Alt-Fest Forum :: Recent Topics

Jesus & Mary Chain - by: iain.paterson73

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 19:47:30 +0000

Might Alt Fest try and lure the elusive JaMC for an exclusive UK show? Not played any shows here for at least two years but played at Primavera in Barcelona last year so are active-ish!

Does the dismember's area of the forum exist? - by: littlemissjax

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 15:38:36 +0000

Perhaps I am being dumb, but I can't seem to find the dismember's area on the forum.

Has anyone else found it?

Adding on car parking to my Kickstarter tickets - by: MAV787

Sat, 25 Jan 2014 11:05:32 +0000

I can't find anywhere how I add on car parking to my Kickstarter tickets. Can you tell me how to do it please.

Also you e-mailed me today about the various camp sites, telling me I had bought the camping option with my tickets, even thought I haven't. So you may want to check your selection criteria for your e-mailing list.

Thanks.

The Cure - by: calum.roberts.336

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 18:24:03 +0000

Any chance of trying to get The Cure to play ?

How do you get onto the dismembered forum? - by: N7Supernova

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 11:15:21 +0000

Hello I bought my dismembership which hasn't arrived yet so do I need to wait for that in order to join that section of the forum? Also how long will it take for the package to arrive?

Dismembered and tickets delivery - by: kaisi_mayhem

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 08:59:50 +0000

I was wondering when I will receive my tickets and Dismembership packet? I live in the states and will be travelling overseas for a few weeks before the festival. I have not received any confirmation for purchasing the Dismembershiip and was wondering if there is a separate website I could go to for that. I am showing the charge was made by pay-pal. Thanks for all your help

Space for two from Manchester? - by: phazza

Sat, 18 Jan 2014 14:05:19 +0000

I know this is WELL early but if you're going and will have space for two from Manchester / Bolton / Oldham, please let me know..

Figured get in early because splitting the cost of travel may sway someone who can drive to go. Obviously more than willing to put in money!

KMFDM - Cancellation - by: Hemlox

Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:51:07 +0000

A message from Dom and Missy:

Unfortunately KMFDM have cancelled their Alt-Fest appearance despite us having a signed contract and a formally agreed booking in place. KMFDM have decided to take a USA tour despite this contract being in place. Which speaks volumes on the situation. Without wishing to pass the blame Alt-Fest have acted totally professionally and advertised their appearance as agreed with their agent as a formal contract and booking was in place and also agreed with their appointed European agent. This is a highly irregular way of doing business in the festival world.

This slot has now been filled and we know you won't be disappointed with coming announcements and apologise profusely that KMFDM have chosen not to honour a booking they were contracted to appear at. As a fan/crowd led event we believe it's important to share the actual facts and from our perspective apologise that the band have let YOU down as much as they have us.

The Pop Group - by: no13benny

Wed, 15 Jan 2014 11:34:22 +0000

Saw them live supporting Sonic Youth a few years ago and were good.

The aforementioned if you can get them as well

Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH) - by: PlaceboFan

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 19:46:34 +0000

A place for us Wrasslin' fans to discuss the latest ring happenings.

Kicking things off, Royal Rumble. Who's predicting what?

TOOL - by: calum.roberts.336

Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:42:18 +0000

try get TOOL to play. I heard they are starting a tour

Therapy?/The Wildhearts/Ministry/Siouxsie - by: kurt.wylde.9

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 16:20:56 +0000

My other four suggestions. All in the topic there.

New Model Army - by: calum.roberts.336

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 15:58:29 +0000

I would love if New Model Army played as well as Siouxsie and Faith & The Muse

Gary Numan - by: Hemlox

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:00:53 +0000

Are Friends Electric? There is only one person who could possibly have this answer. Alt-Fest are extremely pleased to welcome the truly legendary Gary Numan to our line-up!

View the official site HERE

Biography
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (with Tubeway Army) and "Cars". His signature style combines gloomy themes of depersonalisation and alienation accompanied by energetic synthesizer work.

Early life
Born in Hammersmith, West London, Gary Anthony James Webb was the son of a British Airways bus driver based at Heathrow Airport. Webb was educated at Town Farm Junior School Stanwell, Ashford County Grammar School, Middlesex, Slough Grammar School and Brooklands Technical College. He had an early ambition to be an airline pilot, but did not gain any academic qualifications; however, he did go on to join the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He then briefly did various jobs including fork lift truck driver, air conditioning ventilator fitter and clerk in an accounts department. A guitar was purchased for him at an early age and he began writing songs when he was about 15 years old. He played in various bands, including Mean Street and The Lasers, before forming Tubeway Army with his uncle, Jess Lidyard, and Paul Gardiner. His initial pseudonym was "Valerian", probably in reference to the hero in French science fiction comic series Val?rian and Laureline. Later he picked the name "Numan" from an advert in the "Yellow Pages" for a plumber "A. Neumann".

1970s
Numan rose to prominence at the tail end of the 1970s as front man, writer and producer for Tubeway Army. After recording an album's worth of punk-influenced demo tapes (released in 1984 as The Plan), he was signed by Beggars Banquet Records in 1978 and quickly released two singles, "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers", neither of which charted. A self-titled, New Wave-oriented debut album later that same year sold out its limited run and introduced Numan's fascination with dystopian science fiction and, more importantly, synthesizers. Tubeway Army's third single, the dark-themed and slow-paced "Down in the Park" (1979) also failed to chart but it would prove to be one of Numan's most enduring and oft-covered songs; it was featured with other contemporary hits on the soundtrack for the movie Times Square, and a live version of the song can also be seen in the movie Urgh! A Music War. After exposure in a television advertisement for Lee Cooper jeans with the jingle "Don't be a dummy", Tubeway Army released the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" in May 1979. The single took seven weeks before it finally reached #1 at the end of June; the parent album Replicas simultaneously climbing to #1 in the album charts.

A few months later he cracked the charts both sides of the ocean with "Cars", which peaked at #1 in the UK in 1979 and #9 in US in 1980; it and the 1979 album The Pleasure Principle were both released under Numan's own (assumed) name. A sell-out tour ('The Touring Principle') followed; the concert video it spawned is often cited as the first full-length commercial music video release. The Pleasure Principle was a rock album with no guitars; instead, Numan used synthesisers fed through guitar effects pedals to achieve a distorted, phased, metallic tone. Self-produced in a fortnight for very little money, The Pleasure Principle sounded like nothing around at the time, and remains one of Numan's most highly-regarded efforts today. A second single from the album "Complex" made it to #6 in the UK charts.

Numan was pop music's first successful synthesizer star. He wore costumes and make-up and openly proclaimed his influences: David Bowie, Marc Bolan and contemporary electronic acts such as John Foxx's Ultravox. On stage his persona came across as aloof, alien and androgynous; in interviews, however, his disarmingly open manner caught many by surprise. Numan's great popularity and unabashed admiration of wealth alienated critics and even some fellow musicians; Yes recorded a sardonic song about him, "White Car," for their 1980 album Drama, a reaction to his habit of tearing around London in the white Chevrolet Corvette given to him by Beggars Banquet.

Numan bewildered the music press. He was a driven, creative, angst-ridden 21-year-old loner who still lived with his parents at the peak of his success. He was not punk. He was not quite New Romantic either, and retrospectives of the period tended to ignore him and his influence. Yet, during this period, Numan generated an army of fans calling themselves Numanoids, enough of whom would remain loyal to carry him through the latter half of the 1980s, when his fortunes began to fall precipitously (even before this time, and throughout his commercial peak, Numan was constantly vilified and ridiculed by the UK music press).

1980s

In 1980 Numan again topped the album charts with Telekon, although the concurrent singles "We Are Glass", "I Die: You Die" and "This Wreckage" reached #5, #6 and #20, respectively. The final studio album of what Numan retrospectively termed the "Machine" section of his career, Telekon reintroduced guitars to Numan's music and featured a wider range of synthesisers. The same year he embarked on his second major tour ("The Teletour") with an even more elaborate stage show than The Touring Principle the previous year. Although considered a success, Numan claimed the tour actually lost him a great deal of money because of the vast expense in mounting it. By this time he was weary of the pressures of fame and announced his retirement from touring with a series of sell-out concerts at Wembley Arena in April 1981, supported by Alternative musician Nash the Slash and Shock, a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe whose members included Barbie Wilde, Tik and Tok and Carole Caplin. The decision to retire would be short-lived ? in his autobiography he recalls walking out onto an empty stage after his final concerts and thinking, "What the fuck have I done?" ? but it would have a fateful effect on his career, as Numan found the fickle pop audience quickly turned its attention to other artists.

Moving away from the pure electropop that he had made his name with, Numan then experimented with jazz, funk and ethereal, rhythmic pop. His first album after his 1981 farewell concerts was the bleak, atmospheric and experimental Dance (1981). The album charted as high as #3 on the UK charts, but it only produced one hit single ("She's Got Claws") and then dropped out of the charts after only eight weeks. The album featured several distinguished guest players; Mick Karn (bass, saxophone) and Rob Dean (guitar) of Japan, Roger Mason (keyboards) of Models and Roger Taylor (drums) of Queen. With his former backing band, now reformed as Dramatis, Numan contributed vocals to the minor hit "Love Needs No Disguise" from the album For Future Reference. However, Numan's career had begun to experience a gradual decline, and he was eclipsed initially by acts such as Adam Ant, and later by The Human League, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode. Each album also saw a new "image", none of which captured the public's imagination to nearly the same extent as the lonely android of 1979.

The more upbeat and danceable I, Assassin (1982) fared less well than Dance. Despite spawning three Top 20 singles, the album peaked at No.8 and dropped out of the charts after six weeks. Numan supported the album with a concert tour in America in late 1982 (where he was living as a tax exile), which were his first series of live shows since his farewell at Wembley.

Warriors (1983) further developed Numan's jazz-influenced style and featured contributions from avant-garde musician Bill Nelson (who fell out with Numan during recording and chose to be uncredited as the album's co-producer) and saxophonist Dick Morrissey (who would play on most of Numan's albums until 1991). The album peaked at No.12 and, like I, Assassin, spent six weeks in the charts. Warriors was the last album Numan recorded for Beggars Banquet Records, and was supported by a 40-date UK tour (again with support from robotic mime and music duo Tik and Tok) -- Numan's first live tour in the UK since his Wembley appearances in 1981. Numan's look for the album artwork and tour was a Mad Max-influenced black leather costume against a post-apocalyptic backdrop, but this latest image change was scorned by the music press despite the sell-out tour and aggressive vibrancy of his newer sound.

Now battling against the increasing public perception that he was a spent force, Numan issued a series of albums and singles on his own record label, Numa. As the decade continued, he experienced a creative malaise, trying to recapture his former chart glory with less distinguished albums, some of which were stylistically derivative of artists like Robert Palmer and Prince. The first album released on Numa, 1984?s Berserker was also notable for being Numan's first foray into music computers/samplers, in this case the PPG Wave. Berserker moved away from the fluid, fretless sound that characterised Numan's previous three albums, featuring instead harder-edged electric bass and drum sounds. The album was also accompanied by a striking blue-and-white visual image, a tour and a live album/video, but it divided critics and fans and commercially was Numan?s least successful release to that date. 1984 also saw the death of Paul Gardiner, who was Numan's bassist and friend since his Tubeway Army days.

Numan's next album, The Fury (1985), charted slightly higher than Berserker, and featured another new image of white suit and red bow tie. To date, The Fury is the last Numan album to crack the British Top 30.

Collaborations with Bill Sharpe of Shakatak helped little, though two singles the duo recorded, "Change Your Mind", did see chart action, reaching No.17 and "No More Lies" reaching No.35 in 1988 in Britain. Numa Records, which had been launched in a flurry of idealistic excitement, folded after the release of Numan's Strange Charm album (1986). In addition to Numa's commercial failure, a lack of radio play (his records were removed from the BBC Radio 1 playlist) and sales drained the fortune (he estimated ?4.5 million) Numan had amassed in the late 1970s. Numan signed to IRS Records and his final studio album of the 80s, the edgy, industrial-funk Metal Rhythm (1988) found favour with fans and scored some positive reviews in the UK music press, but it sold poorly. Metal Rhythm's sales were arguably confounded by the lack of strong promotion and IRS's inappropriate choices of singles (the record label also changed the album's title to New Anger, changed the album colour shade from black to blue, and remixed several of its tracks for its American release against Numan's wishes). 1989 saw the release of the Sharpe + Numan album Automatic. A more lightweight-pop effort than Numan's solo albums, Automatic fared less well than Metal Rhythm (and has been out of print since its initial release).

1990s
In 1991, Numan ventured into film-scoring by co-composing the music for The Unborn with Michael R. Smith (the score was later released as an instrumental album in 1995, Human). After Outland (1991), another critical and commercial disappointment and his second and last studio album with IRS, Numan reactivated Numa Records, under which he would release his next two albums. However, even Numan considers his 1992 Machine + Soul, a misguided attempt at a purely commercial release recorded solely to pay off debts, a career low point. The album sold only a few thousand copies. By 1994, Numan decided to stop attempting to crack the pop market and concentrate instead on exploring more personal themes, including his vocal atheism. His future wife Gemma encouraged him to strip away the influences of the previous years. Numan re-evaluated his career and went in a harsher, more industrial direction with his songwriting on the album Sacrifice ? for the first time he played almost all the instruments himself. The move was critically well-received, as Numan's harder and darker sound emerged just as Numan-influenced bands like Nine Inch Nails were enjoying their first rush of fame. The influence was two-way; Numan claimed that Nine Inch Nails' song "Closer" is his favourite hit single of all time, and influenced his music. Sacrifice was the last album Numan made before shutting down Numa Records permanently. His next two albums, Exile (1997) and Pure (2000), restored his critical reputation. Numan even toured the U.S. in support of Exile, his first stateside concerts since the early 1980s.

2000s

After years of ridicule in the press, Numan became acknowledged and respected by his peers, with such musicians as Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters and Nirvana), Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails), and Marilyn Manson proclaiming his work an influence and recording cover versions of old Numan hits. The band Basement Jaxx had a huge hit in 2002 with "Where's Your Head At?", which relied on a sample of Numan's "M.E." - from The Pleasure Principle - for its hook. Fear Factory produced a cover of "Cars" (featuring a prominent guest appearance by Numan himself) for the digipak version of their album Obsolete. Nine Inch Nails covered the song "Metal" on The Fragile remix album Things Falling Apart as did Afrika Bambaataa (with Numan himself) on the album Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light. "Cars" remains Numan's most enduring song; it was a hit again in 1987 (remixed by Zeus B. Held) and 1996, in the latter case thanks to an appearance in an advert for Carling beer. In 2000 DJ Armand Van Helden sampled the track and mixed it up in his single "Koochy" which conquered the dancefloors. In 2002, UK pop trio Sugababes scored a #1 with "Freak Like Me" - a mashup of Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" and "Are Friends Electric" by Numan's Tubeway Army. Other musicians, and at least one comedian, who have sung Numan's praises in recent years include Beck, Grant Nicholas, Tricky, Damon Albarn & Matt Sharp, Jarvis Cocker, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, Noel Fielding and Afrika Bambaataa, who spoke of the influence Numan's music had on the fledgling American DJ scene: "In the late 70s and early 80s Gary had the rhythms that DJs wanted to get hold of and people waited for his records on the dance floor." "Cars" was also featured on the soundtrack for the blockbuster 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103, although it did not appear on the soundtrack CD release for the game. "Are Friends Electric" appeared on EA's game Need For Speed: Carbon in 2006.

In 2002, Numan enjoyed chart success once again with the single "Rip", reaching #29 in the UK chart and in 2003 with the Gary Numan vs Rico single "Crazier", which reached #13 in the UK chart. Rico also worked on the remix album Hybrid which featured reworkings of older songs in a more contemporary industrial style. 2003 also saw Numan performing the vocals on a track named "Pray For You" on the Plump DJs album Eargasm, which was well received. In 2004 Numan took control of his own business affairs again, launching the label Mortal Records and releasing a series of live DVDs. In late 2006, Numan announced on his website that recording would begin on his new album in January 2007, with Ade Fenton co-producing. Numan stated "think of Jagged and Pure, but faster, with bigger choruses, more energy, and more aggression" to describe the album's intended sound. The album, Jagged, was duly released on 13 March 2006. An album launch gig took place at The Forum, London on 18 March followed by UK, European and US tours in support of the release. Numan also launched a Jagged website to showcase the new album, and made plans to have his 1981 farewell concert (previously released as Micromusic on VHS) issued on DVD by November 2006 as well as releasing the DVD version of the Jagged album launch gig. Numan undertook a Telekon 'Classic Album' tour in the UK in December 2006, primarily to appease his more nostalgic fans and also to reserve his regular tours for more contemporary material.

On 6 November 2006, Numan took part in the Sky1 reality show The Race. It pitted ten celebrities (five male, five female) against each other in a series of Formula One-style car races. These races were held at Silverstone over the next five days, and varied in racing styles, ultimately culminating in one final Grand Prix race on Sunday, 12 November. Numan did win on the overall leaderboard, though he lost the final race to AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson.

Numan contributed vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of Fenton?s debut solo album Artificial Perfect on his new industrial/electronic label Submission, including songs "The Leather Sea", "Slide Away", "Recall" and the first single to be taken from the album, "Healing". The second single to be released in the UK was "The Leather Sea" on 30 July 2007.

He sold out a fifteen-date UK tour in Spring 2008 during which he performed his 1979 number one album Replicas in full, and all the Replicas-era music including B-sides. The highly successful tour also raised Numan's profile in the media again due to the fact that it coincided with his 30th anniversary in the music business. The tour was also notable for the Manchester gig on 8 March 2008 which also happened to fall on his 50th birthday. The band, along with wife Gemma, helped Numan celebrate by bringing a large cake onstage. This concert will be released on DVD under the title "Replicas Live" on 16 February 2009.

In November 2007, Numan confirmed via his website that work on a new album, with the working title of Splinter, would be under way throughout 2008, after finishing an alternate version of Jagged (called Jagged Edge) and the CD of unreleased songs from his previous three albums (confirmed to be titled Dead Son Rising on 1 December 2008 via official mailing list message). He wrote that Splinter was likely to be released in early 2010. Numan has recently completed a four-date run of gigs in Australia and will be touring the UK in the coming months.

In July 2009, Gary Numan appeared as a special guest at the "Wave Goodbye" Nine Inch Nails concert at The O2 arena (London) in London. Before coming on stage, Trent Reznor explained how Numan was "vitally important and a huge inspiration" to him during the past 20 years. Numan then went on to play two songs with Nine Inch Nails; "Cars" and "Metal". Numan appeared once again at the final run of the "Wave Goobye" shows in Los Angeles, CA. On September 2, 2009 at the Hollywood Palladium, Numan joined Reznor on stage to perform "Metal" and "Cars" near the end of the Nine Inch Nails set. He then joined the band onstage a third time at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA, this time performing "Metal" and "I Die: You Die" from the album Telekon. He then joined them a fourth time at the Henry Fonda theater, performing "Down In The Park," "Metal" and "Cars". Mike Garson initially played "Down In The Park (Piano Version)" before they started the song. He then joined them for the final show at the Wiltern Theater.

In a recent interview with The Quietus, Numan says that he and Trent Reznor plan to make music together.

Numan is a positive atheist and has incorporated anti-religious motifs and images in his music. Numan was an outspoken supporter of the Conservative Party and of Margaret Thatcher after her inauguration as Prime Minister. He later expressed regret for giving his public support, calling it "a noose around my neck." He has recently said that he considers himself neither left-wing nor right-wing and that he does not support Tony Blair or David Cameron. He also said, "I'm not socialist, I know that. I don't believe in sharing my money."

Numan married a member of his own fan club, Gemma O'Neill. In 2003, after some pregnancy difficulties, the couple had their first child, Raven. In 2005 they had a second daughter, Persia. In 2007 the couple had their third child, Echo. He published his autobiography, Praying to the Aliens, in 1997 (updated edition 1998), in collaboration with Steve Malins (Malins also wrote the liner notes for most of the CD reissues of Numan's albums in the late 1990s, as well as executive producing the Hybrid album in 2003). Numan has recently moved to East Sussex from Essex.

Numan is also known for his love of flying, a passion which has featured in some of his music videos ("Warriors", "I Can't Stop"). He has owned several small aircraft. He is one of a very small handful of flyers with the credentials and qualifications to train aerobatic instructor pilots. Numan guest-starred in "The Power of the Crimp", an episode of the BBC TV series The Mighty Boosh, where a major character, Vince Noir, is a huge Numan fan. Numan recently stated that he likes to go sailing from time to time. Numan was also a member of the Air Training Corps. Numan's brother is also an accomplished pilot.

Numan has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder which causes restricted social and communication skills. In a 2001 interview, he said: "Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I'd got a mild form of Asperger's syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn't understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes more sense."

In August 2014, we see Numan take to the stage at Alt-Fest!

The Cult - by: Hemlox

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:00:44 +0000

Alt-Fest are proud to announce the icons known as The Cult to our stages!

View the official site HERE

Biography
The Cult are a British rock band formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid-1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine" and "Fire Woman". The band fuse a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of The Doors [and] the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford during 1981, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London, the band released the album Love in 1985, which charted at No. 4 in the United Kingdom, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". In the late 1980s, the band supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock in their third album, Electric; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by Rick Rubin, who produced the record. Their fourth album, Sonic Temple, proceeded in a similar vein, and these two LPs enabled them to break into the North American market.

By the early 1990s, the band were fraying behind the scenes, due to alcohol abuse and off-stage tensions, leading to a split-up in 1995. The band reunited in 1999 and recorded the album Beyond Good and Evil, and they reissued all of their albums in Asia and Eastern Europe in 2003 and Japan in 2004. In 2006, the band reformed again to perform a series of worldwide tours. In October 2007, the band released the album Born into This, on the Roadrunner Records label.

In July 2009, Astbury announced that The Cult would not record or produce any more studio albums, focusing on EPs and Digital Releases instead for new material, though he subsequently changed his mind and declared that there would be another album in the near future. Their ninth studio album, entitled Choice of Weapon, was released on 22 May 2012. The Cult are currently working on a tenth studio album, which is due for release in 2014.

The summer of 2014 will see The Cult playing to you at Alt-Fest!

Placebo! - by: no13benny

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 18:02:45 +0000

1 Placebo (Make it happen!)
1 Evanescence (Unlikely as not touring)
1 Within Temptation (Likely as new album & tour)
1 Pixies (Possible as touring new material)
2 Marilyn Manson (yay!)
2 Deftones (possible toured bew album 2013)
2 Korn
2 Nightwish
2 Sonic Youth (unlikely)
3 Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (unlikely)
3 The Cure (unlikely)
3 Smashing Pumpkins (unlikely)
4 Volbeat
4 My Vitriol (possible new album out 2014)

William Control - by: Hemlox

Wed, 11 Dec 2013 09:06:26 +0000

Hailing all the way from Seattle, Washington, William Control is coming to Alt-Fest!

View the official site HERE

Biography
Wil Francis formed William Control because he was interested in making music that didn't match the style of his other band, Aiden. In 2008 William Control released their debut album Hate Culture which is, as explained in a Kerrang! magazine interview, the story of a man named William Control and his last night on Earth because he wishes to kill himself. Hate Culture peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart and No. 43 on the Heatseekers chart. The band released a video for "Beautiful Loser" as the album's only single.

William Control toured with Escape The Fate on their "This War is Ours" tour in late 2008. In 2009, William Francis began working on a new William Control album, titled Noir, that was released on June 8, 2010.

Shortly after the release of Noir William Control left Victory Records, and founded his own record company called Control Records, based up in Seattle, Washington.

On January 26, 2012, he released the title of his third full-length album, Silentium Amoris, to be released on April 2nd, 2012. A music video for the first single off Silentium Amoris, titled "Kiss Me Judas", was released on June 26, 2012 on YouTube.

In August/September 2012, William Control filmed a live DVD titled Live in London Town (Directed by Tim Bullock, Produced by A Glass Half). The film featured one live show, shot at the O2 Academy, Islington, as well as behind the scenes footage and interviews from two other dates.

In January 2013, William Control released his new live album - Live in London Town. featuring 20 tracks from previously released records and a new unreleased track/music video entitled "Speak to Me of Abduction", which featured behind the scenes footage from the Live in London Town DVD.

In March 2013, William Control asked again for donation to help fund his newest recording studio Hell's Half Acre from his official website. In return for a donation William Control gave those who donated his newest E.P. Skeleton Strings - featuring 9 tracks of acoustic covers or original songs, including "Noir" and H.I.M's "Funeral of Hearts".

In November 2013, William Control headlined the Friday night at Whitby Gothic Weekend.

Jump forward to the summer of 2014 where William Control plays at Alt-Fest!

All Horror films thread - by: Ghostie

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 09:31:54 +0000

Just chat about all horror films here.

Last night I watched the Collection. I've read good things about it but have never seen the first film (The collector). The film didn't seem that good, just seemed like an even more daft version of Saw. It got better towards the end though.

Ultraviolence - by: Ghostie

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 17:50:18 +0000

Ultraviolence as the Industrial stage headliner please.

Tips for hitting the stage for the first time? - by: Draken

Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:47:13 +0000

So, I've gone and got myself my first ever live performance of my own little experimental electronic music act in a few weeks time (it's also part of the reason why I've been quiet these last few weeks, though I promise that's about to change!). So I was wondering, from all the other budding musicians out that, what sort of tips you have for playing live (might also be useful for others as well as myself)? I've got plenty of experience being up on a stage, either as a host, a DJ or even doing the odd bit of stand up, but it will be my first time performing my own music.