Upstairs For Thinking, Downstairs For Dancing - Show Recap

With a host of awesome shows under their belt, The Pure Gallery is quickly gaining a reputation for showcasing awesome alternative art, and their current show, featuring the work of Mister Millerchip definitely doesn't disappoint.

The exhibition features a number of black and white pieces, linked together by a flowing storyline, as Millerchip himself explains.

"Upstairs for Thinking, Downstairs for Dancing, is my first solo show and it depicts an oddly mundane 24 hour period in the life of Lars Arraday, a determined street preacher by day and a successful ballroom dancer by night. Lars is a fictional character I created to illustrate a 24 hour period in the life of someone who believes the world is ending and treats every night like it is his last.  But unfortunately for him the 24 hours ends disappointingly in more than one way."

Using a striking, high contrast style, and strong comedic elements (particularly towards the end of the story told by the pieces), Millerchip has not only created a number of accomplished works, but succeeded in drawing them together, making The Pure Gallery's relatively small wall-space into a cohesive, engaging piece of art in its own right.

With the show now in its final week your time, much like Lars', is running out, so if you've not had the chance yet get along to The Pure Gallery and check it out.

Massive thanks to The Pure Gallery and Mister Millerchip. Prints and a show-exclusive t-shirt are available direct from the gallery and from their online store.

Caffeine dependency and Disturbia

For some reason I'm relying more and more on caffeine. If I don't have a coffee every couple of hours I feel more confused than an owl on a tanning bed.

Despite not being able to make it to the launch party for their new line, and my coffee cravings causing me to have all the social skills of the Rain Man, I headed over to Disturbia Clothing's new HQ in Hoults Yard, Newcastle, to check out their new space.

With designs based on A Clockwork Orange, Scarface, and the childhood scarring Gremlins, Disturbia have totally nailed it, for horror and movie fans alike, as well as designs from top artists such as Godmachine and Drew Millward.

You can check out Disturbia's new line in person, or over at their website right now!

The Pure Gallery - Baby Angels With Guns

Carrying on their tradition for showcasing awesome artwork, Whitley Bay's The Pure Gallery outdid themselves with their last show, 'Baby Angels With Guns'.

The opening night crowd

Featuring work from Northside Tattooz artists Low, Hash, Andy, Jo, Ferank, Bri, Chris, Rhonda, Alan, Wayne & Lewis, as well art by Mr. Owl, Ric O'Shea, Creative Ginger and more, the exhibition pulled together a mix of traditional flash, Japanese-inspired work and a host of other tattoo influenced art.

'Lucky' - Northside's Jo Hall

With every opening night at the gallery gaining larger and larger crowds it was no surprise to see the street filled with people waiting to check out the art on display (and those wanting to see if there was any beer left).

Traditional Japanese back piece design - Andy McNally

With not one but two future exhibitions on the way, The Pure Gallery is going from strength to strength and proving that the North East really can contend with the rest of the U.K.'s alternative art scene.

'Sailor Jeffrey' - Mr. Owl

Thanks to The Pure Gallery, Northside Tattooz and all of the artists involved in the exhibition.

Tattoo Tuesday - Kamil Mocet

When it comes to tattooing there are a few people out there breaking away from the more traditional styles, and Kamil Mocet is one of them.

Working from Camden's Hell To Pay Tattoos, Kamil has developed a style that has far more in common with painting than traditional 'outline and shading' work, using shading and colour, rather than stark lines to portray his subjects.

Best of all for the horror fans out there, Kamil's work has a distinctly dark streak running through it.

Click the images for larger versions:

 

Kamil isn't currently taking on any new work, but keep an eye on his Kamil Tattoos for any openings. To make an enquiry contact either Kamil or Hell To Pay Tattoos via the methods listed below.

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Kamil Mocet -
Email:
mocet666[at]gmail.com

Hell To Pay Tattoos -
Address: Hell To Pay Tattoos & Piercing, 188 Camden High St, Camden Town, London NW1 8QP
Phone: 07707085195

Tattoo Tuesday - Valerie Vargas

As the first ever Tattoo Tuesday (with many more to come) I thought it was only fitting to feature one of my favourite artists, London's Valerie Vargas.

Working out of Frith Street Tattoo in Soho, Valerie has made a name for herself with her eye for old-school designs with a modern twist. As always, click the images to see a larger version:

Though at this point Valerie's lengthy waiting list is closed, keep an eye out on Frith Street's Twitter, as well as her website for any updates or cancellation slots.

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Frith Street Tattoo -

Web: http://frithstreettattoo.co.uk/

Address: 18 Frith St, London, W1D 4RQ

Phone: 020 7734 8180

Surprisingly Good Bands

Trawling through the internet, I find out about a lot of pretty weird bands. When I say weird I don't mean experimental, though some of them are, I'm talking about the bands that just have such off the wall concepts that you're surprised anyone can pull it off.

Back before I moved down to London, my band up in Newcastle always had a bit of an Arnold Schwarzenegger fixation. Every moment at rehearsals that wasn't taken up by playing was filled by shouts of "Get to the chopper!" and “Do it!”.

We dreamed of the idea of an Arnie-themed band, little did we know, but that crafty bugger Tim Lambesis (of As I Lay Dying fame) had already beaten us to it.

Playing every instrument, and doing most of the vocals, Lambesis' Austrian Death Machine pays homage to everybody's favourite former governor / action hero. The only role not filled by Lambesis is that of Arnold, sorry, 'Ahhnold' himself, with Destroy the Runner's Chad Ackerman taking on impersonation duties:

Check out Austrian Death Machine on their website: http://www.austriandeathmachine.com/

All images / videos are property of Austrian Death Machine / Metal Blade Records

'Oh, Sleeper' Tour

Metalcore Texans Oh, Sleeper are embarking on a US tour alongside Like Moths to Flames and the considerably lighter We Are Defiance.

Kicking off the tour on March 29th, the 'I Heard It First' tour will take the bands across the States, including a slew of dates in Florida. For those that hadn't already guessed by the name (and the poster) the tour will give Oh, Sleeper fans a chance to catch a glimpse of the band's as yet unreleased album.

Full list of dates:

Tue, Mar 29

The Refuge, Fredricksburg, VA

Wed, Mar 30

Soapbox Laundro-Lounge, Wilmington, NC

Thu, Mar 31

Sector 7G, Augusta, GA

Fri, Apr 01

Murray Hill Theatre, Jacksonville, FL

Sat, Apr 02

The Nightlife, Sarasota, FL

Sun, Apr 03

Rocketown, Pompano Beach, FL

Mon, Apr 04

Toy World, Lake Wales, FL

Tue, Apr 05

1982 Bar, Gainesville, FL

Wed, Apr 06

The 7 Venue, Douglasville, GA

New material from Dying Fetus!

Relapse Records seem to have been paying a lot of attention to death metal titans Dying Fetus lately.

Unlike some extreme metal labels Relapse aren't particularly well known for their tendency to re-release records, so it's almost a surprise that they're reissuing the band's back catalogue over the next few months.

Of course, nobody really gets excited about reissues, unless the records are incredibly rare or you get a massively collectible extra (an actual dying fetus might be a stretch too far though...).

Fortunately for fans there's more exciting news, with Relapse announcing the release of a new D.F. record in autumn this year. If 2009's 'Descend Into Depravity' was anything to go by then things are looking good for the new release.

Not just that, but there's an EP of covers planned for spring. Of course I'm putting together a list of tracks I wish they'd cover, with anything by The Specials ranking pretty high. I'm not saying it'll happen, but ska-death metal with blastbeats and brass? Count me in...

Revival

After suffering a bit of a death, Musical Scares is making a comeback. That means frequent posts and better content.

I could blame a lot of things on the blog stalling, I made a move down the country to London, and I'm loving every minute of it. Plenty's been going on, including going to the London premier of Zombie Driftwood. If you like zombies, cheesy low-budget gore, metal and shameless plugs then this could be the perfect movie for you.

There've been a lot of reasons for my return to blogging, boredom, a renewed urge to write, and some things happening in the music, art and horror worlds that I can't help but write about (the production of a sequel to the chronically terrible A Nightmare on Elm Street remake is a prime example).

Aside from me complaining about the current state of horror, expect more in the way of music reviews, features and news, like the signing of Suffer Well (formerly Sorrows) to Century Media. The project, co-headed by Bleeding Through's Brandan Schieppati and Anaal Nathrakh's Mick Kenney has been piquing my interest for a while, so it's great to see that their work's getting released.

Anyway, expect some more focused posts soon, I just couldn't wait to get something up here and drag it out of the grave!