Kings of Dalston

oh btw -LONDON LITERARY FESTIVAL - WE KILLED IT.

Big scary crowd of onlookers.
Live art illustration of the recital:
I AM THE MAINFRAME live.

Weird Old Warwick.

Don't believe that the English are boring, that we don't have a shamanic tradition, that we aren't able throw together an awe inspiring ritual or two. Bubbling beneath the wishy washy Church of England surface there is a vivid world of pageantry, frenzied pagan frivolity and boundless eccentricity. We shot some camera phone snaps during Warwick Folk Festival to share with you. There was even a twelve foot Borg in medieval attire - seriously, we export WTF from this country.

Soapbox Skits 1

Mr Cognitive Dissonance.

Let me introduce Mr Cognitive Dissonance, there he is, “Ta Da” in his party hat, eating his happy meal, running in his hamster wheel, enjoying three different types of cheese, singing along to his Bruce Springsteen C.Ds, contemplating a wide range of flat screen T.Vs...Perpetually standing in line at the bank, or filling up his tank, taking too long to indicate and too fast to ejaculate, that is, when he isn’t too anxious to penetrate. He buys the Sun and the Sport, The Sun and The Sport and the sun and moon and the stars don’t bother him a bit.

He likes vivid colours and gasoline and supports his hometown football team and punches first if he needs too. Most of the time he won't listen and he doesn't understand and doesn't bother asking if he can demand. It is his duty not to care and he pretends his emotion isn't there until it ulcerates to be aggravated by spicy food and too much lager. His hands are rough and his voice is deep and it takes him a long time to get to sleep, he works hard and he is getting fat and when he looks in the mirror he isn't sure what he is looking at.

Buzzing on additives and headlines his heart is continually pumping at terror threat level red and he is so afraid of dying; he can’t wait to be dead.


Untitled Skit.

I want my freedom, not my Mc Freedom, not this TV state, some blokes off Holly Oaks took coke and now it’s in all the tabloids joke of a reality. I real control, not slavery or dole, to be a human unit brought or sold, constantly harassed and told what to do by corporate liars. I want action and compassion, not footballers wives and fashion, pages and pages of diet tips to slim my hips when we can’t scrap together enough for a bag of chips anyway.

Will we ever be slim or stupid enough for our media?

No.

I want to enjoy my life away from a CCTV lens, with real friends not just Facebook updates and virtual mates and Twittering twatery. I want food that is less expensive because it isn’t so adulterated it is going to give me cancer and a world free from pricks in the town centre who answer everything with “what the fuck you looking at” or "you don't know me though". I don’t need Direct Line insurance and it tests my endurance to be quizzed in the street again and again about bargain prices on mobile phone deals, for an iPhone that some pikey undoubtably steals five minutes later.

I want sentiment not soundbytes, politicians with a pulse and maybe even a soul that can relate to my state as more than a concept or statistic or am I being unrealistic to expect these people to care.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Flex.

Doorways and Windows.

Vivian Volta is electric.

The Macbeth, 26/06 - It was the day after Michael Jackson died. The mood was muted and our expectations low. We had no clear idea about what Vivian Volta was and we were undoubtedly preoccupied. We were not expecting to be awestruck, pinned against the wall by brilliance or blown away…but we were!

Vivian transfixed us with his epic soundscape opening, impassioned piano and squealing guitar. We knew immediately that this was a unique musical experience and we should keep our eyes pinned on the stage. The songs were deliciously idiosyncratic, weird and sprawling, strange sounds that come armed with lyrics promising poison and paradise. Holy fuck, we thought, people will soon be talking about being at ‘little’ shows like this. We better get an interview:

Q: When we saw you perform you started your set hidden behind a piano, why were you hiding?

The noises, I didn't want to disturb and then some people started moaning, you don't apply blush in public.

Q: Just how many instruments can you play and why did you start?

Because I was seriously bored with the music available & rather upset that this generation has nothing to show or say that goes beyond retro. It's all about blatantly ripping off the past, please where is the progression, this is not creationism, its art, its music, its self-expression and we're living now and not in the 60s, 80s or 90s. If you don't like their music, make your own.

Q:Who is Blood and Blue (a track on Vivian's My Space) written for?

I'd rather not say, I would love to, but I can't. But what i can tell you is that starvation and insomnia can make you sensationally productive.

Q: What makes a perfect album?

Write a song that is 37 minutes long which can be broken down into 9 different chapters. If you can listen to it in one go without pausing, stopping or BORING.

Q:What kind of fan would you like to have?

A crazy stalker, gifted, obsessive and dedicated.

Q: What's more important, emotion or showmanship?

They kind of go together, dont they?
I would say that empty showmanship is far more enjoyable than boring emotions.


UPCOMING GIGS

Volta online


1st of August > Bangers & Mash @ 93 Feet East
12th of August > The Last Days Of Decadence
22nd of August > Nuke Them All @ The Old Blue Last
27th of August > Vibe Bar