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By: Richard Collins
We saw the line up for Red Sun Festival in Cardiff and had a panic attack. Our riff obsessed Welsh man Richard Collins checked in with Jim, one of the organisers to find out what the fuck is going on.
Thanks for taking the time to have a chat, buzz and hype aside, any visibility on Cardiff’s scene is brilliant in my books.
(((o))): Hi, how are you?
Calm before the storm right now. The Red Sun prep is pretty much sorted, so getting stuff ready for our Radio slot on DapperFM on Thursday (10pm – 12pm https://www.dapperfm.co.uk/ if you want to have a listen) and fine-tuning some of the details for the festival.
(((o))): How many people are behind Red Sun Festival? Is it just one promoter or a gang of you?
Not taking into account the various venues involved, there’s a core group of about 5 of us involved that have done various parts of the planning. The lynchpin to it all is a man called Owen, then there’s two gentlemen called Tom and Chris who fell into the mix through playing with bands in the area (Lacertilia and Tides of Sulfur respectively) as well as our artist Gareth who’s been maintaining creative side of things (he also plays in Hogslayer and Spiderkitten), and then there’s myself who has been running heavy gigs under the FHED banner since 2012.
(((o))): How did the festival come about? Whose idea was it?
All the venues worth bothering about in Cardiff are within metres of each other on a street called Womanby Street, which proves a logistical dream for any multi-venue projects. There’s already a festival that takes advantage of this called HUB, which focuses on local talent and embraces the same model as festivals like The Great Escape in Brighton or Camden Rocks. I think any scene wants a time where all their work throughout the year is showcased on a grand stage for all to see, a “Wrestlemania” if you will, and with the heavy scene in Cardiff doing well it was only a matter of time until we sought for our own.Me and Owen have been working together since we put on Conan in March 2014. If memory serves correct I think it was about September that Owen formally pitched the idea to me, and a few months later the rest joined in and we began the groundwork.
(((o))): Are you hoping for it to become an annual event?
I think everyone involved would want to see it come back for another year, in the same way that anyone is going to want to revisit a project they’ve enjoyed being a part of.My inner sceptic though is aware that we’re not the first festival out there to put together a great lineup at an affordable price, and festivals like Kin’Hell Fest in Leeds are harrowing reminders of best laid schemes falling short. I imagine we’ll learn a lot from this year regardless of success, and hopefully those lessons will put us in good shape to return again next year and try out some new things.
I think everyone involved would want to see it come back for another year, in the same way that anyone is going to want to revisit a project they’ve enjoyed being a part of.My inner sceptic though is aware that we’re not the first festival out there to put together a great lineup at an affordable price, and festivals like Kin’Hell Fest in Leeds are harrowing reminders of best laid schemes falling short. I imagine we’ll learn a lot from this year regardless of success, and hopefully those lessons will put us in good shape to return again next year and try out some new things.
(((o))): Was the line up pretty much what you envisioned from the festival’s conception? Or has it gone on a bit of a journey?
I don’t think there has been much deviation from the initial vision, we had a core idea and none of us really wanted to verge away from that. With festivals like Temples, Desertfest, Incineration and Damnation doing the rounds it’s very easy to want to emulate their success, but being a small city with a very distinctive scene we have things we can offer that the bigger festivals can’t, and it was always important to work to our strengths.The only time I can think of where there was a bit of a change was when I started getting more involved with the lineup. I felt it was important to include the faster bands onto the bill and establish that heavy music is more than St. Vitus references and weed. I’m delighted that bands like Siege Mentality, Human Cull, Atomck, Oblivionized, Grand Collapse (and more) have found their way onto the bill, as its an extension of heavy music that doesn’t necessarily get a lot of focus in South Wales these days, and something I think the crowd will like if they gave it a chance.
I don’t think there has been much deviation from the initial vision, we had a core idea and none of us really wanted to verge away from that. With festivals like Temples, Desertfest, Incineration and Damnation doing the rounds it’s very easy to want to emulate their success, but being a small city with a very distinctive scene we have things we can offer that the bigger festivals can’t, and it was always important to work to our strengths.The only time I can think of where there was a bit of a change was when I started getting more involved with the lineup. I felt it was important to include the faster bands onto the bill and establish that heavy music is more than St. Vitus references and weed. I’m delighted that bands like Siege Mentality, Human Cull, Atomck, Oblivionized, Grand Collapse (and more) have found their way onto the bill, as its an extension of heavy music that doesn’t necessarily get a lot of focus in South Wales these days, and something I think the crowd will like if they gave it a chance.
(((o))): There’s like 5 gazillion bands playing, has it been an organisational nightmare?
Bands dropping out is always a bit of a ballache, even more so given how excited we were for some of those bands to play, but ultimately no one band outweighs the overall output of the festival and we all did a fairly sound job in putting it all together.
(((o))): What’s the music scene like in South Wales at the moment? Many exciting heavy bands coming though?
In the grand scheme of things I would say Cardiff’s scene has been punching well above it’s weight for a few years now. It’s been a bloody hard few years for music in Cardiff since the recession, but in the last few years the scene has been in strong enough condition that we’ve been able to bring bands like Church of Misery, Conan, Witchsorrow, Slabdragger and tonnes more to the area and have great turnouts in the process. Could you compare us to the scenes in Leeds and Bristol? Not really, but we are a lot smaller population-wise and we do pretty damn well given our size.Being a promoter isn’t without its challenges though. I’ve been lucky to have always had turnouts that have allowed me to carry on to the next show, but it can go either way and I’ve known a few promoters that have had to pack it in after 1 or 2 abysmal turnouts. I imagine my grievances though are no different than any other independent promoter in a city, not that I wish to go into them all.I would say the dynamic down Womanby Street is probably Cardiff’s biggest strength, with The Full Moon/Moon Club undoubtedly being the tower of language that binds it all together. They’ve been my venue of choice for nearing 3 years now, they’ve been nothing but supportive with everything I’ve done (as well as the various scenes in general), the management/staff are some of the best people I have met through music and they deserve all the success that comes their way. Next door is a rock club called Fuel, who are also a lovely bunch and a credit to anyone who works with them, and over the road is Clwb Ifor Bach which has been an icon of Welsh music for decades now. There are other venues in Cardiff that do great work, but Womanby Street is the stronghold of music in Cardiff and I wouldn’t trade it for anywhere else in the world.
In the grand scheme of things I would say Cardiff’s scene has been punching well above it’s weight for a few years now. It’s been a bloody hard few years for music in Cardiff since the recession, but in the last few years the scene has been in strong enough condition that we’ve been able to bring bands like Church of Misery, Conan, Witchsorrow, Slabdragger and tonnes more to the area and have great turnouts in the process. Could you compare us to the scenes in Leeds and Bristol? Not really, but we are a lot smaller population-wise and we do pretty damn well given our size.Being a promoter isn’t without its challenges though. I’ve been lucky to have always had turnouts that have allowed me to carry on to the next show, but it can go either way and I’ve known a few promoters that have had to pack it in after 1 or 2 abysmal turnouts. I imagine my grievances though are no different than any other independent promoter in a city, not that I wish to go into them all.I would say the dynamic down Womanby Street is probably Cardiff’s biggest strength, with The Full Moon/Moon Club undoubtedly being the tower of language that binds it all together. They’ve been my venue of choice for nearing 3 years now, they’ve been nothing but supportive with everything I’ve done (as well as the various scenes in general), the management/staff are some of the best people I have met through music and they deserve all the success that comes their way. Next door is a rock club called Fuel, who are also a lovely bunch and a credit to anyone who works with them, and over the road is Clwb Ifor Bach which has been an icon of Welsh music for decades now. There are other venues in Cardiff that do great work, but Womanby Street is the stronghold of music in Cardiff and I wouldn’t trade it for anywhere else in the world.
Bandwise there are a few noteworthy mentions. It’s easy to highlight Desecration, Lifer and Spiderkitten as they’ve arguably had the most success outside of South Wales lately, but there are bands like Tides of Sulfur, Thorun, Akb’al and pizzatramp that are pretty damn good and are putting the work in. Hogslayer will have to be my pick if you had to make me highlight one, they played my shows when they were starting out and it’s great to see how they’ve evolved since 2012. There’s also a band called the Judas Cradle who I expect decent things of too, their lead singer is a friend of mine and if it wasn’t for him I’m pretty certain extreme metal would have died on its arse in South Wales a while back, so I’ll always wish him well.
(((o))): Are you mainly expecting a South Wales crowd? Or will people be going from far and wide?
We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from all over the UK, which is humbling given it is our first year. Whether that translates into people visiting the festival is different matter, and ultimately I extend my gratitude to anyone who is making the journey for it, I’ve done it for various festivals around the UK so I’m aware it’s not the easiest of tasks.As far as the South Wales crowd, I would say there’s about a core demographic of people who I have a lot of time for. They’re at almost every show I promote, they’re always making time for new bands and new sounds and I wouldn’t trade them for anything, so I bloody-well hope they’ve already got their tickets. I imagine it will be mostly South-Wales folk who will be at the festival this year, but you never know.
(((o))): Are all the venues used to heavy bands? Or will some of the staff shit themselves when they start firing?
The venues are metres apart from each other and ultimately are all exposed to different shows and crowds on a fairly regular basis, so I don’t think much will surprise any of them really. As much as I do find it funny when barstaff and soundguys react badly to music they don’t understand, I doubt we’ll see a lot of that over the weekend.
(((o))): Name 3 unmissable bands on the line-up, don’t be diplomatic.. give us 3 names.
The venues are metres apart from each other and ultimately are all exposed to different shows and crowds on a fairly regular basis, so I don’t think much will surprise any of them really. As much as I do find it funny when barstaff and soundguys react badly to music they don’t understand, I doubt we’ll see a lot of that over the weekend.
(((o))): Name 3 unmissable bands on the line-up, don’t be diplomatic.. give us 3 names.
Opium Lord – As friends of mine I’ll always back them to do well, and ultimately you don’t get offers to tour the USA and a release on Candlelight Records unless there’s something there that makes you stand out from the rest. Their latest album is some of the best stuff I’ve heard this year, now it’s time for the rest of South Wales to find out.
Hogslayer – We have them headlining on the Saturday on the basis that shit will kick off when they get on stage. They’re hometown heroes in the making.
Bast – I first met them when they were tour support to Conan last year, it was one of the best shows I’ve ever put on and it’s always good to catch up with them. Since then they’ve played Damnation and Roadburn and I think they’re playing Incineration Festival in London too, so they’re putting the work in and reaping the rewards. I expect great things from both them and Opium Lord and will be an excellent conclusion to a weekend of ruddy-good music.
(((o))): Anything else you want to say to the people who are going, the people who are maybe going and the people who are not going?
If you’re going – I’ll be running things on in Fuel throughout the weekend, as well as running the FHED merchtable so come and say hi (and partake of some of the deals I’ll have going if you feel fancy). Bands start earlyish each day so make sure to pace yourself and look after eachother, and thank you for your support, we won’t let you down.
If you’re contemplating going – It’s £20 for 3 full days of quality music, there’ll be lots of friendly folk about and even if you aren’t able to attend all the days, we’ll have day-tickets available as we know Bank Holidays can be hectic.
If you’re not going – I’ll keep it civil, have a good weekend.
