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Winner:
Best Music Event
Brighton Festival and Fringe
2011.
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Aberdeen: British Science Festival
Cornwall: The Odditorium @Port Eliot
Edinburgh: Rocket Lolly
Sheffield: Lovebytes Festival
Brighton: Radio City Theatre
Brighton: Rocket Lolly (open rehearsal)
Manchester: QED - science and skepticism conference
London W1: The Event
London: The Double R Club
Brighton: Brighton Science Festival
Brighton: Catalyst Club TV Pilot
On 3 September, Brighton is hosting its first Maker Faire – a festival of inventions and the hackers, makers and artists who create them. And I’m hosting what I hope will be the perfect after-show party. Do come!
Spacedog are packing our bags for the Green Man Festival this weekend (19 – 21 August in the Brecon Beacons). And we’ll be adding a new number to our set: a torch song for flawed genius Tommy Cooper. Here’s a sneak preview of the lyrics before the song has its first public outing on the Solar Stage of Einstein’s Garden, Friday 19 April:
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.
Three photos of Spacedog’s afternoon at BAFTA, where my performance on theremin was enhanced by a gorgeous psychedelic lightshow, created by artist Julian Hand. The lighting effects were all created live, in 1960s fashion, using physical odds and ends. The speckles you can see in this black-and-white photo were created by passing light through a colander. Out of shot is Stephen on bells and Jenny and Hugo the robotic vent doll on vocals.
Our performance was for the London Short Film Festival, curated by Rushes and Soho Shorts. We were there to accompany a session by Arthertz and Ridley Scott Associates, who were showing their new short film, Sonus.
WIRED: The Future of Music is an evening of music, sonic inventions and talks, exploring where the music industry may be heading. Following my feature in this month’s Wired magazine, Spacedog will be playing a short set at this event at the Hospital Club, London, 20 July. I’ll report back with news of other performers on the bill – it sounds like an interesting night!
This weekend, I played with a gaggle of fellow saw players and other artists from Foz Foster’s Sawchestra. Foz hired a barge along the Regent’s Canal, London, and we climbed aboard, performing to anyone who wanted to go adrift with us for 15 minutes. I had a lovely day extemporising with the other musicians, dodging the rainstorms and meeting this marvellous, inflatable arthropod.
This event was for Shoreditch Festival, a day celebrating East London’s waterways across towpaths, green spaces, basins, bridges and other unusual spaces along the Regent’s Canal. Our event was sponsored by the Barbican, London. I performed on saw, waterphone and some of Foz’ toy instruments. I also brought along a hydrophone so we could add some live sounds from below the waterline.
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.
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.
A busy month writing and editing the forthcoming Spacedog album - stay tuned for news.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
Playing a short set at the the Absinthe Ball, Lewes, 17 June, and highlights of our Televisor set at Richard Strange's legendary Cabaret Futura, 20 June.
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.
Listen to this BBC Radio 4 documentary about teaching birds to sing human music. Read my research notes.
Watch this talk and read about my salon talks for adults, featuring phonographs, theremins and other delights.
View Hugo, the Ealing Feeder and other robots I've created for my music group Spacedog.
Try these magic apps which I've created for the iPhone in partnership with Richard Wiseman.
Read about my world renowned collaboration, exploring the strange psychological effects of extreme bass sound.
View clips and read reviews of this award winning show featuring human and robot performers.
A free tutorial on how to play this ethereal, European skiffle instrument.
Find out about this night of rare vintage science clips, some of which are accompanied by live music.