Addendum to Day 1

Having read JJ's post I offer this (courtesy of Will Sweeney) to illustrate the weakness of his Doom Claw.



When discussing the pros and cons of possible arm gestures for specific live music, we decided that the weakest move would be to punch the air in the effete manner of Cliff Richard, as he did during one of his lame and forgettable doing-it-for-the-kids-type numbers. The Cliff Fist should be reserved for boy bands.

In Between Days - Monday

I drove down to Minehead with Will Sweeney on Sunday morning. We spent the journey bitching about the Graphic Arts. I arrived in time to start work on a large scale drawing and then went to check out a few of the bands playing. The highlight for me was the transcendent Black Metal of Wolves in the Throne Room. Russell told me that it was no longer de rigeur to throw 'horns' at Metal shows; one now makes a 'claw'. My attempt at this was deemed not manly enough –  it's my delicate artistic hands, I suppose.

I've recently realised that watching bands and staying up late 'partying'  is not unlike running or cycling. If you want to be successful you have to train regularly, and I've been out of training in the former disciplines for some time now. I managed to last the pace until 0300 hours when I retired to bed injured, after Russell's son, Caleb, told me how disappointed he was with my artwork.

Monday morning I vented my frustrations on a bike ride. One of the attractions of Minehead for me was its proximity to some epic hill climbs, so I headed along the A39 to Porlock Hill and wasn't disappointed. Exmoor was covered in low cloud, so I couldn't see much, but with a 25% gradient to get over I was focused on that. At the top of Porlock Hill I headed south over the moors and then back along the A396 to Minehead.

I was back in time to see Michael Rother eating Rice Krispies for breakfast. I was surprised – I had figured him for a muesli man – but I guess he has to let his hair down sometimes. I didn't see what Cluster's Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius had, so I couldn't make any generalisations about the nature of the Kosmische breakfast.

Russell and I then gave a talk to introduce Amos to the interested attendees. We then enjoyed a screening of Repo Man.

I managed another short bike ride to check out the hills above Minehead before checking out the bands...

ATP In Between Days Day 1

We're back from our week at Butlins in Minehead. For some (like me) it was a marathon. 8 days of madness. By the time IBD began Ruth and I had already been there for three days. We had a great weekend watching top performances from bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Dead C, Wolves in the Throne Room, Bardo Pond, Boban I Marko Markovic Orchestra, Rangda, Flower/Corsano Duo and the mighty Oneida. The latter played for 10 hours solid on the Saturday so we kept dropping in on them throughout the day. They killed it!

James and Will arrived on the Sunday. James began a large format drawing in the main pavillion which he added to over the course of the next 5 days.



By the end of day 1 it looked like this.



So on the Monday morning In Between Days began. This was a much smaller festival as the majority of the weekends revellers returned to their daily routines. But for a very respectable hardcore, the next four days was to be driven by our music choices, specific events that we picked, and our takeover of the on-site TV channel where we got to choose all the content for 24 hours a day until midday on the Friday.

We started the day with an introductory talk about Amos to give festival goers some clue as to who it was that was programming their entertainment for the next four days. This was based on talks we have given for Candy Collective in Dublin and Copenhagen. Unlike with those talks we did not have the use of a projector as I was a spanner and didn't bring the annoyingly specific connector for the model of laptop I was carrying. Luckily, seeing this was the first event, and the 'zines containing the day's events had not yet been distributed, the turnout was manageable; so while walking up and down the isles with lap top in hand, we introduced the company, discussed what we did, and looked at some of our individual formative influences.









We also looked at some of our joint influences which initially drew us together (including shared music tastes) and discussed the history of how we began to work with each other.





Once the talk and a brief Q&A were over we showed the first of our chosen 35mm films in the cinema. Alex Cox's LA Punk Rock slacker thriller, Repo Man, was a big film for both James and myself. James and Will had never seen it on a big screen so it seemed apt that we get to show it here.





This was followed by another film great and a rare opportunity to see Godfrey Reggio's time lapse masterpiece, Koyaanisqatsi, on a big screen.



That evening we were treated to stunning live performances from New York's White Hills, Cleveland's Emeralds, Chicago's Cave, Berlin's Ulrich Schnauss, and the cosmopolitan Hallogallo fronted by German rock legend, Michael Rother, who earlier that day had amused James with his choice of breakfast cereal. I'll let him explain... Each band played an incredible set, spurred on by the intimacy of the event and the enthusiasm of the crowd. I think it's safe to say that just about everyone in the venue was blown away by the end of the night.

White Hills


Because of the intimate nature of the festival we wanted to try and personalise our involvement as much as possible, so one of the things we decided was to produce a handmade photocopied 'zine for each day. These primarily gave information on the days events, a personal summary of the bands, information on Amos, and the TV schedule for the day. There was also room for some silliness...







More soon...

Amos x Hello Kitty update

A quick message to let UK residents know that Playlounge in London has managed to acquire a few of the vinyl figures. At the time of posting this they still had a few left in stock so if you're interested try here.

The 100th Wisdom of Caleb

HERE...

In Between Days Update

So as well as the bands picked for each day, which you can find listed here, there'll be a bunch of of other events/activities over the course of the 4 days. Some of these include:

Films we've chosen that will be shown at the cinema on site.

An Amos programmed TV channel running over all 4 days.

Talks given by our friend, photographer Jason Evans, the ATP organisers, and ourselves.

The infamous steam train ride with accompanying Amos music mixes and mulled wine.

Two morning cycle rides across the rolling hills of Somerset, led by James himself.

A Rollapaluza GoldSprint/roller racing contest.

James will also try and find the time to produce a large scale drawing.

There'll be a drunken pub quiz to end all pub quizzes.

There's a book club too, where attendees can discuss Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, a total Amos favourite.

We will also have the previously posted exclusive Amos x ATP Caleb figure of which the bulk will only be available at the event.

And for each day of the event we will produce a special hand made, copy-cut-glue zine for every festival goer.



Should be amusing...

For more information, or if you fancy joining us, visit the All Tomorrow's Parties site.

Urfaust at In Between Days

Nachtmystium have flaked out on us and now won't be appearing at In Between Days. We wanted to keep a bit of Black Metal on the agenda so we asked one of my personal favs, Urfaust to come and play. I wanted these guys from the off but for one reason or another couldn't get them on the bill. But thanks to ATP head honcho, Barry Hogan, and the band's willingness to come and join us at short notice, we will have them for their first UK appearance. I actually went to Iceland to see them perform on my birthday earlier this year. They ruled.

I'm excited.

Should confuse a few people too.

http://www.myspace.com/urfaustfans/music

We'll post an update on planned festival events very soon.