Participants

This page gives details of some of the amazing artists involved in our last event – Digital Dystopia.

Reginald D Hunter

“HIS PRESENCE AND INTELLIGENCE MAKE HIM ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY UNPREDICTABLE COMICS IN THE COUNTRY” – The Sunday Times

In just a very short time Reginald D Hunter has become firmly established himself as one of the most sought after headline comedians on the comedy circuit. Audiences everywhere have been enthralled by his straight-talking, no-holds-barred approach to some of the most contentious issues of contemporary society.

Subsource

5 raucous nut-cases laying down the most insane concoction of live Electro, Breakbeat, Dance music with frenetic Punk-Rock energy, with real-time sampling triggered effortlessly over sweat drenched dance grooves and distorted vocals.

The sound of Subsource inspires comparison to The Prodigy, Pendulum and Reprazent – and their stage shows have to be seen to be believed. This has earnred them regular tour dates with artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Pest and Hextatic as well as invitations to every major U.K festival including Glade, Secret Garden Party and Glastonbury.

360

Possibly Birmingham’s biggest dance band – 360 are an 8 piece “live” band, bringing excitement to stages and transmitting that to the audience, who never fail to pick it up, run with it and dance for all they are worth. All their material is original – most of which is written by their guitar-playing singer Ross Lydon. There’s influences of reggae and ska to their music but upon listening further you will quickly begin to realise that there is more. Much more: more melody, more catches and more rock.

Cellardoor

Cellardoor kick out a volatile mix of epic riffs and glorious post rock textures.

The West Bromwich based three-piece draw on influences as disparate as Battles and Russian Circles whilst honing a distinctive, uncompromising sound all of their own.

Their set at the Digital Dystopia show will emerge from the Buzz Box audience participation cacophony. The band has been rehearsing with the buzz boxes and can’t wait to hear how the audience uses them.

Free Control

Leicester based band Free Control navigate their way through a diverse breadth of styles. Subtle vocal arrangements, intricate bass lines, and stylish guitars form an intense combination of progressive melodies with an electronica edge.

Beats of pure gold gather momentum through twisted ballads and breaks amassing music to make your heart sing. Performances feature backdrops provided by visual arist and collaborator The Lab. Collectively they gig around the UK favouring underground and unusual venues.

Arc Vel

Creating loose rhythms that bind organic sounds with magnetic melodies; Arc Vel’s music plays tug of war with glitches, noise and skipping beats.

Inspired by bands as much as electronic artists as highlighted by Teletext’s review – “with the complexity of Battles and the warmth of Sigur Ros,” Arc Vel’s music will lap your toes, sting your eyes and warm your cockles.

http://www.myspace.com/arcvel

Rich Batsford

“Each piece brimmed with an inherent sense of poignancy .. created a spectral ambience which made him stand out from other composers. Utterly spell-binding.” – Birmingham Post

Rich Batsford earned his reputation as one of the most talented emerging composer/performers in the UK today with a collection of solo piano music that has been compared to Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, Ludovico Einaudi, Brian Eno, Keith Jarrett, George Winston, Claude Debussy and Eric Satie and has won praise from fans of Acoustic, Ambient, Breakbeat, Classical, Experimental, IDM, Indie, New Age and many other genres.

Marc Reck

Marc Reck’s name has become synonymous with explosive dj sets, groundbreaking events and innovative collaborations in his home city of Birmingham.

Though most known for his floor filling breakbeat sets for Custom Made, Drop Beats Not Bombs, Rockfall and many more, Marc has developed a multi genre approach to his craft and works alongside various dancers, performers, vjs, and musicians both in and out of the studio.

Shana Tova

Weaving pop anthems from candy shoelaces and crafting gingerbread birdhouses for their intricate arpeggio sprinkled heartworks Shana Tova have quickly become one of the UK’s brightest hopes for future success.

“The agenda is that every song had to be a bullseye” said guitarist Geordie recently. “Too many supposedly classic artists release music that falls short. Indie in it’s purest form gets pushed aside by trends, like the disco-indie herd: As long as at least a few of us remember what real music is it will never be lost.”

Aa’shiq Al Rasul

Aashiq al-Rasul

Aa’shiq Al Rasul are classically trained singers / percussionists who perform an impressive repertoire of contemporary / traditional nasheeds in Arabic, Urdu and English.

Their debut album ‘Blessed Mustafa’ received great critical acclaim and was soon followed by ‘Divine Lights’, the group’s excellent rendition of the Asma ul-Husna, or Beautiful Names of God. ‘The Chosen One’ went on to further develop their distinctive sound – a combination of rousing, powerful vocals backed by exciting live percussion.

Mixmaster Morris

Mixmaster Morris has spent the last 20 years spreading love around the globe with his irresistible force releases, and at clubs from the Hacienda and Megadog to Pacha and the Viper Rooms.

He’s played many festivals including 9 Glastonburys, 8 Love Parades, 16 Big Chills and 3 Bestivals. He wrote for NME, MixMag, and I-D magazine, presented shows for LBC, Kiss FM and BBC London, and provided music for BBC plays and even Doctor Who.

Mix Master was nominated Chillout DJ of the Year at the Ibiza DJ awards, and is nominated again in 2008. Nowadays he runs downtempo night Nubient, now in it’s 12th year; does radio shows for Samurai FM and R.Fm, and programs music for hotels and bars!

VJ Chromatouch

Leon Trimble is a Photographer, Videographer, Visualist and takes the role of Project X Presents visual co ordinator. Vjing as Chromatouch locally & internationally in clubs, at concert venues & music festivals he has gained a consistent reputation for exciting images and stage screen layouts. Fulldome 360° venues; HDR imaging; body movement capture; stitching video; MIDI control; immersive environments; recreating movement from stills and sequencing narrative.

He helped start Jigsawmusic. Festival work includes The Big Chill, Shambala, Bloom and Drop Beats not Bombs, Fierce Festival, Artsfest and Avit. He has played with many and varied DJs and Live acts of International renown, from Lydia Lunch to Zero 7.

Lil Ms Vix Buzzfox

Ms Vix Buzzfox

Bursting from the ether realm called the Über-Vixen Dimension, flame-haired, singing and guitar-playing rock goddess Vix is perhaps best known up until this point as the lead singer/songwriter of all-girl band We’ve got Fuzzbox and we’re gonna use it!!

Object X

Object X are a team within Project X Presents who collaborate to produce interactive, sound and light creations that explore the psychology of play.

The group comprises a group of whiz kids whose experience extends to adventures in theatre, large scale site specific arts projects and rocket science.

The Buzz Boxes

Buzz Boxes

Quiet simply they are hand held boxes that buzz!

The sound can be controlled by the user with a knob or a sound hole to manipulate or vibrate the noise that emerges from a tiny speaker inside. Each box has an output for amplification.

Object X manufactured 36 of the devices in their laboratory one spring weekend and have been road testing them at parties and rehearsals ever since.

Loopz

Steve Loopz

Steve Price (a.k.a. Loopz) has always been involved in music in one form or another! It all began for Loopz when he saw the Orbital perform Chime on Top of the Pops and became hooked.

The connection with Orbital has remained strong. Pretty soon Steve was winning awards for his work on the Orbital website and he began moving in the same circles as the band with dj-ing appearance alongside a role call of respected artists such as Paul Hartnoll (Orbital), Venetian Snares, U-ziq, Esem, H.I.A., Chevron, Ochre, Frog Pocket, Bong Ra, Pemalas, Dep.Art.Ment, Arcade and K-Formation. Loopz also dj’d at various music nights in the UK and one venture to De Kelder in Holland. His sets varied from chill out, IDM to experimental electronica.

Iain Armstrong

Iain Armstrong is a Birmingham based composer/sound artist producing work for fixed media intended for concert diffusion, home listening, radio and installation. Working with found sounds recorded from the sound environment he aims to exploit the inherent musicality of this material through digital analysis, manipulation and transformation. This frequently results in organic structures and soundscapes that explore familiar and abstract sound objects and their interactions. As an ex-member of BEAST Iain’s music is regularly diffused on multi-channel loudspeaker systems around the UK and his work has featured in several international festivals and concerts.

Khalgani

The Khalgani dancers are widely considered to be the UK’s premiere Tribal Bellydance troupe. Established since 1998, their line up of 12 dancers regularly participate in festivals and other events country-wide with choreographed and improvised shows that captivate audiences with their blend of American belly dance style with tribal fusion.

Justin Bond

Justin Bond has DJ’ed at parties, clubs & warehouses since the late 1980’s playing a mish mash of electro, acid house, detroit techno, funk and balearic. He was also a lover and avid collector of soundtracks, world music and ambient works all of which can be heard in his chillout sets today.

Justin is also one half of Birmingham champions of chillout ’Loafers Lounge’ who have been responsible for memorable events at Drop Beats Not Bombs, Custom Made and others. There are no pre planned set lists with Justin – he just plays what he feels right at the time. Just expect to hear beautiful, strange & interesting music.

Movers and Shakers

As well as the many talented artists detailed above PXP shows would not happen without the dedication of various technical and admin bods. We don’t propose to list them here (they know who they are) but they deserve a mention. We wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of some of Birmingham’s coolest people giving their skills in support of the ethos. We thank everyone who has ever done anything for PXP off stage.