Noise Annoys | Interview

There was no agenda beyond wanting to support a style of music that I love.

We spoke with Ben Tansey, founder of monthly alternative night ‘Noise Annoys‘ which takes place once a month at The Thunderbolt.

So for those who don’t know, tell us a bit about Noise Annoys?

Noise Annoys takes place at the Thunderbolt on the first Thursday of every month. We put on the best alternative, post punk and noise bands in Bristol and the south west. We started in May and each night has been amazing!

And how did it come about?

There was no agenda or anything beyond wanting to support a style of music that I love and which often seems ignored in Bristol. There’s some great promoters putting on those kinds of bands - Howling Owl and the Stag and Hounds spring to mind - but not enough. If memory serves I was in the car listening to Sonic Youth, just parking up to go into Rise, and the idea to run a regular, monthly night for noisy bands just popped into my head, followed almost immediately by the title of the Buzzcocks song ‘Noise Annoys’. I called Dave at the Thunderbolt straight away and he gave me the go-ahead to do the May show, with the promise of June and July if the first one went well.

What can people expect from the night?

Noise! I think people can expect a fun, unpretentious night. Awesome bands in a unique venue with great sound and some good beer. We draw a nice crowd and everyone has a great time, what’s not to love!

And we hear you’ve got shows lined-up all the way to the end of the year, which are you most excited about?

Yeah, the nights have been going really well and we’ve had our run extended until December. I don’t think there’s one particular night I’m more excited about, each one promises to be fantastic, we’ve been really lucky to get great bands for every show. You can find the full line up on our Facebook and Twitter pages. I’m pleased to have Memory Of Elephants headlining our September show, and really excited to put on Grubs - featuring members of Joanna Gruesome, Trust Fund and King Of Cats - supporting Annette Berlin in October. There’s a great young band called Fires playing with the Hysterical Injury in November who are definitely ones to watch and in December we’ve got Brum vs Briz; Fauxchisels and Wax Futures from the Midlands and Bristol’s own Forgery Lit and Nasty Little Lonely.

What do you think the future holds for Noise Annoys?

There’s nothing booked in after the December show and where we go after that is still undecided but I like the idea of taking Noise Annoys around different venues in the city, broadening our audience. Maybe one day - if bands and fans like what we do - Noise Annoys will be able to put on all day events or a festival. What we’re working on right now is establishing a label called Ear Kill Records; we’ve been talking to some of the bands who’ve played Noise Annoys and they’ve agreed to give us tracks for a compilation we hope will be out in the new year. After that, who knows. Whatever happens we hope to be able to help grow this scene and support the music and bands we love.

Check out Grubs who’ll be playing the October night: