All posts by Galaxians

Update from Galaxians: May 2023

It’s been a while since our last bulletin, but we’re thrilled to share a couple of performance announcements for June and July.

9/10 June will see the final ever Long Division festival take place in Wakefield. LD is an institution in the city and we’ll be sad to see it go. We’ve been lucky to have experienced some of our most memorable and fun performances at the festival, including our first ever show with Emma on vocals in the unique setting of Neon Workshops.

On 7 July we play El Dorado festival at Eastnor Castle in rural Herefordshire, alongside a huge lineup of acts such as Crazy P Soundsystem, Sampa the Great and Shanti Celeste.  Regrettably we have had to cancel our appearance at El Dorado this year due to unforeseen circumstances – hopefully we will be back in 2024.

Then on 8 July we will share a stage with Factory Records legends A Certain Ratio at Right to Roam festival in Bolton.

Tickets for both events are available here:

El Dorado: www.eldoradofestival.com/book-tickets
Right to Roam: ticketfest.co.uk/event/right-to-roam-2023-boltons-premier-music-festival-over-5-incredible-venues

We can also announce with much excitement that we will start work on recording our third album in July this year at Hohm Studio in West Yorkshire with our friend, producer and long-term collaborator Ross Halden. Writing is still in the early stages, but we’re already excited about being able to share the new songs and recordings with you. Watch this space.

As ever, we’d like to express our heartfelt thanks for all the support we’ve received on the Bandcamp Fridays to date. For us, music-making is a lifelong journey. Your support helps facilitate the journey and as DIY / independent / unsigned artists your investment means the world to us.

The music industry treats music like sport. We say it isn’t. Music is collaboration, community, sharing. A communal exchange we all benefit from.

Love and peace
GLXNS XXX

NEW RELEASE ON BERLIN’S ROYAL ATHLETE LABEL

We are delighted to feature on a new EP from Berlin-based label Royal Athlete.


Back in 2017, Dither Down released our album Let The Rhythm In. An extra song recorded during those sessions, back in 2015, never saw the light of day except in our live set.


It’s been a long time coming (Covid and pressing plant double hit), but thanks to the lovely folks at Royal Athlete in Berlin, the song ‘Hustle Never Ends’ has finally made it onto wax.


We’re thrilled to sit alongside some fellow practitioners of modern boogie on this EP and we reckon every track is a winner.


Limited run on this, so get on it!

Galaxians release new single ‘Tech Noir’ with two remixes

We’re delighted to announce our new single ‘Tech Noir’, complete with remixes by Jerge and Vanity Project.

Recorded as part of the Chemical Reaction sessions, ‘Tech Noir’ has a polyrhythmic, bass-driven house vibe. Combined with Emma’s powerhouse vocals, 4 to the floor drums and thick synth lines, it’s a sure-fire dancefloor banger.

The remixers

Jerge is a multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Paris and is associated with Bodybeat, You Man and Christine and the Queens.

Vanity Project is a producer who also runs the Claptrap Records label based in London.

This digital-only release features artwork from Rosie Rackham.

You can also get the full single and remixes on Bandcamp.

Album party 12 March 2022!

We’re delighted to announce our rescheduled album party will take place on Saturday 12 March 2022 at the Brudenell Social Club!

Free entry, however getting tickets in advance is recommended via See Tickets or Dice. Things will kick off at 19:30.

Support comes from  Reali-T and DJ Boogie Monster.

Reali-T is Hackney-born, Newcastle-based rapper Tomilola Ayilara, whose second album Commercial Break came out last year. Making music since the age of 15, Reali-T moved from London to the North East for university and quickly made a name for himself as one of the best rappers in the region.

 

We interview vogue dancer Darren Pritchard

Emma recently interviewed Darren Pritchard, vogue choreographer and teacher and mother of the dance troupe House of Ghetto based in Manchester.

Darren is one of the stand-out stars from the recent BBC documentary Deep in Vogue, and features in the music video for our track ‘Chemical Reaction’.

The interview took place over Zoom in early 2021 when the country was under national restrictions. Here’s the edited highlights!

Hi Darren! Tell me, how are you coping with the pandemic?

I’m really good and I’m really fortunate and blessed to have actually gained some work in new fields and new areas, which has kept me busy. I also have weekly meetings with my Houses which kept me really sane over Zoom. So, I’m blessed and I’m fortunate in this time where others in my career and field, and I’m talking about self-employed freelance artists are not.

It’s so nice to hear that, because so many artists are struggling right now. You want people to thrive in these terrible circumstances, so I’m happy. So, tell us, how did you come to be a vogue dancer and choreographer?

OK so, I actually started voguing a good few years ago, and how I started was through my House mother, which was Darren Suarez in Liverpool. I’m very fortunate that I call a second-generation UK voguer. He was an original voguer in the 80s in Liverpool. So what happened is, Paris is Burning came out, which is kind of like the bible for all vogue and he actually had a House in Liverpool called the House of Banjee Realness, which is taken from a category from Paris is Burning. So he had that group in Liverpool, and then vogue kind of went out of vogue. We kind of reconnected when we went to the same training institution but at different times. We had a conversation and at the time the Jason Nevins video It’s Like That came out with all the breakdancers. And I was like, “Darren, we need to do something like that, but with vogue”, because there was a re-emergence of the 70s/80s. It was all from a very cis, straight, male revival. And I was like, we need to bring back that 90s vibe of club culture and what that was about and those spaces that were a lot more revolutionary than those spaces are today.

It just went from there. He taught me, trained me, mentored me, and I project managed the first few vogue balls in Liverpool. He is iconic and pioneering within the UK, the northern ball scene. So I was very fortunate that I had an original person was out when that iconic video dropped. He’s a beautiful voguer as well, and his style is old way. They say there’s no school like the old school, and that the old way is the only way, so I was really fortunate that I learned from him and I was able to pass that down. I always say that Darren’s the seed that made the tree grow.

Would you consider yourself old way?

Yes. My preferred preference if I’m walking a ball, is old way. Just to go a little bit into the style if people are listening to this and going “what is old way?” There’s three fundamental dance styles in vogue, when people are walking a ball. You’ve got old way, which is pre-90s, and with each of the sections there’s always a musical style that goes with it as well, because of the influence of the music and the sonic sound at that time. My old way track that I love is by First Choice.

So, you went through the history of how the revival with Darren Suarez in the North, then you were involved in Deep in Vogue, this BBC documentary. Can you tell us a bit more about how that came about and how the Northern scene has become so prolific?

The way Deep in Vogue came about was – we get lots and lots of requests from people for us to talk about the scene, to film it, to photograph it, but we’re very precious and we’re very wary of who comes into our scene, what those conversations are, and who’s taking pictures of us and filming us, and doing interviews like this. So it was around four years ago, I had a very good friend called John Paul Riley who I’ve known since I was 14. He came to every ball and supported it, and he said that there were two of his friends who wanted to make a documentary about the vogue balls. Dennis, one of the producers and directors of the documentary came along to the ball so he actually understood the culture and where it had come from. Amy had also gone to a couple of them. So John Paul was like, “Darren, Darren, they want to make a documentary, and they’ll be really respectful, and Amy’s an amazing editor and Dennis is just a really good person who’s got a really artistic eye”, and so I opened up the conversations with them. Then I became executive producer on that project, and that was very important to have someone involved.

We had a beautiful working relationship – I really respect Amy and Dennis and the work they did on the documentary. It was all done for free and favours – very Mancunian! But we had access to some of the best stuff, the best equipment, the best studios. It was just that Manchester thing of, “I know somebody who knows somebody, will they do it for a plate of Thai vegan curry?” The music we got donated was by Crazy P and Nihilist, so we just created this documentary that we really wanted to be a love letter to the Northern vogue ball scene, and I think they really achieved that.

It’s doing the rounds in America, and we’ve got a Blu Ray of it now and it’s a brilliant point of reference for when people ask about the Northern ball scene, then I can go “watch Deep in Vogue”.

I watched it and I thought it was incredible. I thought it was beautifully done. It’s nice to see something in the North of England because often things are so London-centric, it’s a beautiful, high-quality scene.

Yeah, and it’s like, it’s just opened up so many doors and I think that’s what captured people’s imaginations – the fact that it’s Manchester and Liverpool. I think what people connected to on that was it didn’t really matter that it was a queer documentary, because I said I wanted to do a show about humanity and humans and show the diversity of the vogue scene and how, no matter what colour, shape, creed, race, political affiliation (although we all are kind of the same there), we can have a scene and a safe space, always honouring where it came from. It was black and queer, disenfranchised kids from New York that set up this scene, but also, it’s moved on and it’s revolutionised and that essence of family and chosen family is alive in all of us. People get it from the North, if you’re from Leeds, if you’re from Sheffield, even up to Newcastle. When I went to Sheffield, people were like “you just get it”. You just get that kind of DIY, fighting culture and I think Ricky says that we know what it’s like to be oppressed in the North, we are at a disadvantage economically to the South just because of the way the political landscape lies.

I just want to ask you why is that culture and community so important to you? What does it represent?

Well, being a kind of queer, mixed-race guy, a working-class guy, from a single mother, brought up in the North, there’s a lot of resonances that I can take from the original voguers. I may not have been made homeless, but I was poor, and I was disenfranchised, and I was brought up in the 80s and 90s. A lot of it is that I get – besides my family that I am extremely close to – I get to have an amazing queer chosen family. There’s something about finding your tribe and finding your people that understand you 360 degrees. Women understand this about code switching. We use this as a racial term, but you know, about acting one way, or dressing another way. We have to downplay our culture, or women have to downplay their sexuality because it’s seen as too much, or as an invitation for unsolicited behaviour or negativity towards you. Without the queer/alt community and without my allies and people who understand me and understand safe spaces, that is so important to me. With the vogue Houses that I’ve built, I’ve been fortunate that I’ve built my tribe, I’ve built a friendship and a network of people that just get who I am and understand where I’m coming from.

Tell us more about your Houses! I’d love to know more about House of Ghetto. What’s so unique about that and what’s so fabulous about that troupe?

House of Ghetto is my baby, whenever people ask me, I say I’m mother of House of Ghetto. That started off originally as a collective of drag queens and the girls and a few gay guys, then it went to the six girls that you see in Deep in Vogue, they’ve gone on to do amazing things. That’s incarnated into a collective of queer guys now. So it’s changed and manifested and grown. Even the people that started it off originally, we’re all still friends. It’s not like I’ve pushed anyone out or people have left, it’s just that thing’s grow and they manifest, and they change.

It’s extremely queer now, it’s all queer, all black and all male at the moment.

If someone wanted to learn more about vogue dancing and culture, more than they’ve learned today and particularly in the Northern scene, where should they start?

Instagram – that’s where most of the Houses platform themselves. Especially in the North, if you’re looking for a House, I’d say look at House of Flava, House of Ghetto, House of Black – that’s the best way to get in touch and see what workshops are going on, or if there’s a ball going to be put on. I’d say watch Deep in Vogue on iPlayer, so you know what it’s all about. And keep a look out for any of those Houses on Instagram more than Facebook.

In-person meeting again, that’d be so amazing, wouldn’t it? And we can go to gigs again and see performances. I’m really hoping that happens soon.

It shut down a few of the balls, so hopefully they’ll get back up this year and hopefully we’ll have another one in Leeds.

So, what’s next for you?

We’ve hopefully got some funding and will be doing our first family vogue ball which is more of a show, which is literally educating some children. We do a lot of vogue balls and people are like “I wish my kids could come but it’s not age-appropriate”, so we’re designing that. It may tour to seven cities if that comes through. Artistically I’m working on a musical called Rent Party and that’s been brought back this year. Planning balls and fundraising, money’s very hard to come by at the moment. And we’re still doing our gigs, so you may see us pop up at Glitterbox. We’ve started a relationship with Glitterbox and Defected Records, we dance with them a lot. Homo Electric we do and looking at some kind of monthly thing with one organisation at the moment, but until that’s confirmed I can’t say much more.

Thank you so much Darren for joining me today, it’s been awesome!

Thank you so much! Bye!

Update from Galaxians: May 2021

Happy May!

We’d like to say thanks for all the continued support we’ve received over the past year. We hope we never take our privileged position as music-makers for granted and hope we can repay some of the love when we’re back on stage, playing for you.

Speaking of which, we’re excited to report that last week we had our first full rehearsal in over 14 months, and it feels good to be looking forward with a renewed energy.

On that note, we are now booking live dates from mid-September onwards. Keep an eye on our website and socials over the coming months for more news on that. For booking enquiries, recommendations (promoters/venues/festivals etc) or general chat, feel free to drop us a line.

Friday 7th May will be another Bandcamp Friday. In recent months we’ve shared the names of some artists and bands we’ve been supporting, and we would love to hear your recommendations, too. We LOVE hearing new sounds, from all genres.

If you haven’t checked in with us for a while, we released our second album Chemical Reaction on double vinyl and download in June 2020, to some really lovely reviews. We were lucky enough to work with dancer and choreographer Darren Pritchard from Manchester’s renowned House of Ghetto on the video for the title track, which you can watch here:

Following that, we also announced a new range of tees featuring a design by multi-disciplinary artist Rosie Rackham, which we titled ‘Vogue Metropolis’.

Alongside those, we have very limited vinyl copies of our 2017 album Let The Rhythm In, which comes in a 180g double vinyl gatefold package for the reduced price of £15.00.

We’re excited to tell you that we will have at least one new release in 2022, so look out for further news on that.

Love.
GALAXIANS

Update from Galaxians: March 2021

Hello friends!

Spring is here and we wish you well.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us on Bandcamp so far in 2021. It means the world to us!

We hope your outlook is starting to feel a little brighter. Whilst we won’t be announcing rescheduled shows just yet, we can see a time in the not too distant future when we will share a space and a moment, and dance together.

Bandcamp Friday is approaching.

On Friday 5th March, every artist selling their music and merch on Bandcamp will receive 100% of all sales.

Like many artists, we rely on a busy annual schedule of live performances and merch sales taken at shows to generate income. The amazing support we have received on Bandcamp Fridays and over the past twelve months has helped replace some of that lost income.

A few albums we’d like to recommend you check out:

AUTOMATIC – Signal
SUDAN ARCHIVES – Athena
PLEASURE POOL – Night Scars
GRAMME – Disco Lovers
MADMADMAD – Proper Music
NEW FRIES – Is The Idea Of US
SWEEPING PROMISES – Hunger For A Way Out
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Green Door Store Studio Compilation
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Hot Concept Records’ Hot Compilation Vol 1
TWIN GALAXXIES – Imminent Reversal

In other news, we’re excited to announce that we will be hosting a new monthly radio show called Juicy Fruit on Manchester’s new community radio station, Ripe Radio.

Tune in at 5pm every last Saturday of the month for that, and check out the other great shows already happening!

LOVE,
GLXNS

Update from Galaxians: January 2021

Hello friends,

Well wishes to you wherever you are.

Far from being a break from the grim reality of 2020, 2021 seems to have started as an out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire scenario for a lot of people. We really hope that you are coping okay and getting whatever support you need. Speaking for ourselves, music’s importance has never been greater to us than in the present.

As you might be aware, one of the results of Brexit is that UK bands, particularly those at our level, will no longer be able to afford to tour Europe. As it stands, UK artists touring Europe will now need to pay for work permits, ATA Carnets (£360), EORI numbers to sell merchandise and much more.

This is devastating news for bands like us. Touring is freedom and liberation. It offers us the chance to meet new people and forge new friendships. It gives bands like us the opportunity to try and reach new audiences and to break down borders and barriers in a way that only music can. Music unites us in a way that politicians and bureaucrats never can.

We have written to our local MP Rachel Reeves to ask her to put pressure on the UK government to enter into urgent negotiations with the EU regarding the introduction of a Musician’s Passport; a reciprocal, free, work permit-free, carnet-free, EU-wide touring arrangement that covers musicians and crew.

If you would like to show support and write to your local MP you can copy and paste this email template from the Musicians Union.


In other news, Bandcamp Fridays are back in 2021 and we’ll be doing our bit to support other bands and artists on the 5th of February. We released a new album Chemical Reaction on double vinyl and download in June 2020. We also have a range of new tees available, featuring a design by artist Rosie Rackham.

You can find all of these on our Bandcamp.

Love & peace.
GLXNS

JED DOES UK GARAGE XMAS MIX

Jed has done a UK Garage Xmas Mix to help us end 2020 on a bit of a positive note.

We’ll be going back to the 90s/00s for this half-hour Xmas UK garage sesh, remembering good times we had and better times to come.

Pop this in your earphones on a run/walk and you’ll probably do it faster 😉

Tracklist:

  1. Tina Moore – “Never Gonna Let You Go” (Kelly G. Bump-N-Go Vocal Edit) [Delirious Records, 1997]
  2. Indo – “R U Sleeping” (Bump ‘N’ Flex Remix) [Azuli Records, 1997]
  3. B-15 Project feat. Crissy D & Lady G – “Girls Like Us” [Relentless Records, 2000]
  4. Shanks & Bigfoot – “Sing-A-Long” (Wideboys Vocal Remix) [Jive Records, 2000]
  5. Ramsey & Fen feat. Lindsey Moore – “Love Bug” (Original Bump Mix) [Bug Records, 1998]
  6. DJ Phantasy feat. Sonia Redd – “Music Is My Life” (Steve Gurley Sas Remix) [4 Liberty Records, 1998]
  7. Club Asylum feat. Hinda Hicks – “I Just Wanna Dance” [Urban Dubz, 2006]
  8. Grant Nelson feat. Jean McClain – “Step 2 Me” (Bump & Flex Vocal) [Swing City Records, 1998]

NEW! Galaxians ‘Vogue Metropolis’ Tee by Rosie Rackham

Limited edition Gildan 100% preshrunk heavy cotton shirt, with screen-printed design by artist Rosie Rackham, available on Bandcamp NOW!!

Available in shirt colours BLACK (white ink) and WHITE (black ink), sizes:

  • S – 34/36″
  • M – 38/40″
  • L – 42/44″
  • XL – 46/48″

Rosie Rackham is an interdisciplinary designer and graduate of Leeds Arts University. In 2020 she was one of two graduating students shortlisted for the first online Global Design Graduate Show, organised by leading launch platform for emerging creatives, ARTSTHREAD and i-D in collaboration with Gucci.

We were inspired to contact Rosie after seeing her ‘Music Connects People’ design for MAP Charity. We love Rosie’s concept-led bold and graphic style which uses botanical, geometric and figurative forms to explore interpersonal and environmental relationships.

Check out Rosie’s work here on her Instagram.
Email: rosierackham@gmail.com 

Photographer: Tim Dunk
Models: Echo, Jakku, Abi, Evelina, Liam
Tees printed by Awesome Merchandise

NEW ALBUM ‘CHEMICAL REACTION’ NOW STREAMING AND ON DOUBLE VINYL

We’re pleased to announce that our new album, Chemical Reaction, is now available across all major streaming platforms and is also available to buy as a sweet double vinyl LP.

Reviews for Chemical Reaction:

  • “Connoisseurs of ’80s electro will find mind much to love on the Leeds-based trio’s second LP, jammed with exuberant, celebratory disco anthems that showcase the classic diva reach of singer Emma Mason” Mojo ★ ★ ★ ★
  • “An instantly danceable album fit for parties for all ages, this may well be a hidden gem of the year” Backseat Mafia 9/10
  • “A storming, potent, extremely direct return.” – Clash
  • ‘Heartbreaker is a truly liberating track, lyrically and sonically.” – Get Into This
  • “Pop perfection….It’s impossible to feel bad with this blasting behind you.”Get Into This
  • “Fitting between synthetic funk, elastic post-disco and smooth house moves… Chemical Reaction is the bullet-proof hit of sunshine that 2020 has so sorely been lacking.” – NARC 5/5
  • “Galaxians are pumping out feel-good tracks likes it’s 1989.” – The Rodeo
  • “Be it repetitive beats or loops, everything about this makes it a statement worth catching” God Is In The TV 8/10