Welcome to Mars
Photo by Knebworth Chap
Just before a tea-break during Russell Davies’ Interesting08 conference, I noticed a chap wheeling a huge analogue synthesiser onstage full of knobs, buttons and vintage wonderfulness. I’m into that sort of thing, so I hung around in the empty hall as everyone else rushed out to grab a cup of tea & a scone.
I’m glad I did. During the break, I was treated to Simon & Curtis James of mynoisymatchbox rehearsing their ‘presentation’ which was reminiscent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, or Jonny Greenwood with that huge telephone switcher thing he’s got.
Vintage mischief-making audio wizardry. The duo played their gear which consisted of weird tape feedback loops, and a box that squealed when they punched it. Ken Hollings read from his book ‘Welcome to Mars’ as Simon & Curtis created their soundscape. It was something special.
You can check out the performance here, mynoisymatchbox website here, or blog here.
Simon was the first person I’d met offstage after I’d presented my film. Great chap, and great work. I’ll need to find a reason to do a project with these guys. I was also kindly given an audio CD of theirs to take home with me. A true gem of Interesting08.
