UK Decay live at O2 Academy

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 Islington, London. This Saturday 16th November, doors open 6pm

O2-new-2013

SHOW TIMES

> Doors: 6.00pm

FREEDOM FACTION: 6.30 – 7.00

FRANKO B: 7.10 – 7.40

STEVE IGNORANT’s Slice Of Life: 7.55 – 8.35

UK DECAY: 8.50 – 10.00

>Curfew – 10.00pm strict!

Do you fancy getting your hands on a vinyl test pressing of New Hope for the Dead signed by the band?

If so we’ll be handing out raffle tickets to everyone attending Saturday’s Islington 02 show, with the winner announced by Franko B on the night.

Franko not only created the artwork, but will be appearing with his band At Night We cry.

This will be Decay’s last ‘Night of Celebration’ in London and the south for the foreseeable future. We promise a choice mix of our new songs and our old classics supported by an excellent line-up with a few surprises during the evening. Doors open 6pm – performances timed to enable the catching of as many last trains as possible – This is unmissable – Saturday’s show is fast filling up, but we still have some friends and family tickets available on the night at a concessionary rate. If you’d like one then email us at contact@ukdecay.co.uk and we’ll put your name down. You can then pay for the conc tickets on arrival at the door.

Also T Shirt-wise, we will have some brand new design’s based on New Hope For The Dead white and red text on a black shirt. This is a limited screen printed run and if there is anything left after the O2 gig, we will duly place on our website here. The will also be a selection of stickers buttons, badges, posters, some vinyl, CD’s and hopefully more, all available on our merchandise stall at O2 – Look out for us.

Many thanks and hopefully see you on Saturday

Abbo, Ed, Ray and Spon

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New Hope For The Dead T Shirts

UK Decay on BBC twice in 24 hours.

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Decay have experienced something of a a double whammy on the Beeb early this week.

TV

UK Decay on BBC twice in 24 hours. First on Monday evening just before East Enders, BBC journalist Sarfraz Manzoor returned to his hometown Luton on ‘Inside Out – East’ at 7.30pm. He talked to people in the town about the recent years of bad press the town and it’s inhabitants have endured. The town has often appeared in the national news for the wrong reason’s and this has somewhat ingrained itself on to the national psyche – how does this effect Lutonians? In complex ways it seems to say the least! Sarfraz wanders about meeting students with mixed opinions and later he talks to artists and musicians associated with the town.

Cue to a meeting and an interview by Sarfraz with “school classmates” – Fahim Qureshi the chief at The Hat Factory Arts Centre and Steve ‘Abbo’ Abbott, music impresario and lead singer with Punk band UK Decay. Both ‘Fame’ (Fahim) and Abbo were involved in the early Luton Punk scene either in bands or promoting gigs – both once spikey-haired do it yourself alternative revolutionaries. Now both matured with the years but underlining the same basic ethos underscoring their current positions. The discussion was about Luton and it’s musical and punk intercourse with the outside world. How in order to ‘make it’ you would have to leave the town for the capital and the outside world. Then it was all important to remember your special relationship with your hometown. Abbo pointed out that Decay were spawned out of Luton but were now an international band and everywhere the band plays, the audience is made aware of the bands hometown – Luton.

Sarfraz Mansoor interviews Abbo and Fahim

Safraz found optimism in this – he too had left Luton ‘Dick Whittington’ style and was now perhaps ready to think about returning and setting up home once more in the town.
The interview was interspersed with four or five seconds of live footage from UK Decays recent Hat Factory gig.

You can catch up on this on BBC Iplayer for the next few days….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03flh9z/Inside_Out_East_28_10_2013/

Radio

A few hours later actually at 3am UK Decay’s 1981 Peel Session was re-broadcasted on BBC 6 Music’s ‘Live Hour’. This session was broadcasted earlier in the month on Gideon Coe’s October 10th Show.

Last nights ‘Live Hour’ also included The Sex Pistols live from Finsbury Park London in1996 and a another Peel session by Dawn of the Replicants.

The Gideon Coe show has now finished on Iplayer but for the next seven days you can catch up with the Live Show. Furthermore it seems you can link the individual tracks to a BBC playlist thingy (Not entirely sure how that works or whether it’s limited to seven days or permanent?)

Make of it what you will, here’s the link to the Iplayer and the playlist for the Live Show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03fq44l

SGMFEST Madrid SÁBADO 2 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2013

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UK Decay Live in Madrid

UK Decay Live at TheSGM-Fest, Madrid, Spain, Saturday November 2 - Tickets available here....

Click image for further information and tickets

The band head to Spain to perform live at ‘Semano Gotica de Madrid’ SGMFEST on 02/11/13.
This will be UK Decay’s first ever visit to Spain and the band are really looking forward to their visit.

The full itinerary is as follows..

GROTTO ROOM 77

Doors open: 23.00 hours

UK DECAY + SOROR DOLOROSA
TERMINAL GODS + PHANTOM VISION

DJs: Billyphobia + Jorge Rara Avis – 06.00 ntil

Advance Ticket price: 30 € – In door: 35 €

On sale in specialized stores
Rara Avis Store , C / de la Palma 40 and Diskpol , C / Jesús del Valle 8.
Also available online at Ticketea

 

live in London UK Decay, Steve Ignorant and Franko B – just two weeks to go

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UK Decay live in London..

So not long now until we’re joined at the O2 Academy Islington on Saturday 16 November by Steve Ignorant’s Slice of Life and at Night We Cry with FrankoB.

There’s a big connection with Steve, with Decay playing one of its first gigs with Crass and recording regularly at Southern Studios. Werewolf was also released with the help of Crass on the Corpus Christi label.

Also on the bill is Cambridge’s Freedom Faction. Doors are at 6pm and tickets are £14. available here

Hope to see as many of you there that can make it.

Cheers

Corby – Zombie Hut Gig Postponed

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Re: Saturday 26th October Zombie Hut, Corby

It’s with regret that we have to announce a rescheduling of our show in Corby to Spring 2014.

We have been looking forward to the show and playing again with our friends Hazard and – for the first time – Venus Fly Trap and Family of Noise. However, due to an unforeseen issue with the venue the local promoter and ourselves feel that everyone – you, us and the team on Corby – will be better served by a show in the early part of next year.

Apologies to everyone affected by the rescheduling, but our date in London on Saturday 16 November is unaffected, and so we hope to see you there.

All ticket holders should contact Gingerpig Promotions for a full refund here

Thanks,

Abbo, Ed, Jon, Ray and Spon

Note: It seems the reason offered by Gingerpig is poor ticket sales, due to a lacklustre campaign on behalf of GP and the band. It might have something to do with UK Decay doing the gig in good faith with an up and coming small promoter without the corporate contracts that sometimes stifle entrepreneurship. It seems had we have had a proper contract, we would still have been playing next Saturday regardless of a lack of ticketsales, ours and the sounds  fee would have crippled the promoter. We didn’t want that. The date will be rescheduled and we can promise a maxed out campaign to advertise and gig for all to remember.

North American release

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New Hope for the Dead will be available in the US through Metropolis Records from 10 September 2013. The album will be in jewel case format only, with the embossed version only available through Earthquake in the UK.

http://www.metropolis-records.com
http://www.earthquakeltd.com

Gigs announced . . .

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We’re now in the process of booking shows that will see us visit Poland, Germany and Italy next year. This year is also sketching out and confirmed dates so far are:

Corby – Zombie Hut – 26 Oct 2013
Madrid – SGM Fest – 2 Nov 2013
London Islington Academy – 16 Nov

Tickets can be found via the gigs tab.

Decay get arty

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As gigs go this wasn’t really the usual UK Decay experience. When Franko asked if we could step in at the last minute to replace the mysterious Revelator, we asked what sort of night he was planning.

‘Art!’ He shot back, ‘lot’s of art. And loud music too.’

Simples we think, and load up Jon’s Volvo for the fairly short trip from the blessed holy lands of Lutonia to South East London. Ed was making his own way down and Abbo was hightailing it in from Chester. Jon was in his usual mad driver mode, and so Spon and me spent the majority of the trip with our eyes shut and praying we’d make it in one piece.

The venue was an old pub in Camberwell that’s been converted into a swish bar. The landlord is well in with the art crew and hosts lots of leftfield events there, including regular fetish nights apparently. We bowl in and find Chairman Che and Marsha already there and doing the business. Today Che’s smoking small, thin cigars, rather than the Zeppelins he usually prefers.  We set up and sound check. Things are sounding good. We’re just playing through the backline and a vocal PA, today but there’s a lovely crisp urgency to the sound.

Franko and his crew are already in attendance – as are a selection of London’s finest performance artists. To be fair, some of it went over our heads. In fact, most of what was going on went over our heads – a great deal of which seemed to involve nakedness and gaffer tape. But everyone there was engaged and respectful; the ideas well executed.

As well as being a great artist Franko was singing in the first band due on that evening: At Night We Cry.  While they sound checked we cleared off to a nearby café to drink beer, eat food and talk about next moves – possibly another record. Che reported back on gigs booked or being planned: which at the moment include a big London show later this year, then jaunts into Spain, Poland, Germany and more. We’re adding shows by the day and once everything is signed off will be putting up the dates. The sun was hot and the beer was cold and it was the first time in ages we’d been able to just sit around and hang out – which was great.

So back to the venue in time to see Franko do his thing. At Night We Cry are a three piece: drums, bass and Franko on vocals and FX. Considering there are just three of them they make a great racket, lots of heavy, monstrous grooving between the rhythm section and Franko doing his nut through effects laden vocals. Hopefully we’ll be playing with them again in Italy later this year.

And then to us. We only had to play for 30 minutes so did the same set as we had outside Rough Trade West a few weeks ago:

  • Shake ‘em up
  • Heavy Metal Jews
  • Killer
  • City is a Cage
  • UK Decay
  • For My Country
  • I Feel Good

It’s probably the first time the band has played in front of an audience who has never heard them before. Although Steve and Lee did manage to get down to see the show. It was a good show: tight, energetic and powerful – the usual Decay ingredients minus the swinging belts. Before we knew it, the night was done. A few beers and then a face from the past: Phil Keefe from Luton who made the short journey from his new home in SE London, but arrived 30 minutes after we’d played.

Time to head back. Spon and me looked at the Volvo with trepidation. As I was navigating from the map on my phone, I drew the short straw and had to sit in the front.  I shut my eyes and prayed!

STOP PRESS – UK DECAY TO STAND IN FOR REVELATOR AND PLAY AT UNTOUCHABLE IN LONDON ON SATURDAY 8 JUNE 2013

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UK DECAY will replace REVELATOR and play in June’s edition of UNTOUCHABLE at The Flying Dutchman, Camberwell, London on Saturday 8 June 2013.
There was only one answer when Franko contacted the band to fill the gap left by mystery band REVELATOR, who pulled out of the show at the last minute without explanation.
Indeed, Franko will be spreading his own hot sauce fronting his band At Night We Cry in-between curating the event for performance s p a c e [, which concludes their I ♥ ]ps[ fundraising campaign.
Performance/ Live Art will start at 2pm sharp and run until approximately 8pm.
The live music will start at 6 pm with At Night We Cry, followed by UK Decay at 730pm
DJ sets by Franko B, Abbo’s alter ego, DJ Lovechild and DJ MU to finish the night..
Artists: Dani Ploeger, Kimberley Emeny, DUG (Ross Oliver, Joana Cifre-Cerdà and Kate Buckley), Season Butler, Verity Combe, Laura Dee Milnes, Elenor Hellis, Lorena Lo Pena,Valeria, Tello Giusti, Bruno Humberto & Abraham Winterstein, Fabiola Paz & Annalaura Alifuoco, Samuel Kennedy, Liz Sandford Richardson, E-SCIENCE
When: Saturday 8th June, 2pm – 1am
Where: The Flying Dutchman, 156 Wells Ways, Camberwell, London SE5 7SY
Transport: Burgess Park stop bus 343/N43 or nearby Wyndham Road stop 12, 35, 40, 45, 68, 148, 171, 176 or Vestry Road stop 36, 345, 436
Website:
Twitter: @Fly_Dutch_Lon @aplaceofaction @Franko_B_artist
]performance s p a c e[ aims to cultivate live work that critically and physically pushes the boundaries of body and space. It is a place where work can unfold without restraints of censorship, duration or space; committed to supporting challenging and difficult work that embraces performance art as an ever-evolving medium.
Entry: suggested donation.
All the money raised will go to ]performance s p a c e [ to support the continued delivery of ]performance 1 0 1 [. This part of the ]performance s p a c e [ programme runs across 2013 offering artists open platforms to present live work, discuss & develop their work and participate in dynamic research events. ]performance 1 0 1 [ is open to all and free of charge. It does not receive financial support or funding.
Franko b man-handles New Hope For The Dead!

Franko b man-handles New Hope For The Dead!

UK DECAY – FRANKO B COLLABORATION

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It has been a month now since the album release, and thank you to everyone for their support and feedback; the band are humbled and appreciative and we do try to respond to all who tap the boards onto the various social network sites and forums. Keep spreading the Hot Sauce please!!

Franko-BAnd now perhaps timely to introduce Franko B, whose stunning artwork adorns the album.

 

 

Franko-B.com

 

On the eve of the band’s new release New Hope For The Dead, Uk Decay are privileged and humbled to announce the collaboration with artist Franko B, whose stunning artwork adorns the album sleeve and the Killer/Heavy Metal Jews single.

killerNe Hope For The Dead

Several themes run through the songs of the album and the band’s efforts to find artwork which would encapsulate these themes and be worthy of the new material and sound, the Decay legacy, the support of the Pledgers, justice to the UK Decay communities old and new was proving very, very difficult, until contact was made with Franko that is!

Che knew Franko through a mutual friend, art dealer Guy Hilton, and had actually missed out on purchasing Franko’s Black Stars and Stripes at the British Art Fair a few years back; and they say life has no regrets! Anyway, Che did a deal on one of Luton artist Clive Barker’s “Heart” sculptors from Franko around the same time.

When Che showed the band Franko’s art, it resonated with them immediately and here’s what the guys had to say.

Raymondo: ” There’s a horrible reality in those black flags; an end of the road feel to them. If you’re strapped to a chair in Bagram airforce base they’ll make a lot of sense.”

Spon: ” Is the ideology represented behind those flags, deserving of colour, given the acquisition of oil at the cost of truth?”
Eduardo: ” When I saw both the white and black Union Jacks and Stars and Stripes it left me speechless with such powerful imagery.”

Back to the story.  Che writes Franko a short note, leaving a number for Franko to contact him on. Within a short space of time, Franko responds and listens to what Che has to say. Franko was familiar with the band back in the day, having moved to London from Italy in 1979.  Abbo sends Franko a copy of the TDL mix of the album to listen to on his return from taking care of art matters in the North East.  A meeting is arranged at the steps of St Johns Church in Waterloo.  It is a bright, clear January.  The espresso is ordered and the collaboration begins.

As Franko explains, “I always love the opportunity to work with other artists. I don’t separate art forms and I am not precious about my own work. This collaboration is a good thing that allows each other’s work – Decay’s and mine – to reach out to each other’s audience.  I still believe in the spirit of punk and there is a common thread of our core ideals, but most importantly I love the new songs – Killer and Woman With The Black Heart especially, and the new material has made me listen to the old Decay too. I love it!”

The band are indebted to Franko for his love and generosity. Yes, its UK Decay as art critics!, and we leave you all with the continuing eloquence from Abbo,

“Franko B had made a statement so simple yet so profound and most importantly the most singular representation in my mind of the acknowledgement that the concept of the symbol of a nation now rests sadly in mourning in Britain and in the USA today, caused by the irresponsible, corrupt and immoral actions of those elected and empowered to represent it.”

One day we may claim it back!

Reflections on Record Store Day

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So thanks first for everyone who came to see us in the blisteringly hot West London sunshine last Saturday. I personally had no idea what to expect until I drove up to Portabello Road and had to inch the car through a teeming mass of bodies to find a parking space. Stupidly I’d brought most of my drum kit with me but quickly realised that I’d only have room for the kick drum, snare and one maybe two cymbals. Chairman Che the manager was trying to talk me into doing it standing up to save on stool space – but that just had disaster written all over it. Over the next hour everyone began to arrive and I built the reduced kit up the road, and we then all carried it down to outside the shop.

I’m never normally a fan of bands in shades (i’m looking at you Bono) but Rough Trade was boiling a sun trap so we all – with the exception of the Edmund – kept the brown bins on. The front of the crowd were standing on Abbo’s toes and before the power was cut we launched into a quickfire 25-minute set, built around five songs from the new album and two from the vaults. We played Shake em Up. Heavy Metal Jews, UK Decay, Killer, City is a Cage, For My Country and I Feel Good. We probably played over the 25-minute slot too – and Rough Trade told us later that its power was cut soon afterwards!

Announcement: release date confirmed

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The voice of chairman Che

UK Decay are proud to announce that Monday 22nd May 2013 is the release date of their long awaited new album New Hope For the Dead, with pre-release copies available in record shops across the UK participating in Record Store Day tomorrow (Saturday 20th April).

In fact the band will be playing a short set outside Rough Trade West at around 3pm.  Get yourselves down there and join the party with the band.  Copies of the album will be available in the Rough Trade Shop on Talbot Road London W11.

A bit about the album: produced by rock legend Chris ‘The Dark Lord’ Tsangerides, the new songs cover a wealth of subjects, from the fracturing nature of society and the twin evils of extremism and bigotry, to the lack of engagement by today’s generation and the attraction of things that ultimately harm us.  It’s’ quite literally a sonic assault on the senses – You have been warned!!!!
Photo of the vinyl front cover, in shrinkwrap with sticker

Photo of the vinyl front cover, in shrinkwrap with sticker

The album is available on deluxe cd booklet with lyric sheet poster and heavyweight vinyl.  A very limited pressing of the vinyl and CD will be in “oil painting varnish” and gives a real textured feel to the cover replicating artist Franko B’s striking paintings. This print effect is a world first for any record sleeve.
Get the album through ukdecay.co.uk, at any good record shop, Amazon and it is also available on I Tunes download.
UK Decay will be be spreading their hot sauce throughout Europe and the UK with live shows very soon.

Louder Than War review of NHFTD album

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With one crashing blow, UK Decay have rewritten the rules of engagement for supposed ‘comeback’ albums and redefined the term ‘Punk’ for the modern age. Make no mistake about it, this is no sentimental rehash of a sound from over 30 years ago, this is a seismic explosion of anger unleashed in a sound that emanates from both Heaven and Hell depending on your current stand-point. Louder Than War