B E E H A T C H
BEEH AT CH is the new project from Phil Western and Mark Spybey, who met in Vancouver, whilst playing together in Download. Ten years have elapsed since they last worked together. During that time, Phil has released a number of solo and collaborative albums and has continued to work as part of both Download and Plateau. He is also a producer and DJ. Mark has continued to release albums as Dead Voices on Air, Reformed Faction (a band formed with fellow Zoviet-France members) and has collaborated with many musicians, including members of Can and Faust.
BE EH ATCH was initiated as the result of a “shall we make an album together†chat on the telephone. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and the North-East of England, via Internet file sharing and took less than a month to complete. Far from being an impersonal way of making music, this technique has liberated the approach to the making of this album. Gone are the days of being locked in an expensive and often creatively dead studio-space. The musicians were able to make music at leisure, in familiar environments. Phil and Mark have developed similarities in an approach to music making but in essence, Phil emerged smiling from the generation electronic and Mark slowly crept out of the distant days of four tracks and homemade instruments. Both are seasoned improvisers who started life as drummers and tend to ignore as many of the so-called ‘rules of music making’ as possible.
Nothing is clear. Everything is possible. Accidents are encouraged. Music is a series of holes waiting to be filled. Walls are your best friends, play music for walls. The drummer is always right.
B EE HATCH is a planned collision. It is an anthology of sounds that simultaneously echoes with the ghosts of their collective past, whilst pointing forwards in the direction of territories new.
BEE H ATCH released their debut album in April of 2008 in both compact disc and digital download formats on Chicago based Lens Records. Their second album BROOD is to be released in November, again on Len Records. Music can be heard and a full line of merchandise purchased at http://www.lensrecords.com. The band are touring Europe in the fall of 2008, with the addition of eNni_W from Dresden band Scatology. They will tour North America in 2009. Selected and rare, exclusive tracks will be posted on the band’s myspace site.
