Press Release 1995
Germ began with Tim Wright playing with an Atari and a synth in a Birmingham bedroom in summer 1992. Although a classically trained violinist and pianist, Tim had drifted into a science degree - writing music on a computer providing a vital creative outlet. Empowered by cheap technology and encouraged by friends a future combining science and music became inevitable.
While studying for an MSc. in music technology in York, Tim was introduced to John Dalby and Steve C at Finsbury Park Studios. Tim Wright and engineer/producer John Dalby went on to record together for the first time on the Germ EP, released on Steve C’s Resource Records in February 1994. After the success of this first release the respected independent label, General Production Recordings, home of Black Dog, Luke Slater’s Seventh Plain and Beaumont Hannant, signed Tim Wright on a long term contract.
Since signing to GPR there has been a string of releases. The Black Chair EP, featuring Hilary Jeffery on trombone for the first time, was Vibes Single of the Week in the NME in June 1994. This was followed by the album Gone in August 1994 - a collection of tracks recorded in York over the previous 18 months. The Gueule de Bois/Swim EP was released in the spring of 1995, and marked a move to a heavier more claustrophobic sound - a sound which had been present at Germ gigs for some time.
The most recent album Parrot consolidates the differing styles and genres that the members of Germ have brought with them - dub, techno, punk, jazz, electro-acoustic music. Tim, John and Hilary were joined for the first time on record by Matt Miles, a jazz double bass player, and Nick Bullen (ex Scorn and Napalm Death) on electric bass. More abstract than Gone, Parrot was highly acclaimed, with positive responses throughout the music press, from The Wire to Eternity.
Germ have a long history of live performance. The first gig was in December 1993 at an improvised jazz event in York. Hilary Jeffery’s virtuosic performance of Black Chair stirred the imaginations of an audience accustomed to an often weary and stagnant scene. From these beginnings Germ went on to play a series of four joint sets with John Dalby at the adventurous hard techno club House of God in Birmingham. By the time of their sell-out performance at Birmingham’s Que Club in August 1995 the live band consisted of Matt Miles on double bass, Hilary Jeffery on trombone, Nick Bullen on electric bass, Tim Wright and John Dalby on vocals and the live mix. The crowd, used to wall to wall 4/4 beats, responded positively to the more aurally challenging environment of a Germ and John Dalby live performance.
In the three years of performing live Germ have played in a variety of venues with a variety of audiences - from Oscillate’s “intelligent techno†club, to squats in London (with Digidub and Global Communications), the pompous splendor of the Maestro in Bradford (with Dave Clark and Beaumont Hannant), Club Obvious in Leeds (with Squarepusher), the Lizard Lounge in London (with Zoviet-France and Autechre), the Escape Club in Brighton (with Christian Vogel and Mixmaster Morris) and recently the Mind the Gap festival in Gent, Belgium (with Techno Animal, Bio Muse and Damon Wild). Germ, with John Dalby have consistently proved their ability to adapt to radically different environments and audience expectations.
Germ is an increasingly confident and dynamic force at the frontline of electronic music - both in the studio and live. Journalists have always struggled to classify a music which is not based on a genre but is defining a genre. A genre where artistic expression and dialogue is the motivating force, not an obsession with technology or tradition.
