I had the pleasure of playing at a great night called Soundkitchen this week at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath. This monthly night focusses on electro-acoustic and experimental music. I was playing last with Justin Wiggan’s project Roadside Picnic after an excellent set from Chromatouch, an incredible set from Charles Celeste Hutchins on modular synth and a great set from Ben Ramsey.

Also playing with me as part of Roadside Picnic were trumpet player Percy Pursglove, Laurence Hunt on bass drum, wind machine, cymbals, bowls and marbles and Nicholas Bullen on cracked electronics, sine wave generator and harmonium. I was playing upright bass (a rarity at the moment!) with some of my effects pedals. Justin unfortunately had to withdraw at the last minute, and as it was his project and he had prepared the material for us to play we decided to go in a different direction and play free.

I’m used to playing free and playing with Percy (like in Beef Adder) but this was slightly different. I’m not sure any of us quite knew what sounds each other was going to be making before we got up on stage and did it. Unfortunately there wasn’t a chance for us to soundcheck together, I’d only met Nicholas for the first time that night and I hadn’t played with Laurence before. Usually this isn’t a problem when you’re playing free with more conventional instrumentalists as you have a reasonable idea which parts of the sonic spectrum their (and your) instrument are going to inhabit. However, this was a bit different as we’d never even heard the sounds each other were going to be making before! Here’s a recording I made of the gig:

Nicholas Bullen/Percy Pursglove/Chris Mapp/Laurence Hunt by Chris Mapp

I really enjoyed the experience of playing with these guys and I think it definitely started to settle into something really nice towards the end of the set. I’m looking forward to playing more with them (and hopefully Justin) in the future, as well as returning to Soundkitchen; something I recommend you all do.

Tags: chris mapp, free improv, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Laurence Hunt, NIcholas Bullen, Percy Pursglove, SOundkitchen