LA’s Substance 2022 Announces Lineup w/ The Jesus & MC, Chameleons, DJ sets from Boy Harsher & Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA + 30 more

This year’s installment will feature the participation of THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, THE CHAMELEONS, CLOCK DVA, SEXTILE, KITTIN & THE HACKER, YOUTH CODE; DJ sets from BOY HARSHER, CABARET VOLTAIRE’s Stephen Mallinder; and an array of 30+ more vibrant post-punk/dark underground artists across two nights at the Los Angeles Theater, Oct. 21 and 22

LOS ANGELES, CA. — July 19, 2022 —  Restless Presents, the esteemed LA-based collective of bookers, promoters and music lifers, have re-emerged to announce Substance 2022, the fifth iteration of their annual multifaceted celebration of dark rock, high-force industrial, percolating electronics and strident post-punk.

Taking place at the venerable Los Angeles Theater Oct. 21 and 22 in downtown L.A., this year’s Substance is a sonic bacchanal celebrating forward-thinking rock progenitors while heralding the take-no-prisoners spirit of the next wave of aural explorers. With a lineup including such underground dark-rock legends as the Jesus And Mary Chain and The Chameleons; the forever-futurist visions of Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Steven Mallinder and electro-royalty Kittin And The Hacker; not to forget the vibrant (sometimes vicious) next-gen contributions of Boy Harsher, Light Asylum, Youth Code, SEXTILE and Kontravoid, Substance 2022 is so much more than an immersive sonic experience. It’s a brazen commitment by Restless Presents to the passionate, exhilarating music that has captured the hearts and souls of Cali… hang on… the world’s post-punk, electronic and goth factions.

“Over the years we have strived to curate unique and atypical lineups, Substance 2022 is no exception,” says Substance co-founder Brian Tarney. “We hold the DIY ethos very near and dear to our hearts. In the past, pandemics and outside forces have made presenting our unique vision all the more complex, but the stars have aligned and autonomy reigns. This year we are able to present a slew of the deepest architects of post-punk and goth aesthetic, alongside some of the most amazing up-and-coming acts in the scene. We intend to fully utilize our favorite theater in Los Angeles to the apex of Substance.”

For Substance 2022, the Restless Presents axis of Tarney and talent buyer/production coordinator Liz Garo had their work cut out for them in ways both challenging and ecstatic. As the team responsible for legendary events and various recent sold-out shows at the Lodge Room, Echoplex and the Regent Theater, Restless Presents knows how to build a living exhibition with integrity, inspired curation and a vivid awareness of what is happening right now. Their embracing of new artists makes the event feel like a genuine manifestation of community and not the status quo rock-show mindset reinforcing “headliners and openers.” It’s no real surprise that Substance 2022 sold out of its special advance “loyalty” tickets in record time without a single artist announced or lineup confirmed. “Substance 2022 is really us coming out of the gate with events both here in California and other parts of the country,” says Tarney.

By virtue of the legacy acts and flourishing locals who have signed on, Substance 2022 has enough sonic extremity to blow minds all over the back wall of Heaven. But legends and locals are two parts of the larger intention. Great measures were made to give the festival an international flavor with an amazing delegation of vibrant artists from Berlin—including Schwefelgelb, Linea Aspera and Qual (from current goth fulcrum Lebanon Hanover)—as well as Iceland’s highly acclaimed Kaelan Mikla and the official American debut of Belgian cold wave progenitors Parade Ground.

With Substance 2022, Restless Presents makes its commitment toward creating a gathering of tribes where fractiousness is a complete non-issue. These two late-October nights at the Los Angeles Theater will be teeming with decibels and dramatic production for a presentation that’s completely inclusionary, faithfully contemporary and positively complementary to the various dark rock, post-punk and electronic-forward scenes. After doing 2021’s event at the Belasco Theater, Substance 2022’s return to the LAT feels more like a homecoming to both fans and artists.

“The Los Angeles Theater is a jaw-dropping, historical theater in DTLA,” says Garo. “The return of Substance 2022 to this rarely used, multi-room venue will just add to the experience. The art deco-inspired bathrooms, grand staircase and giant chandelier form a unique backdrop that lends itself to the audience.”

It can be an ugly world out there. Manufactured pop stars are foisted upon us like exploding dye packs while mainstream personalities routinely go carpetbagging in the underground to lubricate their own exploitation machines. Now more than ever, there needs to be a beachhead against outmoded sounds and thoughtless ways of thinking. And this is why we call it SUBSTANCE…