I'm an award-winning composer, engineer and historian of technology. I present talks, make radio shows and perform live with Spacedog - my band of humans, theremins and uncanny robots.
Six months ago, I came face to face with a machine I’d read about often but never expected to see. A one-off invention, this oddity had been a dreamlike presence in my life, hovering into my consciousness at unexpected moments, something I imagined but couldn’t fully sketch in my mind. I’d dreamed of it since I was ten, a time when I was obsessing over a cassette tape my dad had given me. On it were some electronic sounds he’d recorded from the radio – sound pieces composed by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Just before I released the Spacedog song For Laika on iTunes and Amazon, the writer James Burt showed me this wonderful set of comic strips, depicting alternative, happy endings for the dog. They’ve been drawn by Nick Abadzis, creator of the graphic novel, Laika, which tells the story of the dog and her fate.
Phantom Circuit had already sent me the first strip, where you see Laika eject from Sputnik II and parachute into the hands of her trainer. Other endings involving alien intelligences and canine superpowers. The happy endings were sponsored by Big Planet Comics in Washington DC who are celebrating their 25th birthday – you can also see them all on the Bleeding Cool website.
Yep, I’m one big heap of indecision. Two months after my diatribe against Twitter, and a few weeks after deleting my account, I’m back on the infernal thing. But I’m pleased to say it’s in a rather different fashion, this time around.
Firstly, there’s reach. I’m mainly using it to keep in touch with a few real-world friends, largely through DMs. To this is added the odd festival contact and favourite podcasters, geeks and bloggers who share common interests and update their friends and listeners via Twitter. I’m using an alias as I’m using Twitter to staying in touch these people rather than hawk my work.
On a rainy day in Brighton, what better pick-me-up than a new video from Rathergood and my dear friend, the witty and imaginative Professor Elemental.
I’ve been lucky enough to know the Professor (aka Paul Alborough) for a couple of years now – we met when we were both performing at one of Brighton’s first Steampunk nights and neither of us were entirely sure what Steampunk was (I didn’t have the foggiest idea). Paul was appearing as Professor Elemental with his trusty badgermingo; I was playing a Spacedog set with my sister Jenny. Paul subsequently took to Steampunk like a badgermingo to water, unlike Spacedog (who do nevertheless enjoy the odd performance at a live Steampunk night).
I was delighted to stumble on this wonderful video, from the early 1930s, showing the Mills Brothers, an African American singing outfit whose performance was way ahead of its time. Here, you can see the Mills Brothers and some dancers give a stunning rendition of the Count Basie classic Caravan. It’s a performance that transcends the unfortunate setting and costumes:
The performance features The Mills Brothers’ mouth music, which can be thought of as an early forerunner of hip hop beat boxing. Mouth music was the art of impersonating fashionable musical instruments, just with your voice and body. The dancers, whose performance is a nod to Josephine Baker and the Charleston, also show off their break dancing skills, fifty years before this dancing style became high fashion in New York and beyond.
Thanks to Terri Affleck for sending me this other Mills Brothers delight, a beautiful Fleischer cartoon featuring the brothers on a very early depiction of television (1932). This wonderful early music video also features a beautifully animated karaoke section:
This made me smile today – anyone who read my angsty diatribe against Twitter last week will know why. I hope it’s making some of the same points but with higher precision and more laughs.
Grace Dent and I are clearly at the vanguard. Well, Dent is at the vanguard – I’m just too angsty for friendships delivered in disembodied dollops of 140 characters. Thanks to my Twitter informant @prof_elemental for sending it in – and for telling me not to get hung up about a silly old website. I think the book is due for publication in a week or two – it should be an interesting read.
Three days ago, I left the party that is Twitter and put on my virtual pyjamas.
A few people have been asking me why. In short, I’d say there was a bad fit between Twitter’s emerging style of discourse and my personality. Twitter used to delight me but increasingly it perplexed me, ultimately making me feel gauche, anxious and upset. It was also a lousy promotion tool – no matter how I tried to use it, I couldn’t encourage many Twitter users to come to my events. And for a person with my foibles, it was social poison. On Sunday afternoon, when it came close to wrecking a treasured friendship, I realised the game was up. I opted to make a dignified exit before I caused a scene and spilled my drink on the virtual beige carpet.
After talking to friends online and in the nearest immersive forum (the garden of The Setting Sun in Brighton), I decided to write a few words about Twitter and explain why it wasn’t for me. Thanks to everyone who talked it over and helped me to distill these thoughts. Free from the shackles of the 140-character bulletin, this is an unashamed ramble:
Juice for the Baby, Spacedog's debut album, is here! I'm ducking out of the Kinetica Art Faire this year but am huddled indoors, writing, sleuthing (investigating a recording in the archives) and devising a new biologically-inspired musical instrument - all will be revealed soon.
News: December 2011
Juice for the Baby, Spacedog's debut album, launches in mid-December. Join us for the launch gigs at the Marlborough, Brighton, on 9 December and the Horse Hospital, London, on 14 December.
News: November 2011
A busy month writing and editing the forthcoming Spacedog album - stay tuned for news.
News: October 2011
I'm focusing on my writing this month (so am quite the hermit) but I'm squeezing in the occasional live performance here and there.
I'm looking forward to working with Helen Keen in her Spacetacular on 20th. I'm writing a code-based work for the new label Chordpunch and some owlish music for that fine wordsmith Professor Elemental.
Spacedog are booked into the studio at the end of the month to complete work on our album.
News: September 2011
A busy month writing, preparing a get-together of maker musicians for the Brighton Maker Faire After-show party. I've also been electrifying a teapot for the Chi-Tek - an exhibition by MzTek of female tech artists at the V&A. And with my fellow Spacedog Stephen Hisock, I made an appearance on the 10th Anniversary edition of BBC Click.
News: August 2011
The Spacedog song For Laika is now available on iTunes (and the album is on its way). Meanwhile, we've been busy preparing our set for Green Man, including the first outing of our torch song for Tommy Cooper.
I'm procrastinating over a teapot which I'm going to electrify for a MzTek event at the Victoria and Albert Museum in September.
I took a short trip to a very rainy Edinburgh Fringe where I played at an event for Edinburgh Skeptics in the Royal Observatory and made some plans for a Spacedog show next summer.
Apart from that, I've been busy writing. More news on that shortly, I hope...
News: July 2011
I'm interviewed by Leila Johnston in this month's Wired UK magazine and will be appearing with my fellow Spacedogs at a Wired: The Future of Music on 20 July.
I've rounded up a bumper crop of links and soundclips for my BBC Radio 4 doc The Bird Fancyer's Delight, which is broadcast on 5 and 9 July and is also available on Listen Again. Thanks for all your cheery emails about the doc, to ProjectMoonbase for mentioning it in their podcast PMB038 and for the many national papers who gave the documentary such lovely reviews - I'm glad people enjoyed it! On Sunday 10 July, the doc was featured on Graham Seed's Pick of the Week (Radio 4). A good week!
My latest collaboration with Richard Wiseman is a free and fun magic trick for your iPhone. It's called Paranormality and it's been put together for the launch of his book by the same name in the US. Thanks to Phillis on Derrren Brown's blog for giving the app a mention - thousands of people have now downloaded it and are busy bamboozling their friends.
News: June 2011
Playing theremin for Louise Colborne's homage to Loie Fuller (pioneering cybernetic dancer c1900) and composing sounds for Sonus, an homage to the analogue age with Spacedog, ArtHertz, Rushes Soho Shorts Festival and Ridley Scott Associates. Discovering how easy (or difficult) it is to publicise events in 2011 without Twitter - will report back!
Getting ready for BEAM - a brand new festival of electronics and music at Brunel University (24-26 June). I'll be speaking, running a workshop on optical flow and performing live with my fellow Spacedogs. I'll also be playing a short theremin set at the Speaky Spokey, a new arts salon in Brighton (Wed 22 June).
Putting the finishing touches to a sonic-themed BBC Radio 4 documentary, with producer Neil McCarthy, due for transmission on 5 July 2011.
Presenting a workshop for Hack Circus at Interesting, in the Conway Hall, London, 18 June, and performing theremin at a family day at the Science Museum, 19 June.
