Hey, all. Played two memorable shows at Union Chapel this week with Tracey. Here’s me looking for the lost chord at the soundcheck. Huge shout to Rex and Blake and everyone involved in making them happen. It’s been quite the journey. Elsewhere, I’ve been listening to Jorge Ben Jor, Krononaut, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gillian Welch. Spending mornings at Brent Reservoir, arriving at dawn. And I’ve also updated SpinCycle today. My never-ending playlist started in 2014. Dive in. Link in bio. Pic: @edwardmbishop
Out on my local Brent Reservoir today, saving Canada goslings accidentally born inside one of the nesting tern rafts 💚😍
Thanks to Phil, Tim and Ruby at @phoenixoutdoorcentre for sorting out the boat!
Thrilled for Blake that after a run of self-released singles and a lot of hard work, he’s got a deal with @bella_union
Album out in July. First single from it under his alias @family.stereo is out now.
Great production by bandmate @sam.h.williams and cracking mix by Paul Gregory - @gregopau - of Lanterns on the Lake too.
Hope you dig it. Dive in 🤘
The ongoing appeal of these gigs Tracey and I have been doing at the MOTH Club in Hackney is a wonderful thing. I met people in the queue from Japan, Los Angeles, Dublin and Newcastle the past three nights. And last night we celebrated a year of shows.
21 sell-outs so far (including 2 at Union Chapel next month), so we’ve added SIX more at MOTH - three in June, three in September. Tickets on sale tomorrow 6pm BST (April 2) via DICE. Jump over to @ebtgofficial for more info.
We owe so much to Rex and Blake in our band, to James on sound, to Ross and Adam on backline, to Tom, Lucy, Sarah and the Eat Your Own Ears team for putting the shows on, to Kelly and all MOTH for having us. And to the passionate crowds who bring the whole thing alive night after night. Thank you ❤️🔥
@eatyourownears@mothclub@family.stereo
Hey, all. Been seeing off the overcast days and a tenacious winter chest bug with a new cedar-topped Esteve nylon-strung guitar, made in Valencia, that is lovely to play when it’s cold and raining. Listening to early 70s Edu Lobo, Milton Nascimento, Anne Briggs, John Cale, plus some Sam Wilkes, claire rousay, Sam Amidon. Spent an inspirational morning at the V&A East warehouse. Been watching the 1979 BBC Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which I’ve never seen. Into my heavy wide leg jeans from Edwin. Flocks of redwing at the reservoir. Snowdrops in the lawn. It all gets you through. And more MOTH clubs shows with Tracey coming up at the end of March. Anyway, I updated my never-ending playlist, SpinCycle, today. Links in bio. Enjoy.
Working on echo delays and triggered samples in readiness for the December MOTH club shows. I love improvising in real time with the band, with nothing coming off tape that we’re tied to, but using tap pedals and MIDI note messages to bring in extra colour and sounds. The little fluctuations in timing help keep it real. Got some new things in the set too.
I’ve also updated SpinCycle - my never-ending playlist - with stuff I’m into this week. Includes Tems, Raleigh Ritchie, Sam Wilkes, Lucinda Williams. Jump to link in bio or try linktr.ee/benwatt
Sub-zero sunrise this morning at my local Brent Reservoir.
Amazing to see the progress on the huge £500k wetland restoration of the north-west side of the north marsh.
So proud that Cool Oak, the pressure group I started in 2021, has inspired such positive change. Kudos to Canal and River Trust SE for raising the third-party funding and turning our proposals into reality, and thanks to the environmental contractors, Ebsford, who are making it all happen.
The end result will see silted-up canals overhauled, colonised vegetation and invasives removed, reed bed revival, grebe and tern rafts, sand martin and kingfisher banks, a shingle scrape and a boardwalk to a new birdwatching screen.
Hopefully Barnet Council, Barnet Labour and Barratt will now finally see sense and cancel the 185m private-public footbridge to the playing fields that still threatens to destroy the opposite side of the marsh. With the heralded £18m revamp of the ‘destination’ playing fields now watered down to a couple of artificial football pitches, residents’ service charges likely to pay for the little-used bridge’s upkeep, and a protected SSSI habitat wrecked, who benefits here?
@crtlondonandsoutheast@canalrivertrust@ebsford_environmental@cooloakgroup@barnetcouncil@barnet_labour@barrattlondon_@barratthomes_
A pic of me by Juergen Teller from 1996. It’s been over forty years that I’ve been hanging out and making music with Tracey, and today we release the 16-track compilation, The Best Of Everything But The Girl - a snapshot of it all. Thanks to everyone who has supported us along the way. Raise a glass to good fortune. All yours 🥳 (Jump to @ebtgofficial for more)
In the studio this evening working on new songs for our December shows at the MOTH club. Tracey is out at Mac DeMarco with Blake. I’ve got Sinner Auger-Aliassime on in the background. And I’ve just updated SpinCycle - my never-ending playlist - with some cuts I was playing on the train to Paris this week. Hot tunes from Makaya McCraven, Laurie Torres, François Kervorkian, F3miii and more. On Spotify and Apple via linktr.ee/benwatt or link in bio. Have fun 🎧✌️
Been wanting to see Fred Hersch play for a long time. Finally got to Paris this week with Tracey and we perched upstairs at Le Bal Blomet for an inspiring solo set from him last night. Beautiful takes on Theme from Black Orpheus, Moonlight in Vermont, selections from his new ECM album.
It was two lovely nights away after another hectic week at the MOTH club. In the afternoon we strolled around Montmartre, saw the 2-star hotel where we first stayed in the early 80s and T got to photograph the home of one of her fave composers, Erik Satie 🤩
@fredherschmusic
