Opus Kink announce A Hideous Collective, a 24-track compilation album that raises funds to support Music Venue Trust and UK Artist Touring Fund, set for release 5 September on vinyl/CD only, via the band’s own label Hideous Mink Records and in partnership with SO Recordings. Featuring a mix of brand new and reworked material from acts including Wunderhorse, English Teacher, Katy J Pearson, Lambrini Girls, Antony Szmierek and many more, the campaign kicks off today following last night’s BBC 6 Music Steve Lamacq premiere of lead track, Opus Kink’s ‘Thank You Satan’.
Spearheading the artist-led campaign, Opus Kink have pulled together a collection of the UK’s finest musical talent in support of independent venues throughout the country, as well as aiming to help ease the cost of touring crisis. Speaking ahead of the launch, Opus Kink explained:
“Touring independent music venues is like this. The most passionate organisers are the ones who do it on a shoestring and are often one bad season away from crumbling. Support for these venues and humans is starting to glimmer in the ashes through donations and awareness and the work of groups like MVT, but as always, unfortunately, it must also take wresting a more fundamental and top-down offering from the industry to really stay the decimation of grassroots live music culture in this country. In the meantime, please enjoy the sounds of some of the artists who help to keep alive the places that birthed them and please buy this record so you can do that too. And remember to thank Satan.”
Joining the aforementioned acts on the compilation are the likes of Warmduscher, TTSSFU, Los Bitchos, Matt Maltese, Luvcat and Big Special, with the latter detailing why they’ve also got involved in the collaborative project:
“Independent venues have played a vital role in every single step of our development as a band and as musicians. From building our confidence on small stages as teenagers playing around the midlands, to our first headline run as full time musicians in our 30s. Touring on busy schedules you never end up seeing much of the places you visit, but indie venues are usually the main vein of a city’s culture. If these independent venues are taken away, an opportunity for working class and minority artists and young people and music fans to have a foot into an industry that is usually reserved for the most privileged will be taken away also. The most ironic thing would be the people where most of real art comes from, being excluded from the chance to make a living from their work and their art.”
Music Venue Trust added:
“This compilation is a celebration of everything that makes grassroots music culture so vital. Every track is a reminder that these spaces are not just stepping stones – they are sacred spaces of culture, rebellion, and connection. Buying this record is doing more than raising funds; it’s an act of beautiful support and solidarity at a time when the grassroots still aren’t valued for their essential contribution to the pipeline of talent in this country. A huge thank you to Opus Kink and every artist on this record!”
David Martin, CEO of FAC / UKAT stated:
“The FAC is really grateful for Opus Kink & Hideous Mink Record’s generous and visionary support for grassroots artists, as the first donors to the UK Artist Touring Fund. Through the brilliant A Hideous Collective compilation, all of these extraordinary artists are showing remarkable generosity and sending a clear message: the grassroots sector cannot survive—let alone thrive—if artists can’t afford to tour. By supporting this release, listeners aren’t just getting an outstanding and diverse body of work—they’re investing in the future of live music.”
With the two-vinyl/CD compilation only made available to purchase via independent record stores (Rough Trade, Resident, Piccadilly, Norman, Crash), fans will not only be playing a role in supporting the charities themselves, they’ll also be aiding the indies with the small amount of profit they keep.
A Hideous Collective (compilation) is out 5 September via Hideous Mink Records and can be pre-ordered here.
A Hideous Collective Tracklist
Vinyl One
01 – A Foreword From Steve Lamacq
02 – Big Special – Cooked Fish
03 – Katy J Pearson – Tonight
04 – Luvcat – He’s My Man (live in Cologne)
05 – Honeyglaze – Turn Out Right
06 – Matt Maltese – Please Don’t Kill Me
07 – Opus Kink – Thank You Satan
08 – Lambrini Girls – Big Dick Energy (live in Seattle)
09 – Warmduscher – YAKUZA
10 – TTSSFU – Upstairs
11 – Hamish Hawk – Burning Up
12 – Wunderhorse – Rain (live)
Vinyl Two
01 – Antony Szmierek – Independent Venue Week Poem
02 – Friedberg – Haha
03 – HotWax – Chip My Teeth (live at Rough Trade East)
04 – Getdown Services – AONB
05 – Gurriers – Approachable (Chris.W.Ryan. version)
06 – Nova Twins – Monsters (live)
07 – cumgirl8 – Goblin
08 – The Oozes – The Entertainer
09 – Los Bitchos – Turkish Delight
10 – Oracle Sisters – Wait For Me
11 – English Teacher – Yorkshire Tapas
12 – mary in the junkyard – ghost (demo)
For information on Music Venue Trust please check here.
For information on Hideous Mink records please check their instagram and website.