During the first weekend of August the second edition of Glasgow’s Core. Festival takes place again, offering another eclectic mix of genres and artists, both internationally and from the UK, including another great selection of Glasgow and other Scottish talents. Last year’s first edition was a success as you can read here, and the festival runs in a similar capacity this year, namely a main stage in a bigger hall with smaller venues on the side, including the fantastically intimate The Hug & Pint on the Great Western Road. The main hall is at Woodside Halls this year, which makes the walk from and to The Hug & Pint a bit quicker.
This year’s bill includes well-established names such as Dvne, Employed To Serve, Show Me The Body, Empire State Bastard, Glitterer, Author & Punisher, McLusky and many more.
Besides being the programmer for the Tolbooth and Albert Halls in Stirling, David Weaver is also one of the artistic directors of the festival and he talked to Echoes and Dust about 3 releases that have influenced him a lot during his musical upbringing.
Tickets for Core. Festival are still available through here, including whole festival tickets and separate day tickets.
Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden
When I was six years old, I discovered a trove of my uncle Jon’s tape cassettes – he’d stayed in our house a few years previously, and left a big batch of his teenage music collection when he’d moved on. I guess a lot of people get their music taste either by being influenced by their parents, or by rebelling against them. I was lucky enough that my folks liked good music – our car always had Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads or Free in the tape deck; my mum was an old prog fan. But when I got into Jon’s collection, it was like a finding a whole new world. He was an 80s metal fan – everything from Whitesnake to Marillion to Def Leppard – so I used to love sticking on these ridiculous big pop metal tunes while I played with my Lego.
But the record that really stuck with me was Iron Maiden’s debut. I remember being legitimately frightened by the cover art; it had the same sinister effect on me as the cover of Hellraiser did whenever I went to the video rental place. I was drawn in, and Iron Maiden never let me go. I loved the theatre, the mix of darkness and ridiculousness – it was definitely my gateway into metal. I still think it’s their best, leanest album. The strut of ‘Prowler’, the bounce of ‘Running Free’, and to do this day, the pinnacle of air guitar that is ‘Phantom of the Opera’. What a band, what an album – I never looked back.
Björk – Vespertine
I love pop music, and I love electronic music, and I love weird experimental music, and I love folk music, and there aren’t many artists that cover all of these genres and more. Björk does, and the way her albums reflect both her creative and personal evolution is extraordinary. Her 90s records were wonderful – always at the forefront of pop and dance music production, her voice this sort of unearthly beauty beyond comprehension. And I love that she’s continued pushing boundaries; she’s one of the most fearless and individual artists working today; every album is a study of connecting the personal, the creative, the natural and the technological. Her confidence and contemplation is extremely inspiring. I think Vespertine is the album that I go back to most; it’s incredibly delicate and fragile, minimalist and timeless. It feels less like it was written and produced, and more like it was unearthed, or found.
Meshuggah – Nothing
My favourite band are Meshuggah. I find it hard to pin down favourites; so many things depend on your mood or the context of where you find yourself; my favourite colour on a Tuesday might be green, but on a Thursday it’s red. But no matter what, my favourite band will always be Meshuggah.
I’d been a mosher as a teenager; Korn, Pantera and Fear Factory patches and hoodies the order of the day. But I remember when I was about 17 or 18, downloading Rational Gaze from Limewire, and it just absolutely blowing my mind. I had no idea music could be that heavy; so intricate yet brutal, so fearsome yet thoughtful. Over the next couple of years at uni, I found myself immersing myself in different Meshuggah records – going for long walks and finding the patterns in their music.
They’re a band I can never get bored of – when a new record comes out, I’m still finding new bits that I love two or three years later. They’ve influenced so many bands, but nobody sounds like them, nobody can get near them. Absolutely untouchable.
