gigbeth

Frankie is a student at University of Birmingham where she manages student radio station Burnfm.com. She has worked for the BBC, Gigbeth and Created in Birmingham. She also keeps a blog, which she uses to write about her ‘gift of the blag’ and her misunderstood fascination with YouTube.

frankiepromotes@googlemail.com

Words: Frankie Ward
Photography: Katja Ogrin

His dauntingly dark Stanislavky EP is a huge U-Turn for former kids’ television presenter Iain Woods.

Recorded as a final project at art school, Iain Woods’ debut record is a sample-infused, soulfully performed and wonderfully produced piece of work, and yet Iain himself is effortlessly charming, despite having endured a couple of train journeys and a photo-shoot before making his way to be interviewed.

Four months after graduating, Iain discovered that he was nominated for the 4Talent Music Award whilst on work experience at London-based label Transgressive Records.

“I was saying to a guy that I’d been play-listed at BBC 6 Music, but didn’t find out until two months later. I asked him, ‘Could you give me some advice on how to stay on top of things?’ And as I said it I scrolled down the 4Talent website, saw ‘Iain Woods’ in the shortlist and thought, this is exactly what I mean!”

According to his MySpace page, Iain’s music blends grime and gospel – not exactly the genres that leap to mind when browsing his material. “I don’t really take the genre thing that seriously,” he shrugs. “It’s more to do with a sombre setting, than really syncopated Dizzee Rascal style grime beats.”

He once wrote that his work comprises pop songs about amphetamines and anal sex. So which tracks are about what? “It’s all a big web to be worked out by the listener, and not to be explained by me,” is his enigmatic reply.

“It would be really difficult and undermining to say that this song is about this, and this song is about that,” he goes on. “Some are written in ten minutes, others over a couple of months. They’re more about just general moods and feelings,” he reflects. So will enlightenment come with repeated listens?

“A lot of the people I listen to have really random lyrics, like PJ Harvey and Beth Gibbons,” he responds. They’ll often pointedly say something that’s completely nonsensical, and I really like that.”

This feels like a good time to raise the topic of his track 1994. On his blog, Iain writes in fragmented note form about the various happenings in that particular year – such as the death of Kurt Cobain, and Nelson Mandela becoming President of South Africa. “I’ve just got this thing about years, I’ve always found them really interesting,” he explains – this particular year having the significance of being the year his uncle was murdered.

“I’m quite a storyteller, but I don’t think you’d be able to tell what it’s about just by listening,” he reflects. “It’s about something generally dark: that was my first memory of something really, really serious.”

During the interview Iain says he’s not working on new material, but calls me later to apologise. “I don’t know why I said that; I’ve nearly finished a new EP,” he tells me. “I think I got carried away. You were my first interviewer.”

www.myspace.com/iainwoods

Contributor Ian Ravenscroft blogs from the 4Talent stage at Gigbeth festival on the 8th November and would like to note he was not paid to say all the nice things he says here.

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Exchanging indie haircut bands for an eclectic line-up of unknowns is a brave move for an up-and-coming festival. I went to find out if the gamble paid off on the 4Talent stage at Birmingham’s Gigbeth festival.

Thingamagoop has a new friend.

Photo c. Pete Ashton

Following a hectic Friday night with Hot Monocles after they raucously opened Gigbeth’s unsigned bands stage, I made my way once again to the Dragon Bar at the Barfly to check out the eclectically-assembled 4Talent stage. Exciting, innovative acts were the name of the game and in the event the billing did not disappoint.

As I entered the room I was greeted by Pete Ashton’s bleeping, blooping, buzzing boxes, also known as the Film Dash-winning Thingamagoop and new addition, Thingamakit, tentatively named King Tubby. Confused? Let me explain…

Pete’s hi-tech toys are light-sensitive synthesizers, which he manipulates using the bots’ built-in light stalks, an ingenious LED glove and any source of light within reach. The result being a cacophony of piercingly ambient electronic bleeps and bloops, which visitors to the stage found equally intriguing and inexplicable, especially once given an opportunity to have a go themselves.

After all that frantic commotion, the unassuming Rich Batsford settled into his seat to sooth our bleeping brains with his emotive classical piano compositions. Playing to a crowd of incredibly-attentive leather-clad metal fans added a hint of the surreal to his set of hypnotic melodies and powerful, booming chords, but this could not distract from the calibre of his musicianship. A brave choice for a festival crowd maybe, but a worthy stage for such artistic talent.

The act that really marked out the eclectic nature of the evening however, was 4Talent award winner, Iain Woods & The Psychologist. Melding grimy hip-hop beats with soaring gospel and soul vocals and strings, Iain strutted provocatively into his first gig with the group - which included a DJ, two violinists and live painted visuals - with ease, trying in vain to disguise his sheer excitement. His stage persona may split opinions in the wider world, but his raw enthusiasm and originality will surely gain many admirers.

Dancing of the night goes to The Keyboard Choir, whose enthusiastic lead key-basher pioneered some ingenious leg-bending moves, twisting and turning to keep his Casio firmly planted through the group’s synthesised hip-hop tinged epics. At times I felt like I was peering in on a team of prog-scientists trying to crack some musical cypher as their conductor fought to maintain control of the chaotic, frenzied fingers of his team.

Finally, Einstellung took to the stage purposefully, arming themselves with weapons of guitars, bass, amps and drums. And what an assault we were in for. Starting off with an upbeat two-chord progression, the Krautrock five-piece built and built the volume and distortion to a wall of crashing noise and pounding rhythm, layering screaming slide guitar and crunching riffs to create a scorching, tumultuous soundscape. One track, two chords, and half an hour later, I felt like asking the band politely for my eardrums back, but I fear it may have been too late.

As 4Talent stage curator Catherine Bray admitted, it would have been very easy to populate this stage with safe, carbon-copy indie bands, which would have been an easier sell. But in the end, artistic innovation won a minor victory that night in the tiny Dragon Bar.

In a 4Talent special live event, we’ve put together the line-up for a stage at Gigbeth festival 2008, from 18:00 til midnight on 8th November 2008 at the Dragon Bar in the Barfly, Digbeth High Street, Birmingham. You can read all about this eclectic line-up of the best bands you’ve never heard of over here on the 4Talent Central site, including the winner of the 4Talent Awards 2008, music category, but we thought we’d blog here to let you know about not one, but two, competitions to win tickets.

• The first comp is sitting pretty with those doyens of the best niche music, Artrocker
• And the second comp is over on The Line Of Best Fit, you one-stop shop for all that’s good and pure in new music
• Plus BandWeblogs.com has a few more details on the acts…

Early ticketage is advised: you can get hold of £18 day tickets for the Saturday and £25 weekend tickets, plus check the full line-up of Gigbeth acts including the Sugarhill Gang and the Young Knives, over here on the Gigbeth site.

Keyboard Choir: from Brian Eno's 60th birthday party to the 4Talent Gigbeth stage in one easy move.