Upstairs Planet: A Film about Cleaners From Venus & the Universe of Martin Newell

Martin Newell is a poet, songwriting genius and the Godfather of British Lo-Fi. Upstairs Planet is an independent film about the greatest band you've possibly not heard of: Cleaners From Venus. They were the jangly-guitar, synth-driven outliers from the edges of the 1980s, and beyond.

Looking like the "keeper of a 19th-century asylum" - Newell gives us his eccentric, irascible world view and hints at why he's admired by so many well-known acts and other artistes (MGMT, XTC, Ariel Pink, John Cooper Clarke, Mac deMarco, etc).

We're talking cassette culture, DIY punk attitudes and intelligent, poetic lyricism that should have found a much wider audience.

Graham Bendel's previous films include Derailed Sense (about Vic Godard & Subway Sect) and Billy Childish is Dead (nominated for a British Independent Film Award).

Martin Newell will play a short live set after the film and there will also be a Q&A.

Text supplied by third party.