Text by CLOT Magazine
UF (or Unknown Fate) is a new project by Samuel Kerridge, one of the most vigorous and relentless producers in the industrial techno, noise and experimental scene, who has joined forces with another experimental techno luminaire, the German artist OAKE.
The artists, who self-describe themselves as the ‘power metal techno duo’, are launching their debut EP, Unknown, on April 10th in Kerridge’s own label Kick to Kill, with 4 tracks of unadulterated sonic warfare. Today, we also share a video created from one of their live performances at the Atonal festival, which was UF’s starting point and catalyst. The video captures the raw, rugged energy and boundary-pushing of their performances exceptionally well.
Although the 2 artists started creating music together when they shared a studio in Berlin and have been making music together for a decade, this is the first time they have released a shared production, which has been a long time in the making.
Kerridge shares that after he relocated to Berlin in 2011, he soon set about organising his own event series, Contort, to reflect his vision (this became a reference in the scene). Following up on the event series, he also shares that they found this unique spot called Mindpirates and pushed artists to play whatever they felt like away from a club environment.
Entrance was free; artists played for free. I managed to sweet-talk some very big artists into performing, but it wasn’t about names, we gave an opportunity to anyone and encouraged new talent. It was built on the romantic notion of soul and our love for music; the artists and crowd all felt that. The special bowl of punch also helped everyone attain enlightenment.
[Warning: video contains strobe effects]
Contort reached cult status, and the Berlin Atonal crew attended some of their events, which led them to invite Kerridge to curate the Sunday programme at their first edition of the festival and so on for the next 3 years.
Through that curation, Kerridge continues, I suggested that Eric [OAKE] and I collaborate to make something special for the festival in 2014. I think we only played for about 30/35 minutes; high on the atmosphere, we’d raced through the set too quickly, but the place went nuts, and we were invited back again in 2016 upon the request of the Atonal crew. The video contains unseen footage of that performance and Tasmania in 2019.
As both artists conclude, this is a project forged through friendship, addiction, and debauchery: UF is the sum of our parts. Pack your end-of-world survival bags and prepare yourselves for the ensuing riot.
To this resounding statement, we can only add that you’ve all been warned.
