Inferno play in Russia

INFERNO TEST EASTERN EUROPEAN TRADE FAIR

Anglesey band play three shows at inaugural EEMC event. James McLaren reports

[transcript from Sound Nation Magazine - Aug 2005]

ANGLESEY ROCKERS** INFERNO became the first Welsh band to attend the Eastern European Music Conference (EEMC) in June, which was held in St Petersburg, Russia. The event was designed to be an Eastern version of the famed South By South West festival in Austin, Texas and as such had a combination of live, unsigned bands, business needs and seminars.

Inferno’s manager, Jimmy Lee, told Sound Nation about their trip into the unknown. "The trip to EEMC was several months in the planning. A musician friend of mine who works at an agency who loves the band suggested I have a look at the EEMC web site. He also suggested I speak to a guy who works with in the Welsh Assembly who assisted with export businesses.

"I e-mailed EEMC and sent them some info on Inferno etc. Apparently they wanted us pretty badly to get over there. Costs were sorted with the Assembly and off we went."

It was far from plain sailing for the Inferno crew, however. The first event of this kind in Eastern Europe was never going to run completely smoothly, and technical hitches from lost equipment at the airport ("we were at St Petersburg airport but four guitars, snare, cymbals and pedals were still in Paris!") to decrepit PAs in the venues were standard for the trip.

Inferno played three shows at EEMC, and went down very well according to Lee. "Following their gigs the lads roved all round the conference, visiting the stalls and speaking to many of the participants. They were spotted by a gang of teenagers who wanted autographs, pictures and CDs. Inferno loved the entire experience from start to end including the blips! They are richer for the experience and can't wait for their next European tour. We plan to do SXSW in March 2006 and have started on the venture already."