Author: Robin The Fog

By now I’m sure many of you will have heard about the plight facing Iklectik and their Old Paradise Yard neighbours as they fall foul of a ‘punishment eviction’ by landowners The GSST Foundation, a particularly cretinous version of The Forces of Darkness who in a fit of pique are forcing the entire yard to pack up and leave before the end of the year despite not yet having full permission to put their redevelopment plans for the site into action (spoiler alert: buldozing Lambeth’s oldest school building to build more luxury apartments, quelle surprise). It’s nasty, vindictive and leaves a sour taste in the mouth – not to mention a number of charities, arts organisations and small businesses with nowhere to go, just before Christmas.

Online petitions and a campaign to highlight the huge importance of Iklectik and their neighbours to London’s cultural cache have predictably fallen on indifferent ears – as a friend of mine recently commented ‘London is a city that does not care about the places that make it great’, a sentiment that rings truer every year as more and more small venues and grassroot spaces get cleaved aside to make way for more gleaming blocks of dreary, empty Turbocapitalist investment. Most likely it was ever thus, but speaking as someone who has recently had to vacate two separate South London studio spaces, it does seem to be reaching terminal velocity in the current climate.

On a more positive note, To Have And To Hold is a benefit concert put together by Touch and featuring sets from Howlround, Simon Fisher Turner, Jennifer Lucy Alan and Mark Van Hoen, with all profits going directly to support this most fabulous venue as they face down these challenging times, so please do come down, make a donation and show your support. Tickets can be purchased here and further information about the plight of Old Paradise Yard can be found at savewaterlooparadise.com. Who knows, if we all pull together and make lots of noise, we just might just get a Christmas miracle?

Speaking of ‘The Current Climate’ I shall be returning to Iklectik a week later to perform a Howlround set as part of SPECIES PIRACY, an ‘Anthropocene concert of resurrected species, robot ventriloquists and other ushers of the uncanny’ put together by artist, composer and al-round genius Dr. Amy Cutler. This world premier event will be consist of a live cinema / video synthesis work in response to de-extinction science by Amy and myself with James Holcombe (aka Erewhon) alongside live performances and experimental sets by Sarah Angliss, Murmur Ensemble / Matt Lewis, and Ojon / Jim Hobbs plus a discussion panel with scientists and filmmakers. I can’t reveal too much at this juncture, but for my own part I shall be attempting to recreate the sounds of long dead avian and insect specimens using nothing but magnetic tape, a microphone and – as you can imagine – quite a staggering amount of artistic license. Can’t wait!

In other news, last week marked not only Delia Derbyshire Day, but also the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of Dr. Who and the recent surfacing of one of the most important bodies of work in her archive – The Inventions For Radio, a series of longform radio pieces created in the 1960s with the writer Barry Bermange, that are now finally available in full remastered form as part of a lavish (and let’s face it, rather pricey) 6LP box set.

In celebration of these milestones, the latest episode of Resonance FM’s FogCast features one of these inventions Amor Dei in its near entirety, almost certainly the first time it has been broadcast on UK radio in half a century. This is about as far out as Delia’s work (and indeed The Radiophonic Workshop in general) ever got and it’s an incredible testament to the BBC that the Third Programme was broadcasting such forward-thinking works all the way back in 1964! The show also includes an extended extract from Delia’s equally magnificent soundtrack to Circle Of Light, an experimental film from 1972 exploring the remarkable photographic works of Pamela Bone (itself finally released to huge acclaim on Trunk Records in 2016). Huge thanks to Delia Derbyshire Day lynchpin Caro C and also Mark Ayres for their help in putting it together. Sadly not available as a podcast, so if you missed it you’d better start digging down the back of the sofa for that spare £200 you could have sworn you left somewhere…

Alongside the usual flurry of events, workshops, performances and the creation of new artworks supervised by Caro and the ever redoubtable Delia Derbyshire Day team, I must give a shout out to Green Croft Arts for putting on the superb ‘TRAILBLAZER’ weekend at The Sill in Northumberland in celebration of both Delia’s legacy and her time living and working in the area. A personal highlight was Sunday’s tape loop workshop, where I finally convinced my 6 year old niece to lend a hand in the creation of a spooky racket. She ended up needing slightly more convincing than I had anticipated. Kids these days, am I right?!!

Hello You. Time for another breathless update from these pages, starting with news of a couple of live shows taking place in London this November. On Thursday 2^nd I’ll be unveiling a new audio-visual live work with Psyche-Tropes’ Merkaba Macabre as part of ‘Butoh Experiments’ at Iklectik, an evening of performances hosted by the 2023 Rebellious Bodies International Butoh Dance Festival. Also live on the night will be Pascal Savy and Ben Jeans Houghton. Details and tickets here.

The very next day, Ken Hollings and I will roll out The Howling once more for MEMOREX: Bonfire of the BASF, an evening of ‘Misremembering’ at The Horse Hospital, hosted by Travis Elborough. Further delights come courtesy of a performance by dear old chum Kemper Norton, plus Ruth Bayer and Caroline Wise in conversation.

Two of my very favourite venues, both a hugely important part of London’s historic and cultural landscape and of course both under threat from nasty greedmonger developers as a result. Almost inevitable these days, isn’t it? But it does mean that both venues welcome custom and support more than ever, plus you can join the campaign to save Iklectik and its Old Paradise Yard home here.

Elsewhere, I was chuffed indeed to be the guest on a recent episode of the Audio.Com Podcast, where I chatted with host Ilia Rogatchevski about Howlround, my work as a sound archivist, the wonderful world of Radiophonics and that dirty word ‘obsolete’, while also playing random blasts from the back catalogue. Have a listen and then head straight to the latest episode which features the superb ‘Krautfolk Collective’ Staraya Derevyna.   

Also check out my new Audio.com Profile page, which contains among other things, the Howling’s recent smash hit single ‘David Gest, Liza Minelli, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor’ and a raw live demo recorded in one take with members of the crowd at last month’s ‘Dark Tales And Strange Sounds’ event at Copped Hall. Might just upload some more work in progress in the coming weeks there as well, as I’m currently awaiting the green light to move into a new studio space. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of smash hits, one outcome I had not anticipated in my own personal game of ‘outrageous fortune bingo’ was to have the aforementioned Howling smash hit single featured as part of the soundtrack to the catwalk show for fashion giant LOEWE’s Spring and Summer 2024 Collection. And yet here we are – Ken and I knee deep in the glamorous world of high couture, and it feels good and right. Never again will anyone dare to cast aspersions on my sartorial elegance! Might celebrate by investing in a pixelated hoodie:

And finally please cast your ears over ‘Ivy’, the rather splendid recent single by Benjamin Yellowitz. Can you hear just the faintest trace of tape machine echo in the background? It comes courtesy of Daphne, my semi-faithful UHER6000, who enjoyed a trip out Benjamin’s studio sometime last year. At the time the song was little more than an accapella and a clicktrack, so it’s amazing to hear how it’s blossomed in the interim. Bodes well for a future album!  

You are hereby invited to a very special event taking place at Iklectik on Tuesday 19th September, where Ken Hollings and I will reunite as The Howling and celebrate the (un)official launch of our brand new album Incredible Night Creatures of the Midway with some brand new live material as part of this star-studded collective. See you there?

drøne, English Touring Opera and IKLECTIK present: Vox Interruptus

19 September 2023 | Doors: 7:30pm – Start: 8:00pm

Tickets: £10 adv / £12 otd – link here.

An evening of voice versus noise. Operatic soprano from Julia Marika alongside drøne (their UK premier), The Howling (Ken Hollings and Robin the Fog) talk trash over tape loops and distortions and Dale Cornish delivers south London keening in all its joy, horror and sadness. JTM is the overseas special guest – the mystery voice (What’s My Line for the 21st Century?) in this eclectic lineup.

Incredible Night Creatures of the Midway is the long-awaited sophomore album by THE HOWLING, that beguiling collision of text, tape and trash from the tangled minds of Ken Hollings + Howlround officially released 29th September on The Tapeworm’s sister label Wormhole. The album’s lead single, “veritable trash aesthetics checklist” and our first ever recording together: ‘David Gest, Liza Minelli, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor’ is out already, and comes as a free download when you preorder the album. Copies of the CD will also be available to purhase on the night – weeks in advance of its arrival in the shops!

The Howling is a collaborative project started by writer Ken Hollings and sound artist Howlround devoted exclusively to their shared love of text, audiotape and Trash Aesthetics. An intense collision of spoken word and analogue tape effects, The Howling provide the missing link between John Cage and Suicide. Their debut album All Hail Mega Force, released by The Tapeworm in 2022, was hailed by The Wire as a ‘mesmeric disorientation.’

One year later, and with some blistering live performances at Iklectik, The Horse Hospital and the British Film Institute under their belts, The Howling are back with a second album inspired by their passion for Trash Cinema. ‘Contents Warning’ pays tribute to the quantities of sex, horror and violence to be found in the genre as a whole, while ‘David Gest, Liza Minnelli, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor’ is a veritable Trash Aesthetics checklist.

Each of the remaining three tracks is devoted to a specific movie dear to The Howling’s hearts: The Skydivers is a deadpan exposition of a spectacularly lacklustre 1960s soap opera set on a California airfield, backed by the throbbing of a customised street rod engine; while ‘The Picture of A Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a pounding response to a 1970s Italian soft-core porn adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic novel. Finally, The Howling are joined by Beth Arzy of Jetstream Pony and composer/performer Ela Orleans for ‘Miss Frost Miss Leslie Miss Frost’, an exacting dismemberment of Miss Leslie’s Dolls, a creepy Florida-based slasher flick rumoured to have been produced with money smuggled out of Castro’s Cuba. We dare you to play it in the dark!

The whole package has been magnificently mastered by Steven McInerney with beautiful cover artwork by the great Stefan Fähler and design by Don Wyrm, so it’s really quite a team effort. Plus copy comes with a PDF download zine of the lyricas, so everyone can sing along!

Ken Hollings + Howlround = The Howling: ‘The First Name In Excitement!’

As the evenings draw in, and the nights grow colder, and following four successful sell-out performances of Dark Tales & Strange Sounds at Copped Hall, the team moves on to a yet darker new production. This time, we’re making use of much more of the Mansion, with performances happening in the Saloon, the State Hall, the Housekeeper’s Room, the Parlour and – of course! – the Cellars.

Featuring: Robin the Fog / Howlround, Gary Stewart / Dubmorphology, Julia Stallard, Sinister Masterplan, Dushume, Avsluta, Kate Carr, Mhairi Vari +++

This will not be a static evening. The audience will be free to move from room to room at will, choosing which performances to attend. This promenade-style event will occupy a variety of spaces in the Mansion. Storytelling will happen in the Saloon on the First Floor and in the Parlour on the Ground Floor. Other performances will take place in the cellars and other rooms.

Up for consideration are a chilling Edgar Allan Poe story, the grim tale of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and their farm at nearby Chipping Ongar, the exchange of the Two Graces on St Kitts, soundscapes of 18th Century life, and much more. You might even meet Lady Henrietta and the Housekeeper in person! Some of the performances will be based on original 18th Century documents from the extensive Copped Hall collection held by the Essex Record Office.

Returning for the show will be Sinister Masterplan (Laura Sampson, storyteller, and Sam Enthoven, Thereminist), actor Julia Stallard, and sound artist Gary Stewart with his extraordinary modular synthesiser. We’ll also have some fixed Sound Installations: Mhairi Vari promises ‘the trilogy of three and the power of whatever’ in the cellars; Robin the Fog / Howlround will reprise the Ruled by Darkness tape loops in the State Hall; Experimental noise and sound artist Dushume will provide new experimental noises and sounds; In the kitchen, deep in the cellars, Avsluta (Lucie Štěpánková) and Kate Carr will be creating new soundscapes based on found Copped Hall objects. The Bar will be open serving drinks, and a roaring log fire will warm you in the ground floor Servants’ Hall.

Tickets £20 – book online at: coppedhallevents.ticketsource.co.uk
Access to the Mansion is via the white gates in Crown Hill, Upshire Road (PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE LODGE RESIDENTS!) For Satnavs use CM16 5HR / What3Words: stow.crab.record

One year after 2022’s dazzling sold out spectacle, I’m bringing FOGFEST back to Iklectik for another eye-popping, ear-bending evening crammed full of delights from yet more pushers of the audio-visual envelope. This year we’re bringing you the exclusive debut of what might be the world’s first ever modified turntablism soundclash, while welcoming in very special guests from the US and Barcelona. Expect a fullblown sensory evisceration – and definitely expect a party!

Hello You. It’s been really rather too long since I updated these pages and I really must apologise to each and every one of you (and will probably be doing so in person quite soon if the stats are anything to go by). I wouldn’t want anyone to think that it constituted a lack of industry here Fog Towers, mind you, if anything 2023 has been crammed with intrigue and incident, sometimes rather more than is healthy and tolerable. Howlround’s Trespass and Welfare album has resurfaced as a very classy sounding LP on blood red vinyl with a handful of new tracks. There have been triumphant live shows in London, Geneva and Bristol, the last of which saw me in support of that absolute magnetic tape legend Jérôme Noetinger, which was every bit the honour and privilege I could have predicted. I’ll be hoping for a similar response later in July when I bring the tape machines back to Barcelona to perform an audiovisual set as a trio with old friends Pascal Savy and Merkaba Macabre (see above).

Plus I’ve just returned from a fantastic weekend in Utrecht running a tape loop workshop at the studio of another fellow tape aficionado Wouter van Weldhoven, where a number of spirited youngsters enjoyed using a single loop and a microphone to conjure up some spooky magic. The Kids Are Alright!

Elsewhere things have been a tad more fraught as I had to move all of my equipment out of one studio following not one but two roof leaks thanks to the inattention of a thoroughly incompetent landlord. I then set up shop in a lovely light and spacious room in an old school, before getting chucked out of there almost as quickly. How lucky that on both occasions I managed to assemble the most amazing moving out crew at extremely short notice!

As a result of all this the machines are now sat silently in my bedroom awaiting their next adventure, so any tips on cheap new studio spaces that don’t mind a bit/a lot of noise would be hugely appreciated! While the thought of having them reside at home and just rolling out of bed and straight into the studio every morning is indeed tempting, I’m guessing my flatmates and neighbours would be less keen.

Despite this unfortunate pause on studio activity, I can confirm that new Howlround material is in the pipeline, including a new project that I’m VERY excited about and hope to be unveiling soon (though for now I’m sworn to secrecy). In the meantime an exclusive track that was made last year in one take while scrupulously avoiding the Queen’s Jubilee has found its way onto Diacritical Mark’s ‘Noisy Mixtape‘ and is in very fine company indeed. Well worth bending your ears toward.

Was chuffed to bits to be the special guest on Resonance FM veteran Dexter Bentley’s Hello Goodbye Show last week, where we talked about the new Howlround album, making angsty music, the contemporary weltschmerz experience and that very British condition of being constantly plagued by overzealous public service announcements. Host Richard has been bringing noisy Saturday lunchtime delights to the ears of Resonance listeners for at least two decades now and I will always have nothing but love for ‘Hello Goodbye’, not least because of the years I spent as one of the show’s engineers, setting up live sessions in the rather poky downstairs performance space (this was before the ceiling caved in). Those Saturday mornings in Denmark Street all those years ago were where I first learned how to mix live bands and taught me life skills that I still rely on today (ie ensure you’re feeling quite groggy and sleep-deprived and that you keep one eye on the rapidly ticking clock. And avoid having the ceiling fall in). As it happens this edition of the show also features a vintage 2007 session by the mighty Teeth of the Sea, that I’m fairly sure was on my watch, if the foggy memory serves me correctly. I suppose now would be as good a time to apologise to them as any…?!!

And finally, will you be joining us for the Iklectika 2023 Experimental Music and Book Fair on 8-9th July? Two days of the very best independent labels showing off their latest wares, plus talks, performances, DJs etc. etc. It’s always the highlight of the summer social calendar and I’m being put in charge of the Touch stall once again, so do come and say hello if you’re passing. Might even have some rarities and exclusives up for grabs!

That about does it for now, but I’ll leave you once again with cinema iloobia’s absolutely enchanting promo video for Trespass And Welfare’s closing track ‘Frosi’, because it’s a sublime piece of work that simply hasn’t had as many views as it damn well deserves. He’s a pretty busy chap too at the moment, so have a gander and then head over to iloobia.com for some more. What it is to have such talented friends, eh?!

Reworked, resequenced, repurposed, remastered + represented – Howlround’s 2022 miesterwerk Trespass & Welfare, a swirling barrage of decaying acid-gash loops, molten techno loops, asynchronous machine noise and fourth world, reel to reel hypno-mulch – now on a super limited blood red vinyl LP.

Thrilled to announce that Buried Treasure are putting out a one-time super limited-edition vinyl reissue of Howlround’s 2022 album Trespass And Welfare on Friday June 2nd. Remastered to REALLY BANG on blood red vinyl, the colour of madness, and with four brand new tracks; this new edition is available in a super limited run of just 100 copies and that’s it. THERE WILL BE NO MORE! Don’t sleep on this one – order yours from Buried Treasure here.

Kicking out pieces that thunder and grind, rather than whisper and whine… Trespass And Welfare captures that causticity and roughness more thrillingly than any previous release – THE WIRE

With his inimitable sonic adventuring, our hero has once again crafted otherworldy sounds beyond our wildest expectations – Electronic Sound

Properly mind-blowing…. Robin The Fog is a crazy genius – MOONBUILDING

Frantic machine dialogues and sizzling circuitry – FREQ

Howlround are delighted to announce new release Noise Flaw EP – Live At Iklectik. It’s a collection of live (and quite noisy) extracts taken from various performances at over the past few years. 100% proceeds from the sale of this release will be donated to the Resonance FM Annual Fundraiser. Three lathe cut discs featuring two tracks from the EP are being released simultaneously and are now live on Ebay, with all proceeds raised going to help keep Resonance on air. Find links to all three via linktr.ee/robinthefog – these will be the only copies of this 7″ made!

Disc 1 is here. Disc 2 is here. Disc 3 is here. Get bidding!

And of course you can donate any time and any amount by visiting Fundraiser.Resonance.FM