Preview: Electrocute Festival

Abbas Ali meets the organisers of Electrocute festival - a brand new electronic music event for Manchester.

Jayne Robinson

Date published: 18th Jan 2011

Abbas Ali meets the organisers of Electrocute festival - a brand new electronic music event for Manchester.

Manchester’s Electrocute Festival is the brainchild of journalism student Ross Fisher. “I had the idea while we were having a wine and cheese party”, explains the promoter with a sentiment few can argue with. “The best things come from drinking in the pub don’t they?”

“I’ve only been here for four or five months”, he says of his time in Manchester. “My course ends at the end of this month, so I wanted to go out with a bang. I want to have something fun to do, and I really like electronic music, so I really want to celebrate that, so that’s how Electrocute happened”.

Fisher’s partner in the event, Adam Dubale, shares the belief that electronica should be celebrated. “There’s not much promotion of electronic music around the Northern Quarter. Guitar bands are ten a penny, so we felt this kind music needs a bit of a push.”

A lot of alternative music in 2011, especially that coming out of London, has strong electronic elements, whether it’s Breton, Jamie Woon, or Fixers. Dubale and Fisher realised they could pick up on this and make it happen locally. “We went to In The City festival, and there was a really good gig at Band On The Wall, where Adam works. It was Worried About Satan, D/R/U/G/S and Mt. Kimble. Those three bands in succession, made us go “oh wow”. There’s an audience for this, potentially, in Manchester”.

The event will be taking place at Manchester’s newest hipster venue The Castle Hotel,  which has undergone a reinvention last year, from old geezer pub, to uber cool gig spot. “It’s only a 70 capacity venue, so it shouldn’t be hard to fill the place out for a great night”.

The line-up for Electrocute is an intriguing mix, starting at 2pm through to midnight, and consists of 6 acts. Beginning with dubstep workouts of producer Swan Song, whose show will be accompanied by video, followed by Advances In Mathematics, a Mancunian quartet with BBC Introducing support. “They’re our post rock band, they’re going to be providing a bit of a counterpoint to Swan Song”, explains Fisher.

The video theme continues with Birimgham’s Arc Vel “who are really interesting. They’ve got two different video screens which they trigger while they’re playing, as he plays the guitar on his lap”, says Fisher. Third up are Ukraine/Manchester electro pop outfit Rubika, adding some female glamour to proceedings. “As soon as Ross contacted me, and I heard the name Electrocute, I knew we had to take part”, says Irena Rubika, striking Ukrainian lead singer of the band. “So here we are”.

Synth rock duo Shmoo will add Kraftwerk/MGMT dynamics to the Castle’s back room, before headliner, Glasgow producer Miaoux Miaoux (pictured) takes to the stage to bring the event to a finale. “They’ve been tipped as one of the ones to watch for 2011”, adds the promoter.

Asked about the diversity of acts at the event, Fisher is keen to stress fans of more traditional indie music aren’t excluded. “Generally it’s electronic music, but we aren’t pigeonholing ourselves, we do branch out into things like post rock. The main thing we want to do is make sure it’s lot of fun”.

£5 entry. £4 concessions.

The Castle Hotel, January 30th

Find out more at Electrocute's facebook page

Upcoming Events At The Castle Hotel, Manchester

Here are the next 3 upcoming events At The Castle Hotel, Manchester

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Dippy Egg Presents: Richard Carlson Band and Guests

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7:30pm til 11:00pm (last entry 7:30pm)

Minimum Age: 18

For ticket prices, please click here (Additional fees may apply)

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Angélica Garcia
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Angélica Garcia

The Castle Hotel, Manchester

11th June

7:30pm til 11:00pm

Minimum Age: 18

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Now Wave presents Angélica Garcia at The Castle Hotel on 11th June 2024

The Empire Police at The Castle Hotel
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The Empire Police at The Castle Hotel

The Castle Hotel, Manchester

14th June

7:00pm til 11:00pm

Minimum Age: 18

For ticket prices, please click here (Additional fees may apply)

The Empire Police return to Manchester for a their first headline show in the city since last November.