We all felt that the invitation to play at the EMMA 4 Festival in Derby was very important for the band. Not only was this to be by far the highest profile event which the band had been involved with to date, but we would also be premiering much of the music material of our debut studio album REFINED which would actually be launched at the concert as well. We therefore decided that the EMMA performance warranted a whole month’s worth of rehearsal and preparations. Max Fairbrother who had generously let us use his barn for BURNING ISSUE rehearsals readily agreed to let us use his premises again for as long as we liked. For a personal record of Kinetik’s EMMA experiences, we borrowed Allen Hardy’s camcorder to document the events leading up to the concert. As it turned out, the whole event was not to be without various funny and dramatic experiences for us…

At the beginning of May 1997, our first video diary footage comprised of Andrew and myself mostly clearing out enough space at the barn to enable the band to have enough space to set up and rehearse. It actually took us nearly a whole day to shift various items of junk and debris including organ pipes, old settees and piles of sheep’s wool ! Eventually we were satisfied that we had enough space, but spent much more time than we expected during the following day, setting up our equipment and ironing out audio and MIDI routing problems.

Organising The Set List

Shirleyann during EMMA 4 rehearsals

While deciding upon the set list for the concert, we decided to keep to the tradition we’d established at THE BURNING ISSUE concert of incorporating some previously unperformed music material into our set. Because we were launching the REFINED album at EMMA, our set list would obviously have to showcase much of the new release, but there were still several tracks from the album which had never been performed live so far by Kinetik such as “Sounds Of Industry” and “Haven’s Lament”. For the former, we arranged a new lengthy, live introduction which eventually became a new piece in its own right - “Father Of Invention”. Andrew provided the lyrics for this piece, enjoying his new additional live role as vocoder operator.

Shirleyann and I thought it would be nice to include into the set an old song of Andrew’s as a “one off” - “Trans Continental”. Andrew had previously given us a cassette by his former band Paradox which contained a version of the song. Andrew seemed delighted by the idea and informed us that in fact the song had never actually been performed before.

We had been assured by the concert organisers that for our performance we were to be provided with a large video projection system at the concert hall for us to project synchronised computer images and video footage onto a screen behind us while we played. I was very excited about the prospect since this was a luxury that we’d hoped to have for THE BURNING ISSUE, but the hiring costs of the necessary equipment had turned out to be prohibitively expensive! In order to try and obtain some suitable video footage for back-projection while “Trans Continental” was performed, Andrew wrote polite letters to dozens of rail companies and travel agents asking if they had any suitable video footage we might use. In the end only two organisations responded positively, but we were able to cobble together a video sequence out of the material they lent us

Rehearsals were plagued by several technical problems. Our first problem came to light while we were preparing the live sequencer parts for “Sounds Of Industry”. During the original REFINED studio sessions for the piece we had used a new instrument which Andrew had recently acquired called the Raven. This was a large, bulky keyboard which contained a synthesizer and built-in song sequencer. We’d originally used this sequencer to provide the characteristic industrial-sounding motifs towards the end of the song. Unfortunately, despite producing some truly wonderful sounds, we all found the operating system of the machine very difficult to understand and a little unpredictable. When the time came to arrange the song for live performance, we suddenly found that all of these nice industrial sounds had mysteriously disappeared ! For two whole frustrating days we struggled in vain to re-create the settings that had originally been used for the song. In the end out of desperation, I decided to try sampling the phrase from the original master tapes and triggering them during the song from a stereo sampler. The idea worked beautifully and saved us a lot of headaches. As well as “Sounds Of Industry”, we had written Raven sequences for “Dance Machine” and “Generation” but fortunately all of this data still seemed intact. I made sure Andrew did several data back-ups just in case !

For yet another additional piece, we developed a further new song - “I.S.D.N.” also largely structured on the Raven. Intended as a track for a future Kinetik album (whenever that might be !), Andrew provided most of the initial ideas for this piece and together we developed it into a final, structured song for inclusion into the Kinetik Set list.

Then one fine morning disaster struck. We all trooped in to the barn for our daily rehearsal, switched on the equipment and suddenly found that the Raven seemed totally dead. We checked the plug, fuse and electrical sockets - all in vain. I suddenly felt very depressed. We had structured around a third of our set around using this new machine of Andrew’s and it had now let us down with only about two weeks left before the concert. With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach I realised that it now might well be a possibility that Kinetik would have to pull out of the EMMA event, as we really didn’t have enough time left to rearrange our material and I thought it unlikely that we would be able to get the machine repaired in time. The Raven’s manufacturers, Quasimidi were based in Germany and I suspected it was all too likely that the machine might have to be returned back there for servicing.

Out of desperation, I persuaded Andrew to let me open up the Raven to have a look inside the case. Acting on nothing more than a hunch, I tried bypassing each of the fuses mounted on the circuit boards with strips of tin foil - a temporary, emergency tip I’d learned back in my years as a solo performer. To everyone’s surprise and delight (and no-one was surprised more than me !), the Raven sprang back into life and we were back in business. It looked like we would get our chance to perform in Derby after all.

Wondering what might have caused the Raven’s circuit board fuse to blow in the first place, my suspicion immediately fell on a particularly cheap and lethal-looking mains gang socket of Andrew’s which he had provided for the Raven. This was duly placed into the nearest rubbish skip before we resumed rehearsals.

Our previous Kinetik colleague, Allen Hardy agreed to operate our visuals for EMMA, so for the last few days of rehearsals, he was to join us at the barn to learn his cues and familiarise himself with our set and the equipment he would be using. During the years, Allen had gained for himself a reputation of being a little disorganised or accident prone. As I drove with Andrew from rehearsals to meet up with Allen’s bus, I said to Andrew “I bet you he forgets to bring his bedding”. True to form, when the bus arrived, it transpired that Allen had forgotten to bring any bedding with him. Perhaps he wondered as we drove back to the barn why Andrew and I were shaking our heads and smiling….
 
Up To Derby

Eventually, the day of the concert drew near. The night before we were scheduled to drive up to Derby, we had one final rehearsal at the barn before Andrew and I packed our equipment away for transit. We wanted to make sure that everything was as easy as possible for us to set up in Derby, so we went to great pains to ensure all gear was packed nice and neat with all cables tied neatly together untangled etc. Unfortunately, this all took a lot longer than we anticipated. By the time Andrew and I emerged bleary-eyed from the barn it was daylight and about 5am ! We had around two hours sleep before it was time for us to collect our transit van for our journey up to Derby. Lack of sleep before a Kinetik gig was becoming a familiar pattern.

Max and his family turned out to wave us off as our laden van finally departed after Allen had taken “video diary” footage of Max’s outside toilet (? !!!) and the loading of the van. We had driven less than a mile before we all heard an ominous “crash” at the back of the van. It turned out that we had not packed the equipment as well as we’d thought and a pile of instruments had fallen onto poor Allen who was riding in the back. After carefully re-stacking all of our crates, we resumed our journey. It was a beautifully sunny May morning as we drove along the motorway and our spirits rose as Allen captured suitably industrial video images of the Port Talbot Steel Works as we sped by.

Our first port of call on the way up to Derby was to collect Dave England who had agreed to help us out as a “roadie” and to supervise the stall where we’d be selling copies of REFINED. Previously, Andrew had tried desperately to obtain two essential flight cases that we’d need for all our extra and new equipment. In the end he had eventually managed to find a supplier for these cases, but it turned out that the only way we were going to have them in time for the concert was if they were delivered to Dave England so that we could collect them en route. This was cutting things a bit fine for all our liking, but as we arrived at Dave’s, we found that they had indeed been delivered about an hour previously. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, we spent an enjoyable lunchtime munching on sandwiches while securing various items of electronic equipment into the new cases.

After lunch was finished, Dave England produced a pile of inlays which he’d had produced for the REFINED CD inserts. To say we were all a bit chuffed is a bit of an understatement ! It was quite a novel experience, holding a new Kinetik CD in your hand for the first time, complete with brand new never-before-seen artwork. At last everything seemed to be going to plan - we had our new equipment cases and a box of newly-pressed CDs and inlays.

In Derby At Last

Setting off again with Dave joining Allen in the back of the van, we finally arrived at our hotel in Derby in the late afternoon. For security’s sake, we then spent the next half hour laboriously transferring all of our music equipment to our hotel rooms on the third floor. We attracted several puzzled looks from other hotel guests when they opened a lift door only to find that it was jam packed full of Kinetik equipment on its way to our rooms.

After unwinding from the long journey, we then carefully put Dave’s inserts into the REFINED CD cases while Allen took “interesting” video footage of the hotel’s bathroom and the Derby Main Post Office from the hotel windows. Excited by the prospect of performing the next day, we then decided to take a look around Derby city centre. We met up with the stage manager, Stefan Whitlan in a Derby pub and I spent a while with him discussing with nostalgia the merits of old analogue synthesizers. After grabbing a bite to eat, we visited the Assembly Rooms where the EMMA event was to happen the following day.

Back at the hotel, we tried to relax and settle down for the night. Andrew shared a room with Allen while Dave shared a room with Shirleyann and I - complete with the stunning view overlooking Derby Post Office. Of course, by this time we were all very tired, especially Andrew and I who had had only two hours sleep the previous night. Unfortunately, it turned out that Derby Post Office was an extremely busy place during the night and we found it very difficult to sleep with all the traffic noise going on. Poor Shirleyann resorted in the end to dragging her bedding into the bathroom in order to try and get some peace and quiet ! This lead to some confusion later on when a disorientated Shirleyann tried to find the “bedroom” door in the pitch blackness when she woke up !

After an enjoyable breakfast the following morning, we packed the van (more puzzled looks from hotel guests trying to use the lift) and departed for the venue. As we left the hotel car park, we noticed some familiar faces waving from the windows. The people who had turned up at THE BURNING ISSUE concert wearing Kraftwerk T shirts (you know who you are !) had also travelled to Derby to support us ! This put us in an excellent frame of mind as we eventually arrived at the venue after getting hopelessly lost in Derby’s city centre traffic system. Soon we were transferring our equipment to the stage lift.

Suddenly as the stage lift slowly ascended into the hall, we had our panoramic view of Derby Assembly Rooms from a performer’s perspective. It was a very strange feeling which Andrew afterwards likened to being in “Thunderbird 2’s” pod 5.

During the last-minute EMMA 4 soundcheck

The Performance

The doors were scheduled to open at 11.30 am, so we spent most of the morning attempting to wire-up and assemble our equipment as best as we could without actually getting onto the stage which was still occupied by the lighting crew, taking longer than scheduled to prepare their lighting rigs - much to the displeasure of the stage manager. Because of the lighting delays, the whole event was now running seriously behind schedule which meant that each performer had a lot less time than anticipated to prepare for their set. Our sense of urgency was compounded by the fact that because every single one of our instruments were actually being used live, our set up was much more complicated and involved far more cables than anyone else.

An unforeseen problem also came to light when we tried to attach our video equipment to the video screen - there were no suitable connections ! Luckily, Allen with the aid of one of the stage technicians managed to locate a video converter from the Derby branch of Tandy’s while we attempted to soundcheck our instruments.

We had learned by now that Andrew was always a great asset when preparing our live performances. True to form, Andrew took the time to make sure that he went over the details of the lighting requirements for our set with the stage technicians. He even found time to help out one of the other acts, T Bass UK to try and sort out some MIDI routing problems they were having with their equipment.

Kinetik had originally been scheduled to go on first, but it soon became apparent that most of the acts needed more time to prepare themselves, so the order was rescheduled accordingly. In the mid afternoon it was finally time for us to take the stage. We were allowed around 10 minutes for any last-minute checks before our set. Some of the cables supplied by the sound desk engineers had seemed a little bit dodgy during our soundcheck, but finally I decided that we were as prepared as we’d ever be. We crossed our fingers and trusted to luck that all would be OK and signalled to the stage manager that we were finally ready…

Compering the EMMA event was Ashley Franklin of BBC Radio Derby. After a brief introduction, mentioning how we’d “retreated to the Welsh countryside to prepare our debut album influenced by the industrial landscape of West Wales”, the lights dimmed and we took to the stage. Andrew used his vocoder to greet our Derbyshire audience - “Good afternoon - Deeerrrrbeeeee !”. The artificial tones of “Kinetik Intro” reverberated around the immense concert hall and our Kinetik set began.

The set started well and we encountered no problems until we played “Kinetik Energy”. It was then that we discovered that the signal from my headset microphone no longer appeared to be reaching the PA. Checking our on-stage equipment, it seemed that the microphone itself was functioning well, but the signal was for some reason not being passed along one of the sound engineer’s “dodgy cables”. We continued with “Kinetik Energy” as an instrumental piece. During the song, Andrew’s vocoder had appeared to be out of tune, but we soon managed to correct this.

We then had a short pause while an alternative microphone was provided for the remainder of our set. This was a hand-held mike, and I had no choice other than to put this into my shirt pocket if I wished to perform vocals and play keyboards at the same time !!! I was glad that my shirt actually had a convenient pocket to use for this.

EMMA 4 Performance : Shirleyann Davies, Colin Jordan, Andrew Slegt

The remainder of our set generally went well. By the time we reached “I.S.D.N.”, we were feeling more relaxed and we were starting to enjoy ourselves. The performance of this song at EMMA I always refer to as “Kinetik’s finest moment”. During the song we felt relaxed enough to improvise our parts in a daring way which suited the song perfectly. The bass line in particular was immensely powerful as it thundered around the hall. Dave England who was in the audience remembers feeling his stomach being pushed into the back of his seat by the sub-sonic sound waves! A recording of this performance was eventually released on disc 1 of the RE-GENERATIONS double CD set. I know of at least two sets of hi-fi speakers which have been damaged by the powerful bass line!!!!!!

Just before the finale of our set, the live arrangement of “Refined”, we had another minor hiccup when one our sequencers mis-triggered. This was hardly surprising , since it transpired that the sequencer in question had actually been damaged in the transit van in the journey up to Derby when our equipment had collapsed onto poor Allen in the back. We had to improvise with Andrew and I making various electronic noises for about a minute while Allen’s computer re-loaded the computer graphics program for this song’s visuals. In the end though, we had rehearsed for just such a contingency and the extra minute or so of improvised bleeps fitted seamlessly into the rest of our set. As with our set at THE BURNING ISSUE concert, “Refined” concluded with each of us performing a short solo before leaving the stage. Finally the sequencers were left alone to perform the closing bars of the song by themselves.

One aspect of this performance that I will always remember is the intense concentration that we all employed in order to remember our cues and parts. Shirleyann later remembered that her tongue had actually been stuck fast to the roof of her mouth throughout most of our set because she was so nervous !

EMMA 4 Performance : Shirleyann Davies playing a wind controller solo

Post Performance Antics

Once our performance had concluded, we then had to dismantle and remove our equipment from the stage as quickly as possible to give enough room for the next act. This was quite a chaotic procedure and I tried desperately to keep track of where all the equipment was going ! One of the volunteers helping us was David Gurr who unfortunately dismantled a little more than he should have done (one of our custom keyboard stands ended up with many more components than it had had originally !). David Gurr made ammends for this however by subsequently supplying us with some excellent video footage he’d taken of the concert. It turned out that this was just as well, since Allen’s camcorder which we’d strategically placed on the stage had (for some mysterious reason) typically shut down soon into our performance.

Once our equipment was safely stowed down several flights of steps to the basement area, I joined the rest of the band in our dressing room along with various friends and followers of Kinetik whom we’d invited backstage after the performance for a get-together and a few beers. Among our guests was Paul Wilkinson, co-organiser of the old Blackpool Kraftwerk conventions where Elektro Kinetik had originally performed. He had so far attended every single one of Kinetik’s (and Elektro Kinetik’s) live dates and was determined not to have missed EMMA 4 and shattered his unbroken attendance record. However, he seemed absolutely exhausted as he’d apparrently had a very tiresome journey to attend the concert. Very soon he’d settled down on the dressing room floor underneath a table and was dead to the world - fast asleep!

Soon afterwards, we joined Dave England at the stall where the REFINED CDs were being sold. Sales were going very well - much better than we’d hoped. We’d even managed to sell a couple of the last copies of KINETIK LIVE - THE BURNING ISSUE that we’d brought with us. People were generally very positive about our performance and we spent a good deal of time chatting with them and even autographing copies of REFINED. Autographing our albums was a very strange experience for us and I know that Andrew in particular found this particular experience very “un-real”.

Eventually as the EMMA festival drew to a close, it was time to reload all of our equipment (which was now piled up in our dressing room) back into the van. For about an hour we carefully transferred our crates of gear, carefully stepping over a slumbering Paul Wilkinson who was still snoring away contentedly, oblivious to all around him !

Once everything had been transferred, it was time to decide what should be done about our slumbering guest, still fast asleep on the floor. As it seemed a little cruel just to leave him behind, (especially since he did not know exactly where in Derby our hotel was for him to spend the night), Shirleyann and I decided that the time was right for another of Kinetik’s little practical jokes to be played instead. Switching off the dressing room light, the whole room was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness (it had no windows). It was now very late in the evening after the festival and the Assembly Room’s security staff were now patrolling the corridors ensuring that everyone was ready to leave. We waited until the sound of a patroling guard’s walkie-talkie could be heard along the corridor. Imitating a security guard, I then knocked loudly on the dressing room door and called “Right, let’s be having you then !”. Immediately there was the sound of a loud crash as Paul had suddenly jumped up from the floor and hit his head on the underside of the dressing table in the total darkness. His face as he emerged said it all really - he’s still vowing to have his revenge to this day!

Still buoyed up by our performance, we managed to find our way back to the hotel (this time without too many unintended traffic diversions) and negotiated the now all too familiar routine with our crates of equipment and the hotel’s lifts. In order to try and catch up on some much needed sleep, Dave, Shirleyann and I swapped rooms with Andrew and Alan who now shared the panoramic and noisy views of Derby Post Office with Paul.

Muesli Non-Stop

The following morning, we all assembled in the hotel dining room for our breakfast. Shirleyann and I had thankfully managed to catch up a bit on our sleep and we certainly felt all the better for it. At breakfast, we soon met up with the organiser of the EMMA festival who had some bad news for us. Apparently, the EMMA festival had been an economic disaster for him and he had personally lost several thousand pounds from the whole venture. He was therefore only able to pay us half the money that we’d agreed on for our performance. Naturally, we were all a little upset and disappointed about this, but we had no choice but to make the best of the situation. I personally feel that the ticket prices for the event were probably a little too high and if the price had been reduced, a lot more people could have attended. As things turned out though, we did eventually get paid the rest of our money some months later, after I pointed out how much unpaid promotion for the event Andrew had done by handing out flyers and leaflets at the Tribal Gathering event earlier in the year.

Breakfast was always a self-service buffet affair at the hotel and was of a high standard. In fact Dave England developed an appreciative taste for potato cakes that he still has to this day ! Most of us opted for the standard cooked breakfast, but Allen decided to go for a sachet of cereal instead. As he struggled to open his packet, it suddenly exploded, sending a large cascading cloud of muesli into the air. I couldn’t help but notice that several nearby strangers now seemed to have acquired raisins and other assorted flakes in their fried eggs. The rest of us immediately decided to pretend that Allen wasn’t a member of our party….

Soon after breakfast, we again loaded up the van and made our way back to West Wales, dropping off Andrew in Bath and Dave in Hereford en route. At Bath, Andrew’s mum made us all welcome tea and sandwiches while interrogating us about how the event had gone. She seemed delighted to have a house full of the Kinetik Krew - several of whom she was meeting for the first time.

After finally unloading the van back at the studio, we decided to leave the equipment packed up in cases while we took a holiday and a break from Kinetik activities for a while. We all felt that playing at Derby had certainly been worthwhile venture for us, and that if possible we would pay Derby a return visit some time in the future. No-one realised however, just how soon we would have to make a return trip to the city….
  
Derby Revisited

Throughout August and September 1997 we had started to unpack various items of equipment in order to prepare for installing everything back into Kinetik Studios. However, try as we might, we just couldn’t seem to locate odd bits and pieces that I was sure we had taken with us. I first noticed that my studio quality headphones appeared to be missing along with a box of useful short patch cables. Similarly, Andrew couldn’t find a box of spare fuses and bulbs for his music stand light. Despite searching every case numerous times, these items simply couldn’t be located anywhere. I started to wonder what else might also be missing…

Gradually the horrible truth dawned - Somehow, we had left a whole case of equipment behind at the Derby Assembly Rooms - and we had not noticed for over three months !!!!! After numerous desperate telephone calls, I finally managed to speak to someone in Derby who remembered finding the missing case hidden behind a curtain on the stage. It was just as well that I had telephoned when I had - the items were about to be given away ! I was amazed that the case had actually been located with all items intact, since I had convinced myself that we would never see any of it again.

I made arrangements to collect the case from the Assembly Rooms booking office and drove up to Derby to collect our missing equipment. It was just as well that I did, for looking inside the case, I also found inside all of our data and sample disks. If this data had not been recovered, we would never have been able to reproduce our sounds live on stage ever again !
   
Electronic In-Novation

As 1998 dawned, a project with which I’d been involved with for two years was about to come to fruition. For two years now I had been in contact with the UK synthesiser company Novation. I had originally approached the company in early 1996 to demonstrate the Bass Improvizer (see Part Three of The Kinetik Story for more details), a piece of customised equipment that Kinetik had developed for live performance. After demonstrating how the device worked, I was soon contacted by Novation who were keen for some of the principles of the device to be incorporated into a forthcoming range of synthesiser modules. Also, since I had displayed my skills in writing on-board software for such devices, how would I like to work for the company in actually developing the forthcoming Supernova range ?

Needless to say, I had accepted Novation’s job offer and had spent the last two years developing the synthesiser, with Kinetik actually providing many ideas for the machine’s features and sound palette. In early 1998, it was now looking like the Supernova would be launched very soon. It seemed very appropriate that if possible, Kinetik should be the first band in the world to actually use a Supernova live, before the machine was commercially launched. We soon started to seriously think about the prospect of Kinetik performing live again in the very near future….
         
In Part five of The Kinetik Story, Kinetik organise their “Micro Tour”, are interviewed by BBC Radio and we learn the truth about Kinetik’s mysterious manager, “Richard”….