Hebden Bridge's electronic blitz

Fans of electronic music are in for a treat as Hebden Bridge Arts Festival have booked some of the UK's most exciting acts.

Legendary DJ Rusty Egan is playing a rare Northern DJ set after The Kingdom Come audio-visual performance, and sets by U.V. and Hebden Bridge’s Pete Duggal, at the Trades Club on Saturday, June 24. Egan was at the heart of the New Romantic movement playing tracks from early electronic pioneers like Kraftwerk at their Blitz Club headquarters before going on to form Visage with Midge Ure and scoring a worldwide hit with Fade to Grey. He will be on the decks after Gazelle Twin’s audio visual show, inspired by J G Ballard’s final novel. The Gazelle Twin’s show was commissioned for the influential Future Everything festival but local electronic music producer and composer Pete Duggal was determined to bring it to Hebden Bridge.

He said: “I went to see Gazelle Twin’s Ballard inspired set at Manchester Art Gallery, and the combination of sound, music, performance and visuals was intense, powerful and utterly hypnotic.”

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“Last year I was invited to perform with Kraftwerk’s Wolfgang Flur at the Seventh Wave Festival in Birmingham where I met Rusty Egan who gave a talk on music, life and his experiences that was wild, funny and sad. Rusty played a number of his own pioneering pieces of work and when the opportunity arose to curate a night for the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival, I put together a wishlist and these were the two artists at the top.”

As an extra treat Rusty Egan is doing a special Q&A session at 6pm on June 24 for 30 ticket holders who can apply to join the event.

On the same night at Wainsgate Chapel the Minerva Scientifica Electric Voice Theatre stage the Superwomen of Science celebrating the achievements of pioneering UK female scientists. Thanks to TV stars such as Prof Brian Cox, science is now a hugely popular subject, and Frances M Lynch stars in a show that uses music ancient and modern to tell the stories of some remarkable female scientists who have changed lives with their discoveries.

On Sunday, June 25, also at Wainsgate Chapel, folktronic singer Minute Taker joins forces with animation artist Ana Stefaniak to create To Love Somebody Melancholy. The duo will take people through the highs and lows of the creative process using projected films set to live piano-driven songs, ethereal harmonies and synthesisers.

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Electronic music will also feature in The Political Power of Music presented by former Faithless and Dido guitarist Dave Randall in Drink? Bar on Wednesday 29 June. Visit hebdenbridgeartsfestival.co.uk or buy tickets at Hebden Bridge Town Hall, Mon-Fri.

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