Anyone who has been to a rock, metal or punk gig in Belfast in the last decade and a half has almost certainly felt the influence of James Loveday’s The Distortion Project. Now in its sixteenth year, the Distortion Project was set up to give local bands a platform on which to perform – starting out in Katy Daly’s, and more recently in the Limelight and Voodoo – as well as bring UK and international acts to Belfast.
It has been phenomenally successful on both counts, with local acts such as Rabid Bitch of the North, By Any Means, Stormzone, Maverick and Overoth going on to perform at festivals such as Bloodstock and tour Europe. Belfast heavy music fans have also been treated to a dizzying array of huge international acts playing here, such as Lamb of God, Fear Factory and Mastodon.
Such success takes a staggering amount of effort, time and money to pull off, especially in these tough financial times. Everyone is feeling the pinch including, unsurprisingly, the inimitable Mr Loveday and his beloved DP. So a few days ago, he put out an SOS: the Distortion Project needs an injection of money in order to survive and continue to serve up the fantastic local and international gigs it has become so well known for. A Go Fund Me account has been set up in order for us headbangers to quite literally repay James for all of his hard work over the years.
Here, dear reader, is where you come in: head to the DP Go Fund Me page (link below) and donate whatever you can afford, so the DP can continue to soldier on. Belfast would be a greyer, duller (and quieter) place without the Distortion Project bringing the noise! If you’ve ever been to a DP gig (or have friends or even children who do) then please dig deep for this most worthy of causes.
In Mr Loveday’s words, the Distortion Project “give[s] heavy music a home in Belfast and create[s] a local metal community that both bands and punters (could) feel part of, and proud of – irrespective of race, colour or creed – a community in the truest sense of the word. A heavy metal congregation!”.
Amen to that.
Click here to go to the Go Fund Me page:
https://www.gofundme.com/knd2ek4k
