ESP Blog: Shut Up About The Mantra! 27/05/11

Howdy, folks! Just a quick one today to say thank you muchly to everyone who attended the first three shows of our residency. We had a blast, and it’s been rather strange/exhilarating/touching to see/hear people’s reaction to all those songs, some of which are now, believe it or not, more than ten years old. Ouch! Well, it’s been fun revisiting that stuff for sure. Now we’re primed to tackle the mammoth task of learning a whole ‘nutha set (of new songs) ALL of which we’ve never played before, ready for the next Prince Albert show on June 29th. Double-ouch!

We’ve also been in the studio these last couple months (for the first time since 2007!) and will be uploading the first fruits of those sessions up onto ol’ YoobChoob in the coming days. News and linxx in the next few days, pop pickers. Hope to catch some of y’all down Meadowlands over the weekend. Laterz. TW X

THOMAS WHITE INTERVIEW ON JUICE RADIO

The show started at 7pm, Thomas came on just before 8.30pm. Listen again from this page: mixcloud.com/TonyMarksNewMusicShow

From Electric Soft Parade we’ve got Thomas White in the studio, hello Thomas.

TW: How you doing sir.

You’ve literally just arrived and we’re chucking you straight on.

TW: Straight in at the deep end.

That’s how we roll.

TW: Perfect, suits me.

So how’s things with Electric Soft Parade because you did a gig late last year with Brakes, which is the other part of you and Alex’s band, and also with British Sea Power as well. That was a charity gig at Concorde 2.

TW: Yeah, there was a bunch of us involved. It was our first show as Electric Soft Parade in 3 years and we just got a really nice response so we’ve booked a residency at a little place called The Prince Albert in Brighton and I guess that’s why I’m on the show isn’t it… The irony is, it sold out last week. It’s only a tiny little pub but it sold out well in advance; all really encouraging. We’ve been working the last few months on new stuff, it’s all just starting to happen again, which is kind of scary because we’ve been a band now for 10 years. But yeah, all just really exciting.

You must’ve known the demand was there, that people wanted to come and see you. There’s obviously a lot of love for you and the band in Brighton and there has been for a long long time.

TW: It’s kind of weird though because the last time we came in to Juice to chat to you was in the run up to that show in December and we really had no idea how that gig was gonna go and what the response would be. We thought really, in a bit of a tizz, we booked a bunch of other bands thinking we wouldn’t be able to play that show just on our own. It turned out the response was fantastic and really gave us confidence in what we were doing again. It had been so long and bands just come and go, don’t they. We had this kind of sneaking doubt that no-one would really care what we were up to or who we were anymore but it wasn’t the case.

Nice to know that was proved wrong. Going into that gig, in aid of Martlets Hospice, when you went into that gig was there any thought in your mind at that time, “we’ve got to get the band back fulltime”, or was it literally just, “we’re only doing this as a one off and let’s see what happens”.

TW: Well me and my brother, we’d deliberately taken a couple of years off from the band. We got to the point where we had about 20 new songs that we’d written and demoed. We both kind of liked the idea of bands just “doing what they do”, regardless of fashions coming and going. It’s great when a band just sticks to their guns and essentially never stops. A lot of the bands we love do that; bands like Guided By Voices, tons of bands. Regardless of how their career fluctuates, they operate as a band regardless of the rest of the world, pretty much. We kind of figured we’d have another pop at it, it’s all going tickety boo isn’t it.

There’s literally nothing to stop you, you and your brother, you think “why don’t you just make more music”.

TW: We’re going to crack on with a fourth record. It’s very early days, we’re still getting used to playing together, playing these songs. On Wednesday we’re playing the whole of our first record which is quite a big deal for us. A lot of those songs are more than ten years old now and it’s like playing songs written by someone else, it genuinely is. So quite a strange experience. We spent the day rehearsing today, infact the reason Alex isn’t here chatting to you guys in radioland is ‘cos he’s back home doing his homework, or he should be anyway. Rifling through Lyric sheets and all the rest…

Make sure he doesn’t screw up on the night!!

TW: I will warn people now. We’re gonna have to have music stands with Lyric sheets on, ‘cos it’s not gonna happen. It’s a big undertaking doing a whole record in sequence and aside from that, we’re doing our entire back catalogue over 3 months so it’s a lot of stuff to learn but we figured we’re at that point where we need to do something like that to kind of draw a line under what we’ve already done and start afresh.

You’ve got your guitar round your neck there, Thomas, we’d love you to play a live track on the show, so tell us what you’re going to play for us.

TW: Do I not even get a soundcheck?

We can do a soundcheck if you like or we can just go for it.

TW: I did a tour late last year supporting a band called The Levellers who are from Brighton as well. When I play on my own I generally don’t like to play my own songs, just ‘cos I write songs with a very specific arrangement in mind, with specific instrumentation. So a lot of the time if I play acoustic, I’ll cover other people’s songs, which I think is an underrated thing to do anyway. I think more people should be open as to what their influences are. Anyway, enough of my yacking… This is a Bill Callahan song and it’s called Vessel In Vain.

That was absolutely beautiful, Thomas White on Brighton’s Juice 107.2. Thankyou very much. That was just sensational, loved that, amazing. You’re here to talk about your band, The Electric Soft Parade, who are doing a… TW: A very silly thing. DJ: A silly thing? No, a beautiful thing, a wonderful thing, a thing we’re all grateful for; you’re going to be playing the last 3 albums in their entirety at The Prince Albert – a monthly residency that you’re doing. And then, you’re starting again from scratch almost, starting a new chapter in the lives of The Electric Soft Parade.

TW: Yeah on the fourth one, like I say we’ve written a bunch of new stuff. We’re gonna play as many new songs as we can fit into an hour and see how they go down. A lot of bands feel the same in the sense that the Album/Tour cycle happens pretty much the wrong way round and we want to kind of “right” that. Pretty much every band makes a record; writes it, records it and then tours it. Surely the logical way round is to write stuff and then tour it, see people’s reaction and then record the thing but it never happens that way because of how the industry works. We’re not signed to a label at the moment so we really do have that privilege for the first time, so we’re going to damn well do that.

Good for you. You’re a pretty prolific songwriter aren’t you Thomas; 3 Electric Soft Parade albums, 3 Brakes albums, two of your own Solo albums. Have you got dozens and dozens of tracks or albums tucked away somewhere waiting to get released?

TW: At this point I’ll quote the great Robert Pollard. Infact I’ve referenced Robert Pollard twice in this interview already; Robert Pollard, the singer-songwriter from Guided By Voices, there’s a great quote. He’s notoriously prolific. Legend has it he’s got a suitcase somewhere in his house with 10,000 cassette tapes full of songs that he’s written, you know, just reams and reams of stuff. There’s this great quote, he says: “I can write 5 songs while sitting on the toilet and 3 of them will be good”.

What a beautiful image.

TW: I’m not quite that prolific and I don’t write songs on the toilet.

That’s good to know.

TW: I get busy and if I find myself idle I do write quite a fair bit but also, being brothers in a band, we’re extremely honest about quality control, it’s like nothing gets past either of us.

Is Alex like sometimes “Thomas that was crap!”

TW: We can be our own harshest critics ‘cos it’s fine, we’re never gonna insult eachother, we’re brothers. It’s a good balance, it’s a good thing.

And do you ever fall out in a big way?

TW: We did today actually, we were arguing about something extremely boring and musical which no-one in radioland is gonna be bothered about, it was just such a specific thing. We had a little teensy falling out but it was all fine 5 minutes later, you know.

So you’re playing on Wednesday night, you’re playing at The Prince Albert. You are literally playing your first album, Holes In The Wall is getting played in its entirety.

TW: Yeah we’re gonna do Holes In The Wall with a couple of B-sides. We put the feelers out of Facebook and asked if anyone had any specific requests and there was one B-side which a lot of people mentioned from that era so we’re gonna do that as well but essentially it’s the record as it was.

And then a month later you’re gonna do the second album then the third album…

TW: Then we’re in Summer and we’ll just be on the beach having the time of our lives with everyone else, eating cockles and mussels and whelks.

Let’s play a track from the first album, Holes In The Wall. We thought we’d go with There’s A Silence, which seems a good choice.

TW: Take it away me…

Thanks very much Thomas White on Brighton’s Juice 107.2. The gig is sold out on Wednesday which is frustrating but make sure you get the next one. Cheers Thomas.

TW: Cheers man.

If you’re lucky enough to have tickets to The Prince Albert on Wednesday night you’re in for an absolute treat, the whole album being played in its entirety.

HOLES IN THE WALL LYRICS/AUDIO/VIDEO

THE ARGUS MUSIC PREVIEW – ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE AT THE PRINCE ALBERT

Interview with Thomas White at The Argus “I did some homework the other day… the first album came out so long ago that there’s certain passages and changes in some songs I don’t remember writing!” says Thomas White, one-half of Brighton-based symphonic indie-rock outfit Electric Soft Parade.

The band return to the live scene on Wednesday, playing their entire back-catalogue across four very special monthly gigs, album by album.

“It’s going to be very strange… some of these songs are more than ten years old,” says White. “We’ve not started rehearsals yet either – we’re going to cram just like we did for exams when we were kids.”

Having taken their love of guitar-based rock and laced it with strings, effects and reverb, brothers Thomas and Alex White created Electric Soft Parade in 2001 – quickly signing to DB Records for their debut album. A Mercury Music Prize nomination soon followed, as did the Q Award for Best New Act. Parting ways with their label in 2004, the prolific duo looked for new creative outlets, forming various side and solo projects including the band Brakes.

Third album No Need To Be Downhearted saw them tour the US, and in 2008 the group took a complete break from the industry.

It was the unexpected success of a charity gig last year which saw Electric Soft Parade reunite for the first time in nearly three years.

“To be honest, the show in December was a surprise for us. Bands come and go so quickly these days and people’s patience with things is so low,” says White. “We didn’t think people would give a s*** really, but the response has been really beautiful… touching, really. We always think we’re some forgotten band, then we do a show and there are hundreds of elated people there.”

Although not currently signed to a label, the band have written enough material for a new record, and White sees these new gigs as the group testing the water for future releases.

“We’re taking it one step at a time, learning how to be a band again. It might go terribly,” he laughs. “The music industry has changed three or four times since we started – it’s a very different place now. When we put out our first few singles, we sold maybe 8,000 or 10,000 copies to get to number 23 in the charts. I think last year they recorded the lowest ever sales for a number one – it was about 3,000 copies!”

The fourth and final gig of the residency will see the band debut some of this new material alongside rarities and guest DJs. However, it’s their debut release Holes In The Wall that poses the band’s biggest performance challenge, having never played parts of the record live before.

“The nature of the production of our debut album – how it was written and recorded – meant we never played half the record live,” says White. “Alex is pretty daunted as he sang most of it – he’s already been frantically downloading our own lyrics because we don’t know them any more!”

Electric Soft Parade: The Return Of MAXIMALISM

Thomas and Alex White in association with Brassneck and The Prince Albert present: The Return Of MAXIMALISM!!! Following the success of last year’s Maximalism night at Brighton’s Concorde 2 (videos) the brothers White bring you four intimate home-town shows at The Prince Albert, each featuring a set from The Electric Soft Parade, as well as a supporting bill handpicked by the band.

Electric Soft Parade videos live at Maximalism

Electric Soft Parade video footage by judleberry1 (scroll down for more)

Start Again, Empty At The End, If That’s The Case, Then I Don’t Know, Cold World, Lose Yr Frown.

START AGAIN

EMPTY AT THE END

IF THAT’S THE CASE, THEN I DON’T KNOW

COLD WORLD

LOSE YR FROWN

ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE talk about their 15 December show

Electric Soft Parade were interviewed on Juice Radio to promote their December 15th show at Concorde 2 in aid of The Martlets Hospice – read the transcript below.

Listen Again to Thomas + Alex interviewed on Juice (DJ also plays There’s A Silence)

Also playing at ‘Maximalism’: Thomas White/British Sea Power/Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster/Field Music/The Chap/The Pure Conjecture/DJ’s: Mystery Jets.

DJ: You may have heard we mentioned several times on the show about the big gig happening in Brighton tomorrow night (December 15th) taking place at Concorde 2, it’s the Maximalism gig put together by The Electric Soft Parade. We’re joined in the studio right now by Thomas and Alex from The Electric Soft Parade. How are you gentlemen.

ESP: Very good. DJ: You’re still looking pretty cold there Thomas. T: I’ve still got my gloves on. DJ: You’ve got your gloves on, got your scarf on. T: Well it’s winter. DJ: You’ve been in this building for 20 minutes and you’re still freezing. T: Alright I’ll take ’em off. DJ: It looks like you’re stopping for a little while. T: Yeah, getting settled.

DJ: But you’re here because there’s a very important gig happening tomorrow night which you’ve put on, it’s the Maximalism gig. Why don’t you tell us about this gig. We’ve talked about the artists on the show but tell us the story behind the gig.

A: About 18 months ago now mine and Tom’s Mother died from cancer and she was cared for at The Martlets Hospice in Hove in the last few weeks of her life. We were just very touched by the way these guys dealt with all the patients and just their general attitude. Specifically with the care they provided for our Mum. We were motivated to try and raise some money for them from that experience.

They’re a charity, they’re a small organisation, not subsidised by anyone really (the government) We just thought probably everyone who’s had a relative in there or a friend… they’d want to get some sort of donation together to give to them. We thought we’re probably some of the only people who could do that; organise a gig where you could get bands to play and raise a load of money. Most people could just raise a few hundred pounds themselves. We thought we could actually raise quite a few thousand, that’s the idea.

We started putting it together and Tom’s done quite a lot of the work. He spoke to a lot of the bands and called in favours basically from over the years. We’re just trying to raise as much money as we can for the Hospice. It’s a personal thing for us, obviously. The idea was to make a great gig that had our favourite bands from the area that are out today and just make as much money as we can. Simple as that.

DJ: It’s a bit of a dream line-up in terms of the bands you’ve got on; a Brighton dream team of bands playing. Tell us why you chose these particular bands apart from the fact they are the best bands in Brighton. How long have you been friends with these artists. British Sea Power are kind of the big name you’ve pulled in, are they.

T: It’s quite crazy because the last time Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power and the Eighties Matchbox guys played a gig together was pretty much 10 years ago to the day in the Hobgoblin and we were all unsigned and it was the first time any of us had played together.

It’s rather bizarre to think 10 years on we’ve done all this stuff and made all these records and getting back together and playing a gig and that’s great… obviously a lot of Brighton bands involved and Brighton people involved backstage in the running of it.

We’ve also got Field Music playing, which is a real coup for us. They’re simply one of the best British bands working today and that’s a real honour to have them involved. And also The Chap as well, they’re a great band from London.

It’s just really surprising that everyone’s offered to come and play for nothing and just make the best line-up possible. One of the things we made a deal out of was, yes, it’s a personal thing and we want to honour our Mother and give something back to these people. But actually a lot of the time at charity gigs people don’t know us, they don’t care, they just want to see a good show. We wanted to make sure it worked as a gig, so that someone could go along and not know the back story and just enjoy it on its own merits as a great little mini festival type thing.

DJ: So instead of just pulling on people’s heart strings…

T: Obviously it matters to us but we wanted it to be a great show on its own merits as a gig, we cared about that as well. That was in our minds as well when putting the line-up together. So it’s both angles.

DJ: We’ll play one of your tracks in a moment. It’ll be great to get some Electric Soft Parade on the show because this is a new music show, we haven’t really played anything by you guys for a while.

A: That’s old music. DJ: We are going to play some old music tonight, we’re going to totally rip up the format. A: You’ll have people tuning out, don’t do that.

DJ: Nah they’ll be fine. We’re going to play something that’s a few years old from British Sea Power as well. We’ve been playing their new record which is called Living Is So Easy. We thought we’d go with something from a few years ago, something more rousing perhaps from the album Do You Like Rock Music. So this is British Sea Power with Waving Flags.

DJ: Unbelievably good live, British Sea Power with Waving Flags. If you want to see them live they’re playing tomorrow night (Wed 15th Dec) at Concorde 2. It’s part of the Maximalism gig which is taking place which has been put together by Thomas and Alex from The Electric Soft Parade who are still with us. Also Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster are on the bill as well, the brilliant Field Music. Electric Soft Parade will be performing of course. The Chap too. DJ set from Mystery Jets. Have I missed anyone?

TW: I’m going to be doing a set, I’ve got the worst slot of the whole evening. I’m going to play a slot with my solo band. DJ: With your solo band?! T: I’ve got like a solo band and a choir. So we’re going to do a set dressed in psychedelic robes and glitter.

A: Genuine Egyptian psychedelic robes.

T: Just after doors. So we’ll be on about 6.15pm. Warm everyone up, get everyone in there. And then we’ll get on with the real music.

DJ: I think people will want to see that and if that doesn’t encourage people to get there nice and early.

T: Yeah, this night is all about multi-tasking; a lot of overlaps, certain people playing in a bunch of different bands… Noble from British Sea Power’s playing in a kind of super group that we’re involved in as well.

A: That’s the other one that you forgot; The Pure Conjecture is the name of the band. DJ: I saw the name and to be honest I’m not familiar.

A: No-one is because it’s a brand new band. You would be familiar with most of the people I would think. It’s Martin from Sea Power, myself and laddy boy here and a bunch of others. Steve Grainger who’s played in a bunch of bands (The Customers) produced records and stuff. Who else; Johny Lamb from Thirty Pounds Of Bone. Matt Twaites from Restlesslist. Matt Eaton from various bands in Brighton is a friend of all these people, he wrote a record and put the band together; 10 piece band – recorded at the Metway, the Levellers studio in Kemptown. Put the band together live in the studio, recorded it like an old-school 70’s record. This is the first time, possibly the last time ever, the band’s gonna be together in one place and do a show. Very exciting.

DJ: Has the running order been announced yet. A: It’s not been announced officially…

T: We want people to come down and watch everything.

A: It’s negotiable; we’ll see what happens. The idea is for Tom to open and The Chap to finish, that’s the idea.

DJ: So it starts at 6 O’clock, people need to get there straight from work.

A: Don’t even have any dinner… Grab something on the way down, grab a sandwich. Just get there. Music is your food tomorrow. Just don’t even eat dinner. Don’t have a shower, nothing, just get there.

DJ: It’s £20 a ticket, you’ll be able to get tickets at Resident and Rounder up to about 3 O’clock.

T: There will be tickets on the door but get there early to avoid disappointment.

DJ: It’s such a great line-up and all the money does go to Martlets Hospice.

A: A little word about the Auction.

T: There’s gonna be a bizarre raffle/silent auction. We’ve put together some very bizarre prizes. That’s to be enjoyed as well.

DJ: Are you going to stop the music to do an auction?

A: It’s going to be running through the evening then we’ll announce who’s won. These are things that people would have to pay quite a considerable fee for in the real world.

T: There’s a couple that are pretty unique, just really bizarre prizes.

A: Again all of that money’s going into the pot so we’re coming from every angle in terms of raising money.

DJ: I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I wasn’t to ask you about the future of Electric Soft Parade. It’s been 3 years since you last played in Brighton, all the more reason people should catch you tomorrow. Is this the last chance to catch you?

T: We’ll see how it goes. We took a break for various reasons. Me and Al play in a band called Brakes as well, we were doing that pretty full on. The last time ESP played in Brighton was at Duke Of Yorks cinema, we did a show with full visuals and stuff in December 2007. Then we took a few years out.

I think the idea with this show was to test the water and most importantly, see how we felt about it and see how it goes and people’s reaction. In theory it could be the final nail in the coffin or it could be the start of the next 5 years of making more records and touring and doing all that. So we’ll see…

DJ: Excellent, well we look forward to finding out the result of that. Gentlemen, thankyou so much for coming in tonight.

A: Thankyou very much for having us in and taking the time to let us speak about this. It’s obviously close to our hearts, it’s a very good cause.

DJ: It’s a pleasure. So tomorrow night (December 15th) at Concorde 2, the gig. It’s called Maximalism featuring Field Music, Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, The Chap, The Pure Conjecture, it’s just a brilliant line-up. Mystery Jets are DJing. It’s £20 a ticket, all the money goes direct to the Martlets Hospice.

We would love you to go – tickets will be on sale at the door but you do have to get there early. Right shall we do one of yours…

A: Why not. DJ: One of your oldies, one of your classics… A: Throw it on. T: An old ranter.

DJ: This is Electric Soft Parade, There’s A Silence, on Juice.

THE ARGUS MUSIC PREVIEW – ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE AT MAXIMALISM – CONCORDE 2 – DECEMBER 15th

Electric Soft Parade play a live show on 15th December at Concorde 2, Brighton, in aid of The Martlets Hospice. Visit their website at themartlets.org.uk

Also playing at ‘Maximalism’: British Sea Power/Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster/Field Music/The Chap/The Pure Conjecture/DJ’s: Mystery Jets.

Interview with Thomas White at The Argus “It’s a scary environment – intimidating and terrifying if someone you love is in there. But it is also a very beautiful and calm, warm place. The conversations you have there – all people talk about is life.”

So says Electric Soft Parade founder and Brakes guitarist Thomas White of the Martlets Hospice, which supported his mother Ann through her battle with cancer until her untimely death, at the age of 55, in July 2009.

Thomas and his brother Alex – also of Electric Soft Parade, Brakes and The Pipettes – have put together the musical extravaganza Maximalism to raise money for the 18-bed unit in Wayfield Avenue, Hove, and increase awareness of the hospice’s important work.

And many friends have come forward to support the brothers and the charity.

As well as the first home performance by Electric Soft Parade since December 2007, the line-up includes Brighton buddies British Sea Power, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and new Matt Eaton project The Pure Conjecture.

Coming from outside Brighton will be Sunderland’s own band of brothers Field Music, London-based laptop glitch-hoppers The Chap and a DJ set from Mystery Jets.

“The Martlets Hospice looked after mum so well, and their aftercare for their patients’ families is so good,” says Thomas.

“It costs about £11,000 a day to run all the 18 beds in there. It’s an expensive thing to do, but the care is so essential. We wanted to do something both on a personal level for our mum, and something that was going to help in a real way.”

The original idea was to hold something in a smaller venue, but with the addition of British Sea Power and Field Music to the bill the brothers felt that they could approach Concorde 2 – which was happy to help.

“It’s been a steep learning curve for me and Alex,” admits Thomas. “It’s about raising awareness, but it is also going to be a great night out.”

Performing as Electric Soft Parade was an important part of putting the night on for Thomas.

“My mum saw us build the band up,” he says. “She knew of us as that band, so it is important for us to play those tunes. Both our folks had their moments when they asked when we were going to get proper jobs, but I knew she felt we were all right and looking after ourselves. I think every parent must have that moment where their child achieves a certain thing and it puts their mind at rest.”

That moment could arguably have been when the brothers’ debut album as Electric Soft Parade – Holes In The Wall – was nominated for the 2002 Mercury Music Prize.

The future of the band might rest on Wednesday’s performance, however.

“I have been doing solo stuff and Alex has been doing various other things,” he says. “If the reaction from this show is good then we will see about doing a fourth record together. We have written it already, but some of the songs are getting on for three or four years old. We might write a new bunch and see if we can commit to a new record – I really hope so. Then again we might get bottled off at our own show!”

Maximalism also features a charity auction with all proceeds going to the Martlets.

See the Maximalism Facebook page for more information.

* Starts 6pm to 2am, tickets £20. Call 01273 673311.

Electric Soft Parade play live at Concorde 2, December 15th… here’s some ESP audio-video links to enjoy

Electric Soft Parade play a live show on 15th December at Concorde 2, Brighton, in aid of The Martlets Hospice. Also playing at ‘Maximalism’: British Sea Power/Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster/Field Music/The Chap/The Pure Conjecture/DJ’s: Mystery Jets.

Here’s a collection of Live Audio + Video from over the years.

KCRW Webcast (USA) May 2007

Audio + Video: Electric Soft Parade at KCRW

Tracks: SILENT TO THE DARK, COLD WORLD, HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE IT’S TOO LATE?, NO NEED TO BE DOWNHEARTED Pt2, interview, MISUNDERSTANDING, IF THAT’S THE CASE, THEN I DON’T KNOW, EVERYBODY WANTS.

Acoustic Session for Liquid Generation (USA) 2007

Videos: COME BACK INSIDE — BLUE IT IS

The American Adventure album (2003) at Document Productions

Interview / performance / documentary short film

Document Productions also made the video for Misunderstanding: watch here

Glastonbury 2002

Video: EMPTY AT THE END

Jagermeister Rock Liga (Munich) March 2008

Video: BROADCAST + IF THAT’S THE CASE, THEN I DON’T KNOW

Rote Fabrik (Zurich) August 2007

Video: START AGAIN

THE ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE live at Maximalism – A Musical Extravaganza in aid of The Martlets Hospice

Thomas and Alex White, in association with Brassneck, ITB and Concorde 2 present… MAXIMALISM! A musical extravaganza in aid of The Martlets Hospice

Wednesday 15th December, Concorde 2, Brighton – Featuring the myriad talents of… FIELD MUSIC, THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER, BRITISH SEA POWER, THE ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE, THE CHAP, THE PURE CONJECTURE + DJs, Silent Auction, Licensed Bar + lots of fun!!!! MYSTERY JETS special guest DJ’s for the night.

Press release: As The Martlets Hospice promotional material says: “Life Is Precious – Right To The End”. We all hope that when the end comes, ourselves and our loved ones are in control and in comfort. Needless to say, the work the staff at The Martlets Hospice do is absolutely essential and extremely important. Without it, many would spend their last weeks and months without vital support. It is also worth noting the help and support all families of patients receive. Again, in some instances this means the difference between somebody suffering alone and having an experienced listener. In short, these are amazing people, and we would like to give something back.

Which brings us to the first annual Maximalism ball. To be held on the 15th of December 2010, the event brings together some of the most innovative bands working in the UK today, along with some seriously amazing DJ sets.

When considering what bands we’d like to get involved, there was really no hesitation that Field Music were an absolute must. Having created three consecutive albums of some of the most complex, original avant-rock this country has ever produced, this was a bit of a no-brainer. We just had to have the Brewis brothers!

Racking our brains for bands that would also fit the “Maximalism” idea, The Chap immediately came to mind. Fusing Dadaist lyrics, laptop glitch and hard rock, this London group are true pioneers of their own damn thang.

Thinking we had to involve the Brighton contingent somewhat, the night will feature (among many more artists yet to be announced) two exclusive sets: firstly, it will mark the first Electric Soft Parade show since the band went on hiatus in early 2008. Whether this reformation will result in glorious harmony or wibbling rivalry remains to be seen. Get there early to find out!

The night will also feature super-group The Pure Conjecture, performing their new album, “Courgettes” in its’ entirety. The band are made up of members of Actress Hands, British Sea Power, Electric Soft Parade, Brakes, The Hazey Janes, The Tenderfoot, Nada and 30 Pounds Of Bone, and as such, it may just be your only chance to catch ‘em before they go their separate ways.

The night will be £20 per person, over-18’s only, there will be a full licensed bar, there will be a silent auction, and we will all have a lot of fun! Many thanks for reading. Thomas and Alex White x