Noise Peddler, a new collaboration between myself and Danny Bright exploring no-input pedalboards, had the pleasure of performing at the Casa Da Musica in Porto this month, as part of ICLI 2018 Live Interfaces conference. Our multimedia live show butted shoulders with some exceptional cutting-edge live performances that utilise all manner of unusual musical interfaces. There will be more UK dates late 2018 / early 2019, details to follow.

A Hidden Order were out in Toronto last month for 4 live dates at the wonderful Aga Khan Museum. This was our first performance with a new trio of myself (electric guitar), Philippe Barnes (flute) and Attab Haddad (oud), with a focus on part-composed, part-improvised material. It was a magical trip, and a real honour to perform in such a beautiful space. Hopefully there’ll be some live footage to share with you soon…

I’ve been working on a new project recently with collaborator Danny Bright called Noise Peddler. Featuring symmetrical pedalboards with cameras to project our hands on screen behind us, all the sound is generated by self-oscillating guitar pedals, which are then routed and manipulated by other guitar pedals. The music is largely improvised, and explores the various ways in which one can engage with pedals as a primary musical interface. Come check out our debut performance as part of Emute Lab’s second concert at The Rose Hill, Brighton on 23/05/18. Click HERE or on the banner below for more info:

‘As Day Recedes, So Night…’ – I wrote this short wind trio 4 years ago, but it was never played through or performed until last month, when the WindRose Trio gave this fantastic premiere in Edmonton, Canada. And what a pleasure it is for me to finally hear it come to life!

A new piece of mine, ‘n.t.l.x’, will be premiered by the New Music Players at the upcoming Tallis Festival at ACCA, University Of Sussex, on Thursday 8th Feb. The work takes its core material by reducing Tallis’s motet ‘O Nata Lux’ to a single melodic thread, which is then embedded amongst a counterpoint of hushed instrumental textures. ‘n.t.l.x’ will be premiered alongside new works by composers including Ed Hughes and Ben Oliver. More details available HERE.

‘A Hidden Order’ are part of a group show going up today at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Entitled ‘Listening To Art, Seeing Music’, the show explores the “mesmerizing world of music celebrating the living traditions of the Muslim world and their interaction with other cultures through time and space”. And even more exciting for us is that we’ll be flying out there in May to perform a brand new live show with a new trio of Philippe Barnes (flute), Attab Haddad (oud, percussion) and myself (guitar, percussion). Visit the exhibition page here for more info.

Some time ago I wrote a short work for wind trio called ‘As Day Recedes, So Night…’ – this piece was written in response for a call for scores, but ended up sitting in the desk draw for a number of years. Through some twist of fate, I’m very happy to announce that it is finally receiving its premiere by the Windrose Trio in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 11th Feb 2018. Regretfully I will be many thousands of miles away, but if you happen to be in the area, please do show some support on my behalf! More details HERE.

This Autumn the Riot Ensemble will premiere a very short piece of mine called ‘Moth To Flame’ (for violin, viola, alto flute and piano) at Brighton’s St Nicholas Church, 28/10//17, 5pm. The concert, organised in conjunction with New Music Brighton, will feature the UK premiere of Chaya Czernowin’s ‘Ayre’, alongside works commissioned through Riot Ensemble’s 2017 Call For Scores and miniatures by NMB composers. For more details, visit the event page.

I had the great pleasure of attending the Composit New Music Festival 2017 in Rieti this Summer, where guitarist Maarten Stragier premiered ‘Swells, Shrieks & Judders’, a new work of mine for electric guitar and pedals. Over the course of the festival I was also fortunate enough to study with Pierluigi Billone, Peter Ablinger, and Davide Ianni, and to befriend a whole cohort of composers from around the world. It’s a wonderful, wonderful week to be a part of, so keep your eyes on their website for next year’s festival.

‘A Hidden Order’ is amongst 10 artworks to have been nominated for the Visual Music Award 2017!  Screenings of all the works (including our ‘Hexagon II’) will be held at the Cinema Gelnhausen, Germany, alongside the award presentation. Find out more about the event on their Facebook page HERE.