Mike Dennis

Mike Dennis is a classically-trained violinist whose boyhood love of Run DMC, Beastie Boys and Gangstarr led him to create a unique kind of string-heavy hip hop music he half-seriously refers to as Violinica. 

Performing using Jess (violin), a loop pedal and a cajon, Mike builds up layers of dense harmony and embellishes with thoughtful, energetic rhymes drawing inspiration from daily British life and the perils and profits of love with a geeky fanaticism for rhythm-bending and syncopation. 

Championed by 6Music’s Tom Robinson, Mike has been enthralling audiences across the country and the continent with humour, sass and virtuoso musicianship for a decade. This is not a gig to miss.

In support is Potter, who brings achingly poignant musicianship contained within his imaginative, folky shell. He also happens to be the nicest man in the music business.

“Stop Time is the culmination of four years of writing about things that I feel strongly about and things that make me laugh. It’s the first album I’ve made that I don’t think I’ve rushed. We are launching this album in the portentous surroundings of the Spielman Theatre, where you will hear every intended detail, every hand-selected loop and instrumental line and every collaborator I can pin down for the night. And a rapping, looping violinist.” – Mike Dennis

“Violin in hand and a multitude of effects and loop pedals at his feet, he builds up to a string and percussion crescendo before opening his mouth and… wow! This guy doesn’t just spit rhymes, they just cascade out at a speed that is as ferocious as his lyrics.” – Wake The Deaf (Ben Gallivan)

“OH.MY.GOD… How have I not heard @Mikedennisyeah before last week’s FOTN submissions. CHECK THIS OUT folks: “Stuff” (Tom Robinson, 6Music)

“That shit you was doing…took me to different dimensions, man” (Vordal Mega of Cannibal Ox)

“How many brains do you have?!” (Sensible J/Remi)