| Music Mercia | |
| Badger Promotions | There are plans but you will not be informed until 23 days after the event. old news..... The Old Railway Starting this week, The Old Railway, situated in Digbeth, Birmingham and right next door to Millennium Point, will be playing host to some of the finest new and unsigned, independent and self promoted bands in a series of showcase gigs that will run for the next 12 months. Birmingham now has one of the strongest and most diverse independent and alternative underground music scenes in Europe. Birmingham is the home to acts playing punk, metal and hardcore, rock, indie, pop acoustic, ambient, alternative country and experimental, not to mention the massive dance music scene. The level of songwriting and musicianship is at an all time high as many of Birminghams acts have had to fight hard against a culture of apathy and disinterest amongst the local press and radio stations that have chosen to ignore, sideline or marginalise the efforts of the many talented local musicians currently operating in the West Midlands. The Birmingham underground network works to a simple ethic..."do it yourself or don't do it all." This focus on self reliance has lead to one of the strongest and diverse, self promoted, self managed, self financed music networks in the country. Local record label Iron Man Records and local music promoters Badger Promotions working in close cooperation with The Discordian Project have come together to work with, support and promote local music to a point where it can't be kept quiet any longer. A resource website put together by the local music network for the promotion and support of the local music network can be found at http://www.badgerpromotions.co.uk. The site has lists of venues, fanzines, radio stations, links to local music related sites, The Old Railway, useful info, contacts, recording studios, labels, other bands, promoters, designers and artists. The Badger Promotions website also invites anyone with any additional info or contacts to get in touch to keep the site up to date. The Old Railway, now established as one of this country's leading international venues offering support and promotion to the best underground music has been chosen to host a series of inter band, inter city, head to head showdowns of some of the best new and unsigned bands from all over the UK and the rest of the world to prove the point that Birmingham truly is a city of culture..Birmingham is a city of strong underground music culture that will never give in. The Old Railway will be putting on two Birmingham based bands and one or more unsigned bands from other parts of the UK every Tuesday and Wednesday. In Return the music promoters from the participating Towns and Cities, who have supplied the visiting bands, will offer local Birmingham bands gigs in return to help Birmingham based bands find opportunities to play all over the rest of the Country. The Old Railway has so far played host to bands from Stoke, Worcester, Coventry, Nottingham, Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, London, Brighton, Cardiff, Pontypool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Salisbury, Portsmouth, Manchester, Southampton, Plymouth, Oxford, Liverpool, Huddersfield, Watford, Belfast, Dublin, Sunderland, Blackburn, Fife and has also played host to bands from USA, Canada, Poland, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Japan and Australia. The best bands from all over the UK and Ireland will be playing the Old Railway every Tuesday and Wednesday alongside some of Birminghams finest in a contest to find out which city has the best unsigned bands. To celebrate the "Birmingham Underground versus the rest of the Planet" music showdown anyone who shows up to the venue wearing a Tall Hat gets in for half price. People will see any number of talented new bands, if they look hard enough. You see what you look for far more often than what you don't look for. It's simple. Under the surface, Iron Man Records, The Discordian Project and Badger Promotions urges you to look at everything connected with the Birmingham Underground Music Scene. Look at things with wonder...You'll be amazed at what you find. All relevant information, listings, details of bands, place of origin and musical genre can be found through the Iron Man Records website at http://www.ironmanrecords.co.uk or http://www.badgerpromotions.co.uk or http://www.theoldrailway.co.uk check local press for gig listings or try the web: http://www.theoldrailway.co.uk or http://music.mercia.org/badger/gig/.en Interview with Mark Badger for S.L.T.A. zine by Rich Lard of Punk Shit Fanzine. 1) Howdy Mark, firstly where the hell do you originate from? I was born in Reading, have lived in Berkshire, Hampshire, Devon, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, London, Coventry, and now Birmingham. Does that make any difference? how long you been in Birmingham? I lived in Birmingham 1990-1994 then moved to London. I moved back to Birmingham in May 1996 and been here since then. And what brought you here? 2) Can you give SLTA readers an insight into 9 Years on: I’m the only one left from the original group of three or four bands. I’ve made plenty of new friends since then, and Badger Promotions continues as a cover, behind which, all of us continue to operate. At the moment “Badger Promotions” organises gigs every Tuesday and Wednesday at The Old Railway, Digbeth, and maintains its own database of contacts, information, promotional techniques and useful advice for new bands (thanks to all the volunteers helping me type the stuff up) and Badger Promotions has recently mutated to form a record label called Iron Man Records. b) Iron Man Records. This is the logical progression of Badger Promotions. Having solved the problems of getting gigs for new bands, promotion, information and contacts… a record label was the next plan. I managed to get some funding from a local sponsor to start the label up and have made a real effort to work with the underground press as first priority (without them everything would fall apart and to be honest Fanzines are the only press I read) and have also worked non-stop to get the label into a position where it is taken seriously by the big-hair-rock press too (who up to now have largely ignored the underground scene and the Birmingham music scene in general.) Commercial versus not-for-profit? The label is run as if it were a not-for-profit organisation but it is a commercial label really. Yes, I am trying to generate money in the form of a sustainable income but that money is not taken as profit, it is to be re-invested in more bands that need help. In addition to that anyone who needs help with their band but isn’t directly involved with the label can still benefit. If you can get me on the phone or by email I will do my best to help out in terms of contacts, info etc. If you look at the website I have published all the label databases and contacts for bands to use to help themselves. c) The Hot Tortoise and your new band? The new band is called “Last under the Sun” and has a website at http://www.lastunderthesun.co.uk This time round its more melodic punk influenced post hardcore. The band has so far included members of Stepback (Birmingham based youth crew hardcore) Eastfield (those train spotting punk rockers) and Eggraid (forest dwelling grindcore nutcases that now live in Stoke, fucking amazing!). Recent additions to the band include members of Pigfish and Damn Dirty Apes. I’ve put together a book of poems that you can get from the website for free and some recordings will be available soon. 3) What do you think are the good points and bad points about being a On the good points: you get to meet people who are trying to do something positive in the face of near disaster. Bands and audiences included! You get to see bands, that really deserve it play, to an appreciative audience. The Birmingham music scene is a healthy one so it keeps you alive when people show up, make new friends and enjoy themselves. In the past it has been a struggle to get people to support the gigs but the result of small audience numbers has forced bands to play for themselves rather than for their audience and the result of this has been the evolution of good songwriting and a rich and diverse music scene. Every band has developed its own unique style and approach to their music and none of them need their egos massaging........they'll play as hard for one person as 500 and this can only be a good thing. The bad points: local press don’t take the underground scene very seriously, they have column inches and advertising budgets to worry about. In fact there is no effective local music press other than Rhythm and Booze Fanzine. I defy any music Journalist to turn up and prove me wrong! Having spoken to a lot of bands over the years, it is still a strange thing that many bands think that because I don’t phone them up and invite them to play that I must somehow have no interest in them. With a database of some 2,000 bands, trying to pick a band to call up for a gig is a nightmare. The way I work it is whoever calls, persists or harasses me gets a gig…..So anyone reading this, don’t sit there pick up the phone and get yourself a gig. A lot of Birmingham bands don’t look any further than their own city for gigs. They swim round and round the goldfish bowl never thinking to try and get gigs in other parts of the Country. I’ve put a Venue database on the website so any band can book a tour if they can be bothered to do it for themselves. I wish more people came to the gigs. Its really frustrating when you see people walking down the street with Slipknot or Korn or Slayer t-shirts on doing the alternative thing…and when you give them a flyer they still don’t turn up cos its not advertised on mtv or vh1. The Muisc Underground doesn't start on TV.........it starts with a badly copied flyer for a gig on a rainy night at the local boozer featuring three bands you never heard of.........take a chance, go out for a night of live music..........stop waiting for something you already know. 4) What releases has Iron Man Records had to date? And what’s been the most IMB6001 I.O.D. : Mundane Existence CD mini lp So Far P.A.I.N are doing really well, closely followed by G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S and Pigfish. 5) What other releases are in the pipeline for Iron Man? Top Secret, I am not able to tell you that one just yet. 6) What advise would you give somebody thinking of starting up an Do it but don’t be surprised when you are crawling on all fours, dribbling from the mouth and laughing hysterically at 3am. 7) You recently put a plea on Discordian for people to start attending the It is a very serious issue. If the venue bar doesn’t take £120 the pub loses money on the gig. I put listings in local press, national press, over the internet, fanzines, send out 3-4,000 flyers each month to shops and bands whi help distribute the info. I also pay a couple of people to hand out flyers in town on Saturdays but still it is hard work getting people to the gigs. I think the bands are always good but people tend to go for what they already know, they don’t like coming to the venue to see what’s going on by chance. If they’ve heard a band they’ll turn up, there are only a very few people who will turn up no matter who is on the bill. I wish that for once people would take a chance and go out for a night of live music, rather than to see a specific band and then leave as soon as they have played. And how do you think it could be sorted out cause the midweek gigs are excellent for bands who struggle to get gigs and you seem to give bands no matter how crap they are I don’t think it’s a case of giving bands a chance no matter how crap they are, but more one of giving bands a chance that are trying hard to do it for themselves. In the end it’s the ones that are trying hardest that will be welcomed back to play again and again. 8) Please tell the readers about Discordian Discordian is an internet based discussion group for all things music based in the west midlands. It was originally set up by Magick Temple of Discordian Promotions (another front for more sinister activities, http://www.discordian.co.uk) and Badger Promotions so everyone (at the time about 30 people) could argue about the bands that had either played or where due to play at the two venues we were both involved with at the time. It was also set up to try and bring people together on the internet, giving them a good reason to meet up at the gigs and talk to each other in person about latest developments on the list. 9) You told me in the past that you would never put a tribute or covers band on, I admire that as I hate them and see them as a threat to real bands, what exactly is your problem with them? The main issue is that I used to play in a covers band years ago and I know what its like…..most people who play in covers/tribute bands these days are really talented musicians who feel that they are more likely to make money playing covers than playing their own stuff. They spend hours and hours rehearsing other peoples songs afraid that they could never make it doing their own stuff. I left the covers band I was in and thought fuck it, do or die time, I’d rather starve than play someone elses music as if it was my own. I’ve been in bands for 16 years now and I can’t count the number of people who quit the band to join a covers bands in search of easier money. It’s like a sort of cowardice. Whenever covers bands phone me up I tell them straight that I can’t give them a gig but I always, always offer them a gig if they will play their own stuff instead. A few of them have been willing to take me up on the offer of a gig and some have even stopped playing the covers altogether. If all the covers bands started playing their own stuff tomorrow, the return to live music would have to follow. I think the growth in covers and tributes is merely a reflection at how conservative peoples tastes have become, people are lazy and going for a night out to watch a covers band is easier than trying to find anything new......... 10) From what I can see you put an awful lot of your time into promoting Insanity mostly. We’re all consumers whether we like it or not, you can’t easily avoid it unless you become a windfall fruitarian living in a handwoven tent sitting in the apple orchard of life all day, playing your recycled driftwood guitar, watching and waiting for fruit to fall from the tree. I try to make an effort in my own everyday activities to try to be creative and to open opportunities for others to do the same in a blind attempt to try and balance it all out. Anyone can tell you that when you try to be creative, the work you do and, the return for your hard work is never fair. You always have to work 50 times harder to get just one small step along the way. You have to make your own fun if you want to have any real fun in this life. As far as I’m concerned the hard work is always worth it. 11) Do you ever get the feeling that you just can’t be arsed anymore, but No. 12) What happened to your old band The Hot Tortoise and what’s your new band The bass player left so I decided to call it a day and take the opportunity to start a new band instead. The New band is called “Last Under The Sun” its sort of post hardcore crossed with punk with a bit of weird-so-no-one-will-like-it sort of stuff and we’re out gigging at the moment but in disguise as another band altogether. 13) You have put on hundreds of bands at The Old Railway over the years, which bands do you enjoy putting on and which bands would you rather not put on again? 1. Bands I enjoy putting on. 2. Bands I do not enjoy putting on. Here's what I say to bands starting out on their own, in the hope they don’t fall into the second category......... 14) What are your favorite 5 bands, 5 records? You bastard, you can’t ask that one. I’m dangerously obsessed with music so I don’t think I have a favourite 5, it changes all the time. My favourites this week are Dufus (from New York) I just helped them put their first European Tour together and I think they are incredible. Herman Dune from Paris (Hail Satan!). Four Letter Word as Welly writes fucking amazing lyrics. I like Happy Anger(from france and have disappeared, anyone know where they are???) and then the usual suspects like Black Sabbath, Stupids, Sink, Nomeansno, M.D.C, Fugazi, Rollins, Jello Biafra, Chuck D and Public Enemy, Bloody Sods, Brezhnev, Eggraid, Buggers, Sist, Redshift, Soutport, June of 44, Slint, AOS3, Citizen Fish, Inner Terrestrials. I have loads vinyl and cassettes and loads of cds so if I was to list these properly, fuck knows what I’d be writing. I like all the bands on the label which is why I’m working with them, the list is endless. 15) Finally Mark please tell the readers how to get (a) Iron man releases Find it on the web: Or for a paper list write to: Iron Man Records Tel: (uk+44) 0121 256 1303 (b) gigs in Birmingham Have a look at the “Contact” page on the Badger promotions website http://www.badgerpromotions.co.uk or read this: If you want a gig.....please send your cd and any other info to: **Join the Badger Promotions Mailing list** tel: (uk+44) 0121 256 1303 Here's the way it works..... 1. I can sort you a gig at The Old Railway, Digbeth, Birmingham on either a tuesday or wednesday night..... just email me again or phone (uk+44)0121 256 1303 any weekday afternoon. Once you have sent your cd give me a week or five as I get hundreds of cds every month and I try to listen to everything. I try and pick a selection of the best cds sent in and some others at random so everyone gets a chance to play but....... unfortunately I can't give everyone a gig as the number of cds sent in far outweighs the nights available! 2. Send your cd to local music Fanzine Rhythm and Booze and get a review before you come and play. 3. Cds that I really like get played at The Old Railway every Tuesday and Wednesday (we've only got a cd player so we can't play tapes) The rest I try to recycle: either give them to other local fanzines, local dj's or local review websites...nothing goes in the bin. 4. If you email your gig dates and some info or press releases about your band I can pass the details on to some UK based fanzines and listings. see gig listings page for format/layout of listings........ 5. check out the resource lists on the website at http://www.badgerpromotions.co.uk. for lists of fanzines, venues/promoters in the UK, radio stations, reviews, links to other music sites, record labels, and more. 6. **Join the Badger Promotions Mailing list** send a blank email to: badgerpromotions-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. I try and post any useful information and contacts for bands and the usual latest giglistings etc about once or twice a month. 7. Record some product: 3 songs or a whole album...... 9. Here are the contact numbers for all the main music promoters in the Birmingham area: Badger Promotions (The Old Railway) other main promoters I can recommend: other promoters working in cooperation with Badger Promotions in Birmingham: 10. For links to other Birmingham based music sites etc click here. (c) Brum based fanzines. Plus anything else you wanna add, well add it now. Get a copy of the new Dufus album, go out and support new music in all its forms and next time you are at a gig, try starting a converstation with a complete stranger. Heckle all bands, they have it too easy. Enjoy life, You can never have enough confusion. Hail Eris! Badger Promotions, PO BOX 9121, Birmingham, B13 8AU,UK 1/9/01 Badger Promotions is a non profit making musicians co-operative operating from The Old Railway, 45 Curzon street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B4 7XE UK organising Punk / Hardcore / Metal / Rock / Indie and Acoustic shows every Tuesday and Wednesday night. The Old Railway is the last outpost of truly independent music in the West Midlands. The venue is 120 capacity with full PA/32 channel desk. Badger Promotions is willing to offer gigs to any band of any musical style connected with the punk, hardcore, alternative, DIY, independent or experimental scene and these bands are most usually self promoted, or on a limited budget and will stop at nothing in an attempt to bring their music to Birmingham and other venues across the UK. The direct result is that the nature and diversity of the live music performed each week at the Old Railway is second to none with bands travelling from all over the UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, Europe and Japan. Badger Promotions stays in regular contact with bands, fanzines, radio stations, other venues, and distributors from all over the world through the internet. The Badger Promotions gig organisers all play in local bands themselves and aim to provide a platform from which hardworking bands will be able to reach a wider audience. Badger Promotions is also known as Iron Man Records and operates a punk/hardcore record label seeking to promote new music to a worldwide audience. Releases on the label so far have included, Howard Marks, renegade ganja activists P.A.I.N., Pigfish, I.O.D, LESS, G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S, and Legion of Dynamic Dischord. Related projects include The Hot Tortoise and the forthcoming release from Last under The Sun. Badger Promotions has a website aimed at providing a resource base for local bands and anyone else outside Birmingham involved with the scene listing useful addresses, links, fanzine lists, venue contact details, radio station, distributors and info on putting out your own records, booking your own tours, promoting your own band etc. Badger Promotions has started an internet discussion group with Discordian Promotions, called discordian@yahoogroups.com. To subscribe to the list send a blank email to: discordian-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Iron Man / Badger Promotions How it all started, a short word from the Badger I used to play in a band some years back but I found it increasingly difficult to get shows booked without National press or a Demo tape. I started booking venues myself, in order to get shows for my own band. At the time, my only friends were those who were struggling with their own band projects. None of us had any money to record Demo tapes, we had all suffered at the hands of rip-off promoters, nobody seemed interested in promoting Punk/Hardcore in Birmingham unless you had a record contract, some of us were even considering giving up altogether because no one was willing to offer support due to the nature of the music played. This was not to be. The group of Bands decided that if no one was willing to help out, it was time to do it for ourselves. Between us, we started booking and playing our own shows on regular basis, sharing the tasks of organisation, promotion and performance. Our philosophy? To book the appropriate venue ourselves, organise effective promotion ourselves, operate the From this small beginning Badger evolved, and today the Badger has many shapes. Badger Promotions organises gigs every Tuesday and Wednesday at The Old Railway, Digbeth and is supporting and promoting an Acoustic Night every Thursday at The Market tavern, Digbeth and has mutated to form a record label Called Iron Man Records. By far the largest sector of activity revolves around the live promotion of Punk/Hardcore Bands who since the start, have multiplied their numbers so fast, I haven't got an accurate count as new bands are joining every week. The Badger bands continue to work together, supporting each others shows, and at last it is looking as if the whole is becoming greater than the sum of the parts. And that is just in the West Midlands area. Badger Promotions maintains its own database of contacts, information, promotional techniques and useful advice for new bands wishing to make a start for themselves in the West Midlands area. A short interview with Badger Promotions What made you start promoting? Whats been the best moment so far? And the worst? What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start putting gigs on? Remember - Stress, sleepless nights, anxiety, Radio one, lunatic sound engineers, confusion, other promoters, band managers, losing your mind, bands that live in the forest or on the sides of mountains, plain clothes police, pop bands, contracts, paying for everything in coppers and regular death threats are all part of the training. The Old Railway: "Birmingham versus the rest of the Planet".......what the fuck's going on???? Starting on Tuesday November the 6th, The Old Railway will be playing host to some of the UK finest unsigned bands in a series of head to head contests. We all know that Radio One are coming to Birmingham from 26th October to 1st november to highlight the wealth of talent that Birmingham has to offer. When Radio 1 pack up and leave on 1st November, The Old Railway will be hosting a series of inter band, inter city, head to head showdowns of some of the best new and unsigned bands from all over the UK and most of the gigs will also be free to get in. The idea is to put on two Birmingham based bands and one or more unsigned bands from other parts of the UK every Tuesday and Wednesday. In Return the music promoters from the participating Towns and Cities, who have supplied the visiting bands, will offer local Birmingham bands gigs in return to help Birmingham based bands find opportunities to play all over the rest of the Country. Sheffield are the first City to take up the challenge. The best bands from Sheffield will be playing the Old Railway every tuesday and Wednesday alongside some of Birminghams finest in a contest to find out which city has the best unsigned bands. Bristol and Nottingham have also put several bands forward to take on the best of Birmingham and on the 16th November, to coincide with Japan week in Birmingham, 4 bands from Japan will be taking on the mighty Birmingham based Burning Buddhists in a contest of ska, punk, rock and experimental noise. Bring your mad hat, this will be a big one. To celebrate the "Birmingham versus the rest of the Planet" music showdown, Darren's Kitchen will be serving a special menu of food suitable for anyone dangerously obsessed with music, available only at The Old Railway. All relevant information, listings, details of bands, place of origin and musical genre can be found through the Iron Man Records website at http://www.ironmanrecords.co.uk or check local press for gig listings or ring The Old Railway on 0121 333 6434. from: Richard Morgan Go to gigs, especially the railway, before everyone gives up... Make your band special by thinking/reading/writing instead of copying .... If u cant play the music biz game then either do something to fuck it up or Stop bullshitting....its very dull and we ve all heard it before... Be enthusiastic...this area is as depressing as a disused colliery... Dont waste everyones time by trying to sound like yr fav band...your fav band Do not go to venues that promote cover bands or tribute bands... Do not play cover versions....ever.... Do not write songs with other bands riffs and expect yr audience not to Do not be afraid of getting somewhere,most of the bands that do are above all, innovate.... Attention: Dear Privilaged Person, On the off chance that you are in some way bored of whacking the white stuff up yer brown nose, you have been selected to take part in an experiment - something you can do all on your own without having to ask any one elses permission. You may even further your job because of it, assuming yer not the sort of chicken who's scared that using yer own head might cost you yer All we, the undersigned, ask is that you get off your pussy ass and prick up This is a real and subversive movement and easily out-cools any cut price shite you have been Can you spread the word about the last outpost for truly independent music, based in the West Midlands? If you are a musician, a fanzine, a journalist, a magazine, a radio station, an internet site, a reviewer, or anyone obsessed with music: The Old Railway needs you! Badger Promotions is a non profit making musicians cooperative operating from The Old Railway, Curzon street, Digbeth, Birmingham UK, organising Punk / Hardcore shows every Tuesday and Wednesday night. The Old Railway is the last outpost of truly independent music in the West Midlands. The venue is 120 capacity with full PA/32 channel desk. We get the use of the venue for free, the sound engineer is paid for by the pub and as a result there are no financial restrictions on what we do. This means we are willing to offer gigs to any band of any musical style, roughly connected with the punk, hardcore, alternative, DIY or experimental scene who are self promoted, or on a limited budget, or who want to bring their music to Birmingham. Most Badger Promotions gigs are free to get in and a percentage from the bar goes to the bands. When we need to raise more funds and are forced to put a price on the door, 100% of any collected money at the door goes to the bands. The direct result is that the nature and diversity of the live music performed each week at the Old Railway is second to none. The gig organisers all play in local bands themselves and aim to provide a platform from which hardworking bands will be able to reach a wider audience. Badger Promotions has a website aimed at providing a resource base for local bands and anyone else outside Birmingham involved with the scene. We're trying to put together useful addresses, links, fanzine lists, venue contact details, radio station, distro's and info on putting out your own records etc etc. If you would like your details added to the site, or can contribute to the resource lists, get in touch, its all free of course. We've also started an internet discussion group with Discordian Promotions, called discordian@egroups.com. You can subscribe on this page: http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/discordian I'll keep this short so if you want to know more, get in touch: tel: 0121 256 1303 fax: 0121 256 1302 .............................................................................. Iron Man / Badger Promotions Hi just to let you know what's happening in Birmingham these days, I run Iron Man Records and Badger Promotions and I'm in the process of setting up some Internet and gig based music distribution. tel: 0121 256 1303 thanks, |