Sounds From The Other City announces full line-up for 2022 edition

Salford’s Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC) festival has announced its full line-up ahead of its eagerly awaited live return on 1 May.

Sounds From The Other City is seen as a creative scene which is constantly developing and, after almost two decades, the festival has served as an annual snapshot of the Greater Manchester scene.

The idea for the festival was born in 2005 with the intention to do two simple things.

Firstly, to celebrate the work of independent promoters in Salford and Manchester and shine a light on those working tirelessly to bring new music and artists to public attention, often with little recognition of that invaluable role they play.

Secondly, to draw attention to Salford itself, the often overlooked ‘other city’ to Manchester, by embedding live music and art everywhere from the doctors surgery to churches, pubs, and community centres.

Out of these roots has grown this curiosity of a festival, one that is co-designed by both fellow promoters and the audience, ultimately becoming synonymous with its community and a celebration of the most exciting emerging names in music.

Riv Burns, creative director for Sounds From The Other City, said: “This year’s festival is really shaping up to have one of the most eclectic, exciting and enticing SFTOC line-ups to date with over 125 acts announced, plus a handful more in the pipeline.

“It feels incredibly representative of the times we are living in and I couldn’t be prouder of the vision and talent of this city.

“We are really excited to be working with a whole array of visual artists who will be creating special happenings and strange goings-on to the site throughout the day as well.

“The audience journey of this year’s festival will truly be like no other.”

Acts like July7, KNTA, Akemi Fox, Nayana Iz, and BBC 1xtra radio host and R&B singer Victoria Jane are joining an already electrifying bill of artists such as Salford-formed GNOD, a trippy, drone and psychedelic noise collective, Edinburgh born singer-songwriter Hamish Hawk, and Manchester neo-soul and RnB band Lovescene.

Also lighting up SFTOC’s spiritual home of Chapel Street will be fresh female DJ collective Queer Latifah, Amsterdam’s beamy-grinned, indie-pop powerhouse Pip Blom, as well as Neneh Cherry’s RnB/pop artist daughter TYSON.

Already announced are LayFullstop, LYR (Land Yacht Regatta), the brainchild of UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, DJs from the Daytimers stable, Chandé and Gracie T, much-celebrated British electronic music producer, Holy Other, and the proudly black and queer Bristol-based producer, vocalist and DJ Grove, to name a few.

The Manchester International Festival will present MIF Sounds artists Test Card Girl, Dirty Freud and SIBZ plus many more on their Factory stage on Chapel Street, ahead of the opening of the landmark cultural space in Manchester next year.

SFTOC is famed for its dance inducing afterparties and this year is no different, with venues including fivefourstudios, Old Pint Pot and YES two-stepping up to the plate and flinging open their doors to those unaccustomed to an early bedtime.

Afterparty hunters can expect late night soirées such as the long-awaited return of underground electronic night Bohemian Grove and the tour de force of Freak Queer Rave collaborating with Creatures to celebrate ‘the other’ till the early hours.

Over the years, the SFTOC has hosted early-day performances from artists as diverse as James Ferraro, Marina, Alt-J, Slowthai, and Hannah Peel right through to 2017’s Mercury Music Prize winner Sampha, BBC Sound of 2018 nominee IAMDDB, and 2019 Mercury Music Prize nominees Black Midi.

Some of the city’s venues that will be involved include Bexley Square, Seven Bro7hers Beerhouse, fivefourstudios, Hot Bed Press, Old Pint Pot, Partisan, Porta, Regent Trading Estate, Saint Philip’s Church and The New Oxford.

The full line-up for 2022 can be found here, while tickets can be purchased here.