Muster is the improvising duo of James O’Sullivan (South London) and Dan Powell (Brighton).
Formed accidentally on 2nd November, 2016, in the Catford Constitutional Club. Its musical elements are simultaneously intricately interwoven and related far from their point of origin, both site-specific and existing nowhere in particular.
James O’Sullivan is an experimental guitar player. Active on the fringes of London’s free improvisation scene over the past decade. He aims to exploit the full sonic potential of the guitar, relating it meaningfully and enduringly to both the immediate physical environment and the domain of recorded improvised music. His interest in improvisation, recording and performance has led him to record and perform across the UK and internationally, both solo and with numerous improvised music groups.
More longstanding arrangements include Found Drowned, a trio with Pete Marsh and Paul May, and his collaboration with Thanos Chrysakis on several releases on the Aural Terrains imprint. His debut solo album, feed back couple, was released in 2011; his second solo album, IL Y A, came out in 2017. The Found Drowned album Clownslave was released on Linear Obsessional in 2020.
www.jamesosullivan.co.uk
Dan Powell is a sound artist who uses handmade and proprietary electronics, tuned percussion and a variety of acoustic instruments and field recordings to make his work. As well as working with James in Muster he has been active in electro-acoustic improvisation in London and Brighton for the last 25 years, especially with Gus Garside in The Static Memories, and Chris Parfitt in Nil.
Solo projects include live improvisation based on two films by Chris Marker, and an installation at Fort Process 2019. His site specific work has been released on Cronica, with a new album scheduled for early 2021.
danpowelldanpowell.wordpress.com
Shark Calmer are Tom Clarke and Peter Marsh. Formerly a jazz rhythm section, nowadays they plug things into other things, press buttons and turn knobs to make an improvised pile-up of electronics, beats and samples that tries not to take itself too seriously but can’t help it sometimes. There will be queasy ambient rumblings, cosmic lap steel guitar, industrial noises and the odd polyrhythmic block rockin’ beat or two. There will be no laptops.
sharkcalmer.bandcamp.com
