Friday 28 February 2025, 7.30pm
Doors are at 7:30pm and music starts at 8pm.
Robyn's Rocket arrives back at Cafe OTO with Digital Roses - a female duo of electronics with visuals, Cath Roberts on baritone sax, Mikey Chestnutt on spaceship noises, Robyn Rocket on space trumpet plus poet and Ukulele player Sam Castell-Ward.
Robyn's Rocket Social Story (docx)
STREAM THE SHOW HERE:
Robyn Rocket : "Hi I'm Robyn Rocket I play space trumpet which is trumpet through guitar pedals. I am supported by arts Organisation Heart N Soul who believe in the power and talents of people with Learning Disabilities and Autistic people. I love making visual art too and make comics/zines and also enjoy making radio. I have a radio show on resonance fm called Robyn Rocket's Zoom Zoom and podcast series Robyn Rocket Zoom Zoom . I like playing with other people and making it up as we go along , because I think its a really honest way to make music your just responding to each other in the moment , rather then trying to play something perfectly , I am disabled and my disabilities inform my practice, both in the way I play , I have a very short , short term memory so cant really learn tunes by ear , but I can use a loop pedal to be like a extension of my memory But also I can use my creative practice to include more people firstly informed by my own experiences of feeling unwelcome in a space and then trying to change things to address the barriers I faced and then by actively trying to welcome people in who may not normally feel welcome in a space, and ask for their feedback on how to be more welcoming and try to do the feedback. I now provide access consultancy for promoters, venues and festivals. You can hear my music at https://robynrocket.bandcamp.com/"
London-based experimental pop & electronic music duo: Ambient Noise with Wistful Soul Melodies.
Cath Roberts (they/them) is an improviser, composer and artist based in Hastings, UK, whose work combines acoustic and electronic improvised music, experimental composition, and DIY publishing practices.
On saxophones Cath has collaborated with a wide range of artists and ensembles internationally for over a decade. Their band Sloth Racket has released five studio albums, touring widely and ‘lurching between riff and abstraction’ (The Wire) since forming in 2015. Other recent exploits include playing with Chris Corsano as part of his 2022 Cafe Oto residency, and being one of two UK artists (with Mandhira De Saram) commissioned by Australian Art Orchestra to co-create and perform Fresh Water – Salt Water in Melbourne and Huddersfield (a hcmf// and AAO co-commission, also in 2022).
Cath works with live electronics (SOMA Lyra-8 synthesiser, samplers, and small tabletop machines) in ongoing collaborations with Kate Carr (as Quartz Sand), Graham Dunning (as Grid & Robots) and Tullis Rennie (as Composite Mashworks). Be unafraid to open things up, a solo improvisation on tabletop electronics, was released on Fractal Meat Cuts in 2022. Cath’s sampler-based solo collage set appeared at hcmf// 2024, Sonics Hastings 2025 and Sacrum Profanum (Kraków) 2025.
In 2021 Cath was commissioned by hcmf// to create And then the next thing you know, a cross-artform installation/performance piece involving a giant, hanging, fragmented graphic score, elements of which are being integrated into a new audio-visual collaboration with Tullis Rennie. In 2024 Cath established the DIY small press Ink-Paper-Sound, and they co-run the Luminous label and the BRÅK concert series.
Michael "Mikey" Chestnutt is a composer and synth player with British post-punk Indie group, Snapped Ankles.
Celebrated for his distinct blend of folk punk, Sam Castell-Ward is back with his latest EP, In The Background. Infusing his sound with rock and metal influences, Sam draws comparisons to legends like Billy Bragg and Bob Dylan, using his music to spotlight social and political issues with a striking, unfiltered honesty.
In The Background explores themes of inequality, resilience, and the experiences of those often marginalised by society. Inspired by the likes of Lou Reed and Pantera, this EP promises a resonant experience for fans of powerful, heartfelt music.
