South Yorkshire band, Hands Off Gretel, have released a 48-page full colour zine, which includes over 70 pieces of individual fan art. The zine will help raise funds for Brighton based anti-bullying charity ‘Ditch the Label’, which was chosen by band front woman Lauren Tate, who recently spoke out about the impact of years of bullying and online harassment.
The fan artwork that features in the zine was invited by the band as part of their ‘Lock down’ activities to keep fans engaged, as tour plans were cancelled due to COVID-19 . The band received over 70 submissions of fan art and prompted Lauren to create the fan zine.
‘We just couldn’t believe the standard of the artwork that came flooding in. I decided that we had to create something really special, so that we could truly celebrate all of the artwork together and I came up with the idea of a Fan Zine, The ‘quarantine Edition’ ‘
While Lauren set about narrating the zine she was subjected to yet another hateful public attack online, something that has been ongoing for 5 years. The perpetrator posting false personal allegations online and messaging other bands, fans, promoters and music journalists, hiding behind fake profiles to try and sabotage Laurens character.
‘On the one hand I was dealing with such amazing positivity from our fans receiving these wonderful art creations, at the same time as battling this hatred online. I had felt so powerless that someone was actively using the Internet to spread hate about me.
Everyone tells you its ‘Normal’, ‘just ignore it’, ‘haters gonna hate’, but unless you have been through it, you have no idea how much it messes with your head.
Receiving the artwork from all around the world really helped me so much during this time and the sheer positivity of this just gave me the confidence and the courage to finally speak out.
Creating the zine to raise awareness of the impact of bullying and supporting the anti-bullying charity ’Ditch the Label’ just seemed like the obvious thing to do, turning this into something really positive and doing my bit to help others going through the same thing.’
The lock down has led to a huge increase in bullying, harassment and online abuse. The bands chosen Charity, ‘Ditch the Label’, has seen a 158% increase in contact with their charity during the lock down. Each week, thousands of people benefit from the charity’s resources and digital one-to-one support. They have a team of digital mentors who are trained to help young people navigate through issues related to bullying, such as improving mental health, body image, coming out and building confidence and self-esteem.
‘Ditch the Label are delighted to be involved in the Hands Off Gretel fanzine, which will not only raise awareness of the prevalence and impacts of bullying and abusive behaviours, but will also raise vital funds. These funds directly help us keep our support services running – thank you so much on behalf of those we support.’ Sue Jones CEO Ditch The Label
The 48 page fan zine ‘Quarantine Edition’ which includes all the art submissions and personal accounts from the band around issues of bullying and self confidence is on sale on the bands website and will also be sold at the live gigs (when they resume) £5 from every zine sold will be donated to the charity ‘Ditch The label’.
https://www.handsoffgretel.co.uk/product-page/fan-zine-2020-quarantine-edition
Brand new online music festival Five4Five Fest has today not only announced that the festival will be taking place digitally on the 15th and 16th of May, but also announced that the festival headliners will be non-other than British Rock heavyweights Enter Shikari and Don Broco.
Shortly after achieving a career defining No. 2 album chart position for their latest album ‘Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible’, members of Enter Shikari will be wowing fans with a unique at home performance streamed straight into living rooms nationwide, consisting of new and much loved classic Shikari tunes. Never ones to shy away from a technological challenge, the band’s performance is not to be missed.
Also joining the bill as headliners are Bedford’s finest four-piece Don Broco, who promise to bring the charismatic ‘80s pop-inflected rock, metal, funk and electronic sound of their three studios albums booming into festival goers homes. Since forming in 2008, Don Broco have become one of rock’s most diverse and charismatic bands.
Five bands will play each day of the festival which will take place on the 15th and 16th of May, a total of ten performances over the course of the weekend. A mixture of full band, solo/duo and completely reimagined performances will be streamed via the Five4FiveFacebook page from 7:30pm each evening. The show will be public and completely free and those attending will be encouraged to donate £5 via a link provided at the time. All profits will be donated to the NHS Charities Together.
Other incentives to donate such as signed drumsticks/skins and picks, artwork and merch will also be available. This, along with the remaining eight artists who will complete the line-up and other exciting aspects will be announced soon.
Five4Five Fest is born as fans and bands alike are facing a summer without festivals. Given the immense strain the Covid-19 pandemic has placed on our NHS and the personal sacrifices and efforts being made by NHS staff, bands and music industry professionals have come together to pool collective strengths with the aim of raising money.
Website – https://five4fivefest.com/
The Parasitic Twins, the hardcore punk two-piece band of WARO writer, Dom Smith and his friend (and guitarist), Max Watt have released their new EP, ‘God Mode’. You can stream it below:
STREAM || BUY: theparasitictwins.bandcamp.com/album/god-mode
Ripping a page from the Bongripper school of lo-fi noise, then setting it on fire via the ways of Napalm Death and Code Orange, Hull/York duo, The Parasitic Twins are gearing up to unleash their new EP; ‘GOD MODE’ on Friday, January 31. The EP will be free to download.
Recorded live and raw, at Melrose Yard Studios in York with longtime collaborator Dom Fraser, the hardcore doom-grind band – made up by guitarist/vocalist Max Watt (Rotting Monarchs) and drummer Dom Smith (Mary and The Ram), have performed together previously as part of Seep Away – was born of a desire to create the most abrasive sound they could.
Dom Smith sits down with JJ Tatten, Manager of The Warren Youth Project to talk about the next phase of Three Minute Heroes.
For more information visit:
Hull alternative indie powerhouse Waste Of Paint have now released their majestic, introspective and emotive new tune, ‘Beaudelaire Waltz’ into the world, via The New Anonymous Records.
“We are not our thoughts, we are the grand observers of our thoughts. Our songs are narratives based on what we are feeling at the time. Sometimes it’s near suicidal despair, other times it’s anger at what is happening to the world. But every song, every line means something…. more often than not it has multiple meanings depending on which way you interpret the lyrics….. but that’s what we like.” Explain Waste Of Paint.
Indeed the band is named after a lyric from one of the masters of this craft Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes). The band, from its inception has always been an arts project. We just paint with sounds. Formed in Hull, Waste of Paint is an ever evolving door of creatives based around the songwriting duo of Adam Brodie and Dan Spooner. Typically Brodie is the wordsmith, and Spooner the producer, although they co-write and produce everything together.
“I had to let go and ‘break down’ in front of the camera…I had to bare my soul, I had to cry. And I did…a lot. It was the only way i could do justice to the words that had poured out of me when writing the song. I had to tell my truth.” – Adam Brodie on filming ‘Baudelaire Waltz’.
Stream it below:
Applications are now open for artists to apply to take part on Exchange 62: northern disabled artists exchange. This is an exciting new partnership between Artlink Hull, Pyramid, Leeds and Venture Arts, Manchester that aims to increase opportunity for disabled artists based in the vicinity of each of these cities. The programme is commissioned by the Co-Creating Change Network.
Beginning from November 2019, the commissioned artists will be free to interpret, build and lead their own exchange projects, collaborating closely with one another in a exchange of ideas and practice across the regions, then bring their combined experience and work together in July 2020.
How the exchange manifests itself in each city will be artist-led and may vary from artistic collaboration to engaging with other disabled people and activist groups or with cultural institutions and/or setting up events or activity in the public realm. The only parameter being it must be collaborative work with the goal of longer-term social change. The artists from each region will be selected by a panel of disabled artists.
The closing date for applications is 25th October 2019.
Please find more information below:
Too often we view depression and mental health from a negative standpoint, and it’s easy to typecast the condition as one of weakness and vulnerability. London King is out to smash that misconception along with the negative stigma looming around mental health. Her coming EP is a statement that mental health problems are nothing to feel ashamed of, like any other illness, depression is a condition that can affect anyone, at anytime including the strong.
It was the late MP Jo Cox’s Commission on Loneliness in 2017 that inspired Toni Castells, a composer and professor, to write ‘Hhumann X’ – a piece which is basically an exploration of the paradox of growing social isolation at a time of technological hyper-connectedness.
For the debut performance Toni is collaborating with More Than Just A Choir, a community choir based in North London that works with people suffering from mental illness and social isolation – not only exploring the issue of loneliness but directly tackling its cause.