SIR RICHARD BISHOP

Richard Bishop is an experimental guitarist whose improvisations and compositions often reflect the shadow worlds of India, the Middle East, North Africa, and other points along the Gypsy trail.

Richard is perhaps best known as a founding member (along with brother Alan Bishop) of experimental ethnic-improv pioneers and underground tricksters Sun City Girls, who for nearly 30 years have produced an extensive discography of over 50 full length albums, 20 one-hour cassettes and a dozen 7” records. Sun City Girls formed in 1981 after the Bishop brothers' stint in the group Paris 1942 which also featured J. Akkari and former Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker.





Richard's first solo record, Salvador Kali, was released by John Fahey's esteemed Revenant label in 1998 under the moniker Sir Richard Bishop (the name stuck). The album showcases Bishop's own particular obsessions and roots, drawing from a variety of worldwide sources. Records since then have ranged from solo acoustic and electric guitar to ear-splitting, creepy electronics containing no guitar whatsoever.

In 2007 the album Polytheistic Fragments was released on the Drag City Label. It includes works for acoustic, electric and lapsteel guitar, plus two piano compositions. Next up was The Freak of Araby (Drag City, 2009). This was the first Sir Richard Bishop album to feature a full band of supporting musicians. The record stands as a heart-felt tribute to late Egyptian guitarist Omar Khorshid as well as to the enduring spirit of Middle Eastern music. Bishop has also released about a dozen home made CDs over the years which were usually made available only during his many tours around the world.



In May of 2010, Drag City released the album False Flag by Rangda, a new group featuring Bishop, Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance, Comets on Fire), and Chris Corsano (Flower-Corsano Duo, Flaherty/Corsano, Jandek, Bjork, etc). In September of 2012, a second Rangda album came into existence, this one entitled Formerly Extinct.

Richard was also a co-founder of the Sublime Frequencies label (with Alan Bishop and Hisham Mayet). The label, whose mission is dedicated to acquiring and releasing obscure sights and sounds from Africa, India, S.E. Asia and beyond, began in 2003 and currently has over 65 releases to its credit.


MIKE COOPER

Mike Cooper plays lap steel guitar / electronics and sings. For the past 45 years he has been an international musical explorer pushing the boundaries of his music. Initially a folk-blues guitarist he is as responsible as anyone else -- and more so than many -- for ushering in the blues boom in the U.K. in the late '60s.

With his roots lying in acoustic country blues he has, arguably, stretched the possibilities of the guitar even more than his better known contemporaries Davy Graham Bert Jansch John Renbourne etc. by pursuing it into the more avant-garde musical areas, also occupied by contemporary guitar innovators such as Elliott Sharp, Keith Rowe, Fred Frith and Marc Ribot, with an eclectic mix of the many styles he has practiced over the years. Ranging freely through his own idiosyncratic original songs,traditional country blues, folk, free improvisation, pop songs, exotica, electronic music, electro-acoustic music, and sonic gestural playing utilising open tunings and extended guitar techniques.



TIM O'DWYER

Tim O’Dwyer (PhD) is a saxophonist, composer and researcher, as well as current Head of the School of Contemporary Music at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. With a background in jazz, punk-rock, free improvisation and contemporary classical music, Timothy’s music constantly pushes the boundaries of style, technique and especially context stretching across borders of culture, performance practice and art forms. His current projects involve an international collective called “The Fold”, his solo“meta-saxophone project” and his avante-jazz trio the Tim O’Dwyer Trio He is increasingly concerned with the nexus between practice and research developing an ongoing relationship with the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and his music that is both challenging and rewarding.

He has toured widely internationally, released numerous CDs of original compositions to critical acclaim, appeared on many other cds and is a member of the Australian contemporary music group ELISION Ensemble.



www.timodwyer.com