Mother May 2019
MICHIEL VANDEVELDE JEFTA VAN DINTHER FLORIS VANHOOF & RIE NAKAJIMA AKIO SUZUKI & AKI ONDA METEOR MUSIK KAÏN WALGRAVE ÉRIC BAUDALAIRE
HIGH LIGHTS MAY
W WW. STUK.BE
stuk
JEFTA VAN DINTHER © BEN MERGELSBERG
HOUSE FOR DANCE, IMAGE AND SOUND
s u b b a c u l t c h a e v e n t s in May
music
24.05 C12 x Contre Culture 25.05 C12 x Knekelhuis
01.05 Eartheater
Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
03.05 C12 x Chanoirs
C12, Brussels
C12, Brussels C12, Brussels
29.05 Marble Arch
Madame Moustache, Brussels
Club Wit, Ghent 03.05 Floris Vanhoof & Rie Nakajima + 29.05 Carista Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda STUK, Leuven 29.05 C12 x Under My Garage C12, Brussels 04.05 LifeSnacks St. Paulus School, Ghent 13 - Horst. Festival 04.05 Aponogeton + Lawrence le ASIAT, Vilvoorde Doux + Ahmedou Ahmed 15.09 Lowla De Koer (Vooruit & Kraak), Ghent
04.05 C12 x Room 4 Resistance C12, Brussels 09.05 C12 x Le Bureau Electronique
C12, Brussels
10.05 C12 x 75021
C12, Brussels
11.05 NAAFI
Het Bos, Antwerp
11.05 MONTAGE x Rest Now! La Vallée, Brussels 12.05 C12 x Full Scale x Rôti C12, Brussels 15.05 Moon King + Sergeant 17.05 hoera.
DOK, Ghent
deSingel, Antwerp
17.05 C12 x Kalahari Oyster Cult
18.05 N0v3L
C12, Brussels Madame Moustache, Brussels
film
17.05 The Kindergarten Teacher
21.05 Visite op Visite: Fairuz
Botanique, Brussels
24.05 Huna Sounds
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DOKbox (Democrazy), Ghent
KASKcinema, Ghent
24.05 Apocalypse Now
CINEMATEK, Brussels
theatre / dance 02 & Softness 03.05
C12, Brussels
16.05 Let Us Believe in The Beginning of the Cold Season KVS, Brussels 16.05 De Living
NTGent Arca, Ghent
expo
18.05 Nacht Van De Beeldende Kunst DE Studio, Antwerp 19.05 Crack Cloud
Cinema Zuid, Antwerp
19.05 There all is order and beauty 14.07 Argos, Brussels May
Sophie Whettnall CENTRALE, Brussels
All events are free for members. Join at subbacultcha.be
STUFF. JAMES HOLDEN & THE ANIMAL SPIRITS MOSES BOYD EXODUS · MDCIII MAKAYA MCCRAVEN · BLICK BASSY COMMANDER SPOON · MARTHA DA’RO JOHN ZORN ‘BAGATELLES’ JULIA HOLTER · MULATU ASTATKE AND MANY MORE
29/06 09/07 ‘19
BIJLOKESITE GENT INFO & TICKETS GENTJAZZ.COM +
intro
Mother In the bosom of their love, in the cradle of their womb – this one’s about mothers. Literal or figurative, genderless and borderless, they represent a powerful notion filled with soft allegories and sinuous connotations. Indeed, a concept that is so deeply embedded, so irrevocably entrenched, that personal experience does not always align with the ideal. That most primal connection, the first – and perhaps only – of its kind, is also the one that we never stop seeking or needing. Embrace. Protect. Create. An instinct that pushes forward and outwards; the mothers of effort beget the mothers of invention, and so we find the space to grow, never alone.
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by
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tion was a c pr li b i u
Drukkerij GEWADRUPO bvba Hoge Mauw 130 B-2370 Arendonk 6
info@gewa.be +32 (0)14.67.86.69 6
content
subbacultcha events 9 – 19 Mechatok 20 – 25 Crack Cloud 26 – 31 Aponogeton 32 – 35 Moon King 36 – 41 artist 42 – 47 style 48 – 51 recent finds 53 – 57 film 59 we visit you 60 – 61 7
03.05 GHOST: Citadelpark x Monterey ism GHOST INC. & Monterey
Over-the-top live performance, music & installation art in Citadelpark Ghent
04.05 AHMEDOU AHMED LOWLA / APONOGETON / AYMERIC DE TAPOL ism KRAAK & DE KOER
Hypnotic trip through atmospheric electronica and experimental trancedelica
11.05
ZWERM / FRED FRITH A unique double bill of experimental and intriguing improvised guitar music
Choreographer Natalia Pieczuro and Colin H. Van Eeckhout (Amenra) meet in this post-metal dance performance
18.05 COLIN H. VAN EECKHOUT (AMENRA) INVITES OLIVIER DE SAGAZAN / FÄR / SKEMER / BLISS SIGNAL / ?ALOS Dark, atmospheric evening brimming with electronica, ambient, drone, noise & doom
&
Amenra will make the hairs on your neck stand on end all night with their powerful post-metal
25.05 AMENRA / BEYOND THE SPOKEN / TONI KANWA ADIKUSUMAH ‘UIT HANDEN GEVEN’ Burning ritual with live music by Amenra for all Ghent’s unacknowledged loss
B E Y O N D
19.05 AMENRA / PAN DAIJING / BODY OF REVERBS sold out
A M E N
&
B E Y O N D
NATALIA PIECZURO FT. COLIN H. VAN EECKHOUT (AMENRA) ‘THIS KIND OF BIRD FLIES BACKWARDS’
A M E N
17.05
uit.be info & tickets: voor
music Eartheater + Mun Sing 1 May - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels 20.00 - €10 - free for members Eartheater pushes the boundaries and gets rid of traditional musical demarcations. Originating from Queens, Alexandra Drewchin, aka Eartheater, produces haunting but skilfully detailed electronics with classical instruments such as flute and violin, intertwined with her three-octave vocal range, which maybe stands out the most. She kind of just does it all; she moans and raps, she croons and chants.
C12 x Chanoirs ft. Nur Jaber 3 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 Keeping it weird and mischievous at C12 are the cool cats of multidisciplinary collective Chanoirs, who – if their past shenanigans are anything to go by – know a thing or two about throwing a party. On the decks, Lebanese-born, Berlinbased, ://about blank staple Nur Jaber digs deep into her arsenal of unforgiving techno cuts and flammable remixes.
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Floris Vanhoof & Rie Nakajima + Akio Suzuki & Aki Onda 3 May - STUK, Leuven 19.00 - €12 - free for members On the opening night of STUK’s Sound In May, Floris Vanhoof and Rie Nakajima will perform and present their own expo, built out of different objects that produce sounds. Vanhoof and Nakajima will be joined by Japanese sound-artists Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda, who will produce a soundscape based on the architecture of the STUK building.
LifeSnacks 4 May - St. Paulus School, Ghent 13.00 - €25 50% discount for members at the door Never in a million years would we ever dare to dream about partying at school, right? Well, LifeSnacks not only dares to dream it, but also does it. This year marks the second edition of the openair festival LifeSnacks, hosted in the gardens of the St. Paulus School in Ghent. A second stage is added this year, and the music will range from international artists to local diggers. A no-nonsense get-together under open skies!
All events are free for members.
Aponogeton + Lawrence le Doux + Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla
C12 x Room 4 Resistance ft. Young Marco + Shanti Celeste 4 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €15 free for members before 01.00 Head of Safe Trip label, the Amsterdambased producer Young Marco sets the record straight and shows you what the word ‘versatility’ means. After a decade running all around the globe, the producer dares to mix genres that usually don’t match. He’ll be joined by Shanti Celeste, the rising Chilean-born, Bristol-based DJ who offers a broad spectrum of what dance music really means.
4 May - De Koer (Vooruit & Kraak), Ghent - 20.00 - €10 - free for members Leave it to Kraak to find you the most offbeat music, which will take you from the darkest club in Berlin to a baroque rave under the open air of the Sahara. Aponogeton has just released his debut EP filled with minimal new-age electronica and will take you on an emotional cinematic trip. Lawrence Le Doux’s experimental electro takes influences from techno, house and acid. To then go to the other extreme, we have Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla, who has his own futuristic take on traditional Mauritian music, spicing it up with electronic drums.
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C12 x Le Bureau Electronique ft. King Midas Sound + The Angströmers 9 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 C12 teams up with Le Bureau Electronique for an evening of pushing the boundaries. You’ll get the opportunity to be blown away by King Midas Sound, with a sound between sub-electronic lovers’ rock and narco hip hop. Next up are The Angströmers, abstract sound engineers
All events are free for mem bers.
who work with modular synths and other vintage electronic instruments to bring their music, and you, to another dimension.
C12 x 75021 ft. Paula Temple + Nene H + OCB Casa Voyager 10 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 Paula Temple is known as the main figure of the techno scene in Northern England, but also as one of the most notorious politically engaged producers, who doesn’t hesitate to use her platform as a way to communicate a message. After a short break from DJ-ing, she’s back with new sounds that will make your night special. She will be joined by one of the most exciting breakouts of the recent Berlin techno scene, Nene H.
NAAFI ft. Zutzut + Liyo + Fausto Bahía 11 May - Het Bos, Antwerp 23.00 - €10 - free for members NAAFI collective promotes and cultivates authentic club culture in Mexico City and far beyond with a label, recurring club nights and a production company. This nomadic Mexican party concept will leave its home port to engulf the most divine forest of Antwerp with a mix of techno, house, disco, funk, rave and industrial.
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MONTAGE x Rest Now! 11 May - La Vallée, Brussels 22.00 - €6 free for members before midnight To celebrate the release of Urgent Music Vol.1, MONTAGE is teaming up with the Italian label Rest Now!. They’re inviting Ingrate, Yantan Ministry, Partners, Vise. and of course crat. Urgent Music Vol.1 is the first in a series of compilations trying to map the possibilities of political activation through abstract music. This first one works specifically around the themes of urgence and resilience in a club context and will feature tracks by Partners, épong, crat & Lingerwalt. All profits of this event go to BXLRefugees.
C12 x Full Scale x Rôti ft. Cap + Adema + Chinoir (Taret & Issa Maïga) 12 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 C12 invites collectives Full Scale and Rôti to bring their best of the best. We start off with Romanian DJ Cap, who plays minimal techno/house with acid influences. Continuing this style is Adema, a french DJ from Lille who combines house and minimal techno music. The duo Chinoir,
DEMOCRAZY MUZIEKCLUB GENT 09.05
CONSOULING: SNAILKING, PSYCHONAUT, IRON PIKE
09.05
NOAH VANDEN ABEELE
10.05
MR. SCRUFF: ALL NIGHT LONG
11.05
MILD ORANGE + R.O X KONOBA
DOK
13.05
MANDOLIN ORANGE
DOK
14.05
TINY LEGS TIM + JULIEN FIRMIN
16.05
FINN ANDREWS (THE VEILS)
17.05
JAN VERSTRAETEN
24.05
HUNA SOUNDS: DENGUE DENGUE DENGUE + MAX LE DARON
DOK CLUB TELEX VOORUIT
HANDELSBEURS MINARD CAMPO NIEUWPOORT
25.05
MILDLIFE
30.05
ASPHALT: COSMO VITELLI, MAX ABYSMAL, WOODY’92
DOKBOX TREFPUNT TUIN VAN HEDEN
31.05
MELANIN: DJ SPINALL
01.06
CASS MCCOMBS + ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
02.06
SLOW MAGIC
06.06
LYSISTRATA, STATUE
CHARLATAN
07.06
DANNY VERA
CHARLATAN
10.06
SUNSET ROLLERCOASTER + LAPIS LAZULI
14.06
25 JAAR FIFTY FOOT COMBO + DOUBLE VETERANS & GARBAGE BAGS
17.06
ANDREW BIRD + MADISON CUNNINGHAM
17.06
FOXWARREN FT. ANDY SHAUF
DOK
20.06
ALMIGHTY MIGHTY + WARDROBE
DOK
21.06
MAURO PAWLOWSKI SOLO + ECHO BEATTY
DOK
03.07
BEBE PRESENTS: LINIKER E OS CARAMELOWS
DOK
14.07
CLOUD NOTHINGS
DOK
DEMOCRAZY.BE
VOORUIT DOK DOK
DOK VOORUIT HANDELSBEURS
comprised of Issa Maïga and Taret, give this recurring theme a little twist with some groove-infused techno and house.
Bebe & Subbacultcha present: Moon King + Sergeant with DJ Lizzy & Liesbeth 15 May - DOK, Ghent 19.30 - €7 - free for members The music of Moon King – a project by Canadian Daniel Woodhead – took a different turn when he leapt over the border to live in Hamtramck, a city within the Motor City of Detroit. Exploring the edges of shoegaze and synth-driven pop, it’s his current whereabouts – known for its DJ culture – that has influenced his sound. And for the better. Woodhead, who toured as a musician with Grimes and Sean Nicholas Savage, dropped a fresh album on Arbutus Records. On Voice Of Lovers, Moon King persists with a sound dangling between synth pop and underground disco and proves his ability to adapt to his surroundings. Warming up your muscles to dance will be done by the Indie and Ambient (call it Indient) orders of Sergeant, a promising homegrown multi-instrumentalist.
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hoera. 17 May - deSingel, Antwerp 20.00 - €18 - free for members After releasing two albums, Pracht and Beestentijd, the second crowned with a Young Jazz Talent prize, our Belgian jazz trio will present its third album Emimo in Antwerp. The band’s unique sound mixes jazz, electronics, film music and pop songs with pre-recorded material from the Lithuanian choir Jauna Muzika as the unusual starting point for this latest release.
C12 x Kalahari Oyster Cult ft. Roza Terenzi + Leif + Upsammy 17 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 C12 and Amsterdam-based imprint Kalahari Oyster Cult go all out with a stellar lineup of rising talents from both north and south of the equator. Needless to say, there’s something for everyone— from deep house and trippy soundscapes courtesy of Wales’ Leif and Utrecht’s upsammy to nifty minimal techno supplied by Melbourne’s Roza Terenzi. This is definitely one for the agenda.
All events are free for members.
N0v3L 18 May - Madame Moustache, Brussels 20.00 - €8 - free for members N0v3l is a new-wave punk band from Victoria, although they prefer to see themselves as a ‘self-sustaining creative collective’. The punk attitude is deeply rooted in the philosophy of the band with their politically charged lyrics where anti-capitalist mantras are sung over syncopated guitar riffs. They got their inspiration from bands like DEVO and Public Enemy but then went on to create their own sound, mixing new wave and punk with funky rhythms and disco.
Nacht Van De Beeldende Kunst ft. Shygirl LIVE + Mechatok DJ + Romi Luna + Yunobi + 9M-MRJ 18 May - DE Studio, Antwerp 21.00 - €10 - free for members Nacht van de Beeldende Kunst is the closing night of the Antwerp Art Weekend and to end the weekend appropriately, both Petra Heck and Subbacultcha were invited to curate the night. Subbacultcha’s own KJ curates some of the live shows and DJs which include Shygirl for a live performance with her dark and sinister hip-hop infused club sound and the young producer
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Mechatok whose DJ set is usually a mix of club music, melodic pieces and rap.
Crack Cloud
19 May - Botanique, Brussels 19.30 - €15 - free for members Crack Cloud: heavy, weird, intense. Just how we like it! The Guardian describes them as a ‘mix of Gang of Four, Fela Kuti and hip-hop’. They’re not just a band but an art collective (think Brockhampton). Which also means everything is an in-house production (from artwork to videos to music of course).
Huna Sounds ft. Dengue Dengue Dengue + Max le Daron 24 May - DOKbox (Democrazy), Ghent - 19.30 - €19 - free for members The latest edition of Huna Sounds sees Peruvian masked duo Dengue Dengue Dengue taking over DOK, distilling psychedelic cumbria and shades of worldbeat into a mind-expanding dose of audiovisual trickery. Picking up the torch right after is Brussels DJ Max le Daron whose handpicked Afro-centric rhythms will keep you going well into the night.
C12 x Contre Culture ft. Matrixxman + DJ Sotofett
C12 invites Amsterdam-based record label Knekelhuis to light up the club. The night will feature Scuba, an artist with an array of music ranging from visceral bass to techno and more percussive, introspective sounds. Next up is ATEQ, known for his minimal techno and house, in the signature style of his label Giegling. And last but not least, they welcome Zaliva-D, a duo that consists of a musician and visual designer, with richly rhythmic and esoteric tracks.
Marble Arch 24 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 C12 collaborates with Contre Culture, a Brussels-based collective that presents and promotes artists via video podcasts, to offer a night full of undiscovered talent. First up is Matrixxman, a US techno producer with a cold and mechanised sound that still warms up the room like none other. Secondly we have DJ Sotofett, with a raw style on the border between house and techno and any other influences he feels like mixing in.
C12 x Knekelhuis ft. Scuba + ATEQ + Zaliva-D 25 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €15 free for members before 01.00
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29 May - Madame Moustache, Brussels 20.00 - €8 - free for members Named after the London-based monument made of white marble and located on Oxford Street, Marble Arch have really thought their second record through, having less artistic torments than financial issues – hence the title Children of the Slump. You can label it shoegaze or dream pop, but the band will prefer reverberated pop, saturated pop, nostalgic pop, synthetic pop or even contemplative pop.
All events are free for members.
Carista
Different Class
29 May - Club Wit, Ghent 23.00 - €10 - free for members
FAKA + coucou chloe + Juan Wauters & more TBA
Carista is one of the first DJs to play Ghent’s new Club Wit. She’s a resident at both Red Light Radio and NTS, and has played festivals like Dekmantel’s Lentekabinet, ADE and Appelsap. Her eclectic style ranges from disco and boogie, over R&B and hip hop to house and far beyond. Expect good vibes and sweaty dancing!
C12 x Under My Garage ft. Special Request + Luca Lozano + Forest Drive West 29 May - C12, Brussels 23.00 - €10 free for members before 01.00 C12 joins forces with Under My Garage, a collective dedicated to underground electronic music, to present Special Request, who fuses the energy of harcore and jungle with modern production techniques, Luca Lozano for some acid house and the mysterious Forest Drive West with a healthy dose of jungle and atmospheric techno. All the ingredients needed for a perfect mid-week rave.
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10 August - DOK, Ghent This year Subbacultcha is organising the fourth edition of Different Class, our annual festival that gathers the most trailblazing acts of the moment. It’s the eighth time we’re putting all our forces together to present you with one of the most exciting summer festivals in Belgium. Already confirmed acts include FAKA, coucou chloe and Juan Wauters. More names will be announced soon!
Horst. Festival 13-15 Sept - ASIAT, Vilvoorde - 23.00 members get a 50% discount. Discount code will be available the first two weeks of June so keep an eye on our website and socials! The three-day arts and music festival begins a new chapter this year at its new home in Vilvoorde-North, promising a movement-like experience in support of city/space development and global creative cultures. Expect a cerebral, curated lineup of artists and young creatives of all inclinations as well as two festival spinoffs, Lab and Exhibition, which are set to kick off in July.
film The Kindergarten Teacher
screening of five of her short films. Present to open the festivities, Fairuz equally loves well-balanced high-def shots and user-generated lo-fi trash as long as the poetry shines through. The series will close with Al Bahr, a shot of radical disorientation that can turn into liberation at any moment. Surrender and let yourself drift to another world not so far away. Resistance is futile.
Apocalypse Now 17 May - Cinema Zuid, Antwerp 18.00 - €5 - free for members Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a 40-year-old kindergarten teacher living a colourless life in Staten Island. One day she discovers that one of her five-yearold toddlers has an enormous talent for poetry. She tries to protect him from the world as much as she can, out of fear that the pureness of his talent will be lost. Soon enough, her fascination becomes an obsession that puts her career and her family life in danger.
Visite op Visite: Fairuz 21 May - KASKcinema, Ghent 20.30 - €5 - free for members Brussels-based visual enthusiast and filmmaker Fairuz will be the main focus of this night at KASK with an exclusive
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24 May - CINEMATEK, Brussels 19.00 - €4 - free for members This 1979 movie is loosely based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Narrated by the voice of the main character, the movie talks about the battle between good and evil that lives in the depths of every human, with the Vietnam War as a backdrop. The story evolves from themes like war, drugs and human elation to a surrealistic story of self-discovery.
All events are free for
members.
theatre / dance Softness
a path to define what it means to actually be a woman nowadays. With great poetry and pop sounds, she delivers a clear image of the past, the present and future for womanhood.
2 & 3 May - C12, Brussels 20.30 - €12 - free for members
De Living
After gracing the stage of C12 for their inaugural (and sold-out) show last year, Mélissa Diarra, Antonin Compère, and Naim Belhaloumi return for a second serving of Softness, a theatre-dance piece from the inquisitive mind of Brussels-based creator Lorena Spindler. Live music by Jeune Clyde from Lait de Coco. Ever wondered how violence shifts and shapes today’s urban youth? Here’s your chance to find out.
Let Us Believe in The Beginning of the Cold Season 16 May - KVS, Brussels 12.30 - €17 - free for members Iranian performer Sachli Ghomalalizad interprets, in her own unique way, the women who shaped the lives of her grandmother and mother. Through a journey to the past, the artist creates
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16 May - NTGent Arca, Ghent 20.00 - €22 - free for members All-round artist Ersan Mondtag is one of the most celebrated young German directors at the moment. He created a new production, De Living, for NTGent. In it, he explores the last minutes before a woman commits suicide. Contrary to classical tragedies, we don’t know what drove her to this point; we can only speculate about her past. Members need to buy a ticket with a discount code. Please mail us at memberships@ subbacultcha.be to receive it.
All events are free for members.
expo There all is order and beauty
performance to document the powers that have shaped our world. In her oeuvre she works with a dialectical tension so that opposite terms will enter in dialogue, like yin and yang, femininity and masculinity, softness and sensuality and on this occasion also East and West. She selected several works by Beirut-born Etel Adnan to complement her exposition.
19 May-14 July - Argos, Brussels 11.00-18.00 - €6 - free for members The third and last exhibition of the series exploring the dialectic between photographic and moving images in the works of the Argos Collection explores streets, hinterlands and landscapes. Iconic and universally recognisable images are rediscovered, at the same time contemplating the way in which a specific environment can shape our behaviour and imagination.
Sophie Whettnall: La banquise, la forêt et les étoiles 1-31 May - CENTRALE, Brussels 10.30-18.00 - €8 - free for members Since the 1990s Sophie Whettnall has used video, photo, installations and
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Looking for distributors! mail: herlinde@subbacultcha.be
music
Mechatok Berlin-based Mechatok, real name Timur Tokdemir, comes across as an optimist, brimming with plans, and as someone who knows what he wants. In spite of his tender age (just 21) the producer has a longestablished and recognisable aesthetic: a strippeddown interpretation of pop music. Through some lag and falter, we connected in cyberspace to discuss upcoming releases and collaborations, the irrevocable fate of his former collective Staycore117, and making a big pop hit without compromising.
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Interview by Dennis Meersman Photos by Vivek Vadoliya, shot in Berlin
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Hi Timur, nice to virtually meet you. T: Nice to virtually meet you too! What have you been up to lately? T: I’ve been home a lot, working on music. I was on vacation in Morocco with my family, that was quite nice. In your Against the Clock feature on Factmag.com, I saw you have this little smoke machine! T: Yeah, that’s my aroma diffuser. [Laughs] You put different oils in it. We smoke weed inside so it keeps the air fresh. You released your last EP on Lorenzo Senni’s Presto.! How was that? T: I’ve always been a fan of Lorenzo before I ended up working with him on this. I think it was the longest time I took to make the smallest amount of music. [Laughs] It took, like, six months to make those four tracks for some reason. It was a very considered process. The next release as well? T: There’s nothing confirmed but we’re in touch. The next release will be under a new name as a duo with Toxe. We always made songs together but now we decided to form a duo. We made this EP and it’ll come out in the beginning of May on Yegorka, Why Be’s new label. I’m excited because it differs from
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the music we both did before. The set of references we decided to be influenced by is quite different. It’s a lot more house-y and disco-y. Just a whole bunch of stuff that we never channelled into our main projects that we’re letting out on this one. I’m very excited to see the reactions! What’s up with Staycore? I don’t see that much activity any more. T: You’re not wrong, I guess. [Laughs] Staycore was this moment where all of us kind of were on the same vibe. But it became more and more clear that we’re all very solo artists. Everybody started working
with different labels, and having a collective stopped making sense in a way. Somehow, it’s not flexible to stick to the same aesthetic. But Mobilegirl, Toxe and I are still hanging out all the time, always exchanging stuff. Subbacultcha’s theme for this month’s magazine is ‘mother’. Do you consider someone as a ‘mother’ in the scene you feel a part of? T: So much goes out to Why Be and Total Freedom. Those two pioneered a certain attitude and way to look at music that influenced almost everyone in this pool of artists. When I didn’t have any releases out, maybe some tracks on compilations here and there, Tobi (Why Be) kind of put me in the spotlight by making edits of all my tracks. A lot of people started having me on their radar because of his lowkey way of sneaking stuff into people’s awareness. You recently collaborated with Bladee on ‘All I Want’. More on the way? T: Yeah, always! Benjamin and I always try to make new tracks, maybe even a full project. Our workflow is very flexible. That track was fun to make, the sound works. It’s quite vulnerable. Bladee generally has a distinct sound, and also the production since it’s usually Whitearmor. So, it’s really fun to recontextualise him and do something completely different with his
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voice. I also did some productions on the new Palmistry album which is coming out soon. I started on some tracks for Hannah Diamond too. What’s the worst description of your music you’ve read so far? T: One time in a review someone was saying something like: ‘Sounds cool but it’s like, too empty.’ And I was like, ‘Man, you’re really missing the point here. If I made it fuller you’d just be listening to a regular pop track. The whole point is that it’s a bit less and stripped down. It’s a conscious artistic decision, not a technical failure you know.’ [Laughs] What’s your ambition in music? T: It’s very unlikely to happen, but one thing that would be sick is to have a fucking number one [Laughs]. Just a straight big pop hit. It would be nice to work with a great pop artist and write a solid song for them. It’d be cool to make actual innovative pop music. Shit that’s weird but still kind of approachable enough for everyone. I’d never want to dumb down the music or sound. But other than that, my current goal is to make a full album.
Nacht Van De Beeldende Kunst ft. Mechatok DJ + Shygirl + Romi Luna + Yunobi + 9M-MRJ 18 May - DE Studio, Antwerp free for members
Crack Cloud
music
The multimedia collective Crack Cloud was born out of this brooding melting pot. Most of its members have a tough history, sometimes coming out of broken homes and going straight into the margins of society. This makes Crack Cloud more than just an art collective. It’s a family, inclusive of anyone seeking shelter. The punk they play is a survival mechanism. The videos they make are honest depictions of their worlds. Their gorey imagery is a result of years of trauma. With a steady vision of the future and a burning desire to empower their community, Crack Cloud keeps on putting out jewels.
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Interview by Wannes Dewit Photos by Jennilee Marigomen, shot in Vancouver
‘Our stage setup doesn’t come close to representi W: How has being a collective of 20 members influenced your work? Zach Choy: Our work is informed by lived experiences that come from all corners of the emotional spectrum. It’s from our diversity as a group that our malleable aesthetic functions. We have a revolving cast that utilises Crack Cloud as a creative resource for their art. These ambitions could not be achieved without the participation of many backgrounds.
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W: What’s the creative process like in such a big group? Mohammad Sharar: A large part of the creative process is dialogue. These include conversations of our past and current struggles, debates about philosophy, gender, race, class, and foreign policy. Everything and anything. Typically, Choy creates the foundation and skeleton of all the songs and writes all the lyrics. Paul Stewart acts as recording engineer, while the rest of the group expands on the skeleton to incorporate guitar lines, accents and additional nuance. When it comes to creating the visuals we all lend a hand with conceptualising/storyboarding what we want to see or feel. Then I edit and animate the videos. Our stage setup doesn’t come close to representing the talented people involved with Crack Cloud. W: Where do you write your music? Z: In our laboratory. M: You can usually hear Choy in his attic bedroom pumping out midi demos and spitting into a mic. W: If you compared Crack Cloud to a family, who would you say takes the role of the mother and how would you describe that role? M: Crack Cloud is a family. From
ng the talented people involved with Crack Cloud’
a literal stance, Choy birthed the project and continues to helm it. A mother can take on different shapes though. A mother can be a teacher, they can be supportive, loving and provide safety. But depending on your experiences, a mother’s role can vary significantly. Some of us come from broken homes in which parental roles don’t necessarily align with societal expectations. Z: The relationship with my mother has been turbulent in the past, but her influence on me to do better as a person and reach further as an artist has been integral to the buoyancy of the project. She is a reminder to me that people live
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many lives, and so do relationships. And the relationship I have with my mother continues to take on new, more meaningful lives as time moves on, and so does Crack Cloud. W: Are there any other art forms Crack Cloud would like to venture into? Z: We’ve always wanted to make movies. We’re slowly transitioning into this territory. M: We’ve actually already started pre-production on a mini-series we hope to complete in the near future. The goal is to make children’s programming, with a focus on those who struggle with the idea of family, community and acceptance.
parental roles don’t necessarily align with societal expectations’
‘Some of us come from broken homes in which
W: Does Crack Cloud get a lot of support in Vancouver? What’s the music scene like? Z: Vancouver is fighting an opioid crisis. Many lives are lost each year, and gentrification is a constant, looming threat to the marginalised populations in the city. All that said, there is a profound solidarity in the Downtown Eastside community, where we work and live. The music scene is fragmented but the diversity of these pockets makes for an interesting cultural infrastructure. W: What do you want your audience to take from your music? Z: Our priority is to create a space for the disenfranchised. We have our own experiences with addiction, abuse, alienation and loss. We use harm reduction principles to facilitate a constructive environment, free of stigmatisation, where mental health issues can be confronted, explored and contextualised. Rehabilitation, art and life in general are constant readjustments to new climates. By providing asylum for people that struggle with mental health we advocate for a culture of healing and greater intersectional connectivity. The music is simply an extension of our world. W: Do you have any big inspirations, additional listening for the readers? Z: I’m writing this in the wake of LA artist Nipsey Hussle’s sudden
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passing. He turned his life around and gave back to his community. The stories about people that are able to achieve such radical transformations in life through art is always inspiring.
Crack Cloud 19 May - Botanique, Brussels free for members
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music
Aponogeton With the recent release of A Place of Solace, Jachym Vandenabeele’s Aponogeton is a fully-realised ambient soundscape. Finding his early artistic roots in dubstep, and evolving into an entirely new state, Vandenabeele’s creative journey retains strong bass lines while evoking a more minimalist aesthetic. We discussed the influence of electronic music on his career and his relationship with his home country. Although Vandenabeele didn’t feel a connection to Belgium as his ‘motherland’ at the start of his career, he’s become more engaged in the scene and is rediscovering its history through his new label, STROOM. → Read the full interview on the website.
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Photos by Catherine Lemblé, shot in Ghent Text by Jacob McPherson
‘STROOM has played a huge role in pointing me in the right direction to rediscover Belgium’s forgotten legacy, since they do reissues’
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35 Aponogeton + Lawrence le Doux + Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla 4 May - De Koer (Vooruit & Kraak), Ghent - free for members
music
Moon King In 2019, culture travels in strange patterns. Flying at you from all directions – be it analogue, digital or misc. – it can be hard to discern what is worth seeking out and what appears to lead you down a dead end. Oftentimes we find ourselves flying down a YouTube rabbit hole of infinite clips and bits without stopping to think if it’s all really worth our time. It can be a daunting world out there, but it can also be rewarding. Sitting down with Moon King to speak about his new LP, Voice of Lover, we’re reminded of just that: how a whole music scene in Detroit, or a long-forgotten Soviet synthpop record, can inspire you to take those sounds, rearrange them and create something wholly unique and personal.
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Interview by Sasha Ermakov Photos by Dani Dabney, shot in 2018 in Hamtramck, Michigan
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S:
Congrats on releasing the new LP! It popped up on my Spotify the other day. M Honestly, whenever I listen to music on the internet I kinda go to Spotify now, which is weird for me ’cause I like to listen to tapes and vinyl and stuff like that. I feel like a few years ago when someone finished their record, they would send each other some MP3s, and now that doesn’t even happen anymore. But yeah, I’m a big fan of making playlists for people, and I have a playlist on Spotify that I update every week of music I’m into. I have this theory that I like to come back to when I’m working on projects: the most important development that’s happening with new technology is that everybody can customise their experience by filtering things, because if you don’t it’s going to drive you crazy, there’s too much going on. For better or worse, that can change the way people engage with each other and also change what they’re interested in. If you take a step back that’s an overarching thing, that has to do with culture and music and art and sort of politics and anything that affects people socially in groups. The ability for individuals just to customise their experience is the most powerful tool, and the Spotify thing is kinda like a small chunk of that, that day-to-day affects me. I started diving into music that
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‘THE MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT THAT’S HAPPENING WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY IS THAT EVERYBODY CAN CUSTOMISE THEIR EXPERIENCE BY FILTERING THINGS’ is rare, reissue type of stuff, and having that all linked together in playlists by other people. I wouldn’t have been able to do that maybe even five years ago. It’s nice, but it’s also scary. S: It’s sort of like a doubleedged sword – limiting and also revelatory. M Yeah, it puts people in boxes and if you don’t realise you’re being put in a box that can be quite scary for people. But if you realise you can control what’s in your box that power is very liberating.
S:
Talking about putting things in boxes, how was the new album put together? M When I finished touring on Hamtramck ’16, I tried making some different stuff that was more italo influenced, and then a bunch of slower stuff, trippy funk kinda music. Then, in February of last year, I was in LA and one day I was in a weird place mentally and I just wrote a really really long text document which is basically the lyrics for the entire record. It’s basically just like a really long run-on sentence. Out of that I chopped parts out and started making instrumental ideas. In two months I went from just a text document to 26 finished songs, which was really fast for me. S: How does other music influence your sound? M I’ve noticed certain things about what I like, even down to what chords I like. I feel like if you’re making music in 2019 everything is referential to other sounds and other times. There’s something to be said about boundary pushing and trying something new, but I think equally important is defining who you are by taking elements of other things. If you say, ‘Who am I musically or artistically?’ it doesn’t have to be something you are unfamiliar with or that is sort of ground-breaking or experimental; it can also be something that’s just a combination of other things in a
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new way. I think that can be equally defining for something. Do you know Hauntology? S: No, what is it? M It’s like the fetishisation of nostalgia of something that didn’t actually happen. Like, kids who are 15 years old listening to music from the ’80s. It’s a tricky concept to wrap your head around… the best way to look at it is re-issues. Stuff that comes out that sounds new to me or to others, but is really old. Take the label Dark Entries. They have an aesthetic, created a brand and a sound but it’s pretty much all old. I think that’s an interesting thing to do, especially when technology moves so fast, where everything new is instantly a little bit obsolete. S: Funny enough, a good friend of mine recently ordered an 80’s Russian aerobics record online, and I found a copy of it collecting dust at my grandparents’. M Yeah, to you that’s a cool record that you might want to dance to at a party or something, but it was actually for aerobics. That’s exactly what I’m interested in. I think at the time it was thought of as being plastic, throwaway music. But I think that stuff is amazing. And you’re seeing a lot of those records getting reissued. There’s so much of it.
Moon King + Sergeant 15 May - DOK, Ghent free for members
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Les MybalĂŠs artist
Brussels-based twins Doris and Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu, aka dance duo Les MybalĂŠs, embrace the power of movement and challenge their artistic practice with the deep complicity and shared history that is embedded in their sisterly bond. We talked about their transition from hip hop dance battles to theatre productions and the perks of interconnective collaboration.
Interview by Weronika Zalewska Photos by AurĂŠlie Bayad, shot in Brussels
You’ve been deeply embedded in the international dance scene. How do you experience the transition from dance battles to practicing within a theatre context? A: We’re completely embracing this transition as it brought us new knowledge such as the methodology of working with emotion, intention and interpretation. For example, in our theatre residencies we’re working in depth on several stages of emotions and taking into account every element of context and history. Additionally, our perception of movement has evolved. It became more mature, larger and multidimensional. However,
it’s important for us to keep a link between these two different but inseparable worlds as they both bring out something strong. What happens during a battle can be very useful when creating a dance performance. Can you tell us about De Living, your new collaboration with Ersan Mondtag? A: De Living is a story about a woman (or two women) coming home and committing suicide – or is it the other way around? – that questions the conditions of the mysterious complexity of a woman’s final hour. It is a production of NTGent and a collaboration between us and the German
director Ersan Mondtag. We’d never worked with him before which roused our curiosity as we were interested in his approach. For us, discussions, reflections and sharing ideas are a way to become aware of what’s happening and what will happen. It generates a receptiveness in our bodies and minds. Ersan is continuously making sure that we are all in symbiosis so that the project can take shape. He involves us and is calling us the authors of the project. How do you experience your connection as twin sisters while working together? A: The connection we have is natural and has always been there since we grew simultaneously within our mother’s womb. Strangely enough, putting this connection into words complicates it. Without a doubt our connection empowers our practice. While working together we both have our own ideas yet we are focusing on expressing our common visions. Would you say that interconnection is a force that allows you to create with more awareness? A: In our opinion, working interconnected with one or more people brings strength and depth into a creation process because it develops your ability to see further. Yet, interconnectivity does not hold you back from developing your own consciousness.
What are your current inspirations? A: At the moment we don’t have any fixed sources of inspiration. We’re inspired by all things out there; by the people we meet, their energies and ideas. In our artistic journeys as well as our lives we try to be open to different influences. Any plans for the future? A: Our plan for the future is simple: to excel in our art.
De Living 16 May - NTGent Arca, Ghent free for members @lesmybales Members need to buy a ticket with a discount code. Please mail us at memberships@subbacultcha.be to receive it.
style
Styling & photography: Tiny Geeroms Models: Clara-Lane Lens & Lobke Leirens Clothing: Baserange, Shelter Store
gerard leysen hoc fecit
recent finds
by Amaury Wilkin
Tom Malmendier tomalmendier.com
A mostly self-taught experimental musician from Liège, Malmendier finds home in an array of different projects: Oeil Kollectif, Nystagmus, HGU, the dance company Nyasch, a quartet with Fred Frith, a duo with Sophie Agnel and many many other projects all over Europe. Very active in his hometown, he organises regular events with jazz, noise and experimental artists. This year he introduces, for the first time, TomInvite at l’An Vert, a series of four concerts focused on electronic music. You can also see Malmendier this spring and summer at festivals like Jazz à Liège with Phil Maggi and Nystagmus, Nature Festival, Supervue, Meakusma; at concerts in Zürich, Basel and Mulhouse; and on the album releases of, among others, his quartet with Fred Frith, Clara Weil and Anil Eraslan, Manolito, Masked Pickle, and Nystagmus.
Plastique Hibou facebook.com/plastiquehibou
After having long maintained pole position in the underground dance circuit of ‘La Cité Ardente’ with their MinimHouse’s raves, the people of Plastique Hibou are back with their other party philosophy, based on DJ sets by topnotch legends of the electronic music scene supported by Jerohm and/or Arthur Johnson, their two highly skilled resident mixmasters, all taking place in an atypical venue – think, a cave, a boat or an abandoned factory. From Ivan Smagghe, Legowelt and Phillip Jondo to Scan 7 and Marsman, Plastique Hibou always offers an amazing eclectic lineup that doesn’t target one particular music genre. Pay attention: some venues have limited capacity and therefore sell out quickly.
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nachtelijke muzikale trip
Book of Air vvolk destudio.com — vr 21 jun — 21u tot 6u
recent finds
by Hann es Room s
Caterina Barbieri Ecstatic Computation soundcloud.com/caterinabarbieri
Italian composer and modular synthesizer sorceress Caterina Barbieri has a BA in electroacoustic music and a true minimalist mindset. She approaches music as a process of negotiation between the design of technology and the human imagination while looking for a sort of angelic/devilish tension – a strange coexistence of ecstasy and melancholia. Barbieri mildly deflects her sound palette towards a new direction on the upcoming release Ecstatic Computation. Lead track ‘Fantas’ is a ten-minute heavyweight that feels more contemporary than before and yes, you do want to hear this slow-burning track unfold in a smoke-filled club. An instant classic accompanied by abstruse yet brilliant artwork from Ruben Spini.
Mina Flight Paths earth-kicks.bandcamp.com
Mina celebrates the launch of her label, Earth Kicks, with her own debut album. Appropriately named Flight Paths, it tells a story of travelling the world looking for collabs and interesting local sounds. By respectfully interacting with and supporting talents from abroad such as Bryte from Accra she carefully avoids the appropriation trap. Mina connects the dots between diverse styles in her own distinctive way, fusing sounds from her London hometown with vibrant melodies and infectious rhythms from around the world. While the album still had to drop at the time of writing, the lineup looks promising, featuring LYZZA, Mixpak habitué Epic B, Gafacci, Perreo don Merca Bae and underground favourite dancehall singer 45DiBoss, among others.
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extracity.org
17.05 – 30.06.2019
Solo exhibition
recent finds
ender by Noor Al-B
Night Shift 4 May - DE Studio, Antwerp @nightshift_fromdusktilldawn
Night Shift, your favourite night-time carousel founded in Gouvernement in Ghent by Laurens Schnurrbart Marien, is making a stop at the impressive DE Studio building in Antwerp. The original idea remains; artists coming from different disciplines receive a ‘carte blanche’ for one night, transforming the venue in a casual playground. In a whirling 12-hour programme, Night Shift generates a broad and public platform for (unfinished) projects, early experiments and unseen tryouts. Expect a special ensemble of subtle and flagrant performances, idiosyncratic interventions, suddenly activated installations and other less classifiable exciting bits by artists such as Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe, Bert Jacobs & Ari-Pekka Leinonen, Charlotte Bouckaert, Ief Spincemaille, Max Meyer, Nienke Baeckelandt, Ode de Kort and Radio Roeien Met Riemen.
Purple Sun & Deadly Prey 4-5 May - Purple Sun, Brussels purplesun.be
Deadly Prey and Purple Sun have a fresh collaboration in the works. Deadly Prey gallery specialises in hand-painted Ghanaian movie posters that were once used in Ghana’s mobile cinema industry and still represent a tangible product of that time. Joining forces with tattoo shop Purple Sun, the gallery offers two days of submersion into the works of Ghanaian movie poster painter Heavy J. During the opening more than 50 of his posters can be admired and purchased. On the second day it will be possible to get an exclusive flash design by Ghanaian artists tattooed by Kid Nowe, Horigandhi or Indy Voet. A weekend where movie poster art from Ghana meets a Brussels tattoo studio. Take a piece home or get one on your body.
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CONCERTS
MAY
NIHILOXICA ug
03.05
MONOLITHE NOIR & PERCUSSIVE ENSEMBLE be PONGO pt
04.05
ALTIN GÜN tr/nl + YÔKAÏ be POTTERY ca FREDO gb CRACK CLOUD ca PRIESTS us A GIANT DOG us DRUGDEALER us KIKAGAKU MOYO jp - WOODEN SHJIPS us - WAND us BIG THIEF us + CRAKE gb EX HEX us FAT WHITE FAMILY gb MATMOS us + JOHN WIESE us SNAIL MAIL us + TOMBERLIN us
17.05 18.05 19.05 20.05 22.05 23.05 27.05 28.05 31.05 12.06 13.06 14.06
MORE CONCERTS & TICKETS: BOTANIQUE.BE
by Bert Lesaffer,
programmer of KASKcinema
film
KASKcinema, hosted by KASK/School of Arts Gent, has a soft spot for films that are underrepresented on the regular cinema circuit: shorts, experimental work, double bills, (cult) classics, films with live music, festival hits without distributor, documentaries etc. It’s a small cinema with a playful programme collaborating with a lot of partners to offer a joyous buffet of film events. On 16 May we have a screening of the Polish documentary You have no idea how much I love you by Pawel Lozinski. I saw it at IDFA and remember being so angry afterwards. It’s a film that pops up in my mind ever since and the anger I felt at the time has been transformed into an ongoing thought process. The film is an overview of five therapeutic sessions a mother and daughter have. As is often the case, the symptom that brings them to the therapist is only the signifier of a psychological structure. In this case, the problematic behaviour of the daughter soon makes room for the personal history of the mother. The way she takes on the maternal role is questioned. Complaints that bring people to a therapeutic setting are often linked to pieces of subconsciously constructed fiction that have become impossible to live with. Here the audience is asked to question what this fiction is. Can the mother see the daughter for who she is or will she always be an object moulded by the lens of her own history? What new fiction do they need to construct in order to see each other as a separate entity? And can a new form of love emerge from this sort of distance?
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You have no idea how much I love you by Pawel Lozinski 16 May - KASKcinema, Ghent kaskcinema.be
we visit you
Tell us, what do you do in life? N: I’m a marketing student finishing my degree with an internship at Subbacultcha Belgium. Besides that, I like listening to music, spending time with my friends and enjoying my last semester as a student. What do you like best about your place? N: That I have a little terrace. Now that the weather is getting better it’s nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. What kind of music are you listening to at the moment? N: I’ve been listening to Frank Ocean’s Blonde on repeat. Etta James has also been on heavy rotation. What’s the first record you bought? N: Frank by Amy Winehouse. My father used to sing her songs nonstop when we were little. That’s probably why she stuck with me. What’s your favourite pastime? N: Going to thrift stores and cooking – I love watching online recipe videos and trying out new things.
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Name Noor Al-Bender Age 21 Zodiac sign Scorpio Instagram @nooralbender Subbacultcha member since February 2019
Any guilty pleasures? N: Bad reality TV from the US. Something about it just really cracks me up. What’s your sweetest memory with your mom? N: When we were little, me and my sister used to crawl into bed with my mom in the mornings and I would lay on her chest listening to her heartbeat, which was fascinating to me. I loved those mornings. Have you experienced any regrets recently? N: Not really, I stick by my decisions. Which future Subbacultcha show are you looking forward to? N: Paula Temple at C12 on 10 May.
Photo by Bibi Euse shot in Ghent
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FRONT COVER Les Mybalés shot by Aurélie Bayad EDITORS IN CHIEF Herlinde Raeman & Kasper-Jan Raeman MAGAZINE EDITORS Julien Van de Casteele & Isaline Raes COPY EDITOR Megan Roberts DESIGN Chloé D’hauwe ADVERTISING & PARTNERSHIPS kasper-jan@subbacultcha.be PRINTER Drukkerij GEWADRUPO, Arendonk, Belgium CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gabriela González, Isaline Raes, Julien Van de Casteele, Hannes Rooms, Anais Violet Van Eldere, Laura Ramos, Nicolas Baudoin, Dennis Meerman, Sasha Ermakov, Weronika Zalewska, Laura-Andréa Callewaert, Wannes Cuypers, Wannes Dewit, Jacob McPherson, Chanun Poomsawai, Amaury Wilkin, Mathias Calderon, Bert Lesaffer & Noor Al-Bender
PARTNERS C12, STUK, LifeSnacks, De Koer, Vooruit, Kraak, Het Bos, La Vallée, MONTAGE, Bebe, DOK, deSingel, Madame Moustache, DE Studio, Botanique, Democrazy, Club Wit, Horst. Festival, Cinema Zuid, CINEMATEK, KVS, NTGent, Argos, CENTRALE for contemporary art, cultuur Gent, GEWADRUPO, MSK, Extra City, Design Museum Gent, Gent Jazz, Antwerp Art Weekend & Rock Werchter A heartfelt thank you to all our distributors, interns & volunteers. OFFICE Subbacultcha Belgium, Dendermondsesteenweg 80A, 9000 Ghent, Belgium EDITORIAL magazine@subbacultcha.be MEMBERSHIPS memberships@subbacultcha.be
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Tiny Geeroms, Aurélie Bayad, Catherine Lemblé, Jennilee Marigomen, Bibi Euse, Dani Dabney & Vivek Vadoliya CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Doris & Nathalie Bokongo Nkumu
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At the heart of Subbacultcha you’ll find our membership. Members get access to the best concerts and events for just €8 a month. With our community we’re supporting emerging music and art in Belgium and beyond. subbacultcha.be
Antwerp Art Weekend
16 – 19 May 2019
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