THE SPOLKESTRA profile picture

THE SPOLKESTRA

About Me

The Spolkestra are a multicolour art-pop explosion;A punk orchestra patched together from instruments and genres all over by pomo magpies Jamie Chambers and Duncan Strachan, to make a towering musical Frankenstein with a thunderous beating heart...
The Spolkestra emerged in 2007 from the fertile soil of Scotland's Transgressive North (TN) community; a group of young filmmakers, writers, poets, fine artists and musicians set on doing things their own way. Their debut EP, Open Arms - a joyous celebration of community and collective endeavour - will be released on the TN's netlabel Heretical records on May 4th.
At the bloody core of both TN and Spolkestra is a two-handed yet tightly held commitment to both a progressive art which refuses to alienate its audience and the need to channel art energies into social engagement and outreach.
The Spolkestra are currently curating 'Everything is New', the TN's latest multimedia arts project performed with and in aid of Dalit 'untouchable' children in South-East India. 'Everything is New' will take both album and film form and will see the Spolkestra collaborate with musicians such as Jarvis Cocker, Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Bradford Cox (Atlas Sound/Deerhunter) and Margaret Bennett, alongside Scottish writers such as Irvine Welsh, Valerie Gillies and Tom Leonard.
'Everything is New' (the album) will be released in early 2010, and the film (starring Dalit children and narrated by Irvine Welsh) will be released in late 2009.
Live, the Spolkestra are a musical fireworks display; a deafening circus of energies and enthusiasms spilling literally off the stage if it can't hold them.
Follow us on TWITTER and FACEBOOK.
----NEWS----
The Spolkestra are currently working on their next album, Everything is
New, which is to feature special guests including Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Owen
Pallett (Final Fantasy, Arcade Fire), Jarvis Cocker (ex-Pulp), Bradford Cox
(Deerhunter/Atlas Sound), Margaret Bennett and many more. It should be
released in late 2009.
The Spolkestra: Open Arms available on Heretical! The Spolkestra: Open Arms available on Heretcial Records

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 27/04/2006
Band Website: www.transgressivenorth.com
Band Members: Jamie Chambers (vocals, keys, viola)
Dunc Strachan (vocals, cello, keybrd)
Mike Brogan (bari/alto/sop sax)
Colin Mclean (drums)
Nat Korda (violin)
Jackeroo Adkins (guitars)
Cat Price (violin)
Jenny Wilkinson (viola)
Amy Moar (vocals)
King Hal (basses)
Caz Bleiman (clarinet)
Jordan Cheer (drums, synths, samples)
James Maloney (trumpet)
Gemma Sharples (violin)
Brian Semple (guitars)
Siobhan Wilson (vocals)

Contact
[email protected]

Bookings
Mark Lewis
[email protected]
Influences: Animal Collective, Art Bears, Broken Social Scene, Dirty Projectors, Jaga Jazzist, Robert Wyatt, Arcade Fire, Frank Zappa, Bark Psychosis, The Notwist, Menomena, Pulp, Sigur Ros, Guillemots, Stars, Tim Buckley, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Lutoslawski, Bjork, The Clash, The Slits, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Kate Bush, Final Fantasy, Subtle, Deerhoof, Battles, Martyn Bennet, Cinematic Orchestra, Benjamin Britten, Modest Mouse, The Shining, Xiu Xiu, The National, The Microphones, Les Savy Fav, Panda Bear, Sam Prekop, Fairport Convention, Gang Gang Dance, Architecture in Helsinki, Jim O'Rourke, Matthew Barney.

Sounds Like: "The Spolkestra's music is beautiful, eloquent and surprisingly intimate indie pop fully equipped with widescreen sweeps of lush instrumentation and perfectly pitched vocals."
Devil Has The Best Tuna

"Completely infectious...full of glee and wonder, breaking points and build-ups."
Culture of Me

"Yo for an 18-strong art-pop collective! Play-fighting for yr attention like Los Campesinos! scaled up and slowed down for epic demonstrations of dis/affection."
Plan B Magazine

"Pop music mined in the Broken Social Scene vein. Scottish-folkster speed-jazz? Sure. It’s paced for the marathon, and glides in and out of caves in search of brass and freshly cut grass to roll around in."
Nothing But Green Lights

"Fantastic, slightly creepy but just like a Scandinavian fairy tale, soothing and beautiful at the same time."
Fichtenstein

"Some of it doesn't even sound like music."
Marc Simpson, 25, computer programmer, Edinburgh
Record Label: Heretical/ RCRDLBL.COM!
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Some recent reviews: Drowned in Sound, Instrumental Analysis, Souls on Tape, Alternative Ulster

Drowned In Sound:Remember Architecture in Helsinki? When you hear 15-piece Scottish art-pop collective the Aussie 8-some are bound to be one of the first bands to spring to mind, alongside Im Fro...
Posted by on Mon, 18 May 2009 03:12:00 GMT

Bold & Beautiful

Thankyou to everyone who came along to our show at the macbeth on Saturday. It meant a lot to see you all there! and please feel free to let us know what you thought of the gig - we always like to hea...
Posted by on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:04:00 GMT

PLAN B & see you saturday

So come along, everybody, if you can. Our smashing colossal mess of an outfit will be gracing the stage (and then some) at the Macbeth this Saturday. 8 o' clock. In bad news Nat broke his hand playing...
Posted by on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:13:00 GMT

Mr. Novembers

So we're just about recovered from our Indian Summer, and have a busy year ahead of us. As you might know its a rare event to get the whole circus together, and its happening (for the first time in Lo...
Posted by on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:47:00 GMT

Nothing But Green Lights said, The Needle Drop said

The Spolkestra - Soil"Pop music mined in the Broken Social Scene vein. Scottish-folkster speed-jazz? Sure. It's paced for the marathon, and glides in and out of caves in search of brass and freshly cu...
Posted by on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:11:00 GMT

India! and beyond.

We've just got back from India, where we've been recording the first steps towards our first full-length album. What a journey it's been...Tone, Col, Mike, King Hal and myself have just spent a month ...
Posted by on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:47:00 GMT

thanks culture of me...

Alright,The delightful chaps at 'The Culture of Me' have said some stuff about us. Here's the link:http://www.thecultureofme.com/culture/2008/05/emerging- the-sp.html They said..."The group have an EP ...
Posted by on Mon, 12 May 2008 10:36:00 GMT

happy new year yeah

Hi.new year already. 2008 is already set up to be a massive one for the Transgressive North - a lot of exciting projects to tell you about, they'll be coming shortly.The first one is the TN website, w...
Posted by on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:34:00 GMT

Christmas time at the Bongo Club...

Yeah, so its christmas time again - and the pagan spolkestra is playing at the Bongo Club! come down and see us, say hello, listen to us play, and have a drink or two. Sounds like a perfect evening to...
Posted by on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:26:00 GMT

tour, fun, reviews, futures

HelloAfter a hectic couple of weeks, the Pagan Spolkestra is well and truly alive...Camping out in the lovely town of Boat of Garten, we spent two weeks working hard on our first EP with the new line-...
Posted by on Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:58:00 GMT