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TAPSEW


a collaboration with Eliza Lomas (tap), Matt Davies (sound), Matt Olden (visuals).

A high drama duet of sewing machine and tap dance. Scissors on thread; needle through cotton; metal via body on floor. The sounds of the machine and tones of the floor played out in tap, creating pace, tempo and rhythm in repetition and unification.

"Tapsew brought together the escapism of showbiz with the repetitive labour of industry as Eliza Lomas tapped the ballroom floor to the hum and pace of a sewing machine manually operated by Sam Francis.” Vicky Smith

“The close-miked Singer in the band chugs as expected, but sounds are also sourced from apertures being opened and threads being plucked, whilst the tap shoes are used, not so much for dancing but pawing and scraping the floor in a lackadaisical toro. Together they make fascinating chitinous rhythms unlikely to be found in any other festival field this summer.” Review, Supernormal Festival, 2019

Release 

tapsew: restitched
Limited edition cassette release on TBC Editions, October 2020.

Pro-mastered cassette, packaged in hand-stitched textile bag, with screen printed sleeve and inlays. Comes with handmade tap dance instructions.

Recordings of improvised sessions as raw material for new compositions by Brunswick-affiliated artists Kathy Hinde, Mathew Olden, a/b, Copper Sounds, Jordan Martin, G Apps and Eliza Lomas.

Tapsew remixes featured on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction in 2021. 


Performances


*Mouth Feel: supporting Container + Will Guthrie at Cube Cinema, with guest drummer Dan Johnson, Jan 2023
*Supporting Hen Ogled at Strange Brew, Dec 2021
*16mm performance at BEEF Department of Moving Images at Centre of Gravity, Gardiner Haskins, Bristol, Oct 2020
*Brunswick Editions Launch, Dawkins Brewery, Bristol, Nov 2019
*The Sound Cupboard, Crofters, Bristol, Sep 2019
*Supernormal Festival, Oxfordshire, Aug 2019
*Qwak Club, Cube Cinema, Bristol, Jun 2019
*Fort Process Festival, Newhaven, Sep 2018
*Brunswick Light Ray Process, Brunswick Club, Bristol, Nov 2017

Tapsew Text