Dates: 13-19th June 2011

What you get: The deal is the same as the SXSW mission – you’ll receive 50% (up to £500 max) towards the costs of your flights/travel, delegate passes and accommodation (so you must spend £1000 to claim the full amount of £500). The money is claimed upon receipt of invoices and proof of spend. *please note delegate passes will NOT be provided by UKTI for this mission

Limitations: Only one person per company can apply. Your company MUST be based in the West Midlands. This is for individual delegates and not bands / musicians. Please see the application form with regard to your company turnover and funding status.

Further Information: http://nxne.com/

Why should I go? If you want to network, have something to sell, meet people in the same/similar fields, share or promote a product or service.

How do I apply? Just download the NXNE 2011 Application Form and forward to Alison Hawkins  at UKTI – A.Hawkins [@] birmingham-chamber.com

Deadline for applications: As the event is just over 1 month away and spaces are VERY limited we urge you to send your application to Alison by the 20th May 2011.

Want to know more? Feel free to give myself or David a call – we’ve both been out there.

This mission is funded by UKTI West Midlands.

What mysteries lie beneath the red curtain? The question on everyone’s lips at the O2 Academy as the crowd wait for the vocal sensation that is Jessie J. Sporadic chants of “Jessie! Jessie!” echo from the waiting gig goers amidst the relative quiet. At last… the lights dim, camera phones raise and the atmosphere rises by like a gazillion per cent in eager anticipation of Miss J’s imminent appearance. This palpable excitement cranks up several more notches as a silhouette of the gyrating Jessie appears behind the curtain. Boom! It drops to reveal the girl of the moment. A huge neon ‘Jessie J’ sign makes for a striking stage backdrop to Miss J dressed in a black asymmetric catsuit, (a stylish one arm, one leg number with gold encrusted bra embellishment) and rocking her now trademark super shiny box bob hairdo.

Not having seen Jessie J previously, two things instantly strike me. The girl has got SWAGGER in abundance and she’s got a simply AMAZING vocal and massive range! From the minute she belts out the first lyrics of ‘Momma Knows Best’ the crowd are whipped into an immediate frenzy – aided and abetted by their on stage conductor in front of them.

The sound quality is remarkably good, and she wastes no time ploughing through soon to be hits from her superb debut album ‘Who You Are’ (her album has just gone platinum you know!), culminating with an early version of ‘Do it like a Dude’. The place erupts to the obvious delight of the songstress, as she vignettes from acoustic gem to raucous romp!

Jessie wittily banters away between songs. Much like fellow artist Adele, she has an animated chirpy chatty spoken voice in contrast to the powerhouse singing voice. She’s articulate, really likeable and flits effortless from gargantuan power vocals, through to ballad like high notes at the blink of an eye.

A really nice trait that the Jessie has, is whilst being confident, she also comes across as being extremely humble. Midway through the set she asks for the house lights to come on, so that she can see the audience. She then thanks the crowd for making her first tour a sell out and gives ‘nuff respect’ to her every growing army of fans A.K.A the Heartbeats for sticking by her when others didn’t believe, she continued her thanks by dedicating the next song ‘L.O.V.E’ to the Heartbeats in the house tonight.

Because of technical issues Jessie restarts ‘Who You Are’ 3 times as she can’t hear the band. Many a singer would simply have given up but not Jessie. Instead, she encourages the audience (who can hear the band) to sing along as she takes her key from them. Evidently this a special song to her, that she sang with huge amounts of passion, made all the more special by the audience participation. At the end of a perfect 3rd attempt she wipes away tears, you can see the real genuine emotion.

If you’ve not seen Jessie J, then treat yourself and catch her at one of her upcoming gigs or festivals. You won’t be disappointed. Oh and did I mention she has a magnificent singing voice?

Set list:
1. Momma Knows Best
2. Abracadabra
3. Stand Up
4. Do It Like A Dude
5. L.O.V.E
6. Big White Room
7. Who’s Laughing Now
8. Rainbow
9. Nobody’s Perfect
Encore:
10. Who You Are
11. Price Tag

Images by Katja Ogrin
Review by Zak Edwards courtesy of Gig Junkies

Born and raised in San Francisco Bay, artist Povan tells me

“My influences are Radiohead, J Dilla, and Flying Lotus just to name a few. But I basically listen to everything and my goal is to infuse all cultures and music into one eventually in my own quirky way.”

“That’s what I tried to do with my friend Spanix Graza on this album take something like old Indian records that were quite cliché in a lot of ways and make it into something soulful and unique.”

Of note, track “Japanese Punjabi” tip toes into a vortex of ambient techno psychedelia and “PooPoo Plate” heralds the angelic cry of Indian singers whirling like dervishes behind hip hop MC and something that sounds redolent of a bumble bee.

It’s Devika Rani (early Indian movie star) meets [adult swim bump]. If you like flowing motions, cinematic soundscapes, with a spicy yet saccharine twist, then this is an album for you.

Download it here.

Words: Erica Crompton

20 year old Harriet Shephard from Worcestershire, aka Alana, is flying the flag for skater girls everywhere with her impressive zine ‘Brash’, showcasing artwork of her own as well as other emerging artists and interviewing skaters, illustrators and anyone else who takes her fancy.

Harriet is currently in her second year of an illustration degree at Camberwell College (part of the University of the Arts London) and creates the zine in her spare time as well as personal art projects and skateboarding.

Fused caught up with Harriet to chat about the new issue of Brash which has evolved from a black and white photocopy to a skillfully screen-printed booklet full of great illustration.

Hi Harriet, do you mind us using your real name? Also, who is Alana?
Yeah you can use my real name, I’m not a Banksy or anything. Alana is my middle name (Alannah on my birth certificate), I use it as a sort of alter ego/pseudonym type thing and it’s kinda stuck now. I get called Alana at the skatepark sometimes which never fails to surprise me. I think it’s because people generally forget names but if they’ve received a zine from me it’ll have ‘alanasartwork.blogspot.com’ on the back, so of course they’re gonna call me Alana.

What made you want to start a zine?
The simple answer to that is skateboarding. Through skating I have met so many creative individuals who make stuff and get it out there, including zines, and when I realised how easy it was I began drawing and photocopying my creations. I started with really shitty ones on A4 paper, folded and cut in a way to make a book format because they were so cheap to make and I have easy access to photocopiers at Uni; I just wanted to give them out to everybody! Not only does it get my artwork out there, but it’s just a nice thing to do (giving them away for free). Sometimes it can make someone’s day and they’re so stoked to receive a little zine of my crazy scribblings.

I have had occasions when I’ve given zines to skater kids and they handed me them back wondering “what’s a zine?” I shake my head in disbelief, “call yourself a skater and you don’t what a zine is?!” I jest at them and I have to tell them “no, you can keep it!”

I think it’s sad that a lot of kids that start skating don’t know what a zine is because skaters just don’t make them anymore. I mean, I know a few skaters who do, but they’re in the minority. Zine making was a big part of skateboarding years ago, they used to zine swap all the time and dudes used post stuff out to their bros if they lived far away from each other. That kinda shit is sick! It’s a shame making skate zines doesn’t come hand in hand with skateboarding so much these days. I guess that, along with all the positive reactions I got from my little zines, is what encouraged me to start making Brash, a ‘proper’ skate zine that I could potentially sell very cheaply. Initially, I still kept the format cheap and simple (double-sided A3 folded to A5) but packed a ridiculous amount of stuff into it including an interview with a skater, a drawing of Rodney Mullen, music I was currently listening to, info on tricks I was learning at the time and a comic strip about accidentally flashing my boob to Kevin ‘Spanky’ Long (Professional Skateboarder).
I was so stoked that I was able to sell it and went round a few skate parks, hollering at skaters to buy it and a lot of them did…well you can’t complain at 20p!

I am so stoked on skateboarding, it is insane how much it has changed my life. I’ve even got a paid job out of it.  I teach young people, predominately girls, to skate. I want to share my continuous excitement with everybody and a zine is definitely the best way to go about it. As I am a female skateboarder, that is going to have some influence on what content I put in my zines because, naturally, I want to promote girls in skateboarding and promote skateboarding to girls. My attitude to skating is that it’s a fun thing to do, it’s not a boys thing, it’s not a girls thing, it just so happens that boys gravitate towards it more and girls shy away from it, maybe because they might feel intimidated by the sheer amount of testosterone at their local skatepark. Through my drawings, comics, anecdotes, interviews and articles, I want to encourage girls to skate and overcome that initial intimidation, or, if anything, just do something rad and worthwhile. The main focus of Brash is skateboarding but in the latest issue I have other stuff relating to art and music which I hope will be inspiring to my readers as well as all the skate stuff.

So tell us more about the new issue…
I have managed to make issue two of Brash into something of a nice little publication as part of a recent Uni project, with a screen printed cover and colour print inside as well as ‘traditional’ photocopied goodness. I’m over the moon on how it’s turned out and I’m currently ‘getting it out there’ posting it out to various people within the creative and skateboarding industry. However, I can’t help that feel I’m ‘selling out’ even though that is actually a stupid thought! Because it is now more of a book format and so much more time, effort and money went into it, I am charging a lot more that issue one’s 20p. I was doubtful that anyone would want to buy one but have been pleasantly surprised that people have quite happily handed me over £2 in exchange for my printed goods. I plan for future issues to be cheaper because I want everybody to benefit, including pre-pubescent ’skate rats’ with no money.

Who would you like to interview in future zines?
Oh wow, so many people! I’m really lucky that I know so many people that would make perfect interviewing material for Brash. Because Brash is about skateboarding and art from my perspective and about the scene that I’m directly involved in, it makes sense to talk to people that fit into that. It’s more real and honest. I want to interview people who have maybe not had that much exposure, or if they have, reveal something more about them. I wanna interview as many lady shredders as I possibly can, not only give them more exposure, but to show other girls that we are out there; you just have to get more involved. I also aim to interview people in person, the good ol’ fashioned way with a Dictaphone. To me, that’s the best bit. I had so much fun when I interviewed Bunny Bissoux for issue two as we had a real nice chat about her work and how she got to where she is today. It means it’s genuine. However, if it’s just not feasible to do that, I do like to have at least met the person a few times. I really wanted to interview Georgie Winter (sponsored skater) but in the time I had, meeting up was just not gonna happen. But, because I know her and we’ve hung out and skated a few times it didn’t matter so much. I hate the idea of just emailing someone I’ve never met a bunch of questions for them to just reply to. It’s not an interview then, it’s a questionnaire.

Can we read Brash online?
You can’t read my zine online because the whole idea of it is to actually have something in your hand to physically hold and experience. Too many things are online now, like magazines, which is sad. It gets a bit depressing if a person’s main stimulation comes from a computer or iphone screen. It’s good to step away from that sometimes. I do have a web presence though where you can read about my zine activities and how to get your hands on one – alanasartwork.blogspot.com – It also features my artwork, skate videos and stuff I think is cool…treadmill cats…

Contact Harriet via her blog or Facebook page to request a copy of Brash.

The Manchester synth-pop duo Hurts will be headlining 2011’s extravaganza, ably supported by a host of other acts well worth looking and listening out for, including The Naked and Famous, Trail of Dead (Bristol and Nottingham only), Darwin Deez (Manchester only), The Joy Formidable and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.

Tickets are now on sale (Bristol, 28th May, £25; Nottingham, 29th May, £25; Manchester, 30th May, £20), available through www.dottodotfestival.co.uk, where you can also find full information on the festival and the line-up as it currently stands; already impressive, it is not yet complete, with still more acts to be added.

Nevertheless, it’s official: Gorillaz (or at least the people pulling their strings) love the Midlands!

In a ‘quote’ ahead of their NIA date, band member Murdoc was full of praise for Birmingham and its rich musical heritage.

He said:

“Ah, Birmingham! Our second city is actually first in many ways. It’s just 39 miles as the crow flies from my own birthplace Stoke-on-Trent, for a start. But, almost more importantly than that, Birmingham can claim to be the cradle of the best band (after Gorillaz) on this or any other planet  - BLACK SABBATH!”

So far, pretty standard. Everybody knows Black Sabbath are the undisputed kings of heavy metal and a Midlands music icon. Won’t the cartoon quirksters be doing anything to mark their musical pilgrimage in that wacky style of theirs that we’ve all become accustomed to?

“Yes!” said Murdoc. “Birmingham is responsible for the thickest, blackest, sludgiest, treacliest BEST music ever. And for that we salute you. I’ll be kissing the tarmac when my helicopter lands in Birmingham and offering up a pagan prayer for Ozzy, Tommy, Geezer and Bill. And a special one for Ronnie James Dio (RIP).”

That’ll be a ‘yes’. then.

Murdoc made the statement in advance of the November 17th date, which forms part of the group’s ‘Escape to Plastic Beach’ tour. Masterminded by Damon Albarn and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, the band release new single ‘Doncamatic’, featuring Manchester singer Daley, on November 22nd.

Words: Tom Richardson

The Lunar Society night, brought to you by the Moseley Folk Festival, is bringing more great music to Birmingham this month.
The Lunar Society is a monthly event at the Hare and Hounds pub in Kings Heath and is a great way of seeing performances from rising stars from across the country and the local area. Previous line-ups have included artists who have played on the Lunar Stage at the festival.
This November’s Lunar Society will see Beth Jeans Houghton headlining. A highlight from the 2009 Moseley Folk Festival, the 18-year-old singer has played alongside artists including Mercury Prize nominee Fionn Regan and Imogen Heap and is gaining recognition for her experimental folk songs.
Support will come from local bands Friends of the Stars and Banksa.
The Lunar Society event takes place on the first Friday of every month at the Hare and Hounds pub, with a late bar open till 1am. Tickets are £5 on the door.

The front cover is by the amazing illustrator Catalina Estrada and the contributions come form those in the know about the region. But we don’t need to go on about how lovely it is take a look for yourself…

Capsule the brains behind Supersonic Festival are curators, promoters and fans of the finest music, revealing the otherwise indescribable connections between contemporary music and art, crafting extraordinary events for adventurous audiences. Now in it’s 7th year, the event will once again take place at the Custard Factory in the heart of Digbeth utilising a number of spaces for music, art, film and cake.

The festival is shaping up to boast their best line up yet, with unique performances from such influential artists as Italian legends, GOBLIN -  their first show in the UK in 20 years. The reformation of the original line up of Black Country industrialists HEAD OF DAVID, who bring their driving bombast to proceedings for the first time in 23 years. The notorious Japanese band CORRUPTED who have yet to play on UK soil as well the reawakening of Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley of Sunn 0))) maiden voyage into darkeness: the cult  black doom act THORR’S HAMMER.

Not to forget splatter rock band THE ACCUSED, unruly trio MONOTONIX, the expansive drone-noise of GROWING; Brighton’s prog adventure, DIAGONAL; the wild avant futuristic jazz of ZU; the stoned pysch of EARTHLESS, the Virginian sludge rock of PONTIAK, the industrial experiments of 65 DAYS OF STATIC, the immense duo that is FLOWER/CORSANO DUO, occult noise act SKULLFLOWER, also joining the line up is SCORN aka Mick Harris (king of the blast beat)  and the new project combining Russell McEwan of Black Sun &  the electronic-vocal attack of Lea Cummings (Kylie Minoise) in the form of ATOMIZED, added to this are the power violence duo IRON LUNG  and one of the finest folk vocalists NANCY WALLACE will be featured in the line-up, once again highlighting the highly eclectic booking policy of the festival.

Tickets for Supersonic 2009 are on sale NOW via http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk

Available via Rough Trade East in London
Polar Bear & Swordfish in Birmingham + Plugd Records in Cork

CONFIRMED LINE UP
Friday: Army Of Flying Robots / Atomized / Drum Eyes / Kylie Minoise / PCM / Scorn / Taint / Venetian Snares

Saturday: Bobby Previte / Corrupted / Diaganol / Flower/Corsano Duo / Growing / Iron Lung / Kim Hiorthoy / Light Trap / Marnie Stern / Master Musicians Of Bukkake / Monotonix / Nisenenmondai / Remember Remember / Rose Kemp / Skullflower / Tartufi / The Accused / Thought Forms / Thorr’s Hammer / Tweak Bird / Zu

Sunday: 65 Days Of Static / Arbouretum / Caribou / Chris Herbert / Earthless / Goblin / Head Of David / Jarboe / Khyam Allami  / Nancy Wallace / Pontiak / Pram / Pre / Theo / The Memory Band / ZzZ

Further info: http://www.supersonicfestival.com

Glam-shocker popstar Peaches will be in store at Tatty Devine’s Brick Lane boutique on Saturday 27th June, to launch the new Tatty Devine for Peaches jewellery range.

Up until now, the Tatty Devine for Peaches jewellery has been available exclusively on Peaches’ US tour dates and this is the first chance to buy it in the UK. The jewellery features her jagged logo and don’t-f***-with-me face in a hard, shiny palette of purple mirror, gold mirror, and monochrome.

Peaches’ in store appearance is a rare and exciting chance to hang out with a musical revolutionary. The queen of electro will also be signing copies of her new I Feel Cream album, and signing jewellery boxes when you purchase a piece from the new range.

Peaches will be in store from 2pm – 4pm on Saturday 27th June at Tatty Devine, 236 Brick Lane, London, E2 7EB. She plays Corsica Studios on Friday 26th June, followed by a summer festival tour.