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From 2014 to 2017 Vundabar's Brandon Hagen cared for a loved one that had fallen into a debilitating state of mental and physical decline. For four years his sickness and the eventual loss that followed became the focal point of Hagen's life as well as his family's. It was the bell jar under which they lived. Hagen was fractured into two selves; one, largely insular, racked by grief and loss and the other putting it on, touring relentlessly and hoping to be as affable as possible lest he ruin the opportunities at hand. These were the fencings and borders he made for himself and for a time he let them stand. He presented a shell of charisma and withdrew into isolation and despair, convinced he was doing right by the old dogma of stoicism. He didn't tell a soul out of shame and embarrassment; whose he didn't know.
Unsurprisingly these two poles couldn't stand for long. The tension bore down on Hagen's skull until it felt something might break. It reared its ugly head from time to time. He became withdrawn, irritable and inactive and suffered more than one nervous break. It came to a point where he had to deal with it or it was going to deal with him.
In reflection Hagen realized the point that had led his loved one to a collapse and subsequent dissolution held parallels to his own. As a child, bereft of stability, he created a larger than life persona to live within. He buried his insecurities and traumas deep and kept them there for most of his adult life, until, unable to maintain the house on stilts he'd built for himself, he collapsed completely. And here Hagen was in the face of this loss, about to repeat the cycle.
Hagen wondered was this stoicism, this shame, this impasse even his own or had it been pressed upon him. From the earliest memories of boyhood he could recall one of the most integral attributes of male-ness being an ability to suppress emotion. Concealment was touted as a point of pride and here he watched as it leveled the one who held it in his hand.
'Smell Smoke', the band's anticipated 2018 follow up to their breakout 2015 album 'Gawk,' is an attempt at openness and vulnerability. It's an attempt at unlearning. It's a document of grief; a child crying into the dark.
Vundabar
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14 Mar, 2018
Hit The North Festival 2018
The Hit The North festival, takes place at various venues around Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, between 4th-6th May. The Horrors will headline on 6th May, and a whole host of Primary Talent artists will be participating over the weekend:
...The Horrors
...Circa Waves
...Tom Grennan
...Blaenavon
...Pale Waves
...The Magic Gang
...The Pale White
...Anteros
...Amaroun
...Art School Girlfriend
...Bad Sounds
...Denzel Himself
...Dylan Cartlidge
...Freak
...Ginger Snaps
...Malena Zavala
...Vundabar
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13 Mar, 2018
SXSW 2018
The SXSW music takes place around Austin, Texas from 12th-18th March and many Primary Talent International artists will be taking part. See the official SXSW website, for full scheduling details.
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
...Pale Waves
...Sunflower Bean
...Bad Gyal
...Nilufer Yanya
...Hinds
...Now, Now
...TOUTS
...Nothing, Nowhere
...Palm
...Vundabar
...Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
...Hop Along
...Son Little
...Cut Chemist
...Injury Reserve
...Kweku Collins -
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25 Jan, 2018
Liverpool Sound City 2018
Liverpool's Sound City festival will take place over the weekend of 5th & 6th May at various venues in the Baltic Triangle area of the city. A whole host of Primary Talent International artists will be taking part, see their artists pages for full details.
...DMA'S
...The Night Cafe
...Yellow Days
...Neon Waltz
...Paris Youth Foundation
...Puma Blue
...Alaskalaska
...Amaroun
...At School Girlfriend
...Benny Mails
...BLOXX
...Carmody
...Gaffa Tape Sandy
...Geowulf
...Ginger Snaps
...Husky Loops
...Kawala
...RedFaces
...Sorry
...Vistas
...Vundabar
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24 Jan, 2018
Vundabar: European Tour
Vundabar will tour thr Uk & Europe during April & May 2018.
See their artist page for details.