More live dates for 2009

Awakenings, Burton on Trent 18th April performing a minimal ambient/experimental set, also on the bill The Omega Syndicate and 4m33s



Elektron 09 Redditch 25th April performing an ambient set with Peter Tedstone and a Berlin School set with Peter and John Sherwood aka 4m33s

Ghosts in the Machine III Swindon 13th June performing an ambient/experimental set. Lots of other acts on the bill including Ion, 4m33s, The Glimmer Room and Edge Effect

Sonic World Festival 2009 Ripley 4th and 5th of September performing an ambient set on the Saturday afternoon. Lots of other acts on the bill including Harvey Bainbridge, Whimwise, Loscoe State Opera, Sendelica, Hashtronaut and Steve Palmer's Non-Existent Group

I'm also hoping to do a Nottingham gig in June sometime with Peter Challoner/SpiralEye, hopefully some more Stillstream streaming concerts and maybe even something abroad in October.

New Releases: Live 2008 Parts One and Two

Historic Edition Vol 5 - Live 2008 Part One

Volume 5 features two live tracks from 2008, the recordings of my electro-music.com NYE performance from January 1st 2008 and my more experimental set at Mantile on 16th August

Personnel: Jez Creek, Synthesizers and sequencers
Style: Improvised Berlin School Sequencing/ Experimental Ambient/Drone

Running Time: 77:34 (2 tracks)

Available as CDR in wallet with printed inlay and label:

Historic Edition Vol 6 - Live 2008 Part Two

Volume 6 features three live tracks from 2008, the recordings of my sets from Elektron and Awakenings in June and my set opening Dundee-Live from October

Personnel: Jez Creek, Synthesizers and sequencers
Style: Improvised Berlin School Sequencing/ Experimental Ambient/Drone

Running Time: 79:39 (3 tracks)

Available as CDR in wallet with printed inlay and label:

Rammel Club #2

The Rammel Club gig went really well and I really enjoyed the whole thing. the place was full as loads of people had come to see Emeralds.

I was on second, after Gareth Hardwick who did some droney/ambient guitar looping stuff, joined on stage by Dan Layton aka Apalusa, who I'd seen before an rather enjoyed. Their set was plagued by technical difficulties at the start and took quite a while to get going, but ended up much as I'd hope from hearing them soundcheck, as a wall of chiming, droning guitars

I went on shortly after they finished, after a speedy equipment change and played 30 minutes of improvised space music 'to help propel you into the outer reaches of the cosmos', or something like that

My set was improvised live using a Nord G2, Electrix Repeater and SP-404 through a couple of Boss pedals, a DD-20 Giga delay and an RC-20 Space Echo. It was my first gig using the Repeater to build up loops and layers and it worked really well, I cam up with some stuff that surprised even me and at one point I got a loop going that just made me grin

I tried to keep things changing, playing live stuff over loops from the Repeater and layering in some stuff from the SP-404, at one point I even went a bit Vangelis, just for the fun of it

Recording of my set is on rapidshare here

After me came Birds of Delay who started out with a single bass note drone that didn't change much for four or so minutes, when it was joined by something that sounded like metal blades being sharpened and then this all dropped out to be replaced by several different versions of the word 'snap' repeated and layered in ever so slightly out of sync loops for about 20 minutes. I stayed for a few minutes but decided this was a good opportunity to retire to the bar

Emeralds were on last and they were what everyone had been waiting for, myself included. They are three young chaps from Ohio, two with synths (Korg MS10 and Moog Microomoog) and one with a guitar, all three with lots of pedals. They played a set with huge walls of synth/guitar drone interspersed with sections of spacey melodic guitar and even a section of sequences. It was all very loud and noisy but still kind of cosmic and was over far too soon after only 30 minutes.
lots of people I knew turned up, so many thanks to:

Alan Walker
Pete Challoner
Rob Johnson & Jon Poole
Dave Davies
Susi O'Neill
Suzie and Ian from work
Dave Buxton and Geoff Kemm

Astrogator, The Omega Syndicate, Create & Modulator ESP, Live at the Awakenings 8th July 2006

The gig last saturday went really well, I got there last but was set up first, which shows that keeping the same rig from one gig to the next really helps.

I went on first at just after 7pm (halfway through my tea) to perform for roughly half an hour as Modulator ESP, doing a lightly more ambient set than usual and using my laptop to edit Nord Modular sequences on the fly. i also had some sequences set up in the Regelwerk, which was triggering the SH-101 and Mono/Poly. The time went really quickly without any major cock-ips and I was fairly satisfied with my set. Audience feedback was pretty good.

Next up was fellow Astrogator Steve Humphries aka Create, who performed a couple of nice spacey pieces for his solo set, he had a few technical difficulties in the first one, but carried on regardless. there were also a few humourous samples, just for fun. I really enjoyed Steve's second pice which had some nice minimal backing sequennces.

Next up were The Omega Syndicate, with new members Glenn Alexander on keys and Rob Clynes on guitar. What followed was a powerful set of sequence heavy EM/prog/space rock. The new boys added extra dimensions to the TOS sound and allowed Dave and Xan to concentrate on some nice lead work and sequencing respectively.

Finally to round off the evening Steve and I performed a live improvised version of Dreamlight, which sort of had the main themes and ideas from the rehearsal versions, but with a slightly different structure and extra bits. I really enjoyed this set and according to Steve the recording sounds pretty good so who knows, maybe it will be made available as Dreamlight Live.

The only downside was that the audience was quite small, though we had a nice surprise in that a US EM fan who happened to be in the UK came over from Manchester to see us. Thanks Tom. Read his review on the Awakenings website.

We released the new limited CDR 'Dreamlight' and sold quite a few copies on the night.

All in all a fine evening of EM

Photos soon...

Time Zero Review

Nice review of Time Zero by Artemi Pugachov

"Tronic Pulse" starts with warbling & rasping synthesizers coupled with mysterious Mellotron flute. After a while a sequence builds and we are immediately in mid-70's Tangerine Dream territory. Not bad!

"Beyond the Sun" has excellent deep intro. Jez made an excellent job of synthesizing really out-there sounds on this one. This is cosmic EM of the highest order. I just have to wonder why they don't use this stuff in movies about cosmos these days, going for some boring orchestral drek instead. Excellent sequence starts and what a great sequence it is! Coupled with a super-punchy bass sound it really has a bite to it! The Mellotron flute appears in this track as well, combining to great effect with synthetic textures. This is Berlin School with a fresh attitude - top notch stuff!

"Quadratic", once again has quite an aggressive intro, with harsh, raspy sounds and echoing clangs. After a while a slow sawy bass sequence appears. Another sequence joins the flow, making this a real wall-of-sound experience. This is stark, dark and decidedly un-commercial Electronic Music. The sequences are excellent while the overall nature of the track remains absolutely otherworldly. I think if you're into geometry - you will enjoy this. Jez has really managed to express the beauty of simple geometrical forms with this one - sort of a dry, naked beauty wrapped in intricate forms. And where one would be without that Mellotron flute? There's a bit of that too, but it only appears for the last several seconds of the track.

Next is "Eos Flight" that initially sets the stage with deep and mysterious effects & pads. A rhythmic pulse starts but never dominates. Looks like it's the most laid-back track so far. Various lead sounds and additional sequences play on top but overall the track retains that relaxed, jamming feel.

The title track starts with echoes of unknown origin but after a while we hear some whooshing sounds and very deep bass throbs. Various other sounds can be heard and this is easily one of those effective intro's you don't want to end. However, as we are closing the 10 minute mark, a slow bass / rhythm combination starts and takes us to the next section that is dominated by ever-so-slightly shifting and morphing rhythms, all of them of the laid-back variety. This is an unusual track indeed and it's unlike anything I've heard from Jez so far. A great lead line is heard around the 16 minute mark. Another sequence appears as the lead line continues its play. Some heavier rhythms can be heard after 20 minutes into the track that has turned into quite a journey by now. Superb analogue-sounding solos add a pleasant warmness and really make me go "wow!" This is quite simply some of the best neo-prog EM I've heard in a while. Fans of Berlin School will be delighted, especially those who favour complex, long-form compositions with great rhythms, lots of sequences, atmospheres and a sparkling solo or two to boost. One thing to add is that Jez' sound is now much more refined (compared to previous efforts) and supplied with a good dose of reverb, adding the pleasant "spaciness" to his compositions. He seems to have put much more effort in his songs which are now better thought-out and composed with a level of precision and feeling that many would be jealous of. The last part of the title track lets the sequences to shine in all their glory and adds a new bell-like sequence that sounds very organic. A mournful pad sound is all one needs to complete the mental picture of traveling through space & time. The journey's over and we want more.

But wait, Jez serves us a little dessert in the form of "Chromium". It consists of typical "Modulator ESP" atmospheres - all in a mysterious and a bit claustrophobic setting. Interesting little track.

"Time Zero" is the best Modulator ESP album so far and a real must for fans of Berlin School / sequencer music. Excellent!

from the Encyclopedia of Electronic Music

Latest Updates

Shrewsbury gig with Mooch:

This went very well and was most enjoyable, there was a good reaction from the audience and I even sold some CDs. Stayed over at a very nice B&B and spent the following day mooching round Shrewsbury with Steve Palmer (Mooch).

Time Zero:

Was released at the Shrewsbury gig and initial sales went very well with virtually no advertising and I got some good reviews from people who bought copies. At the time of writing there are now only 7 copies left. There are full details here and reviews here

Awakenings 2006 vol 2:

This compilation will feature a new exclusive Modulator ESP track entitled 'Time Running Out'.

Awakenings 2006 vol 2.5:

This ambient compilation will feature a new exclusive Astrogator track entitled 'Astral Drift' which is an edit of material from the second Chesterfield Jam.

Astrogator:

Went over to Steve's house on 2nd - 4th June, primarily to go on his stag do but also to plan/rehearse our set for our next gig, which is on July 8th at the Brudenell in Leeds. We will be doing a set as Astrogator and individual solo sets. Also appearing are the mighty Omega Syndicate. Should be a good one.



Listening back to recordings of the sessions we decided we probably had enough material for a limited edition release, provisionally entitled 'Dreamlight' which we hope to get sorted in time for the July gig.

I am also working on my solo set for Awakenings on July 8th and hope to do something a bit different from my last appearance.

Artist Server:

I've also just upgraded my Artist Server account so I can upload loads more music, I've just put up some old stuff and a couple of new pieces, which were improvised using the step sequencers in the Nord modular:

Modular Xperiment 01 - An experiment using multiple layers of shifting sequences, ebbing, flowing and morphing. One slot was used for sequences and another was used for background noise effects. This one turned out to be quite 'Berlin School' like.

Modular Xperiment 02 - Another experiment, this time with more random sequences. Sort of minimal chaotic ambient.

New album - Time Zero/ Gig update

The next Modulator ESP album is due for release at the Shrewsbury gig on 2nd May 2006. The album is called 'Time Zero' and will contain a selection of unreleased studio and live recordings. The provisional track listing at the moment is:
1. Tronic Pulse (Retro Improv)
2. Eos Flight
3. Quadratic
4. Chromium
5. Undecided as yet (possibly something new, if not, one of the catalog of studio and live improvs currently residing on the hard drive)
6. Time Zero
It will be a limited edition CDR release, probably of about 25 copies. Each copy will be individually numbered and signed. Let me know if you'd like a copy reserving

Provisional cover artwork:



Flyer for gig:



Running times:

Doors around 7:30
Modulator ESP 9:00-9:45
Mooch 10:00-11:00
DJs Jez and Steve playing spacey music 'til about 12:00-12:30

Modulator ESP: Live Shrewsbury 02.05.06

I am currently due to play at a club/bar in Shrewsbury called C:21 on Tuesday 2nd May.
This will be supporting Steve Palmer aka Mooch as he launches the new Mooch album Gaiaspace.

Further details as and when they become available.

New tracks and Myspace

I've recently uploaded a couple of newish, rather Berlin Schoolish tracks:
Quadratic - This was to try out some ideas for the Quadra Jam recorded on 18.02.06. A bit rough, but some nice sequencing using the P3 and the Cheetah MS6, other sounds were from the Microwave XT, Prophet 600 and Prophet VS. A report of the jam is still being drafted.
Retro Improv - This is a simple improvisation, and is my first recording to feature Mellotron flute, courtesy of my new Roland M-VS1 sound module. Sequences were from the SH-101, other sounds were from the Prophet 600 and Prophet VS.
Also if anyone else on here is on Myspace I have recently set up an account. Both of these tracks are currently available to stream from there...