March 25, 2019 by Mal and Rita

Indieterria meets Table Scraps

Dear Readers

Over the last two year, we had a pleasure to speak to many wonderful bands and artists. To interview some of them, we have been waiting several months (in one case, it has even been over a year and still counting!) but it is always worth the time. And sometimes all it takes is you listen to a song, you fall in love with it and you contact the band asking if they would be willing to talk to you and they say yes under 1 minute. We sat down with Table Scraps, right after their return from SXSW, the biggest music conference in the world, to discuss their influences, musical references and going on tour with Monster Magnet. We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we did, talking to the band. Now we need to see them live. Another band added to our bucket list this year!

Band logo

Official bio: Celebrated for their bruising and feedback-drenched live shows, as well as a knack for crafting the perfect nagging hook, Birmingham’s Table Scraps have gradually fought their way to the top of the garage rock pile by conquering stages and refusing to compromise. After self-releasing a clutch of praised 7’s and an LP, as well as holding their own alongside heavyweights such as Fat White Family, IDLES and Black Lips, the ‘Scraps soon found interest after plays on Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music started to rack up. However, they insisted on continuing to do things their own way: self-recording, creating their own nightmare worlds in homemade zines and shooting their own B-movie style videos. “Autonomy”, the band’s most recent LP, surfaced in February 2018 to widespread enthusiasm and was picked up for release in the US by the legendary Burger Records. A huge European tour with stoner legends Monster Magnet (at the insistence of fan Dave Wyndorf himself) quickly brought Table Scraps to a new legion of enthusiastic continental headbangers. Wyndorf, as well as Joe Talbot of IDLES and Grace Jones, are part of a growing swathe of those who realize that it’s only a matter of time before Table Scraps go on to bigger and better things.

“Dark and brilliant” (DIY Magazine),
“Check‘em out pronto” (Metal Hammer)
“Table Scraps are awesome!” (Dave Wyndorf, Classic Rock).

Table Scraps photographed by Meg Lavender

Scott Vincent Abbott – Guitar & Vox
Poppy Twist – Drums & Vox
TJ – Bass & Vox

Joe Talbot, the lead singer of IDLES said: “If you don’t know Table Scraps, you’re a fucking idiot!”. That’s the best recommendation we have ever heard! Please introduce yourselves to the readers of Indieterria.

Table Scraps: We are Table Scraps – a three piece garage doom band from Birmingham.

Your bands name is very unusual. By definition, table scraps are the leftovers nobody wants to touch. It is either something disgusting or something insignificant. Why did you decide to go with name like that?

Table Scraps: We’re very much inspired by the gross out tradition, which to us is as diverse as first wave punk to John Waters movies. Trash in all its glory! Disposable and throwaway is what we wanted when Scott chose Table Scraps. Particularly when there is such a modern tradition of agonizing over a band name that is deep, evocative and edgy. That whole thing bored us to the point of going the opposite way: there isn’t a less evocative word than “table” after all.

Table Scraps are being described as Idles meets Duran Duran with Mark E Smith on vocals and David Bowie/The Ramones influences. We very rarely agree with online classifications but this one seems to sum your music pretty well. Do you agree?

Table Scraps: Definitely not when it comes to Duran Duran and Scott’s vocals are far more rooted in the American vocal traditions of blues, rock’n’roll and 80s west coast punk as opposed to someone like the great MES, who is from a much more British evolution of post-punk. It is a genre we all love but don’t bear much similarity to for the most part. Idles and The Ramones are probably closer to our stable, particularly our attitudes towards what bands and songs should be like. There’s a lot of hard rock, metal, psych, garage and 60’s girl group influence that are really foundational to what Table Scraps do too. We love a bit of glam but it doesn’t pop up very often. That’s more of a London band extravagance.

“Autonomy” album cover

You are known for your specific approach to marketing. You are fiercely independent and if you can do something against the current tides or ideas, you will. Creating home made zines, recording in strange places, breaking stereotypes – you are masters of unconventional PR. Where do you take your ideas from?

Table Scraps: A lot of our approach is very much based on practicality. We are so detached from the UK’s music industry, which is almost exclusively in London, that there isn’t really any benefit to us playing by the rules. We’ve also been there and done that when it comes to “the right way” in our younger years and it only takes one peek behind the big label curtain to realise that it’s all a load of big budget tricks that rarely work anyway.

While so much has changed in the past ten years when it comes to income, streaming, artist discovery and so on, what doesn’t change is the fact that people want to see good bands live and people also like nice physical product. Like the majority of the population, we aren’t rich enough to buy every single LP we want so we only choose the ones that are special or different. It makes perfect sense that we would then use that in our own approach to putting our music out there. Most of our ideas come from boredom and frustration that no one else has done it already!

Let’s talk about your videos – apparently you make them yourselves. They show real directing skills and what’s really important to us, a deep understanding of pop culture. The video to “Electricity” feels like an intro to a Rob Zombie film, “Sick of Me” channels Spoke Jones, “Motorcycle (Straight to Hell)” contains references to several hit songs such as “I will walk 500 miles” by The Proclaimers and “Loser” by Beck. Our favourite video, “I’m a failure” is a very faithful homage to “Beavis and Butt-Head” (down to the same type of sofa and descriptions for each song shown on the telly) and MTV Oddities (The Brothers Grunt, Aexon Flux, or Maxxx). You are too young to remember those shows/songs from your experience – how do you know about them? Through Internet or research?

Table Scraps: Fortunately we are good looking enough to appear younger than we actually are as most of these references are not lost on us. Particularly as Poppy and TJ are children of the internet where suddenly the wealth of history and pop culture becomes an explosion of access instead of a straight line. We are collectors and obsessives so we naturally gravitate towards things that are high quality and know their references. Our dissatisfaction with bringing other people in to the creative process of Table Scraps is what drove us to make it all ourselves. That and it’s just too expensive to rely on a team of people to do everything for you.

Poppy bought her first DSLR at some point in 2014 and we began shooting videos with it immediately. We taught ourselves the whole process to the point that we make music videos for lots of other bands now which is a nice reminder of how far you can come if you just rely on yourself to do things the way you want rather than relying on other people to bring their interpretation to it and muddy your vision.

Your releases (especially your latest LP “Autonomy”) received a flood of rave reviews. DIY Magazine called you “Brilliant” and “Groundbreaking”, Louder than War claimed you defined “21st century rock and roll”, Clash Magazine described you as “A real punch” and BBC1 gave you 12 stars out of 10. Have you expected such praise?

Table Scraps: (laughing) We think there may be a small element of misquoting going on there but appreciate it all the same! We don’t expect such praise because we don’t seek it out but it is very encouraging to get and it does help to make things happen for us. It’s particularly nice when we don’t have someone greasing the wheels for us behind the scenes and it comes straight from us. The press and radio team we had for “Autonomy” were wonderful and took the time to understand what we were doing so they did an excellent job at getting it out to more people.

Table Scraps promo picture

You went on tour with the legendary Monster Magnet! How did it go? It must have been one-of-a-kind rock and roll journey!

Table Scraps: The tour with Monster Magnet was insane and a real eye opener for us, particularly as everything about it was so out of our comfort zone. We went, virtually overnight, from a small garage rock band mostly playing in 150 cap clubs to an audience mostly comprised of tasteful garage rock fans who got the references to playing in 2000 cap venues to what we feared might be quite a tough crowd in the stoner/metal bracket. We worried that we might not translate to the size of the rooms and that we would seem out of place with such a heavy band as Monster Magnet but Dave Wyndorf loved us, understood us and Magnet’s audience and insisted that we be there.

Clearly he saw it better than we did as we were kind of the perfect fit and we really rose to the challenge as opposed to a meat and potatoes metal band and we went down incredibly well. We got a lot louder and a lot more comfortable with our hard rock/psych influences there which was very freeing. People on the continent are a lot more accommodating and we had an absolute blast. It showed us that we didn’t need to be so protective and could genuinely kill it on a big stage.

We have to ask about SXSW, you have just returned from Texas. Tell us more about your trip. How many showcases you played? Did you have fun?

Table Scraps: As it is with most things we do, official selection for SXSW was 100% something we never expected to receive. It’s probably a Midlands thing but despite our confidence and commitment to Table Scraps, our expectations are usually extremely low. Like everything else we do, we had no industry backing or money other than that we had raised ourselves and it did represent quite a big risk when we need to be careful with what we spend our money on but there was no way we could turn it down.

Fortunately we really drew people towards us at the shows and we got to play to a lot of new people who were really excited by us. Like the Magnet tour it is very representative of another hard fought step forward. We played nine shows altogether (three in one day!) and got to play at Hotel Vegas twice which was a dream come true. You realize quite quickly that lots of bands you admire and have wanted to see for a long time genuinely see you as their equal and are just as complimentary about you as you are of them. It was a really wonderful and empowering week. Americans are so enthusiastic and sincere and it’s really cute.

There is a word on the streets that Table Scraps are working on new material to be released later this year. Are you planning another record or something else. What can you tell us without spoiling the surprise?

Table Scraps: We are always working on new material in our studio! We aren’t making any promises when it comes to a release date but the new material will genuinely be worth the wait. It’s most certainly indicative of our growing confidence and refusal to follow the crowd because it genuinely sounds like nothing else. It might be a bit of a curveball for some but it’s heavy, it’s fun and it’s got what I think are the best songs Scott has ever written on it. It’s all about the songs!

2019 has been a very busy year for you so far. What are your plans for the next couple of months? More gigs? Long-deserved holidays?

Table Scraps: Back to the studio to add some finishing touches to what we’ve been working away on for the previous twelve months and then lots of good stuff which is soon to be announced. Certainly lots more gigs. We’re playing for our friends in IDLES’ after-party following their third and final headline at HEAVEN on April 6th at The Garage in London. USA Nails are brilliant and are playing too and our friends Danny Nedelko from Heavy Lungs and Steve Lamacq are DJing too. We can’t wait. So proud of The IDLES!

Table Scraps on SXSW, picture by SKCPhotography

It is our tradition to have a bit of fun with the last question. Let’s say you can compose the perfect rider for yourselves but it will be served to you on tour every night. What’s on the menu?

Table Scraps: (laughing) Whatever we want as long as there is double the amount of beer that was originally intended!

You can follow Table Scraps on their social medias:

Website: https://www.tablescrapsband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tablescrapshq/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TableScrapsBand
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChFw0Lv7eMvylKWfXdyuZ7Q
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/table_scraps/
Bandcamp: https://table-scraps.bandcamp.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/table-scraps-1

You can also learn more about this excellent trio by reading some of the articles about them:

https://counteract.co/features/band-of-the-week/band-of-the-week-004-table-scraps/
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/20233/reviews/4151646
https://www.musicglue.com/tablescraps/about
https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/newmusic/30seconds/30-seconds-interview-table-scraps/
http://diymag.com/2018/02/23/table-scraps-autonomy-album-review

Come back soon as we are planning something really cool and we cannot wait to share it with you!
See ya later,
xx
R+M

March 22, 2019 by Mal and Rita

Indieterria meets MeMe Detroit

Hello!

West Midlands music scene is one of the the most original and diverse scenes in the United Kingdom. It has always been very strong with acts such as Duran Duran, Black Sabbath and the girl band Cleopatra coming out of Birmingham and changing the national musical landscapes. Grime, hip-hop, psychedelia, experimental rock, lyrical and even choral music – West Midland have it all. We would like to invite you to meet another talented artist from our region that is making a name for herself. Maria Theresa Rodriquez, better known as a MeMe Detroit sat down with Indieterria to discuss growing up within musical family, acting career and who she would take to Glastonbury with her.

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Face paint and battle stance

Maria Theresa Rodriquez (vocals and guitar)
Paris Moon Fennell (bass)
Nick Sharman (live drummer)

There are many theories as to what “MeMe Detroit” stands for. Brum Radio speculated that it is the name of your alter ego that you take up on stage, BBC Introducing wrote that it was taken from an old American movie. What or maybe who is MeMe Detroit?

Maria: “MeMe Detroit” is in fact the alter ego of me, Maria Theresa Rodriguez. MeMe comes from the nickname given to me by my Grandma as a kid. The Detroit part? That just happened to be written my other half’s T-shirt when thinking of a name! (laughing)

Everything about you is a bit mysterious. In interviews you refer to MeMe as a “project” but you perform with the same musicians. We need to ask is MeMe Detroit a solo endeavour or a full fledged band? Who accompanies you on stage?

Maria: MeMe Detroit started off as a solo endeavour, however as the live show came together, it morphed into a bit of both. My band members are now a massive part of it. Paris Moon Fennell is a kick ass bassist and she just oozes cool. We’re currently auditioning for a new full time drummer but have the awesome Nick Sharman in as our current live drummer.

Tell us about the striking make up you are wearing during performances? It looks like a tribal tattoo. Is there any meaning behind it?

Maria: I wanted to do something that says, “This is MeMe Detroit”, something I could almost morph into, a branding kind of thing. I sat in front of a mirror for several hours, getting a numb butt and trying out different make up and colour designs before settling on what you see on stage now. It was inspired a little by Daryl Hannah’s look in the original “Blade Runner” film.

You grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon in a mixed raced family with Colombian and English family members. Was your childhood any different than that of your peers?

Maria: I wouldn’t say it was different, although I used to secretly pray that the teachers wouldn’t read out my full name during registration (laughing)! There was a small element of bullying in school that came with being “half foreign” which I’m not gonna lie, did affect me but I think now I’m older, it made me want to shout out about my background and heritages even more! I’m proud as fuck of my British and of my Colombian ethnicity. Also, I got to have well cool holidays as a kid visiting British seaside towns and South A-fucking-America!

Has your upbringing shaped you as an artist?

Maria: My whole family were and still are all pretty big music fans so I was constantly surrounded by music of all genres growing up. My dad used to play Latin hits, turning the volume up really loud in the car and winding down all the windows driving through the town centre to embarrass me as a kid! Whilst my Grandma would play dress up with me and get me singing and performing plays & musicals! Then there was the box of vinyl that’s been passed through generations, each adding their element. Having that huge influence of multi-genres in my every day life has definitely shaped me as an artist.

Maria as MeMe Detroit

Despite developing an acute allergy to Shakespeare in your youth, you worked as an actress, with much success. Is your stage and film experience useful in your current career?

Maria: Ha ha ha! Funny you should ask! We’ve just shot a new video which we’ve approached as more of a short film. It’s mega handy being able to act when you’re in need of an actor for a video. And it is helpful when shooting videos in general, especially live streams!

You debuted in 2016 with an EP entitled “‘Live to Love You’ll Love to Live” to one of the best reviews for an independent release we have ever heard. Punk rock legend, John Robb (The Membranes) called you “outstanding”, Louder Than War magazine wrote that you “bridge the gaps between indie, grunge and blues rock” and BBC West Midlands insisted that your music is “simply spectacular”. Have you ever thought of receiving such positive reaction to your work?

Maria: No I have not. You always dream of it but I’m also my own worst critic! I do believe in my work now though more than ever so to have that backed up by such awesome comments and reviews is really humbling and just is really bloody ace!

Tell us more about your newest material “Life In the now”. You have described it in previous interviews as your best compositions so far. Where have you recorded it and how many tracks are on it?

Maria: “Life In The Now” was recorded at Park Studios in Birmingham with producer Alastair Jamieson. There’s 5 tracks on it including singles, “Soc Med Junkies”, “Churchside Inn” & “De Moe”. I wanted to make a powerful in-your-face record with a running theme of positivist underneath it, a fun fuelled blast of Uplifting Angst.

You will be touring quite a bit in the coming months: Birmingham, Stourbridge, Oxford, Mossley – can you tell us what people can expect from your live performances. Also, is there a chance to catch you at any of the summer festivals this year?

Maria: For me, playing live is really what being a musician is all about but it would be nothing without the fans. They’re as much a part of it as we are. Being up there and getting to be completely engulfed in a music fuelled intoxication, music that you’ve made and then getting to share that magnetic euphoria with a crowd of people all on the same level. Nothing fucking beats it!

So far on the festival front, We’ll be at Lichfield Arts Fuse festival in July.

Meme Detroit loves a good laugh!

The word on the circuit is that there may be a new single shortly. If it’s true, are you able to reveal anything about the song?

Maria: That it is! We are actually releasing a single version of the track “Will You Be My Lie” which is taken from the “Life In The Now” EP. It’ll be released in May alongside the short film/video and with a brand new remix by an awesome artist called DantannaBeatz, which incidentally, I have just heard for the first time this eve and it’s killer!

Cheeky question but we just can’t help ourselves. Imagine you were given the right to curate a stage at Glasto and you can take 5 acts from West Midlands. Who gets to play?

Maria: Ooh! That’s a tough one. I’d have to say: Blue Nation, Sulpher, Chloe Mogg, Lady Sanity and The Pagans S.O.H

MeMe live in action

You can follow Maria on social media at:

http://www.memedetroitepk.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MeMeDetroitofficial/
https://twitter.com/memedetroit
https://soundcloud.com/memedetroit
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7g5I0NVNGr5FaI4e7Xke6X?si=GH1HeQfTQRKmYF4EC1kYaw

You can stream and buy Meme`s music from the link below:
http://smarturl.it/lifeinthenowep

Live in Birmingham

Me Me Detroit will perform at The Victoria in Birmingham on Saturday, 23rd of March alongside London based bands MOSES, Dirty Orange, and Malvern rockers, The Dead Dads Club. The show is organised by Modern Age Music. Tickets costs £5 and the doors are opening at 7:00 pm.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1954968431464900/
Tickets: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Birmingham/The-Victoria/Modern-Age-Music-Birmingham/13465152/

See you soon!
M+R Dabrowicz

March 12, 2019 by Mal and Rita

Indieteria introduce The Festival Season

Dear artists!

Ever year, around November, applications for summer festivals are being opened and we receive a lot of questions regarding them. Where can we find them? How to look for them? How long are they open? – are the most common questions. We work with a large group of unsigned and signed artists and we inform them about each opportunity as they arrive. But keeping an eye out and a hand on the pulse can be very hard when you are juggling daily work, music career and family life. This post has been months in the making. We were debating how to make it easier for unsigned bands to apply for festivals and in the beginning, we we were posting links on our Facebook Page.

Few days ago, Malicia had an eureka moment and we decided to gather all links into one big database and post it on our blog.

So here there are! Go crazy and apply to as many as you want – just note that they might close at any moment! Be quick, or be late!

UK Festivals (aka Domestic)

TRUCK FESTIVAL
26-28 July 2019, Oxfordshire
https://truckfestival.com/contact/band-app/

Blackthorn Music Festival
19 – 21 July 2019, Stockport
http://www.blackthornmusicfestival.co.uk/apply

Isle of Wight Festival
13-16 July 2019, Newport, Isle of Wight
New Blood competition is organised by London Based agency Hot Vox
https://hotvox.co.uk/isle-wight-festival
Application:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9rMAhdsT6uD-hrgnglcfd3_o-h1S_DKvm_AobYfu1-Xyzqw/viewform

Boardmasters Festival
7 – 11 August 2019, Newquay
https://marcatoapp.com/forms/19-boardmasters/applytoplayboardmasters19

Electric Fields Festival
4-6 July 2019, Drumlanrig Castle, Thornhill
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVJaaobAy_pByBQ6HOWmsKzcSXgF1AALdszfCT1aPoVLWtGA/viewform

Merthyr Rising
24- 26 May 2019, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
http://www.merthyrrising.uk/news_post/rising-rebels-2019
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGXqGdfvR62jwEPinYyeyXPhlTQaqyEuzqsfOMzhAVufo6ag/viewform

Camden Rocks Festival
1-2 June 2019, London
https://camdenrocksfestival.com/band-submission/

Nozstock The Hidden Valley
18-21 July, Bromyard
https://applications.eventree.co.uk/apply/index/id/1164

Green Man Festival
15 – 18 August 2019, Crickhowell
Send a Soundcloud link to artists@greenman.net
Or use this link below: https://www.greenman.net/rising/

Live at Leeds – 4 May 2019, Leeds
Slam Dunk Festival – 25 May 2019, Leeds – both festivals belong to Future Sounds Group
Music Submissions: sally@futuresoundgroup.com
Live in Leeds: https://www.musicglue.com/live-at-leeds-2019/

110 Above Festival
2-4 August, Gopsall Hall Farm, Leicestershire
Artist applications: Artists@110above.com
https://www.110above.com/information

2000 Trees Festival
11 – 13 July 2019, Upcote Farm, Withington
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2000treesBandApp

Nibley Festival
5 -6 July 2019, North Nibley Cotswolds
https://nibleyfestival.co.uk/info/band-contact/

HoyFest
4 October 2019, Cardiff, Wales
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAAZAAOQHyZtUNElLREg5S1FPRldBUTMwUEFNM05EUzNDWC4u

Hanwell Hootie
11 May 2019 London
https://www.musicglue.com/hanwell-hootie-2019/

Victorius Festival
23-25 August Southsea, Portsmouth
https://www.victoriousfestival.co.uk/contacts/

Cornbury Festival
5 -7 July 2019, The Great Tew Park, Oxfordshire
https://www.cornburyfestival.com/contact-us
Apply to Play
Send your short clip or link to mail@cornburyfestival.com

Farm Festival
25 – 27 July 2019, Somerset
http://farmfestival.co.uk/bands-and-djs/
Send your music to music@farmfestival.co.uk

Standon Calling
25-27 July 2019, Standon, Hertfordshire
Application will open soon:
https://standon-calling.com/get-involved/band-submissions/

Are You Listening? Festival
27 April 2019, Reading
http://areyoulistening.org.uk/tickets
Bands interested in playing at the festival, please email the organizers at dave@heavypop.co.uk and include a link to your music and a paragraph of background info.

XPO North
3-4 July 2019, Iverness, Scotland
https://xponorth.co.uk/submissions/music/

Bushstock
15 June 2019, London, Shepherd’s Bush
https://www.bushstock.co.uk/apply-to-play

Live in Chester
4-7 July 2019, Chester
https://www.musicglue.com/chester-live-2019/apply-to-play

Black Deer Festival (Americana and Country/Blues)
21 – 23 June 2019 Eridge Park, Kent
https://blackdeerfestival.com/news/play-at-black-deer/

Tiree Music Festival
12-14 July, Tiree Island, Scotland
https://tireemusicfestival.co.uk/artist-submissions/

BrainChild Festival
12-14 July 2019, East Sussex
Applications close on 15th of March so please hurry up!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScV0oA54dH68Ucv8t-OD4lt9LF0xAIKRLPGXgtqAy9rIyguww/viewform

The Long Road Festival
6-8 September 2019, Stanford Hall Leicestershire (Americana and Roots)
https://www.thelongroad.com/news/artist-registration-long-road-2019-now-open/

Festivals Abroad (aka Away)

If your band is looking to travel outside of the UK or move to the next level of their career, participating in an international gigs is a no brainer. We receive a lot of questions how to book a show in the EU or even in the USA, and there is no straight answer to this question. The best way is always to hire a professional booker, but those companies can ask for 20%-30% of your earnings per gig to cover their costs. Some bands book their own shows by contacting venues or local promoters in each country and sort out their own travels and housing arrangements. This can be costly and we do not recommend sleeping in your vans. This 1980’s approach may be working in certain cases but is draining and can be destructive. With AirBnB and hotel deals easily available on your mobile phones, it is much wiser to book the tour properly. But we digress. There is also another way, maybe a bit trickier and not as successful but you can look for open applications online. There are plenty out there and they do work as many DIY artists we spoke to booked their performances this way. Some applications can be paid (around £15-20), but the amounts are tiny when compared to what can be gained. A festival slot for a price of two burgers and a soda? Bargain!

The hardest part is always the beginning – musicians do not know where to go. We recommend speaking to your friends and networking with other bands, promoters or record labels. If you have nobody to help you, check the social media pages of artists that inspire you and find out where they will play that season or where they go on tour. Write down each venue, festival or event along with the dates and visit their official websites. Look for Contact, Apply, Submission or FAQ sections to find out if they offer open applications. You can also email the organisers or give them a call. Check social media for each event, applications are also advertised on Facebook or on Twitter. Sign up for newsletters so you don’t miss deadlines or important news.

Some very useful pages that will help you to start looking:

https://sentricmusic.com/

https://www.gigmit.com/en/

http://www.theunsignedguide.com/

https://www.waterbear.org.uk

https://www.fansforbands.com
https://www.musicglue.com/

We have made it a bit easier for you and below you will find some of the current openings. But please hurry up, the applications stay open for short period of time and if you are late, then you will have to wait a full year to apply again.

SeaSessions Festival
21-23 of June 2019, Donegal Ireland
Artists/Bands looking to play – bands@seasessions.com
https://seasessions.com/contact/

Rise Festival
14 – 21 December 2019, Les 2 Alps Resort, France
Contact email for artists: hello@risefestival.co.uk

Hopscotch Music Fest
5-7 September 2019 Raleigh North Carolina, US
Applications for artists:
https://podio.com/webforms/22266458/1564667

Live At Heart
4 – 7 September 2019, Orebro Sweden
Application: http://liveatheart.se/applications/

Sweden Rock (application for 2020)
Sölvesborg, Sweden
https://www.swedenrock.com/en/festival/artists/band-applications-2020

Joshua Tree Music Festival
The Joshua Tree Lake Campground, Joshua Tree, CA, US
Artists can apply for three annual festivals at the site here:
https://www.joshuatreemusicfestival.com/artists
or file application at
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1F715iwSjmCTioym1-QhYN3yGl1yMwTvzrR8Qw5m2UCw/viewform?edit_requested=true

Reeperbahn Festival
18-21 September 2019, Hamburg, Germany
https://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/en/info/band-application
https://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/en/reeperbahnfestival/band-application/band-application

Enjoy the links and hopefully the summer festival season will be kind to you.
Best wishes,
R+M

March 10, 2019 by Mal and Rita

Indieterria meets Shiva May Care

Dear Readers,

We are in March already and it is high time to introduce another band to the never ending pages of Indieterria. We are back to the Kingdom of Mancunia to meet the wildest hard-rocking bunch in the North. And what fun gang they are! This five piece is truly international – with members coming from four different nations – all making a wonderful racket around Northern Quarter. Don`t expect the usual brit-pop-y sounds from them. This band is unlike anything you can hear in Manchester – they mix punk, hard rock, metal and even J-Rock to arrive at their own, very distinctive musical voice. A bonus is sense of humour, loyalty to their collaborators and friendship for each other. Show us another group like this in the region and we will buy you a lunch at Night & Day.

Grab your hair spray, your torn jeans and Motley Crue tees – its time to meet Shiva May Care!

Band Logo

Shiva May Care

Michael Morris – vox
Jet Lag (Federico Cossu) – guitar, vox
Jenny (Giorgia di Pancrazio) – bass
Raul Ochoa – guitar
Luke Thorpe – drums, vox

Official bio: Born in 2017 as an collaboration between Federico Cossu (J3T L4g) and Stefano Carbone (who left the band few months later) Shiva May Care is a five piece based in Manchester. They play hard rock with glam, punk and metal inspirations. The band is actively gigging on the local scene with sold out shows at Hula Bar, Rebellion, Night People and Pop Bar in Hyde under their belt.

You are one of the most outstanding bands that came out Manchester scene recently music wise. Please introduce yourselves to readers of Indiererria.

Federico Cossu: Thanks for calling us outstanding. We really appreciate it. Hello Indierreria, we are Shiva May Care: Federio Cossu on guitar, Michael Morris on vocals, Raul Ochoa on guitar, Luke Thorpe on drums and Giorgia “Jenny” Di Pancrazio on bass. How are you doing?

Is there any story behind the band`s name? Who is the mysterious Shiva?

Federico Cossu: Well, we liked the idea of a band with a “Devil May Care” attitude, but we needed something more exclusive than that, more personal. We are not hot-headed guys, we try to be good! For this reason Shiva takes place of the Devil.

Shiva May Care was born just two years ago as a collaboration between guitarist Federico Cossu (known on the Manc scene as J3T L4G) and another local musician Stefano Carbone. Now you expanded to a five piece. Can you tell us about the beginnings of the band and how this particular line up came together?

Federico Cossu: We all met in pubs and clubs, we were friends of friends. I met Stefano at an house party and we decided to start a band out of the blue. At that time, I used to work in the same company as our first singer, Massimo Zitti, so it was natural to ask him to join the band. We just wanted to have fun and play loud rock and roll. Stefano introduced me to Raul and I met Luke at Whiskey Jar in Manchester, amazing place, great vibes and inspiring music environment. Massimo had to leave for Canada so Michael joined the band and our sound went in the hard rock/ metal direction. Our bassist Giorgia joined us last year to complete the line up.

The band is their glamorous splendour

The band is a proper international affair – with members coming from UK, Italy and Mexico. Your work with a producer from New Caledonia. You are basically a heavier version of Superorganism! Do you think that coming from different cultures and speaking different languages is an advantage when it comes to song writing process? How do you overcome potential misunderstandings?

Federico Cossu: Oh yes, it’s definitely an advantage. But to answer your question – coming from different countries where you struggle to find good music allows you to get deeper into the genres as you are not being constantly bombed by the big hits. And we love Manchester, it’s a multicultural hive where people can express themselves as they wish.

I come from a small town where probably only me and my brother know “The Gift” by the Jam! In Manchester you hear these tunes being played every night at bars! It’s great, it`s like a dream!

Different backgrounds bring more points of view to the song writing process and, fortunately, the language misunderstandings are not present as we work really naturally on our songs. I often show a lyric or idea to the band and Michael and the guys will make their own interpretation of it, in order to make it sound personal and more to their liking.

They care a lot – about music, fans and each other

Even if we wanted to squeeze you into a musical box, we would not be able to. There is so much going on in your sound – traditional hard rock, glam, punk, metal and even visual kei (Japanese rock). If we were to summarize your style we would have to define it as Motley Crew meets L`Arc-En-Ciel at a party in Mother Love Bone`s basement. You have your own name for the genre you play: punk`n`roll. Where did your sound originate?

Federico Cossu: Wow, that sounds like a good party. No one has invited us though!

Well, the genre punk’n’roll is something I know since I was a kid, we didn’t invented it. I’m personally a big fun of Social Distortion, Backyard Babies, The Hives, Hardcore Superstar, Radio Birdman, Gluecifer, Turbonegro and Hellacopters. I’ve always known these bands as punk`n`roll bands, especially referring to all the Scandinavian rock scene.

To summarize, you pick The Stooges, Ramones, MC5, New York Dolls, Dictators and stick a distorted rocket under their asses: congrats, you`ve got punk and roll, action rock, death punk and so on.

All these influences have been probably mixed up with Luke, Michael, Raul and Georgia’s influences, such as ’80 classic rock and new romantic, metal and hair metal, blues and stoner rock. However, I wouldn’t get stuck with genres names and labels, it’s a never-ending battle, it’s only rock and roll after all.

Hopefully in the future, you will find us on the soundtrack to a new anime or a video game (laughs).

Shiva May Care – the wildest kids in Northern Town

You have just released your debut A side single “Til The Music Is Loud”/”Stubborn Lovers” produced by Mathieu Garcia at Red Sand Studio. We know Mathieu from his project Gold For Kids and incredible single he released last year “City of Your Name”. How did you find working with Red Sand Studio?

Federico Cossu: We felt at home! Mathieu is a friend and we love his solo projects. I remember he was working on his track “Plastic Guns” when we started talking about recording Shiva`s first songs. His music knowledge and skills are impressive and he has been able to catch the essence of Shiva May Care as a band. He also added effects, keyboards and backing vocals ideas to our songs.

Have you recorded any other songs with Mathieu Garcia?

Federico Cossu: We recorded together “Shiva Dance” – our live show opening track, which you will find on streaming platforms in the coming months. It is a small ethnic rock composition that became incredible thanks to Mathieu`s arrangement skills and taste. He added deep Asian and tribal percussions mixed up with modern sounds, giving it a “V for Vendetta” kind of vibe. For this song, we collaborated with two close friends: Nina Bakhshayesh on cello and Kitty “Albino” Tha Eastankittan on vocals.

Mathieu contributed to the maturing of the band and we wish him the very best in his own career.

You are also teasing release of another single in mid March entitled “Stay With Me”. Do you plan any promotional videos for this song? What can we expect?

Federico Cossu: We are working with Luca de Falco on music video for Stay With Me. We tried to think out of the box, avoiding the usual hard rock clichés when it comes up to video clips. It will be great, we had such a positive feedback towards the single so far. It’s a song that everyone can relate to and for the video we are bringing in this great Manchester dancer, Aisha Clasen. You will be able to enjoy her interpretation of the song through her performance next month.

The only way is UP!

Shiva May Care is regularly playing live shows around Manchester, recently at Lock 91. And your shows are always described as very upbeat and dynamic. What`s the best part of playing on stage?

Federico Cossu: The best part of playing on stage is playing on stage I guess. There’s nothing better than expressing yourself, high on adrenaline in front of people who are waiting to have some fun. That’s the best drug ever. However, everything happens too quickly, as my ex used to tell me, so you need another gig ASAP.

We are definitely seeing you live this year. Are you planning a tour perhaps?

Federico Cossu: We won’t plan any tours at the moment, we wish to see our fan base grow locally first. We will definitely be planning some gigs to promote Stay with Me. The next show will be at Jimmy’s on the 2nd of April and we will appear at Zombie Shack on the 5th of May for Below The Bridge event.

Radio Salford described your bassist Giorgia di Pancrazio as the best bass player to come out of Manchester since Peter Hook himself. Any comments on that?

Federico Cossu: We will take the compliment with pleasure, thanks for that. Georgia is great. And we will do our best to honour her talent at our future live shows. Hopefully, love won’t tear us apart.

The band has sense of humour and doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

We love your merch. The Shiva logo that appears on your t-shirts is one of the best designs we have seen in a long time. Can you reveal who is the artist behind it?

Federico Cossu: The artwork comes from the mind of Matt Shock, Sardinian art designer. With him, just like with Mathieu, we immediately got the essence of Shiva May Care. The design was born from a photo I’ve taken in Market Street in Manchester of a girl wearing a jacket with a snake emblem on it. Matt added some Hellacopters influences and our Shiva logo was born. You definitely have to check Matt`s works, he is currently working on all our next artworks too.

Last question – but we have to ask. What are the things that Shiva may care about? Any ideas?

Federico Cossu: Shiva may care about making good music. And we definitely care about people who will listen to our songs. We want the public to have fun while we are striving to encourage people not to waste their lives, all between a jump, a shout and a good riff. We really wish to see boys and girls of Manchester (and beyond) beating depression, drug and alcohol abuse if they are suffering of any of these problems. There’s a huge potential within each of us and it would be a shame not to use it. We also care about our pets… God, we love our pets and good coffee.

Shiva May Care merch stand is colourful and very artistic

You can follow the band on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/shivamaycare
https://twitter.com/ShivaMayCare
https://www.instagram.com/shivamaycare/
https://soundcloud.com/shivamaycare
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5l8feZRdChITHw7dp0L0gc?si=ww1Tiem0S5C0aOPiQbRoZw

Federico Cossu (aka J3T-L4G)
https://soundcloud.com/jet-lag13

We hope you found Shiva May Care interesting and we will surely report back on their musical endeavours in the future. For now, turn the volume up and enjoy the wild ride with the awesome band!

Laters,

Mal+ Rita

March 1, 2019 by Mal and Rita

Indieterria presents A Very Insecure Exhibition

Dear Readers,

A Very Insecure Exhibition flyer #1

The opening of A Very Insecure Exhibition – the place was packed!

The opening of A Very Insecure Exhibition

Vanadian Avenue has always been about music, pop culture and art. We absolutely adore any artistic activity and when we are notified that something interesting and unique is going to take place, we cannot help ourselves but to check it out. After hearing that two legendary music photographers, Karen McBride and Shari Dawson are going to do a collective exhibition, we booked hotel, tickets and off we went to see what was happening in the kingdom of Mancunia.

Before arriving to Manchester, we spoke to both artists about their exhibition, but they were mysterious as Sphinxes and didn’t reveal anything about it. They were so adamant not to let things slip, that they refused to name the place of the exhibition until the last day and even then, they had to be convinced by the BBC DJ to do it.

In the days of social media and constant bombardment by notifications, such attitude may be surprising but knowing both ladies, we can understand why they chose to promote their event in this way.

Thomas Haywood of The Blinders – the most popular print at the exhibition

The opening of A Very Insecure Exhibition – the famous Elbow image!

First of all, both Karen and Shari are fiercely independent. They don’t follow any trends and they don’t look up to anybody else. Secondly, they take the Manchester motto of “doing things differently” very literally and always come up with something fresh and exciting. They are also trend setters, always a step ahead of the game. When the rest of the world is busy printing stage times to the last seconds or sending invites, Karen and Shari do the opposite. They provided their fans with minimal information and encouraged them to patiently wait for the right moment. And this tactics worked like a charm! When we arrived at the PROJECTS MCR skate park venue where the exhibition took place, we found out that the place was tightly packed. It was really fascinating to watch – people queued eagerly, exchanging ideas and being excited like group of kids before unpacking their presents on Christmas morning. We have never seen anything like this before. In a world over-saturated with news, being told only the bare minimum, suddenly seems radical and very punk!

Shari Denson and Karen McBride – photo by Simon Lee https://www.flickr.com/photos/strangelove20/

Skatepark MCR is a very specific place, full of concrete pillars, fantastic graffiti (the portrait of Princess Leia is probably one of the best we have seen in our lives!), slops and ramps. It is located under Mancunian Way and is separated from the main road by a fence. Holding exposition in an open air venue can be tricky on a chilly February night, but the organizers made sure that the cafe was opened and served hot drinks and cakes to those who needed a little something to warm them up. There was also another drink bar, crafty built from recycled pallets and placed among the pictures that served cold drinks and ice creams.

John Robb (The Membranes/Louder Than War Magazine) who also conducted interview with Karen and Shari at the opening

At the bar

Since learning about the location of the exhibition, we were speculating among ourselves how Karen and Shari’s pictures are going to be displayed. After many guesses, we reached the conclusion that the venue is so unusual that the set up is probably going to be very traditional. We imagined rows of white, elegant boards with pictures displayed in even rows and the visitors passing from one end of the venue to the other with a glass of wine in hand, admiring them. You can imagine our surprise when we saw the final layout! Absolutely nothing traditional, no boards, no elegant browsing! The images, although beautifully printed on large scale billboards, were plastered alongside the slops, hang from the ceiling and were displayed on the walls or even covered the ramps and the floor! To get to see them, we had to move really close. We were forced to bend down, get on our knees, climb and walk around the uneven edges. And in that moment, we truly understood the genius of both photographers. Their art is not to be displayed in a museum or just glanced over. It needed to be felt, touched, breathed in. It was supposed to be in-your-face, it was supposed to feel like you had to work to earn the right to see those images. Only then we could truly appreciated them. The images are strictly linked to the city of Manchester. They portray musicians, artists, cultural icons and regular people frozen in a single moment in time. They are not static, they are expressive, moving, they feel alive. They would still look beautiful in an art gallery, but it would never be the same. And the title finally made sense. A Very Insecure Exhibition was exactly that – vulnerable, chaotic, unique yet inspiring and very much alive. It felt true and one of a kind. By the end of the evening, the public could take the prints home and the exposition was gone. One time event only, one evening, something brief but beautiful. Just like real life.

Malicia and Keith Higgins

Musicians Against Homelessness Manchester Manager – Andy White

Malicia and photographer Neil Winward

Malicia and music promoter Paul Cartwright

Paul Cartwright

Rita and Mancunian poet – Karl Hildebrandt

Admiring, or taking the photographs home was not the only attraction of the evening. John Robb, punk rock legend and editor of Louder Than War magazine interviewed Karen and Shari for nearly half an hour and we had a chance to listen to their anecdotes, stories from working behind the stages and experiences as professional photographers in one of the most competitive and difficult industries. In the end, Karen and Shari received small gifts form the grateful visitors – two chocolate cameras!

“A Very Insecure Exhibition” proved to be a very big success for both artists. There is a talk that another event will take place in 2020. We cannot wait.