Arts & Culture

Cowley Road’s multi venue festival Ritual Union is back for its third year on Saturday October 19.

The all-dayer, which starts at 11am until the early hours, is fast becoming a mainstay of the Oxford music scene’s calendar and this year you’ll be able to catch it at the O2 Academy, The Bullingdon, The Library and Truck Store.

And amongst its gigs, gigs, gigs, will be the band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (or Pigsx7 for short) who totally won us over at ArcTanGent earlier this summer with their artistically hard to pigeonhole take on Seventies sounding metal.

Another band that we are slathering at the mouth to catch are Young Knives who have been an Ocelot favourite ever since they appeared on the cover of the third ever magazine back in 2006 in all their glorious weirdness. The legendary Oxford stalwarts have been a bit quiet of late since Sick Octave in 2013 but promise a kickass set of new material and old.

They are joined by such amazing acts like She Drew The Gun, Teleman, The Comet is Coming, Ibibio Sound Machine and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

We caught up with five of the best Oxford acts taking part for a few words.

Ahead of the festival we chat to Julia Meijer:

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I am getting ready to go back in the studio to record some new material that I feel very excited about. I will also be involved in a couple of collaborations this autumn, which will be a new thing for me.

What can we expect from your Ritual Union set?

They can expect a varied set list with a mix of older and newer songs, all equally amazing! We always have such a great time playing live, and hopefully everyone else will as well.

What other acts on the line-up would you recommend checking out?

Oh wow, there are so many fantastic acts playing! I’m going to try to see as many as possible, but I guess I would recommend maybe seeing a band/artist that you’ve never heard or seen live before, you might discover your new favorite band!

What is your favourite music spot in Oxford?

It changes from time to time, but a few of my favorite spots are the Library, Port Mahon and Jericho Tavern.

For further information visit www.ritualunion.seetickets.com