My guest on this months extended edition is Benjamin D Duvall, founder of Ex-Easter Island Head, one of Britain’s most unique and enduring underground music ensembles. On this first instalment we begin a well needed review of the ensembles history, including a survey of the groups membership and all their recordings to date. Ben’s early influences for the project are discussed amongst some of the inspiring and ingenious ways the group has recontextualised the use of the electric guitar in their compositions, employing allen keys, knitting needles and even old mobile phone batteries to craft their awe inspiring take on minimalist music. We also focus particularly on the groups collaborations with Arnold Dreyblatt, Laura Cannell, Charles Hayward, the BBC Philharmonic and all three of their expanded large ensemble, each named after the cities they were formed in; Nottingham, Salford and Denmark. In recent years, Ben has carved out a distinct practice as a solo performer experimenting which has been built around experiments with Aeolian wind; small instrumentation using both place and natural resources to generate eerily beautiful music. He goes in to exacting detail on the process of creating each wind-generated instrument and how he arrived at a new carefully curated solo performance, using trombone, samples and spoken word to describe his fascinating work. Ben also gives us some insight into the practicalities of balancing all these musical activities with his regular day to day life, which has culminated in the recent decision to switch from full time to part time work in order to create more opportunities for his creative practice.