excuse the mess

Here it is - the final episode of Series 1!! What an incredible bunch of months it has been and I'm excited to bring you this jam packed, final episode featuring none other than guitarist, composer and electronic music wizard, Matt Calvert. Three Trapped Tigers , Strobes , Heritage Orchestra , Ma & Evil Ex are all projects you’ll see his name attached to and these are some of the most pro...

Follow Emilie and I as we co-compose a new piece together. Like in every etm episode we only use one instrument; for this episode we're using piano, getting into it's inards and playing with lots of extended techniques and layering. As part of the rules we can manipulate the recordings electronically but we only have an afternoon to finish the music.  I should say a special tha...

Episode #8 is the penultimate episode of Series One. I was overjoyed to speak to and write music with the amazing composer,  Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch . Emilie's practice focuses mainly around a central piano sound (being a pianist) that acts as a spring board for expansion into electronics, sound design and beautiful string writing. Emilie has released two album, both of them using an...

MIRA CALIX is up next on excuse the mess . Mira is a multidimensional artist that first gained prominence for her experimental electronic music released on Warp Records. However, her projects go beyond the electronic world. She has worked with many prestigious contemporary classical ensembles, choreographers, theatre companies, robots, scientists, festivals and venues all over the world. As her ca...

This episode delves into the mind of a much loved singer songwriter, Douglas Dare . A key artist on the Erased Tapes label. If you’re a songwriter or interested in learning how one of these song driven creatures think then hit the play thingy, don’t waste any time because it’s a bit of an epic episode (but hopefully a good companion for your daily commute).   Douglas let’s us in on...

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 t...

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 inno...

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...

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....

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...

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 mus...