Their collective ethos, aesthetic and approach are inspired and
informed by the practices which complement their performing lives:
visual art, composition for film and TV, dance for camera, music
informatics and free improvisation. Collectress are a band of
process and resourcefulness, and like you to hear as they make.
Their broad and dense experimental structures utilise voice, toy
instruments and found sound samples alongside layers of more
traditional, often romantic, strings, keys and woodwind - violin,
viola, cello, flute, piano and guitar. They rail against the
airbrushing of an autotuned music industry and record most of their
music live, in situ and as a group.
Described as "possessed Brontë sisters teasing an unsuspecting
dinner party" (Foxy Digitalis), Collectress are a quartet of
musical collaborators from London and Brighton. Their music treads
a joyful line between the intricate and organic, with a nod to
everyone from Philip Glass to Bach to John Adams, improvisers like
The Necks to lo-fi chamber groups such as Rachels.
With a collective biography of collaborations which includes
some of the UK's most innovative musicians and performers,
including Bat for Lashes, Penguin Café, Philip Selway (Radiohead),
Icarus, Ron Caines (East of Eden), Mary Hampton, Patrick Wolf, The
Paper Cinema & Secret Cinema, Collectress craft music both
daring and unique, but also compellingly familiar and filmic.
Recent and forthcoming invitations include: performances at The
National Portrait Gallery, Union Chapel, King's Place and The
Southbank Centre's WOW Festival; live film scores at the
Roundhouse, Greenman Festival & National Portrait Gallery and
an installation and performance in response to the Bergman
Österberg Archive, Stephen Lawrence Gallery. They were PRS Women
Make Music award winners in 2013.
http://collectress.co.uk/
