excuse the mess

Hidden Notes Festival 2023 - etm MEGAmash DJ set bonanza

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 12:38:58 GMT

A little something to keep the etm pod feed ticking over...!!

I was invited by the good folks (and label friends) of Hidden Notes to have a crack at an excuse the mess themed DJ set at this years Hidden Notes Festival Vol.3

Hope you enjoy hearing those old tunes again in various forms of messed-about-with. (The second half goes fairly off piste)

Big love to the Hidden Notes team as per. Alex, Adam and Daniel (and the extended crew) put on another amazing festival. Thanks for having me <3

Hope you are all keeping well xxxx

https://excusethemess.bandcamp.com/

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RELEASE NEWS • 4th Feb etm's double album release

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:29:27 GMT

Hello dear podcast friends,

Myself and the good eggs at Hidden Notes Records have been cooking up this release for a while.

I'm excited that this music is finally being released and if you're interested in getting a copy of the Ltd Edition Book (pictures, quotes, risograph prints and more) or just getting your mitts on the digital download here are some links:

BandCamp vol.1

BandCamp vol.2

Rough Trade, Drift Record Shop, Resident, Banquet Records, Juno

Ben xx

PS the tune in the 'podcast' is track 1 from vol.2 (Gold Panda + little ol' me)

VOLUME ONE

1. Manu Delago - collider (Hang)

2. Laura Jurd - copper cult (Trumpet)

3. Emily Hall - petrichor [improvisation] (Electromagnetic Harp)

4. Robert Ames - 400 feet (Viola)

5. Mark Lockheart - infant earth (Saxophone)

6. Douglas Dare - ministry 101 (Voice)

7. Mira Calix - skating on thin ice (Ice Rink)

8. Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - inside and out (Piano)

9. Matt Calvert - resonate (Guitar)

VOLUME TWO

1. Gold Panda - lanza (Vinyl)

2. Hannah Peel - unbox (Music Box)

3. Galya Bisengalieva - keme (Violin)

4. Anne Nikitin - 8bit paris[666] (Casio VL Tone)

5. Elliot Galvin - toy guns (Toy Piano)

6. Alev Lenz - passing ships (Sample Library)

7. Oliver Coates - slime uk (Cello)

8. Anna Meredith - oopsloops (Pesto Jar)

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#17D Anna Meredith [CHAT 2]

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 03:00:00 GMT

In this final instalment you get a multitude of factoids about Anna’s critically acclaimed album, Fibs (2019). She draws a track name from a bowl at random and tells us the first thing that comes to mind. You’ll also be hearing juicy extracts of the tracks alongside these insider scoops.

In the second half we talk about her 2018, BBC Proms commission Five Telegrams - if you aren’t familiar with the piece watch it here. It’s on a ginormous scale with incredible visuals projected onto (and inside) Royal Albert Hall.

Finally, we talk about her experiences working with Bo Burnham on his award winning film, Eighth Grade.

*another bad language warning, we just couldn't control ourselves*

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this extended podcast episode, I’ve never released so much material from one guest. Testament to Anna’s generous insights - this was a hugely inspiring day for me, a pleasure to edit it all together and I hope you too have been inspired by her. Share around the episode and we’ll all be better for it!

Here’s the best link to use: http://hyperurl.co/iqpldb

Thank you so much for listening to excuse the mess. Who knows when I’ll be back but at least you have 3.5 hours of Anna Meredith episode to work through (and all the previous episodes if you haven’t already). It goes without saying but a mountain of thanks to Anna, what an inspiration!

Take care in your Covid-Bunkers, keep busy and be available to help those that need you!

Much love

Ben xxx

Follow Anna here:

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast and Anna's manager Rachel for all of her input.

Tracklist:

Calion

Limpet

Killjoy

Inhale Exhale

Orlok

Divining

Paramour

Sawbones

Unfurl

Ribbons

Being...

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#17C Anna Meredith [AUDIENCE QUESTIONS]

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT

Here’s the first of hopefully many ‘Audience Questions’ episodes. It was really lovely to bring you into the conversation so thank you to everyone that wrote in with a question for Anna. We both really enjoyed going through them.

Mentioned in the episode is a playlist Anna has on Spotify, here's a link to "Stuff I Like"

Follow Anna here:

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Special thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast and Anna's manager Rachel for all the help!

The track bookending this episode is Rhododendron.

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#17B Anna Meredith [MUSIC MAKING]

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 01:00:00 GMT

This part of the podcast is where myself and the guest write a brand new piece of music on the spot, using just one instrument and electronic manipulations. We opted for the humble pesto jar as our instrument, why not!

You will hear the journey of the piece from the ‘blank page’ to the finished piece at the end. I had such a blast working with Anna on this track. This is a brilliant opportunity to discover how Anna’s razor sharp composition brain works in real time.

Partway through Anna draw’s one of her famous ‘Meredith Maps’ you find it at the bottom of this page on the etm website.

*Credit where credit is due - the pesto jar idea I borrowed from friends of the performance/composer group Bastard Assignments - they’re worth checking out live when 'live' is once again a thing we can all enjoy*

I hope you like the piece we made called ‘oopsloops’. Thanks for listening!

Follow Anna here:

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Tracklist:

moonmoons

Bubble Gun

oopsloops (our etm co-composition)

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#17A Anna Meredith [CHAT 1]

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Anna Meredith (ANNA MEREDITH!!) is guest #17 on excuse the mess. If you’re a new listener thanks so much for checking out the podcast. This episode is a 4-part epic, the director's cut! It’s testament to Anna’s dynamic, hilarious, inspiring podcast chat that I can release 3.5 hours worth of podcast recordings and be confident you’ll be entertained throughout. Whilst we’re all locked up in our Covid-Bunkers you might welcome this extended deep dive into the mind and music of this phenomenal composer. Let the music escapism commence...

If you don’t know Anna’s music by the end of this you will but here’s a little context...

She is one of the most celebrated composers in the UK (the nation even confirmed this by awarding her an MBE). She studied classical composition and has a vast amount of commissions under her belt. Her piece Five Telegrams opened the BBC Proms in 2018, it is one of the largest scale classical pieces I’ve ever seen, with visuals projected onto the Royal Albert Hall alongside her music performed by hundreds of musicians. Over the last 10 years (ish) she has been exploring a more electronic sound world and creating quite the storm. Her music is muscular yet warm, complex and direct. She was brought on as composer to the award winning film ‘Eighth Grade’ (dir. Bo Burnham) and the Netflix series ‘Living With Yourself’ (with Paul Rudd).

There are 4 parts for you to digest:

A • This one (CHAT 1)

B • MUSIC MAKING - we make a track using a pesto jar and nothing else!

C • AUDIENCE Q’s - questions from you

D • CHAT 2 - More focus on Anna’s album FIBS, Five Telegrams and Eighth Grade

In this part we have a good old fashioned podcast rambly chat. We talk vegan cakes, exercise, the importance of composer community (referencing the Camberwell Composer’s Collective she was part of), we discuss her technique for mapping out compositions and classical culture amongst many other things.

*just a swearing warning, this episode contains occasional effs and jeffs*

I hope you enjoy this extended podcast - please dip in and out at your own pace and share with those who might like to hear.

Much love & take care of yourselves and others,

Ben xxx

Follow Anna here:

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram |Subscribe to etm if you want to hear more podcasts. There are some exciting one’s to come and plenty to catch up on if you’re new to the podcast.

Keep track of any Olly news and listen to more of his top drawer music:

Website | Instagram | BandCamp | Spotify

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Special thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast and to Emily Moore.

Tracklist (playlist on Spotify):

Charlev (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

Timelapse - Walrus (Upstepping)

calm slime loud 1cut

Path In, J Lover One, Yomi, Umbo (Decouple ][ Series)

Barok Main Oliver Coates, Mica Levi (Remain Calm)

Schoolhouse Oliver Coates, Mica Levi (Remain Calm)

Another Fantasy Oliver Coates Remix (Bryce Hackford)

Bambi 2046 (Upstepping)

The Irish Book of Death & Flying Ships (Upstepping)

Faraday Monument (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

Prairie (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

A Church (Shelly's On Zenn-La)

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#16A Oliver Coates [MUSIC MAKING]

Sun, 16 Feb 2020 05:00:00 GMT

Hello! Welcome to another excuse the mess music making episode, or more to the point ‘slime’ making.

This episode’s guest is the cellist and electronic musician, Oliver Coates. I’ve been looking to get him on the podcast for quite a while and excitingly it happened! Lucky me and lucky you!!

Back to ‘slime’. Olly is using his cello and electronic techniques to make something he calls slime which he will explain very eloquently, what that is in the episode. Then we make some ‘slime’ music - our track slime uk - we hope you like it.

If this is your first listen to this podcast then thanks for checking out excuse the mess. Each episode features a different guest, not only do you hear a deep dive interview but you will also hear us co-write a co-write a track on the spot in the ‘music making’ episode. We do it all on the same day and only use one instrument and electronic manipulations of it.

I’m releasing these episodes in reverse order - next week you’ll get the CHAT. Keep an eye out for that, I promise it'll bring you much inspiration.

If you enjoyed what you heard here then please share with your like minded friends.

Thanks for listening,

Ben

PS Olly will be playing with Rafael Anton Irisarri on 22nd February at Kings Place, London. Tickets here

Follow Olly and listen to more of his brilliant music:

Website | Instagram | BandCamp | Spotify

Follow etm:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Special thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#15B Alev Lenz [MUSIC MAKING]

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:00:00 GMT

Welcome to another music making challenge on excuse the mess.

Alev Lenz is my co-conspirator in this episode and she brings with her a pretty nifty instrument to make music with.

The premise in this part of the podcast is to spontaneously create a brand new piece of music in an afternoon, and using only one instrument. In this episode we're entering uncharted territory for the podcast, Alev's instrument of choice is a sample library she created in collaboration with her record label (SA Recordings/Spitfire Audio). The library is built from elements of her album '3' which she released through SA late 2019 - the library is sold alongside the album which in my opinion is a pretty innovative idea. Check some links below to discover more or even better listen to the CHAT part of Alev's excuse the mess visit.

We hope you like the music!

Keep track of Alev's creations:

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

A light read - Alev interview with Music Tech Magazine (on the sample library)

Outro track - After Every Winter Must Come Spring

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#15A Alev Lenz [CHAT]

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT

The next decade is upon us and I'm chuffed to be releasing my first podcast of the new year, accompanied by one very brilliant Alev Lenz.

Alev is first of all, podcast gold - you'll love hearing from her all about her music in this episode.

She is an expert builder of atmospheric sound worlds with song & storytelling at its heart.

We discuss a track of hers featured on the hit TV show Black Mirror (i'm sure you're all familiar), a turning point in her career and how that triggered a small series of events that shaped her recently released album '3' on SA Recordings. It's an incredibly powerful album and it heavily features the pioneering vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

You can get hold of the album here if you like what you here (hint: the vinyl comes in a lovely blue)

There is an unusual dimension to the release of this album, it can be bought alongside a sample library that is built from the DNA of the album itself, find out more within the pod.

Alev has collaborated with the internationally celebrated sitarist and composer, Anoushka Shankar over a number of years. In recent days they've been writing and releasing new music which you will hear about towards the end - they make a good team.

Have a great listen and please do share the episode to any Alev fans to-be.

Links:

SA Recordings '3' Album/Sample Library Bundle

Spitfire Audio

Free The Work

WNYC New Sounds

Keep track of Alev's creations:

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Tracklist:

Splendid Soldier

Fall Into Me (Roomful of Teeth cover, WNYC Recording from New Sounds Live/Ecstatic Music Festival 2017)

May The Angels

The Chair

Aimee Mann

The Runner

Cigarettes & Blow

Bright Eyes (Anoushka Shankar & Alev Lenz)

I Am Winter

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#14B Elliot Galvin [MUSIC MAKING]

Sat, 21 Dec 2019 06:00:00 GMT

It was a supreme honour to work with Mr Elliot Galvin on a new track. We used his most portable of piano’s, his beastly Toy Piano.

Elliot is an ideas machine so this one came together quite quickly. If you don’t know the excuse the mess rules. We use only one instrument (we can manipulate further electronically), we can’t pre plan anything and we only have an afternoon to make our brand new piece. Listen to it all unfold within.

We hope you like! (If you do you're more than welcome to tell your friends about excuse the mess)

Here’s where to keep up with any Elliot gigs and releases:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Tracklist:

Ism - Elliot Galvin Trio

Toy Guns (excuse the mess original) - Elliot Galvin, Ben Corrigan

Ghosts - Elliot Galvin

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#14A Elliot Galvin [CHAT]

Sat, 21 Dec 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Take a trip with me into the labyrinth-mind of my good friend Elliot Galvin. A jazz pianist & improviser, composer & electronic musician. He is often compared to the likes of Django Bates, although with the caveat that Elliot only sounds like Elliot.

We discuss his influences, his last two trio album Modern Times and The Influencing Machine, his soon to be released solo piano record AND his improvised duo album with saxophonist Binker Goulding. We covered much ground!

It was an honour to get Elliot on mic. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Here’s where to keep up with any Elliot gigs and releases:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Tracklist:

Bikini Island - Elliot Galvin

Periodical Cicada - Elliot Galvin Trio

Time And Everything - Elliot Galvin

Aeturnum Vale - Elliot Galvin, Binker Goulding

Cat And Mouse - Elliot Galvin

Monster Mind - Elliot Galvin

Red and Yellow - Elliot Galvin

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extra mess • Hidden Notes Festival Pt.2

Sun, 17 Nov 2019 06:00:00 GMT

Here it is, the second instalment of the Hidden Notes Festival adventure.

I took my podcast to Stroud to chat to a handful of brilliant artists taking part in this exciting new festival.

This episode features interviews with 4 artists involved in the second day's proceedings. I chat to organist and electronic musician Claire M Singer, record label runner [130701] Dave Howell, vocalist Hatis Noit and pianist Lubomyr Melnyk.

This episode also features music from the live performances and some field recordings made by Dave Howell whilst he was pottering about the venue.

I'm really grateful to the festival organisers Alex Hobbis and Adam Hinks for inviting me to make these interviews and create this podcast special. It was a hugely inspiring weekend and hopefully these episodes capture that.

Thanks for checking out this extra mess episode!

#13B Anne Nikitin [MUSIC MAKING]

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 06:00:00 GMT

This music making process was one of my favourites so far - the track that Anne and I made is wacky and wonderful (and kinda funny).

We used a Casio VL Tone as our instrument (we only get to use one instrument), Anne has owned this beastie little keyboard since she was a child.

As with every one of these music making processes, we only have a few hours to start and finish the piece, we can't preplan anything and then we only use one instrument.

We hope you like what we made, we like it! A massive thank you to Anne for being part of the podcast.

Huge thanks for checking out excuse the mess - more episodes coming soon!

Here’s where to follow Anne news:

Twitter | Spotify | Website

Visit etmpodcast.com

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#13A Anne Nikitin [CHAT]

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Anne Nikitin is a very busy woman - a film composer with an extensive lists of credits, check out her IMDB page.

In this episode we mainly discuss two of her scores. Her Ivor Novello nominated score for American Animals (dir. Bart Layton) and a more recent release Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein (dir. Ursula Macfarlane). Both scores are brilliant and we dig into many aspects behind each score.

We get an insight into her nomadic upbringing, touch upon brexit troubles and get some brilliant top tips for budding film composers; Anne highlights the work ethic needed and some of the ways people get into the industry.

This episode was great fun to make, I loved hanging out with Anne and I'm very grateful she was able to make a bit of time for me in her very busy life.

Don't forget to listen to the music making part of our episode, it was a lot of fun, I think you'll like it!

Here’s where to follow Anne news:

Twitter | Spotify | Website

Visit etmpodcast.com

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#12B Galya Bisengalieva [MUSIC MAKING]

Sun, 27 Oct 2019 06:00:00 GMT

Music Making time! In each episode I write a brand new piece with each guest - Galya is one of the most sought after violinists working in the UK - what an honour to get to write something new with her.

The excuse the mess writing process demands that:

we don't pre plan anything
we only have that day to write our piece
we can only use one instrument that the guest brings with them - electronic manipulations are allowed!

We ended up writing a very dark, disorientating, droney track - the three D's. We hope you like it.

Give the excuse the mess writing process a go - i'd love to hear what you come up with. Send your etm tracks through to ben@etmpodcast.com and maybe I can include them in an episode or share on the website, or something... Anyways, just follow the above rules.

Thanks so much for checking out excuse the mess.

Links for keeping up with Galya news:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

visit etmpodcast.com for pictures from the day and more episodes.

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#12A Galya Bisengalieva [CHAT]

Sun, 27 Oct 2019 05:00:00 GMT

The 3rd instalment of series two features one hell of a violinist and experimental composer, Galya Bisengalieva. She has worked with some of the biggest names in music and is now making large and dangerous waves with her original compositions - violin led music injected with a potent amount of electronics.

In 2018 she released EP ONE and this year released EP TWO. She commissioned some utterly brilliant composers to write and collaborate with her: Claire M Singer, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Shiva Feshareki and CHAINES. We discuss the thinking and processes behind each pieces in detail and you'll hear some chunky extracts of each; as well as two clips of music from composer Edmund Finnis.

Galya is also the orchestral leader of the London Contemporary Orchestra - a role in the classical world that was a bit of a mystery to me so I asked this very qualified person what it entails.

Thanks so much to Galya for bringing her wonderful words and energy to excuse the mess and thanks to you for checking it out.

Ben (host & creator of etm)

Links for keeping up with Galya news:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

visit etmpodcast.com for pictures from the day and more episodes.

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#11B Hannah Peel [MUSIC MAKING]

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Hannah and I make a sparkling piece of music using only her famous music box - a series of tuned metal bars housed in a resonating wooden box, a hole punched reel of paper is drawn through it and triggers the bars to sound, it's lovely!

Hannah gained much fame with her music box covers of classic songs, 'Tainted Love' being a prime example; which was used to great effect on many TV shows including American Horror Story.

Anyways, we're really happy with how our creation came out, we've called it 'Unbox' and we hope you like following us on the journey of writwriting the

music.

Thanks so much for checking out excuse the mess!

Here’s where to keep up with any Hannah news:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#11A Hannah Peel [CHAT]

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 03:00:00 GMT

If this guest was a top trumps card she’d win in every round. An Emmy nominated composer, electronic musician, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, conductor, arranger (….and on the list goes) - it’s Hannah Peel!

We discuss the process behind her Emmy Nominated score to Jeanie Finlay’s official Game of Thrones documentary, ‘The Last Watch’.

Her latest album Chalk Hill Blue, an entirely improvised album, a perfect marriage between electronics and poetry with her collaborator, poet Will Burns.

I hope you enjoy this deep dive into just a few of the recent project Hannah has been involved with. If you want more from Hannah you can check out the ‘extra mess episode’ we made back in November 2018 where we discuss some of her other fantastical projects.

Stick around to the very end for a cosmic pondering with the help of physicist Carlo Rovelli.

Enjoy yourselves and do spread the word of excuse the mess!

Here’s where to keep up with any Hannah news:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#10B Derwin Dicker aka Gold Panda [MUSIC MAKING]

Sun, 13 Oct 2019 04:00:00 GMT

If you're a Gold Panda fan you're in for a treat. In this episode you'll hear us write a new brand new track together on the spot.

Derwin gets into a bit of a Gold Panda flow so this an amazing insight and a bit of a Gold Panda masterclass to be honest. We use the three vinyls bought earlier in the day to get our samples.

In every episode of excuse the mess I write a track with the guest but we have to follow three rules:

we can't pre plan anything
we only have that day to make the track
we can only use one instrument and electronic manipulations of it

Listen to how that composition process unfolds in this episode.

I hope you take away lots of wisdoms from hearing Derwin in action and thank you for checking out this podcast.

ENJOY!

Derwin links:

Twitter | BandCamp | Facebook | Fan Website

excuse the mess website

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast - great to be aboard!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#10A Derwin Dicker aka Gold Panda [CHAT]

Sun, 13 Oct 2019 03:00:00 GMT

excuse the mess is back and I'm pretty damn chuffed to be launching series two with one of my all time favourite electronic artists,

Gold Panda, DJ Jenifa & Selling are just three of the many artist names attached to this spectacular maker of electronic music, Derwin Dicker. If you’re new to this podcast here’s the deal…

In each episode I spend a day with a different music maker. We chat about their process and then in the afternoon we make a track together using only one instrument - you can hear the whole process unfold in the Part B of each episode.

You’re invited to join us on a stroll to a nearby vinyl shop. We’re buy some records to take back to Derwin’s studio, to sample and make a brand new track. It’s our ‘instrument’ and they’re all we can use.

Don't forget to listen to the music making part where we use the three vinyls we bought.

A huge thanks to Derwin for coming on to the podcast. When I first discovered electronic music his album Lucky Shiner was one of the things I was heavily listening to.

Thanks so much for checking out this podcast, enjoy listening!

Derwin links:

Twitter | BandCamp | Facebook | Fan Website

excuse the mess website

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio.

Many, many thanks to Acast for hosting this podcast - great to be aboard!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

extra mess • Hidden Notes Festival Pt.1

Sun, 06 Oct 2019 01:23:25 GMT

Interviews with artists Manu Delago, Emily Hall & Misha Law, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch and Erased Tapes record label founder Robert Raths.

This is the first of two instalments of a very special episode - I was invited by the organisers of this exciting new contemporary classical festival to bring the podcast to the the picturesque rural town of Stroud, the home of Hidden Notes.

My task was to record interviews with a number of the artists involved in the festival and to capture the vibe of the whole weekend - hopefully this episode will give you a good sense of how brilliant the first Hidden Notes was.

Huge thanks to all the artists that spoke with me and thanks to the festival organisers Adam Hinks, Alex Hobbis and Good On Paper getting me involved with their top event! Special thanks to Anastasios Antoniou for helping me record and edit interview and gigs over the weekend.

Hope you like what you hear.

Ben (etm creator & host)

This podcast is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, PRS Foundation and iZotope Audio

PS Part 2 will be out mid November

Links

https://hiddennotes.co.uk/

https://www.manudelago.com/

https://www.emilyhall.co.uk/

http://emilielf.com/

https://www.erasedtapes.com/

https://www.etmpodcast.com/

Music from series one

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extra mess • Mandy Parnell

Sun, 24 Feb 2019 14:00:00 GMT

Mandy Parnell, the mastering engineer legend, is the next guest for this very special 'extra mess' episode. She is one of the most respected and in demand mastering engineers in the world. Many of you working in music have probably heard of her, for those of you that haven't you need only look at the artists she has worked with to get a sense of the level at which she works: Bjork, Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Jamie XX, Max Richter, Lianne La Havas, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Glass Animals, Manu Chao, Sigur Ros, Jungle...the list goes on for miles.

I visited her iconic Black Saloon Studios in early December to get the music from series one mastered as well as capturing an abundance of conversation for this podcast.

The episode is a real education for anyone that makes music. Mandy covers a bunch of topics on good mixing practice and how to be best prepared in the lead up to a mastering session. Don't be keeping all these wise words to yourselves, share with all your producer, mixer, musician mates - there are so many things we can learn from Mandy.

I can't express enough how grateful I am to have Mandy on the podcast.

Two final notes...Anyone that know's Mandy will love her colourful language, she's a swearer, so be warned!And ironically, for an episode featuring a guest that champions the highest quality of sound, the audio I captured isn't the best at a few points. Especially when we're playing the etm music in the room. Apologies audiophiles!I hope you get a tonne of inspiration from this episode - thank you for checking it out.

Churz!Ben

More interviews for Mandy wisdoms:Red Bull Talk Loop | Mandy Parnell In Conversation Sound On Sound: Mandy Parnell

Mandy Links: Website | Twitter | Instagram etm links: Website | Twitter | Instagram

Get subscribed on your podcast app and join the mailing list!This podcast is gratefully supported by Noted Fellowship and iZotope.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

extra mess • Hannah Peel

Sun, 18 Nov 2018 23:01:00 GMT

I’m extra excited to bring you the first of a bunch of bonus episodes, some ‘extra mess’. The first features one of today’s leading composers and songwriters, Hannah Peel. Her musical explorations will transport you into the far corners of the universe. She expertly blends electronic and acoustic elements, blurring the lines between them; the results are beautiful. We talk about her last album Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia, the album proceeding it Awake but Always Dreaming and how these two are interlinked. Hannah shares personal stories of her Grandmothers Alzheimer's and how Awake But Always Dreaming is rooted in this experience. This leads us to talk about the power of music and it’s positive effect on those suffering from Alzheimer's.

I really loved to talking with Hannah and I hope you love hearing from her. The episode is brimming with her exquisite music which might whet your appetite for further listening. So a huge thank you to her for being part of this podchat.

I asked Hannah if she could send over some links that relate to a few of the topics in the podcast and ideas that are behind her music.A bit of further reading for those of you that are interested.Dr Selina Wray - Dementia Researcher Making a playlist for someone with dementia

Other relevant links:Seven Brief Lessons On Physics (Carlo Rovelli)Memory Playlist (a collection of words and playlists “a time capsule or even an insurance policy for music”)Mary Casio Live Tubular Brass

Thanks for listening to excuse the mess!

Get subscribed on your podcast app and join the mailing list!And do go back and check out Series 1.

This podcast is gratefully supported by Noted Fellowship, iZotope and Red Dog Music

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#9B Matt Calvert [MUSIC MAKING]

Sun, 30 Sep 2018 23:07:48 GMT

Welcome to the music making part of the podcast. In only a few hours Matt and I make a new track from scratch using nothing but his shiny new resonator guitar and Ableton manipulations. Listen to it unfold.

If you’re an Ableton user this is a good one for the likes of you - Matt knows what he’s doing, I learned loads of useful tricks so hopefully you will too.

I had a blast making this piece with Matt, he’s one of my favourite guitarists and composers - it’s possibly the most ‘electronic’ sounding track so far in the series.

Subscribe to etm for more music chat and music making.

Final word. Check out Matt's album Typewritten HERE

Cheers! Ben

Ableton Simpler (slices) Tutorial

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#9A Matt Calvert [CHAT]

Sun, 30 Sep 2018 23:07:39 GMT

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 progressive music outfits around today (many of them favourites of mine). You’ll hear interludes of this great music along with some more in depth chat about Three Trapped Tigers, how Matt approaches writing for that band and why Brian Eno is a fan of TTT.

The main focus of this episode is something new and exciting - some fresh sounds. Matt will be releasing his debut solo album, Typewritten (Truant Records) on 12th October. It’s a beautifully crafted album that has been a long time in the making. It’s also a step in a new direction for him, completely acoustic but sitting amongst a body of work that is rather electronic heavy. However, the electronics have left their mark in different ways. Have a listen and learn how.

The album will be launched at SET in Dalston, London on 15th October. Info HERE

***The album is now out and can be heard HERE

A huge thank you to Matt for helping me round off series one, giving up his time to talk and make music. I learned many lessons in this one and I’m sure you’ll find some thought-food for yourself.

Thanks to you for downloading this episode and for listening to etm throughout the series. I hope you've got something from each guest. If you're new to the podcast then do go back and check out the rest of series one.

Ben

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by iZotope and Noted Fellowship.

Relevant Links:Obique Strategies AppBlood and Biscuit 10th Birthday Gig (Oct 6th/7th): London

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#8B Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch [MUSIC MAKING]

Mon, 13 Aug 2018 06:15:00 GMT

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 thank you to the composer Danny Mulhern for generously allowing us into his studio to use his piano and record the music there.

This is the second part of excuse the mess podcast. An opportunity to hear how each guest operates when in music making mode. Don't miss the first part of which is more a of a general ramble chat all about their careers and projects.

Thanks for listening!Ben

To keep up with Emilie news:Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

www.etmpodcast.com

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#8A Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch [CHAT]

Mon, 13 Aug 2018 06:00:00 GMT

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 instinctive writing process beginning at the piano before evolving beyond. Like Water Through The Sand and Époques were released on FatCat Records, the latter was released July this year. Both have received much critical acclaim.

Her music finds it's way into other artistic circles including writing film scores - 'Only You' being one that is set for release this year - as well as collaborations with visual artists, for example a recent piece for an exhibition at Knole called, 'A Woman's Place' where she teamed up with Alice May Williams to provide the soundtrack and sound design for Alice's film.

She has also been commissioned by innovative ensembles like the London Contemporary Orchestra.

I'm splitting up the chat part of the episode and the music making into two episodes.

In this first episode we meet at a quirky cafe in North London called Edith's House, apologies for any distracting background noise.

We had a lovely casual chat about many topics, the one's that made the edit are: her coveting of free plugins, the process behind Époques, the shifts in film music tastes, experiences of gender inequality in music, sampling the oldest playable organ in the UK and so on...

Please do continue sharing excuse the mess with your friends, leave positive reviews & ratings on iTunes etc etc, it all really helps.

Enjoy!

Ben x

Huge thanks to Emilie for getting involved in etm.

To keep up with Emilie news:Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

www.etmpodcast.com

More linksSmirnoff Equalising Music Resina - cellist and ELF collaborator Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch - The Minutes (World Première)

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#7 Mira Calix

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 07:30:00 GMT

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 career has progressed Mira learned she is "an environment builder". Works have become more immersive, exploring a variety of art disciplines and influences in her creations. Along with the music Mira has a strong vision for the visual elements in her pieces and the overall experience for her audience through these "environments" she builds.

The last 10 years have seen a number of these large scale pieces, traditional albums haven't been her focus at all. It's tricky to give you a sense of her more recent projects in a podcast as so much of their impact is in the visual element. I've included a 'watchlist' with links to a number of videos of her pieces. Please do check them out, they're brilliant!

We talk about:Social media and it's significance in our lives and her work (8mins)Creating ‘environments’ (18mins)Ode to Joy - a recent piece taking data from foetuses in utero (20mins)Nunu - a piece using insects and the London Sinfonietta (30mins)Mira’s background (34mins)Plus more!

For the music making part of this episode (47mins) we took a different approach to all previous etm's. Mira isn't an instrumentalist so in order to have sounds to make a track we decided to head to an ice rink in London to record our source material. The music making really gives you a sense of her process.

Thanks to Mira for being an thought provoking guest and thanks to you for checking out excuse the mess. Please do give it a rating on iTunes if it was to your liking. I hope you enjoy this episode!Thanks, Ben

WATCHLISTOde To The Future*Inside There Falls Moving Museum 35 Nunu*Making of Nothing Is Set In Stone*Brainwaves My Secret Heart*Mentioned in episode

Discover more from Mira on her online portal and website. Also Twitter and Instagram.

etm website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England, Noted Fellowship and

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#6 Douglas Dare

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMT

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 his composition process and explains a variety of themes and inspirations behind his past, present and future music. Including George Orwell’s 1984, Black Mirror, queer culture, storytelling through songs and using unfamiliar instruments for writing inspiration. We also talk about the great artists he shares a label with, the music he is currently working on, we attempt to discuss pop culture and some Netflix documentary favourites.

Around the 50 minute mark we move on to the second part of excuse the mess, where I write a new piece with the guest using their instrument, so in Douglas’ case, his extraordinary voice. We start with a blank slate and you’ll follow us as we create a track together bit-by-bit, hearing the finished thing at the end. It was really amazing to collaborate with Douglas, I learned loads from him and his approach to music making and I’m sure you will too!

Enjoy the podcast and don’t forget to subscribe/review if you double enjoyed it.

Thanks for listening!(Hosted by Ben Corrigan)

Get in touchemail: ben@etmpodcast.com

~links~

Douglas’ website: www.aforger.com

Twitter Instagram Facebook

Aforger on Spotify

Whelm on Spotify

www.etmpodcast.com

Darling Music Video

Candy Darling On Her Death Bed (photo that inspired 'Darling')

Patti Smith: Advice to the Young

Douglas on Strrr.tv

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#5 Mark Lockheart

Thu, 24 May 2018 07:00:00 GMT

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 the likes of: Loose Tubes, Jah Wobble, Kenny Wheeler, Billy Jenkins, June Tabor, Perfect Houseplants, Polar Bear, Radiohead, Mark Anthony Turnage.

In our podcast convo we talk about much of the above, the lessons learned whilst working in Polar Bear, previous works like his album Ellington In Anticipation where the lines between composer and arranger are well and truly blurred. Also, more current projects including his trio Malija (with Liam Noble and Jasper Høiby), You'll also learn how many records Mark has stashed at home.

Later this year Mark will be releasing his next album, 'Brave World' [Edition Records], a full orchestral album featuring, of course, some incredible musicians (Seb Rochford and Tom Herbert for example). We start our chat with Brave World, delving a little deeper in to the concept behind it.

Have fun listening and remember to spread the word. Any reviews on iTunes are hugely appreciated and will massively help support the podcast! Go on.....like-scribe!

www.marklockheart.co.uk www.etmpodcast.com

From this episode onwards I've decided to add links to all tracks heard in the episode (for your further listening enjoyment):Polar Bear - Be Free Polar Bear - WW Mark Lockheart - My Caravan Radiohead - National Anthem

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#4 Robert Ames

Mon, 30 Apr 2018 11:10:20 GMT

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 innovative groups around.

Their performances and projects are anything but the norm, they are no standard 'orchestra'.

Rob’s collaborators include [now, brace yourselves]: Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Actress, Mica Levi, Jed Kurzel, Shiva Feshareki, Edmund Finnis, Emily Hall, CHAINES, Danny Mulhern, Anne Nikitin, Frank Ocean, Vivienne Westwood, Spitfire Audio, Beck, Cat Lamb, Daniel Wohl, William Basinski, Claire M Singer, Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Foals, BadBadNotGood...i'm definitely missing a bunch, it's hard to keep track.

In this episode we discuss a lot of the above, the Actress writing process and their upcoming album release with Ninja Tune. We chat about their film music work, creating a sample library with Spitfire Audio, London's booming young composer scene and plenty more.

*For the uninitiated, in each episode I spend a day with a different music maker. We chat music then attempt to write a piece of music together using only the instrument that the guest brings along.

Rob made for a brilliant guest - so much interesting chat and it was exciting to make a track with him. We hope you like it!

Enjoy the episode - like, subscribe, share if you feel inclined, it’d be much appreciated.

Thanks for checking out etm!

http://www.robertames.co.uk/https://www.lcorchestra.co.uk/https://www.etmpodcast.com/

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#3b Emily Hall (Gender Inequality in Music)

Mon, 05 Mar 2018 15:06:04 GMT

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 for discussion - an article by Grace Banks for the Quietus which you can (and should) read here.

It's quite a candid conversation. Emily shares her thoughts and experiences on this topic which are well worth a listen. I hope you find it insightful.

Keep the conversation going!

Thanks for listening...Ben

www.emilyhall.co.uk www.etmpodcast.com

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation

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#3 Emily Hall

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 08:46:12 GMT

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. We discuss her background and previous album 'Folie à Deux' (Bedroom Community). We also discuss a very important topic, the equality imbalance for women working in music. This insightful article by Grace Banks acted as a perfect springboard for the subject.

***There is also a separate episode where we get in depth about this subject over lunch.

It's a very jam packed episode, we cover plenty of other topics and of course, like always, write a piece of music together in the same day. For that we used her totally unique Electromagnetic Harp - it's a very cool instrument; built in collaboration with her husband David Sheppard. We also talk about helicopters with Dave, here's why.

Enjoy listening!

www.emilyhall.co.uk www.etmpodcast.com

excuse the mess is gratefully supported by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation

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#2 Laura Jurd

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 09:49:01 GMT

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 year when their debut album ‘Together, As One’ which was nominated for a Mercury Prize.

We talk about Dinosaur, their upcoming album Wonder Trail and the new approaches to it, particularly the use of the recording studio as a creative tool.

You’ll also learn about how her musical journey began.

As with any excuse the mess episode you’ll hear Laura and I co-composing a new piece together using only her trumpet as a sound source. You’ll follow the process starting from a blank page and arriving somewhere hopefully quite musical.

We had a great day making this episode and I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing from Laura and our composition together.

Thanks for checking out excuse the mess!

www.etmpodcast.com www.laurajurd.com

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#1 Manu Delago

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 11:09:44 GMT

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 music, Anoushka and Björk, his band and the people and process behind it. We touch upon the guest vocalists on his albums and discover how to burp a song live. Now's your chance to get to know Manu a bit better.

Happy listening all - enjoy the podcast!Ben

www.etmpodcast.com

www.manudelago.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

excuse the mess is all about getting to know some of the most exciting composers working today.In each episode I’m going to spend a day with a different composer. Like any decent podcast there'll be plenty of ramble chat with each guest, we'll talk about all manner of things that will hopefully entertain and intrigue you. Throughout each episode you'll be treated to excerpts of the guests music.

excuse the mess has more up it's sleeve though. Along with the chit chat there is a sort of music challenge. We’ll be co-composing a new piece of music but following a few rules... We only have that day to make the piece, we can’t pre plan anything and every sound must come from one instrument that the composer brings with them, we can however manipulate the material electronically. At end of the podcast you'll hear the finished product but leading up to that we'll show you how we did it.

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