Here at Readipop HQ our office has been buzzing! We’re excited to announce we are launching the first Festival of Noise for this November.
Festival of Noise 2014 is a series of multi-venue events exploring noise through talks, experiments, performances and gigs.
We’re working in partnership with Milk and local promoters DoubleDotDash!? and hosting a number of events across one week from Saturday 1st November.
You can book onto the following events by visiting our online booking system here.
Saturday 1st November | 10.30AM – 3PM Readipop Studios | £6 adults £3 children
DADDY’S DRUM CLUB | 10.30AM – 11.15AM
A bashin’ and boomin’ bonding session ideal for dads (or mums!) and their little tearaways aged five and under; join us for 45 minutes of pure bonkersness based around simple, fun games and nursery rhymes. All drums provided. Session led by Readipop director, Beatroots Bateria leader & dad Gavin Lombos.
FAMILY BEATBOX WORKSHOP | 11.30AM & 1.30PM
Say “Boots”, say “Cats”. Now repeat “Boots, Cats, Boots, Cats” – hey you’re a beatboxer! Join this fun session to build your skills.
MAKE A WOMAD SQUONKY | 12.30PM
HOOONK! Goes the Squonky. A what? A Squonky is a fabulous sax-like instrument made from recycled materials. The Readipop team is well versed in Squonky production from years of running Junk Funk workshops with children at WOMAD. Materials provided.
GLITCH JAM | 1.30 – 2.30PM
Make some electronic noises using our collection of iPad apps, Kaoss pads & noise toys. Plug in and play!
TORTURE ROOMS | 1 – 6PM | FREE ENTRY
Sonic Laboratory experiment #3 – Torture Rooms
Music as torture is a controversial subject. A competition/experiment using 3 tracks from the CIA’s top 10 torture music tracks. See how long you can last with some of the most annoying and intense music specially selected for your listening displeasure! Chose a torture room and we will time your visit. The longest time wins a prize!
FESTIVAL OF NOISE 2014 LAUNCH
Saturday 1st November 7PM| £7 | Readipop Studios
SLY & THE FAMILY DRONE
Using only drums and processed cassettes, and incorporating many elements of avant-garde music and sound art in their realisation, Sly & The Family Drone is a primal orchestra of drum rhythms, radiophonic oscillator noise and electronically-abstracted vocals. Sly’s reductionist take on music is literal; they split their drum kit to its singular base units, passing individual drums to the audience who maintain the beat while they free themselves for more noise & freestyle mayhem, ultimately eliminating any boundaries between spectator and performer. By the end of the set their drums and equipment are scattered; the remnants of their music lying bare across the floor.
We think they’re really very good. Here them here https://soundcloud.com/
BATTLE CAT
Battle Cat plays records sometimes cassettes but mostly records mostly in the genre of sounds… that is all we know about Battle Cat…
SONIC LABORATORY EXPERIMENT #2: DJ PROVOCATION
Why not play all the records at the same time?
SONIC LABORATORY EXPERIMENT #3: TORTURE ROOMS
Music as torture is a controversial subject. A competition/experiment using 3 tracks from the CIA’s top 10 torture music tracks. See how long you can last with some of the most annoying and intense music specially selected for your listening displeasure! Choose a torture room and we will time your visit. The longest time wins a prize!
Wednesday 5th November |8PM | FREE ENTRY | Milk
Join Gavin Lombos for a journey into sound as he explores the dustier corners of his record collection. Drawing from an eclectic non-music selection, expect to hear 70’s Playschool stories mixed with steam trains, poetry, formula 1 cars, disco dance lessons, the thoughts of Werner Von Braun (and maybe even learn a little bit of French) – all layered with some abstract soundtrack moments and electronica.
DEAR DELIA DERBYSHIRE Open Laptop Session
Thursday 6th November | 8PM | FREE ENTRY | Milk
Like an open mic, but with the focus much more on the electronic end of the musical spectrum (no pun intended). Originally hosted at the Afrobar and set up by Dan le Sac and Tim Hooper under the guise of ibetya. DDD made a return in 2014 as a outlet for Readings budding electronic artists.
Friday 8th November | 7PM | £7 | Watlington House
‘The Island of Noise’ explores our love of Noise combining a presentation/talk with a wilder performance on the same themes. The talk explores how we use noise in ritual, celebration and performance, ranging from ancient war horns through rough music protests to industrial noise bands and sound art. Tim also examines the many battles fought over the noise we make and contends that noise making is as much an English tradition as Morris dancing. It is illustrated and uses live and sound samples.
The second half is a performance collaged out of treated saxophone, drones, recordings of fields and empty playgrounds and junk shop treasures, evoking a world of sonic seas, digital beasts and seances with ancient synthesizers.
Tim Hill is a musician whose work ranges through outdoor theatre, street bands and free jazz, through traditional folk to soundscapes.
Sonic Laboratory experiment #1. A collaboration between Readipop’s creative director Gavin Lombos and Beautiful Creatures. Beautiful Creatures created The Fortress for Readipop’s Caversham Festival 2014. The centerpiece is an amazing set of massive chimes made for them by Michael Davis. Klang Machine explores the acoustic resonance of these inspirational metal instruments and introduces new electronic resonance layers in response to create a unique sonic experience.
Saturday 9th November | 7PM | £7 | Readipop Studios
BRIDGET HAYDEN (London) Experimental noise musician, artist and writer working on themes of loneliness and isolation. small lights in dark places, hopes and fears.
KNIFEDOUTOFEXISTENCE (Bournemouth) One of the UK’s premier noise artists.
DELPHIC VAPOURS (Winchester) are sehr kosmische electric guitar duo Owen Tromans and Seb Hunter. Entirely improvised, there is no mixing, editing or post-production involved whatsoever.
JOE MARSHALL (Reading) is a one man death rattle guitar drone. dirty swells & rapturous noise. briefly known as blood rainbow.
SILVERY MAGNUS (Reading) a perverted loner, silvery magnus mostly plays electronic machines and manipulated feedback. has a disgraceful fetish for sound modifying pedals. also enjoys magnets & metal objects. smears his sound onto computers & minidiscs & cdrs.
VIIOFIX (Reading) Layer upon layer of unsettling drones made to stave off the crushing boredom of living in a Garden City. Fueled by nights spent listening to Sunn 0))) and Godspeed records whilst watching endless episodes of Star Trek and X Files.
AFTERSCHOOL TEATIME (Reading) a lot of noise, and a lot of hair. ALL POWER TO KEN.
THE CRINKILS (Reading) You never heard of The f**king Crinkils man? Hermetic Ignoble Gentile Happenings of Naïve Oscillations & Improvised Sound Explosions