October 1, 2024
Hidden Door is taking over a vast industrial estate for our 2025 festival, and to celebrate the new venue we are throwing a special launch party this November.
We are delighted to announce our headline acts for the November event – welcoming Jane Weaver (Friday 22 November) and Big Joanie & HotWax (Saturday 23 November) to The Paper Factory.
Singer songwriter Jane Weaver returns to Hidden Door having performed at King Stables Road in 2016. Following the release of her new album Love In Constant Spectacle, Jane Weaver prepares for an autumn tour that sees her heading to Europe as well as Hidden Door.
Jane has recently released a new version of Heavy Mellow track ‘Univers’ that sees her breaking through language barriers with a French translation of the original.
Jane explains: “‘Univers’ is my first foray into translating a whole existing track into French Language and took some help and guidance! I imagined the song visually as little vignettes from a film with simple subtitled translations to convey the story, inspired by a time in my life when carrying around the anticipation of grief and yet experiencing small pockets of joy in simple things, these moments appear vivid by comparison, they are spontaneous and unplanned, they are in nature and our surroundings, a reminder that everything evolves.”
Love In Constant Spectacle is Jane’s 11th album since her 2005 debut Seven Day Smile and recaptures the melancholy of her early work. It sees her taking measured steps towards a vivid, dreamlike record, that offers resolve in the face of life’s inevitability. The foundations of Weaver’s sound are still evident – lush motorik drums, pulsating bass, custom modded synths and exotic fuzz pedals – but the stream is awash with scrabble piece poetry and Letraset lullabies leading to lush escapism.
We also find a unison with Jane’s first ever producer, John Parish (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding), who has shared Weaver’s process in the surrounds of Rockfield Studios and Geoff Barrow’s Invada studio. Abusing, evading and obliterating 20 years of whimsical pop trends Jane Weavers experience as a truly independent and resilient female experimental songwriter / sound-carrier commands respect and inspiration in equal measures.
Big Joanie combines the fury of nineties riot grrrl with synth-heavy post punk. Their second album Back Home was released in November 2022 and ranked in Rolling Stone’s top albums of the year list, receiving critical acclaim in the Guardian, Wire Magazine and The Quietus.
The release of ‘Back Home’ was followed by tours and numerous sold out dates in 2023 across the UK, mainland Europe, and the US, along with Glastonbury billing for the second consecutive year, and a sold out performance at the Grace Jones-curated Meltdown Festival. A revamped version of their album track ‘Today’ was released with additional vocals from indie rock icon Kim Deal (Pixies, the Breeders), and during a tour stop in Seattle the band performed a rite of passage session for KEXP. Additionally, Big Joanie’s contribution to the cannon of Black artists in alternative music was celebrated with a nomination for ‘Best Alternative Music Act’ at the MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards, in the inaugural year for that category.
‘Back Home’ was a more sonically ambitious record for Big Joanie, while remaining true to their DIY roots and the unique brand of feminist punk displayed on their debut album ’Sistahs’. The band continues to push the boundaries of punk and we can’t wait to welcome them to The Paper Factory.
Rock trio HotWax return to Edinburgh having graced the stage at Summerhall for Edinburgh Psych Fest in September. Indeed it’s been a meteoric rise for the band who, until early last year hadn’t been on tour. 2023 then saw them take off big time.
A month in the US followed. “It blew our minds,” enthuses the vocalist and guitarist Tallulah Sim-Savage. “Even though the drives were really long, it was like watching a 12-hour film of some interesting scenery.” They spent the summer playing festivals including travelling to Italy at the behest of One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson for his Away from Home festival, playing Reading and Leeds and – most surreally of all for HotWax – supported Yeah Yeah Yeahs at All Points East. “My favourite band,” nods Sim-Savage. “My dream band to support, so I was terrified, but I really just let go and enjoyed the experience.” The feeling appeared to be mutual: when Yeah Yeah Yeah played ‘Maps’, Karen O dedicated it to them.
Bassist Lola Sam and Sim-Savage have been in bands together since they were 13; and they started HotWax two years later, in 2019. They found their drummer, Alfie Sayer, while studying at the music college Bimm in Brighton. However college did not go so well as Sam lasted just a term.
Undeterred they self-released singles and played “wherever would have us”, but by Sim-Savage’s own atmittance they “didn’t really know what we were doing” until they met their manager, whose suggestion that they could “actually try and do this properly” so startled the band that Sim-Savage initially turned her down. “We never did this to do really well or whatever. It’s just something we really, really enjoyed doing.” They have released two EPs to date A Thousand Times and Invite me, kindly, both released in 2023, and are currently working on their debut album.
The Paper Factory is located in the Maybury Quarter, a 15.5-acre site occupied by a former paper and cardboard manufacturing facility on the western edge of Edinburgh. Bounded by the Edinburgh Gateway tram and rail station, there are excellent transport link to both the city centre and the airport in only 10 minutes. This industrial space has been vacated by Spain-based paper and cardboard company Saica who have relocated to a purpose-built facility in Livingston.
There will be a full scale Hidden Door festival at the venue in the spring of 2025 but to celebrate this news an event in November will give festival goers the opportunity to view this extraordinary site. The event will take place on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 November with the aim to include free access to the venue during the day on the Saturday as in previous events.
Further programme details for November’s event will be announced in due course.
Tickets are now available at hiddendoorarts.org/tickets.