aural Aggravation - cheers Chris :-). 

Next, visit family in Sheffield and Hatch!!

LoS