Free 'September 2020' compilation now available

A new 10 song compilation of songs from last month’s concerts is now available as a free download to everyone signed up for my newsletter here.

when i was away (rostock)
i was in the north before the fall (rendsburg)
down down down (rostock)
pure black coal (rostock)
polly vaughan (berlin)
fold culinary (hannover)
make each other anew (copenhagen)
it don’t stop the bleeding (rostock)
barbara allen (rendsburg)
so long song (berlin)

From a crowded, smoky bar in Hannover through a rainy garden in Rostock and finishing up in a backyard in West Berlin, this was a strange but hugely enjoyable set of concerts at a time when the chance to play in front of people is a rare thing indeed.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible despite everything.

To all on my old fashioned mailing list - I hope you enjoy it and big thanks for sticking with me.

Stephen

St Arbogast

The new recording ‘St Arbogast’ is now out as a physical and digital album both here on my site and also on my Bandcamp page. A free 4 song EP exclusive to newsletter subscribers is also available now. Here’s all the links and some words about the heavy thing.

I was invited to participate in the Arbogast folk festival in Austria at the end of June 2019. A three day, two night event in and around the grounds of the St Arbogast church and the different, interesting spaces there.

The weather was incredibly warm, it was the first time the festival had taken place and some scheduling hiccups meant that somehow over the weekend I really didn't get to play to so many people. I think all in all I played four little sets when the plan was for eight or so. At one of the concerts I had one guest.

Anyway, late on Sunday evening, when mostly everyone had left I went into the church to try to make something, or rather, try to give something. If the invitation was to come down and make some work and perform there I was feeling that I hadn't really had the opportunity to fulfil my side of the deal.

I recorded for two hours into a Zoom H5 audio recorder. Very simple, stereo microphones, no headphones, standing in front of the altar. There are fourteen complete songs - these ten that seem to go together and the others anyone can hear online separately.

To begin with I thought I'd get two or three songs. Thought of doing everything in C, church band style. Concept. 

I didn't want to put the lights on and make anyone feel that they could come in. I took pictures with my phone of the big dark room, neat rows of white chairs and the big glass doors. Two months later hard drives were stolen so I lost these and actually for a week feared that I had lost the audio too. But I found out it was still on the SD card in the recorder so we have that and one picture I had already uploaded to my blog the morning after recording.

More and more I'm interested not so much in making recordings but in recording performances. Recording rooms and trying to be open to how things come out and can sound. I had a strange couple of hours in this dark space and when I listen now I can hear that feeling somewhere. At first I was scared to make a noise, quickly loved that noise and then later was scared again when I thought I had lost it.

Anyway, just some thoughts about this thing I made. 

Many thanks to Johannes for the invitation and to everyone that weekend who made me feel welcome down there.

Stephen 

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Here’s the Bandcamp release, with immediate download:

As I wrote above also available is the four song EP ‘St Arbogast +’ with songs from the same session that weren’t included on the regular album. This a free download to anyone subscribing to my newsletter, which you can do so here.

Here’s a video Selina and I made in a couple of hours a few weeks ago in the Fürth forest.

I think Spotify and everything like that will come in a week or so, no rush. The last week or so has been very busy and I’m ok with not trying to put new music in every corner of the galaxy right away.

Thanks to everyone who already picked this up - I’ll send the physical copies out in a couple of days. Have a lovely week!

Stephen