Mistletone

$25 General Admission / $22 QAGOMA Members / Tickets on sale 1 October 2014 / Booking fees apply when purchased in advance.
Limited tickets available at the door.
Please note: Doors open from 5.30pm. The ‘Future Beauty’ exhibition is open until 9.45pm.

• “It’s a perfect amalgam of programmed acid lines that seem about to ooze blood and live drums that mimic a man-machine” – PITCHFORK
• “Post industrial, but it moves beyond that; this is post-apocalyptic, the soundtrack of an underworld disco” – NME
• “Tech-savvy, pared-down no wave electronic rock” – FACT

North London based Factory Floor have garnered a powerful reputation off the strength of their definitive, self-titled LP which came out back in September 2013 on DFA (and locally on Liberator Music). The immersive framework of Factory Floor has shifted from an all-out noise assault into a much more spacious and confident exploration of techno, minimal, acid and post-industrial qualities. The combustive power of their live show, driven by the impact of their drums and depth of their droning, creates a wall of sound that physically encloses itself around your head. Tickets on sale for all shows now.

Perhaps the most unlikely aspect of Factory Floor’s rise to notoriety is their versatility. Even their most ardent of fans describe their sound as punishing, yet they are equally at home playing raves, alternative festivals, art galleries, cinemas, nightclubs and rock shows; on top of that they’re as likely to collaborate with such esteemed artists as Chris & Cosey, the Pop Group’s Mark Stewart, New York disco maven Peter Gordon, Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire, Simon Fisher Turner and contemporary artists such as Haroon Mirza and Hannah Sawtell; aligning themselves on an axis that embraces industrial, post-punk, disco, acid, avant-garde minimalism, electro, dub and — most crucially — the dancefloor. Upon signing to the legendary DFA label, label boss Jonathan Galkinwhose boss declared, “It had a presence to it that was the same feeling I had when I saw, say, My Bloody Valentine in 1991 or Black Dice in 2001. It was just… exhilaratingly full and loud and relentlessly rhythmic… sonically it came at you and attacked you.”

Factory Floor’s earliest releases for Optimo Music and London label Blast First Petite included a 10” plus DVD box set and a 12” featuring remixes from Christ Carter (Throbbing Gristle) and Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order). Their debut LP Factory Floor was a vivid snapshot of a progressive band, still in the ascendant, smashing through yet another ceiling. Produced and recorded by the group in their North London warehouse space on a vintage mixing desk originally used by Dave Stewart three decades ago to record all the Eurythmics’ early hits, Factory Floor is a visceral trip through the band’s repertoire.

The record opens with “Turn It Up,” their most minimal track to date, mixed in astonishing detail by Timothy “Q” Wiles (VCMG, Afrika Bambaataa). “Here Again” is almost (but not quite) their pop song, replete with cascading arpeggios counterbalanced by bubbly synth melody lines and plaintive vocals. Factory Floor also contains the definitive version of “Two Different Ways,” followed by the muscular and sleek “Fall Back.” “How You Say” finds the band channelling New York’s dance underground—think ESG and Delta Five. “Work Out” is anything but; despite the desultory title, it is in fact sinister street-sound electro. The album closes out with “Breathe In,” a funkified acid disco classic.

Within months of their formation back in 2005, Factory Floor’s astonishing gigs had earned them a rabidly devoted audience. Some of them were as much spiritual guides who heralded a new and singular talent arriving as they were fans. The trio figured that putting a demo in the post marked simply, “Stephen Morris: Macclesfield”, would be a good way to contact the Joy Division/New Order drummer. That it arrived at his house was surprising; his enthusiastic response to what he heard, less so. “I listened to the tracks ‘Lying’ and ‘Wooden Box’ and thought they were brilliant… In the tracks I could hear something which reminded me of the spirit of New Order in the early days… They were raw, chaotic, fantastic and different – everything I’ve ever liked in a band,” avowed Morris.