My guest for episode 4 is guitarist, promoter, and occasional label owner David Birchall. For well over a decade, David has been synonymous with improvised music in Manchester. In addition to being one of the cities most talented and prolific practitioners, David has been a dedicated and selfless facilitator of improvised music concerts in Manchester. On this second instalment of episode 4, we continue to discuss David’s activities as a promoter, this time turning our attention to his current long running concert series Curious Ear and some of the incredible players he’s hosted over the years. We also take a well needed look at David’s earliest musical projects, which include Stuckometer, My Beautiful Ridiculous Plan and The Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra, providing a fascinating snapshot of how the wider DIY Punk and independent music scenes operated at this time in both Manchester and the wider UK. David has been fortunate enough to play is some pretty ‘exotic’ and farflung locations over the years and we talk about his experiences performing in Palestine, Japan, Russia and in small beer shops around Europe. We round the show off with the quick-fire pop quiz, which although a bit gimmicky, continues to produce some very interesting answers and David’s are no different. You’ll also be able to hear an exclusive track from mine and David new duo project, Fire Nearby, at the end of the show, which is taken from our forthcoming album out very soon on Tombed Visions.

Important Links:

https://davidbirchall.bandcamp.com/

https://curiousear.net/

https://davidbirchall.neocities.org/

Helpyourself Manchester Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu67QZvMLqY

https://tombedvisionsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-islington-mill

https://tombedvisionsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-difficult-second-album

Socials:

@curiousearmcr

My guest for episode 4 is guitarist, promoter, and occasional label owner David Birchall. For well over a decade, David has been synonymous with improvised music in Manchester. In addition to being one of the cities most talented and prolific practitioners, David has been a dedicated and selfless facilitator of improvised music concerts in Manchester, booking the likes of Evan Parker, Pat Thomas, Alan Wilkinson and Toshimaru Nakamura in recent years. On this first instalment of the interview, we chronicle David’s recent musical projects which goes a way to illustrate that he is far beyond your regular free improvising musician. We discuss the Minimum Wage Immanence unit, a relatively new trio that melds folk and new music idioms together in mantra like improvisations, his long standing free-rock group Historically Fucked and their recent album and tour of the UK earlier this year and his current live experiments with the prepared banjo, featuring an array of speakers filled with pebbles and pinecones to create earthly, elemental drones. We also go into detail on the making of his solo record Pomona Itineration’s, built mostly from field recordings that act as an audio-graphic survey of an abandoned wharf in north Manchester. Also highlighted is mine and David’s recent work together in a duo project called Fire Nearby which draws on our shared love of a particular type of quiet guitar music that was prevalent in the 90s – and you’ll be able to hear an exclusive track from our forthcoming album at the end of part 2. Amongst this discussion, David shares some extremely valuable and illuminating insights in his approach to the guitar and the concept of ‘embodiment’ and clarifies his own personal politics which underpin and motivate much of his work. We finish off this instalment by delving into his activities with Tubers Music, a experimental music promotion that was born from the scene built around Hotspur Press, an old printing mill in the heart Manchester’s city centre.

Important Links:

https://davidbirchall.bandcamp.com/

https://curiousear.net/

https://davidbirchall.neocities.org/

Helpyourself Manchester Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu67QZvMLqY

https://tombedvisionsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-islington-mill

https://tombedvisionsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-difficult-second-album

Socials:

@curiousearmcr

On this second instalment of episode 3, Ben discusses working with Merseyside Schools, being invited to perform at the Stewart Lee ATP and the recording of the forthcoming Ex-Easter Island Head album ‘Norther’. We also look at his first touring experiences as a member of Liverpool DIY legends Stig Noise Soundsystem, an important influence in Ben’s development which has informed his ability to consistently gain interesting concerts at home and abroad for his work. His studio only duo Land Trance reviewed in more detail, reviewing the making of their debut album ‘First Séance’, the recording of ‘Embassy Nocturnes’ and the pairs recent collaborations with Philip Jeck. We wrap things up with some illuminating and pretty hilarious answers to the regular pop quiz.

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.

My guest on this month’s show is Sam Weaver, owner of Cuspeditions records and currently promoting some of the most fascinating new music in Manchester with his concert series Eroteme, run with his close friend Esok. Sam continues to remain a pivotal figure in the city’s underground music community. His talent as a recording engineer has seen him work with Charles Hayward, Turkish free-jazz group Konstrukt and capturing numerous important album’s by the young leading figures of Britain’s improvised music scene. Prior to Eroteme, Sam helped facilitate concerts in the city by The Necks, Peter Brotzmann, countless local improvised music shows and more recently a premier performance in Manchester of Morton Feldman’s 'Patterns in a Chromatic Field', which gives some indication to the breadth of Sam's interest in challenging and forward-thinking music. An experienced musician, Sam utilises a unique custom built instrument by Dutch synth designer, Rob Hordijk, and continues to collaborate with a wide diaspora of artists. His own music, and much of the sounds issued on his label, lie in the grey areas between acousmatic music, free improvisation and experimental electronics, often exploring ways to bring moments of calm and harmony out of passages of chaos. We talk about all these activities and much more throughout the three hour runtime! Not shy of voicing his opinion, Sam may cast himself as a bit of a cynic and a grump, but I actually believe he has an astute vision of just how good things could be with the right amount of diligence, thought and effort. He’s one of those rare, fascinating, wholly individual and sage-like characters that no scene can survive without.

My guest on this inaugural show is London-based composer and filmmaker, Clint Trofa, also known The Duke of Zuke. His latest album issued on the label, Wedding Songs, is his most ambitious and masterfully executed suite of music to date. Recorded with Jim Wallis throughout 2022, the 10 compositions that make up the album have been created with the patience of an auteur director, each piece of mise-en-scene delicately placed, unfolding with the grace, subtlety and emotional resonance of a European art house film. Much of the album's melodic content has an imperceptible Mediterranean flair whilst conjuring the more insular work of directors likes Claire Denis, Michael Haneke and Paolo Sorrentino and images of poignant dialogue delivered by shadowy figures in lowly lit hotel rooms.. Trofa’s trademark ‘Twilight’ guitar continues to be his music’s main protagonist, but it is embellished on this record with carefully selected synthesizers, electronic percussion, jazzy drums and evocative field recordings, bringing a more panoramic and elevated scope to his music. We go through a track by track analysis of the record, discussing his creative processes and the specific approach he took to crafting each song, giving fascinating insight into the making of the album. We also discuss his practice as a filmmaker, his own inspirations as well as his experiences performing for several decades in the UK's fertile music underground.