The Antifolk Fest 2025

Now in it's fourth year at Windmill Brixton after having previously been responsible for the gentrification of the West End, the festival of DIY folk-punk promises much madness yet again.

10pm MPTL Microplastics - eight person industrial folk collective playing chronoplastic ballads of the future / folk music for a polymer people / stiob-eulogies arranged in the canon of the desecrated harp / crisis songs for the exploding (micro)plastic inevitable. November 2024 saw the band’s debut single “Plastic Princess” – a tribute to cult film director and artist Derek Jarman – which was described by The Quietus as “halfway between a queasy sea-shanty and a folk ballad, before gradually allowing strangeness to overtake it… its noises and voices blooming and multiplying into a cacophony.”

9.10 David Cronenberg's Wife - Fresh off supporting antifolk legend Jeffrey Lewis all around the UK, DCW return to one of their spiritual homes. Described as “where genius meets idiocy” by Mark Lamarr, DCW have been entertaining and shocking listeners over the last two decades with their subversive storytelling. With several BBC 6Music sessions under their belt (Marc Riley and Cerys Matthews) and having supported such legends as The Fall, The Nightingales and Wreckless Eric, DCW promise their usual mix of bizarre tales featuring Lot’s daughters, the president of Kazakhstan, and erotic encounters with mermaids.

8.20pm Frank Lloyd Wleft - Charting the Fall of America (shot on iPhone), Frank Lloyd Wleft and his Orchestra bring a beat mix of folk americana and rock ‘n’ roll. Call it country songs for driverless trucks. Hailing from North London, FLW infuses country, punk, poetry, and jangle into a concoction that's truly one-of-a-kind. “Post-Americana" debut single ‘Caroline’ put them firmly on the London music map – come see they are shaking up the scene with their antifolk UK fest debut.

7.40pm En Heat - Back to the fray after a few years recuperating from the antifolk debauchery of the early century with his Carthaginians, Filthy Pedro returns with his new outfit. En Heat bring the disco to those antifolk roots and freak show tales are set for skank and vogue. A dissection of the absurdity of our post-industrial, socio-economic system and an incitement to go out and have a damn good time. It’s a hot mess of wrestling masks and songs about walking in on your parents’ orgy and trillionaire buffoons on the moon. It’s nonsense. It’s not.

7:20pm Spinmaster Plantpot - Antifolk stalwart of punk-rock poetry, cappella singing, poetry and comedy, his 10 minute performances have become stuff of legend. Planpot has achieved a certain notoriety playing various characters, including Mad Paul, in the Keith Lemon universe, appearing in Keith Lemon: The Film, The Keith Lemon Sketch Show, Keith Lemon's Brilliant World Tour, Keith Lemon; Coming in America and Lemon La Vida Loca.

6.40 The Big Fibbers - Nigel Knapp, a dancing fool who sings a bit and plays some strange wind instruments, formed the Big Fibbers over 20 years ago. With songs about booze, madness, the ghosts of love, aliens, fish and even more booze, the band has taken many different formations over the years, but their Windmill anti-fest debut will feature a rare 4-piece performance. From the sublime to the ridiculous they fall somewhere between humour and despair with bits of mayhem and beauty thrown in for good measure.

6.00pm Adam Rivera Philadelphia antifolk artist, Adam Rivera has been writing songs, performing and recording music for 25 years. Originally from blue-collar central New York, Adam has lived and performed in New York and Los Angeles before moving recently to Philly. Travel, life, love and sci-fi movies fuel his compositions. From cafes to New York City subways and rock venues, Adam’s songs often have a bit of a twist with subject matter a mix of the accessible and not-so-straight-forward.

5:20pm Trailer Crash - Trailer Crash was created by JJ Crash - spawn of Newtown London suburb Welwyn Garden City - and Blang house percussionist Martin Langshaw (Lucy’s Diary, Sterling Roswell, Tav Falco) in 2017. After trialling a few songs as a two piece at Hitchin’s Club 84, they were contacted out of the blue by JJ’s old school friend Jimmy Chase, recently back from the USA, who added adding a touch of Americana and acoustic guitar. Think garage band with mandolin and banjo, with the song writing influences of Wreckless Eric and Television Personalities, the missing link from the early Stiff catalogue.

4:40pm Numberdan - makes lo-fi songs that sound like they’ve been pulled straight from the corners of a cluttered brain—wry, off-kilter, and oddly moving. His vocals have a kind of half-sung, half-muttered charm, like someone singing to themselves under their breath on a long walk home. Think of the cracked intimacy of early Jeffrey Lewis, the dry wit of Bill Callahan, or the vulnerable strangeness of Daniel Johnston

4:00pm Amelia Blackwell - Raw, shimmery, intense alt folk combining intricate guitar and intimate writing. Amelia released her first single “Body of Water” back in June. Her songs explore identity, sex, depression, womanhood and the natural world.