Slimelight nightclub at centre of row over ‘far-right’ bands

Published: 17th June, 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

A LEADING nightclub is embroiled in a row over appearances by bands which campaigners claim sing racially charged songs and have links to far-right organisations.

Two groups, Love Music Hate Racism and Unite Against Fascism, are organising protests outside Slimelight nightclub, in Torrens Street,  Angel, to coincide with the appearance of bands Sol Invictus, Joy of Life and Freya Aswynn later this month.

According to anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, Sol Invictus is fronted by former National Front member Tony Wakeford, who founded neo-Nazi bands Above the Ruins and Death in June. Both names refer to speeches made by Hitler. 

In the last year Sol Invictus member Andrew King covered a song with the lyrics “monkey men... banging on the bongo drum, I’ll pick them off one by one... you can kill the Aryan body but you can’t kill the Aryan soul”. 

The song features a sample declaring Hitler as the second coming. 

The venue’s owner, May Uan Mak, confirmed the band would be playing the song during their performance. 

A recent Joy of Life album cover features a Nazi swastika, and Freya Aswynn launched a campaign against black opera singer Willard White, according to campaign groups. 

When first contacted by the Tribune, Slimelight owner May Uan Mak claimed the bands had severed all fascist connections. “I would not allow this to go ahead if there were any fascist connections,” he said. 

But later he said: “Ok, I am not comfortable with the bands, that’s me being honest. These bands do have clear fascist connections, I’ll admit that. It would be impossible for me to deny that, but the audiences who come to see them are not necessarily bad. 

“The audience are not racists, so it’s worth having them play for the audience. Most of the people who see them aren’t racist anyway. You might get your odd skinhead, but we’re not stuck in the 80s any more when there were loads of skinheads coming to these gigs.

“Art can be fascist too. The fascist language can be just as powerful as any other language in the world.”

Ashleigh Loeb, 24, who attends Slimelight nightclub regularly,  said: “There is no association with Nazism and the alternative scene, and the problem is if you have bands with that connection that play there, then it starts to reflect on the venue and on the scene. 

“I have German-Jewish roots, and I hate to think I would have been going there and not knowing that bands with fascist connections were playing.”

Islington South and Finsbury Labour MP Emily Thornberry said: “It is a shame and a disgrace that these peddlers of poison are playing in Islington. We have a proud history of tolerance in this borough – they have no place here.”

Weyman Bennett, of Unite Against Fascism, said: “Islington fought a hard fight against fascism in the early 80s. To think a band with connections to that is coming back here is worrying.”

Band members could not be contacted at the time of going to press. The demonstration will take place on June 25.