MUSIC PROGRAMME 2023
DJ NIKNAK / HAILU MERGIA / THE UTOPIA STRONG
Location: SPILL Hub @ St Stephen’s Church
Tickets: £6 DJ Niknak / £17 Hailu Mergia / £10 The Utopia Strong
DJ NIKNAK
+ TALLULAH (MASHUP SET)
+ GIRLS WHERE YOU AT?
All photos by Alexander Ward
Dates: Sat 14 Oct 2023
Times: Doors open @ 20:30
21:00 - 23:00 (2 hours)
Described as a ‘musical polymath’ by Clash Magazine, NikNak is a DJ, multi-disciplinary artist and music creative.
NikNak has shared the stage with the likes of Mr Scruff, Lefto Early Bird, Jamz Supanova, Grandmaster Flash and many other notable artists. Recognised as one of DJMag’s ‘Ones to Watch’ in 2022, each NikNak set is expansive, unique, ambitious, genre-defying, and serves as a testament to her sponge-like musical knowledge.
NikNak headlined our opening weekend bash at the SPILL Hub, with support from Tallulah, a musical globetrotter with an insatiable passion for eclectic blends of music from every corner of the globe, and alumni from Girls Where You At, a Future Female Society programme for 11-19 year old girls that builds confidence and aspiration through radio, music, video production, performance and more.
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Alongside her DJ work, NikNak is an acclaimed producer, composer, sound artist, radio presented, and podcaster.
Dates: Fri 20th Oct 2023
Times: 21:00
Doors open @ 20:30
In mid-1970s Ethiopia, as the political tides changed toward authoritarianism, Addis Ababa's cosmopolitan, soul-fuelled nightlife was in full swing.
Hailu Mergia and the Walias Band were the jazz pioneers at the very centre of this ‘golden age’ of Ethiopian popular music, providing the soundtrack to 12-hour all-nighters for the diplomats, power brokers, movie stars and regular club-goers seeking refuge from government-enforced curfews.
Now based in New York and in his sixth decade of musical activity, Hailu Mergia and his band come to Ipswich this October to tour their latest album, Yene Mircha (‘My Choice’ in Amharic). The record has been celebrated worldwide, including by the New York Times, BBC, and Pitchfork, who called it ‘triumphantly in the present’.
Hailu Mergia was supported by DJ, record-collector and author (Vinyl London - A Guide to Independent Record Shops and The 500 Hidden Secrets of London), Tom Grieg.
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Interview in the Guardian
THE UTOPIA STRONG
+ LOULA YORK
Dates: Sat 21 Oct
Times: Doors @ 20:30
21:00-23:00 (2 hours)
The Utopia Strong’s formidable blend of leftfield psychedelia and beatific harmony has evolved way beyond expectations since the band’s inception.
Featuring Kavus Torabi (Gong), Steve Davis (Psychedelic Modular) and Mike York, the experimental trio combine sequencers, samplers, synths, guitars and pipes in evocative sound-worlds and mind-expanding improvisations.
Support was provided by Suffolk composer and live electronics performer Loula Yorke. Loula is the artist behind Atari Punk Girls, one of the highlights of SPILL 2021.
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