This Wednesday (7th April), for the first time in over ten years, we’ll be playing at CB2, Cambridge, as part of Improvizone.

Do join us if you can.

Os, April 2010

Tags: Improvizone

The Vimeo pages are here and here. Another two outings for the Juno, now triggered from a Moog MP-201 pedal, and Mike continues to bring new pedals along, most recently an Eventide TimeFactor.




Os, April 2010

Tags: video, Improvizone

Mike and I are playing at the three forthcoming Improvizone gigs. These are

* Wed 03 March 2010 - last.fm event
* Wed 31 March 2010 - last.fm event
* Wed 21 April 2010 - last.fm event

and all are taking place at The Plough, E17.

Watch www.improvizone.com/gigs.php for updates, for example details of the other musicians playing.

Os, January 2010

Tags: Improvizone

The Vimeo page is here. Vintage synths fans might particularly enjoy the sound of my Juno 6, which made its live debut at this gig.



Os, July 2009

Tags: video, Improvizone

Here's our entire set at the recent Antwerp Loopfest:

Darkroom at The Antwerp Loopfest 2009 from Andrew Ostler on Vimeo.

Watch in HD and comment on the Vimeo page.

The gig was not without its problems - e.g. our monitoring going a bit, well, broken between the sound check and the gig - but we came away happy with the result.

Os, June 2009

Tags: video, loopfest

The Vimeo page is here. Things start slowly but pick up in part 4.



Os, May 2009

Tags: video, Improvizone

The Vimeo page is here. Parts 2 and 4 are especially good IMHO.



Os, April 2009

Tags: video, Improvizone

As threatened, I took a huge amount of video at the last Improvizone gig - in fact, I recorded the whole thing. Which made seven movies which you can see in the rather fancy widget below - or go to the actual Vimeo page where you can see them larger, leave comments etc.



Os, April 2009

Tags: Improvizone, video

Mike and I will be playing as part of Improvizone semi-regularly starting this Wednesday (March 25th) until July:
* Wed 25 March 2009
* Wed 08 April 2009
* Wed 29 April 2009
* Wed 20 May 2009
* Wed 10 June 2009 (Mike only)
* Wed 01 July 2009

Os, March 2009

Tags: Improvizone

It's official - we're off to Antwerp this May to play at the Antwerp Loopfest. Or, to give it its full title, the EUROPEAN LIVE LOOPING FESTIVAL ‘09 ANTWERP MAY 30.

The official festival site is here.

Once more we'll be joined by drummer Andrew Booker. Apparently the whole festival is going to be recorded, so watch out for details on that sometime after May 30th, I guess.

See you there!

Os, March 2009

Tags: loopfest, andrew booker

I took a fair amount of video at the last Improvizone gig. The one you see here is the first 40 minutes or so, and the first 10 minutes of that Andy was still setting up the venue, while Mike and I essentially opened the night with a brief Darkroom set, joined by Nick on bass after a short while.


Improvizone #20 - the first 40 minutes from Andrew Ostler on Vimeo.

The remaining videos are linked from the gig page. I've ordered a larger memory stick for the camcorder, so next time there should be even more to enjoy/wade through.

Os, Feb 2009

Tags: Improvizone, video

Os and Mike will be playing as part of Improvizone again:

Improvizone returns to The Plough in Walthamstow on Thursday 05 February 2009 for the first gig of this year. The players will be the familiar quartet of Plough regulars, namely Michael Bearpark (guitar), Os (keyboard/laptop), Nick Cottam (bass) & Andrew Booker (electronic drums).

Read more here.
Facebook event page here.
Last.fm event page here.

Os, Jan 2009

Tags: Improvizone

Os and Mike performing with Andrew Booker (drums) and Simon Laffy (bass) at the recent Improvizone gig.


Improvizone at Switch, October 7th 2008 from Andrew Ostler on Vimeo.

os, Oct 2008

Tags: Improvizone, video, andrew booker, simon laffy

Darkroom will effectively be playing at the Woodford Festival on October 7th, as part of Improvizone. We'll be playing with Andrew Booker, the drummer on Some Of These Numbers Mean Something, and bassist Simon Laffy.
More info on the event page on Facebook or the Improvizone site.

os, Sept 2008

Tags: Improvizone, andrew booker, simon laffy

Some gigs to announce, all under the Improvizone banner.

• 23rd May 2008 at The Design Museum, London. Mike can't make it sadly. Playing will be myself (Os), Andrew Booker and Steve Lawson.
• 28th May 2008 at Ember, London. Ember, against all our expectations, has re-opened after the fire that cancelled our residency earlier this year. It'll be Mike & myself, plus Andrew Booker and Simon Laffy - a repeat of the line-up at our last Ember gig.
• 4th June 2008 at The Plough, Walthamstow. It'll be Mike & myself, plus Andrew Booker and Nick Cottam.

See you all there, no doubt.

os, May 2008

Tags: Improvizone, Ember, The Plough, Design Museum

Wednesday 27th Feb: To Croydon, for the Dragon's Ball at the Green Dragon. Darkroom + Andy Booker, or Improvizone with Mike & Os? (Not sure if there's a difference...) Supporting Croydon-based Burning Shedders, The Resonance Association. Thanks Daniel.

We were billed as 'lo-fi dreamy techno' (!) The theory was we'd play drones with percussion... but to me, the venue didn't seem right for that, and it's definitely not what came out. Haven't heard the recording back yet - but towards the end,  I remember picking up on something Os played and thinking "no echo & maximum fuzz". Darkroom go ambient metal?

The fuzzulator helped make this work: www.demeteramps.com/products/accessories/fuz1.html Small but flexible, it handles vintage, gargly non-linear as well as brutal, bright & focussed with compressed lows. Varying the guitar's volume & tone does something useful as well, and given I typically use a volume pedal after the fuzz, there's a whole range of tones to explore even without echo. Somehow last Wednesday I rediscovered this!

Audio & video to follow...

Mike, March 2008

Update: Andy has written about the gig on the Improvizone blog.

Tags: gig, pedals, fuzzulator

We have a gig on Wednesday 27th Feb 2008, at The Green Dragon, Croydon. We're supporting The Resonance Association. There's a Facebook event for this gig here.

As for the Norwich Loopfest, we'll be joined by Andrew Booker on electronic drums.

Tags: Croydon, TRA

Sadly we have to report that the forthcoming gig at Ember on January 16th has been cancelled, due to the venue being closed after a serious fire on the premises.

Stay tuned for updates - quite possibly the next couple of gigs in January and February will also be cancelled, or moved to a new venue.

os, Jan 2008

Tags: Ember, Improvizone