News

Roundhouse Rising

• 7th Jan 2011

Roundhouse Rising is a new week-long festival from the Roundhouse presenting the best in new music across a variety of genres. Programmed in partnership with some of the UK’s hottest promoters (including Eat Your Own Ears) as well as Featured Artist Coalition, Rising is a place for cutting edge music, unique performances, international artist collaborations, music industry seminars from the likes of Billy Bragg and Emily Eavis alongside showcases for emerging talent from within the Roundhouse family.

There will be a string of creative workshops and masterclasses throughout the days for 11-25 year olds to learn skills such as remixing, sound engineering and photography, alongside well-known names including Jon McClure (Reverend & The Makers), Viv Albertine (The Slits), and Didz (Dirty Pretty Things).

“We want Rising to be the most thrilling, most vital and most entertaining new music festival in the UK. Rising will truly be a celebration of the local as well as the global. From working with London’s best promoters and showcasing talent direct from Roundhouse Studios to seeking out unique, international artists for collaborations, variety will be at the centre of the Rising programme. Underpinning everything will be the creative projects, offering young people the opportunity to get involved in the festival. We rebranded this year to really establish our own unique music festival that has its own distinct flavour and vision.”
Oli Kluczewski – Music Programme Coordinator, Roundhouse

Tuesday 22nd February – ATOM – Roundhouse Studios Showcase
7pm, £5
Opening this year’s festival are four groundbreaking young artists direct from the Roundhouse. All the artists record in the Roundhouse Studios, take part in Roundhouse creative projects, and three of the acts have released music via Roundhouse Records. Music, science and nature seamlessly inspire in this adventurous night of experimental music set to a series of short films:

Kuaigora (Rica Minami) – Ethereal vocals float above a sea of pianos, loop pedals and cellos in this Japanese singer songwriter’s mystical musical landscape. link

Ajimal – With a name inspired by a Haitian witchdoctor, Ajimal is the new solo project from Fran O’Halon. link
LectricLax – Raw post-punk outfit formed at the Roundhouse. link

The Voyeurist – Mysterious and enticing vocals sound tracked by a wall of industrial sound. link

Wednesday 23rd February – 12 Tone vs. Roundhouse Records
7pm, £5
Launched earlier this year, Roundhouse Records is the first label championing new music that is managed by a music venue. Dedicated to two very special releases, Wednesday evening sees these two independent record labels go head-to-head. United Vibrations will launch their debut album on 12 Tone Records, alongside Congolese folk artist Tres B who will be showcasing tracks from his debut EP ‘Best Friend’.

United Vibrations – Combining afro-rock, afro-punk and jazz punk, United Vibrations are emerging as an intelligent and engaging ensemble and are known for their hypnotic live shows. link

Tres B – Producing a swirling mix of central African folk, hip-hop and soul, Congolese artist Tres B is nominated for the Best Male UK based Afro/Caribbean Act of 2010 at the BEFFTA (Black Entertainment, Film, Fashion, Television and Arts) Awards. link

Jero Ferec – Tablas, trumpets and flamenco guitars are brought to the fore in Jero’s Andalucían and Indian inspired music. link

Thursday 24th February – Eat Your Own Ears (EYOE)
7pm, £5
With a history that includes putting on the first London shows for Animal Collective and Bloc Party, Eat Your Own Ears is known for promoting the best live events that span a spectrum of genres. Curating Thursday evening at Rising, EYOE have booked newcomers Ghost Eyes, Bot’Ox and Prizes.

Ghost Eyes – Fresh from supporting Gold Panda on tour, Ghost Eyes creates hip-hop inspired music; his bluesy vocals nestle alongside layers of instruments, electronics and gathered sound samples. link

Prizes – Formerly Treasure, this is the new incarnation from Hari Ashurst with kaleidoscopic loops entangled in reverb-laden songs. link
+ more TBA

Friday 25th February – Fuck The Whiteboard (FTWB) 2nd Anniversary Celebrations
7pm, £5
One of the best new music nights in London comes to the Roundhouse, expect an immersive audience experience:

DT – An exciting new synthed-up pop band with punk influenced vocals.
www.myspace.com/deliriumtremensofficial

Beaty Heart – This thought-provoking group will entice you with their mystifying sound.
www.myspace.com/beatyheart
+ more TBC

Saturday 26th February – EKO
8pm, £5
EKO are a fresh, forward-thinking collective of promoters and DJs with a shared love of music, strong visuals and performance art. Innovative and eclectic in taste, EKO have announced DELS, Sampha and RoxXxan to headline their evening at Rising.

DELS – With a signature sound that reflects a truly eclectic range of musical influences, DELS has a long standing creative partnership with Joe Goddard from Hot Chip. The resulting product is a unique mishmash of squelchy basslines, tinkering keys, syncopated drum patterns and the occasional steel pan, all juxtaposed by DELS’ infectiously languid flow. link

Sampha – Having remixed The XX and supported Mount Kimbie, this London vocalist and producer will be bringing his blend of soulful grooves and electronics to Rising.
www.myspace.com/samphamusic

RoxXxan – Combining her love of all things dance driven – dubstep and grime her bass du jour – with a passion for good melodies, RoxXxan is looking to be the missing link in the MC game.
www.myspace.com/roxxxanmusic

Mon 21st – Thu 24th February – Music Producers Remix Session
10am-4pm, available to ages 14-19, £10
Working alongside Defected Records’ artists and top music producers, attendees can learn the secrets of a great remix and develop their skills over the course of the week using the Roundhouse’s Mac lab and the latest software including Logic, Reason and Ableton.

Mon 21st – Fri 25th February – Sound Engineering Workshop
10am-5pm, available to ages 14-19, £10
Spending the whole week recording the bands playing Rising, this workshop will help develop a broad range of studio production skills, including learning about microphone positioning technique, signal processing, mixing, mastering and how to get the best out of musicians in the Roundhouse’s EMI Studio.

Tue 22nd – Fri 25th February – Band Photography
11am–4.30pm (22nd and 25th) / 1.30-6.30pm (23rd and 24th), available to ages 14-17, £20
On this four-day workshop, attendees will learn how to photograph bands using a fully manual camera in both studio and natural settings; they will also be given tutorials on editing and presenting their work.

Fri 25th February – Music Video Master class with Jonny Stopford
4-6pm, available to ages 15-21, £2
Award-winning Jonny Stopford has worked on many ground-breaking video productions, providing visuals for the Chemical Brothers, BBC and Channel 4.

Fri 25th February – Create Your Own Fanzine hosted by Clinic
4-6pm, available to ages 15-21, £2
As part of the FTWB night, Rising are hosting a special fanzine project hosted by Clinic.
www.clinicpresents.com

Sat 26th February – Un-Convention with Featured Artist Coalition
10am- 6pm, £8
Un-Convention sets out to demystify the music industry. With 200 participants, 60 music industry professionals and the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC) involved, the day will be filled with insightful and illuminating talks and panels.

Highlights include ‘Music as a Tool for Social Change’ – featuring industry figures working on music projects in Sri Lanka, Brazil, Colombia and the UK, ‘The Politicisation of Music’, ‘New Music Strategies’, and an ‘Event and Festival Session’ with Huw Stephens (Radio 1). Guests include Billy Bragg, Emily Eavis and Kate Nash.

A range of new digital platforms and strategies will also be showcased including MusicGlue, SoundCloud and Radar Maker.

FAC campaign for the protection of UK performers' and musicians' rights, board chairs are Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Ed O’Brien (Radiohead) and Sandie Shaw.
www.unconventionhub.org / link

Sat 26th February – Album in a Day Recording
All day, available to ages 15-21, £5
Accompanying the seminars will be the Album in a Day project, with the musicians Jon McClure (Reverend & The Makers), Viv Albertine (The Slits), Late of the Pier, Didz (Dirty Pretty Things) [and others on board to lend their skills] Jagz Kooner (Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream) producing, workshop attendees will be recording ‘London Calling’ by The Clash.

Sat 26th February – Album Artwork Project
10am-4pm, available to ages 15-21, £5
This workshop will give budding artists a chance to recreate the artwork for ‘London Calling’ with help from graphic designers.

All performances will be filmed by the Roundhouse broadcast team and will be broadcast live at link.

Roundhouse
Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8EH
Monday 21st February – Saturday 26th February
For tickets: link or 0844 482 8008

For more information on all events and workshops and to purchase tickets, visit link