Archive

Hi folks

Just a quick note with some actual news - upcoming shows and stuff. I actually wrote a thoughtful and reflective letter a few months ago but then lost it all and gave up on re-writing it. Sorry about that.

• Me and Loz FINALLY finished the TRVE YORKSHIRE KVLT ENSMBLE SVLF TVTLVD tape - you can buy it for £6.66 via don't drone alone

• Unfortunately the amazing DINA are closing their doors :( I'm genuinely gutted about this as they have been such an important part of the Sheffield scene over the last decade, and personally they have provided me with so much space and support to develop heavy lifting and SONA activities. They are having one last hurrah on 21st July, me and Alex will be playing as epiploke along with other DINA regulars from over the years. More info available on the DINA facebook page.

• I'm playing a show for fakedac at Wharf Chambers in Leeds on 25th August

• I'll be doing a slightly different from usual ambient set at Bishop's House supporting Aiden Baker for Utility Tapes - not many tickets left so book soon if you want to go to this (Bishop's House is one of the oldest buildings in Sheffield and very tiny, still can't get over the fact they let gigs happen there)

Hopefully next time I will say something more interesting :P

Hi readers

I hope you don't mind the peripatetic nature of this newsletter. Every month I put 'newsletter' on my to-do list, and it sits there like a smiling face reassuring me that I don't really need to do any of the things on my to-do list.

what am i doing

The other day I met up with Alex for a chat and a cup of tea (liquorice and cinnamon!). I haven't seen him really for ages and certainly not to sit down and talk shop about live coding. I think we were both in kindof a reflective mood and thinking about our relative positions and what the hell are we trying to do anyway and what have we been doing in and with live coding for the last however many years (7 in my case!).

Hello folks

It’s been a quiet start to 2022, I decided to take a few months off from organising ‘cause I was feeling burnt out after a hectic end to last year. TBH I still feel a bit burnt out but slowly getting back to normal. As usual it’s been a long time since I’ve written a newsletter - it feels like a weird thing to do when there isn’t much news. But there is a bit of news now! This is gonna be a less personal letter than the last few - soz for those of you who like the perzine vibes.

Recent times:

Done a couple of nice events this year including the online Cybersalon celebration for Art’s Birthday and a super show at IKLECTIK in London. It was really cool meeting and chatting to the other artists on the Art’s Birthday stream - shout out to Eva and Simon for organising everything and creating a really fun online event. I think I’ve written before about how I find online events really hit and miss, but this one was a definite hit and felt really cosy, like a house party where everyone is fun and interesting and the music is weird stuff you’ve never heard before. You can watch the stream (along with a nice write-up) on the Cybersalon website

Hello

I haven’t really got any news, I’ve been teaching a lot and I’ve been enjoying making music that way, rather than performing or recording. But I haven’t written in so long and my last email was so sad that I wanted to send something. I feel this email is more like a perzine than a newsletter.

--If you don't want to read four-to-five sad paragraphs just skip to the bottom for the links--

FOUR-TO-FIVE SAD PARAGRAPHS

I can't believe this year is nearly over, it feels deeply dysfunctional. Maybe everyone feels the same, but I have procrastinated and achieved so little. My inbox is a mess even though I've probably received 80% less email than usual. I've been trying to write this newsletter for probs over a month.

(Here I'm inserting a picture of snoopy which is hosted on someone else's website which I got from google image search which could disappear where he is wearing sunglasses and saying sigh. The sunglasses indicate that he is still cool even while feeling sigh - I wish I could say the same for myself lol)

Hi all - this newsletter is brought to you by my recent week off work & a visit from my dad and stepmum.

I've spent the last week away from the internet almost entirely (sorry if I haven't replied to your email... I'll get to it soon I promise!). I've been riding my bike a lot, tending my garden, and generally enjoying the sunshine.

I heard this kind of corny phrase recently which I really liked: "the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now". Over the last few months I've been catching up with some trees I've been intending to plant for some time. Which means I feel a bit behind on today, and really this whole year has felt slow. I didn't manage to write down any goals until May, and when I did they felt soft (but not in a bad way):

I kinda just need an email to send out for my first subscribers, so I guess I'll talk a little bit about why I'm doing this....

I'm trying to step away from Social Media ((I'm just proofreading this and I've no idea why I capitalised that but it kinda adds it's own emphasis so I'm leaving it)) which has been really unproductive and negative for me over the last couple of months. BUT I know some people follow me online for updates about my various musical projects. And I also like to share stuff that other people have made that I think is good.

I wanted to start a newsletter so I can send these updates in an easy to digest format for people who want them. I'll probably include gig listings, what I'm working on, maybe some behind the scenes recordings, stuff I'm listening to etc etc. I guess it'll be like a condensed version of the shows and (neglected) blog pages on my website. I'll probably replace the blog on there with an archive of these emails. (Actually the whole site needs an update and I've been super inspired by sites made by friends I've met over on Scuttlebutt - glyph, Séan, Zach and Scott)

((Also... if you're wondering what on earth is a Scuttlebutt you can read an article I read about my adventures as a n00b in the decentralised web in this zine))