Category: Gigs

HAPPY MEALS // APOSTILLE // GALAXIANS // XAM // GIRL SWEAT // @ CHUNK, LEEDS 12.02.16

Galaxians will join a host of acts from Glasgow and Leeds at co-operative-run space CHUNK in Leeds on 12 February. Expect lots of sweat and dancing ——>

CHUNK – A night of FUNK

Happy Meals (Night School Records, Glasgow)
Apostille (Night School Records, Glasgow)
Galaxians
XAM
Girl Sweat

8pm – late
£6 adv/ £8 OTD
18+
BYOB

Independent House, Meanwood Rd, LS7 2JD

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HAPPY MEALS
“Happy Meals is the Glasgow-based duo of Suzanne Rodden and Lewis Cook, life-partners since high school finding expression in cosmic form. Originally from the Scottish borders, Rodden and Cook (also of The Cosmic Dead) began Happy Meals in a flurry of experimentation at Glasgow’s creative hub The Green Door Studio. Both artists operate machines and sing but it’s the dominating Franco-Scottish lingua-franca of Suzanne Rodden that imbues a sense of seductive fun.”

https://soundcloud.com/nightschool/altered-images

APOSTILLE
“Apostille is the solo musical guise of Glaswegian DIY protagonist Michael Kasparis. Initially a creative harbour from his groups Please and The Lowest Form, Apostille has grown into an explosive synth-punk project unafraid of both physicality and emotional leakage. Fiercely independent in practice and execution, Apostille’s stated purpose is to bridge the gap between audience and performer, to connect through the fog of power structures and post-modernism; to ferment a direct pop music unconcerned with control.”

https://soundcloud.com/nightschool/lssn034-b2-good-man-ten-eight

GALAXIANS
“Galaxians are Jed Skinner (synths // programming) and Matt Woodward (drum kit // programming). The pair met in Leeds and played their first show as Galaxians in 2012. Their rise to prominence as an exciting live dance act has been swift. In 2014 the band’s vinyl EPs – ‘Personal Disco Component’ and ‘Galaxians’ – released on US dance labels Dither Down (Brooklyn, NYC) and Rotating Souls (Atlanta, GA) respectively, sold out quickly in both Europe and the US. They have also featured on both vinyl releases on upcoming DIY dance label Stargaze (Leeds, UK).”

https://galaxians.bandcamp.com/

XAM
“XAM is the solo project of Matt Benn, one Hookworm, whose move to this kind of generative and rigid electronica is not too surprising, given the well-patterned psychedelia of his band. He stretches out warm tones and lets generous beats synchronise with the gliding atmosphere. Think Jonas Munk’s polished ambient tunes given Harmonia’s meandering but maintained drum machines and you’ve got “Werk & Play”, which does just as its title tells it to: it’s mechanical but wide-eyed.”

https://xammusik.bandcamp.com/

GIRL SWEAT

“Like the bastard lovechild of Mark E Smith & Jon Spencer fronting peak era Cramps after being remixed by early Cabaret Voltaire but with the brutality of early Swans.” Happenin’ sounds from Sweat himself, bringing you noise, swirling through the garage spectrum. Don’t play it well- play it cool.

https://girlsweat.bandcamp.com/

CHUNK has a safe space policy and does not tolerate any sexism, homophobia, racism, transphobia and other behaviours that may exclude people from wanting to get involved. So play nice, we all love it.

1 February 2016
JUX // Lineup announced for new Leeds festival

Galaxians have been announced for JUX, a new music festival in Leeds which takes place at the Brudenell Social Club on Saturday 20 February. Joining them will be Houndstooth / Optimo Music act Shift Work and a host of established and emerging acts from around the UK including Joanne Armitage, Blood Sport, Yard Wars, Game_Program, Milk Crimes, Cactus Knife, and Makanitza.

Festival co-host Matt Woodward (Galaxians // Azores // Stargaze Records) spoke to Joseph Sheerin from Leeds-List about the event….

How did JUX festival come about?

The initial idea came about because my pal and work colleague Michael Ainsley and I (we both work at Leeds Music & Performing Arts Library at the Central Library in Leeds) were talking about a number of things – our own bands, music festivals, different musical communities which exist in Yorkshire, Lancashire etc. We struck upon the idea of organising something which might bring together people of different communties and bands who normally might never appear on the same bill. Neither of us had ever organised a festival, though we have both been hosting gigs in Yorkshire for a number of years. Michael does a couple of bands – Yard Wars and The Ainsley Band – and I play in the bands Azores and Galaxians and run Stargaze Records with Jon Nash (Hookworms / Cowtown etc).

A festival is a good way to bring together bands who might never share the same stage perhaps as a result of not being part of the same genre sphere, belonging to a different creative or communal ideology, or simply having stylistic differences. I think that in very simple terms we’d like to use the festival as a platform for bringing communities together, helping people to make new friends and creating awareness of different cultural movements.

Can you talk us through some of the bands on the bill, and why you’ve asked them to play?

SHIFT WORK – are a duo, Mark and Johnny, who originally come from down south. They had a record out on Optimo (Glasgow) last year which is how I first heard them. I’m a big Optimo Records fan so I always check out new records on the label. SW do a kind of experimental, organic techno, though putting them in a genre box doesn’t do them justice. They make exciting, soulful modern dance music with character and without pretentions. I put them on last year at a party I co-host in Leeds called Release Yourself and at the time Johnny had his leg in plaster so it made for an interesting live spectacle too. Nice gentlemen and good facilitators of electronic dance music.

JOANNE – I heard about Joanne (Armitage) recently because I read an interview with her online. I wanted Joanne to play because what she does intrigues me in that I don’t understand quite what it is! Joanne is a live coding artist and is part of the ‘Algorave’ community in Leeds, I think. I might be wrong about that last bit, but either way I just thought what she does sounds really interesting and because I don’t know what it means I want to see it for myself. Plus, it’s another thing that is happening here that is important and is an art form and when Michael and myself were programming the lineup we wanted as much totally different stuff as possible.

MAKANITZA – are a trio from Leeds who I first saw a few months ago when one of my own bands, Azores, played with them. They were a bit of a revelation for us really. One of those rare bands that combine a really high, obviously very schooled, level of musicianship with really good, really fun music. My first reaction to seeing them for the first and only time so far was “Wow, where has this band been hiding?” but then you just realise that you’ve not seen them because as people playing music in Leeds you just exist in different communities. It’s one of the great things about this city. Even after almost 20 years of living here I’m still being surprised by stuff like this. In terms of their style they do Eastern European and Roma Gypsy folk music which is wild and hypnotic. The kind of thing that whips people into an actual frenzy and is impossible to sit still to. Again, asking them to play was a no-brainer because we want as much different music as possible, and they’re just really good.

MILK CRIMES – is Ellie, Peter and Simon. I have met them all but haven’t yet seen them play yet. I’m looking forward to that immensely. They are one of a new group of DIY bands coming through in Leeds at the moment, along with bands like Molars and Crumbs. People have described them as “catchy, fun, anti-social queer punk-pop in the same vein as bands like Martha, Trust Fund, and The Spook School etc. I’ve heard only universal praise for them so far and I wanted to invite them on because another thing that is important to me is having a mix of both older and younger bands playing.

There are lots of other really good bands playing – BLOOD SPORT (Sheffield), Michael’s band YARD WARS, MI MYE (Wakefield), GAME_PROGRAM (Leeds), CACTUS KNIFE (Chorley/Wigan), and TAKE TURNS (Leeds). My own band GALAXIANS are playing, too.

Will there be more in the future?

We would definitely like to do more, and as these things often go, you have an idea to do a festival and then you’re already thinking about who you’d like to play the second festival / year. But it depends on one thing really: dollars. I hate that but it’s a fact. If we lose a lot of money on the first one then it’s gonna create reservations and stress attached to any future JUX events. I read somewhere that all music festivals lose money in their first three years so it doesn’t bode well, hah! But y’know, it’s a DIY festival, we’re low-key and we’re not going to lose like £250,000 on it, so it’s okay.

Tickets

Website

1 February 2016
Galaxians Interview at The Garden Party 2015

Here’s our interview with Leeds Living after our show at The Garden Party in September.

What are your impressions of The Garden Party so far?

J: We just got here at about 4 o’clock; it’s heated up a bit now.

M: It seems like a nice vibe!

How does playing a festival differ from playing your own show?

J: It’s just a lot more people, a lot more atmosphere!

M: I have to confess, I don’t normally like playing festivals; you know you have to get on and get off quite quickly and it can be quite stressful but it’s been really nice here; as long as there’s a nice vibe and people are with us when we play, it’s cool.

What’s been your best live experience in Leeds so far?

M: Well I don’t think there’s one thing that we can say is the best ‘cause every time we play it’s different but when we played the two Beacons festivals that we did were a real highlight. Gigs: we’ve played Wharf Chambers, we like that; they’re intimate and small.

J: I think the best one for me was probably Tom Tom Club at The Brudenell, about two years ago. That was amazing. Just meeting those guys was amazing.

What up-coming shows have you got in Leeds?

J: We’re playing Headrow House on 23rd October, which we’re excited about because Golden Teacher (who they’re playing with) are fantastic and Headrow House is a new venue.

What influence has the Leeds music scene had on your being a duo?

J: For me, it’s being able to meet people who were musicians first, in bands second, so loads of people that are in more than band; it’s that sense of collaboration, especially around the Hyde Park area; there’s a lot of creativity.

M: I think musically, we’re not necessarily as influenced by Leeds other than its strong club culture, like the DJs. But what I am influenced by is that Leeds has a really strong sense of community and I think that’s a really big thing, especially in dance music. It’s about unifying people and having a shared experience. It’s not about stardom or hierarchy.

What do you have in the pipeline?

J: We have a new album coming with quite a lot of tracks; we have vocalists now like Emma Mason who we’re collaborating with, possibly even live in the future, and we’ve got guitar on the new album from John Nash who’s in Cowtown and Hookworms. A bit more of a disco/house analogue kind of direction too. And a European mini tour!

M: We’ve gone out of our comfort zone a little bit more this time: vocalists, lyrics…

With thanks to Chris Haywood and Ryan Crossland

17 October 2015
GALAXIANS at The Garden Party // Tetley Gallery 30.08.15

“By putting local boys Galaxians on your bill, you’re almost guaranteeing a party that shimmers and glitters like a roller disco ramped up to 11. Warbling synths, wobbling bass and beats that’d make even the most resistant of bodies shake, Galaxians are something of a secret weapon. No matter who they’re billed with, from Tom Tom Club to Horse Meat Disco, their modern disco-house vibes are enough to enrapture any and every audience put in front of them.” The 405 // Garden Party preview: 5 Bands We Want To See

“I’m personally looking forward to Roisin Murphy, as well as Little Dragon and Todd Terje. On the DJ front it has to be Craig Charles, Joy Orbison and finally having Kerri Chandler play for us. Special shout to Bambooman and Galaxians, two local outfits who will be performing on The Skinny stage.” Matt Long // festival organiser // About To Blow

“At the Skinny Stage, Galaxians succeed more-so than Craig Charles to counter the mid-day festival blues. As soon as the two-piece Leeds-based outfit takes to the stage, those sitting down take to their feet. Jed Skinner somehow coolly manages to replicate the sound of a four-layer melody section using two synthesisers. Matt Woodward on drums keeps the manic synth output locked to a sleazy groove. The pair’s most recent four track EP, Personal Disco Component, is much appreciated. One or two sporadic rays of sun even get involved in the party.” Review: Sunday At The Garden Party // Skiddle

Excerpts from ‘Electroads’ by Galaxians

5 September 2015
GALAXIANS August festival appearances

21.08.15

WYRDOUT FESTIVAL // VARIOUS VENUES // LONDON

TICKETS:

http://www.seetickets.com/event/-/london/812407

https://billetto.co.uk/fall-out-2015

30.08.15

THE GARDEN PARTY // TETLEY GALLERY // LEEDS

TICKETS: http://www.ticketarena.co.uk/events/The-Garden-Party-Leeds-2015/index.html

8 July 2015

GALAXIANS

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