feat. 4

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Tru Thoughts GoGo Penguin Metronomy Mac DeMarco SPECTRUM AudioActive Benjamin Clementine 1

Brighton Dome

feat. 4 Welcome to the fourth issue of Brighton Dome feat.

feat. is a free music zine that Brighton Dome produce once a year featuring exclusive content, interviews and photos of some of the contemporary artists that set foot in our iconic Grade I listed venues.

Much of this content is brought to you straight from our enthusiastic staff, a diverse, dynamic team of music & arts lovers. We’re also proud to shine a light on some of Brighton Dome’s brilliant outreach projects, plus converse with our friends in the city - be they labels, artists, promoters or collaborators - who all contribute in energising the local music scene.

If you want to get involved or share your thoughts about feat. then we’d love to hear from you. Tweet us @brightdome #feat

Brighton Dome is a multi-arts venue and a registered charity, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival.

We strive to push boundaries, deliver art for change and bring the most exciting artists from across the globe to our doorstep. feat. is a zine put together by Brighton Dome’s marketing team that focuses mostly on our contemporary music programme, building on our legacy of musical history of being a concert venue for almost 150 years, and hosting musicians as diverse as Jimi Hendrix and Beyoncé.

Design: Jordan Uwins Editor: Lucy Brooks Writers: Hannah Collisson, Charlie Hayton

Cover image: Animal House by Meg

01273 709709 brightondome

brightondome.org brightdome

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Re-scoring a Classic Jazz electronica GoGo Penguin chat about re-scoring Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi

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What is a R.A.P Party?

We talk hip hop ahead of Inua Ellams’ spoken word and poetry event The R.A.P Party

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Dogs, Dads and DeMarco The Mac is back with a new album & live tour

10 Tru Thoughts comes of age Rob Luis, co-owner and founder of the iconic label waxes lyrical on its past, present and future

14 What’s On Pull-out this poster and stick it on the fridge

16 SPECTRUM What’s hot in the city on the edge? Come to Brighton Dome’s local live music nights and find out

18 Miss Represented on tour Brighton Dome is proud to present the first ever Miss Rep Tour. The girls are taking off around the country with a new show

19 The Storytelling Army Stef O’Driscoll (nabokov) on an idea dreamed up with Kate Tempest - the army of storytellers returns

20 AudioActive How to create a more inclusive music industry

22 Dear Esther Live A cinematic-scale game play-through, live narration & a BAFTA-winning score

24 Our Greatest Hits Remember a special gig? A life-changing meeting? We’re scouting for memories...

26 Benjamin Clementine © Vic Frankowski

A new record, and plenty more soul

27 Metronomy A homecoming for another great band who came through the Brighton scene

Brighton Dome

GoGo Penguin Jazz electronica trio GoGo Penguin have re-scored Godfrey Reggio’s cult film Koyaanisqatsi. Pianist Chris Illingworth tells us about the creative process, and following (or not) in Philip Glass’ footsteps.

Did you feel any pressure creatively, bearing in mind the Philip Glass score is so well known?

How did it come about that you chose to re-score Koyaanisqatsi?

There’s a great arts venue in Manchester called HOME and they invited us to be part of a film project back in October 2015. The idea of the project was to have a few Manchester musicians write scores for silent movies which they would then perform live along with the film in one of HOME’s cinemas. We originally found a Japanese film that we were interested in called A Page Of Madness but we had trouble finding the owner and a copy of the film that we could use. So, even though it already had a score, we suggested Koyaanisqatsi as we thought it would be great to work on and luckily we were given permission to re-score it.

Glass’ score (like any great film soundtrack) plays an important role in the experience of watching the film but we didn’t feel any pressure, we wanted our re-score to be a new experience and not just a variation or rework of the original.

© Sarah Leech

How familiar were you with the film before you embarked upon the project?

I had heard of Koyaanisqatsi but wasn’t that familiar with it until we started looking at films for the project.

I’ve been into Glass’ music for many years - I really got into a lot of contemporary piano music when I was at college, other great composers like John Cage, Arvo Pärt, Einojuhani Rautavaara, John Adams, György Ligeti.

Glass’ score and the amazing imagery of the film make a great combination, it’s an incredible film and it didn’t take long to get hooked to it.

We obviously watched the film with the original score but spent a lot more time watching the film repeatedly without sound so as not to be too influenced by the original soundtrack. We wanted our score to be a completely new take on the

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film, music that not only reflects the original intentions and meaning of the film but also our interpretation.

What has been the audience response so far?

When looking to re-score the film, what was the creative process, where did you start?

The response has been great. We felt like it was a huge amount of work for only the two performances at HOME so we’ve been taking the film on the road whenever we get chance and it seems like there’s plenty of interest in our version.

When we start work on tracks for a new album there are no restrictions or limits, we choose where and how to start, whereas with the film there’s already a structure and form to work with, and whilst there was plenty of freedom within the structure there were images and ideas within the film that created a foundation and starting point to work from. We spent a lot of time deciding on how to split the film into sections that made sense to us visually so we could then write a bit more like we would for an album, thinking of individual tracks with each having a character that fit the imagery, however we then developed these sections into a single throughcomposed work.

Do you have plans for more film scores?

Definitely. Writing the re-score of Koyaanisqatsi was a huge amount of work but it was a great experience.

We’ve been so busy touring over the last couple of years and working on a few other projects and commissions but we would love to work on more film scores if we get the chance.

A lot of the score is performed to click (which isn’t something we do on our usual gigs) so that it locks in with scene changes and the visuals but we still made sure there was space for some improvisation. As with our albums a lot of the music was composed collaboratively but there were sections that, for some reason, we each felt individually more drawn towards.

We recently finished work on our new album which will be released on Blue Note early next year and are currently on tour in North America.

GoGo Penguin: Koyaanisqatsi heads to Brighton Dome on Sun 15 Oct.

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Brighton Dome

Inua Ellams

on The R.A.P Party at Brighton Dome this November The format is super simple: a poet reads a poem/piece/ prose inspired by any aspect of hip hop culture, and the DJ plays two of the writer’s favourite songs. ‘Inspired’ is to be taken liberally, but there must be a clear link.

The seed for RAP Party (Rhythm and Poetry) was probably sown in a conversation with poet-friends who would lace poems with hip-hop references so subtle, only true fans would really notice. It probably also came from poetry events where after the poet was announced, a song would be played in the brief time between the poet rising from his or her seat to getting to the microphone, and wondered if the song could last a little longer, of if the poet could enjoy the song a little more, and what if the poem and song were somehow linked?

The event tends to feel more like a house party than a poetry gig where few of the egotistical guests get up to make eloquent speeches. It is so simple an idea, but it works beautifully. We have held RAP Parties in bookshops, theatre spaces and clubs.

Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop

Top 5 hip hop tracks

If Miss Hill was born any more ahead of her time, her recording sound booth would have to have been a Tardis. This song is as much about contemporary feminism as it is about religion, as it is a critique on black American culture, promiscuity, machismo, hypocrisy in religion… the list goes on.

This is pretty much impossible to pick, so I’ll just go with the randoms iTunes’ shuffle has thrown at me...

Dilated People Worst Comes to Worst The melody, the sample is so classic hip hop ‘90s nostalgia, it is beautiful, heart-shuddering and just makes me smile.

© Inua Ellams

Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) - Umi Says Yasiin sings for most of this song and there is an honesty and fragility to his voice that gathers parts of my soul. I sing along and forget myself.

Soweto Kinch - Padz

Jay Electronica Exhibit A It is various types of perfection.

Jay is a superior lyricist and his intelligence is here on wax, this track is visual, cinematic, expansive and multi-layered.

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This is a funny parody, but a searing critique on materialism in hip hop by the multi talented Soweto Kinch, featuring the Canadian poet Kim Trusty.

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Inua Ellams curates The R.A.P Party at Brighton Dome Concert Hall on Fri 24 Nov with a whole host of special guests including Theresa Lola, Tommy Sissons, Spliff Richard, Jemima Foxtrot, Keith Jarrett, Kat’s Head, Michael James Parker, Bridget Minamore, Sea Sharp and DJ Sid Mercutio.

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Brighton Dome Hammer and Tongue national slam champion ‘17 Theresa Lola, who takes part in The R.A.P Party, picks her top 5 hip hop tracks...

Kendrick Lamar - Rigarmotus There is still debate on how many takes it must have gotten for Kendrick to perfect this song. He uses a complex rhyme scheme and maintains it for the rest of the song, even speeding up half way though. The musicality of rhyming schemes used in this song is memorable enough to be compared to the memorable motifs of the likes of Beethoven.

Lauryn Hill - Lost Ones Her presence is unmatched. In a field dominated by men, Lauryn Hill approaches the track with grit, as an MC, a teacher and a student all at once. The way she effortlessly switches between spitting bars and harmonising with her own melodies makes this track a sleeper anthem.

Kanye West Can’t Tell Me Nothing

Mos Def Mathematics

Kanye’s opening line is “I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven, when I awoke I spent that on a necklace”. This track is both soothing and haunting at the same time. Kanye is held in higher esteem as an all-round artist. One thing is for sure, hip hop has proved to be his best artistic means of what he has to offer the world.

© Theresa Lola

In the track Mos Def urges the youth to essentially do their “mathematics” and states the degrading statistics particularly relevant to African Americans regarding subjects such as the prison system. This track is a reminder of just how important hip hop was and is in pushing conscious agendas and being a trail blazer for revolution. Mos Def has solidified his position as one of the greatest MC’s, he includes a number in every bar, with the number ascending upwards, you have to listen to the track and read the lyrics to appreciate his lyrical ability.

Big Sean - Control Feat Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica The track was arguably the start of the return of the fierce spirit of hip hop. Kendrick Lamar’s verse garnered attention for calling himself the best rapper alive, even calling out other rappers such as J.Cole, Big Sean and Drake.

This is what separates hip hop from other genres and cultures. This track embodies that, the subjectivity but ever interesting debate of who is the best rapper.

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© Coley Brown Press Photos

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Dogs, Dads, and DeMarco Fresh from of his 5th release in as many years, Canadian Mac DeMarco finishes off the UK leg of his lengthy tour with a headline performance at Brighton Dome on 27 Nov ‘I’m just doing me. I don’t really know anything else’

The 27-year old’s latest release, This Old Dog, sees a move away from the goofier image that has encapsulated him throughout his career. Talking introspectively about his father leaving him at the age of 4 and the lack of any meaningful relationship with him since, it’s a change of pace from a singer usually known for his wacky antics, onstage and off.

This laid-back attitude is most evident on the concluding track of his previous LP, Another One, in which he gave out the address of his home in New York, and invited fans to stop by for a drink.

“A couple thousand people came to visit.

We made a lot of coffee”.

DeMarco has developed a dedicated following over the course of his career, thanks in part to his every-man image.

This may be a more sombre Mac than many are used too, but there’s still plenty of life in this old dog yet.

‘I always tried to be an approachable, comfortable, normal person. Because when I was growing up and listening to bands and finding out about them, it always freaked me out when it was this sexy, cold dark rock star; a cool guy all handsome and beautiful. So I just tried to not be that’

Mac Demarco is at Brighton Dome on Mon 27 Nov and presented by Be Nothing and Neat Neat Neat Words: George Henwood

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feat. Tru Thoughts

Brighton label Tru Thoughts comes of age...

Rob Luis, co-owner and founder of the iconic Brighton label, waxes lyrical on the past, present and future of Tru Thoughts, ahead of an epic 18th birthday party at Brighton Dome on 18 Oct

What can audiences expect from the October 18th Birthday Party, which features some well-known names alongside newer signings?

A good celebration of some of the music that we have been releasing since the label began in Brighton. It is exciting to do a larger venue in our home town with just Tru Thoughts artists on the line up too. I am sure people will hear music they are familiar with alongside music that will be new to their ears with this line up.

Š Rob Luis

Tru Thoughts has signed artists across all genres. What is the ethos of the label, and what do you look for in potential new signings?

The label has always been about supporting artists with their own strong musical vision. I like that Tru Thoughts does not push artists to make certain styles of music but just encourage them to be creative. My taste in music is quite wide and that is reflected in the variety of music we sign to Tru Thoughts.

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and support their music but their world of London and Pirate Radio was away from mine! Watching the success of an artist like Bonobo is nice, as it is great to have been a part of his musical journey.

The success of Hot 8 playing to so many people is brilliant. Of course working with Quantic across so many albums has been a big highlight... he is such a genius.

What were your original aims when you started Tru Thoughts in 1999?

The label started by trying to support music that I felt did not have a creative platform. It was only at our 10 year anniversary that I actually stopped for the first time to look back in any detail about what we had done at Tru Thoughts, as we were writing sleeve notes for an anniversary release. Before then we just kept pushing forward learning from mistakes and building from any success we had (which we pretty much do now).

I am very happy where the label is today.

We have great artists and a great team pushing the music.

Nowadays alongside that strong creative side, we need to have artists who are prepared to work hard.

Robert Luis, Paris, 2001

The music industry is quite tough so hard work is a key factor, not just good music.

What is your own musical background?

What are some of the highlights in terms of the people you have worked with over the years?

I have always been a big fan of music from a young age and got really into hip hop aged 11. DJing since I was 16 and running club nights since I was 18.

I am not musical (as in I cannot play any instruments or sing or rap!) but I have a real love of music and searching for new music my ears (whether new or old).

I have really enjoyed working with Flowdan recently and releasing Grime music is very exciting for me. I used to try and get in touch with Grime artists in the days of MySpace to try

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Brighton Tru Thoughts Dome

Š Kevin Mason

Shot for SOURCE magazine: Rob Luis and Paul Jonas bake themselves a cake for their 10th birthday in 2009

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feat. Tru Thoughts Brighton and like the pace of life here. It is easy enough to get to London for any meetings and we travel around too.

At 18, Tru Thoughts is now grown up.

What are your plans for its future?

Paul Jonas & Simon Green (Bonobo) at Phonic Hoop, 2001 How important has it been to keep Tru Thoughts 100% independent?

Mr Scruff, Big Chill Festival

It is important to be independent. We have always been able to sign unusual music that might not necessarily sell 10,000s but is worth supporting and giving a platform and this is the advantage of being independent. We have also had a number of successful artists who sell well. We have nine of us working from the Brighton office and two working in LA, USA and we can do this by being a dynamic independent.

I think it is important not to take anything for granted where we are today. I like the age range of artists we have on the label and want to continue to support artists already making a living from music and artists just starting on the path.

Tru Thoughts 18th Birthday Party is at Brighton Dome on Wed 18 Oct featuring Hot 8 Brass Band, Quantic (DJ Set), Alice Russell and many more across two stages.

How do you view the current music scene in Brighton.

How has it changed over the last 18 years?

One of Bonobo’s very first live shows, Big Chill Festival, 2000

Robert Luis, South Downs The Brighton scene seems great. I am really into Bobbie Johnson and Lebeaux. I really like Normanton Street and how they are pushing the soulful side of music in Brighton. Shogun Audio do their Drum & Bass thing really well putting Brighton on the map. I have found Brighton has always been a creative place with lots of interesting specialist music scenes which can help motivate all artists. I personally am quite settled in

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What’s On

For new announcements keep an eye on brightondome.org and sign up for on sale emails now

Brighton Dome

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Gogo Penguin: Koyaanisqatsi // Sun 15

for Brighton // Sat 14

Trope A new spoken word night

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club // Tue 31

Jason Isbell // Sun 29

LP Launch // Sat 28

SPECTRUM: Dog In The Snow

Séance // Fri 27 – Sun 29

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Michael Kiwanuka // Tue

Godspeed You! Black Emperor // Mon 23

Metronomy // Sun 22

Dizzee Rascal // Sat 21

Tru Thoughts 18th Birthday Party // Wed 18

Gary Numan // Mon 16

Oct

The Darkness // Mon 11 Race Cards One room. One thousand

Alison Moyet // Wed 8 Father John Misty // Thu 8

Nils Frahm // Tue 20

Erasure // Mon 19

Full programme: brightondome.org

// Thu 30

Benjamin Clementine

with live score // Fri 2

Mac DeMarco // Mon 27

Feb The award-winning video game

Dear Esther Live

Kodo

Traditional Japanese taiko drumming // Tue 30

The Big Christmas Singalong // Fri 15

Centre Special // Fri 24

SPECTRUM: Brighton Youth

(Rhythm and Poetry) // Fri 24

The R.A.P. Party

Goldie // Wed 22

Wolf Alice // Mon 20

Happy Mondays // Wed 15

// Tue 14

questions about race // Tue 12 – Fri 22

SPECTRUM: Winter Special // Thu 7

Goldfrapp // Tue 7

Nu Civilisation Orchestra

The Divine Comedy // Fri 1

Dec

Sleaford Mods // Sat 4

Nov

Jan

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Image: Benjamin Clementine

Brighton Dome

SPECTRUM SPECTRUM is a Brighton Dome project dedicated to nurturing and cultivating our vibrant local music scene. This season our live music nights take place in new spaces while the Studio Theatre is under refurb.

We introduce our headliners to tell you a bit more about themselves...

Sat 28 Oct Dog in the Snow LP Launch Plus Knightstown / TEEFF

Fri 24 Nov Brighton Youth Centre Special with Animal House, plus Sulky Boy / Porridge Radio Originally all hailing from Australia, Animal House has had a facelift and are now mixed in with a couple of English lads who we’ve met in Brighton along the road.

We write and jam in a dingey rehearsal space under the rail viaduct in Brighton - a perfect breeding ground for garagey pop tunes that take influence from the 00’s garage revival e.g. The Strokes, The Vines.

Dog In The Snow is the moniker I use for my music-doings, it’s based on the grim ending of The Trial by Franz Kafka.

Literature, film and travel are big influences for me.

© Image: Porridge Radio

The new LP is called Consume Me and was written while on tour last year around the US in my friends’ band Fear Of Men. The words/phrases and overall idea came together in the back of the van in a strange state of cabin fever.

The upcoming SPECTRUM gig at Brighton Youth Centre will be our first there and see some 90s pop-culture references, some proper throwback dress-ups and a bunch of new tunes to test out from our debut album, which we’re working feverishly on at the minute.

Post-SPECTRUM I’ll be going on tour and supporting (Cocteau Twins member / Bella Union boss) Simon Raymonde’s new band Lost Horizons as well as being part of the live band, which I’m very excited about!

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Find out more at brightondome.org/SPECTRUM Or follow us on facebook.com/brightonspectrum

Coming soon...

Thu 7 Dec Winter Special with Emma Gatrill Plus Sharon Lewis / M. Butterfly

Melting Vinyl turns 20 in 2018

I play the harp and sing whilst triggering ambient analogue synths and drum machines using my feet. I am accompanied on electric guitar by Marcus Hamblett. I am influenced by all sorts of different styles of music and artists – Bjork, Julia Holter, Juana Molina to name but a few. I love to try and create thick textured soundscapes to support the songs whilst holding onto a level of experimentation within a performance.

To celebrate 20 years of Melting Vinyl, this January there will be a retrospective exhibition of archives, talks and a special gig in collaboration with Brighton Dome SPECTRUM in 2018 featuring some of our favourite local artists, both those who have grown up with MV, and the new kids on the scene.

This autumn, Melting Vinyl’s highlights include nu-classical composer Tiny Leaves at The Greys Pub in Hanover, the wall of sound that is GSY!BE at Brighton Dome and festivalfavourite Moses Sumney at Komedia. We’re also working alongside visual artists Innerstrings to put together Lewes Psych Festival at the All Saints Centre.

My latest LP is called Cocoon and was released on Flau, a Japanese label earlier this year. I spent about a year recording… dabbling with it here and there, experimenting with different instrumentation and ideas. At the SPECTRUM show expect all the atmospherics whilst still being quiet and almost acoustic.

– Anna Moulson, Melting Vinyl founder Find out more: meltingvinyl.co.uk

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Brighton Dome

C a n Yo u ? w o N e M e Se Daughter.

Sister.

Mother.

Claimant.

Inspiration.

Everyone thinks they know what’s best for you – from the endless professionals to social media. Follow the experiences of often unheard young women finding their way through life - stone stepping through ‘controlled care’, confusing expectations, raging histories, lies, love and recovery.

Miss Represented is a Brighton Dome project that works with young women who face challenging life situations, using the arts to explore life experiences, gaining a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

The group of 12 young women aged 13-21, have been working on new show, Can You See Me Now?, a cross-art performance combining theatre, film and music. Miss Rep will be touring schools and pupil referral units, as well as public performances across the country including: ACCA, Brighton (9 Nov), Brighton Youth Centre (23 Nov) & Brighton Dome at venue tbc. (24 & 25 Nov).

‘I wish I could delete everything, but I know I’d be lonely’

Find out more: brightondome.org/missrep brightondomemissrep.tumblr.com/

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The Storytelling Army After taking over the streets for Brighton Festival, nabokov and The Storytelling Army are back under one roof with more epic stories from the people of the city

There’s a beauty and magic that happens from reading a book that exists for me, championing my world.

Stef O’Driscoll (Artistic Director of nabokov Theatre Company), who worked with local partners Cascade Recovery Cafe, The Clocktower Sanctuary, AudioActive and Brighton Dome’s Miss Represented, talks to us about the beginnings of the Storytelling Army.

So, we have to champion diverse voices from all walks of life for wider communities to actually engage in the arts – people that wouldn’t normally.

Otherwise it’s going to remain an elitist thing, which can’t happen.

Where did the idea and inspiration come from?

The idea really came from looking at Kate Tempest’s philosophy of making the arts less exclusive and more social. Kate is an absolute mastermind and I’ve been very fortunate to work with her over the years directing some of her plays. A few years ago, we started to think about ways to engage new audiences in theatre and storytelling. What if someone just walked into a pub and started telling a story? When Kate became Guest Director of the Festival in 2017 we started to rethink about that idea. Hence the army of storytellers was born!

How are you building on the project in your plans for the future?

When the army stormed the streets of Brighton earlier this year, with the ambition to make people plug out of their everyday lives, it became apparent how powerful music was. A story with no music made it easier for people to ignore and detach themselves from the stories, labelling it ‘preachy’ before giving the words a chance to resonate. Music is a form that speaks to people, it’s visceral, it creates a vibe, it draws crowds and it’s accessible. We are looking forward to working with the community partners to fuse more narratives with music for the next stage of The Storytelling Army.

How did you begin to develop the project and find people to be part of the army?

In Brighton, there’s lots of issues in terms of drug use and addiction, there’s lots of homelessness and vulnerablyhoused people and so we started to identify different organisations and charities that we’d want to work with in partnership. I think it’s really important that we champion diverse voices in regards to storytelling, so that people have stories that they can relate to. There’s a really important exchange that happens where you as an audience member are able to understand that world, or identify with that character. For example, Kate Tempest’s novel, The Bricks that Built the Houses talks about a South London that I know, that I’m a part of.

The Storytelling Army takes place on Wed 6 Dec in Brighton Dome Cafe-bar.

The event is pay-what-you-feel.

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Brighton Dome

AudioActive: How to create a more inclusive music industry in Brighton and beyond...

AudioActive have helped nurture the careers of many young people in Brighton who have gone on to do big things. Tell us about your impressive alumni?

AudioActive is a groundbreaking music organisation working with young people at the meeting point of technology and contemporary urban culture. We shine a light on their recent activities collaborating with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival and their brilliant work nurturing young artists in the city…

Thats a difficult question! There are the obvious answers like Rizzle Kicks who were like part of the furniture here for years before they blew up, but I suspect that there are tens if not hundreds of young people out there who we have helped to forge a career in music. Off the top of my head I can think of SpectraSoul, Dismantle, Benji Boko, emcees like Eyez, members of the revered Rum Committee, Fingersmith and spoken word artist Tommy Sissons.

Who are AudioActive? What are you doing differently to everyone else in Brighton?

I guess we’re best known for our many open access grass roots projects: creating opportunities for teenagers to work with professional artists and nurture their talents in urban and electronic music, but what many people don’t know about AudioActive is we have a whole load of ‘Social Innovation’ projects, e.g. getting young offenders into employment, projects that stop violence and abuse at home or reduce vulnerable young people’s risk of being exploited.

What are the barriers facing young people to learn an instrument or have access to music education in Brighton and Hove?

I could talk about this for hours but as you can see from the names I reeled off above, a big issue is that women are sadly under-represented at AudioActive, and this issue is mirrored in the industry, especially in electronic and urban music. This is a complex issue with many contributing factors not least the media and a lack of female role models in some scenes.

Recently AudioActive has been recruiting talented emerging female artists and training them to run workshops. We hope that these exciting new practitioners will be more accessible to young women.

We also run a weekly group ‘Girls Make Music’ and are currently looking to develop a music production & rap strand of that project.

© Image credit

We work hard to create bridges and progression between our social projects and our talent development projects to create a more diverse and inclusive music industry from the bottom up.

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Tell us a bit about your innovative project Electric Youth Ensemble?

Brighton Dome for The Great Escape... looking at that particular month in the life of an AudioActive young artist I was so jealous! I think Kate’s influence on the ethos of the festival this year really precipitated. I think 12 or more of our young people got involved in Storytelling Army and that project in particular really helped them to explore different writing styles and performance techniques. Since May, I know that some young emcees have performed with Chester P elsewhere and will be supporting his outfit Task Force very soon at Patterns. He was so inspired that he even wants to get all of them on one of the tracks on his new album!

Electric Youth Ensemble (EYE) is really a call to arms for ensemble-based music education to bring itself into the 21st Century. We want the project to inspire similar work across the country as recent developments make it much more viable for technology to be played like an instrument with as much technique and musicality as conventional instruments.

By mirroring a county orchestra model through Electric Youth Ensemble, we want to help young musicians to hone their craft in live production and digital instrumentation to an equivalent standard of western classical routes giving them a head start as artists going into the industry where these practices are commonplace.

Who else is out there helping young artists get gigs/ kick-start their careers?

QM Records are doing loads right now, set up by the amazing band Normanton Street. They put on live nights in venues around the city 2 or 3 times a week. Usually free to get in so you’re guaranteed a crowd and they are in it for the love so they really get behind up and coming acts. AudioActive also partner with QM on ‘Kustom Vibes’, our all ages monthly music night at The Rosehill.

If I was a band or performer wanting gigs in Brighton I’d get in touch with QM Records through their Facebook.

What was your experience of being part of Brighton Festival 2017 and collaborating with nabokov and Kate Tempest amongst others?

Find out more at audioactive.org.uk or facebook.com/likeaudioactive

May was amazing this year! The EYE gig with Kate Tempest, as our support act! So much work with Nabokov & Chester P on Storytelling Army, not to mention the Jubilee Square gig with our Patron Rag‘n’Bone man before his gig at

Also check out: Phonetic - facebook.com/phoneticartist Mrisi - mrisimusic.com Bobbie Johnson - bobbiejohnson.bandcamp.com Hatter - hattermusic.bandcamp.com/releases Tommy Sissons - facebook.com/TommySissonsOfficial

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Brighton Dome

Dear Esther The Chinese Room is an award-winning game development studio, and Dear Esther is recognised as a major title in pushing forward the boundaries of game design and storytelling. BAFTA-winning composer and co-founder of The Chinese Room Jessica Curry talks about taking Dear Esther out on the road to create a whole new experience.

Why take this show, this game, on the road?

Did you always feel, even when not focused on it, that Dear Esther was, or could be, something more than “just a game”?

It’s the fifth anniversary. So we did the “Landmark Edition” for console (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) in 2016, and we’d not really been thinking much about Dear Esther for the last couple of years. But going back into it, we were really nervous – was it going to stand the test of time? Would it not have aged particularly well? We all sat down with much trepidation to discuss this fifth anniversary edition, and we were so proud of it. It really did stand the test of time, and we were so pleased, and quite surprised about how passionately we still felt about it.

As creators, you’re always moving on. But what kept Dear Esther alive was the feedback we were getting from other people. We employ a young team at The Chinese Room, and they were coming back from Rezzed and other places, conferences like GDC, and saying: “Dear Esther’s been referenced in five of the ten talks I’ve been to today.” It has had a life for other people, and for the industry, I think.

Would you say that the Dear Esther Live experience isn’t explicitly “for gamers”? That much like the game itself, it’s ticking more than that single box?

I’m really passionate about expanding audiences, and that’s one of the reasons why I do my Classic FM show, High Score. There’s a whole world of people who don’t know about the extraordinary panoply, and rich and diverse world, of video game music. And I want people to be able to experience that. Not to show them something, to say: see, I told you it was good. But to gently say: you’ve probably never heard this before. And I think it’ll be similar with the Dear Esther Live tour.

I’d been invited to do a week in London with the British Council, and talking to really exciting people like HOME in Manchester and the British Film Institute, about sound and image, and about how you successfully marry them. And I thought: hang on, we’re missing a trick here with Dear Esther, in terms of playing it live. It has so many advantages that way.

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It’s exciting that people who’ve never really heard game music before might come to these concerts, too, and that people who’ve never been to a concert hall before might get to experience that.

I think it’s a win-win situation.

What were your nerves like before the first show, at the Barbican?

There’s nothing as nerve racking as live. That instant feedback when something goes wrong – you’re there, the audience is there.

What we’re going to make more of on this tour is that not everyone realised that it was actually being played live. Gamers innately understood that, but other people who are used to film and music being played together, as the same every night, they thought they were seeing a prerecorded playthrough. One of the most exciting things about this tour is that no audience is going to get the same experience. That playthrough can change every night, and that’s so unique to this tour.

Do you feel there’s still some snobbery about game music, “versus” that found in film and TV? It’s really variable. Some places like the Barbican and Classic FM are welcoming games music with open arms, realising that it’s bringing in new audiences.

They’re genuinely enthusiastic about the music that’s being played. But I think there’s still snobbery about games. This has been an ongoing conversation with BASCA, who run the Ivor Novello Awards, and the British Composer awards – there’s no category at either of those for games music. And they are very anti-games music. So are the Proms. When we were nominated for ten BAFTAs for Rapture, I got in touch with Front Row on Radio 4, thinking they’d be excited that a British company had achieved this; but they just said, “it’s games,” and they weren’t interested.

But I think it’s changing. The groundswell of influential people, like the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the top orchestras in the world, they’re recording games music and playing it live. And that sheer weight will bring the last detractors around into the 21st century.

Dear Esther LIVE is on sale now and heads to Brighton Dome on Fri 2 Feb.

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Brighton Dome Greatest Hits

The Who play the first ever Brighton Festival in 1967

Throughout our past, Brighton Dome has played host to some of the most iconic artists in history...

Remember a special gig? A life changing moment or meeting?

Did you once perform on our stage?

Do you have any memorabilia - ticket stubs, programmes, photographs?

Help us shape the future of our venue and remember its rich history. brightondome.org/ourfuture

‘All the young dudes’ enjoy David Bowie

ABBA win Eurovision 1974

David Bowie played Brighton Dome five times between 1969 and 1973. Memorably, Brighton Dome hosted ABBA’s victory in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo, recently honoured with a Blue Plaque, which was unveiled live on BBC Sussex as part of BBC Music Day on 15 June.

We’re inviting you to be part of our history by gifting us with your memories ahead of the reopening of our Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre venues which will feature lovingly-made heritage displays.

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Do you remember this staff party?

(Does anyone?)

‘Check out the distinctive floor. We haven’t quite worked out where this is yet.

I love this picture as it is so incongruous with the venue’s vibe as it is today’ Morgan Robinson – staff An operating theatre in Brighton Dome which housed wounded soldiers in WW1

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Brighton Dome

Benjamin Clementine

© Micky Clement

If you search on YouTube, you can still find videos of a young Benjamin Clementine performing on the Paris metro, a relic of the four years he lived there, sleeping rough and in hostels, gigging and busking to survive. He earned a reputation amongst the music scene, invitations to jazz festivals across Europe and a record deal in 2013, accompanied by a return to London.

At the end of September, Clementine released his

second album I Tell A Fly, the follow-up to his Mecury Awardwinning 2015 debut LP At Least For Now. Though he’s come a long way from the streets of Montmartre, his music thrums with evocated tension and loneliness that you rarely find in songwriters of his age.

In a 2015 interview, Clementine said his heroes were Nina Simone, Nick Cave and Tom Waits, and you can hear strains of each in his music – the naked soulfulness of his singing, his wistful lyricism, and the unique and unmistakeable tone of his voice.

Seen live, it feels as much like he’s sharing his music with you as he is performing it to you; he treads the stage barefoot, and his soft-spoken adlibs create an unmatched air of intimacy, no matter the size of the stage.

Benjamin Clementine is at Brighton Dome on Thu 30 Nov

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Metronomy What happened in the summer of 2008? It’s a question clearly on the mind of Metronomy frontman Joseph Mount – after all, September of that year saw the release of the band’s breakthrough album Nights Out.

– recalls his feeling of living in East London and resenting the feeling that everyone was having a better time in the other side of town.

Mount denies that the album is nostalgic, but rather mines the rich seam of the past – remembering the love and heartbreak that was once felt so strongly.

To go alongside this, Mount has created a funk infused pop sound that works equally well in producing introspective breakup tunes and vintagesounding dancefloor bangers.

Eight years on, Mount wrote, recorded and released Summer ’08, the band’s fifth and most recent album.

It’s deeply personal and rich with memory: the chorus from the first single Old Skool –

You keep your friends, I’ll keep my friends Have a party in the West End Make some money, make more money With your new friends, throw a party

After a year’s break from live performance, the band is on tour again, and the new material sits perfectly alongside the band’s stellar back catalogue – wistful, energetic and above all hugely engaging.

Words: Charlie Hayton

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Thu 15 Feb

Full Programme Announced Fri 16 Feb

Members’ Priority Booking Fri 23 Feb

Public Booking

BECOME A MEMBER Enjoy a week of priority booking on all Brighton Festival 2018 events and an invite to the Launch with David Shrigley on 15 Feb Membership starts at £30 a year brightonfestival.org/membership Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival is a registered charity.

Illustration © David Shrigley

brightonfestival.org