Consultancy

Consultancy and Project Management

Capsule provide consultancy and project management for a range of clients, having worked within the area of sonic/visual practice since 1999 we have developed expert knowledge within our field, and are able to extend this service to work with other organisations and company's within the region, nationally and internationally. Capsule have provided consultancy on several projects involving sound/media and digital arts and see this as a key service within our portfolio.

To contact Capsule regarding consultancy or project management please phone Lisa Meyer or Jenny Moore
Tel: 0121 248 2252
Email: info@capsule.org.uk

Capsule are co-ordinating a CD Comp of West Midlands acts to take to SXSW in Austn, Texas.
10 tracks have been selected by Geoff Dolman @ Static Caravan, Ned Beckett@ LittleBig and Barry Hogan @ ATP.

The chosen artists are:
Modified Toy Orchestra
Brian Duffy set the bar pretty high for the MTO, his remit was only to use discarded kid's keyboards and talking toys to modify & circuit bend them beyond their original capabilities. These are perfect pop songs made from imperfect instruments.
www.warmcircuit.com

Pram
Pram make beautiful, ethereal music which doesn't so much evoke a distant time but a far away world, one full of wonder and ripe for discovery. A soundtrack to Victorian England as seen through the eyes of a Monte Carlo cocktail, haunting and mesmerising.
www.myspace.com/pushthepram

Richard Burke
This beautiful track signals the arrival of a big new folk talent, this lovelorn, simple melody is perfectly complimented by a rich, world weary vocal that is as evocative as it is comforting & soothing.
www.myspace.com/richardburke

Krafla
Mixing live instruments and electronica is a difficult balancing act, but Krafla manage superbly, adding layers of depth and instrumentation to fragile song structures and delicate melodies.
www.krafla.co.uk

D. Louis Baker
This track features a dark yet achingly sweet melody full of love, found, lost and found again. Incredibly atmospheric, a beautiful melody that is so simple that it's hard to believe no one has used it before, thankfully for Mr. baker and us they haven't.
www.myspace.com/dlouisbakerfriends

Knives
These kids genuinely had to get this music out of their system by any means necessary, they literally bleed into their instruments, full of bittersweet emotion, and a heaving raw intensity that puts homogenised rock to shame, this heady, passionate punk rock racket isn't afraid to confront its feminine side, leave it on show for all to see & rip it shreds.
www.myspace.com/weareknives

The Arm
In a world of conventional bands with conventional song structures its refreshing to find The Arm, discordant rhythmic time changes, throbbing bass and wild keyboards, with an intensity all their own they cut a unique voice in the world of instrumental post rock.
www.the-arm.co.uk

Haddonfield Illinois
Have you ever wondered what a band comprised of the bastard offspring of John Carpenter and born into the heavy metal Mecca that is Birmingham would sound like? The answer would be this, clearly influenced by 70's Italian zombie films they take the 3 chord punk ethos of yesteryear and apply it to synthesizers, electro beats and layers of noise to create a strain of mutant electronic doom.
www.myspace.com/haddonfieldillinois

Sika Redem
The West Midlands has always had a knack of being on the cutting edge of metal whether its with the forefathers of the genre, Black Sabbath, the early thrash of Napalm Death or it's newest hopes Sika Redem, who somehow manage to have more creativity in one ten minute track than most bands cover in a complete LP. Complex intricate rhythms combine with crushingly heavy riffs all containing a melodic edge that metal so often forgets about.
www.sikaredem.com

Copter
How do you sell rock n roll back to America? The answer quite obviously is Copter. It's all about primeval garage rock with dirty blues riffs and a singer that doesn't just talk the talk, but walks the walk and then some. This is the kind of track that would kick start that early morning house party come riot that memories are made of.
www.coptercentral.com

Creative Alliance Project - Visual Arts strand. Capsule are the lead mentors for this project working to provide an imaginative way todevelop professional and personal development training for emergent artists in the West Midlands region. The first round included the 'Love, Luck and Lollipops' exhibition held at the Custard Factory.
http://www.lovelucklollipops.com
http://www.creativealliance.org.uk/

UKI Trade Partners
In 2004 capsule were commissioned by UKI Trade Partners to co-ordinate a mission taking a selection of West Midland based creative companies to Sonar * festival in Barcelona. A stall was set up in the record/media fair held each year at sonar and a promotional CD featuring acts from each label was produced. This gave all the companies a presence within the festival increasing their opportunity to promote to an international audience and network with key members of the music industry.

This project initiated the BPI 's first appearance at Sonar festival this year, providing an official presence for the UK music industry. Capsule worked closely with the BPI which resulted in 3 tracks from Birmingham based labels being included on a further compilation CD. This CD featured UK labels performing or attending this year's festival, including acts from WARP, DOMINO, LEX, NOVAMUTE.

For 2005 Capsule will be continuing the project for the West Midlands and in addition have been selected by UKTI to produce a compilation CD and organise a reception event for the UK Music presence at Sonar 2005.

IKON Gallery / Creative Partnerships
Young Curators: Capsule are currently delivering an innovative training scheme with Ikon gallery and Creative partnerships, working with pupils from 5 schools in Birmingham to develop their skills as curators and produce 2 exhibitions within the Ikon gallery's events room.

Dazed & Confused Magazine
In 2003 Capsule curated the Birmingham leg of Dazed & Confused's RE:CREATION tour, with live performances from Wevie Stonder / Schwab / DeadSunRising and DJ Sets from Punjabi Hit Squad.

Fierce Festival
Capsule has worked with Fierce! over the past 4 years to present innovative and challenging Live sonic/visual events as part of the Fierce Festival programme, Fierce have worked regularly with Capsule as they are confident that Capsule can ensure a diverse audience and high quality events . 2004's event included performances from legendary artists Marc Almond, Lydia Lunch to emergent acts Selfish C*nt and Noxagt.

Feed Festival
In 2004 capsule collaborated with Feed Festival to present an exclusive UK performance by Japanese king of noise MERZBOW, a pioneer of the extreme scene. Joined by another Japanese electro prankster COM.A (tigerbeat) plus CEEPHAX aka Andy Jenkinson, the indescribable undesirable DJ SHITMAT (planet mu) and DJ X B'hams self styled "DarkLord" of DrumNBass. Including Broken Channel AV work using survelliance + CCTV cameras with live performance by Kaffe Matthews + Riz Maste

Hospital Festival
In 2002 Lisa Meyer curated the Sonic Visual programme for Hospital Festival - produced by the Lighthouse in Brighton. Lisa curated 3 sound events, Warp records night: Brothomstates (live) Mira Calix, Warp Djs + film screenings; Fat cat records night and a capsule extravaganza with live sets from girls mike in mono, floach, Dj sets from Capsule girls & dr.lies.
Panel Discussion
Lisa Meyer was invited to sit on a panel discussion about "The dismantling of the arts hierarchy" alongside the following people William Bennett (Whitehouse), Julian Weaver, Jack Sargeant (Chair)