Lido

I've written a short piece on Darren Haymans Lido blog about the ideas behind Clay Pipe and about my grandfather who did posters for British Railways.

  

Extract from 'The Pheonix Guitar Concerto'

Coming soon on Clay Pipe is  'Embarkation' by GP Hall. 

GP Hall is an English guitarist, composer and improviser fusing and mixing both traditional and avant-garde styles. Raised in the East End of London, Hall was schooled in classical, flamenco and jazz playing and developed his skills as a guitarist in the British blues boom of the late 1960s.

Hall went on to play at celebrated London venues including The Roundhouse, the Middle Earth club and the 100 Club (where he was a resident player). He supported the likes of Deep Purple, The Hollies, and Chris Farloweand played on stage with original American blues heroes John Lee Hookerand Sonny Boy Williamson.

Hall's musical approaches began to broaden in the early 1970s. He spent some time living with Romani musicians (studying with renowned flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata) and subsequently became involved in more avant-garde work.

In 1972, Hall was commissioned by the South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell to write The Estates - a "large and complex" musical piece intended to depict the breakdown of established communities to make way for the New Town of Bracknell. The piece was scored for a large ensemble centred around guitar, bass, clarinet, glockenspiel, hammer dulcimer, assorted percussions and two specially prepared piano frames. The Estates was recorded and released on album by Prototype Records in 1972.

From the mid 70s through to the early 80s Hall's career was dogged by personal trauma, He suffered from depression and became homeless and destitute on several occasions. Since recovering he has made over ten albums including the 1995 album Imaginary Seasons.

Embarkation

I was always intrigued and fascinated by journeys, be they physical or metaphysical.

A crowded airport, train station, or docks, make for imaginary travel. Where are people going? Where are they from?

The journey of life has trillions of embarkation points but only one arrival and where that is only time will tell. Where will the future embarkation platforms be - maybe on other worlds?

When composing this music it was as detailed. Do I add or take away notes? Is the space between the notes long or short? Is the tone hard or soft? Is it the silence that has more impact? Was I inspired by the ocean, the mountains, love, or a sunset behind an abandoned industrial site? Well, everything.

- GP Hall 2012

Shapwick

 SOLD OUT

I'm  sorry to everyone who missed it, but Shapwick  sold out in just a few hours. The next edition will most probably be on vinyl, if you would like to be kept up to date on this please sign up to the mailing list or follow us on facebook/twitter. Next up on Clay Pipe is GP Halls CD 'Embarkation'.

 Jon Brooks Shapwick is here and available in the shop. 

A limited edition of 110 copies. Each comes in a hand made cover with a Gocco printed front and a Risograph printed interior. Illustrations and artwork by Frances Castle


It's funny how serendipity can shape the creative process. The most unlikely situations can provide a framework. Shapwick is just such a case in point.

I had been stuck in a five hour long traffic jam on a motorway in the autumn of 2011. At the end of the ordeal, we left the motorway and noticed the traffic was backing up onto local roads near Glastonbury; streams of cars, full of hot-headed motorists crawling along congested highways, the roads groaning under a volume for which they were not designed.

I searched the map for alternative routes. We had several hours of further driving ahead of us and it was already dark. One such route was through an area close to Shapwick, a small rural village. As we joined the approach to the village, we headed through several miles of unlit roads, with nothing but gnarled trees and woodland either side, the car headlights suggesting the twists and turns ahead.

I felt a certain energy around the place. The images created by the trees in the dark conjured inspiration and it struck me that an album could be based on an imaginary impression of this area. I had already recorded some pieces that were in search of a home and the idea formed within seconds.

The music I had been writing was recorded directly to a four-track cassette recorder. There were some piano recordings that I had made at my uncle and aunt's house in Devon (where I had stayed prior to the traffic jam), along with other acoustic and electronic pieces. With the Shapwick framework in mind, I recorded much more material. Using everything from a song harp in a garden, to a modular analogue synthesizer, I set about creating textures that would place my own notion of Shapwick on some kind of map; to create a geographic narrative.

I carried forward the notion of recording on four-track cassette - a very immediate recording medium, where there is little chance to manipulate the sound after the fact. This way of working shaped the project further and the medium suggested textures by itself - I had been using very old second-hand cassette stock that had been recorded on by others; subsequently, fragments of recordings already on the tapes showed up at various points and took on their own new lives in the tapestry.

The reality of Shapwick is probably quite different to the impression in my own mind, but nonetheless I think it's interesting to form an impression based on how a place could be, just by passing through it in the dark... and building from there.

- Jb

Shapwick Photos

Its going to be a close run thing, but fingers crossed Jon Brook's 'Shapwick' should be ready on Monday. Here are some photos. If you'd like a copy please sign up to the mailing list/ facebook/twitter feeds, as I don't think it will be around for long.

Shapwick - Please Drive Carefully

Jon Brooks 'Shapwick' will be out on the 21st of May, there will  be an initial run  of 100 copies, if you'd like a copy please sign up to the mailing list, twitter or facebook.

 
It's funny how serendipity can shape the creative process. The most unlikely situations can provide a framework. Shapwick is just such a case in point.

I had been stuck in a five hour long traffic jam on a motorway in the autumn of 2011. At the end of the ordeal, we left the motorway and noticed the traffic was backing up onto local roads near Glastonbury; streams of cars, full of hot-headed motorists crawling along congested highways, the roads groaning under a volume for which they were not designed.

I searched the map for alternative routes. We had several hours of further driving ahead of us and it was already dark. One such route was through an area close to Shapwick, a small rural village. As we joined the approach to the village, we headed through several miles of unlit roads, with nothing but gnarled trees and woodland either side, the car headlights suggesting the twists and turns ahead.

I felt a certain energy around the place. The images created by the trees in the dark conjured inspiration and it struck me that an album could be based on an imaginary impression of this area. I had already recorded some pieces that were in search of a home and the idea formed within seconds.

The music I had been writing was recorded directly to a four-track cassette recorder. There were some piano recordings that I had made at my uncle and aunt's house in Devon (where I had stayed prior to the traffic jam), along with other acoustic and electronic pieces. With the Shapwick framework in mind, I recorded much more material. Using everything from a song harp in a garden, to a modular analogue synthesizer, I set about creating textures that would place my own notion of Shapwick on some kind of map; to create a geographic narrative.

I carried forward the notion of recording on four-track cassette - a very immediate recording medium, where there is little chance to manipulate the sound after the fact. This way of working shaped the project further and the medium suggested textures by itself - I had been using very old second-hand cassette stock that had been recorded on by others; subsequently, fragments of recordings already on the tapes showed up at various points and took on their own new lives in the tapestry.

The reality of Shapwick is probably quite different to the impression in my own mind, but nonetheless I think it's interesting to form an impression based on how a place could be, just by passing through it in the dark... and building from there.

- Jb.

Shapwick

Jon Brooks 'Shapwick' is on its way. I've been printing, and gluing, and folding and slowly each one is taking shape. There will only be 100 copies of the first edition, and if we do decide to do another it may be some time before it sees the light of day. If you want a copy please sign up to the mailing list, or twitter or facebook as I have a feeling they are going to sell out quick. More news soon.

DJing at the Hangover Lounge

I will be Djing at the Hangover Lounge at the Lexington, Pentonville Rd, London N1 this Sunday afternoon. (the 18th). Doors open 2pm, they do a really great vegetarian Sunday Lunch there! I'll be playing some Clay Pipe releases along with lots other great stuff, also bands playing upstairs all free! more info HERE