Pete Simonelli / Felix / Insect Ark / Rattle - Feb 25 2012

DAMN YOU! & GRINGO RECORDS PRESENTS:

A lot of people we've spoken to have said that Enablers at Chameleon was their gig of 2011. Can't disagree with that. They enjoyed themselves so much that vocalist Pete is coming all the way back again for this solo show with a stellar supporting cast...

PETE SIMONELLI

"In addition to being the vocalist and co-founder of the San Francisco-based band, Enablers, Simonelli is a published poet, writer, and playwright. A native Californian, Simonelli spent eighteen formative years in San Francisco, documenting, observing, drinking, reading, loving, betraying, working, and writing--- attributes and setbacks that, over the years, have led to many a Second Chance, for which he is very grateful. And call it birthright, boon, or bane, but as one who too often veered in westerly directions (much to the amusement of his friends and bandmates), Simonelli moved east in 2008 and now makes his home in Brooklyn, New York. These shows will see Pete reading from his past book 'One Brittle Nerve' and he will also have new material on offer."

If you saw his spoken-word performance at Lee Rosy's just over a year ago you'll know you're in for a rare treat.

www.lancashireandsomerset.co.uk


FELIX

Felix is the musical pseudonym for Lucinda Chua, joined now (in classic power trio style) by Neil Turpin (Yann Tiersen, Bilge Pump, Quack Quack, Enablers) on drums and long-time collaborator Chris Summerlin (Lords, Kogumaza) on electric guitar.
This 3 piece line-up has just recorded the second Felix record, entitled Oh Holy Molar to be released on the Kranky label in April 2012 after which the band embarks on a US tour with Yann Tiersen.

www.felixtheband.com


INSECT ARK

"INSECT ARK (NYC) is the brand-new solo project from Dana Schechter (Bee and Flower, Angels
of Light, American Music Club). Drawing from her decidedly more aggressive and experimental
musical side, INSECT ARK is composed and performed as an analog-electronic hybrid: one
woman, a sampler, a bass, a lap steel, and a keyboard. Just off a Fall 2011 European tour with
Enablers, she is currently recording her first EP"

http://insectark.tumblr.com/


RATTLE

If the idea of a band consisting of just 2 drummers brings to mind a hippy bongo nightmare then you've obviously never heard Rattle. Comprising of 2 of Nottingham's most unique and recognisable drummers (Theresa Wrigley of Fists and Katharine Brown of Kogumaza) and aided by Kogumaza's Mark Spivey they create a hypnotic and danceable music form that recalls This Heat or ESG even whilst remaining completely their own.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rattle/196974100379051?v=info


What a line up eh? We're going to decide on running order on the night. The thinking is to perhaps have Pete's spoken word going on throughout the evening between bands or to somehow mix it up differently to a normal gig. We'll keep you posted on that one.

As usual, we're keeping this cheap and cheerful so it's FIVE POUNDS ON THE DOOR.

DOORS ARE AT 8.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On My Walls

Damn You! Christmas Covers Party 2011

It's that time of year again when bands in Nottingham scurry to secret practise rooms to heatedly discuss which pop classics they're going to murder in front of a paying audience in the name of good tidings. Yep, the 10th Annual Damn You! Christmas Covers Party is happening at The Bodega in Nottingham on December 17th.
If you socially network you can read all about it here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153536504743034
And if you don't then the local paper The Evening Post grilled me about it last year here:
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/nottingham-evening-post/mi_8158/is_20101217/gig-damn-christmas-covers-party/ai_n56509476/
All proceeds from this year's event go to Nottinghamshire Hospice as if all the tomfoolery wasn't reason enough to attend. See you there...

And if you're too young to understand why Santa is eating a piece of salmon from his beard then catch up here:

Recent Poster Work

No updates for a while so here are a few recent poster designs:

New Design Work - September 2011

First up is this poster for the Gunpowder Treason & Pot! night of spoken word, lyricism and poetry that Nottingham Culture magazine Left Lion is putting on with Dealmaker Records. They wanted something bold and iconic to catch the eye in print and in poster form and get people interested in what is a pretty unusual event. You can read more about it here:
http://www.thedealmakerlabel.com/2011/11/gunpowder-treason-pot-a-scribal-gathering-of-poetical-dissent/



Second is this "Moonpack" CD digipack for Diamonds & Hearts by singer-songwriter James Deane. I'd previously worked on some album graphics for James' band Clearfield and he asked me to work on his first solo album too. James wanted to combine a feeling of Americana with more English feeling touches with reference to Victorian sheet music illustration and lettering. As before, James was a pleasure to work with and had clear ideas about how to bring everything together and hopefully the results speak for themselves. More images from the package here at Flickr.



Finally, back in June, Sustrans commissioned me to design this artwork for their Carnival Of Cycling at the Nottingham Trent Uni. It had to be bright and summery and above all it had to quickly communicate what the Carnival was about to anyone viewing it. This type of poster can often present problems in striking a balance between necessary information, fulfilling corporate obligations (logos etc) and making the thing look appealing and uncluttered. I think the end result does the job nicely though. And what typeface says "transport" better than Gill Sans? Eric Gill saves the day again...

Enablers - Oct 13

DAMN YOU! AND GRINGO RECORDS VERY PROUDLY PRESENTS; FROM SAN FRANCISCO:

ENABLERS

ENABLERS are from San Fransisco, CA and are without doubt one of the most powerful and amazing live bands on the planet right now and one of only a tiny handful of bands that we all agree on as being truly something special.
They combine a sinister tautness (somewhat akin to Slint maybe - and by that I mean dark, heavy, dry, bare, economical and not the dreaded "post rock" tag) with a love of heaviosity and weird riffery that sits them somewhere between the ritualistic displays of the mighty Lungfish and the more cathartic explosions of Nottingham's own Bob Tilton .
They employ a 2 guitars and drums set up to maximum effect whilst vocalist Pete Simonelli delivers spoken-word beat monologues and moods that either whisper below the surface or fight hard to be heard over the band's righteous racket.
The addition of drummer Doug Scharin (Codeine, June Of 44, HiM etc) and an increase in activity culminating in the new LP "Blown Realms And Stalled Explosions" (on Exile On Mainstream/Lancashire & Somerset) and a genuinely triumphant final-night set at the Pavement-curated ATP has seen Enablers hone and perfect their already considerable skills to the point where they are truly unstoppable.

http://enablers.bandcamp.com/


KOGUMAZA

Kogumaza formed in Nottingham in 2009. They use primitive rhythms, patterns and riffs to create dense and mesmeric song-cycles. The band’s live sound is manipulated through dub delays and echoes, allowing what is basically a heavy rock trio to expand and willingly lose control of the sound they make as they make it.

The resulting music marries fuzzed-out psychedelia to an ambient aesthetic, placing the band somewhere between the infinite repetition of Moondog and the thick gloop of Master Of Reality-era Sabbath.
They have recently released their first LP on the Low Point label and toured Europe with Zomes. A split 7" with Hookworms is in the pipeline and October sees shows with Nathan Bell, Enablers and an appearance at the Supersonic Festival.

“At times Kogumaza sounds like the future or the strange murmurings of the universe; at others, the cyclical pounding of drums conjures ghosts of ancient rituals, as if drawn from the very centre of the earth” Fluid Radio

http://kogumaza.bandcamp.com/


WITHOUT MAPS

"Without Maps hail from Nottingham, they consist of four people who sing, play guitars and drum. They came about through a desire to create music that was as direct as it was engaging. Initial practices began in late 2010 with three mutual friends mapping out their first creations. A decision was made after these first sessions that these songs needed to sound as big as possible and a fourth member was subsequently added. Late January this year saw the band making their first trip to the studio to record their first audio offering “The Cellar Tapes EP” and February marked the bands first live appearances. In the coming months the band hope to see themselves playing many more shows and write and record as much as possible whilst holding down low paid jobs"

http://withoutmaps.bandcamp.com/


All this excellence starts with the doors to Chameleon opening at 8.00 and the first band on at 8.30.

£5 ADVANCE FROM : http://www.wegottickets.com/event/132541

£6 DOOR. Buy a ticket as this will be busy...

DO NOT MISS!

Posters For Daniel Higgs Tour

2 new posters for shows on the upcoming Daniel Higgs Tour. The top one is for Nottingham on April 27th (solo performance) and the bottom one for Cardiff (Trio performance). The Cardiff poster recycles and re-jigs an old illustration I did for Plan B Magazine for a playlist chosen by Tony Sylvester (Aurora Borealis). I did it with the "I vomited up a blinking eye" Lungfish lyric in mind. It's somehow supposed to represent how the important details can be so subtle as to pass you by, or at least not be the first thing you notice. If you catch my drift. It goes without saying that I'm an enormous fan of Higgs' art and music. There are some photos from the opening of his solo show at the 96 Gillespie Gallery a few years ago here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sumlin/sets/72157602758905434/with/1773774989/ The temptation was to go for something ancient, or pseudo-mystical in terms of imagery. But Higgs isn't really that much older than I am. He's just got a better beard. So I drew a Cosmonaut for the Nottingham poster. Hope you like it.

New Red-Eyed & Blue Poster

Another one for The Brute Chorus. This one absolutely broke my brain (not entirely the fault of the poster, more the timing of it's desired completion date!) but luckily it all turned out nice in the end. Some Gris-Gris style Day Of The Dead witchdoctor shit. In yer breakfast...

Recent Artwork

2 new pieces of work from the last month. At the top is a significantly scaled-down version of a one-off piece done as a commission by my friends Matt and Kerry who wanted something for their living room wall and liked what I'd done for the band The Slow Life. The actual piece is framed and measures something like 3 feet across.

Below that is a gig-poster-as-wedding-invitation for Anna Storakers and Per Winroth. Anna has commissioned me to do lots of gig posters in the past and she really wanted something for her wedding that was funny. And has Basset Grifon dogs on it...

Kogumaza / Gareth Hardwick - Nov 11

Originally planned to be NATHAN BELL (of Lungfish) with Kogumaza and Dusty Bible, we found out this morning that Nathan was refused entry to the UK at immigration and sent home.
This is something of a colossal downer.

Let us not wallow in this bad news though. Kogumaza will be unrestricted by a 30 min opening slot for the first time ever for their last Nottingham show before hibernating to make an LP, Low Point's Gareth Hardwick has been coaxed out of gig hiatus, Dusty Bible got through immigration about 15 years ago, Chameleon is booked, the door price is lowered, Nick's got a load of booze in from Lidl and we demand your attendance.

Here's the blurb:

DAMN YOU! in association with RAMMEL CLUB presents...

► KOGUMAZA
Kogumaza is people from Bob Tilton, Lords, Wolves Of Greece and more making thick, shimmering riff cycles pitched somewhere between a budget Black Sabbath and Spacemen 3 on half speed playing forever. Frequencies are shifted, drums are echoed to infinity and beautiful patterns emerge from the fuzz and stay trapped in your brain for weeks.
http://www.myspace.com/oogamaza
http://www.honeyisfunny.com/kogumaza/

► GARETH HARDWICK
Low Point Records (Machinefabriek, Strategy etc) owner Gareth Hardwick returns to the live arena at long last. "While many experimental artists tend to shy away from intimacy...the cliched presumption of instrumental music being incapable of dealing with private issues in a specific way was effectively disproved by suggestive soundscapes which burned with joy, pain, elation and desire – even if they hardly ever rose above a whisper"
www.low-point.com

► DUSTY BIBLE
Hoarse blues with a whiff of sulphur and three day oldbooze.

THURSDAY 11th NOVEMBER
The CHAMELEON Arts Cafe, Nottingham
(Old Market sq / alleyway next to the Bell Inn, above Clinton Cards)
8pm doors
£3 on the door

We'll send the proceeds onto to Nathan Bell to help pay for a little of the wasted airfare so be sure to come down.

Happy Birthday Joe Mask

Heather got me to do this for Joe's birthday in September. To address the balance for Emlyn's Mum's cat ending up as the star of this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sumlin/2280986291/

Part Chimp 7" Sleeve

Do I want to design a screenprinted sleeve for the forthcoming Part Chimp 7" on Gringo Records? Does the Pope shit in the woods?

"Undercover User Experience" Book Illustrations

My lack of updates, especially those of an illustration and artwork nature, is down to two people: Cennydd Bowles and James Box. They've just written a book entitled Undercover User Experience that's about to be published by Peachpit and they asked me to do the chapter illustrations.
This is the first "set" of illustrations I've been commissioned to do from scratch and it was a fairly sizeable job made much easier by clear instruction and good ideas from the authors who were a lot of fun to work with. The book sets out to be deliberately free of jargon and offer new angles to approach things from and Cennydd and James felt a slightly abstract and funny set of illustrations would best serve their intentions and steer the final results away from cliches like light bulbs above people's heads.
We ran through several loose ideas for each chapter before settling on a central character who would face different (and slightly bizarre) trials in each illustration, relating in some way to the content of the chapter in question.
Mr Joe O'Sullivan (central character) and Mr Daniel Robert Chapman ("Boss" character) kindly loaned me themselves for an afternoon and I made several hundred photographs of them in increasingly silly poses in Joe's garden to form the basis for the drawings (Sadly, I have sworn to them that I will delete the photos from my hard drive once the book goes to press).

The set of 7 illustrations are shown above, give them a click to see them larger and for more info.

The Brute Chorus Poster

New one for Red Eyed & Blue who are starting up again with this show in September at The Luminaire in London.

Kogumaza L&S014 7"

Kogumaza Rowan Maeve b/w Phantom Itch, limited to 300 copies on Lancashire & Somerset Records on transparent yellow vinyl in a foil-embossed sleeve. Out now: www.lancashireandsomerset.co.uk (just use the contact email to get ordering details)
Or you can buy them from us at any of these upcoming gigs:

MAY
7 CHINCHILLAFEST at LEEDS BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB w/Marvin, Cowtown, Cissy, Spectrals
8 NOTTINGHAM CHAMELEON w/Marvin, Grande Duke
9 DERBY VINES w/Marvin, Grande Duke
13 LIVERPOOL LEAF CAFE w/Enablers, White Foal, Sugar Life

JUNE
2 MANCHESTER RETRO BAR w/Remember Remember, David Thomas Broughton
3 NOTTINGHAM SPANKY VAN DYKES w/Scout Niblett

Elvis Print

I did this for my Mum for Xmas. It's Elvis doing Guitar Man with Al Casey's red Hagstrom Viking on the 1968 Comeback Special. I have a handful of test prints of this if anyone would like to buy one. They are a little bigger than A3 in size (approx 31 x 44 cm) and are litho printed onto heavyweight matt-finish paper. They are a little more expensive than my normal gig posters and can be signed if you so desire.

Limited Edition "Tiger" Screenprint

My first ever limited edition print is available on pre-order now from I Dress Myself by signing up to their mailing list which will give you first dibs on all their other marvellous print-based goodies. It goes on sale to everyone else on February 11th. It's a seven colour print on 270gsm paper measuring B2 size (50 x 70 cm) and thanks to Pete's patience and skills it looks lovely. The illustration was originally done for a poster for the Get Hustle back in 2007. Here's my page over at the IDM website: http://www.idressmyself.co.uk/shop/artist/chris-summerlin
There are plans afoot for a t-shirt design that will be the ultimate addition to any Fender Jaguar/Jazzmaster fan's wardrobe too. Watch this space...

New Energimolla Posters

Latest set of posters for the Energimolla venue in Kongsberg, Norway. This time we opted to make a virtue out of the press photos that agents send promoters for their acts. I reduced the press shots to high contrast black and white and then added a single bold colour to give the set a uniform feel and make them stand out among the countless gig posters that use a promo photo of the band concerned. That's the plan anyway.

Savoy Grand Tour Poster

A2 sized poster for the upcoming Savoy Grand European dates. They're listed here: http://www.myspace.com/savoygrand
Savoy Grand are in the midst of what rock biographers will retrospectively call their "Pig Period": Glitterhouse Records.

A Couple Of New Poster Designs...

2 new ones for the masters of good musical taste in our nation's capital: Baba Yaga's Hut at Corsica Studios