STV talked to members of OV and the Psychogeographical Commission about their performances tonight for a very special Glasgow Music and Film Festival show, one which has been described as “a celebration of ritual, the occult, and the disturbing power of music and cinema”.
The two acts are appearing alongside The Wyrding Module for The Psychocinematic Ritual, which takes place at The Old Hairdressers from 8pm. (Ticket details here.)
OV is comprised of members of Glasgow acts Desalvo, The Unwinding Hours, Sons and Daughters, and produce dark and unsettling music with links to ritual and the occult. It’s only their third ever performance – tonight’s “manifestation” focused on war.
P6, who is one-third of OV, told us of the group’s origins: “Kenneth Anger came to present work at the CCA in Dundee, and that was the moment Iain [Cook, of The Unwinding Hours] and I really got the notion of doing something magical in art and cinema.
“As you can imagine Kenneth Anger’s work is drenched in that kind of imagery and magical intent. So that was the spark, and then Scott Patterson from Sons and Daughters, we really bonded over some Derek Jarman work that was presented at the Tramway.
“So again we just had a similar conversation – why isn’t there something a bit deeper and magical going on in Glasgow?”
For the Psychogeographical Commission it’s their first performance in a live setting. Stuart explained of their genesis: “I was living down in Newcastle at the time. Me and Andy both came from the same sort of place musically, where we’d end up listening to lots of ambient albums.
“Quite often you get things like people walking around in hallways outside, cars and buses going outside, just general outside noise creeping in. We thought that was really great, so why didn’t we build that into the music – so it actually is a part of it rather than something that accidentally happens?
“We started off using lots of found sounds, and gradually started building them into the songs.”
P6 added: “I think the psychogeographic intent that Andy and Stuart deploy has a real academic, theoretic basis to the foundation that lends itself to spaces and environments and trying to understand them at a deeper level.
“For us I think the publication of The Psychick Bible by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge around about three years ago provided a really effective compendium and manual for how you can use and deploy technology for magical purposes, and I think that fusing that and exploring it in a live space with subjects or participants – depending on the nature of the space – just made for something a bit more interesting than a gig with a band.”
Watch the extended interview with Stuart and P6 above, where they discuss the nature of their work in further detail, and what’s been involved in creating what seems certain to be a very special – and magical – show this evening.
MORE ABOUT OV AND PSYCHOGEOGRAPHICAL COMMISSION
OV provided us with this statement: "OV formed in a mutual love ov Derek Jarman and Kenneth Anger, apt then that OV perform a unique ritual at Glasgow Music and Film Festival again, now focusing on images ov War. Representations ov combat can vary considerably; from dissociative numb dream sequences to cod patriotic homoeroticism and recent CGI fuelled attempts to engulf us in ‘shock and awe’.
“The director's lens seeks realism but this always pales against stock footage of the horror ov War captured via basic mobile technology and broadcast globally. In this step-removed voyeurism have we forgotten the sacrifices given daily by those who fight?"
Meanwhile the Psychogeographical Commission was formed at the start of 2008 to explore the many interfaces between the built environment and the people who inhabit it through dérive, magick and sonic experimentation.
Their last project was ‘Widdershins’, a sonic exploration of the inner circle of the Glasgow Subway system which travels in an anticlockwise direction (widdershins), a constant banishing ritual performed daily upon the whole of the west side of Glasgow (http://www.psychetecture.com/widders.html)
You can find the Psychogeographical Commission website at psychetecture.com, with a link to all their albums at psychcomm.bandcamp.com, with videos also available at vimeo.com/psychcomm/firesoflondon and vimeo.com/psychcomm/lostriversoflondon.
P6 also provided the following links for further exploration:
Resources;
Throbbing Gristle;
Theory;
Cinema;
