excuse the mess

Mark Lockheart is up next on excuse the mess. A composer and saxophonist primarily working in jazz but always finding himself in very different worlds due to his adventurous tastes and versatility as a musician and collaborator.

He has been at the forefront of the British Jazz scene (somewhat of a legened!) via his work with some of the most pioneering musicians. Working alongside the likes of: Loose Tubes, Jah Wobble, Kenny Wheeler, Billy Jenkins, June Tabor, Perfect Houseplants, Polar Bear, Radiohead, Mark Anthony Turnage.

In our podcast convo we talk about much of the above, the lessons learned whilst working in Polar Bear, previous works like his album Ellington In Anticipation where the lines between composer and arranger are well and truly blurred. Also, more current projects including his trio Malija (with Liam Noble and Jasper Høiby), You'll also learn how many records Mark has stashed at home. 

Later this year Mark will be releasing his next album, 'Brave World' [Edition Records], a full orchestral album featuring, of course, some incredible musicians (Seb Rochford and Tom Herbert for example). We start our chat with Brave World, delving a little deeper in to the concept behind it. 

Have fun listening and remember to spread the word. Any reviews on iTunes are hugely appreciated and will massively help support the podcast! Go on.....like-scribe!

www.marklockheart.co.ukwww.etmpodcast.com

From this episode onwards I've decided to add links to all tracks heard in the episode (for your further listening enjoyment):Polar Bear - Be FreePolar Bear - WWMark Lockheart - My CaravanRadiohead - National Anthem

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Hello there! Episode #4 features one of the most important voices to emerge in contemporary music culture in recent years. Robert Ames is the co-artistic director, co-principal conductor and violist of the London Contemporary Orchestra.

Since the LCO's creation 10 years ago they have collaborated with some of the biggest names in music and have gained a reputation as one of the most innovative groups around.

Their performances and projects are anything but the norm, they are no standard 'orchestra'.

Rob’s collaborators include [now, brace yourselves]: Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Actress, Mica Levi, Jed Kurzel, Shiva Feshareki, Edmund Finnis, Emily Hall, CHAINES, Danny Mulhern, Anne Nikitin, Frank Ocean, Vivienne Westwood, Spitfire Audio, Beck, Cat Lamb, Daniel Wohl, William Basinski, Claire M Singer, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Foals, BadBadNotGood...i'm definitely missing a bunch, it's hard to keep track.

In this episode we discuss a lot of the above, the Actress writing process and their upcoming album release with Ninja Tune. We chat about their film music work, creating a sample library with Spitfire Audio, London's booming young composer scene and plenty more.

*For the uninitiated, in each episode I spend a day with a different music maker. We chat music then attempt to write a piece of music together using only the instrument that the guest brings along.

Rob made for a brilliant guest - so much interesting chat and it was exciting to make a track with him. We hope you like it!

Enjoy the episode - like, subscribe, share if you feel inclined, it’d be much appreciated.

Thanks for checking out etm!

http://www.robertames.co.uk/https://www.lcorchestra.co.uk/https://www.etmpodcast.com/

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An important subject, which is rightly getting a lot of discussion at the moment, is that of inequality for women working in music and beyond.

I spent a day with composer Emily Hall as part of episode 3 of excuse the mess. We got quite in depth on this subject over lunch and we thought it best to release as a separate episode. We reference an article a fair bit, as it acted as a great springboard for discussion - an article by Grace Banks for the Quietus which you can (and should) read here.

It's quite a candid conversation. Emily shares her thoughts and experiences on this topic which are well worth a listen. I hope you find it insightful.

Keep the conversation going!

Thanks for listening...Ben

www.emilyhall.co.ukwww.etmpodcast.com

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation

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Welcome all to episode #3 of excuse the mess. In this episode I take a trip to Stroud to meet Emily Hall, a really brilliant contemporary classical composer. We potter about the local countryside and discuss her music including her upcoming release, 'Life Cycle' (Bedroom Community) a song cycle about motherhood and how that album was part of a pivotal moment in her compositional approach. We discuss her background and previous album 'Folie à Deux' (Bedroom Community). We also discuss a very important topic, the equality imbalance for women working in music. This insightful article by Grace Banks acted as a perfect springboard for the subject.

***There is also a separate episode where we get in depth about this subject over lunch.

It's a very jam packed episode, we cover plenty of other topics and of course, like always, write a piece of music together in the same day. For that we used her totally unique Electromagnetic Harp - it's a very cool instrument; built in collaboration with her husband David Sheppard. We also talk about helicopters with Dave, here's why.

Enjoy listening!

www.emilyhall.co.ukwww.etmpodcast.com

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation

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excuse the mess has returned, fuelled by funding from the art enablers, Arts Council England and PRS Foundation - big thank you’s go to them.

I’m very excited to bring you episode #2 featuring Laura Jurd, the jazz composer, trumpeter and improvisor; one of the most exciting voices on the British Jazz scene. Her band Dinosaur infiltrated a more mainstream audience last year when their debut album ‘Together, As One’ which was nominated for a Mercury Prize.

We talk about Dinosaur, their upcoming album Wonder Trail and the new approaches to it, particularly the use of the recording studio as a creative tool.

You’ll also learn about how her musical journey began.

As with any excuse the mess episode you’ll hear Laura and I co-composing a new piece together using only her trumpet as a sound source. You’ll follow the process starting from a blank page and arriving somewhere hopefully quite musical.

We had a great day making this episode and I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing from Laura and our composition together.

Thanks for checking out excuse the mess!

www.etmpodcast.comwww.laurajurd.com

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Welcome to the pilot episode of 'excuse the mess' featuring Manu Delago.Manu is a brilliant composer, percussionist and hang drum pioneer. He writes for various things including his band Manu Delago Handmade. He also works with the likes of Anoushka Shankar, The Cinematic Orchestra and the one and only Björk.

In this episode you're going to hear us discuss his relationship to Indian music, Anoushka and Björk, his band and the people and process behind it. We touch upon the guest vocalists on his albums and discover how to burp a song live. Now's your chance to get to know Manu a bit better.  

Happy listening all - enjoy the podcast!Ben 

www.etmpodcast.com

www.manudelago.com

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excuse the mess is all about getting to know some of the most exciting composers working today.In each episode I’m going to spend a day with a different composer. Like any decent podcast there'll be plenty of ramble chat with each guest, we'll talk about all manner of things that will hopefully entertain and intrigue you. Throughout each episode you'll be treated to excerpts of the guests music. 

excuse the mess has more up it's sleeve though. Along with the chit chat there is a sort of music challenge. We’ll be co-composing a new piece of music but following a few rules... We only have that day to make the piece, we can’t pre plan anything and every sound must come from one instrument that the composer brings with them, we can however manipulate the material electronically. At end of the podcast you'll hear the finished product but leading up to that we'll show you how we did it.

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