German underground label Exile on Mainstream present London with four of their finest DIY acts, in grassroots celebration!
An evening dedicated exclusively to DIY music is always a cause for true independent music lovers to champion. On Saturday, at Tufnell Park’s Downstairs at the Dome, we celebrated Exile on Mainstream’s talent at their LOVE NOISE FREEDOM festival – featuring a unique blend of doom metal, sludge, blues, old fashioned rock’n’roll and freestyle experimentation.
Viennese trippy rockers Bulbul were scheduled to appear, but had to send apologies – so, in the overarching spirit of DIY, it became a free event.
The four bands in attendance were quick to shout out event curator and label founder Andreas Kohl, who flitted back and forth, making appearances amongst the crowd and acts throughout the night. Getting off to an ultra-lowkey start, some dedicated crowd members were clearly already familiar with some of the groups – a few of them having reached grassroots veteran status.
First up was Stoke-on-Trent trio Endure, transporting us deep into the realms of death doom. And endure they certainly did. Slow, fretting guitar scales set the tone as the band worked their way through a set consisting of one plodding, forty-minute, heavy metal chug. It took a while to get going, though there were plenty of melodic moments thanks to the addition of keys and thunderous, elongated growls from frontman Matt Wright. Also sharing some roaring vocal duties, the powerhouse drummer (whose name I didn’t catch) was the standout, as we prepared for cymbals to come flying off stands with the sheer force he pounded his kit with.
The chugging riffs continued with Rostock’s sludge Sabbathians Confusion Master – though this time with added intensity, particularly from compelling Ozzy-esque frontman (and professional hair-flipper) Stephan Kurth and enigmatic drummer Stephan Gottwald. Confusion Master are happy to be here. Despite their extensive touring history back in Germany, the past week has seen them play their first few UK gigs. Gottwald was grinning from ear to ear – either in enjoyment or pain, such was his ferocity. Either way, it was great to see their enthusiasm. Quickly getting heads nodding, the four-piece played a decent set of sprawling tracks that ran as long as bass player Mathias Klein’s hair – yet the hour flew by and was definitely one of the evening’s true crowd-pleasers.
“Success doesn’t mean being rich or famous to me, if I had all the money in the world, I wouldn’t change a thing… I might not have this fucking shit equipment though!” Noisepicker’s guitarist-frontman Harry Armstrong only half-joked, after a more than slightly frustrating soundcheck that unfortunately ended up cropping their set by almost half an hour.
Unleashing that anger on their equipment, the South London/Hampshire duo’s slot – albeit unavoidably brief – was a welcome step up the gears into an up-tempo, prog-meets-heavy-metal sound that welcomed comparisons of Zeppelin, Slayer and Motörhead – with Armstrong’s ominous wails comparable to that of Bruce Dickinson and James Hetfield in their theatrical power. Drummer Kieran Murphy joined in with rabid shouts during a dramatic break. Elsewhere, Noisepicker showed off grooving riffs, doom-style growls and bluesier crooning tones. With crowd encouragement, Armstrong and Murphy were persuaded to stick around for one more song (‘O What Mercy Sorrow Brings’) and clearly proved themselves (once technical difficulties were overcome) as the most thrilling act of the night.
Closing the evening was Might. Another duo – this time: married couple Ana Muhi and Sven Missullis from Hannover, Germany – bringing a deeply experimental fusion of apocalyptic rock, gloomy post punk, sludge, doom, shoegaze and melodic electronica. They certainly weren’t one-note. Sharing vocals, Ana takes up bass duties whilst Sven provides guitar – and his pre-recorded drums sync up against a projected silhouette backdrop. The whole thing is just as much a visual experience. They introduce themselves with a foreboding reverberating bass pulse, accompanied, amongst fog and low stage lights, by some glitchy intro footage that mirrors eerie, docucam-style horror. Might deliver quite the variation of sounds: between tender vocal melodies, visceral riffs and elongated instrumentals. Between numbers, there’s some banter with the audience – and, despite some awkward pedal-fiddling and the initial adjustment to each track’s steep left-turns – they soak it all up, appreciating this liberating, atmospheric art.
Exile on Mainstream, through LOVE NOISE FREEDOM, proved that DIY music will always prevail – so long as individual, freethinking projects and dedicated fan engagement continues to exist. Though all from different roots, nobody here was interested in oversaturated, artificial industry hype – no matter how far it can appear to elevate artists. Success isn’t measured by wealth and fame, but, rather, from keeping hold of creative control, whilst reaching and building authentic communities with shared values – like this one.
Main Photo Credit /All Photos: HARRIET STATIC
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Writer and wannabe guitar whizz – with a playlist for just about every genre and occasion. Fuelled by an eclectic, life-long love of music through the ages, though my heart will always belong to seventies punk and gothic rock. You can usually find me at a gig or some kind of DIY music exhibition. At my happiest finding new music (and rediscovering old gems) to write about, and a firm believer that everyone should have at least one upcoming gig to look forward to.
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