Interview: Veí

Jonn Dean has been a constantly shifting musical experimenter during his time recording and performing music from a Manchester hub. An electronica project took the backseat while he played keyboards with local alt-rock group Kin, but since they disbanded Veí has moved to the fore.

The name itself is curious enough without introduction to the open-minded approach to musical composition lying beyond. Even the name ‘Veí’ has evolved during its lifespan, as Dean explains. “I started working on my own material whilst I was still playing keys for Kin, but I was quite keen to start writing with someone else rather than it remain a solo project. I worked on a few tracks initially with Paul Mckie (formerly of From the Kites of San Quentin) and I was trying to think of a suitable name for the collaboration. As we lived opposite one another at the time I thought it would be interesting to see whether the word 'neighbours' had a quirky ring to it when translated into another language. The Catalan word for neighbours is 'Veïns' which I loved instantly and we stuck with that.”

He continues: “When Paul became busier with Kites and wasn't available to continue with the project, I was curious to know what the singular of Veïns would be, so Veí was born. The notions of producing electronic music and writing and performing under a pseudonym have always felt synonymous to me, especially given my influences, and I enjoy the association with the actual meaning of the word – everyone is someone's neighbour.”

His tracks have been included on compilations and a debut digital EP, Thank You For Talking, was supported by forward-thinking music collective Mind On Fire. It could be said that recorded music is all about capturing a moment to be repeated as an exact copy; a live show is about recreation of that in person. Veí has until recently struggled with this dichotomy and there were always issues with preserving his improvised live show as a recording, given that reproducing the same song was a rare occurrence. That EP now remains distinctly in the past as Dean has adapted his live show by trimming down the wealth of flashing LEDs and bulky hardware at his disposal in favour of a simpler – and easier to control – laptop-based set-up. “I love improvised music and the processes associated with it,” he states, “but I personally feel that in the long run there is only so far you can take it.”

There was also only so far he could go in the eyes of local promoters. Veí’s name would often adorn posters as a warm-up act, meaning that only the early birds into any show would see his set. Given his proclivity towards ambient orchestral arrangements and only small remnants of recognisable individual songs, it was not surprising that he would precede more uptempo acts. Nowadays, tracks are still modified onstage, but the level of control is higher with a more stable groundwork laid.

He admits that the equipment progression has afforded him more freedom then before and has in turn affected the recreation of tracks for an audience. “My old live setup was primarily based around limitation. With the set-up I put together it meant that there were things that I couldn't do easily, but that in turn forced me to be creative and think of ways around those shortcomings and also focus on the things that I could do well with it.”

“Instead of improvising and creating tracks on the spot I've been focussing more on writing and production values from the outset of a track. I'm still experimenting of course, but I feel that now I can capture that experimentation before anyone else hears it and add it into my work, rather than getting lost in the moment of an improvised show and not being able to recreate it.”

It was a Now Then Manchester gig in December 2011 that became the first road test for that new, less improvised set using laptop software, supporting thebrokendoor and Jason Singh at a show, ironically, focussing on improvised and semi-rehearsed musical accompaniment to previously selected films. Although uncertain at first, he can reflect on having made the right move. “I felt at first as though I had abandoned my roots to an extent, but the tracks were really well received and I felt like I had definitely made the right decision.” His selection was a walkthrough for the Limbo computer game and the differentiation from the rest of the show in terms of improvisation mattered little, as Branching Dialogue’s reviewer afterwards expressed “an urgent need to buy the game and to see every gig Veí does from here on out”.

There will be another opportunity to witness that particular show, as he will perform to the same video clip for the Soundtracks From The Other City stage at this year's Sounds From The Other City festival in Salford. As no stranger to cinematic and musical cohesion, he will also take on the final segment of a combined re-soundtracking of 1980s sci-fi film Dark Star at Dulcimer bar on Sunday 22nd April, with his set following instalments by Christopher William Anderson and Yes Blythe.

The switch was in part due to an affiliation with the new Baptists & Bootleggers label, which provided the platform for his new production ideas. “I had been thinking about switching from improvisational shows to writing some actual tracks for a few months anyway,” says Dean. “But when B&B asked me to do the EP I thought that would be an ideal opportunity to make the transition.” His physical self-titled EP launch at the start of 2012 was a part of the launch of the Baptists & Bootleggers label as a whole, where his performance acted as further evidence of his move away from the unplanned and chaotic constructs of old.

The show later saw Borland (who will next perform at Antwerp Mansion on Thursday 26th April) and Go Lebanon tread the stage; the former shrouding the room in dry ice, leaving only their candlelit corner of mystical noise-craft as a visible reference point. Their audio reference points sway all the way from vocal parts as heavily encrypted by effects as Animal Collective to an incongruent rendition of Rod Stewart’s words in ‘Da’ Ya’ Think I’m Sexy?’ – and all backed by steadily mellow ambient duskiness to match the artificial atmosphere. The latter takes on a military guise both in terms of costume and their satirical humour (playing a “song about men who touch things they shouldn’t – called ‘Sarkozies’”) for a set of angrily cranked up injections of tinnitus. It is a show indicative of the variety of genres encouraged by the Baptists & Bootleggers label.

For example, another of Veí’s involvements with B&B was contributing one of the five tracks on the main launch record, ...Of The Wolves, which comprises a multiple arts smorgasbord centred around Dante’s Inferno, the 1930s film based on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. His fifth of the record – an interpretation of the same 8 minute 12 second visual clip selected for each musical act – is named ‘Decaying Bodice’, a typically serene piece of music even in response to a film whose fiery despair erupts loud and ferociously through the other musicians’ versions. It is almost detached from the imagery; accepting of the depicted hell and tapping into a quiet place, watching the bedlam from afar. Such is the paradox of Veí; a neighbour by name, but with a street to himself where music is concerned.

That isn’t to say he doesn’t have influences. Radiohead was a noticeable starting point with Kin, while his Veí EP nods towards Four Tet in parts. Dean also cites Bjork, Baths, Aphex Twin, James Blake and Amon Tobin.

He first became involved with the label after being introduced to its co-founder Callum Higgins at the launch event for a Mind On Fire and OneFiveEight collaboration, Hear No Evil, See No Evil, the CD for which features tracks by both Veí and Higgins’ solo music project, Yes Blythe.

“After meeting Callum at the launch, one of the MOF boys informed me that he was doing a soundtrack project and put me in touch again. As I was only using hardware with live improvisations at the time, I recorded 'Decaying Bodice' pretty much the next day, which was well over a year ago now. I knew there were plans to release it and I was really interested in the idea that it would be a compilation of tracks all inspired by the same piece of film. I didn't know at that stage that they were looking into the Umbro Industries bursary or that they would ask me to write an EP to coincide with the launch, so when all that came together it started to gain momentum and become very exciting.”

Since that meeting and subsequent support, Veí is growing in confidence and looking to the future. “I just wanted to show what else I am capable of. I still use elements of my old methods in the writing process but for now I definitely feel as though I'm moving in the right direction and don't plan on taking a step backwards.”

Words: Ian Pennington
Photography: Paul Green
Sunday Soirée poster design: Craig Brown - Beards Club Illustration
Now Then B&B poster design: Hattie Lockwood
B&B logo courtesy of the B&B label
Rod Stewart sourced from the internet

Veí will perform next at Dulcimer bar in Chorlton as part of a Now Then Manchester and Baptists & Bootleggers co-promotion featuring three electronic musicians re-soundtracking the 1980s sci-fi film Dark Star. He will take on the final section of the film, after Christopher William Anderson and Yes Blythe have performed live soundtracks the first two thirds. The gig takes place on Sunday 22nd April from 5.30pm.

Interview: Dr Butler's Hatstand Medicine Band

Formed in 2006 with the tunes of ragtime, swing and jazzy blues vibrating from their musical minds through to their stringed instruments of choice, Dr Butler's Hatstand Medicine Band set upon a journey bringing joviality and frown-busting good-time jives to many, from traditional stages small and large to church courtyards, television sets and south Manchester parks.

Their nine-track record Music For Parlours and Promenades, available via bandcamp, is a waltz through jocular rhymes ('Penny Farthing', 'Rosie') and instrumental jig-inducers ('Too Tight Rag', 'The Manchester Shakedown') bringing a range of instruments to the table en route. From washboards to banjos, mandolins to kazoos via acoustic guitar, ukulele and double bass, the multi-talented troupe are well equipped with the tools of uptempo melody.

Co-founder Andrew Butler talks to Now Then Manchester ahead of the band's headline slot at Dulcimer this Sunday 29th January about folk trains, collaborators and loss of balance.


Now Then: How did the Hatstand Medicine Band get its name?

Dr Butler: I’m sure I know this one.


NT: As a flexible group of musicians, how do you decide who plays in which gig? Is there any song-writing autocracy or is it a democracy?

DB: We have core line-up of Dr Butler, Papa John and Black Jack Barnet and when possible the three of us try to do every gig, whether paid or unpaid. Since forming the band in 2006 we’ve worked with loads of other musicians and performers and it’s always lots of fun to have a big band. We’ve done a few gigs in recent times with as many as 10 people on stage. But, the unfortunate drawback about making music with such a big band is the cost.

We’re a democracy in terms of song-writing. Whoever has a new tune just brings it to the table, we will then commence taking the piss out of it, deconstructing it, pointing out misspelled or mispronounced words and drawing his or her attention to how it sounds like something else. Then, if we haven’t broken their creative spirit we’ll all take it to our heart and start working on it. We’re all highly critical of each others work but that keeps us on our toes. We recently co-wrote the lyrics to a new song for our forthcoming album called ‘Beer Festival Calypso’ which was a first for us but it worked really well.

Whoever happens to be playing with us at any given time generally has the freedom to do whatever he or she wants, we rarely dictate what a musician should or shouldn’t play. We’ll be joined by Dom Dudill on fiddle on the 29th and it’ll be the first time he’s ever done a gig with us. Prior to that we had a jam for an hour or so and it was obvious that he was a top musician; we’ll develop our sound on stage, rather than beforehand.


NT: You’re due to travel aboard the folk train again this week and have done so in the past; what are your best memories of those shows?

DB: We’ve been performing on the folk trains since forming the band, so we’ve done quite a few. There have been lots of memorable occasions but one that stands out is one we did on Halloween a few years ago. It was probably the busiest folk train we’ve ever been on, everybody was in costume and it stands out as one of our best gigs I think.

The folk train is a bit like the Olympics for acoustic bands, especially the ones to Hathersage and beyond. You have to entertain the carriage on the way, at the destination pub and also on the way back. So, you have to be musically fit and know a lot of songs. We’re proud to say that we’ve never had to repeat a song on a folk train.

NT: Do you get put off by any bumps or corners? Or does the momentum enhance your musical grooves?

DB: Papa John will inevitably lose his balance at some point but the rest of the band have found their folk train feet over the years. That’s University education for you.


NT: How do unsuspecting passengers react? Have there been any adverse reactions to the concept of live music on public transport, in your experience?

DB: Because it’s a regular commuter train it’s always full of people on their way home from work. For the most part people react positively, it’s difficult not to when people are having so much fun and wearing bowler hats at the same time. But, for some reason the prospect of having to sit in a carriage and listen to banjos and washboards all the way home doesn’t appeal to everyone.


NT: What does the proposed SOPA & PIPA legislation mean to independent artists such as yourselves?

DB: Doesn’t mean anything to us.

NT: Finally, which records are you playing the grooves off at the moment and which of your peers would you recommend?

DB: A devil woman took the record player with her when she went to live with a fat dwarf so I have rows and rows of records gathering dust at the moment. The last thing I had on was a record called The Moon’s in a Fit by a band called the Umps and Dumps, released in 1980. It’s a really interesting mixture of traditional English folk with ragtime and late 19th century popular balladry. It has an excellent re-working of one of Irving Berlin’s less well known songs ‘After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It’ – “After you've got what you want you don’t want it, if I gave you the moon, you’d grow tired of it soon.”

People should go and watch Krazy Horse and Mik Artistic if they want to be happy. They should catch Aidan Smith, either solo, with his band or with PJ Party if they want to witness a genius song-writing machine. They should try and catch Gideon Conn before he moves to London. They should go to a Josephine gig if they want to hear the most powerful female vocalist in Manchester. If they want something a bit more raucous they should go to the upcoming TNS all-dayer in March, organised by our good friend Andy Davies from Revenge of the Psychotronic Man.


Dr Butler's Hatstand Medicine Band will headline the next Now Then Sunday Soirée gig at Dulcimer on Sunday 29th January. They will be supported by Aidan Smith, James Munro and Shen and more information can be found here. Doors are at 5pm and entry policy is pay-what-you-like with £3 suggested to support artists and future gigs.


Words: Ian Pennington
Poster Design: Hattie Lockwood
Images: Courtesy of Dr Butler's Hatstand Medicine Band (credited on individual photographs where applicable)

Interview: D'lyfa Reilly

Other than being a dab hand at picking a pun ridden alias, D’lyfa Reilly has been perfecting his art of relaying tales untainted by sugar-coated commercialism. A comradeship with fellow Red IQ lyricists Bo’Nidle and C Aye Monk is partly to thank for his progress, but the pivotal point in his short history as a solo musician arrived earlier this year on the digital release of the Sewing Seeds EP. Adopting the stylistic immediacy of hip hop, the record is unafraid to confront the insecurity of youth. Reilly writes about himself and those around him by putting his soul on show through lyrical delivery ranging from laid back and thoughtful moodiness to sharp-tongued scythes.

Even as a solo artist, D’lyfa’s path isn’t totally lonesome. The credits for his EP nod towards Riddle, who mixed and mastered the tracks as well as co-producing the artwork with Bo’Nidle; his video library is slowly swelling thanks to collaborations with northwest filmmakers Chris Wrench and Daniel Entwistle (Shtuffs Productions); he’s shared bills with musicians both local and beyond from The Natural Curriculum and Sparkz to Ghostface Killah and Jehst.

D’lyfa fills in the gaps by answering Now Then Manchester’s questions ahead of this Thursday 8th December's show at Dulcimer in Chorlton.


Now Then: What does hip hop mean to you?

D’lyfa Reilly: A narrative of the emotions felt at one particular time, then captured once recorded.


NT: Who inspires you lyrically?

DR: Lyrically, I’m inspired by Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Jim Morrison (The Doors) and from an early age SkinnyMan, after I heard Council Estate of Mind when I was about 12. Just because I make hip hop right now, it doesn't mean I’m completely inspired solely by hip hop artists. But if anyone really inspires my writing daily with their presence it would be Bo'Nidle & C Aye Monk, my Red iQ amigos.


NT: ‘Moment of Soul’ dabbles briefly with the big questions of life and death – are these questions important to you or is it all about the here and now?

DR: ‘Moment of Soul’ and the rest of the Sewing Seeds EP were written around the end of 2009 to early 2010 when my mind frame was in a different place, as 2011 went on I was learning more and more about myself and for the time being my thoughts are definitely on the here and now.

NT: You say you want to carve your name in the tree of life; when will you feel you’ve accomplished this?

DR: Truthfully I don’t know how to answer that, I guess I will know when I know. I hope I never stop carving to be honest!


NT: Do you change your approach when writing music with Red IQ? If so, how?

DR: When we write together, we just jam; on-the-spot tracks, etc. At most times with a lot of inspiration from Riddle when he’s churning out them badman beats in studio and more recently I’m getting so much energy from the beats I’m hearing from Bo'Nidle!


NT: Do you prefer performing with others or as a solo artist?

DR: Definitely better performing alongside my brothers - I couldn't hack standing alone! And it’s always a big boost when Konny Kon is behind the decks; Manchester legend and all round don.

NT: Who has done your EP artwork for Sewing Seeds and what are your impressions of that?

DR: Bo'Nidle & Riddle actually threw that together for me, immediately after I mentioned the EP title. And I thought it captured the image in my head perfectly.

NT: Your videos for ‘Concrete Safari’ and NT: ‘The Path (Walk On)’ have a distinctive, stop-start animation style – who have you been working with on those, how much input do you have and what do you think about the results?

DR: ‘The Path’ was filmed and directed by Chris Wrench and co-directed by myself, and ‘Concrete Safari’ was filmed and edited by Daniel Entwistle. Both are immense and I wouldn't really want to have worked with anyone else on them, both are actually top geezers – look out for more of my work very soon with them both!




NT: Who are you listening to at the moment and which of your peers would you recommend?

DR: Right this second I’m listening to Lauryn Hill - I find it hard to say! Tune! But my favourite tape at the moment is 'Ab-Soul - Longterm 2: Lifestyles Of The Broke & Almost Famous'. The guy is absolutely gripping my attention right now. But as far as my peers are concerned I recommend you all go out and listen to and download anything from Bo'Nidle, C Aye Monk and Riddle (goes without saying really!) and Dirty North (the best band doing it right now in Manchester!), TNC (killing every show I see from 'em!) and outside of Manchester go listen to R kid More 1 (West London) and BLG (a cold collective in Leicester).

Words: Ian Pennington
Video: Daniel Entwistle (Shtuffs Productions)
Posters design: Max Peake (Hurtdeer)
Album art: Bo’Nidle & Riddle

D’lyfa Reilly headlines the next Now Then Manchester show on Thursday 8th December at Dulcimer bar in Chorlton. TNC regular Bill Sykes is lined up to support while Mind On Fire DJs fill in the gaps with their usual taste-making tune selection. Will Not Be Televised co-promote. Entry policy is pay-what-you-like; £3 suggested.

Interview: Ghost Outfit

You may have heard Manchester buzz band Ghost Outfit causing a clamour on Wilmslow Road buses, in art galleries or on record; all very lo-fi, guerrilla, DIY so far. When Now Then’s Ben Robinson decided to investigate further, frontman Jack Hardman told him about the ghosts of the band’s past, present and future.

Hallowe’en was the perfect time for the aptly named Ghost Outfit to release their new single Tuesday through Sways Records – hand knitted ghosts and all. Early in its musical life, the duo comprising Jack Hardman and Mike Benson has been branded with the currently trendy ‘lo-fi’ and ‘DIY’ tags, but the poltergeist-loving pair is now trying to move away from such labels by setting sights on taking the distorted shoegaze noise-pop further afield.

“I understand why we’re called [lo-fi], you can’t exactly call the earlier recordings anything but lo-fi; it was kind of lo-fi by necessity rather than associating it with the genre. It wasn’t really an attempt to recreate that genre it was more making what we could with the equipment that we had.”

Ghost Outfit are part of the Salford-based Sways Records and have also been championed by local promoters Underachievers Please Try Harder and MCR Scenewipe. They have been associated with the lo-fi re-emergence in Manchester of late along with countless other distortion loving, budget-sounding bands, such as Sex Hands, Former Bullies and Milk Maid; a trend owing a debt to love of nineties American indie.

“I’d have to say it’s all stemmed from the re-emergence of that scene of bringing back nineties American indie rock. And I like the fact that a lot of Manchester bands are putting a completely unique spin on it – they’re not trying to recreate the sounds of these American lo-fi bands.”

Ghost Outfit fell into this ramshackle DIY scene through a combination of need and bad experiences in the recording studio as they were starting out. After that experience, Jack says the band are heading to the studio for a lengthier process with their sights on moving away from previous lo-fi efforts.

“We want to get stuck into something a bit lengthier because we’ve not done that before, the two EPs we put out before this single are online. They were all sort of compilations we did over the space of nine months, so we want to do a long EP; that’s our next call.”

“We’re actually talking about polishing off a couple of songs and then going down in a couple of weeks to start recording at the Sways studio in Salford. Because it’s their studio we can kind of do what we’ve wanted to do for ages which is move in and stay there for like three or four days while we live there and do all the recording then fall asleep and stuff.”

“With the old EP we had no interest in going into a studio because we went into a studio early on as a band – one of those pay-per-day studios – and we just had a horrible experience of it. So we thought everyone’s doing it DIY at the moment so we’ll give that a go. We took that and sort of pushed that as far as we could go whilst still trying to be pop and yeah it was great, we had a great time doing it, but because the scene at the moment is very heavily lo-fi sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the people who’ve worked really hard to get it to sound interesting and lo-fi.”

Jack insists though that the band is wary of finding themselves as part of a ‘trend’ for the sake of sounding a particular way. For their future planned recording sessions they’ll be aiming for a sound that’s “nice and live”. So expect to hear a slightly different Ghost Outfit sound in their next releases.

“People like Chad VanGaalen have really tried to use lo-fidelity to their advantage, but then you get people who are the other way around. Like bands who stick a microphone as low as the reverb and distortion in the room and play into their microphone and they’re done in an hour or something.”

“And there’s merit to that but at the same time it allows bands to sound really trendy at very little effort on their own part. I think we’re looking at disassociating ourselves from lo-fi completely, we don’t want go for a really slick sound just nice and live in the studio.”

Words: Ben Robinson
Images: Simon Bray (Music photography)

White Flag @ Green Room, Thursday 4th March, 2010

March 2010 saw the second year of the Turn dance platform and in doing so brought together 20 of the Northwest’s finest dancers, choreographers and installations filling every available space within Greenroom. One of the 20 artists will be chosen for the Turn Prize and the opportunity to expand and show a full piece as part of Greenroom’s next season.

Tonight is White Flag, made up of dancers and choreographers Mancunian Jane McLean, Portuguese Vanessa Abreu and composer Sam Salem from Derby. They have been working together for just over 18 months and performed their debut work ‘Disregarding Gaze’ on the opening night of this year’s Turn event.

The dance piece is entirely engaging from start to finish. The performance takes place in a room little smaller than a squash court. Spectators are invited in whilst Jane dances in silence by herself in the dark, the only light coming from a laptop which shines on Sam’s face and the open door as the audience enter and settle jostling for a viewing point from the sides of the room. Once that door is closed the music begins and Sam starts ‘diffusing’, a process where the sounds and tones are pushed around the room though any combination of eight speakers strategically located in the extremities of the performance space.


A small 40w light illuminates Jane and her movements for the first time, but little else. As the music continues, floor lights turn on in time with the music, Jane stops and you can see Vanessa fully as she dances by herself. As the contemporary piece proceeds, both Vanessa and Jane display a huge variety of skills, at times balletic and on occasion acrobatic. They interact with each other both as discrete bodies but now and again in contact with jumps, catches and strikes in the air, on their feet and on the floor, arranged in time with the music and lighting changes. ‘Disregarding Gaze’ finishes with both dancers together on the floor; the room falls silent and is plunged into darkness, waiting for the audience to vacate.

The concept for ‘Disregarding Gaze’ was developed from Sam’s idea about modern day society and the perverse relationship we have with being watched. “We all crave privacy but at the same time are exhibitionists” says Sam. “I was thinking about how it’s beautiful in a way that big cities may have thousands of CCTV cameras linking to rooms full of screens but there’s probably just some guy sitting there reading a newspaper”.

The idea of “watching but not seeing” became the foundation for the whole dance collaboration. Composer Sam, who is coming to the end of his PhD in Musical Composition, works by going out and recording the sounds of the city and making pieces from it. The music and the melodies for ‘Disregarding Gaze’ come from voices and buskers and sounds captured on the streets.

Sam and Jane started White Flag over a year and a half ago with Vanessa joining them after a year. Wanting to achieve a true collaboration between and the music and movement Sam and Jane used to meet in Manchester, which was difficult because at the time Jane had been working in and studying at Laban Dance Centre for contemporary dance in London. Traditionally either the composition or the choreography in a dance piece takes precedence. “In the early stages, retrospectively we were actually learning what the other part does,” says Sam “we were developing the vocabulary for the piece together.”

The music was finished a few months prior to the completion of the choreography but essentially isn’t complete until the performance on the night as Sam diffuses the sounds around the room in real time. “When Sam finished and I started I did get caught up in dancing to the music” explains Jane “but realised that it’s not about that so went back to the original concept of ‘Disregarding Gaze’ and we came up with something else before coming back to the music.”

Vanessa, who has been studying dance for 13 years, including 6 years at Laban where her and Jane met, proved to be a good influence on the piece and its concept in particular. “My choreographic process is such that the movement is the last thing that I think of. I have an idea about the atmosphere that I want to create so I think about all of the sounds, textures and energy that need to exist in order to create it.”

Jane talked about how they tied it all together at the end. “When we got Sam’s music it was quite difficult as it’s very cinematic, if you close your eyes you can see it, it’s amazing! We were concerned about how we were going to fit with it and the resulting piece being too much. We found a way to work with it. Hopefully it works; hopefully we’re not too much!”

Words: Kobestarr
Image: Neil Shearer