A CELEBRATION of electronic music is to be held at Darwen’s Library Theatre later this month.

And it is hoped that Electrofest will become a regular event if it proves popular with music fans.

Headlining will be Darwen band Some Now Are who will be releasing their new album on the night - Factorisation. The band has been together more than 40 years and have supported the likes of The Smiths and New Order.

Also part of Electrofest are My Little Universe, essentially a vehicle for Darwen musician Steven Kenyon and The Junta, the solo project of John “Monty” Montague of the Manchester based band San Pedro Collective and who also has his own weekly show on Salford City Radio.

“Electrofest is a celebration of electronic music,” said Andrew Fishwick-Mahon, the mainstay behind Some Now Are. “We wanted to put together something that was more than just bands playing on the night, so there will be DJs playing in the bar area before the bands come on.”

The night will also feature an exhibition of artwork and memorabilia associated with the various bands taking part.

And as well as being a launch event for the Some Now Are album, there will also be a second exclusive release.

“There will be an Electrofest 1 compilation album available on the night,” said Andrew. “This will be a sampler featuring three tracks each by the artists taking part on the night.”

A film crew will also be at the Library Theatre on the night recording the event.

Andrew has certainly done his bit to make the night special, having produced individually-signed pieces of artwork which will be given to everyone who attends. Electrofest T-shirts have also been designed and will be for sale.

“We’re just trying to make it something with a little impact,” said Andrew, “and ideally we would like to build on Electrofest 1 and hold more in the future. Darwen has always had a strong association with the electronic music scene and with this first event we just want to see what kind of appetite there is for an event like this.”

For Some Now Are, Electrofest ! marks a rare live date in the band’s home town.

“We did a show at the Blues Bar a while back which went down really well,” said Andrew. “Some Now Are is mainly a studio project but we’re all looking forward to playing songs featured on the new album plus some older material live again.”

Some Now Are will feature Andrew, guitarist Zander Sumner,, additional vocals and keyboards from Phil Llewellyn and Paul Stuart Davies.

“We’ll also have our own backing singers, the Senzational Soundz,” said Andrew.

Some Now Are first came to prominence shortly after forming in 1981.

Andrew had been involved in bands such as Casino Filter before that and would often play at the Lodestar in the Ribble Valley.

“There was quite a scene there at the time for New Wave and Punk bands,” he said. “Both the Sex Pistols and Boomtown Rats played there.”

Some Now Are won a battle of the bands competition at the Cat’s Whiskers in Burnley and part of the prize was studio time at the famous Strawberry Studios in Stockport.

“We’d got a pretty decent following playing our own electronic music,” said Andrew. “Our second single Truth to Tell was produced by Peter Hook of New Order and some people started to talk of us as having the next Blue Monday.

“But although we had high expectations these things don’t always work out.”

Some Now Are released the album Facienda in 2020 and now sees the release of Factorisation.

“I think you can spot the pattern there,” laughed Andrew.

“We make 80s-inspired electronic music and I think there is still a lot of interest in that so hopefully Electrofest 1 will be the first of many such nights.”

Electrofest 1, Darwen Library Theatre, Friday, October 27. Details from www.bwdvenues.com