ANDREW WEATHERALL PRESENTS
CONVENANZA
ANDREW WEATHERALL
A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE
FANTASTIC TWINS
CURSES
HAILU MERGIA
ATA KAK
+ SPECIAL GUEST:
DAVID KEENAN
(FABER & FABER)
27—28 SEPTEMBER 2019
CARCASSONNE CASTLE, FRANCE
ABOUT
Welcome to a festival like no other, in the most stunning festival setting in the world.
This will be the 7th edition of Convenanza. Every year in September, Andrew Weatherall and Bernie Fabre host a selection of left-field live acts and DJs...
Andrew fell in love with Carcassonne medieval castle a few years ago, and decided to create his festival there...
He did some research on the Cathars, a religious group which was persecuted by the catholic church and expelled from Carcassonne castle in 1209... That’s why he named the festival Convenanza: it’s the formal rite that made a Cathar listener a believer.
Convenanza is set in the picturesque location of Carcassonne medieval castle, the most jaw-dropping venue you’ve ever seen. It is the perfect location for our vision of an intimate festival, carefully curated for those who are looking for a more refined weekend.
ANDREW WEATHERALL
Ever the romantic, the outsider, he adheres to Billy Childish’s ethos of amateurism. In the words of Billy “what you need is an amateur status because an amateur does it for love and for interest. They’re engaged in a more intelligent way”.
He’s not just an artist who sticks two fingers up at the mainstream, but one who respectfully says it’s not for him. Defiantly uncategorisable, you can expect to hear any genre of music on his radio shows, from obscure rockabilly to current electronic music, as well as dub, krautrock, 60’s garage, 70’s psych...
He opens every night at the festival with a selection of obscure gems (the now famous Music’s Not For Everyone sessions!) from his collection.
A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE
Andrew and Sean bring their A Love From Outer Space party to Convenanza every year. Expect dizzying selections of sleazy narco-disco informed by new beat, acid house, dub and kosmische... the manifesto of their night is to never knowingly exceed 122bpm. Andrew describes the night as “an oasis of slowness in a world of increasing velocity”. The infectious uptake of ALFOS’s premise has been undeniable, with tours around the UK, jaunts across the continent, numerous festival slots and more recently, the establishment of a Glasgow base at the Berkeley Suite: an appropriately meteoric ascendency. In the words of Sean “the highlight of the ALFOS calendar is always Andrew’s Convenanza Festival in the South of France...”.
FANTASTIC TWINS (LIVE)
Julienne Dessagne aka Fantastic Twins is an Optimo and Hippie Dance label mainstay, releasing tracks that would not sound out of place on the Drive soundtrack or a Lynchian film. Records dripping with woozy synths, creeping, reverberating vocals and copious clashing cymbals. After she had the Renate and Mexico dancefloors transfixed, Julienne is bringing her analogue-driven live show to the castle.
According to Keith (Optimo) and Ivan Smagghe, she's one of the best live acts at the moment and has just released her new EP “Lost In Germany” on Optimo Music’s new imprint Against Fascism Trax.
She has also just started her own label "Microdosing" on which she will release a series of compilation 12”s selected by herself and designed in collaboration with French visual artist Geff Pellet. The first volume features music by dream team Autarkic, Naum Gabo, Manfredas, Smagghe & Cross and Julienne.
CURSES (LIVE)
The New York / Berlin based Curses is known for blending his rock & roll roots with the darker side of disco and electro. In both his DJ and live sets, Curses incorporates his ghostly vocals and guitar with flashes of EBM, new wave, post-punk, and psychedelic synth vibes.
Releasing selectively on well respected underground labels such as Bordello A Parigi, Throne Of Blood, Ombra INTL and Relish, he also runs a Rinse France monthly radio residency showcasing artists who share a love for mixing the weird and wonderful. Curses finally dropped a long awaited debut full length on Dischi Autunno in 2018 and is releasing a mini LP for Convenanza on Höga Nord. Pre-order here.