Welcome to the first of our blogs looking at the people behind for-Wards! We’ll be speaking to our Year One composers, artistic partners and others who have helped us along the way. Our very first blog we’re taking a look at Hodge Hill composer Justin K Broadrick and his experience with for-Wards!
From the beginning, Justin has said his intention is that his composition will be “embracing all facets of my musical career”. This is quite a tall order, seeing as his musical career spans back 30 years, to when he was a teenager in Birmingham grindcore pioneers Napalm Death. Justin played guitar on side 1 of the band’s heavily influential album “Scum”, as well as contributing vocals to one track – Polluted Minds.
Justin would leave Napalm Death soon after recording the first side of “Scum”. He would go on to join industrial metal band Head of David, before forming Godflesh with his friend G.C. Green. The band took influence from the hip-hop sound of the time, defined by artists such as Run DMC, The Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. They would go on to release an eponymous debut EP and an LP called “Streetcleaner”, which was hailed as a creative masterpiece by music media.
Justin would also go on to play guitar for industrial metal group GOD alongside playing in Godflesh, and would form industrial hip hop duo Techno Animal and experimental dub-hip hop project Ice with GOD saxophonist and tenor Kevin Martin. Meanwhile, Godflesh went on to release their second album “Pure”, whilst Broadrick also produced a lot of records, including for fellow for-Wards year one composers Pram.
The 90’s were no less busy for Broadrick than the preceding decade. With several new releases from Godflesh, Techno Animal and GOD, as well as releasing music under several new pseudonyms and as part of projects such as Curse of the Golden Vampire, White Viper, Eraser and Cylon, he certainly kept himself occupied! It was during this time that he first produced music using the JK Flesh name.
The end of the 90’s and early 2000’s would see many of Broadrick’s projects come to an end, as well as the beginning of several new ones. In 1999 he formed Avalanche Recordings, which would primarily release albums and unreleased work by Broadrick’s many side projects, as well as new projects Jesu and Greymachine. He would also release his first official solo album – “Posthuman” under his JK Flesh pseudonym.
And now, selected by artistic partner Access to Music, Justin is working on his latest project – his composition for for-Wards. Justin has been working with local multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer Rowen Coleing to collaborate with local community groups Ward End Park Friends, Pump Youth Group, Women’s Empowerment Group and Girl’s Drama Group from the Hodge Hill district.
The integration of this eclectic collection of community groups into the composition process represents an entirely new challenge for Broadrick, who is used to “composing his music in a vacuum, rarely needing to accommodate for external input”. It’s the idea of working in this foreign territory that attracted Justin to for-Wards when he was initially invited to contribute, and he believes this exciting challenge will “really shape the final outcome of his piece”.
Justin K Broadrick presents “An Ode to York’s Wood” on 1st July. More info TBA!