ABOUT FAT OUT
FAT OUT has been producing shows in Salford & Manchester since 2008
Since its very beginning, Fat Out has been a passionate champion of the underground scene both locally and internationally, dedicated to discovering new music to produce captivating live shows for both artists and audience alike, aiming to promote a combination of challenging, intense, experimental, queer and downright rowdy music.
Collaboration is at the core of Fat Out’s agenda and we continue to seek to grow our knowledge of musicians, visual artists, record labels, festivals and like minded promoters/collectives to work with on producing consistently unique events.
HERSTORY
Fat Out is an independent promotion based in Salford (Greater Manchester). Founded by Emma Thompson in 2008 and co-directed with Verity Gardner from 2009-2017, Fat Out has grown from an occasional gig/party organisers into a fully-fledged and nationally recognised concert & festival promotion.
Fat Out Fest is our flagship event that we have produced sporadically since 2011. The festival started as a two day DIY festival with bands performing back to back between the Islington Mill event & gallery spaces. Since this first incarnation, the festival has steadily grown to become an ever evolving festival that celebrates the underground and platforms alternative and queer music and visual art.
2013 saw Fat Out challenge themselves to produce their first international event at the Silent Barn in Brooklyn, NYC. This event brought together NYC based musicians and visual artists based in the UK for a night of one-off, transatlantic collaborations.
In May 2015, Islington Mill cemented their long growing partnership with the promotion by offering Fat Out a two year programming residency in their critically acclaimed event space, an amazing opportunity that aimed to allow for fresh ideas and entrepreneurial growth. From May 2015 to August 2017, Fat Out gained full autonomy over the creative programme and venue management of Islington Mill’s club. Renaming the space ‘The Burrow’, Fat Out transformed the Mill’s world class venue into their new home and over the course of their residency had an incredible array of national and international artists perform on their stage.
In 2018 Fat Out joined Outlands, a national experimental music touring network. Initially made up of 8 partners from across the UK with the collective aim of championing the genre-resistant bringing adventurous interdisciplinary music to the forefront. Outlands have commissioned 6 collaborative tours, all with accompanying learning and participations workshops. Fat Out produced the 6th Outlands tour, a collaboration between IMPATV & Qujaku which was developed during residencies in Japan & UK and then toured around the Outlands Network in November 2019. Outlands is now a network of over xxx member. Fat Out is part of the steering committee who contribute to the development and vision of Outlands work.
Since 2008 Fat Out has promoted shows for artists such as Swans, The Bug, Boris, Russian Circles, Saul Williams, Bohren & the club of Gore, Gnod, Jarboe, Chris Corsano, Melt Banana, Charles Hayward, Oneohtrix Point Never, Tatsuya Yoshida, Wolves In The Throne Room, and Lydia Lunch.
Our previous collaborative partners include Videojam, Gizeh Records, Tombed Visions, Opal Tapes, Baba Yaga’s Hut, Basilica Hudson, Le Guess Who?, Cheryl, The Quietus, Lovers & Lollypops, Supersonic Festival, Sweet Sticky, The Wire, Body Horror, Bollox, Box Records, Brave Exhibitions Festival, Counterflows, Creatures Of Catharsis, Gross Indecency, Upset The Rhythm, Eat Me, Creatures Of Catharsis, Frixxxion, Off With Their Heads, Seren Marimba. Erased Tapes, BBC Philharmonic, Alphaville, Sexquisite & Grove.