Festival Preview: Supersonic Birmingham, October 2011 Interview with organisers Capsule
By: Stan Morgan
How would you describe the festival to someone who has never heard of it?
Supersonic is a heady mix of music, art, film and cake. The music programme is a bit like rifling through your best friend's record collection (your best friend with great taste in music that is!). Who wants to go to a festival and listen to the same kind of music all weekend? Supersonic is one of the few places where you can listen to funeral doom, prog, folk, avant jazz and grindcore in one weekend, add to that films, workshops, talks, exhibitions and all the cake you can eat.
How has the festival changed since it started 9 years ago?
It's certainly grown, most obviously from a 1 day event to a 3 day festival - there's not only more live music, but the workshop, talks and exhibitions programme has expanded hugely. There's also more scope now to develop special performances - such as the Kids gigs, unique collaborations such as Khyam Allami's performance with Master Musicians of Bukkake last year and opportunities for the audience to get involved. For instance, this year there are two workshops for the audience that will culminate in them performing and exhibiting at the fest. It's really exciting for us that Supersonic can act not only as a platform for new artwork but is also a place where new work is created.
What inspired you to start the festival in the first place?
We wanted to create our ideal festival. Who wants to listen to the same sort of music all weekend? We certainly don't and at the time there were few festivals who catered to that. It's also a great way of culminating our year round programme Capsule.
Have you ever been tempted to turn the festival into a summer event, in a field somewhere?
The festival used to happen in July but we moved it to October and i think it really suits the event to be in the Autumn. The industrial backdrop of Digbeth is also very fitting to a lot of the music we programme at the festival. For instance, Godflesh in a field in the middle of July wouldn't have had quite the same effect!
Which acts from this year’s line-up are you particularly looking forward to?
Hard to say! Tony Conrad is a real coup, and Turbonegro should be a hell of a lot of fun. There are some great smaller UK bands playing at the festival that demand more attention, such as Klaus Kinski (often described as a Welshman's Arab on Radar), Drunk in Hell (pure filth) and Selfless (another great band in the Birmingham Grindcore tradition). There's also tons of workshops, exhibitions and talks to get your teeth into plus some amazing films.
What would you say are the criteria for a band to be considered good enough to get on the bill?
One thing that stands out for most of the bands we programme is a sense of showmanship. We love a good performance, a sense of excitement on the stage, a bit of a spectacle.
Does one year stick out for you as being an amazing year for the festival?
Not really, we wouldn't be doing a very good job if we weren't proud of all previous line ups. 2010 was a big year for us though, having the reformed Swans, Godflesh and Hallogallo perform. That was really thrilling and they all certainly lived up to the excitement, but Supersonic isn't about chasing the biggest name headliners, it's more just what fits with what we have in mind for each year.
How would you say the music scene in Birmingham compares to other cities like London or Manchester?
Capsule started putting shows on because a lot of touring bands would bypass Birmingham, despite it being the 'second city'. I think that’s changed a lot over the years and there's lots of live music going on in the city, but we do have a problem here with a lack of smaller venues, and only a couple of independent record shops. There have always been tons of great bands coming out of the region though, hence our Home of Metal project, celebrating Heavy Metal's birthplace.
Have you got any plans for next year’s event? Any particular acts you have in mind?
Next year Supersonic will 10 years old. Hard to believe, but we'll certainly do something special to mark that.
- Supersonic Festival takes place from the 21st ‘til the 23rd of October in various venues across Birmingham. Head to their website for all the details. Bands appearing include Wolves In The Throne Room, Electric Wizard, Bardo Pond, Monarch, Part Chimp, Silver Apples, Alexander Tucker, Mike Watt, Teeth Of The Sea, Drum Eyes, Turbonegro, ENVY, Secret Chiefs Three, the recently-added Iconoclas (Dalek fans rejoice!) and many others. Amongst the non music delights on show, we heartily recommend the screening of Blood, Sweat and Vinyl – a great snapshot in to the world of DIY heavy music featuring labels like Hydra Head, Neurot and Aquarius. More detailson that here.