THE FERAL FOUR

cut & paste this link for a clip of the F4 in action: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnR5DxQRCSA

'THE FERAL FOUR' WAS A PERFORMANCE MADE IN WINTER 2009, AS PART OF A ZINE LAUNCH EVENT HELD AT THE STAGS HEAD PUB IN DALSTON, LONDON, UK. 'SPLITTING THE ATOM ON DALSTON LANE' WAS WRITTEN BY AARON WILLIAMSON (PUBLISHED BY EEL) AND IS ABOUT THE ARTISTIC AND POLITICAL IMPACT OF LATE 1970'S DIY POST PUNK GROUP, 'THE DESPERATE BICYCLES', AS SEEN THROUGH AN IN DEPTH PSYCHOGEOGRAPHIC TOUR OF DALSTON, IN WHICH THE AUTHOR RECOUNTS VISITS TO SITES SUCH AS 'DALLAS FRIED CHICKEN', AND A BUILDING SITE, WHERE 'THE DESPERATE BICYCLES', DIY INSTIGATORS, ORIGINALLY RECORDED AND PERFORMED THEIR MUSIC.

'THE FERAL FOUR' (AARON WILLIAMSON, SIMON RAVEN, PAULINE SMITH, YUKO) TOOK TO THE TINY STAGE WEARING HAND MADE, CHARITY SHOP KNOCK OFFS OF COLLAR-LESS 1960'S BEATLES SUITS, MOP TOP WIGS AND WHITE MAKE-UP, AND SCREAMED FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES, IN A MANNER REMINISCENT OF HYSTERICAL 'BEATLEMANIA' FANS. AARON (MAUL) WET HIMSELF, I TRIED TO, AND WE ALL FOAMED AT THE MOUTH (HAVING IMBIBED A MIXTURE OF SODIUM BICARBONATE, AND SOME OTHER CHEMICALS PREPARED BY DR WILLIAMSON, WHICH WHEN SWILLED IN THE MOUTH PRODUCED A STREAM OF FOAM)

THE PERFORMANCE WAS MEAN'T TO HAVE BEEN RECORDED DIRECTLY TO ACETATE, FOR INSTANT PLAYBACK BY RESIDENT DJ, 'NERVOUS STEPHEN'. UNFORTUNATELY THE RECORD CUTTER BROKE EARLIER IN THE NIGHT, SO HE PLAYED 'HELP' INSTEAD.