At the beginning of the year I was invited to join Hans Joachim Roedelius on stage in a celebration of his life’s work. To perform my instrumental music. I felt honoured and flattered and I agreed.
I have a substantial modular synthesizer in my attic and over the last few years I have been able to make music with it that I am happy to put my name to, including an album with HJR. I saw no reason why I couldn’t assemble a portable version of the synth, slimmed down, and take it to Berlin. I approached friends in Portugal, and more shows, with more collaborations, were booked. The plan was announced in June. I was still touring my singer songwriter show in the USA, but would have six weeks to prepare for the electronic show.
We are now at the end of the 6th week and I don’t have a show. There have been technical issues, plenty of them, but the underlying issue is mental. The music that I record with the Modular synthesizer is made one piece at a time. Sometimes the same piece will be active for several days. I can ponder options and move at a pace where my brain can keep track of what is happening with the various modules and patching matrices. Timbres, and everything else, can be fine tuned.
In the end, I was unable to translate this process into a traveling live show, with multiple consecutive modular synth pieces, as I had initially planned. I didn’t know this in January, or June. But now I know it I believe I was recklessly naive to accept the Berlin offer.
There you have it.
I wrote to Hans Joachim and the other musicians and they were all very understanding. HJR suggested that, instead of canceling, I bring my guitar, which I will do. I will also bring a very small system with which I can perform a single piece. The other gig in Berlin have agreed that I can do something similar.
However, this would not be enough to base a whole concert around, so sadly I must announce the cancellation of my Braga and Lisbon gigs on the 17th and 22nd of September. I accept full responsibility. I apologise to all concerned for the inconvenience.
Lloyd Cole
Sept 1st 2015