Community Service #4 - Hinterland

I guess that I wouldn't have been the only one who was surprised to see Hinterland return for a second year, but I'm glad it has. The multi-venue city festival might well have had a few teething problems, but it seems that these have all been addressed. It was only just recently that I found out that the event wasn't being put on by any of the 'usual' promoters, instead it stems from the passion of one man and his desire to do something positive for music in Glasgow. It was for this reason that I wanted to run a feature on Hinterland, far too often I find that folk within the Scottish music scene are overly negative and quickly shoot down anyone trying to run innovative events. If someone is passionate enough to get up off their backside and something like this, then we need to get behind them. Now I'll pass you over to Hinterland founder Mike Oman for a few words on what we can expect from this years festival....


For those who don’t know what Hinterland is, would you care to describe it in your own words?

Hinterland is a very small and humble festival that takes place on the 3rd April in Glasgow. Hinterland aims to showcase up and coming local acts alongside some more established names from the UK and abroad. The event is a one ticket all access event which for your ticket price you can go to any participating venue as often as you want for the duration of the event (5pm til 3am).

What was it that motivated you to take on such an ambitious project as this?

I lived in Glasgow for 6 years and have close connections with a lot of people involved in what goes on in Glasgow musically, I've also been a passionate supporter of Scottish music and felt that there wasn't really something that provided a platform for up and coming acts. I loved Tryptich but its set up was different in many ways and I felt there was a lot of great stuff coming out of Glasgow in every genre but that it wasn't reflected well elsewhere. When I realised Tryptich wasn't going to continue I felt it was the opportunity to do something. Was it wise in a recession? probably not but I'm trying to do something positive.

There were a few teething problems with the first Hinterland, what have you done differently this year? And did you find it difficult to motivate yourself to come back for a second year?

We're keeping the venues much closer so you don't have to walk up any hills!, the set times are much more staggered so there's more opportunity to see the smaller acts. It's impossible to have every single act on at separate times but we are honestly trying to make it as user-friendly as possible, and lastly the tickets are a lot cheaper which I'm sure everyone is in favour of. I didn't find it difficult to come back for year 2 because I'm committed to seeing this work and i see no reason why Glasgow shouldn't have an event on par with other famous reputable inner city festivals...I'm saying no names of course!

What criteria do you look for when selecting artists to play? How do you approach them?

its a case of who do we like the sound of, who is available and whether we feel they're relevant. mostly it will be a case of contacting them directly or their agent depending on their current set-up but we do get approached by a lot of managers/bands etc.

Are you still looking for artists to play at this years event? And if so are you looking for people to get in touch?

Our programme is pretty much booked up but if anyone wants to get in touch the best way is to email info@thehinterlandfestival.com

It’s been apparent that a lot of the smaller summer festivals have felt the squeeze in recent years, with many of them dropping off the calendar. Do you believe that there is a big enough demand to sustain two multi-venue festivals (yourselves and Stag & Dagger)in Glasgow?

Yes absolutely, the commitment involved from a punters perspective is a lot less than going something like T in the Park and Glastonbury. Our tickets are generally what you would pay to see 1 decent band or clubnight on a Saturday night anyway so its a no brainer...

Glasgow Hinterland Festival 2010 - Line Up Takes Shape

NB - this post originally went up last week and was subsequently removed as the line up hadn't been officially confirmed, so here we go go again, take 2......

I'm still pretty surprised to see that it's coming back for a second outing, but hey I'm not complaining any excuse for a party is fine by me. The multi-venue event takes place on Saturday the 3rd of April, details of the line up are starting to emerge, so far we have The mystery Jets, British Sea Power, Jeffrey Lewis (didn't he play last year? or was that at Stag & Dagger), Hot Club De Paris, Pulled About By Horses, Wave Pictures, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Fenech Soler, Johnny Foreigner, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, Midnight Lion, Ambulances, Bleech, Kitty the Lion, Mazes, Spectrals, Veronica Falls, Fair Ohs, French Wives, The Kays Lavelle, Silver Coulmns, Panda Su, Little Yellow Ukuleles, plus DJ sets from Joe from Hot Chip and Friendly Fires (I'm sure there are others that I have missed here, so go and check the site for more detailed information).

In my original post I had stated that I thought there were only a few major standouts out for me personally. They were Ambulances who are going to be playing their first ever live show in Glasgow, that's got to be worth a tenner alone. With the other two being Midnight Lion and the Boy Who Trapped The Sun that genuinely got me excited. Thankfully though since the official launch, there are plenty more acts in there that get the old juices, Silver Columns playing their first Glasgow show and the lovely Panda Su, who has possibly one the the most beautiful live voices that I've heard in years. As they're two of the acts that I suggested as being one's to watch this year has got to be a good sign.
Hopefully this is just the start of things to come, as otherwise I could see things being even worse than last year which would be a real shame. Possibly the addition of one more big name band and a splattering of local talent should set Hinterland well on it's way.

Early bird tickets are on sale now for £10, certainly an improvement on the ridiculous price for last years tickets, they are on sale now here. For more up to date information one what's going on you might be better following them on twitter.

Hinterland

Hinterland and Stag & Dagger return for 2010

Two inner city festivals are set to return to Glasgow for a second year, Hinterland on Saturday the 3rd of April and Stag & Dagger on Saturday the 22nd of May
I must admit that I was quite surprised to see both events returning in 2010, Hinterland in particular. It seem that the organisers of Hinterland must have prepared themselves to do deal with any financial losses from last year and that lessons have been learned. Although they seem to be taking a bit of a risk in thinking that the punters hat paid £42 for tickets will be happy to do so again, as due to poor sales last year, tickets ended up being given away for free just days before the event started. Hopefully they problems with pricing have been addressed, as tickets aren't on sale yet I guess we'll have to wait and see. One major issue that I felt hindered the festival was they spread it over two days, a Thursday and a Friday, thankfully they've seen the error of their ways and shifted it to a Saturday. In all seriousness though why they didn't think of this in the first place is really beyond me, but hey what do I know. Although it might not have been a success financially I really did feel that Hinterland was a good idea and that it seemed to work well. Blending an array of local talent with
established artists, it offered you the chance to nip in and out of various venues across Glasgow. My highlights from last year included Zoey Van Goey, Sons & Daughters and a guy called Geordi La Force. Never heard anything about him after that night though.
For further details on the line up and tickets keep you eye on the Hinterland homepage.



Stag & Dagger was for me a far more successful event, probably because the organisers had the advantage of having previously organised the event down in London Town.
It was on a Saturday, the line up was a lot better. Last year we had Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad and The Phantom Band all in one night, so you can imagine how ever excited I was getting that night. Again no details of the line up have been announced, however, early bird tickets are available to buy now for £10, you can buy them here. Keep an eye out for the line up being announced at the Stag and Dagger homepage. Hopefully they'll get a new logo sorted some time soon, as the one above looks like something I could have knocked up on my old BBC Micro (for all you youngsters that's a very very old computer).

Hinterland...my rambling thoughts

All in all I thought it was a success, it turned out be a lot busier than I had feared it wouldn't be (does that make sense), not sure if that was because they give a shit load of tickets away for free, or if I just went to see more popular bands. My one point that I would make is that if they manage to get another go at it next year, make it a one day event, on the Friday and have less venues, as I did feel there was a bit of a split between the Sauchiehall Street vs Argyll Street venues. There were plenty of bands I fancied seeing, but the thought of hiking it back and forth from say the Classic Grand to Sleazy's really didn't appeal.
Anyway, that's about the only grumble I have, overall I really enjoyed myself, I caught the following:-

Day One - Thursday

Orphans & Vandals (the Classic Grand upstairs) - sounded like they desperately wanted to be the Velvet Underground, their first song went on too long, so my mind started to wander. some of their stuff did get my foot tapping though. Eventually got bored and went downstairs and saw...

Geordi La Force (the Classic Grand downstairs) - as he was one of the recommendations of bands to see by Under the Radar I thought I'd give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised and amused by what we witnessed. Basically the set up is one guy playing guitar to amusing video clips, when we came in he was thrashing out some spazzed out rock tunes to a Chuck Norris workout video. He was without doubt the best discovery of the weekend, although I must admit I did leave before the end of his set to head back upstairs to see...

Meursault (the Classic Grand upstairs), this was the second time I had seen them and once again I was highly impressed, starting off with material from their debut album, it was all very upbeat, their lead singers voice really does make them stand out. My attention did tend to wander a little bit towards the end when they started playing stuff from their new EP, but that was more so because I hadn't actually given it that many spins, plus the songs are a bit slower, that and I have the attention span of a gnat. Although the venue was only about a third full I reckon they'll have turned a few folk onto their music. Actually can anyone clarify how you are supposed to pronounce their name, initially I was saying something along the lines of Mewersalt, then Nic corrected me as the French would say it something like Mer-so, anyone know for sure as it has been bugging me. Also their patter was shit, but that's to be expected being from Edinburgh n'all...

Lastly, I went off to see Copy Haho (the Arches 2), as all of my mates wanted to see the Fall (who were shite apparently) I thought the easiest thing to do would be to go in with them to the Arches 1 and cut through, but hey that was far too logical. Once inside I was told that I'd have to go back out of the Cafe Bar entrance and walk round to the other entrance. Seriously wtf?! it's the same fecking venue, so that was a bit of a bummer. As for Copy Haho, they were alright, nothing amazing, one to watch in the future, but they didn't exactly blow me away.

Day Two - Friday

I decided that a venture up to the Art School to see Zoey Van Goey, they're a band I have listened to a fair bit on Myspace, but never seen live, I was pleasantly surprised how good they were. Even if me and the wife were lazy cnuts sitting on the comfy leather couches for most of their set. those old weary legs needed some recovery time after making the hike up that steep slope to get to the Art School. Oh and while it's on my mind, check this for freaky, on the way up to the gig, Nic nipped in and bought the new King Creosote album for her mate from the HMV on Buchanan Street (you know the on the used to be a Virgin/Zavvi) and just as we got up to the next HMV on Sauchiehll Street out came KC with his daughter, freaky coincidence or what. Toying with the idea of getting the album signed we were soon foiled by KC and KC Jnr out manoeuvring us by skipping off up the street. Anywa, that's enough of that rambling about my stalker-ish tendencies. Next up was a walk back down to see...

Sons & Daughters (the Arches 1), who were on good form, I've seen them millions of time and they rarely let me down, my only grumble would be the lack of new material, surely a wee taster of what we can expect from their next album would have been nice, actually I just sound like a moaning twat saying that. They were on top from, played all the big tunes and I really shouldn't be moaning unnecessarily. Last up for us were.....

Broken Records (the Classic Grand upstairs), as S&D's were running a bit late we only managed to catch half of their set, which was a bit of a bummer as they were sounding really good, even though lead singer, Jamie Sutherlan, had started to lose his voice. their debut album sounds amazing, and their live set is tight as fuck, I really have big hopes for them this year.
I really did fancy going up to see Jetpacks at the ABC2, but the though of having to kill two hours when I was pretty gassed didn't appeal too much, I'll see them in June instead.

That's about all I can think of to say on this wet Bank Holiday Monday, back to feeling sorry for myself for being stuck in work when everyone else is probably still in bed.....

Hinterland News

copy n paste, etc

CHANGES TO SCHEDULE:

Bad News: Unfortunately due to their drummer having a "broken ankle" DEROSA have cancelled all their forthcoming shows including their opening slot at Hinterland on Thursday.

Bad News: COLORAMA have unfortunately cancelled their show at The Flying Duck on Friday due to their drummer having recurring back problems. They said "We have been really looking forward for months to playing Glasgow for the first time. But this is an unavoidable situation for us and we regret any inconvenience this has caused"

What does this tell you about drumming as an occupation kiddies?

More Bad News: EUROPEAN UNION have cancelled their Hinterland show at Stereo for "personal reasons"

However it's not all bad. It just means we are giving you two chances to catch some of the bands who are playing on Friday as well, first up:

Good News: THESE MONSTERS have risen to the challenge and will now be opening The Arches on Thursday

More Good News: Main support to The Fall on Thursday night will be FOXFACE

Even More Good News: Arguably Glasgow's sweetest... ahem we mean cool and aloof bands FANGS are not only opening The Art School on Thursday but will also be opening Stereo on Friday!

Free Hinterland Tickets - now free from the Flying Duck all day (updated)

'Thanks to Hinterland's kind sponsors, Splendid Dead/Mutant Music folks can grab free 2-day tickets for the Hinterland festival.

E-mail your name plus how many wristbands are required to...

info@​hinterlandfesti​val. ​com

You will receive an e-mail on Wednesday with your tickets, wristbands will be available from the Arches cafe early Thursday.

It is all too good to be true, but it is true - a saving of £42. 50!

Limited number, so be quick.'



Bit of a pisser if you've shelled out £40 for tickets, fecking amazing if you haven't!

De Rosa pull out of Hinterland

"Due to unforseen personal circumstances, we regret that De Rosa will not be playing at Hinterland Festival in Glasgow this Thursday, or at the Plaff Festival in Granada, Spain this Saturday. This is the first time we have ever cancelled a gig, ever, and we sincerely apologise to the all promoters and organisers involved."

Bugger

Hinterland Timetable Published

It looks something like this....
which you probably can't read, so why not go oer to their site and see a nice big version of it, here

Cheap Hinterland tickets offer, be quick mind you

Copy n paste, here ya go.......

Hinterland Festival is giving newsletter subscribers of The List the chance to buy discounted tickets for ONE DAY ONLY from today until FRIDAY 17TH APRIL at midnight.

Two day passes will be priced at £30 - a whopping £12 discount! -
and one day passes will be priced at £15 - a huge saving of £8.50!

The Hinterland bill features The Fall, Sons & Daughters, Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Metronomy, Sucioperro, Simian Mobile Disco (DJ set), Drums of Death, Count and Sinden (DJ set), Manda Rin, Tommy Reilly, Foxface and over 100 more, plus clubnights and art events! This 24-hour offer is available here

I'll be going if that encourages you to go, or more likely completely puts you off. Still a pretty decent deal mind you, the Friday looking by far and away the best day to go.

More Hinterland Acts Announced

'We have announced the names of another 27 acts taking the overall band tally for the festival up to 57. Among the new bands announced are: Glasgow’s acclaimed Sons and Daughters, Michachu who can currently be seen touring the UK with Late of the Pier, The Invisible, BBC 6Music favourites Metronomy, Count and Sinden who were behind one of last year’s biggest club hits Beeper. Previously announced Hinterland act Tommy Reilly, has also won the Orange Unsigned Musician competition that aired on Channel 4 since being confirmed for Hinterland.'

2 Day Early Bird Discounted Tickets - £35 (saving of £7.00 per ticket)
2 Day Standard Tickets - £42
1 Day Tickets - £23.50

So the line up so far looks like this:-

85 Bears
Answering Machine
Be a Familiar
Black Sun
Come on Gang!
Copy Haho
Count and Sinden
Derosa
Desalvo
Dinosaur Pile up
Drums of Death
Edie Sedgwick
Eugene Mcguinness
European Union
Fangs
Findo Gask
Galchen
Geordi La Force
Guanoman
Hudson Mohawke
Isosceles
Lesser Panda
Little Man Tate
Lovely Eggs
Manda Rin
Metronomy
Micachu
Mitchell Museum
My Tiger My Timing
Oh, Atoms
Panama Kings
Pearl & the Puppets
Plugs
Pulled Apart By Horses
Punch and the Apostles
Remember Remember
Rogues
Sirens, Sirens
Sky Larkin
Sons & Daughters
Still Flyin'
Stricken City
Sucioperro
The Invisible
The Lines
The Ray Summers
These Monsters
Three Trapped Tigers
Tommy Reilly
Two Door Cinema Club
We Have Band
We Were Promised Jetpacks
X-Certs
Y'all Is Fantasy Island
Your Twenties
Zoey Van Goey

You can buy tickets here
Hinterland

Hinterland Announces First 30 Acts

The first 30 bands to be confirmed for Hinterland are:

85 Bears
Brother Louis Collective
Come on Gang!
Copy Haho
Dananananaykroyd
Edie Sedgwick
Fangs
Findo Gask
Galchen
Geordi La Force
Hudson Mohawke
Isosceles
Lesser Panda
Manda Rin
Micachu
Mitchell Museum
My Tiger My Timing
Oh, Atoms
Pearl & the Puppets
Pulled Apart By Horses
Punch & The Apostles
Tommy Reilly
Remember Remember
Rustie
The Xcerts
These Monsters
Three Trapped Tigers
We Have Band
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Zoey Van Goey

I don't know about you but thre isn't too much to get excited about so far, here's hoping they can pull something a bit better out of that magical hat of theirs.
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New Festival coming to Glasgow

It look like the success of this years Sauchiehall Crawl was noted by quite a few bodies within the Scottish Music Industry, as details are emerging of a major new event coming to Glasgow next year, on the 30th April to the 1st of May. No acts have been announced as of yet, but promoters are planning to start revealing bands by the middle of November when tickets are due to go on sale. Venues that have so far been confirmed to host events include, the ABC, the Admiral, the Arches, the Art School, Barfly, Box, Classic Grand, the Flying Duck, the Ivy, King Tuts, Macsorleys, Pivo Pivo, Stereo and the Sub Club, with more TBC.

Organiser Mike Oman said the event will “allow people to really experience the level of established and underground talent that Scotland, and the UK, has to offer.”

The festival will be a one-ticket event, which gives fans access to every venue.

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