Memories & Highlights from Do It Together Fest 2020

Sarah’s personal highlights from the Do It Together Fest weekend, including bananas, oranges, pastry and some punk rock somewhere along the lines.

Written by Sarah Williams.

Thank you to everyone who attended Do It Together Fest. In collaboration with Paul Smith (Be Sharp Promotions) and Colin Clark (Colin’s Punk Rock World), we’d hoped to put together an event that celebrated the punk rock community, and what we achieved exceeded my expectations completed.

Firstly I’d like to announce that we raised a grand total of £880.72 for Mind! Thank you to everyone who donated, played our punk rock tombola or scoffed OGGS kindly donated cakes. Thanks also to every single person who attended, all the bands who played and everyone who lent a hand: you could truly feel the power of our community over the weekend, and every single person was a part of that. Continue reading “Memories & Highlights from Do It Together Fest 2020”

Knife Club: The Power of Hype Marketing

We explore the intentions and hype of punk rock’s new, secret band Knife Club.

Written by Sarah Williams.

It’s likely that by now you’ll have heard of Knife Club. Their distinctive switchblade graphics and their provocative ‘#WhoAreKnifeClub?’ hashtag have been spread across social media since August 2019.

They have been announced to play enviable slots on big name festivals like Manchester Punk Fest and Rebellion, plus a smattering of club gigs, beginning with a spot high up the bill at April’s edition of Garlic Bread Club at Manchester’s Retro Bar. 

How is it possible for a band to exist, get bookings, tease an album recording and create so much controversy… without anyone knowing who they are? Continue reading “Knife Club: The Power of Hype Marketing”

Do It Together Fest Preview

Introducing the bands playing Do It Together Fest this weekend, including music videos, fun facts and recommended reading.

Do It Together Fest is a celebration of the DIY punk rock community, which we’re hosting alongside our friends Be Sharp Promotions and Colin’s Punk Rock World on 24-25th January 2020.

Sat in a beer garden last summer, I stumbled on the idea of putting on a London weekender (an evolution of Shout Louder Fest in 2019)… a flurry of WhatsApp messages and not a lot of thought later, we’d planned the whole thing.

Paul, Colin and I all have our birthdays over the same two weekends so, rather than competing, we’ve clubbed together to create this shindig. We’ve invited our mutual favourite bands to play, and we’re giving a platform to other promoters by offering stalls to labels and zines. I’m even making PAPERCUTS (our community themed book) to tie in with the event.

Do It Together Fest takes place on 24-25 January at New Cross Inn, London. Grab a ticket and a zine.

Our aim was to create a diverse line-up, hoping to help you to discover some bands you may not have experienced yet. Here’s a run down of all the awesome artists we’ve got playing. Continue reading “Do It Together Fest Preview”

PAPERCUTS: Announcing Shout Louder’s new book,celebrating punk rock community

PAPERCUTS is an 80+ page paperback zine with contributions from 30+ authors and photographers, chronicling the community spirit of the DIY music community.

We’re proud to announce the pre-order of our paperback zine PAPERCUTS!

Purchase PAPERCUTS from our online shop

PAPERCUTS is a special collaboration between people from all different areas of the punk rock community: bands, fans and all things in between. We’re fortunate to be united through music, and we’ve attempted to condense some of that special bond into these pages.

Whether it’s finding love, overcoming loss, leaving home or finding a tribe, once you’re part of the DIY community it’s hard to see life any other way. Celebrate and commemorate that feeling with this lovely bumper print zine. Continue reading “PAPERCUTS: Announcing Shout Louder’s new book,celebrating punk rock community”

Casual Nausea: DIY or Die [Interview]

We interviewed Ipswichs friendliest punks Casual Nausea about all things do-it-yourself, their progression over years of recordings and… poo. Lots of poo.

Interview by Sarah Williams. Cover photo by Sara-Louise Bowrey.

Scrappy, shouty and faster-than-fuck, Casual Nausea are long-standing TNSrecords favourites from Ipswich, Suffolk. Earlier in 2019 they released a stunning album Demons, which was a huge step forward for the band both in songwriting and production quality.

Known for their DIY-or-Die approach and their sunny attitudes, we were keen to talk to Casual Nausea about their album, their ethos and their Suffolk roots. Answers are from Zoe Barrow and Shawn Fendley, Casual Nausea’s impossible-not-to-love vocalist and drummer.

Welcome to Shout Louder! You helped us out when we were first getting started with the website, so I’ve been super keen to talk to you about the new album Demons.

Casual Nausea has been a band for a long time – could you give us a brief band history lesson?

We formed in 2012 as a bit of a laugh and something to do. We had all been friends for years, and most of us had at some point been in bands with each other before. We never really thought it was going to go anywhere but were all up for giving it a go.

Our first gig was at the Grinning Rat in Ipswich on Friday the 17th of August 2012. Since then we’ve played all over the country, have done two tours in mainland Europe. Played Rebellion, Boomtown, Manchester Punk Fest and loads of other amazing festivals, but have mostly spent a lot of time in cars with each other discussing poo. Continue reading “Casual Nausea: DIY or Die [Interview]”

Punk Rock Tour Tales #3: Jason from UNIFORMS

Jason Rees talks about why touring is a gift, despite flight delays, unreliable vehicles and too many hot chillis. We also learn all about his survival techniques and his Megamixes.

Punk Rock Tour Tales is a new Shout Louder feature, where we interview bands about their tour stories. Read them all here.

Many musicians and fans who’ve stayed over in Dundee will be familiar with the smile, hospitality and positive approach of Jason Rees; drummer in UNIFORMS and The Blood Red Moon, supporter of Make-That-A-Take Records and some-time drummer in Terrafraid (and probably plenty of other bands we don’t remember!).

UNIFORMS are a gritty, honest poppy punk band from Scotland, with one hell of a live show. They’re playing Do It Together Fest, which Shout Louder is hosting in London in January 2020. We thought it’d be a great time to speak to Jason about some of his past tour experiences.

Of the touring you’ve done, what’s been your favourite so far?

I have fond memories from pretty much all the tours I’ve been on, though going round Europe with Forever Unclean (whilst drumming for Terrafraid) was bloody great. I’d never met them properly before the tour, but we all got on brilliantly and the tour was stress free. Even when faced with nowhere to sleep and not being able to get over the border, their attitudes towards difficult situations were infectious and we’d all just accept the reality of what was happening and find a solution together. Continue reading “Punk Rock Tour Tales #3: Jason from UNIFORMS”

News: Day Splits Announced For Do It Together Fest

Day tickets are now available for our London music fest, with Lightyear and The JB Conspiracy headlining.

We’ve just announced the day splits for Do It Together Fest 2020, the party we’re hosting at New Cross Inn alongside Be Sharp Promotions and Colin’s Punk Rock World.

The event’s taking place on 24-25 January 2020 and is a celebration of the punk rock community, with a record and zine fair. We’re even got some live music after parties yet to announce!

Grab your day tickets: http://newcrossinn.com/tickets/events/do-it-together-fest

On Friday legendary brass wizards The JB Conspiracy will be headlining! Before them, heartfelt, humorous pop-punk from Eat Defeat, bouncy ska-punk party machines Just Say Nay and over-driven hard rock from Midwich Cuckoos. Continue reading “News: Day Splits Announced For Do It Together Fest”