Master of none

I wanted to let people know about some gigs which are making me happy; one that I have played recently and two which are coming up…

ORE at Cafe OTO

On the 1st of February we played our first gig as ORE at Cafe OTO. This was the usual doomy, droney affair but with an extended line-up and sound, courtesy of Michelle Hickman on tenor horn, Olly Coates on cello and Will Cooper on great highland bagpipes.

This was our second outing with this line-up, which we really enjoy and is our second time of playing for the wonderful Full Of Noises crew. Very happy making indeed.
 
ORE
 

MrUnderwood and Kit Downes

On the 28th of February I am playing an improvised gig, as part of the London Contemporary Orchestra Soloists series, with Kit Downes on keyboard. The aim is for me to channel and process Kit’s playing, the sounds of some MortonUnderwood instruments and live environmental sounds. Our aim is to create a deep listening experience for those present.

This will be my first time playing for LCO and at Limewharf in London. Further details here. It is also a great pleasure to be playing with Kit for the first time.

LCO
 

Glatze is back!

Lastly, I’d like to highlight a gig I am doing partly for old times’ sake. On May the 27th I will support Melt Banana, for Capsule, at the Rainbow Warehouse in Birmingham. Further details here

This will be the usual bonkers live electronics from Glatze, and brings me particular joy as this was the first slot I ever did for Capsule, in 2009. Plus I am very much looking forward to dancing my tits off to Melt Banana; who are cracking live!

Glatze
 

Master of none

If you are wondering what the title of this blog is about, it refers to the broad variety of output this represents and that frankly it does make me a bit of a jack of all trades, and master of none. BUT I have come to understand that this is what makes me tick creatively. I admire virtuosity greatly but personally speaking I find keeping my output diverse and stimulating suits my personality and way of working better. Sometimes this makes me ponder whether greatness will ever be achieved but then I consider how fulfilled I am by such work and how pleased I am with the experiences I create for my audiences and all is well.

As ever, I reserve the right to change my mind on this…

Hope to see you out and about at one of these gigs!

TOYBOX at TROVE / Confessions of a circuit-bender

Tomorrow I will be heading up to Birmingham to install my piece as part of the TOYBOX exhibition at TROVE. I am very excited to be included in this as it looks like a great collection of fun stuff. The piece I am exhibiting is a very early circuit-bent piece of mine (shown below), which now has a long history of use in gigs across the country, including at Supersonic Festival in 2009.

The reason for exhibiting this piece was as much to do with the story behind it, which I think illustrates the sometimes uneasy life fo a circuit-bender.
 
 
“I used to live in an ex-mining village in north Nottinghamshire. During the summer the neighbouring village would host car boot sales. I would go regularly, looking for stuff to bend. One time I was there and saw a stall with loads of V-tech stuff, which is a favourite amongst circuit benders. I went over and the lady asked who I was buying stuff for. I lied. I couldn’t bring myself to say that I planned to hack it to pieces to make odd sounds, so I lied. In order not to narrow down the options I said I have a nephew and a niece. “How old are they?”, she asked. I said they were both around two years old. I was starting to get nervous. Then, I spotted the V-tech phone and exclaimed how perfect it was and that I wanted to buy it. She told me the price and I paid. I started to leave and she said “Um, what about your niece?”. I said not to worry and that I would find her something elsewhere. The lady was very insistent and wouldn’t let me leave her stall without something for my imaginary niece. In the end she forced me to take a doll for her, at no extra cost. My lying had resulted in a car boot sale stall holder showing extreme generosity and concern. I felt guilty as hell but that soon faded when I got home and realised the doll’s head came off the body and fitted perfectly on top of the V-tech phone. And that is the story of how this odd looking hybrid was born.
 
”

TOYBOX