Celebrating a decade of promoting emerging and underground music gigs, the Chaos Theory collective takes over sprawling double venues at The Dome and Boston Music Room in Tufnell Park, north London for their Ten Years of Chaos festival for one day only on 29 February 2020.
In advance of the festivities, Freq asked a few of the day’s acts about chaos, festivals and how they intermingle. Zu, Chantal Brown from Vodun, Gold and Stuart Sinclair from Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard tell all:
What is the essence of chaos to you, musically or otherwise — and do you in fact have a theory about it?
Vodun: [Chaos Theory is] eclectic, inclusive immersive musical experiences for the niche scenes of London. I have a theory that it will continue growing in ambition and reputation, and continue to still be a very special organisation to come into contact with and be entertained by.
Zu: I perceive chaos as an order that our rational mind is not able to grasp as yet. On another perspective, chaos is the primordial waters, the reign of the unconscious and the unknown. Something that can bring either life or destruction, depending on us.Gold: Chaos is relative. What’s chaos to one might be freedom to someone else.
MWWB: This question actually made me think of movies mostly over music. Like Lars von Trier or something. I enjoy chaos myself, but I guess you have to have balance. And I guess everyone’s idea of chaos is different. But I think chaos is something that makes you uncomfortable, so then you have to either just watch it unfold or react to it, and then you learn something about yourself and where your limits are, and what you do afterwards and how it affects your decision making and actions in the future. I dunno? Weird question to open with, ha ha. My head hurts.
Do you incorporate anything of the above into your music, performance and/or recording?
Vodun: Ha ha, pretty much all of it. We definitely keep it eclectic, as anything else would just a be a little boring for us to create. I think we make our music more inclusive just by pure representation. Showcasing a black female in heavy music (who’s also pretty buxom) with a small and powerful lesbian female drummer covers a few areas not often represented. And then we have the Kiwi guitarist; he’s as straight down the line as you can imagine, apart from the toenail paint…Zu: Certainly we are very attentive and aware and welcoming of mistakes, glitches and random factors in the writing process. John Cage and Brian Eno have opened clearly a way to incorporate these factors as a form of external input and/or autonomous mind.
Gold: Gold is a band that people find quite difficult to categorise. Chaos to them, freedom to us.MWWB: For me, like I said I enjoy a bit of chaos. I like it when its really intense, I feed off those vibes and I feel it fuels my performance, for the better, I hope. But afterwards you’re so fucking exhausted. With heavy psych music I feel like if it’s not intense or moving, what’s the fucking point.
Which other act(s) at the festival are you looking forward to catching play at the event?
Vodun: Several bands actually, Nought, as I haven’t seen James Sedward play in the outfit for a while. Undersmile, as it’s a bit of a reunion show for them, I’m lead to believe. I’m also looking forward to experiencing Zu for the first time. The entire day’s line-up is cracking and should be thoroughly entertaining.Zu: I look forward a lot to witness live Teeth Of The Sea. Jimmy Martin seems to me like a man of multiple talents.
Gold: Quite a few, from the top of our minds: Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Furia, Zu and Mai Mai Mai.
MWWB: Our label buds Vodun are always a safe bet, so expect a sick set from them. And we’ve played with Memory Of Elephants before and that was a blast, they are a great band and a bunch of nice guys. And myself personally am looking forward to seeing VASA again, must be three years since I last saw them, their bassist John is insanely good, always makes me feel like I should practise, more ha ha. Undersmile too ticks a lot of boxes for me and what I like musically, and I’ve never seen them before so I’m planning on having a bit of a head bang to that.Who would you have invited to play at Chaos Theory if there had been the possibility of adding them to the bill, budget or other practicalities permitting?
Vodun: Well, if they were still together — Astrohenge. I’ve always loved them. Again if they were still around, Captain Beyond. I’d also love to see Big Lads too, as I haven’t seen them since they were Shit Wife, and I love them. They’d also add a different element to the day.
Zu: Thighpaulsandra. Lustmord. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe.
Gold: We’re not going to sit on [Chaos Theory founder] Kunal Singhal and his team’s throne. They’ve been doing this for ten years now according to their own taste and insights, and that’s what we’ll be celebrating on February 29th.MWWB: I’d go for Converge. One of my favourite bands and I think they would add another side to the already mixed style of heavy music on at the festival. I enjoy an eclectic line up. They’d also bring the chaos for you…
What is your favourite part of playing a one-day festival like Chaos Theory?
Vodun: You don’t get the lag of being hung over, but having to go back to the party the next day!Zu: The energy and excitement, meeting old friends and making new ones, hopefully.
Gold: That you’re not missing out on any of the other days.
MWWB: Best thing for me is being able to check out any bands I never seen before, also seeing the friends you have in the other bands playing, which happens a lot, luckily. Also, playing to an audience that you know are going to get it, even if they didn’t come to watch your band specifically. And also getting to see the fans of your band, as cliché as it sounds, we are nothing without them and wouldn’t get the opportunities we do if no-one cared, so getting the chance to say thanks is always cool.And your least-liked aspect of a one-day festival?
Vodun: There’s never enough time to put on all your favourite bands!
Zu: Sharing the green room with bands that are too invasive of other people’s space. Does it sound bad?
Gold: That you can’t chill and enjoy the festival on a day you’re not playing yourself.MWWB: I dunno man, there’s the classics, obviously like toilet queues and queues at the bar, and warm band rider (that’s if it hasn’t been drank by another band haha) but its all part of it. You get used to it, I guess, and try to not let it stop you enjoying yourself.
Which was the first festival you attended a) as a performer and b) audience member
Vodun: Well, I come from a musical background with both my parents being singers and performers. My most earliest memory was of an all-day festival at Brixton Recreation Centre in London, where I lived back in the ’90s. I think I was about thirteen. The festival was a community event and was of local singers, dancers and rappers, who had come from the estates, and several of whom my father was giving vocal coaching lessons to. As a performer, it was another similar festival, but at a local school. I even had back-up dancers…Zu: Oh gosh, this is a hard one. I think the first festival we played with Zu was Alternativa Festival in Prague in 1999 with John Zorn’s Masada and if I remember correctly, Uz Jsme Doma. As an audience member , I attended Monsters Of Rock in Modena in 1985 as a young teenager to see Iron Maiden, Anthrax and an incredibly lousy set by unmasked Kiss, a-ha ha ha.
Gold: Thomas: The first festival I attended was the legendary Dynamo Open Air in Eindhoven 1994.The first festival I performed was in 1999 at Corefest in Delft, a small hardcore punk festival where I played with my first band Remorse.MWWB: As a performer the first festival was probably Liverpool Sound City festival in like 2012 or 2013, when it used to have a SXSW vibe to it, different venues and stages all spread out across the city. It was always amazing. And as an audience member I really can’t remember sorry, most likely an all-dayer in the Liverpool DIY scene or something.
Apart from Chaos Theory, which is the best festival experience you have had as a performer?
Vodun: Hard to say, I think being a performer (singing backing vocals for Ibibio Sound Machine), this year we played Rock Werchter festival in Belgium. It was the cleanest, most hospitable late festival I’ve ever been too. Stationed next to Lizzo and Zeal and Ardor. Bliss. I also had an amazing time at ArcTangent festival several years ago when Linz first joined the band. It was small and intimate, and I remember meeting Bill from Church Of The Cosmic Skull there as a punter, and also dancing madly by myself to Melt-Banana.Zu: Honestly, it’s very hard to say what is “the best” for me in general, my mind doesn’t seem to work that way. But, most memorable, yes, and I have to mention a few… Roskilde, back to back with the incredible Deerhoof… Pepsifest (sorry for the sponsor act!) in Chile with Mike Patton on vocals, and sharing the bill with Chris Cornell, who came to our dressing room and seemed an all-round nice guy… smaller festivals like Unlimted in Wels or Mulhouse for the sheer quantity of adventurous and crazy acts… speaking of which I have to mention Supernormal in 2019, the weirdest of all, and please know that I mean it as a compliment!
Gold: Roadburn was of course absolutely fantastic to play. One of the nicest shows we’ve ever played was at Unholy Passion Fest last year. That’s the festival that German band Ultha have organised every year for five years in a row now.MWWB: It’s a tough pick because we’ve played some great festivals in the past but for me personally: in September 2018 we played in Sheffield at the Doom vs Stoner festival to a sold out O2 Academy, a close friend mixed our sound that day and we had other friends of ours playing on the bill too. We partied hard afterward in Leeds that night too. All in all just a great time. The other guys would probably pick one of the gigs we did out in Poland or Germany.
And as a festival-goer?
Vodun: I thoroughly enjoyed Sabbath, Faith No More and Motörhead at Hyde Park a few years back. The sun was shining, it was one bus ride home, all my friends were there, tickets were crazy cheap, and I went down the middle and front to lose my tiny little mind to Sabbath.Zu: I’m not so much of a festival goer anymore, I have to admit. As we tour so much that it’s almost practically impossible . But, many years ago at the end of the ’90s, we went with Jacopo (Zu’s drummer) to Faenza, Italy. It was a small festival which was organised by a friend of ours and it portrayed many bands by a French label called Pandemonium Records. There were lots of crazy acts and not so many people in the audience, but we had a fantastic time. And also I have this great memory of one i went with Luca (Zu’s baritone sax player): we took an overnight train from Rome to Saalfelden in Austria, witnessed the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, then went for a swim in a nearby lake and took a twelve hours train back… and that was all for our festival.
Gold: Probably Roadburn again. That’s just home to us.
MWWB: The one the immediately sticks out without thinking too much is in 2018 I worked at a festival and watched one of my all-time favourite bands (Every Time I Die) play three nights on the run. Got to meet them too!
Have you ever attempted to run a festival yourself, and would you ever attempt to run a festival in future?
Vodun: NOPE! and NOPE! Ha. It’s tough enough to get several people in a room to rehearse… I’d rather not try to get several bands in one room to perform. Plus, my line-up would be so off-kilter from one act to the next, only a handful of people would be there to see the entire line-up.Zu: Yes, we organised three editions of a small DIY festival that with a grain of irony we named Zufest. The first edition was in 2000 in a squat in Rome, as we wanted to celebrate our first 500 gigs. We invited a bunch of friends: The Ex, Chicago Underground Duo and The Flying Luttenbachers. Soon we realised that we got a bit too carried away with excitement and that the budget was incredibly heavy for us as a young band and people. We needed 600 people to break even with costs and literally, believe me, we broke even for ONE ticket. With which I remember happily getting gas to our van after the show to go back to our hometown, Ostia.
For the second edition we rented a circus tent and invited Dälek and the Nels Cline Trio. The third edition was in 2005 and we organised three shows: Rome, Bologna and Milano, and we toured three days with Mats Gustafsson and Lightning Bolt. We still meet people that tell us triumphantly that they were there at one of these shows. I have to admit that was pretty epic and unseen before in Italy. In Rome we got to use a monumental building called Acquario Romano and we convinced the very posh people in their office claiming we were organising a contemporary music festival. Imagine their faces when Lightning Bolt started their set. All we earned that night, we gave it away immediately for a fine we got. But we were happy, we did it, we made it happen, and that is what counts. I can’t imagine doing something so crazy now. But you never know what’s around the corner.Gold: Nope and probably not.
MWWB: No. No. No. I’ve run gigs before and that was fine but I wouldn’t do a whole festival, I can do without the stress, ha ha. Maybe if I was younger, but…And finally, what advice would you offer to the audience at Chaos Theory?
Vodun: I have none, they always know what to do. Kunal has created a fantastic environment for people to come and see some fantastic bands. Just immerse yourselves.
Zu: No advice. I’m sure they don’t need any. We will have fun, bands and audience.Gold: Stay gold!
MWWB: Stay hydrated and pace yourself. Have fun and jump around and mosh if you want but look out for each other in the pit, you see someone on the floor, get them up! Also, ignore the dick in a Burzum t-shirt, it’s not funny, it’s not clever, just no.
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