Issue 85 / February 2018

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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
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 85 / FEBRUARY 2018 NEW MUSIC
Page 3 and 4: BACK TO OUR ROOTS BACK TO THE HEART
Page 5 and 6: 25 Parr St, Ropewalks, Liverpool, L
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS New Music + Creative Cultu
Page 9 and 10: EDITORIAL 62 Falkner Street “Spec
Page 11 and 12: DANSETTE Jamie Backhouse, Austin Mu
Page 13 and 14: album out of it, present it as it i
Page 16 and 17: 16 MEHMET
Page 18 and 19: “Arts engagement should not just
Page 20: “The bands loved the venue as did
Page 23 and 24: NADINE SHAH The artist behind one o
Page 25 and 26: Just £7 per month Become a Bido Li
Page 27 and 28: E V E N T H I G H L I G H T S JOIN
Page 29 and 30: Box office: 01704 533 333 Website:
Page 31 and 32: KING HANNAH Hannah Merrick is revel
Page 33: Join the Student Society Contribute
Page 37 and 38: GIG Kelley Stoltz 81 Renshaw - 25/0
Page 39 and 40: Pier Head Exhibition (Rob Battersby
Page 41 and 42: Alfa Mist + Remy Jude 24 Kitchen St
Page 43: Soft Machine Jason Rebello Get The
Page 46: SAY THE FINAL “We want the Bido L

Issue 85 / February 2018

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