VMV will be playing a selection of new compositions for ‘non-instruments’ (objects) with the primary directive to not interfere with the inherent sounds of those objects. So, no heavy electronic processing but some amplification where necessary.

The band is following in the tradition of dedicated electroacoustic ensembles like MEV (Italy), AMM, GEC, Gentle Fire and, indeed, Morphogenesis - whose members include Adam Bohman and Clive Graham.

There is also a strong link with Hugh Davies, a member of Gentle Fire. He was an inspirational tutor and colleague of various members of the ensemble.

The Bohman Brothers

Adam Bohman and Jonathan Bohman have been recording together since their early teens and playing live since 1984.  

Their repertoire includes a combination of sounds created in the moment and distinct compositions including songs. They use unconventional instruments, household objects, dislocated text from found, literary and commercial sources and collaged layers of recordings. 

Regular concerts started in the mid-90s in London at places like The Club Room in Penton Street, The Red Rose and The Klinker. From 2000 to 2005 they had their own concert series upstairs at The Bonnington Café in Vauxhall, London. 

They have performed at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Roundhouse, Royal Albert Hall, South Bank and numerous smaller venues across Europe and America. 

Their duo recordings include 'A Twist For All Pockets' (Rossbin, 2001), 'Purely Practical' (Peripheral Conserve, 2002), ‘Back On The Streets' (Peripheral Conserve, 2012), ‘Library Music’ (Des Astres D’Or, 2019) and ‘In Their 70s’ (Fort Evil Fruit, 2021). Their forthcoming album is  ‘Room Service ‘ (Rural Isolation Project).

https://thebohmanbrothers.bandcamp.com

Lee Patterson

Through using sound recording to train his ears, Patterson has developed a dual practice that includes live performance and fixed works. By exploiting chemical and mechanical synthesis, he has created a range of amplified devices and processes that produce or uncover complex sound in unexpected places.

From rock chalk to springs, from burning nuts to aquatic life and insect chants inside plants, he eavesdrops upon and makes a novelty of playing objects and situations otherwise considered mute.

His collaborators have included Mika Vainio, Jennifer Walshe, Vanessa Rossetto, David Toop, Rhodri Davies and John Butcher, Greg Pope, Benedict Drew, Luke Fowler, Lucio Capece, Rie Nakajima, Angharad Davies, Keith Rowe, John Tilbury, Xavier Charles and Tetsuya Umeda.

His works have featured on UK television, BBC Radios 3, 4 and 6, Resonance FM and on radio stations worldwide.

He lives and works in Prestwich, Manchester, UK.

Clive Graham

Clive Graham has been a member of Morphogenesis since 1990. It’s been the main group that he has worked with, although there have been brief forays into other groups, most notably some session work with Nurse With wound in the early 90s. Since 1996 he has run Paradigm Discs, a record label specialising in archives and reissues of experimental music, including music by Daphne Oram, Trevor Wishart and Pauline Oliveros, as well as early recordings by Adam Bohman.

The record label has become the main activity in recent years - producing the records as well as recording the artists, mastering the music and doing the graphic design for the label. Playing with other improvising groups in London and elsewhere also continues to be ongoing activity.

http://www.stalk.net/paradigm/

Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas has been writing and performing since the 1980s. 

His first recordings  were released in 1996 on The Leaf Label followed by albums on Lo Recordings and many other imprints.

Over the years Thomas has produced a wide range of music and sound works for a variety of record labels, ensembles, concerts, theatres, festivals, galleries, museums and miscellaneous media outlets. Thomas’ music has been featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, WFMU, Rai Radio Due, Rai Radio Tre, Radio France, Conzertzender, Channel 4 and many other international media channels. His latest recordings - The House Rabbit of Jesus Green, The Painted Orchid -  are published by the Ffordd Allan label. Thomas is a founder member of the group Secluded Bronte.

Thomas has appeared as a guest on programmes such as BBC Radio 4’s “Jon Ronson on…”, “You and Yours”, and “Pick of the Week”, and the John Peel presented Channel 4 production “The Sound of The Suburbs”.

Between 2003 and 2013 Thomas was a Producer, Content Manager / News Editor / Commissioning Editor at Resonance 104.4FM.

Thomas is a regular contributor to The Wire Magazine and other publications. He has been a visiting artist, visiting lecturer and associate lecturer at SOAS, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Leeds Metropolitan University, London Metropolitan University.

In 2023 and 2024 Thomas will write, produce and direct a sequence of plays at Shift, Cardiff and elsewhere. Several films currently in post-production will be distributed theatrically in 2024. 

https://fforddallan.bandcamp.com