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www.louderthanwordsfest.com

The genre-based literary Festival celebrating words – oral, written and published - associated with the music industry. Authors, artists, poets, performers, lyrics and lyricists, journalists, DJs, bloggers and publishers of music and popular culture

Louder Than Words Festival in partnership with Omnibus Press

What a treat to welcome everyone to the prestigious Palace Hotel for our third Louder Than Words Festival. Since last November our team has met, plotted, planned and programmed a Festival format we trust you all enjoy! Our 2015 Festival includes new themes, new content and new speakers as well as recurring refrains and returning contributors - each consolidating on the successes of 2013 and 2014 and always driven by our commitment to bringing high quality arts activities and events to new and established audiences.

Once again we have some of the greatest established names in the business alongside new, inspired and inspiring writers and performers. Our setting and programme give all involved opportunities to listen, hear and contribute – whether in conversation, debate, discussion or performance. Indeed, in contrast to Frank Zappa’s much quoted interpretation of music-writing, Louder Than Words Festival promotes the craft, conducts interviews with thinking people, encourages reading and aims to develop artistic appreciation of all-comers through engagement.

Hot off the press, we’re delighted to announce Zoë Howe as our inaugural Louder Luminary. The quality of Zoë’s writing, her enthusiasm for the craft and her insatiable appetite for ensuring top quality events make her the perfect first choice! It’s also great to announce our very first Slam Poetry competition, led by partners Wordsmith, leading to our first Poet in Residence for 2016.

It’s also a huge privilege to have Omnibus Press – the world’s largest specialist publisher of music-related books – as our title sponsor. This is a much valued relationship and it’s terrific

to have the team with us, including Chris Charlesworth and David Barraclough contributing to our programme.

Likewise, it’s wonderful to welcome back Rocks Back Pages and Bloomsbury Press with sincere thanks for their support for our now annual Wilko Johnson Young Writer’s Award. We’d also like to thank Route On-Line for extending their engagement through the co-ordination and publication of our dedicated Festival book ‘Across The Tracks’ and to Beazleys who have come on board as our Festival insurers.

As ever, to go through and give thanks to every individual or organisation would take this brochure way over the word limit, but special thanks must go to Arts Council England for their continued trust, support and encouragement and on behalf of the wider Louder Than Words Team – John Robb, Simon Morrison, Melanie Smith our Official Photographer, Emily Marsden, all of our volunteers and our legal partners Shoosmiths Solicitors – I’d like to thank everyone who’s reading this introduction, everyone who has contributed to getting us here and everyone who’s already thinking of joining us in 2016!

Here’s to a great weekend!

Dr Jill AdamFestival Director Creator and Curator of Louder Than Words Festival.

Welcome

This is the second year that we’ve been lucky enough to be the primary sponsor of Louder Than Words. I use the word “lucky” because if any of you have visited the festival before, you’ll know what a wondrous event it is and how fortunate we are to be part of it. There were so many highlights from 2014; my record collection now boasts everything Robert Wyatt ever recorded thanks in part to the time I spent listening to author Marcus O’Dair talk about his beautiful biography ‘Different Every Time’. I still chuckle when I think of CP Lee’s absolutely fantastic interview with Mick Middles about Frank Sidebottom in a packed Directors Suite. Our own author Don Powell seemed omnipresent throughout the weekend last year and he still talks fondly about the festival to this day.

I know how tirelessly Jill and her team work putting the festival together and away from the ‘bigger ‘names involved, it’s worth highlighting the plethora of workshops that are designed to showcase every facet of the music industry and its publishing arm. This broad scope is I believe what makes Louder Than Words unique in the UK’s festival scene. It’s a genuine one off and year on year I think it’s inspiring more and more people to get involved with music literature. Last year I wrote how proud we were of our relationship with Louder and this pride continues to grow along with this valuable addition to our cultural lives. Enjoy the festival.

Matt Bourne. Omnibus Press Sales Director

Louder Than Words 2015 Advert.indd 1 02/11/2015 23:20

Waterstones is proud to support

the

Louder than Words Festival

We look forward to seeing you there

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We would like to acknowledge all those who work with us to ensure the success of Louder Than Words, especially our sponsors and partners who believe in what we are doing, our vibe and our ethos.

SPONSORS FOR 2015:LOUDER THAN WORDS FESTIVAL

MURSHAD ALI

Murshad Ali, AKA Prof: His nickname comes from his meticulous approach to life. He likes smiling but reserves it for those who deserve it.

He is currently in his last year at Burnage Academy, after which he plans to find happiness and change the world. When he was a child he dreamed seriously and regularly of being a ruler of the world with a manifesto of making the pursuit of happiness high on everyone’s agenda.He is passionate about football both watching and playing and he loves writing in his spare time. He finds writing invaluable for exploring and expressing his feelings and would recommend it to anyone.

His perspective for his slam poems is the prevalence of negativity in social media and how it can affect young lives.

KARREN ABLAZE!

Karren Ablaze! became a pioneer of the Riot Grrrl movement when it reached the UK. As a result of this she went on to form several underground bands and was involved with Leeds’ DIY scene. Continuing to write, she produces occasional pieces for The Guardian, The F Word, The Girls Are and Collapse Board. She now lives in Spain where she runs an independent publishing house called Mittens On (www.mittenson.com), and authors books about music, health and culture.

Her original fanzine, Ablaze!, is being relaunched in time for Louder Than Words 2015.

PAUL ANDERSON

Paul ‘Smiler’ Anderson has been heavily involved in the Mod scene since the Mod revival. He’s published Mod fanzines and promoted clubs for over 30 years. As a major record collector Paul has DJ’d at Mod rallies and events throughout the country as well as many European events. In 2011 he and his friend staged the largest ever exhibition of 1960’s Mod related items entitled ‘Reading Steady Go’ at Reading’s Museum. He has written sleeve notes for record labels including Acid Jazz and HistoryofR&B. As well as writing articles for magazines including Shindig! he has co-written the book ‘Circles- The Strange Story of The Fleur De Lys’ (Acid Jazz, 2009).

In 2014 his last book ‘Mods – The New Religion’ was published by Omnibus and made the Sunday Times Top 10 Best selling Hardbacks Chart. Paul Weller has since read the book four times. Paul is currently working on a new book ‘Mod Art’ due out in 2016 published by Omnibus.

BAD LANGUAGE

Bad Language promotes live literature in Manchester and their monthly night in the Northern Quarter won this year’s UK Best Spoken Word Night at the Saboteur Awards. Past headliners include Stuart Maconie, Emma Jane Unsworth and John Doran from The Quietus.We’re delighted in this new collaboration for 2015 and hope you join us with hosts JP Daly and Fat Roland as they present an hour of new poetry and fiction in the only

way they know how: Creative Tourist call it “curated chaos”.

RICHARD BALLS

Richard Balls is the author of Be Stiff: The Stiff Records Story and Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Life Of Ian Dury. A former newspaper journalist and a music fan all his life, he began writing his biography of Ian Dury while living and working in Dublin. It was published by Omnibus Press in 2000 and has never been out of print. His second book about the history of the maverick Stiff Records label was published by Soundcheck Books in November 2014. Richard works in communications and lives with his wife and family in Norwich.

TERRY BEZER

Terry ‘Beez’ Bezer is a multi media rock journalist who has worked across television, radio, online and print. Founding Scuzz TV’s ‘Scuzz Meets’ series, Metal Hammer’s podcast and social media channels and Download Festival’s ‘The Lowdown’ series, Beez is one of the most innovative names in rock media. His history includes work at Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, Scuzz TV and TeamRock Radio.

Now going it alone through his own YouTube channel and the That’s Not Metal podcast, Beez will bring colour and (lots of) opinions to our Metal panel.

PAULINE BLACK

Pauline Black is lead singer of legendary platinum selling 2-Tone band ‘The Selecter’- debut album ‘Too Much Pressure – chart singles – ‘On My Radio’, ‘Missing Words’, Three Minute Hero’, ‘The Whisper’. Her career spans acting (Time Out Award for Billie Holiday portrayal @ Tricycle Theatre, London) TV presenter- (Black On Black, Channel 4) radio broadcasting (Black to The Future, BBC Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Pick Of The Week, With Great Pleasure, BBC6musicDJ) & author – her best-selling memoir “Black By Design” was published by Serpent’s Tail on July 14th 2011 & in USA on June 4th 2012.

She continues to tour internationally with The Selecter – most recently in support of their new official chart album ‘Subculture’ released on June 15th 2015.

MARK BLAKE

Mark Blake is a writer and former assistant editor of Q magazine. He is the author of 2014’s critically acclaimed Who biography, Pretend You’re In A War: The Who And The Sixties, Is This The Real Life: The Untold Story Of Queen and the best-selling Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (published in 2007 and updated in 2013). His work has been published in Mojo, Q, Classic Rock, Daily Telegraph and Rolling Stone, among other publications. Blake has also edited books about Bob Dylan, Keith Richards and Punk, and worked on official projects for Pink Floyd, Queen, The Who and the Jimi Hendrix

estate. He lives in London with his wife and son.

RICHARD BOON

Richard Boon moved to Manchester in the summer of 1976 to work with the fledgling Buzzcocks, releasing their ‘Spiral Scratch’ EP on his New Hormones label in January 1977 and probably mis-managing their career until their split. New Hormones continued to release material from several Manchester artists. In 1983, he moved to London, as Rough Trade Records production manager and, later, editor of RT Distribution’s monthly trade/consumer magazine, ‘The Catalogue,’ until 1991 when the RT Group collapsed. Living in Stoke Newington, he wrote for the neighbourhood free quarterly, ‘N16,’ and continues to write occasionally, while working in his local library. A key player in the Stoke Newington Literary Festival (billed as ‘The World’s Coolest Librarian’), his ‘Juke Box Fury’ event has become one of its cult favourites.

LOUISE BROWN

Louise Brown is a heavy metal fan first and journalist second. She started writing for Metal Hammer Magazine in 2004 after running a small punk rock label with some friends, hosting her own radio show on Total Rock, promoting gigs across London and DJing at any club that would have her. She became the editor of extreme metal bible, Terrorizer Magazine in 2007 and since 2012 has run her own print ‘zine, Iron Fist with Will Palmer from the NWOBHM band, Angel Witch. She might write about

the most extreme heavy metal on the planet, but don’t let that kid you, she’d rather be listening to Toto.

RICK BUCKLER

Rick Buckler’s autobiography is the first from a member of The Jam, who some considered were the ultimate Mod band. Rick tells The Jam story from growing up in Woking and meeting fellow members Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton at school, through their formation in 1972 and tells of the band’s early years before signing to Polydor records.

He provides a year by year account of The Jam’s progress whilst describing what it was like being a part of the music industry during the 70s and 80s and some of the characters who he met along the way including the Ramones, John Enwhistle, Sid Vicious, Blondie, Boy George and Paul McCartney.

CHRISCHARLESWORTH

Chris Charlesworth began writing about music in 1968 in a pop column for the Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Two years later he became a full time music writer on the staff of Melody Maker, first as their News Editor and, in 1973, as their US Editor, based in New York. In almost eight years on MM he interviewed and/or wrote about just about every rock icon of the era. After a spell working for a management company in New York and at RCA in London, he began writing books, including biographies of The Who, David Bowie, Deep

Purple, Slade and Cat Stevens. In 1983 he succeeded Barry Miles as Editor at Omnibus Press, whose editorial fortunes he has guided ever since. He has now commissioned and edited over 800 rock and pop books, probably far more than anyone else in the world.

Outside of Omnibus, Chris’ long association with The Who resulted in his compiling and co-producing their 30 Years Of Maximum R&B box set, released in 1995, and subsequently overseeing the wholesale upgrade of their back catalogue on remastered CDs. At the beginning of 2014 Chris launched a blog, Just Backdated (http://justbackdated.blogspot.co.uk/), on which he posts examples of his MM and other work, brand new writings about music, and extracts from Omnibus books.

IAN DALEY

Ian Daley is a publisher, editor and literature promoter. He is the founding editor of Route, an independent publishing house based in the north of England, and has published over 200 books in a 22-year career. Ian has worked in the fields of fiction, memoir, social history, poetry, literary translation, journalism and script writing.

DUNCAN DICK

Duncan Dick is the Editor of Mixmag, the world’s biggest dance music and club culture magazine. Originally from a small village near Glasgow, he completed a degree in law and a post graduate diploma in journalism – during which a short period interning

at Mixmag convinced him to move to London to try to become a freelance journalist.

When a staff position as Clubs Editor / Staff writer came up at the magazine in 2004, Duncan joined Mixmag full time, working his way up to Features and Deputy Editor before fulfilling his dream of becoming Editor earlier this year. Duncan’s day to day job involves selecting with the team who and what to cover in each issue, editing the feature section and overseeing every facet of the magazine from pictures and design to copy and captions.

With Mixmag evolving from primarily a print magazine to arguably the world’s biggest dance music media brand, there are always far more things to do though: from giving DJ lessons on stage at Bestival to developing native content ideas for brand partnerships, from helping with artist liaison at Mixmag events to manning the cocktail bar at Mixmag’s weekly Lab DJ streaming sessions from the club in our office.

JULIA DOWNES

Julia Downes has been involved in the Manifesta collective, Ladyfest Leeds, Ladies Rock!, and even cleanhandscausedamage and various bands including Fake Tan, Vile Vile Creatures and Power Vag. She did a PhD and as part of this she travelled across Britain doing interviews and oral histories with folks involved in riot grrrl and queer feminist music cultures. You can read more on this in Riot Grrrl: Revolution Girl Style Now! (ed. Monem 2007), Women’s Studies (Downes 2012), Women Make Noise (ed. Downes 2012) and Litpop: Writing and Popular Music (ed. Hanson &

Carroll 2014). She is now a Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at The Open University and works at the intersections of gendered violence, social justice and feminist activism.

JEMIMA DURY

Jemima Dury is a writer, mum of three, pop star daughter and pop star sister. She was born in London, grew up in the countryside and trained and worked in dance and drama throughout the 80s and 90s. She has also worked as a choreographer, a theatre administrator, a film wardrobe assistant, an exhibition curator, most lucratively as a waitress and has published a book of her dad Ian Dury’s lyrics called “Hallo Sausages”. There are more writing projects on the horizon squeezed in around school runs and looking after her dad’s estate.

DARYL EASLEA

Daryl Easlea is truly delighted to be returning to Louder Than Words. When Easlea worked full-time at Record Collector magazine, he was deemed a ‘generalist’ by the team, a fact borne out by his background: working in record shops in Essex since a young teen. DJ, compere, and consultant to record companies, his books explore his favourite loves; great pop eccentrics, populist African-American music and prog rock. His extended essay, The Story Of The Supremes, accompanied the V&A exhibition of the same name in 2008.

His writing can be found in Mojo, Record Collector, bbc.co.uk and in lots

of other places, too. He also compiles and annotates CDs (his favourite being 50,000 Fall Fans Can’t Be Wrong: 39 Fall Greats). He frequently lectures and gives talks to University students and business groups. Aside from regular BBC Essex appearances, his radio broadcasting can be heard on www.sfob.co.uk/iTunes; he has DJ’ed at festivals such as V and Big Chill, and at locations as varied as the Tate Modern Turbine Hall and the croisette at Cannes. He can also be seen in the BBC4 documentaries Tubular Bells: The Mike Oldfield Story and Nile Rodgers: The Hitmaker.

His most recent book, Without Frontiers: The Life and Music Of Peter Gabriel (Omnibus Press, 2013) was described by the Wall Street Journal thus; “Most people get out of this book alive. Cups of tea are poured. There is a reference to sherry. Anyone hoping for a more traditionally rock ’n’ roll read will be disappointed.

A FIRM OF POETS

A Firm of Poets bring a quartet of poets to face our audience; in turn they step up to the mic to perform their poems. A cross between a poetic super-group and ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ the show is fast paced and never the same twice.

With humour, pathos, quizzes and audience participation, this is a fun night out that will both move and entertain.

“They are f*****g brilliant!” Dr John Cooper Clarke

“This is proper, visceral stuff about real life. Poetry for the rest of us. Long live The Firm.” Luke Wright

“A brilliant collection of poems and I don’t do flattery.” Mike Garry

TONY FLETCHER

Tony Fletcher is the author of biographies on Keith Moon, The Smiths, R.E.M., and Echo & The Bunnymen. His most recent book, Boy About Town, is a memoir of his childhood days in South London during the 1970s; it was named “Paperback of the Week” by the Guardian in 2014. Author also of a novel, a history of the New York City music scene and a book on the Clash, he is currently completing a biography of the soul singer Wilson Pickett, to be published by Oxford University Press in late 2016.

Since starting out in the music press with his fanzine Jamming!, while at school in 1977, Fletcher has written for a variety of publications, from the Face to the Wall Street Journal; worked for a number of TV and radio stations, from The Tube to Rapido; and held down a three-plus year stint as a DJ at infamous NYC nightspot the Limelight. He has lived in New York for over 25 years, the first fifteen of those in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the last ten of them close to the village of Woodstock in the Catskill Mountains, where he avoids deadlines by skiing and running the Catskill mountains. He will be spending most of 2016 backpacking on a round-the-world trip with his wife and younger son.

BOB FOLLEN

Bob Follen is a West Yorkshire-based Artist and trained Model Maker. Bob Art Models was founded in January

2014. Bob’s wares have been sold through local independent shops, markets and online. He has also undertaken numerous exhibitions and workshops. As our Artist in Residence, Bob will be creating an exclusive line of Limited Edition cards, prints and originals based on the Louder Than Words Festival 2015 programme.

MIKE GARRY

Mike Garry was a librarian for 15 years before becoming a poet. His groundbreaking work with Manchester Libraries “Homework Centers” led to the Premier League adopting the same model across every football club in the UK. His work with young people in inner city Manchester has won him awards from the Princes’ Trust, the National Literacy Trust and along with Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and David Beckham; Mike became a “Champion Reader” recognized for his work in promoting reading to young people.

Mike began performing his poems in Prisons, Young Offenders units, Mental Health Hospitals, Children’s Homes and local pubs. Passionate about bringing live poetry to places it wouldn’t normally reach, he has been described by iconic designer Peter Saville as “a genius”, and by Bernard Sumner of Joy Division and New Order as “Brilliant”. Mike’s work focuses on the city and its people, championing the under dog and finding beauty amongst the ugliness and triumph amongst tragedy. Sean Ryder of Happy Mondays recently described Mike’s poetry as “The best street poetry I’ve ever heard”

MIKE HARDING

Mike Harding is a folk singer, musician, songwriter and broadcaster. The Adventures of the Crumpsall Kid is the fascinating and insightful childhood memoir of his working-class upbringing, the highlights of his school days and the beginnings of his musical career.

Warm, nostalgic and very funny, Mike Harding’s new book of his early life in post-war Manchester is as idiosyncratic and engaging as the man himself

PAUL HARRIES

Paul Harries: Armed with a valid passport, a working camera and a keen eye for detail, Paul has amassed a portfolio that amounts to nothing less than a rock fan’s dream. From an apprenticeship served in the photo pit at London’s legendary Marquee Club, Paul has risen to occupy the position of leading lensman for Kerrang! magazine, the world’s best-selling music weekly. Paul has closed his shutter on such groups as Nirvana, Muse, Green Day, Metallica, AC/DC, Biffy Clyro, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers and, of course, the mighty Slipknot.

Paul’s recently published book “Slipknot: Dysfunctional Family Portraits” is a thrilling journey over more than decade of working with the marvellous masked men of metal.

Dave Haslam is a writer, broadcaster and DJ who DJ’d at the Hacienda club in Manchester through the late 1980s

and has since played worldwide including Berlin, Chicago, Detroit, Paris, Ibiza, Reykjavik, Cleveland, Lima and Geneva. He has appeared on radio and TV on dozens of occasions, including discussing the Smiths on VH1, and discussing Engels, the Ritz, and the Hacienda on Radio 4. His journalism has appeared in NME, The Times, The Guardian, The London Review of Books, and The New Statesman. He’s written three books, including ‘Manchester England’ - a cultural biography of Manchester. His latest work, Life After Dark: A History of British Nightclubs & Music Venues was published in August and has been declared “Meticulously researched and insightful” by The Independent and a “Must read” by The Sunday Times.

PAOLO HEWITT

Paolo Hewitt worked for the music papers, Melody Maker and the New Musical Express from 1980 – 1990. Paolo was amongst the first writers to cover both the emerging Hip Hop and Acid House scenes. Since then, Paolo has published over twenty books, including two memoirs about his early life in care, plus books on fashion and football. His most notable works include Getting High – The Adventures Of Oasis, All Too Beautiful – The Steve Marriott Story, David Bowie – Album By Album, Paul Weller – The Changing Man The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw – The Robin Friday Story, The Sharper Word – A Mod Anthology and The Beatles – Fifty Great Moments and The Looked After Kid – My Life In A Children’s Home. His most recent publication is But We All Shine On – The Remarkable Orphans Of Burbank Children’s Home.

CAROL HODGE

Carol Hodge is a singer, pianist and songwriter from Manchester. She started her music career aged 15 in 1997 wearing a canary yellow angora cardigan and lilac mini dress, fronting a pop punk covers band in Cumbria. Although her dress sense has continued along a downward spiral, her musical endeavours have seen her front several touring alternative bands, including Electra Glide, Wrecks, Sadie Hawkins Dance and the ultimate party band, Bad Taste Barbies. Over the last few years, she has worked with Anarcho punk legend Steve Ignorant, first of all singing Crass songs on a world tour with The Last Supper, and more recently playing piano with acoustic project Slice Of Life. She also performs as a solo artist and released her debut album ‘Lo! And Behold’ under the moniker Crystal Grenade in 2013. Currently working on a new solo album (to be released as Carol Hodge), Carol enjoys touring, writing to do lists, staring into space for prolonged periods of time, dancing whilst eating good food and would one day like to own a cat.

BARNEY HOSKYNS

Barney Hoskyns is the editorial director of Rock’s Backpages, the online library of pop writing and journalism. He is the author of, among other books, Hotel California (2006), the Tom Waits biography Lowside of the Road (2009) and Trampled Under Foot, an oral history of Led Zeppelin (2012). Small Town Talk, his history of the music scene in Woodstock between 1963 and 1986, will be published by Faber and Da Capo in

March 2016.

In 2015, Barney joins us for ‘in conversations’, panel discussions and as a sponsor and supporter of our Wilko Johnson Writers Award with Rocks Backpages.

MICK HOUGHTON

Mick Houghton has written on music for various publications including Sounds, Time Out and, more recently, Mojo and Uncut. He worked as a PR at Warner Brothers, before setting up his own agency, Brassneck Publicity, where he represented artists such as Echo and the Bunnymen, Julian Cope, Spiritualized, Bert Jansch, Richard Thompson, and the KLF. As one of the Grammy-nominated compilers of the boxed set Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra, 1963-1973, he went on to write Becoming Elektra: The True Story of Jac Holzman’s Visionary Record Label, published in 2010. He lives in London.

ZOË HOWE

Zoë Howe’s books include the highly acclaimed ‘Barbed Wire Kisses – The Jesus and Mary Chain Story’, ‘Typical Girls? The Story Of The Slits’, ’Stevie Nicks – Visions, Dreams & Rumours’ and ‘Wilko Johnson – Looking Back At Me’. Her ninth book, Lee Brilleaux: Rock ’n’ Roll Gentleman – The Adventures of Dr Feelgood’s Iconic Frontman (Polygon) will be published in October 2015. In addition to her writing, which has also appeared in The Quietus, NME, BBC Music and elsewhere, Zoë plays the drums, having played with Viv Albertine amongst others, celebrates classic

music writing with her YouTube channel Rockanory, writes a music therapy column (under the guise of the character ‘Dr Pop’) for the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and has made and contributed to music-based programmes for the likes of Soho Radio, Absolute Radio, Planet Rock and Resonance FM. In 2015 Zoë was appointed Louder Than Words Festival very first Louder Luminary.

STEVE IGNORANT

Steve Ignorant is a singer/songwriter and artist. He co-founded the anarcho-punk band Crass with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. After Crass he performed with various bands as well as occasional solo performances.

Steve has written his autobiography – All The Rest Is Propaganda – and has worked as a traditional Punch and Judy performer using the name Professor Ignorant.

Steve is busy touring with his new band Slice Of Life. A far cry from the aggression of Crass, nevertheless compelling with powerful songs delivered in an acoustic style. Impossible to categorise, Slice Of Life’s music is up-front and soul-baringly personal. It’s a mixture of songs and spoken word that draws you in and stays with you long after the final note has been played. Their debut album Love And A Lamp-post was released on Overground records in late 2014, to great critical acclaim.

CHRIS JAM

Chris Jam is co-director of Wordsmith, one of the Manchester’s most exciting poetry performance projects for schools and young people. Wordsmith believes the Arts can be creatively transformative as well as educational and entertaining. The Wordsmith takes its inspiration from slam poetry; adapting this format for schools in order to facilitate growth, empowerment, equality of opportunity and freedom of self-expression. Wordsmith is thrilled to be hosting a straight up slam featuring some of the soul watering talent we have encountered and assisted in their growth as orators and performers.

Building on our successful collaboration in 2014, this year we’re joined by students from local schools and Wordsmith’s feeder organisation Young Identity who’ll go head to head with original poetry on the theme of Music Media & Me.

MARTIN JAMES

Martin James is the Professor of Music Industries and course leader of BA(hons) Popular Music Journalism at Southampton Solent University, England. He is currently working on the book High Wycombe punks – UK punk’s forgotten pioneers. The book offers an in depth exploration of the long forgotten, but nonetheless crucial, role that High Wycombe played in the emergence of UK punk in 1976 and challenges many of the myths that surround punk’s early years.

Martin has written several internationally published and critically

acclaimed books about music including State of Bass – Jungle: the story so far (Boxtree) and French Connections – from discotheque to discovery (Sanctuary). In 2013 he co-authored Understanding the Music Industries (Sage). In 2015 he published All of Him, the fourth edition of his biography of Dave Grohl. Popular Music Journalism (Routledge), Martin’s investigation into the practice and theories of music criticism will be published in 2016.

Martin has also has worked on the editorial teams of Melody Maker, Vox, Flipside (UK) and Muzik and has contributed to major music and lifestyle magazines in the UK and US, as well as various daily newspapers and websites.

He has also played in numerous bands to varying degrees of success!

NORMAN JOPLING

Norman Jopling began writing for Record Mirror in 1961 at the age of 17, interviewing and profiling the era’s pop stars, and instigating a pioneering coverage of the hitherto-neglected area of American rhythm & blues. As the Sixties progressed, he also became the flag-waver for the UK R&B boom, the first music reporter to write – and rave – about the Rolling Stones, and the first London writer to profile the Beatles. In 1968 he went freelance, regularly contributing pieces to NME, Cream, Billboard,Record Retailer, Let It Rock, Music Now and many more. In 1973 he quit music journalism and joined CBS Records. He subsequently spent several years in New York in the late Seventies working as a songwriter and music publisher, and

in the Eighties co-authored a number of books including The Beatles Conquer America, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and John Lennon with Dezo Hoffmann, and Harrap’s Book Of 1000 Plays with Steve Fletcher. In 1988 he rejoined the music industry and has since originated a large number of reissue albums for many record companies. He currently lives in North London, and his book Shake It Up Baby! about his early career as a music reporter was published by RockHistory in March 2015.

BRI KEENE

Bri Keene is a writer originally hailing from London. Bri has been writing poetry since the age of 15, but it wasn’t until this year Bri took the plunge into the world of spoken word at Young Identity’s enthralling slam event “One Mic Stand”. Bri then took part in both the LGBT and Manchester heats of Superheroes of Slam, placing second in the LGBT one.

Bri also writes gig reviews for Pure, having done so for over a year, covering a wide variety of music in Manchester. Bri also publishes reviews on Tumblr. Bri aims to continue slamming in and around Manchester to grow performance confidence and gain exposure with passionate pertinent poetry.

Away from writing, Bri is a Music Business student at SSR with the dream of starting a management company. Bri enjoy’s reading, but doesn’t do enough of it. Bri is currently trying to learn to play roller derby and often ponders how much coffee is too much.

CP LEE

CP Lee never lets work get in the way of touring his ‘Just One Alberto’ show along with his ukulele and vent props. Prior to getting his bus pass CP was a lecturer at the University of Salford for 25 years and before that he performed with 60’s Manchester band Greasy Bear, then in the 1970s formed the avant garde crazies Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias before writing a few books about music, film and comedy.

SPENCER LEIGH

Spencer Leigh was born in Liverpool in 1945 and is an acknowledged authority on the Beatles. He has been broadcasting his weekly show, On The Beat, on BBC Radio Merseyside for more than 25 years and, over that time, has conducted more interviews about the band - all captured on tape - than anyone in the world. He has also written over 25 books including biographies of Frank Sinatra, Lonnie Donegan, Billy Fury, Buddy Holly, the Merseybeats and the Merseysippi Jazz Band. He is an Honoured Friend at Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and he has a Gold Badge of Merit from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.

KEITH LEVENE

Keith Levene is an artist, composer, musician, producer, and writer. He has also contributed to film scores, and is a founding member of The Clash and Public Image, Ltd. Keith is a self-

taught, multi-instrumentalist. He is perhaps best known for his legendary guitar work. Keith’s latest project is London 1976 which celebrates the 40th anniversary of British punk with a view to the future through his London 1976 Institute, an idea-sharing cooperative to help musicians, artists, authors and designers maintain their independence and autonomy in an increasingly corporate environment.

JOHN McCULLAGH

John McCullagh has been playing guitar and writing songs since he was twelve and his latent talent for his beloved six-string was soon followed by mastery of the harmonica. John was signed aged 15 by Alan McGee after McGee spotted him playing Bob Dylan covers in a pub in Rotherham. He became one of the first signings to McGee’s label, 359 Music. McGee told John to go away write some songs and see what happens…

What actually happened was John wrote ‘North South Divide’ his first album which McGee produced in Yellow Arch Studios, Sheffield. John then got offered to support the likes of Richard Hawley, Baby Shambles, The Enemy, The Strypes and Alabama 3 to name a few. Then John got invited to London by John Power of Cast and the LA’s to do some writing in a studio in Hackney. The result was John Power wanted to produce the next album and it was decided that the songs needed a band. So the band came around from there.

Earlier this year, John McCullagh returned with new entourage The Escorts and, in ‘New Born Cry’ a brand new collection of songs to

boot. Recorded at John Power’s Liverpool studio and featuring the man himself on production duties, the album features the singles ‘Towerland Lullaby’ and a remixed version of ‘Box Of Tricks’, as well as the current ‘She’s Calling Me’.

JOEL MCIVER

Joel McIver is the bestselling author of 26 books on rock music. He contributes to the Guardian, the Telegraph and Classic Rock among many other publications and is also the editor of Bass Guitar Magazine.

Classic Rock magazine recently described Joel McIver as “by some distance the UK’s most prolific rock/metal author” and we agree! Not only that, we’re delighted to have Joel joining us in November and for Metal to be included in our programme!

CHRIS MADDEN

Chris Madden is a registered psychotherapist and host of the unique chat event Chinwag. Born and raised in Leeds, he moved to London in the late 1980’s to study fine art (alongside Jake Chapman and Sam Taylor-Johnson), where he began DJ-ing squat parties in East London and directing pop videos for the likes of The Wedding Present and Cud. Returning to Leeds at the dawn of the 90’s, he met screenwriter Dean Cavanagh and their mutual love of the left field resulted in the genre-defying Soundclash, the highly regarded maverick club night which paved the way for the likes of Heavenly Social and Big Beat Boutique, eventually evolving into

a successful label and management company. Chris was headhunted by Virgin Records serving with them, as a TV/Radio plugger, until the music industry bubble burst at the start of the century. Thereafter he was project manager of the New Deal for Musicians programme across Yorkshire/Humberside before a close brush with death nudged him in the direction of retraining as a therapist.

Chris is a trustee of MAP- a Leeds based charity which delivers art and music programmes for young people at risk of exclusion from mainstream education. Founded in 2013, Chinwag represents many of the things that he loves- people, creativity, connection, talking and the bigger picture of supporting community.

SIMON MASON

Simon Mason is a ‘retired’ drug addict/dealer who has returned to his love of music and music ‘culture’ as a way of making sense of the world, rather than using drugs as a way of trying to avoid it.

He is currently navigating his way through my 10th year of sobriety, while attempting to enthuse his 7 year old daughter with her own musical compass, thus far with little success - she recently decided to play hide and seek with her friends during a gig Simon was involved with with Mick Head, in Hackney!

Too High, Too Far, Too Soon is the humorous, tragic and searingly honest memoir of a man who survived childhood tragedy, Catholic boarding school and chronic drug addiction. Simon graphically details his experience of teenage angst in

a tatty seaside town before he ran away to London and then onwards to the crack-infested streets of LA. He recounts his numerous decadent adventures at Glastonbury Festival and the notoriety that came during his stint as personal chemist to the biggest bands of the ’90s, before he himself descended into a helpless period of heroin addiction.

After several incidents of petty crime stemming from his drug problem, Simon launched numerous failed attempts to become a bona fide rock ‘n’ roll star and even more failed attempts to get clean, finally being ‘rescued’ by Banksy from a stolen camper van, covered in blood in the Spanish countryside.

Too High, Too Far, Too Soon is a rock ‘n’ roll memoir with a difference, written by a man who lived the life and attained the drug habits of the most extreme rock stars, yet whose attempts to break through to the big time always eluded him.

MDMA

Manchester District Music Archive is an online community archive established in 2003 to celebrate Greater Manchester music and its social history. We are a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers. Our archive contains thousands of artefacts such as flyers, posters, photos, press articles and videos uploaded by the general public. We also curate temporary physical exhibitions in pop-up spaces and well-known venues. We host events, provide information and training, and promote the unsung stories of Manchester music through community outreach work. If you

have any Manchester music artefacts you’d like to share, please visit: www.mdmarchive.co.uk

MICK MIDDLES

Mick Middles has been writing about – mainly – Manchester music since the advent of punk. He was the Manchester correspondent for Sounds and his work has featured in a wide array of publications including The Face, Classic Rock, ZigZag, Jamming, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Mail on Sunday, The Express, Independent on Sunday and many more. He was a columnist on the Manchester Evening News for 14 years.

He is the author of 25 books including ‘The Factory Story’, ‘Torn Apart – The Life of Ian Curtis’, The Fall’, ‘Breaking into Heaven – The Stone Roses’, ‘Red Mick’ – the story of Mick Hucknall and ‘Hitting Across the Line’ – the biography of West Indian cricket legend Viv Richards. His biography on Chris Sievey/Frank Sidebottom ‘Out of his Head’ was published in November 2014. Mick also currently present the ‘Middles’ Show’ on fabradiointernational.com

ADNAN MOHAMMED

Adnan Mohammed is in his last year at Burnage High School. His passions are Basketball, Art and spoken word. He has been a part of Wordsmith projects for the last three years. He sees himself as a natural performer on stage and as someone with a real flare for writing work that entertains and provokes thought. When he is on stage, Adnan seems to be able to immediately put smiles on people’s

faces. He says this is a wonderful reward!

Adnan is a two year best performance winner at wordsmith and although still young his confidence and inner self ascends so much when he performs be sure to listen carefully!

ADAM MUSSA

Adam Mussa is very proud to be a prefect at Burnage academy in his last year. His interests are Chess and he loves communicating with and learning from other people. Adam began exploring spoken word before joining Wordsmith and believes that being part of the projects for the last three years has greatly developed his skills.

He praises Wordsmith for all he has achieved so far but advises: ‘as someone great once said it’s not about the destination it’s about the journey, so my advice to other fledgling wordsmiths would be focus on the process’. Adam’s perspective for his slam pieces is how the Media has taken over our modern society.

OLIVIA PIEKARSKI

Olivia Piekarski is a Manchester-based contemporary novelist who co-authored the highly-acclaimed The Big Midweek with iconic Fall bass player, Steve Hanley. She was the first music writer to draw out the sometimes painful, often hilarious and surprising truth behind decades of media-propelled façade to discover and perpetuate rock & roll’s most epic underground soap opera. Having previously dabbled in radio, theatre and teaching, Olivia is now working

on her second book, a fiction novel entitled The Guest List.

STEVE POTTINGER

Steve Pottinger is a poet who writes with wit, skill, and passion about love, life, and politics. He believes listening to poetry should be as entertaining and moving as going to a good gig, that it should make the world a little richer and a little brighter every time. He’s also the scourge of tax-dodging coffee chains.

PRS FOR MUSIC

PRS for Music represents the rights of 111,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK. As a membership organisation it ensures creators are paid whenever their music is played, performed or reproduced, championing the importance of copyright to protect and support the UK music industry. The UK has a proud tradition of creating wonderful music that is enjoyed the world over and PRS for Music has been supporting the creators of that music since 1914. PRS for Music provides business and community groups with easy access to over 10m songs through its music licences.

In an industry worth over £3.8bn PRS for Music is uniquely placed to be a voice for music and music creators. Collecting £664.3m in 2014, PRS for Music is one of the world’s most efficient combined rights organisations. With over 100 representation agreements in place globally, PRS for Music’s network represents over two million music creators.

DANIEL RACHEL

Daniel Rachel is the author of Isle of Noises: Conversations with Great British Songwriters an NME and Guardian Book of the Year. He is a musician and songwriter, and a specialist director bringing drama to non-theatrical settings. After reading an American book called Songwriters On Songwriting, Daniel went in search of the British equivalent. He didn’t find it. So decided to create the book he wanted to read.

‘Without doubt the finest book I’ve ever read about songwriters and the songs they write.’ NOEL GALLAGHER

Daniel’s second title Walls Come Tumbling Down: An oral history of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge will be published by Picador in 2016.

DR HILLEGONDA C RIETVELD

Dr Hillegonda C. Rietveld is Professor of Sonic Culture at London South Bank University. She has published extensively in the field of electronic dance music culture, including a recent contribution on ‘Voodoo Ray’ by Manchester’s Guy Called Gerald to the edited collection ‘Black Popular Music in Britain Since 1945’ (Ashgate) and is co-editor of ‘DJ Culture in the Mix: Power, Technology, and Social Change in Electronic Dance Music’ (Bloomsbury Academic). A special co-edited issue on dub aesthetics for the journal Dancecult, is scheduled for publication in November 2015.

CHRIS SALEWICZ

Chris Salewicz has documented popular culture for more than three decades, in print and on television and radio. He was a senior features writer for NME from 1975 to 1981. Subsequently Salewicz has written regularly for numerous publications, including The Sunday Times, the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, Q, MOJO, and Conde Nast Traveller, and a myriad newspapers and magazines across the globe.

Chris is the author of seventeen books, including the acclaimed Rude Boy: Once Upon a Time in Jamaica; Redemption Song: the Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer, an exhaustive, epic biography of the Clash frontman, a best-seller; and Bob Marley: the Untold Story, another best-seller. His most recent book is Dead Gods: The 27 Club, an analysis of the deaths of seven 27-year-old musical maestros including Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, and Jimi Hendrix, published in July 2015.

Chris has had a longstanding relationship with the island of Jamaica. Whilst living there in the mid-1990s he wrote the screenplay for Third World Cop, the most successful film ever in the Caribbean. In autumn 2014 he presented a BBC Radio 4 series about the making of the film The Harder They Come, and its social consequences.

JON SAVAGE

Jon Savage is the author of England’s Dreaming: Sex pistols and Punk Rock, Teenage: The Creation of Youth, 1875-

1945 and The England’s Dreaming Tapes. He has written sleevenotes for Wire, St Etienne and the Pet Shop Boys, among others, and his compilations include: Meridian 1970 (Heavenly/EMI 2005), Queer Noises 61-78: From the Closet to the Charts (Trikont 2006) and Dreams Come True: Classic Electro 1982-1987 (Domino 2008). His new book 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded is published by Faber on November 19 2015.

RUSSELL SENIOR

Russell Senior is a man too smart to have ever been a pop star. And Pulp were too odd a band ever to have become so big. But we can only be grateful that he was, and they did –and that Freak Out the Squares tells the story in Russell’s inimitable, entertaining and fascinating way. In the first account of life inside Pulp, Russell recounts the band’s origins in Sheffield to their glory days at the height of Britpop, revealing the story behind the anthem of a generation, “Common People”. The book gives a glimpse into the world of Britpop luminaries such as Blur, Elastica and Suede and charts Pulp’s 2011 reunion tour, which culminated in a triumphant Glastonbury performance.

Freak Out the Squares is Russell’s exceptionally witty, unusual and enlightening account of the heady times being a key member of Britpop’s best-loved and most enduringly relevant band.

Russell Senior was the lead guitarist and violinist of the Britpop band Pulp. Since his departure from Pulp he has worked as an antique dealer but now concentrates on writing full-time.

ANITA SETHI

Anita Sethi is an award-winning journalist, writer and critic who has written for several publications including the Guardian and Observer, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, Independent, Independent on Sunday, FT Life & Arts, Sydney Morning Herald, New Statesman, Granta, Times Literary Supplement, Harpers Bazaar, and BBC among others. In broadcasting she has appeared as a guest critic and commentator, panellist and co-presenter on channels including BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC World Service, and ABC Australia. She has been an International Writer-in-Residence in Melbourne, has been published in various anthologies, and is completing a book.She has appeared as a speaker, presenter and chair at several festivals in the UK and around the world, and has interviewed authors including Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Louis de Bernières, Siri Hustvedt, Elif Shafak, and Ian Rankin and musicians including Tracey Thorn, Julian Cope, Ben Watt, and Eartha Kitt. She was born and grew up in Manchester, UK.

MELANIE SMITH

Melanie Smith is a freelance photographer and the Official Photographer for Louder Than Words Festival. She is based in the North West UK and covers all kinds of photography, for a variety of publications, and is also available for private commissions. From live music photography, festivals, band promo shoots, portraiture and events, Melanie captures the essence and

vibe of her subjects and subject in every frame. She has been involved in the music industry for seven years. Former Editor In Chief for online magazine ‘Mudkiss Fanzine’ from 2008 – 2013, she is now head of photography at John Robb’s website ‘Louder Than War’

PATRICIA SNAKE

Patricia Snake is currently an undergraduate English student at MMU. She was raised on a passion for poetry that manifested in a love of feminist spoken word artists such as Desiree Dallagiacomo, Olivia Gatwood and Crystal Valentine. She strives to increase diversity and acceptance within modern literature, and hopes to make poetry increasingly accessible to all.As a member of Manchester’s spoken word projects, Young Identity and the Stirred Feminist Collective, Patricia has performed at multiple events within the city, including the Royal Exchange Theatre’s female monologue programme I’ve Been Thinking, Contact Theatre’s One Mic Stand, and Three Minute Theatre’s Sonnet Slam as part of the Festival of Arts. She was also a guest performer alongside Jane Ormerod at the launch of Great Weather for Media’s latest anthology, Before Passing.

She has a passion for monster movies and once slept overnight in a bookshop

IAN SNOWBALL

Ian Snowball was born and raised in Kent. An early fascination with music kicked off after having bought his first

7 inch record That’s Entertainment by The Jam. From here on there was a musical discovery that included Northern Soul, Reggae, Ska, Punk, House music and such bands as The Jam, The Small Faces, The Prisoners and The Who.

Ian began writing books in 2008 and had his debut novel Long Hot Summer published in 2009. His next project was a book about British youth cults called Once Upon A Tribe, which he co-wrote with Pete McKenna. Ian and Pete then collaborated on a crime fiction novel about Mods and East End gangsters that was set in 1967. The book, called In the Blood, was published in 2012, the same year as Thick as Thieves (Personal Situations With the Jam) co-written with Stu Deabill – Paul Weller described it as ‘the best book on The Jam and its audience I’ve ever seen’.

2013 then saw the publication of Supersonic (Personal Situations With Oasis) and From Ronnie’s To Raver’s (Personal Situations in London’s Clubland) which were also co-written with Stu Deabill. In November that year Ian and Pete also had their northern soul fictional short stories book. Nightshift/All Souled Out, published. In 2014 Ian had three books published. His book about Ocean Colour Scene, ‘Soul Driver’ was published one month after his book on Dexys Midnight Runner’s, ‘The Team That Dreams in Caffs’, which he co-wrote with Dexys band member Geoff ‘JB’ Blythe and later that year Ian’s book about the Medway garage and punk scene, Kids Are All Square, was also published.

2016 will see the publication of Ian’s book ‘Keith Moon: There Is No Substitute’. This book includes unseen photographs as well as

contributions from friends, family and an introduction by Pete Townshend and a foreword from Clem Burke.

FIONA STURGES

Fiona Sturges has been writing about music and the arts for 20 years and continues to contribute to a wide range of newspapers and magazines in the UK and beyond. She is a columnist at The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and the ‘i’ paper, and a reviewer at Uncut magazine. She lectures on Popular Music Journalism at Southampton Solent University.

UNCONVENTION

Un-Convention is a UK based global music network and development agency. Our events and projects bring together artists and practitioners to share knowledge and expertise. Through this we develop new and innovative approaches to building sustainable careers and alternative models for the music industries.

Un-Convention happens over five continents and in cities from Swansea to Sao Paulo. Un-Convention annually involves 1,500 artists and bands, 16,400 participants, 36,000 gig goers and 140,000 people online. It happens in some of the most amazing spaces including The Roundhouse, Auditorio Ibirapuera, and Salford Lads Club; and as part of some incredible festivals like Primavera Sound, Eurosonic and MICA.

THOMAS WATTS

Thomas Watts is currently an undergraduate music and radio production student at The University of Chester. He lived in western Canada for 4 years pursuing my passion for music and the leisure industry. He has contributed towards music festivals such as “live life loud” and “Shambhala.”

He is a passionate DJ working at events around the country with aspirations towards developing a broadcasting career. He’s always looking for a new challenge and ways to present new music.

SIMON WELLS

Simon Wells is the author of nine books, and has written on film and music for numerous magazines and newspapers including The Guardian; The Times and The Independent.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

the music college

A one-year Level 4 course for young aspiring music artists and

bands aged 17-18. OPEN DAY: Weds 9th December 6-8pm

accesstomusic.ac.uk · 0800 28 18 42Access to Music Manchester, St James’ Buildings, 65 Oxford St, M1 6FQ

We are a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers. Our archive contains thousands of artefacts such as flyers, posters, photos, press articles and videos uploaded by the general public.

We also curate temporary physical exhibitions in pop-up spaces and well-known venues. We host events, provide information and training, and promote the unsung stories of Manchester music through community outreach work.

If you have any Manchester music artefacts you’d like to share, please visit: www.mdmarchive.co.uk

Manchester District Music Archive is an online community archive established in 2003 to celebrate Greater Manchester music and its social history.

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IPROGRAMME:THE PALACE HOTEL, MANCHESTER

7.00-8.15pm

MIKE GARRY: POETRY, PERFORMANCE &In Conversation with CP Lee

Mike Garry’s poetry has been described as passionate, powerful, precise and personal (composer Philip Glass); words which can be applied to his work, writing and approach more generally.

His connections and reputation across the worlds of music, poetry, writing and Manchester make Mike the perfect guest for our first session of Louder Than Words 2015. He joins us in conversation, with performance and poetry and an opportunity for Q/A and book signings.

A privilege and a pleasure all round.

8.30-9.30pm

PAOLO HEWITT:OASIS: GETTING HIGH.In Conversation with Mick Middles

Between 1994 and 1996, music writer Paolo Hewitt spent the greater part of his life on the road with Oasis, in the U.K., Europe and America. He came back with tales that would cement the legend of the brawling, effing, hedonistic, charismatic, confessional and extraordinarily talented Gallagher brothers, Noel and Liam, and their group.

Getting High is an illuminating, funny, sometimes shocking reminder of how big a band can get, and how quickly the insanity sets in. Oasis have today sold in excess of 70 million records worldwide. Hewitt’s intimate account of this explosive and beloved band, in their prime, is a rock classic and a riveting narrative.

“Paolo is the only person to speak about what it was like on the road with us because he’s been there. He’s been there, he’s seen it, he’s done it.” Noel Gallagher

FESTIVAL OPENS: 6.30pm The Keith Levene SuiteAll Weekend Pass, Friday Pass and Friday ticket holders are

invited to join us for the formal opening ofLouder Than Words Festival 2015

9.45-10.45pm

CHRIS SALEWICZ: DEAD GODS – THE 27 CLUB. In Conversation with Chris Madden

Robert Johnson Brian Jones Jimi Hendrix Janis Joplin Jim Morrison Kurt Cobain Amy Winehouse.

They were inspirational, controversial, talismanic and innovative. They lead lives full of myth, scandal, sex, drugs and some of the most glorious music that has ever heard. Though each of their lives were cut tragically short at the age of 27, they would all leave the world having changed it irrevocably.

Chris Salewicz joins us in conversation, discussing in detail, the stories behind these compelling figures. From Robert Johnson and his legendary deal with the devil, to Jimi Hendrix appearing like a psychedelic comet on the London scene, through to Amy Winehouse’s blazing talent and her savage appetite for self-destruction.

* All sessions will be accompanied by the opportunity to purchase relevant books, meet the authors and signings in the Post Room - see inside back cover for details

THE KEITH LEVENE SUITE PALACE SUITE 6

10.30-12.00am

RIOT GRRRL: FEMINIST PUNK CULTURE, MUSIC, ZINES and LEGACY

Karren Ablaze! and Julia Downes will be discussing Riot Grrrl, the feminist punk rock movement that began in the early nineties and had a massive impact on the lives of women in music, as musicians and as fans.

Karren was the instigator of the Leeds-Bradford Riot Grrrl gang in 1992 and Julia co-founded the Manifesta collective in Leeds in 2002. Both groups resulted in the formation of new bands and zines, and transformed the lives of those who participated. During this session they will discuss the continuing impact of the movement and whether its philosophy is still relevant today

10.30-12.00am

NORMAN JOPLING: SHAKE IT UP BABY.In conversation with MICK MIDDLES

Norman Jopling began writing for Record Mirror in 1961 at the age of 17, interviewing and profiling the era’s pop stars, and instigating a pioneering coverage of the hitherto-neglected area of American rhythm & blues. As the Sixties progressed, he also became the flag-waver for the UK R&B boom, the first music reporter to write – and rave – about the Rolling Stones, and the first London writer to profile the Beatles.

In 1968 he went freelance, regularly contributing pieces to NME, Cream, Billboard,Record Retailer, Let It Rock, Music Now and many more. In 1973 he quit music journalism and joined CBS Records. He subsequently spent several years in New York in the late Seventies working as a songwriter and music publisher, and in the Eighties co-authored a number of books including The Beatles Conquer America, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and John Lennon with Dezo Hoffmann, andHarrap’s Book Of 1000 Plays with Steve Fletcher.

In 1988 he rejoined the music industry and has since originated a large number of reissue albums for many record companies. His book Shake It Up Baby! Is about his early career as a music reporter was published by RockHistory in March 2015.


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TPROGRAMME:THE PALACE HOTEL, MANCHESTER

PALACE SUITE 5 PALACE SUITE 2

10.15-11.45am 10.15-11.45am

WATCH THE SMALL PRINT: LIBEL, COPYRIGHT AND LEGALITIES.A workshop with Carol Isherwood and Chris Charlesworth

Associate Carol Isherwood, of national law firm Shoosmiths, and Chris Charlesworth, senior editor at Omnibus Press for 32 years, discuss legal matters relating to music, rock books and publishing in general.

Carol specialises in intellectual property law including copyright and contract issues, representing artists in both contentious and non-contentious matters including infringement cases, while Chris – whose legal training extends no further than a two-day course at the Publishing Training Centre in Clapham – has spent half a lifetime fending off complaints great and small.

A light-hearted, anecdote-fuelled session with a serious underpinning.



12.15-1.45pm

PROG: A FOUR LETTER WORDA feisty debate on the place and position of this much contested music genre

If there was no ‘Elvis, Beatles or Stones’ in 1977, then surely there was no room at all for the progressive sounds of Floyd, Yes and Genesis either. And yet, in 2015, the Progressive Music Awards are covered on the BBC news and the Official Chart Company have begun running a Prog album chart. The magazine, Prog, is one of the most reliable-sellers of all the monthlies.

Progressive Rock seems everywhere, and, suddenly, inexplicably, cool. What happened? Were the punk wars fought in vain? When did ‘I HATE PINK FLOYD’ turn into (as critic Simon Price noted) ‘I RATE PINK FLOYD.’

Joining your host DARYL EASLEA (author of Without Frontiers, The Life And Music Of Peter Gabriel) will be PAOLO HEWITT (author of The Soul Stylists: Six Decades Of Modernism) and JEMIMA DURY (curator and editor of Hello Sausages: The Lyrics of Ian Dury).

Expect conflicting views, and at least one photograph and/or moving image of a man in his early 20s wearing a flower mask.

12.15-1.45pm

PAUL ‘SMILER’ ANDERSON:Mods: The New Religion. In conversation with Simon Wells

In this special event, Smiler takes us through the first-hand accounts from the original Mod generation who were there at the time.

With reminiscences from Top Faces, scooterboys, DJs, promoters and musicians, Smiler’s research, insights and anecdotes create a vivid snapshot of what is was really like to be in with the in-crowd.

A must for all Mod fans and a must for those intrigued to learn more…

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12.00-1.30pm

DJ WORKSHOPInteractive DJ workshop with Thomas Watts

In this interactive workshop session, Thomas Watts will focus on the history of djing and how technology has changed and propelled the industry. Thomas will talk through and demonstrate basic DJ techniques incorporating hardware interfaces, sound effects, equalisation, mixing and looping. There will be visual guidance towards DJ software programs and a chance to have a mix your self!

12.00-1.30pm

BAD LANGUAGE: Curated Chaos of New Poetry and Fiction.

BAD LANGUAGE promotes live literature in Manchester and their monthly night in the Northern Quarter won this year’s UK Best Spoken Word Night at the Saboteur Awards.Past headliners include: Stuart Maconie Emma Jane Unsworth John Doran from The Quietus

Join Bad Language hosts JP DALY and FATS ROLAND as they present an hour of new poetry and fiction in the only way they know how: Creative Tourist call it “curated chaos”.



2.00-3.30pm

RICK BUCKLER: THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT! In conversation with Tony Fletcher

Rick Buckler’s autobiography is the first from a member of The Jam, who some considered were the ultimate Mod band.

Rick tells The Jam story from growing up in Woking and meeting fellow members Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton at school, through their formation in 1972 and tells of the band’s early years before signing to Polydor records.

He provides a year by year account of The Jam’s progress whilst describing what it was like being a part of the music industry during the 70s and 80s and some of the characters who he met along the way including the Ramones, John Enwhistle, Sid Vicious, Blondie, Boy George and Paul McCartney

2.00-3.30pm

PULP! FREAK OUT THE SQUARES: RUSSELL SENIOR.In conversation with John Robb

Russell Senior is a man too smart to have ever been a pop star. And Pulp were too odd a band ever to have become so big. But we can only be grateful that he was, and they did –and that Freak Out the Squares tells the story in Russell’s inimitable, entertaining and fascinating way.

In the first account of life inside Pulp, Russell recounts the band’s origins in Sheffield to their glory days at the height of Britpop, revealing the story behind the anthem of a generation, “Common People”.

The book gives a glimpse into the world of Britpop luminaries such as Blur, Elastica and Suede and charts Pulp’s 2011 reunion tour, which culminated in a triumphant Glastonbury performance.

Freak Out the Squares is Russell’s exceptionally witty, unusual and enlightening account of the heady times being a key member of Britpop’s best-loved and most enduringly relevant band. Russell Senior was the lead guitarist and violinist of the Britpop band Pulp. Since his departure from Pulp he has worked as an antique dealer but now concentrates on writing full-time.

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1.45-3.15pm

PRS FOR MUSIC: MONETISING YOUR MUSIC CAREER

With CD sales in terminal decline and streaming cannibalising downloads, gone are the days when songwriters could rely solely on music sales to make a decent living.

However with the growth of live performances, direct to fan interaction, merchandise and royalties, the opportunities to monetise your music career are wider than you might think.

PRS for Music invite 3 industry guests to discuss ways to monetise your music career in the digital age.

1.45-3.15pm

‘CONVERSATIONS WITH McCARTNEY’ A special In Conversation with PAUL Du NOYER hosted by Spencer Leigh.

In 1989, a young music journalist was contacted by Paul McCartney’s office in London and invited to interview the star. They had met before and enjoyed a good rapport. In the years that followed, Paul Du Noyer continued to meet, interview and work closely with McCartney, their conversations moving between music – life as one of the Beatles and later with Wings – and his most private feelings on John Lennon and his beloved Linda, among others.

Over the last 35 years Du Noyer has interviewed McCartney more often than any other magazine writer. Written with the permission and blessing of Paul McCartney, Conversations With McCartney is the culmination of this long association.

Drawing from their interview sessions and coupling McCartney’s own candid thoughts with Du Noyer’s observations, the result is an intimate portrait spanning McCartney’s entire musical career.



3.45-5.15pm

STEVE IGNORANT and SLICE of LIFE: An intimate session of songs and spoken word that will draw you in and stay with you long after the final note has been played.

Steve Ignorant co-founded the anarcho-punk band Crass with Penny Rimbaud in 1977. After Crass he performed with various bands as well as occasional solo performances.

Steve has written his autobiography –All The Rest Is Propaganda- and has worked as a traditional Punch and Judy performer using the name Professor Ignorant.

Steve joins us with his new band SLICE OF LIFE. A far cry from the aggression of Crass, nevertheless compelling with powerful songs delivered in an acoustic style. Impossible to categorise, Slice Of Life’s music is up-front and soul-baringly personal.

3.45-5.15pm

MODS: FASHION, MUSIC and POPULAR CULTURE An interactive panel discussion

Join our Mod Subculture panel for conversation, stories, insights and anecdotes from one of the most enduring and high impact subcultures of the last century.

Be in with the in crowd and join PAUL ‘SMILER’ ANDERSON RICK BUCKLER DANIEL RACHEL SIMON WELLS as they take us on a journey that embraces fashion, music, scooters, identity and all that came with the spread of ‘Swinging London’

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3.30-5.00pm

THE WHO AT 50: A special in conversation, Mark Blake, Chris Charlesworth, Tony Fletcher and Ian ‘Snowy’ Snowball.

‘The 1960s was an era of reinvention that saw a concerted attempt to right the wrongs of previous decades. The music The Who made in the 1960s aspired to this brave new world, while still being haunted by the smoking battles of the old one. It was a music that grew out of bomb sites, ration books and unspoken childhood secrets, but also the great social and artistic changes sweeping through the new decade.’…

In this special in conversation, our panellists consider The Who, the 60s and their continuing impact on popular culture.

3.30-5.00pm

LEE BRILLEAUX: ROCK AND ROLL GENTLEMAN. ZOË HOWE In Conversation with Daryl Easlea

It’s the 40th anniversary of seminal Dr Feelgood albums Down By The Jetty and Malpractice, so you’ll be pleased to note that the hotly-anticipated biography of much-missed Dr Feelgood singer (and guitarist Wilko Johnson’s sometime sparring partner) LEE BRILLEAUX is finally out!

Lee Brilleaux - Rock ’n’ Roll Gentleman (Polygon) is as much a compendium of mad adventures and hilarious anecdotes as it is a veritable handbook for a whole new generation of would-be rock ’n’ roll gents, and there are plenty of unexpected twists and turns in this long-overdue celebration of the man in the dirty white suit.

Join author and Louder Luminary Zoë Howe for insights, anecdotes and an affectionate consideration of the life of a true Rock-N-Roll Gentleman.



5.30-7.00pm

YOU’LL SEE GLIMPSES...

What a privilege to announce JEMIMA DURY and ZOE HOWE in discussion with Q&A. In this very special session, Jemima and Zoë will talk about Ian Dury’s early life and what led him into art-music-writing, incorporating a focus on and reading of stories behind the lyrics penned by this infamous talent. Engaging the audience with an anecdote fuelled exploration of what it’s like growing up with famous dad, the conversation will span Ian’s career including Pub Rock, the Feelgoods, the Blockheads and Punk. Audience Q&A a must...!

5.30-7.00pm

INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING

Louder Than Words is one of only a handful of Festivals to offer a dedicated panel focused on Independent Publishing. Take advantage of this distinctive opportunity to hear and engage in conversation with a range of Independent Publishers, to hear first-hand the drivers behind their work, the motivations and ambitions that underpin their approach and how their business activities fit into the literary landscape more generally. Participants will have opportunities to explore a range of benefits and limitations to working with such organisations as well as some of the challenges and opportunities involved in running a small/er operation in a fast changing and increasingly competitive market. Panel members:Karren Ablaze! (Mittens On Publishers)Ian Daley (Route Online)Steve Pottinger (Ignite Books)

14 SA



5.15-6.45pm

Music Journalism: Adapting to the Digital Age

Music journalism has been turned upside down by the online revolution. Print sales appear to be in terminal decline and writers’ rates have plummeted. Yet online publications continue to multiply and music journalists are branching out into new mediums. So has the digital era democratised or diluted contemporary music journalism?The panel is chaired by FIONA STURGES, columnist and interviewer at The Independent and Lecturer in Music Media at Southampton Solent University. She will be joined by SIMON MORRISON, Programme Leader for Music Journalism at Chester University; biographer and journalist MARK BLAKE; author and journalist RICHARD BALLS; radio presenter and Silent Radio editor SIMON POOLE; and journalist, critic and broadcaster ANITA SETHI.

5.15-6.45pm

ACCIDENTS ON THE EAST LANCS - Tales From Two CitiesManchester Liverpool - Liverpool Manchester - the two Northern Hoods twinned with Music!

How alike and how apart are they in a Bizarro world where they overshadow each other? RICHARD BOON oversees eminent musi-cultural observer DAVE HASLAM at this event where myths are deconstructed and tales will be told, along with legendary Liverpudlian champion JAYNE CASEY and Manchester’s CP LEE - who played in the original Cavern.



7.15-8.45pm

RICHARD BOON’S JUKE BOX FURY

The World’s Coolest Librarian, Richard Boon, invites four music writers: MICK MIDDLES, CHRIS CHARLESWORTH, DANIEL RACHEL and KARREN ABLAZE! to play and discuss the tunes they allege inspired their careers. Then to vote ‘Hit’ or ‘Miss’ and to discuss the place of music writing and, indeed, music, in the digital environment. In collaboration with the Stoke Newington Literary Festival.

7.15-8.45pm

TOO HIGH, TOO FAR, TOO SOON: SIMON MASON performs and in conversation.

TOO HIGH, TOO FAR, TOO SOON is a rock ‘n’ roll memoir with a difference, written by a man who lived the life and attained the drug habits of the most extreme rock stars, yet whose attempts to break through to the big time always eluded him.

Too High, Too Far, Too Soon is the humorous, tragic and searingly honest memoir of a man who survived childhood tragedy, Catholic boarding school and chronic drug addiction.

In this intimate and special event for Louder Than Words, Simon Mason will be in conversation with Martin Johnston, discussing themes and experiences as well as performing from the one-man play adaptation of his book with a few additional treats to boot.

14 SA



7.00-8.30pm

CLUB CULTURE: THE DISCOTEXT

The art of DJing is one that involves the judicious selection, and mixing, of the sonic; something that always resists containment by language. So how do you write about a beat? How can you use words to describe the transformative effect of the dancefloor… the life-affirming power of just one night out? Someone once said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, but on the Saturday night (where else!) of Louder Than Words, expect to see some two-stepping building designers stumbling feverously over just that very thing.

This year - as well as looking at club culture writing - the panel will ask if this subcultural scene is something that can, or should, be taught, where we now find Doctors of Disco stalking the lectures theatres as they once did the dancefloor. The panel is convened by Simon A. Morrison, ex-columnist of DJmagazine, ex-editor of Ministry in Ibiza, now Programme Leader for Music Journalism at the University of Chester. Joining him will be Martin James, author, founding section editor of Muzik and now Professor at Southampton Solent as well as Hillegonda Rietveld, ex Factory Records, now Professor at South Bank University. On the writing side we have original Club Culture writers including Duncan Dick, editor of key club culture music magazine Mixmag.

7.00-8.30pm

I ALWAYS KEPT A UNICORN – THE BIOGRAPHY OF SANDY DENNY: MICK HOUGHTON In Conversation with Barney Hoskyns

In this special In Conversation, Mick and Barney will explore the life of one of the greatest British singers of her time and the first female British singer-songwriter to produce a substantial and enduring body of original songs.

Sandy emerged from the passionate, hard-drinking folk scene of the sixties, was driven by a restless search for the perfect framework for her songs during the seventies and died a tragic and untimely death in 1978, aged 31, in circumstances still shrouded in hearsay and speculation.

An intimate insight to her life and her enduring legacy is guaranteed. Based on original and candid interviews with more than 50 of her friends, fellow musicians and contemporaries, plus access to previously unseen documents, photographs and Sandy’s own notebooks – this In Conversation will focus on Sandy’s story – that of a life never sung out of tune.



9.00-10.30pm

KEITH LEVENE In Conversation with John Robb, plus special live performance

Following his sponsorship support of last year’s Festival, Louder Than Words are delighted that founding member of The Clash and Public Image Ltd, KEITH LEVENE will be joining us in person.

Keith Levene is an artist, composer, musician, producer, and writer. He has also contributed to film scores, and is a founding member of The Clash and Public Image, Ltd.

Keith is a self-taught, multi-instrumentalist. He is perhaps best known for his legendary guitar work.

Keith’s latest project is London 1976 which celebrates the 40th anniversary of British punk with a view to the future through his London 1976 Institute, an idea-sharing cooperative to help musicians, artists, authors and designers maintain their independence and autonomy in an increasingly corporate environment.

14 SA



8.45-10.15pm

JOHN McCULLAGH. In Conversation with Daryl Easlea plus a treat of an acoustic set.

Influenced by the likes of Donovan, Marc Bolan, Paul Weller and Johnny Cash, John McCullagh has been playing guitar and writing songs since he was twelve, and his latent talent for his beloved six-string was soon followed by mastery of the harmonica.

John was signed aged 15 by Alan McGee after McGee spotted him playing Bob Dylan covers in a pub in Rotherham. He became one of the first signings to McGee’s label, 359 Music. McGee told John to go away write some songs and see what happens...

This intimate in conversation with the ‘Don of Doncaster’ will reveal what did happen next complemented by an acoustic set to exemplify why this great young talent is one of the best in the country and one to watch in the next chapter.

A must for aspiring and inspiring talents alike…



10.30am-12.00pm

THE STIFF RECORDS STORY - RICHARD BALLS In Conversation with Mick Middles

With a roster that included: Nick Lowe Elvis Costello The Damned Ian Dury Shane MacGowan Lene Lovich Jona Lewie Wreckless Eric Graham Parker

Stiff Records tore up the rulebook, packaging and marketing the artists in ways that made the major labels look like dinosaurs

Come and hear more - stories, insights and anecdotes!

10.30am-12.00pm

ISLE OF NOISES: CONVERSATIONS WITH GREAT BRITISH SONGWRITERS: Author DANIEL RACHEL In Conversation

In this special In Conversation, Daniel Rachel will share and stories and insights from his exclusive, in-depth conversations with 27 of the UKs greatest living musicians.

Within the pages of Isle of Noises, each artist discusses their individual approach to writing, the inspiration behind their most successful songs, and the techniques and methods they have independently developed.

The combination of individual personal insights and the breadth and depth of knowledge in their collected experience makes Isle of Noises the essential word on classic British songwriting – as told by the songwriters themselves.

15 SU

NPROGRAMME:THE PALACE HOTEL, MANCHESTER


10.30am-12.00pm

FACT to FICTION WORKSHOP: A step-by-step guide to pinning down an era with OLIVIA PIEKARSKI

Olivia Piekarski is a Manchester-based contemporary novelist who co-authored the highly-acclaimed The Big Midweek with iconic Fall bass player, Steve Hanley.

Olivia is now working on her second book, a fiction novel entitled The Guest List.

Olivia believes music writing, however factual or fictional, should be an accessible, entertaining, gripping, thought-provoking read which, above all else, places the reader where they yearn to go in real life.

This workshop examines the extent to which factual settings, both geographical and cultural, can colour and inform a fictional piece of work. Where do we draw the line for this equation to be the most effective? How do we keep the reader engaged? How do we keep them turning the page? And with a wealth of music history in the city of Manchester alone, when and where are the best places to begin?

This workshop will provide music writers who want to work on longer pieces of writing with a checklist of ingredients and the inspiration for a practical starting point.

10.30am-12.30pm

SLAM POETRY

MUSIC, MEDIA and ME – a Slam Poetry Competition based on Words and Music; competed by some of the best talent around Festival partners WORDSMITH bring eight of Manchester’s most dynamic poet gladiators for a rhythmic riot like no other. Treat your ears and join us for a competition like no other. Breath-taking contemporary bards from Burnage Academy for Boys, Chorlton High, Xaverian 6th form College and Young Identity slam sonic sonnets all based on the theme of Music, Media and Me over two rounds to gain the right to don the crown. The victor will win a range of themed prizes and most importantly become Louder Than Words’ Poet in Residence for 2016; a unique opportunity to explore, express & energise every echelon of development and its characters today and in the build up next years festival. Expect some linguistic gymnastics from co-hosts Shirley May, Reece Williams and Chris Jam too.



12.15-1.45pm

PAULINE BLACK In Conversation with John Robb

Pauline Black is lead singer of legendary platinum selling 2-Tone band ‘The Selecter’- debut album ‘Too Much Pressure - chart singles - ‘On MyRadio’, ‘Missing Words’, Three Minute Hero’, ‘The Whisper’.

Her career spans acting (Time Out Award for Billie Holiday portrayal @ Tricycle Theatre, London) TV presenter- (Black On Black, Channel 4) radio broadcasting (Black to The Future, BBC Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Pick Of The Week, With Great Pleasure, BBC6musicDJ) & author - her best-selling memoir “Black By Design” was published by Serpent’s Tail on July 14th 2011 & in USA on June 4th 2012.

Born in 1953 to Anglo-Jewish/Nigerian parents, Black was adopted by a white, working-class family in Romford. Never quite at home there, she escaped her small-town background and discovered a different way of life.

She continues to tour internationally with The Selecter - most recently in support of their new official chart album ‘Subculture’ released on June 15th 2015.

12.15-1.45pm

Metal! Metal! Metal! and Dysfunctional Family Portraits. PAUL HARRIES joins us with some of his iconic SLIPKNOT images, for an In Conversation with Joel McIver.

Armed with a valid passport, a working camera and a keen eye for detail, Paul Harries has amassed a portfolio that amounts to nothing less than a rock fan’s dream.

From an apprenticeship served in the photo pit at London’s legendary Marquee Club, Paul has risen to occupy the position of leading lensman for Kerrang! magazine, the world’s best-selling music weekly. Paul has closed his shutter on such groups as Nirvana, Muse, Green Day, Metallica, AC/DC, Biffy Clyro, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers and, of course, the mighty Slipknot.

Paul’s recently published book “Slipknot: Dysfunctional Family Portraits” is a thrilling journey over more than decade of working with the marvellous masked men of metal.

15 SU



12.15-1.45pm

UNCONVENTION

An interactive and pertinent panel discussion hosted by our Festival partners UnConvention: ‘Is The Enemy Really Free?’ In music, TV, journalism and many other content based industries digital disruption has given rise to the ubiquity of ‘free’. Free to access, free to produce, free to distribute, free to publish and free to consume - and in turn a whole range of related models and ideas.

From freemium and ad funded to the blurred lines between ‘exposure’ and ‘exploitation’, musicians, writers, film makers, record labels, magazines and broadcasters are having to navigate the shift from scarcity to saturation.

Indeed, ‘free’ is a very complicated price point - YouTube, the NME, and that £600 phone in your pocket are all ‘free’ in the modern world. In this panel we examine what free really means for those trying to build a career in the content based creative industries.

2.00-3.30pm



2.00-3.30pm

JON SAVAGE: 1966 The Year The Decade ExplodedA special In Conversation event with one of the giants of music writing.

It was the year that marked a sea change in global pop cultural history. In 1966: The Year The Decade Exploded, Jon Savage has written the definitive exploration of the highs, lows and revolutionary moments of this unique and resonant time.

Throughout America, London, Amsterdam and Paris, revolutionary ideas slow-cooking since the late ’50s reached boiling point. In the worlds of pop, pop art, fashion and radical politics — often fuelled by perception-enhancing substances and literature — the ‘Sixties’ as we have come to know them, hit their Modernist peak. A unique chemistry of ideas, drugs, freedom of expression and dialogue across pop cultural continents created a landscape of immense and eventually shattering creativity.

After 1966 nothing in the pop world would ever be the same. It was the year in which the everlasting and transient pop moment would burst forth in its most articulate, instinctive and radical way.

2.00-3.30pm

A FIRM of POETS: A distinctive, fast-paced, high-powered event engaging the audience in the People’s Republic of Poetry.

A music themed treat in store for sure!

A quartet of poets faces the audience; in turn they step up to the mic to perform their poems. A cross between a poetic super-group and ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ the show fast-paced and never the same twice.

With humour, pathos, quizzes and audience participation, this is a fun event that will both move and entertain.

“They are f*****g brilliant!” Dr John Cooper Clark

15 SU



2.00-3.30pm

Metal! Metal! Metal! A high powered panel discussion exploring the changing face of metal writing

Joel McIver is joined by:Paul Harries (Kerrang!)Louise Brown (IronFist)Terry Bezer (That’s Not Metal)

for our Metal Panel, considering the changing face of metal writing (1970s to present day). Insights, anecdotes, opinions and experience blend to ensure a treat is in store

2.00-3.30pm

Funny how a melody sounds like a memoryA Panel Discussion hosted by our Festival Partners Manchester District Music Archive

Ideas and memories live in a kind of virtual space of the mind - a repository of the imaginary.

In virtual reality we at the Archive have created a repository of the memories of Manchester music fans, a dreamscape of the Real that can be accessed by all from around the planet.

This panel will tell stories, offer pathways for others interested in setting up virtual campfires around which to tell tales of the then and look at the now.

Panellists:Jez Collins: Birmingham Music ArchiveCP Lee: Manchester Music Historian and Chair of the panelGraham Massey: 808 State, ToolshedAnita Sethi:Alison Surtees: Manchester District Music Archive



3.45-5.15pm

MIKE HARDING: The Adventures of the Crumpsall Kid. In Conversation with John Robb

The Adventures of the Crumpsall Kid is the fascinating and insightful childhood memoir of Mike Harding: folk singer, musician, songwriter and broadcaster.

His first memoir looks at his working-class upbringing, the highlights of his school days and the beginnings of his musical career.

Warm, nostalgic and very funny, Mike Harding’s new book of his early life in post-war Manchester is as idiosyncratic and engaging as the man himself

6.30-6.30pm

FESTIVAL CLOSING WORDS

3.45pm

WILKO AWARD

Join us to celebrate with the winners of our 2015 Wilko Johnson Young Writers Award. Supported by Bloomsbury Press and Rock’s Backpages, our finalists and winners join Louder Than Words Festival to receive their prizes. A celebration of the best in aspiring and inspiring music writing from entrants all aged under 25. This year’s title: ‘The Best Things in Life Are Free’: Downloads, Streaming, You Tube and Mags – We all like a ‘freebie’ but what does this really mean for the music industry?

15 SU


AUTHOR BOOK SIGNING SESSIONS

Friday Evening: All in The Keith Levene Suite including 6pm David Barraclough

offering one of his publishing surgeries

Saturday – Post Room

12.00 Norman Jopling & Karren Ablaze! Plus David Barraclough offering one of

his publishing surgeries

2pm FREE poetry/spoken word session with Steve Pottinger

2pm Daryl Easlea & Paul ‘Smiler’ Anderson

2.30pm David Barraclough offering one of his publishing surgeries

3.30pm Russell Senior & Paul Du Noyer & Spencer Leigh


5pm Ian Snowball (Zoë Howe and Mark Blake signed books will be on sale)

5.30pm Rick Buckler & Tony Fletcher & Steve Ignorant

7pm Jemima Dury & Zoë Howe & Dave Haslam

7.15pm David Barraclough offering one of his publishing surgeries

8.30pm Mick Houghton & Barney Hoskyns & the Club Culture authors

including Simon Morrison

8.45pm Simon Mason will sign in Palace 6 after his event

10.30pm Keith Levene will do signings and continue conversations in

The Keith Levene Suite

Sunday – Post Room

12.00 Olivia Piekarski & Daniel Rachel & Richard Balls & Mick Middles


2pm Pauline Black

3.30pm Jon Savage & Joel McIver & Paul Harries

5.15pm Mike Harding in The Keith Levene Suite

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