I was going to post in this thread about a gig I played on Sunday, supporting Secret Boyfriend and Knifedoutofexistence (my first show in ages, and an extra-noisy one).
At the gig, I chatted with a guy I vaguely know from around Brighton. He put a clip of my set in his instagram stories. Also in his stories was a link to this very Tape Label Report article: turns out the guy is Jon Buckland.
But the best part is, because I’d heard Jon talking about a Lower Slaughter gig, the main thing I talked to him about was… DiS’s very own Colossal Sauce @colossalhorse and his hotsauce collaboration with Lower Slaughter!
Awesome! What’s your project? I need to hear more Secret Boyfriend I’ve only got something from the enmossed compilation recently. It sounds like they cross a lot of different vibes of experimental stuff.
Any top tips for playing live in anyway shape or form both technically and emotionally haha? I’m hoping to do so sometime this year for the first time. I keep putting off practicing anything by just making more music. I know there is a lot of experience around these parts.
Hey! My project is Hardworking Families, I do a bunch of different sound / experimental / noisy stuff under that name. Usually not as full-on harsh noise as most of this thread, but there’s plenty of sharp and heavy textures throughout.
The closest to capital N ‘Noise’ stuff would probably be The Belt Have Turned Into Goo and Tyrantish. But I hope you’d also enjoy large chunks of Eight Knots Bathing, Back and others.
I’m going to dig into this looks great! Loving the modular improve right now. I’m going to get some on my wish list and see where it takes me all super creative. All flavours of noise Noise NOISE nOiSe but no n0ISe that’s just strange.
Exclusionary and Emancipatory Learning Praxes of Gender Nonconforming Noise Musicians by Peter J. Woods
‘Abstract: Building on the recent growth of explicitly queer approaches to learning sciences scholarship, this paper explores the learning praxes of gender nonconforming noise musicians. The community of practice (CoP) surrounding noise music, a caustic subgenre of experimental music, provides a fruitful site of research because of its history of tensions related to gender identities. Through this study, I address the following research questions: What exclusionary practices do gender nonconforming musicians recognize in noise music scenes? And how do gender nonconforming noise musicians challenge those issues to produce a safer and more just informal learning environment? In analyzing interviews with 36 globally dispersed musicians, I discuss a series of exclusionary and liberatory learning praxes that create tensions and opportunities for marginalized participants. These findings hold implications for other studies of power within CoPs and informal learning contexts more broadly.‘
All my gear is an iPhone with koala the sampler app. That’s what I’ve made my two tapes on so far. A mackie mixer, some cables and a chain if I’m feeling fruity. Probably just my phone stuck into either my mixer or the main desk. Set will probably be short like 10-15 mins max. Not sure if it’ll be a couple of trax or one longer thing improved. Might do a vocal but dunno if the phone mic will hold up with feedback from the system. It’s a very none noise setup but I think that’ll make it fun for me at least. The most confronting thing you can do sometimes I rip a new one with your phone in a big soundsystem haha
Well first things first, in a noise context it’s very hard to go obviously ‘wrong’ from the audience’s perspective: it’s not like you can play the wrong note or sing out of tune or forget the chorus. That gives you some freedom, and means you don’t need to worry too much about making mistakes or things not working quite as you planned.
(Even if, say, you accidentally unplug your phone, you can make it work: a horrible loud clunk, 5 seconds of tense silence, and then the noise comes rushing back in? Sounds like a good time!)
Bear in mind things will always sound a bit different on a PA than they did at home. Feedback especially is so sensitive to the room and the system and the EQ and the gain etc etc, so will always be unpredictable. I would guess that your phone mic through a PA will feed back aggressively, maybe more than you want it to if you are doing vocals.
Koala-bases setup sounds good, especially as you know your way around it. If you can go through your mixer too that gives you more control, and means you can e.g. set something going and then tweak the EQ / gain. If are worried about dropouts or gaps between Koala stuff (and you may not be, nothing wrong with just the phone), you could always have another sound source go into the mixer: a pre-prepared tape, a cheap contact mic to scrape on the table, whatever makes sense to you.
I do have a contact mic I could plug in too but not made anything fun with it yet. I was saving for an effects peddle. I like the idea of a second source, I’d not thought of that and the DJ in me liked the idea of it being seamless somehow. I’ll play about with how quick different projects load up on the phone and if it’s annoying in a bad way I’ll maybe set up a tape player I have which I could record onto beforehand. That’s got me thinking…
Quiet Husband was like just rip it off your phone so I think that’ll be the main performance. I like the second source idea. My own mixer as a point between my phone and main board would probably give me a bit more control you’re right. I’ve got time to prepare. September, October time is my goal. Think it’ll be a pretty diverse lineup so anything will kind of go.
Seriously this is great! Deserves a wide audience. It goes wider than the noise crew here by miles no idea where the else to put it though.
It’s so hard to describe but it’s like a UK underground outsider avant-pop masterpiece. Sometimes it sounds like Dance Mania producing Talking Heads with a DIY punk vibe made from toys he found in the cupboard from being a stay at home Dad. The energy! The personality! The song writing! It’ll make you cry dance and warm your heart and feel deeply unsettled all at once.
Iceman Junglist Kru and Degradation - PROCESSED WORLD | Brachliegen Tapes
Noisy knackered breakcore dubs. Their first tape You’re Like a Scalpel, I’m Like a Flick Knife is an all time percy!
DJ DIE SOON - My Brothel the Wind | Drowned by Locals
This sounds mad, brutal post-apocalyptic distorted club bangers. Lots of features from Kiki Hitomi who you may know from Black Chow and the King Midas Sound project with The Bug and Roger Robinson.
I’ve got a T-Shirt available to pre-order and young wet the download with it too.
The Rita noise legend is coming to Boro for a show this coming week. I think there are a few tickets left as the venue has changed to somewhere bigger. They’re brining two people to do dance, pantomime and who knows what to bring out the themes. Pale World, Ekstasis (they’ve got an incredible album) and Mother Man are also playing. I’m off and as I can gather half the noise scene from around the country so it should be fun.
I had my first interview as an artist but it’ll be in an academic journal and I’ll be anonymised. So that’s good promo… it was all about collaboration and community.
Go and support one of the best underground music and arts communities in the UK then go and make your own!
I’m on it with a load of great artists, sounds from across the spectrum. All experimental DIY business.
‘In support of our funding application to Arts Council England (ACE) for our A Monday Night in Middlesbrough program of events (2026)
A DIGITAL ONLY RELEASE - Available for 14 days from 13 July
Includes a film short of A Fathers Fantasy - DJ DEATHDEFY x WREN ADOBE
Our application will be submitted late summer - & to support that we will be including an in-kind contribution. As Arts funding continues to be squeezed, having a ready source of funds demonstrates the appetite for the program we deliver - & reduces the financial ask of ACE of course!
We are running this release, alongside a Gofundme fundraiser - which is a sponsorship for a 24hr DJ Marathon I will be delivering in Boro on August 10
Thank you to all the artists who have submitted tracks. Its greatly appreciated. Links to bandcamps etc are included with the individual track listings
All funds go directly to our A MONDAY NIGHT IN MIDDLESBROUGH 2026 fund (So feel free to top up your purchase price!) - & the fundraiser is here:
I support artists in my community and buy stuff when I can. So when I buy tickets or T-shirts from Industrial Coast just like everyone else I get download codes for stuff they’ve released. The problem is I’ve been involved for some time now and I’ve got it all, so now Steve says if I’ve already got it spread the love…. Have some free one shot codes to get an idea of the stuff they’re releasing. When they’re gone they’re gone.
I may be no good at promo but if we get talked about in the weirder corners of the UK music scene I’ll be very happy.