There is little in this world that lasts forever. Thank goodness. Life’s temporality is a blessing, offering fleeting moments of huge highs, heavy despair, and large quantities of mundanity. Live music helps remind us of this fact, jolting us out of our day to day existence through a one-off moment of pure, exhilarating sonic magic.
For EP/64, their whole intention was to celebrate this fact: EP stands for Ephemeral Project, 64 the number of shows they intend to play. Centred around the raw gestures of vocalist Dali Di Saint Paul and Dan Johnson’s powerful drumming, the group deliver incredibly wild improvised sets alongside a revolving door of musicians. As an unexpected twist, the pandemic has of course brought a pause to live music for the moment, and with that EP/64 are in suspended animation, unable to fulfil their ambition.
I was lucky enough to see them perform in one of their earlier iterations at a small pub in Bath, for what was undoubtedly one of the most exhilarating and unexpected musical experiences I have ever encountered. The pub was a well-known spot for live music, offering local artists a vital venue in the city to perform. Nonetheless, it was still a strange setting for them; a space that was more at home hosting cider and real ale festivals. Performing as a trio (synth, drums, vocals), they had the small number of pub goers in absolute awe as Di Saint Paul’s relentlessly energetic yelps and shrieks swept everyone along in a whirlwind of wild chaos.
Now you lucky devils get a chance to get a snapshot of their incendiary live shows via this newly released recording of their 57th performance at the Island in Bristol, which was captured exactly one year ago on the 1st February 2020. For nearly 40 minutes, you can delight in their bombastic and pummelling improvised noise, full of flurries of the skronkiest punk and demented vocal transmissions from outer space. With live music cancelled for the moment, this is perhaps the closest you can get to that delicious anxious ecstasy when in the middle of a crowd of people being enveloped in a feverish maelstrom of noise.
Whilst past collaborators have included the likes of Silver Waves, members of Gnod, Ossia and Yoshino Shigihara, for this outing Johnson and Di Saint Paul were joined by Ben Vince of Housewives fame, whose raw, wailing saxophone and electronic interjections can be heard sparring with the aforementioned pair. This dynamic of free improvisation with an ever-changing cast of contributors is part of what makes EP/64 such an interesting and exciting act. Whilst recording technology allows us to capture these moments, this release is a fantastic testament to the power of live music and the spontaneity that thrives in these moments. You simply ‘had to be there.’ My only wish is that I’ll get a chance to see them once more before they inevitably bring the project to an end.
Noise Compendium 