Stephen Kerrison 31/08/2026 Stephen Kerrison 31/08/2026

Real Life Missives - August ‘26

After a very quiet July, August is generally the month of the year I get out to see the most bands and this year was no exception. I made it to a couple of really excellent shows early in the month, first up was a.P.A.t.T. at Archive, who were as chaotic yet singularly focussed as ever, playing some really excellent new material too. I’ve seen a.P.A.t.T. many times over the years and their current line up is really strong, I’m really looking forward to a new record by them!
They were supported by The DSM IV, who I’ve meant to check out for a while, and they were brilliant too. Fronted by ex- Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster frontman Guy McKnight, their super atmospheric post-punk/goth tinged performance could’ve been a headline set in itself.

I managed to catch No Peeling at Outpost a few days later, who I adored. Just the right balance of clattery skronk and propulsive groove with super deadpan and funny, clever lyrics, both of their 7” EPs came home with me. Any fans of quintessential Nottingham/Leeds DIY indie should absolutely get on this band asap. Another great Wrong Speed Records signing.

August also brings ArcTanGent Festival, so I packed my tent and headed down to Somerset for four days of watching bands and eating tacos. I really love ArcTanGent as a festival, it’s the perfect size to feel big enough to be a ‘big’ festival, but small enough to be easily manageable and see everything you want see. Their commitment to making it all focussed on the music is admirable (there’s pretty much nothing else to do other than watch bands, which to me is absolutely perfect), and as a result I saw some outstanding sets from both artists I already loved and ones who were completely new to me.

It was a thrill to see Alpha Male Tea Party, Sans Froid and No Violet, all of whom I’d mastered their latest albums, turn in belting performances in front of massive crowds, as well as a whole bunch of favourites like Cardiacs, Napalm Death, Zu, Katheryn Joseph and Chat Pile. It’s also wonderful to discover some truly mind-blowing artists that I’d never come across before, like Otay:Onii, Shearling and Believe in Nothing, all of whom were brilliant and inspiring, as well as being completely disparate in style.

It’s obviously great to see the big headliners (that Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas set is a performance I won’t forget in a hurry…), but the thing that strikes me most about the festival is no matter how ‘small’ a lot of the bands lower on the bill are, the tents always seem to be packed (shout out to Worn Out for getting a circle pit going at 11:02am), and every band who I’ve seen play before seems to play the best sets I’ve ever seen them do. Everyone just shows up and rises to the occasion, which is both a testament to the quality of the booking and the passion for somewhat ‘outsider’ music that ArcTanGent seems to attract. And of course it was fantastic to catch up with a whole bunch of great people who I don’t get to see very often.

And as if that wasn’t enough, to round off the month I popped along to the legendary, and unfortunately not long for this world, White Hotel in Manchester to see Part Chimp and the always beautiful Sly & The Family Drone, on the day of their latest album release, no less. I was proud to have been asked to master ‘With Love’, and to get to see them play on its release day was a total pleasure.

August was soundtracked by: Metallica, Furii, Get The Blessing, Enablers

Stephen Kerrison 07/07/2026 Stephen Kerrison 07/07/2026

Real Life Missives - June 2026

I absolutely adored Agriculture’s ‘The Spiritual Sound’ album from 2025 (released on The Flenser, home to so many incredible bands), so when they announced a show in Manchester I was all over it. It’s obvious from their recorded output, and to anyone who’s watched their excellent KEXP live session, that Agriculture are more than just a ‘black metal’ band, but actually seeing them play together for the best part of 90 minutes made me question whether they were really a metal band at all. Their set was heavy of course, but it was also highly experimental, organic, inclusive and joyous, like they weren’t playing at you but for you, inviting you to join them on whatever journey they were about to embark on. They reminded me more of bands like Lift To Experience or maybe early Wand than any metal show I’ve ever seen, and it became a lot clearer to me as the show went on that this was just an extremely creative, dynamic and exploratory unit who happen to hang the foundations for this experimentation on a metal framework. Absolutely stunning stuff, I can’t wait to hear where they take their sound in the future.

June also saw the release of LIFE’s outstanding new album ‘Abstract/Natural’ which I had the genuine honour of mastering. To celebrate the release, the band played a short tour of independent record stores, including a show at The Jacaranda in Liverpool. A tiny room with a weird shaped stage, The Jacaranda is an intimate affair at the best of times, and LIFE absolutely brought it, playing their new album in full, albeit in a re-jigged sequence. The album is superb and expertly produced, and live the songs took on a more jagged, urgent feel, but every element and instrument was really carefully considered and given the space it required, the arrangements given full opportunity to show how beautifully constructed they are. A brilliant band playing a brilliant record brilliantly.

June was soundtracked by: DJ Haram & sha-ray, Sans Froid, The Fall, Anna von Hausswolff

Stephen Kerrison 06/06/2026 Stephen Kerrison 06/06/2026

Real Life Missives - May 2026

“In an attempt to place a little more emphasis on things that happen in ‘real life’, rather than in the seemingly perpetual online world we all seem to spend so much time in, I’ve decided to write this short monthly roundup. The idea for this is to be a record of musical experiences and adventures, as well as exciting discoveries and recommendations, mostly from outside my work as a mastering engineer, but not exclusively so as the line definitely blurs frequently!”

It’s always a treat to just pop across the road from the studio to watch a gig, and I did just that this month to see the first ever gig by The Terrible Vibes! A brand new band but featuring some very experienced players (including Jo and Eve from Shipwrecker), I had the pleasure of mastering their debut single and you’d never have suspected for a second it was their first public performance. I love a good power trio!

I also made it down to Quarry to catch an absolutely brutal show by Pharmakon, who I haven’t seen for a long time but was just as visceral as I remember. It was a noisy, industrial, confrontational performance but not without structure and purpose, it’s a testament to the richness of Pharmakon’s music that it works as both engaging recorded work and a pretty punishing live experience.

A highlight of the month, and indeed the year really, was the second edition of the awesome Outer Waves festival. I can’t even begin to describe how vital this festival has quickly become to anyone in this area, and this year’s line up was just as wonderful as it’s debut last year. Highlights for me included beautiful and life-affirming sets from Haress, Quieting, Dame Area, Lord Spikeheart, a.P.A.t.T. and ØXN, but mostly it was just just a joy to spend time and be surrounded by so many people in the city I live in who have an appetite for music and art that sits well outside of anything that could be considered ‘mainstream’, and my admiration for the small team who make this event happen is endless.

May was soundtracked by: Boards of Canada

Stephen Kerrison 01/05/2026 Stephen Kerrison 01/05/2026

Real Life Missives - April 2026

This month, I was lucky to have caught San Francisco’s WORLD PEACE at the Star & Garter in Manchester. I was absolutely floored by their total commitment to their (very, very) short but extremely potent set, from the uncompromising set length to the custom lighting and instrumentation which included two bass players playing exactly the same super fast and complex lines as each other with an amazing combination of aggression and precision. There were a few disgruntled murmurs that perhaps 10 minutes was a little unsatisfying to be considered a headline set, but I feel that was somewhat missing the point. I hugely admired their decision to play for exactly the amount of time they felt was suitable for the kind of music they played, and I’d rather a perfect ten minutes than an hour of filler any day of the week.

A week or so later I headed to Night and Day cafe in Manchester to watch Burned As Witches play on their first ever tour! I had the honour of mastering the debut Burned As Witches album, and to hear the songs played live at a hoofing volume was properly ace. Burned As Witches is Rick McMurray from Ash’s solo project, and instead of the punky power-pop of his main band, this solo project is hugely indebted to things like Black Sabbath, Kyuss and early Soundgarden. It was a really fun show, and really lovely to see a musician doing something a little outside their usual comfort zone and having a great time doing it.

The 18th April brought the annual Record Store Day, a thing I have very mixed feelings about (well, not that mixed if I’m honest), but it did give me the chance to witness the awesome Peach play at Rough Trade in Liverpool as part of the RSD events. Such a great band, really well executed noisy rock fronted by the absolutely incredible Ellie Godwin, also of No Violet (whom I worked with on the mastering of their debut album on the Totality label). Super powerful band, really great songs sung by an insanely gifted singer. What’s not to like?

I also managed to make it down to Quarry (Liverpool’s best venue - fact) to catch a live set by Hyperdub’s DJ Haram. It was such a great show, a quite kalaidascopic blending of live hardware electronics, DJing and sound design with no sections seemingly lasting more than a couple of minutes before pivoting into something else. She played some choice tracks from her brilliant ‘Beside Myself’ album as well as some bits from the 700 Bliss album ‘Nothing To Declare’, her collaboration with the amazing Moor Mother, but it was hard to really see it a a selection of ‘songs’, more just a dense collage of inspired ideas from a super exploratory and creative artist.

In a completely different vibe altogether, I also headed over to Manchester Metropolitan University’s School Of Digital Arts (SODA) this month to deliver a guest lecture about all things mastering to students on the Music and Sound Design course, which is something I’ve done for a few years running now. It’s always really lovely to talk to students about what mastering is (and isn’t!) and talk about it as a unique discipline and why it’s important to see it as such, and this year’s group were just as receptive and full of interesting questions as always. I don’t offer unsolicited advice or tuition about mastering through YouTube or social media, so to be asked directly to share some knowledge is always something I’m more than happy to do, not least because it keeps me on my toes and reminds me to keep practising!

April was soundtracked by: Irked, Portrayal of Guilt, Wednesday, and that new Paul McCartney documentary.

Stephen Kerrison 28/05/2019 Stephen Kerrison 28/05/2019

Real Life Missives - March 2026

In an attempt to place a little more emphasis on things that happen in ‘real life’, rather than in the seemingly perpetual online world we all seem to spend so much time in, I’ve decided to start this short monthly roundup. The idea for this to be a record of musical experiences and adventures, as well as exciting discoveries and recommendations, mostly from outside my work as a mastering engineer, but not exclusively so as the line definitely blurs frequently!

This month I had the fortune to witness the incredible return to the live stage of Cardiacs, a band I have adored for well over half of my life. I admit to feeling a little apprehensive beforehand, I hadn’t seen Cardiacs play since 2007 and had avoided the various ‘Sing To Tim’ shows and the like over the years, simply because the sadness I felt for what befell Cardiacs’ mastermind Tim Smith, and I struggled with the idea of him not being present in his position as the band’s mischievous, genius ringleader.

The show at Manchester’s Albert Hall was little short of an absolute triumph however. An eight strong band comprised of both previous Cardiacs’ members (Bob Leith, Kavus Torabi and of course Tim’s brother Jim at front and centre) and close knit allies who rose to the not inconsiderable challenge (including Oceansize / Biffy Clyro’s Mike Vennart in an absolute star turn) played a genuinely life-affirming two hour set, peppered with big hitters, deep cuts and ‘new’ songs, and I can’t conceive a way it could have been any better. Massive kudos to everyone involved for pulling off something so many people thought they’d never experience again.

I made the trip along the M62 from Liverpool to Manchester again a week or so later, this time to see rap visionary Danny Brown at the Ritz. I think it’d only been a year or so since his last show there, which I was also at, and the set up was again very minimal - just stalwart DJ Skywlkr behind him, and a tight hour of career spanning bangers delivered without missing a single word. The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for when Danny announced the third anniversary of his sobriety, but every song seemed to be greeted like a classic from the devoted, and noticably diverse, crowd.

I love Danny Brown’s music not only because it’s brilliant and unique in itself, but he’s also incredibly good at drawing attention to other, lesser known artists, either through his sampling of super obscure stuff that very few rappers would even consider attempting to rhyme over (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard This Heat being sampled by anyone else), or his consistently surprising collaborations and guest spots (I have him to thank for introducing me to Underscores for example, whose incredible ‘Wallsocket’ album has become a firm favourite). It’s always so inspiring to see an artist so far into their career still making unexpected turns and pushing their creativity in different directions.

March was soundtracked by - Converge, Neurosis, Kate Bush, Super Furry Animals, Eftus Spectun.