MCPM019

A glimpse inside the content of the next magazine

Getting back into the swing of Sunday posts again - but easing myself in with a shameless plug for the next magazine which will be coming this month and currently stands at 62 full colour A4 pages of music commentary articles and interviews from around the peripheral underground experimental electronica scene. £10 or included in subscription bundles

Some excerpts from interviews in the next print magazine MCPM019

This issue looks at the journey from bedroom production to live performance which can feel like a step many emerging artists find psychologically challenging. Anxiety, self-doubt, fear of mistakes and concerns over audience reaction can all become barriers to taking that first step onto a stage. Yet the reality after performing is often very different: nerves turn to adrenaline, small errors largely go unnoticed, and artists leave with a sense of achievement, confidence and connection.

We speak to Smaz, a local artist and supporter of the scene preparing to take that step, alongside Bags Sounds, Swansither and Wooden Tape, all of whom have appeared at our Live Soundtracks events, through to Polypores, whose recordings and live performances have earned widespread acclaim.

Smaz on working within niche genre electronica :

“Honestly, I don’t even think there’s such a thing as ‘outsider’ music nowadays, mainly cos of the Internet, it’s now easier than ever to get noticed, but that kinda has a side effect in the form of people cutting corners to achieve fame, when really you’ve gotta make at least a bit of effort.

This is why I love when obscure bands or musicians get discovered because it feels like their work has finally paid off, it makes the reward of being noticed a lot more gratifying because it’s by nothing but pure luck, look at Angine de Poitrine for instance.

If it does mean something to me, it would mean music that is yet to be discovered, it exists outside the public conscience, in other words.”

The “peripheral” doesn’t have to mean exclusion, it is more of a kinetic potential. Music exists, fully formed, but not yet intersecting with attention. The bedroom, the browser, the live room - they’re all stages in that journey toward recognition, each one shaping how and when the signal breaks through.

Swansither on performing Live Soundtracks to Silent Film :

“Regarding my own equipment and method. I decided to forego the use of modular and CV for a change, and just have a bit of fun with some synths and midi. I had no laptop, but the sequencing was all run from my Arturia Keystep Pro, in which I had only four or five riffs to play with. I wanted it to be really simple for me, and just have a nice time with minimal clutter and maximum exploration.

I used a Moog Subsequent 37CV, the Make Noise Strega, a Mini Gene drum machine, an Ensoniq ASR10 sampler, a mixer and a couple of FX units. The Ensoniq has been part of my rig since early 1990s, but does not come out to gigs very often, so it was great to take that out, if a little scary. It is old, heavy, and delicate, but it does some very cool and unusual things with loops. The Moog is great for bass and lead sequencing. The Strega is great for any howling / squiggly sorts of noise. The Mini Gene makes very wonky beats , and sounds incredible, but has no midi sync, so everything drifts a bit out of time.”

Mayassah from Circuits Living also explores the local DIY grassroots electronica scene she documents through her Instagram account, alongside her own personal connection to this world of niche electronic music :

“The Merseyside scene absolutely shaped my development in the past 2 years,” she explains, “because of how supportive and generous mostly everyone is in this scene, there were always answers to my curiosity.”

One particularly formative experience came through seeing Kev Downey’s Giants of Discovery project perform at an early Moolakii Club event in Birkenhead which was one of the first experimental electronic events she attended after arriving in the UK. It was a performance that directly shaped her own movement toward hardware synthesis.

“I think my first influence was Giants of Discovery (GOD), one of the sets he played in Bloom building which was one of the first ones I attended in the UK,” she recalls. “This influenced my choice of getting my first analogue synth, Typhon by Dreadbox, I wanted to create similar melodic sequences but still scared of all the patches and fun colourful cables in a suitcase like machine.” A fear held by many who observe modular at arms length – and with tales of these things getting out of control if not managed well – both sonically and financially.”

Out on preorder now - MCPM019 grab yours before they go