Issue 87 / April 2018

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PREVIEWS “Those areas are still dealing with the heart of their communities being ripped out, and dealing with the betrayal of their industry” GIG PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING Liverpool Olympia – 12/04 Archive raiders PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING combine music, samples and snippets of public information films to create a fully immersive, multifaceted experience. Mike Stanton speaks to them about their latest album which focuses on the history of Welsh mining communities. Founded by bespectacled and corduroy-clad multi-instrumentalist J. Willgoose Esq., PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING have now expanded into a trio, incorporating Wrigglesworth on drums and JF Abraham on keys and flugelhorn. Right from the start this idiosyncratic group’s ethos has been clear, with their music containing samples gleaned from the BFI archives and other sources to construct a narrative set to post-rock with large doses of electronics, funk and even jazz. Their first EP, One, was a taster of the band’s philosophy, sampling an infomercial for a record player over propulsive, progressive indie rock. The War Room EP followed a year or so later this time focussing on WWII, particularly the Blitz, generating radio play and piquing interest. Their success was further enhanced thanks to their famed live shows, which feature extensive and atmospheric projected films synchronised with the electronic and often progressive rock and motorik backing. Their debut album Inform-Educate-Entertain would bring all these concepts together in a lushly-produced long-player and they enjoyed critical as well as popular success. Festival appearances beckoned and suited their visual and sonic style perfectly. Two further albums, The Race For Space and Every Valley tackled subjects as diverse as the 1960s space race and the decline of the South Wales mining industry respectively. Throughout this time Willgoose has expanded the live performance by utilising a brass section and a 13-piece choir to move towards a more grandiose and symphonic experience while maintaining the intimacy of his early gigs. Back on the road this April, Public Service Broadcasting are revisiting old haunts such as Liverpool, this time at the Olympia on 12th April. Going by how their last appearance went in the city, this should be a triumphal return. J. Willgoose Esq. took some time out from his research to chat with us over the phone from his South East London home. On your most recent album Every Valley you chronicled the decline of the South Wales mining industry: why did you choose mining? It was the desire to be a bit unpredictable and not to fall into a set pattern of working or set range of topics I suppose… It also just felt like quite a timely thing to do. The more we worked on it, the more the world was changing around us; it just felt like [the album was] not about its time but of its time. Did you feel that it took on a life of its own? Yeh, you set off with a rough structure and once you’ve done basic research for an album like that, you plot where you want to get to – especially when you’re coming to a subject which we had no history or association with. You go into it with your ears and eyes open and there were a number of things we changed as we were going along. Why South Wales as opposed to other mining industries? It was more recent in the memory, so we could sit down and talk to ex-miners in South Wales. I wanted to focus on a particular community… and there was something about the geography of South Wales, the Valleys in particular, the way the communities are so defined by the industry they grew up around and the solidarity of the community was a big factor. They were the most solid, [and had] fewest returners to work during the strike of 84/85. Looking at the other subjects you’ve tackled – WWII, 1950s consumerism and the Space Race – these are two or three generations back, whereas with Every Valley a lot of the miners who were involved in the 80s are still relatively young. Did this immediate connection play a part in choosing this subject? Well, we’ve been gradually moving forward in time as we’ve gone along and getting closer and closer to the present day, so it did feel right to continue that momentum in a way. Those areas are still dealing with the heart of the communities being ripped out and dealing with the betrayal of their industry. On this album, as with your others, you use sampling, giving your tracks a documentary quality. When you’re writing a track are you looking at the story and the music and then adding samples or is it the other way around? It goes both ways really. With a song like Go! [from The Race for Space], it was finding the samples and writing a song in response to that and trying to capture that excitement, so making it sound fast and driving with that tension in it. With this album I think a lot more of it was written with an idea of where we were trying to get to in terms of subject matter, like the song They Gave Me A Lamp: the music for that was written before I’d found any of the samples and, luckily enough, after sifting through material at the South Wales miner’s library I uncovered this stuff about politics and about female empowerment and it all came together in the way that I was hoping for. What kind of responses have you had from the subjects of your songs? For instance, in regards to the album The Race For Space, have you heard anything from any of the people who worked in mission control back in the 60s? Yeh, various people have got in touch. I’m sitting looking at a signed photo from [NASA Flight Director] Gene Kranz now actually wearing his famous waistcoat. It says “To PSB eagle, you’re go for landing” – that’s nice isn’t it! He found [The Race For Space] on his own and bought a copy of the record, he seems to speak of it in glowing terms which is incredible. And equally for the new album we’ve had quite a number of responses from people who either worked in the coal industry or live in the Valleys. The depth of support and encouragement and the connection we made with those people is very humbling, actually it’s been overwhelmingly positive which is all you could hope for I think. What kind of criteria do you consider when choosing your next subject? Just whether it interests me really and how it fits into what we’ve done in the past and where we want to go in the future: ‘Is it the sort of thing I can get excited about?’ It’s got to sustain you for a good couple of years before you even start touring it. That’s one of the good things about the way I work, writing in response to stuff gives you a whole different kind of vocabulary of music to draw upon and pushes you in directions you wouldn’t always go in if you were left to your own devices. Can you give us an insight into what might be coming next? What your next subject matter might be? Well we’re working on the EP for BBC Music’s Biggest Weekend in Belfast on the Titanic… we’ve been trying to do four tracks to tell the story of the ship in a slightly more balanced way rather than everything being so iceberg-focussed and disaster-shaped. There’s comparatively little written about the origins of the ship, how and where it was built versus how it met its fate. There is a tie in to Every Valley in that Belfast, being the former industrial hub, is one of the biggest shipyards in the world responsible for making the world’s biggest ships. So the odd kind of thread still weaving through it all draws it all together. You played Liverpool a couple of years ago at the O2. You’re on tour in April and playing Liverpool again, this time at the Olympia. Do you find audiences in Liverpool are particularly responsive? We’ve always found Liverpool really responsive even from the very early days. It’s a special place with a special heritage and we try to get there as often as we can really. The last gig was really memorable in terms of how the crowd were and we’re hoping for more of the same this time. ! Words: Mike Stanton / @DepartmentEss Photography: Dan Kendall publicservicebroadcasting.net Public Service Broadcasting play Liverpool Olympia on 12th April, with support from Jane Weaver. Every Valley is out now via PIAS Recordings. 34
Stealing Sheep GIG Crisis Fundraiser Invisible Wind Factory – 06/04 You don’t need any more reason to go to a gig when the likes of STEALING SHEEP, THE FLOORMEN and WILD FRUIT ART COLLECTIVE are emblazoned on the line-up poster, but when proceeds go to homeless charity Crisis, there’s no excuse to not go to Invisible Wind Factory on 6th April. Put together by Z Generation Programming with Musicians Against Homelessness, the Crisis Fundraiser takes place in IWF’s Substation and is another example of the city’s creative community coming together to address an issue which continues to worsen. On a national level, Crisis helped more than 11,000 people escape from homelessness last year and they continue to be a powerful lobbying voice for improving homeless people’s access to help when it is needed most. Closer to home Skylight Merseyside offer a range of free classes and activities to people who have experienced homelessness in the last two years. The valuable work of Skylight means those living on the streets, in hostels or those who are generally without their own home can gain access to everything from one-toone guidance on health and wellbeing, employment and volunteering opportunities to learning practical skills and training. Donations to Crisis will be welcome at this all-day event at IWF with all proceeds going to the charity. Elsewhere on the bill, psych odyssey voyagers THE PROBES will be making an appearance and 2017 Merseyrail Sound Station finalist NICOLA HARDMAN will be presenting her Punk Rock Cabaret. The brain child of the People’s Poet Tony Chestnut, the event also has support from Musicians Against Homelessness, a national charity which has recently launched its 2018 campaign with support from the likes of Manchester Britpop giants James and Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. For more information on Crisis go to crisis.org. uk and to learn more about Musicians Against Homelessness go to musiciansagainsthomelessness.net. Record Store Day 2018 Various Venues – 21/04-22/04 It’s that time of the year again when pressing plants get clogged up with classic rock reissues and Steve ‘Lammo’ Lamacq gushes over his favourite form of format fetishism. In Liverpool however, there’s much to get genuinely excited about as partaking stores Jacaranda Records, 81 Renshaw, Probe and Defend all stock the worthy releases and have special plans for this year’s RECORD STORE DAY. 21st April will see stockists come alive with avid music fans anxiously trying to get hold of that limited-edition Sufjan Stevens EP as well as super sweet DJ sets and live performances. The Jac will be flooding all three floors with vinyl new and old, and host live music and DJs running concurrently. Defend Vinyl are taking their RSD party to Smithdown neighbours Craft Taproom for DJs and a mini record fair. At 81 Renshaw Street crate diggers can enjoy live sets from LO-FIVE, KIERAN MAHON and more, as well as bacon and veggie butties for the early birds. Venerable institution Probe Records will be stocking the cream of the crop of this year’s rare releases in celebration of independent vinyl venders. Bold Street’s Dig Vinyl will once again be conscientiously swerving the official programme but are opening their doors at 10am as always for those who want to shop independent in the spirit of the day. Wax enthusiasts will also be able to gather at The Merchant for Anti Social Jazz Pub where the likes of BILL BREWSTER, BERNIE CONNOR and TENDERLONIOUS AND DENNIS AYLER along with representatives from some of the aforementioned record shops and RSD themselves will be playing tracks from the jazz diaspora. Fully-fledged jazzers and the jazz-curious can get involved in a weekend of neighbourly vibes which sees Anti Social Jazz Club join forces with Merchant tenants Useless Wooden Toy Society, Nightcrawler Pizza and yours truly for a two-day celebration. PREVIEWS 35
Page 1 and 2: ISSUE 87 / APRIL 2018 NEW MUSIC + C
Page 3 and 4: BACK TO OUR ROOTS BACK TO THE HEART
Page 5: From Sat 14 Apr
Page 9 and 10: EDITORIAL Photo by Robin Clewley
Page 11 and 12: DANSETTE Former Engineers songwrite
Page 13 and 14: hosted the UK premiere of Gravity B
Page 15 and 16: BUY 1 GIN GET THE SECOND GIN FOR £
Page 17 and 18: Crazy Pedro’s Pizza choice - Pedr
Page 19 and 20: There’s a lot of anger in the wor
Page 21 and 22: SOUNDTRACKING... A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
Page 23 and 24: 25 Parr St, Ropewalks, Liverpool, L
Page 25 and 26: BEIJA FLO A daring approach to musi
Page 27 and 28: 25 years of Urban Splash 1993 - 201
Page 30 and 31: We believe passionately in Liverpoo
Page 32 and 33: SPOTLIGHT CHUPA CABRA The Deeside g
Page 36 and 37: PREVIEWS GIG Alex Cameron Arts Club
Page 38 and 39: march - april 22nd mar - undergroun
Page 40 and 41: REVIEWS 100 Demons (Keith Ainsworth
Page 42 and 43: REVIEWS Howie Payne + Marvin Powell
Page 44 and 45: Mykal Rose (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkro
Page 46 and 47: REVIEWS “They morph seamlessly be
Page 48 and 49: march + april march 22 the wholls +
Page 50 and 51: BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111 MANchestera
Page 53 and 54: Join us at 81 Renshaw.. Store opens
Page 55 and 56: GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR A LIVE GIG IN

Issue 87 / April 2018

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