Over on the DJ Stage – Cloud 10 – a stellar line-up promises to get the crowd moving, with UK Cypriot EROL ALKAN (disco set), HEIDI, FABIO & GROOVEIDER, WOOKIE and RAW SILK ready to play into the late hours of a woozy sunset. Elsewhere, on the Fringe Stage NINA CONTI will have the crowds in stitches as she performs her trademark ventriloquist stand-up, and SHAUN KEAVNEY will join JOE LYCETT in conversation. SHAUN WILLIAMS, aka Barry from Eastenders, will present BARRIOKE, a hilarious sing-along extravaganza, and REBEL BINGO blurs the line between numbers and nightclubs while comedians MAISIE ADAM, MICHAEL AKADIRI, TEJ DHUTIA and KATIE MCLEOD each take to the stage.
The founder of Phantasy in 2007, Turkish Cypriot Erol Alkan is not susceptible to cliches, but amid a life devoted to alternative and electronic music culture, one just might be true; he is an artist who needs no introduction. Alkan’s creative life as a DJ, producer, label owner, radio host and collaborator has spanned decades. His exhaustive history reads almost like mythology; the shy son of first-generation immigrants, who snuck out of his bedroom window to play indie records to ruthlessly unforgiving crowds, and ended up transforming the London club scene, bridging disparate scenes with experimentation and abandon.
A ubiquitous and hugely imaginative remixer of bands including Tame Impala, Daft Punk, Conan Mockasin, Justice, Working Men’s Club and Hot Chip, many of Alkan’s remixes were collected on a 2017 collection, ‘Reworks Volume 1’. Alkan has also produced bands including Duran Duran, Ride, Late Of The Pier and Mystery Jets; their respective seminal LPs ‘Fantasy Black Channel’ and ‘Twenty One’, each produced by Alkan, have been reissued via Phantasy in recent years.
Phantasy has also provided a natural home for Alkan’s occasional solo productions, beginning with 2013’s ‘Illumination’ EP, 2018’s ‘Spectrum’, and, marking the hundredth release on Phantasy, ‘Automatic’, released in 2021. Alkan’s productions have also been remixed extensively by artists including Matrixxman, Palms Trax, Machine Woman and Tom Trago.
Kaleidoscope boasts arguably the most scenic festival site in the capital, with panoramic views across the whole city, as well as the chance to explore hidden corners of the historic Palace and 196 acres of award-winning Park. Now in its fourth year, the festival is fast becoming a fixture for music lovers, families and performers, partying their way through London’s summertime.
As previously announced, headlining the main Hilltop Stage are electronic-pop legends HOT CHIP, who will make a little slice of venue history by becoming the first band in 150 years to play all three stages at Alexandra Palace: the Theatre, Great Hall and now the Park. GEORGE FITZGERALD will raise the roof with a live electronic set and GAZ COOMBES brings his trademark musical alchemy to the rolling hills of Alexandra Palace. ELVANA – Elvis-fronted Nirvana – will add some fun to the much coveted, mid-afternoon slot with their alternative take on the King’s classics, whilst electronic disco ones-to-watch GIRLS OF THE INTERNET and spoken word and hip-hop artist ANTONY SZMIEREK provide the ultimate Summer soundtrack.
