Mike Freear is the fearless originator of Slamboree, a huge mixed bag of circus performers, musicians, daredevils and entertainers. No two of their shows are ever the same, and musically you’ll hear influences from every tribe worldwide, from dubstep to Balkan songs. Tey are the perfect band to see at a festival, as they totally embody the festival vibe, man, and luckily enough they’ll be rocking up at Symmetry Festival right here in Norfolk this month. I had a chat with Mike himself to find out more.
ow did you first form as a collective? I wanted to combine electronic music with a full live
band and an expansive collective of stage performers and visual artists. I came back from travelling in 2011 on a mission to make this happen and travelled around the country meeting with people I’d either been friends with for years or had clocked at festivals whom I could tell were the right kind of passionate maniacs to be able to work well together. It all kicked off in March that year and as we got more confident in the stage show we started throwing fire and pyrotechnics in the mix. What sort of backgrounds do the members of Slamboree have? It’s a really mixed bag. Members of the collective come from backgrounds in music, theatre, circus, events planning and organisation. I guess the binding force is the mega passion for festivals! What are some of the most unusual places you’ve played? Te Arcadia stages win hands down; as fire, bass and quirky machinery strike a massive chord with us! Tamesis Dock Boat on the river Tames was pretty amazing especially with the small space we managed to pack ourselves into. And then there’s the disused aircraft hangar in Germany to 8000 people, which was unbelievable. Who do YOU enjoy seeing perform live? A perfect day for me would be an afternoon with Nils Frahm and Yann Tiersen, an evening with Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a night with Te Prodigy and Te Chemical
38 / June 2015/
outlineonline.co.uk
Brothers, and a morning after with Brian Eno and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Touring must be pretty tricky in terms of hauling so much equipment and so many people around? Yes, yes it is. It’s a logistical cluster bomb actually, with fragments all over the place. Tankfully, now in our fourth year we have a fantastic tour manager who’s stepped in to help us have less nervous breakdowns, arguments and sleepless nights. Much of your sound and performance appears to be rooted in ancient social traditions. Do you feel like what you’re doing is adding to those global folk traditions? We are all people who have roots in the festival world. Tat world is quite tribal and retains a lot of those old traditions. It’s all about people from different places both geographically and artistically coming together to celebrate life in whatever way they can. We recently brought the Morris dance into a track after discovering it synchronises perfectly to absolutely any tempo or style. Try it yourself with YouTube videos of Morris dancers and be amazed! How much of your show is improvised? It’s half and half really. Within the routines we create lots of room for improvisation both musically and theatrically. Te different combinations of performers at each gig (we really enjoy mixing it up so there’s a different energy each time) is the basis of this, and so much just comes to light on the night. Tis makes it really exciting to be involved with and is a big part of the nature of the band. But it doesn’t stop at the stage, we
see the audience as the biggest part of the performance; it’s not about the music, the visuals or the dance. It’s about the celebration and during that hour long or whatever performance we are all in the zone together bouncing back and forth. It’s a real two-way process. What musical influences would you say have affected your sound? For me Slamboree is like a festival experience in an hour long performance. Te sound and vision is that of a person going around from stage to stage. It can be quite diverse. Its got this mad folk and funk element mixed with electronic madness and soulful orchestration. Te members each have quite a diverse understanding of music. Its like a bunch of people who have been to different corners of Glastonbury, from the Green Fields, to the dance village to the circus field to the world music stage, bumping into each other at the stone circle, going batshit crazy and having one big party. What sort of performance can we expect at Symmetry Festival this year? Is there anything new you’re trying out for the first time? All of us are really excited to be playing Symmetry. Expect a full on 110% Slamboree experience with a fun-ometer that goes up to 11. Tere will be a lot of surprises: just make sure you are there to experience it.
Lizz Page
Slamboree headline the Clockwork Stage at Symmetry Festival 12th-14th June at Sennowe Park in Guist. Check the deets at
symmetryfestival.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64