Jammerzine has an exclusive interview with Aaron Starkie from The Slow Readers Club. With today’s release of their new album ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ (listen below), we get an ever-surprising evolution that is the musical revolution of The Slow Readers Club.
And, in today’s interview, we talk with Aaron about ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ as well as the music scene post-COVID and what lies in store for the Slow Readers Club.
About The Slow Readers Club & ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’
As forecast by recent singles and emerging fan favorites ‘Modernise’, ‘Lay Your Troubles On Me’ and the title track, the album sees the band moving beyond their dark-hued post-punk roots to embrace luminous synths and anthemic alt-rock that can also appeal to fans of early Bloc Party, Muse and White Lies. And while its themes are still informed by scathing social commentary, ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ consistently exudes the power of the collective human spirit to counteract the growing dystopia around us.
As vocalist Aaron Starkie explains, “The world had become so bleak it felt a little indulgent to paint apocalyptic pictures when they were playing out in the real world. I thought people would probably want to hear more uplifting things, it was my intention to be a bit more positive. There’s still a lot of melodrama in there and it’s still dystopian in places but there’s more positive shades in this record.”
Beyond the singles, those uplifting moments emerge both lyrically and sonically. ‘Sacred Song’ plays up both elements, its sparkling guitar motif and imagination of a beacon of hope in the shape of a saviour goddess elevating the mood. ‘What Might Have Been’ is thematically more sorrowful, but otherwise beams just as brightly, placing a Balearic twist on an indie-rock heart in a similar way to Foals but with a yearning ‘80s undercurrent. The record closes on a hopeful strand, with ‘No You Never’. It finds Aaron reflecting on his childhood growing up on a council estate, where he felt limited by social and financial concerns. Despite those challenges, his ability to express himself via music demonstrates that there can be opportunities beyond what might immediately be apparent.
‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ is launched alongside a new video for the moody, hooky synth-pop break-up song ‘Forget About Me’. It was the final song to be written for the record and remained in development as the band entered the studio. Its writing was completed in an experimental style, with the band based in the studio while Aaron contributed via WhatsApp as he remained at home with Covid.
Completed by Aaron’s brother Kurtis Starkie (guitar), James Ryan (bass) and David Whitworth (drums), The Slow Readers Club recorded the album with producer Joe Cross (Louis Tomlinson, The Courteeners, Hurts).
The Slow Readers Club recently announced details of a special ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ album launch event on February 28th. Held at Manchester’s Band on the Wall, the intimate event will feature a live edition of #TimsTwitterListeningParty, which will also run concurrently on Twitter. The band will then take to the stage to perform acoustic versions of some of the new album tracks, as well as hosting a raffle in which fans can win rare memorabilia, merchandise and guestlist places for upcoming shows. The event is already sold-out.
The event follows their recent ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ preview event, where they were joined by a local legend in the shape of the Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham.
‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ is available to stream or buy HERE. The band’s official store also offers limited edition vinyl, CD, cassettes and t-shirts which feature alternate black artwork.
Next month will see The Slow Readers Club take ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ on the road with a UK and European headline tour, interspersed with a show as special guests to Pixies. Several gigs are already sold-out, with many more to follow imminently. Any remaining tickets are available HERE.
LINKS:
https://www.theslowreadersclub.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/theslowreadersclub
https://twitter.com/slowreadersclub
https://www.instagram.com/theslowreadersclub/
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Jammerzine’s The Week in #Indie for 4/26/2021
In this episode of Jammerzine’s The Week in #Indie, we feature video premieres from Dope Sagittarius, Ernest Moon, Hongza, Madisyn Whajne, and Pentral plus Jammerzine Exclusive interviews from Tombstones In Their Eyes and Josh Altfater from Southwood Studios. Also featured are album and single premieres from Ventrelles and Addison Clapp.
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Jammerzine Exclusive: An Interview with LAU
Introducing Jammerzine’s Exclusives via Zoom! This week, Jammerzine premiered its new exclusive interview segment, featuring host Sophia Ciravolo, with its first guest, new-wave artist, and Aztec Record Label Executive LAU.
Singer, producer, and song-writer LAU brings a nostalgic yet modern feel to the new-wave, synth-pop scene. LAU just released the retro-influenced single ‘The Cards” and gives us a look into the concepts inspiring her upcoming album ‘Believer’.
LAU speaks of her cultural and musical background, her inspirations for music and synth-pop, 80’s inspired music making a comeback. LAU also provides a sense of what it’s like being a musician and business owner during the COVID pandemic.
ABOUT LAU
LAU is an artist and lyricist from Buenos Aires, Argentina debuting her skills as a solo vocalist.
Located in the UK, she’s been making her way into the modern synth-pop music scene with releases such as ‘Recognize’ and ‘True’ that showcase her retro, 80’s influence. As Creative Director of Aztec Records, LAU has signed over 30 artists and is able to combine her musical talent with her extensive industry knowledge (giving her quite the edge).
LINKS:
https://laufares.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/laufaresmusic
https://www.instagram.com/laufares
https://twitter.com/lau_fares
https://www.youtube.com/laufares
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3i1ZPTMkrfR7cAHBY77Bz4?si=mr0_3YaiTq-x5mU9_Qfgaw -
An Interview with Ashton Nyte (The Week in #Indie Segment)
The Awakening was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 as the creative expression of artist Ashton Nyte. Nyte is the sole songwriter, vocalist, producer and primary instrumentalist behind The Awakening, accompanied by hand-picked musicians for live performances. Dubbed “dark future-rock” and “Johannesburg’s Bowie” by the press, Ashton came to prominence in 1997 with The Awakening’s chart-topping rendition of The Sound Of Silence, followed by another five #1 singles and twelve top 10’s. The anthemic single The Dark Romantics became a staple on alternative dance floors around the world, one of the many gems of The Awakening’s catalog of 8 full-length albums, 3 EPs and 2 greatest hits collections.
Ashton Nyte and The Awakening have toured extensively and headlined festivals in the US, Europe, and South Africa, including Ramfest and the Oppikoppi Festival to over 30 000 people. Nyte and The Awakening have been featured in a diverse range of media, from Rolling Stone and Metal Hammer to Dark Beauty and Fangoria.
As a solo artist Ashton Nyte has released 7 stylistically diverse albums in addition to his work released as The Awakening. After relocating to the US in 2008, Nyte released the cinematic dark-folk album “The Valley” which was toured from New York to New Orleans, played on over 200 US stations and drew comparisons to Nebraska-era Springsteen and Johnny Cash.
Nyte toured South Africa in March / April 2014 to promote The Awakening’s “Anthology XV” release, as well as the release of “Moederland”, his first Afrikaans-language album. “Moederland” was named one of the top 10 Afrikaans albums of the year by Netwerk24 and enjoyed two number 1 singles on Afrikaans radio and featured the Nyte-penned duet with Karin Hougaard.
Nyte’s most recent solo album, “Some Kind Of Satellite” (2015) received critical acclaim and was featured in a variety of press including Gothic Beauty, Sonic Seducer, Dark Beauty, Giuseppina and Auxiliary Magazine, among others. The album saw the artist perform a national sold out headline tour of South Africa, in addition to performing with British alternative rock legend, Wayne Hussey. Nyte’s works have been featured on NPR/PRI in the USA, and he has performed live in-studio to 125 million listeners on the international radio show “Border Crossings”. A prolific artist and activist, Nyte has also written and performed in theatrical productions and organized philanthropic events including his “Rock Against Rape” concert series, and presenting a lecture series at US universities focusing on tolerance and acceptance.
2016 saw Nyte collaborate with British guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite (Peter Murphy, The Mission, Gary Numan) on MGT’s debut solo album, along with Ville Valo (HIM), and a host of other alternative music luminaries. Nyte also completed a 17 date sold out tour, spanning 12 European countries with The Awakening in October 2016. The tour was in support of UK band The Mission’s 30th Anniversary and included prestigious European venues like O2 Shepherd Bush (London), Hard Club (Porto), Markthalle (Hamburg) and many more. The Awakening was the only support for their leg of the tour and crowd response and merchandise sales reflected an ongoing growth for the love of Nyte’s voice and various musical incarnations. Nyte performed with MGT at the Wave Gotik Treffen festival in Leipzig, along with a UK date in June 2017.
In 2018 Nyte co-wrote and co-produced the second MGT album, called “Gemini Nyte”, with Nyte as the only vocalist and lyricist. The album also featured Paul Ferguson (Killing Joke) on drums and was toured with Jyrki69 (The 69 Eyes) across the US in March of 2018. Nyte is currently completing a range of releases for 2019 and has contributed lyrics and vocals to 3 songs on Michael Ciravolo’s “Beauty in Chaos” project, which features members of The Cure, The Mission, Ice-T, Ministry, Cheap Trick and more. The Nyte / Ciravolo composition “Bloodless And Fragile” was used in the television program “The Purge” on USA network. The Awakening has just released a new album, “Chasm” on 26 November 2018 with first single “Back To Wonderland” currently receiving airplay worldwide.
Ashton Nyte ended off 2018 with working on the score of the movie “Relive” with composer Ethan Gold. The movie stars David Oyelowo, Storm Reid and Mykelti Williamson and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019.
Check out the full interview HERE.
LINKS:
https://theawakening.com
https://facebook.com/theawakeningofficial
https://youtube.com/theawakeningsahttps://ashtonnyte.com
https://facebook.com/ashtonnyte
https://youtube.com/ashtonnyte
https://instagram.com/ashtonnyte
https://twitter.com/ashtonnyte