Capsule is delighted to announce they have been awarded a grant of £60,000 over two years from Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The award will be used toward capacity and organisational development in particular the successful delivery of forthcoming projects Home of Metal and Supersonic 2011, and the development of a five year plan.

We are really grateful to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for recognising the contribution we are making to the region and further a-field. The grant will be of enormous benefit to Capsule  and particularly help secure our future during these uncertain times. It’s wonderful to get recognition from such a prestigious organisation.

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Arts programme supports the development and dissemination of new ideas to increase people’s experience, enjoyment and involvement in the arts.

Home of Metal have teamed up with photographer Steve Gerrard to offer an unsigned band the chance of winning a free Band Photoshoot!
Steve has been an accredited photographer for bands such as Radiohead, Metallica, Kiss, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Iron Maiden, The Sex Pistols, Bon Jovi and Kings Of Leon. His work has been published in magazines including Rolling Stone, Kerrang!, NME, Terrorizer, Metal Hammer and Rock Sound.

You could win your band a variety of great portraits to help you stand out from the crowd.

To be in with a chance of being photographed by Steve, all you have to do is tell us in less than 200 words: who your local West Midlands music hero is an why?

Email the answer along with the name of your band, location and contact phone number to [email protected]

Closing date for entries is 14th March.

The competition coincides with our Home of Metal open day at The Public on March 26th. Fans of all ages are invited to bring along their memorabilia and stories to be recorded for the digital archive. Home Of Metal is looking for everything from concert tickets to photographs, badges, album covers, t-shirts and flyers relating to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Diamond Head, Magnum and Napalm Death.

Hosted by Kerrang! Radio DJ Johnny Doom who will be talking to former ‘Raw Power’ presenter, Ozzfest compere and all round metal expert Krusher. In addition Juneau Projects will be showing you how you can make your very own DIY guitar + loads of rockin fun family activities!

Free event all ages welcome 11am – 4pm
http://www.thepublic.com

On Friday, 11th February Home of Metal will be joining the celebrations at Scruffy Murphys. It’s the rock pub’s 10th Birthday and they’ll be celebrating it in true metal fashion with a night of live doom and stoner metal featuring Birmingham’s very own Sally.

We’ll be bringing along photographer Steve Gerrard who’ll be taking your portraits to contribute to the ongoing collection of fan photos, that could feature in one of our Home of Metal exhibitions.

See you all there!

Scruffy Murphy’s, Newton Street, Dale End, Birmingham, B4 7LN

Marketing and Audience Development Assistant, Capsule + Home of Metal

F/T to August 2011 (Mid Jan start required)
£5.80 p/hour (£11,310.00 pro rata)

This is an exciting Future Jobs Fund Opportunity for anyone aged 18-25 who has been unemployed for a minimum of 6 months and is looking to forge a career in the arts.

You will work closely with the Programme Directors at Capsule on all aspects of Capsule’s day-to-day activities with a particular focus on ‘Home Of Metal’ – an exhibition across the West Midlands.

Duties will include general administration, research, copywriting, artist and artwork logistics.  You must be able to work unsupervised, have a good understanding of how to use social networking tools, copywriting skills, basic photoshop, passion for music and the arts, an eye for detail and excellent communication skills. Degree level or equivalent is preferred.

To apply for this position please send your CV and a covering letter / statement outlining your interest and experience to:
Lisa Meyer, [email protected] using ‘Marketing and Audience Development Assistant’ in the subject.

Deadline for receipt of CV and covering letter              – 5th Jan
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview on     – 7th Jan
Initial briefing with successful candidate                – 14th Jan

For more information please contact:
Lisa Meyer, [email protected] or 0121 248 2252

This post is offered through the Future Jobs Fund. To be eligible to apply you must be aged 18-24 and be claiming job seekers allowance. The post is offered for 6 months from January 2011. 30 hrs per week at minimum wage rates.

Great review of Supersonic Festival in the latest issue of The Wire, especially good to note that Birmingham and the Black Country are starting to be branded as the ‘Home Of Metal’ in the music press. This comes just as we have appointed a designer for the BMAG show which is happening next summer, Studio Myerscough who were responsible for the Matthew Boulton show and were the design curators for Vintage at Goodwood start work on the exhibition in January. We’re delighted to be working with both Morag & Luke , who have a very innovative approach to exhibition design and are sure will help us make ‘Home Of Metal‘ a real landmark show for the city.

The Wire review also made reference to the creative community around the Custard Factory, again encouraging to see that there is such a buzz around the ‘We Are Eastside‘ group.

The West Midlands and Birmingham in particular are ‘the Home Of Metal‘ – where founding fathers like Black sabbath and Judas Priest played their first shows and a second wave, including Napalm Death and Godflesh, spawned numerous subgenres…We get a sense of the diverse musical and artistic interest that fed into the Birmingham scene. It’s clear that the city’s current music community, or at least the one centred around the Custard Factory, is equally openminded – something which the organisers Capsule both cater to and take inspiration from.

Supersonic confirms that there’s certainly something in the air in Birmingham, or, as one of the organisers suggests, in the city’s architecture, that makes even the older artists come across as fresh. That’s because you’re not observing them on display in a ‘zoo’, but working in their natural habitat: a post-industrial space. So many other music festivals offer what you expect to hear, merely affirming your good taste in music, Supersonic is a place to be educated and surprised: new, experimental and intellectually nourishing material is cleverly smuggled in under a black cloak of fist-pumping riffs and cathartic noise.
David Moats – The Wire

Saturday was our final memorabilia collecting day at City 10 in Wolverhampton, it was a great day with some fantastic pieces brought in and a rad soundtrack provided by Dunc and Bill.

A spot of Black Sabbath colouring in

One of the regulars…

For all the family (this kid was wearing a ‘Sleepyhead’ Motorhead t-shirt!)

Killer DJ skills

Uber fans

And some great memorabilia!

Go to http://www.homeofmetal.com/ for more memorabilia and Home of Metal news…

Rob Haynes speaks to avant metal pioneer Justin Broadrick about getting the gang back together for a series of hellish shows…

The thunderous rock heritage bequested the world by the Midlands of England took a startlingly effective turn for the brutal in the late 1980s. Taking the genetic strain of genre progenitors Black Sabbath and the magnificent yob-metal/ punk blend that was Stoke’s Discharge, in 1987 Birmingham’s Napalm Death announced their arrival by inserting the rocket-fueled suppository of their Scum album into the extreme scene. Guitarist on that debut was Justin Broadrick, whose fidgety musical imagination led him to depart after one side of their debut release, first to the drum stool of cult alt-noisers Head of David and then on to a project he could call his own – the mighty Godflesh. Amid the fertile noise scene as it stood, Godflesh – with Broadrick on guitar and vocals, GC Green (Benny to his friends) on bass, and an appropriately relentless drum machine – hit a midway point between the neurotic spite of Big Black and the death-knell hammer blows of Swans.

Read full Justin Broadrick interview on The Quietus
Godflesh play their first UK show in over 10 years &  join Swans, Melt Banana, Voice Of The Seven Thunders, Lichens and many more for this years Supersonic Festival 22nd – 24th OCTOBER
Weekend Tickets available here: www.theticketsellers.co.uk
www.seetickets.com

It’s been a grey, rainy day in Wolverhampton so a big thank to you all who came down to the shop to pay us a visit today.

Fans have brought down some great artefacts including this scrapbook with a page dedicated to Judas Priest

A bit of Black Sabbath colouring in…

Come along tomorrow when Steve Gerrard will be photographing fans in their band t-shirts and we’ll be playing some records – let’s hope for sun…

If you can’t make it to Wolverhampton, you can submit memorabilia direct to http://www.homeofmetal.com/

Home of Metal @ City 10, Queen Square, Wolverhampton