LOUISE DISTRAS COMES TO BRISTOL'S ICONIC FLEECE

LOUISE DISTRAS

Sometimes The Outsider has a good day and I have had a few recently. I got to watch Louise Distras play The Winchester Arms in Taunton in March with Fuelled By Cider. At the gig I was honoured when Louise dedicated a new song to me and afterwards we had an interview which you can check out is Issue 3 of The Outsider later on in the year. Louise is back in the South West to end a UK tour with some new songs on the 2nd of May at The Fleece in Bristol. The Fleece is one of those special venues with sticky floors and a history of great live music. The Red Paintings will also be on the bill all the way from Australia and I have to say I do like these guys.  Here is a little sneak peak into the interview with the remarkable Louise Distras.

You are a dedicated fan of music, would you say you, like myself, are obsessive about music?

Yeah, and I'm not a snob either. I get excited by all different kinds of music.

I'm glad you said that because music is so varied why would you restrict what you listen too?

Yeah, I respect that people will listen to whatever they choose but at the same time I don't understand why some people restrict their ears and hearts to one kind of music throughout their entire life. It's almost like they are just sabotaging themselves from enjoying a new experience. It's good to be open minded.  

You have some tour dates coming up right now, you are playing The Fleece in Bristol for the first time I believe. You have played around the South West are you looking forward to Bristol? 

I love the south west, I love the people, and if I was so inclined I would probably love all the cider too. Bristol has a lot of great venues and I've been very lucky to play a few of them such as The Exchange, Thunderbolt, Stag & Hounds, and I've heard great things about The Fleece so I am very excited for next weeks show with  The Red Paintings. 

THE RED PAINTINGS

To anyone who doesn't know The Red Paintings tell us how you would describe the band?

I can't even begin to describe them, you have to see and hear it for yourself. They will blow your mind! 

You are off on tour to the US soon as well, what advice would you give to a UK band about to do their first US tour dates?

I'd say that the experience is whatever you choose to make it!

Catch Louise Distras, The Red Paintings and Yuma Sun at The Fleece this Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May, doors open early at 17.30 tickets are only £10 in advance. Go and see this gig you won't regret it!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1143355995705065/  


  

And Now For Something Completely Different - Strange Films of 2016 ....

As a few of you may know I am a movie buff, from classics, cult and main stream I love the moving pictures. I have even been know to sneak down to the cinema on my own to immerse my self in the silver screen. 2016 has a plethora of big block buster type movies from Captain America-Civil War to the Stand alone Star Wars movie Rogue One. Doctor Strange does from the trailer look, well strangely good in a trippy Inception kind of way. What about the weirder, smaller movies to come?

Green Room is the story of a young Punk Band at the end of the tour. The last date is a small venue out in the sticks. It seems to go well but it turns out they get involved in a murder and Neo-Nazi's are trying to kill them. This could just end up another crappy horror-slasher movie but instead by all accounts it becomes a very dark and realistic thriller. It has a great director and writer in Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin) the cast is also top notch and I'm holding a lot of hope for this.   

Swiss Army Man is something that looks totally mad, joyous and unique, this could be one the most intriguing and fun movies of the year. Some critics have savaged it calling it 'the fart movie' but it looks like one of those movies like Frank that just has to be given a chance to be seen and appreciated. I think this could, just could be one of those uplifting cult movies. Daniel Radcliffe was impressive in Kill Your Darlings and Paul Dano is a safe bet. Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

Evolution imbues an atmosphere of creepiness and menace, it looks like every frame is a work of art. The subject matter of young boys stuck on an island being experimented on by women is just a little bit freaky and uncomfortable. I hope this movie gets seen as the trailer may well creep you the hell out. Directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic who did Innocence. 

OUTSIDER ISSUE 2 LAUNCH GIG WITH VIRUS

Virus played a stonking set at the Cheese and Grain in Frome on Saturday night. They were supporting that geezer Jah Wobble. I made it up there with the poet Ben AKA Miscellaneous Sniff. Jaz Wiseman with Virus had done the design work on Issue 2 so it was only right I handed him the finished article.

Virus kicked off the night, the current line up is something to behold and combined with the excellent sound at the venue made for a great set. Every song was top notch and the Ska track they did was really great fun and a lot of the audience had some serious dancing to that one. Virus are one of those bands that can write really good tunes and also tackle serious issues in their lyrics at the same time.  The set was over way too soon and then it was off 'outside' to flog off some zines. Ben did a great job and I assured him if he did sell (like at his work) over £350 worth he would get a bonus!

Jah Wobble was up next to headline the gig, he was really good fun. His band has immense skill and musicianship. The PIL stuff was cool and the soundtracks he did were also pretty awesome. I could of done with a few shorter Jazz like improvisations and reduced the cow bell some what. All in all it was a lovely night and worth the trip up to Frome.

Big up to the guys from Virus Dave, Tom, Sam and Jaz in particular, thanks for letting me share your merch stand although some of the zines did accidentally spill over onto Mr Wobble's merch table.

Look out for Virus playing  gig near you very soon!

https://www.facebook.com/Virus.PunkRock/info/?tab=page_info