Facelift will shortly start publishing extracts from a number of interviews concentrating on a ‘new wave’ of ‘Canterbury’ artists: musicians largely living outside of the United Kingdom who have been tagged with (or have tagged themselves) as belonging to the Canterbury music scene, some intentionally, some not. I saw this phenomenon tagged (I can’t remember where, so please let me know if it was you!) as Canterbury 2.0, which I quite like, although I reckon we might be up to the 5th or 6th iteration by now!
It is hoped over the next few months to publish interviews with the likes of Alberto Villaroya (Amoeba Split), Eva Muntada (Magick Brother Mystic Sister), Ryan Stevenson (Zopp), Bjorn Klakegg (Needlepoint), Dave Newhouse of the Muffins (whose story of course starts much earlier), Carla Diratz (Diratz, Archers of Sorrow), Fabio Golfetti (Violeta de Outono and of course Gong), James Strain (Rascal Reporters) and Dario D’Alessandro (Homunculus Res).
Core questions will be about their current projects; their influences; what they regard as the Canterbury scene (and how they see themselves fitting into it, if at all); and experiences of being a Canterbury fan outside of the UK; plus of course a bit about their own musical history.
This list is far from exhaustive and may yet change/expand.
The impetus for this is partly for a research project I am doing at Canterbury Christ Church University on a range of topics relating to the Canterbury scene, but separate to this it seemed like a very good excuse to find out more about a number of musicians who works I admire, who very much fit within the scope of the Facelift blog. Who knows, maybe information from within these interviews might find a home within a publication of some sort in the future.
The order in which these interviews have arrived is purely coincidental – so for example within the first 4 interviews I’ve already carried out: Fabio Golfetti of Gong is someone I’ve been in contact with for, we think, 30 years and have talked regularly over the last 8 about doing something of this nature, but I’ve only just finally managed to pin him down! In contrast my interview with James Strain, about his work on the Lunophone project with Dario D’Alessandro, occurred completely unexpectedly when he contacted me last week having just realised he’d been in the town I live in the previous weekend on a visit from his native Ireland, and a chat in Messenger developed into a hour-long conversation.
The first article in the series will be an interview with extraordinary young French multi-instrumentalist Tom Penaguin, but prior to that, the first thing I will do here is point you in the direction of some of the musicians mentioned above – all have agreed in principle to pass on a few thoughts, so it seems a good starting point to introduce you to their music.
In alphabetical order:
Dario d’Alessandro – https://homunculusres.bandcamp.com/album/ecco-limpero-dei-doppi-sensi
Carla Diratz – https://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/blue-stitches-169cd-2024
Fabio Golfetti – https://fabiogolfetti.bandcamp.com/
Bjorn Klakegg – https://needlepoint.bandcamp.com/album/walking-up-that-valley
Eva Muntada – https://magicbrothermysticsister.bandcamp.com/album/tarot-part-i
Dave Newhouse – https://davenewhouse.bandcamp.com/
Tom Penaguin – https://amarxe.bandcamp.com/album/tom-penaguin
Ryan Stevenson – https://zopp.bandcamp.com/
James Strain – https://rascalreporters.bandcamp.com/
Alberto Villaroya – https://amoebasplit.bandcamp.com/
The Canterbury scene(zine) continued.... 
Excellent! Looking forward to reading these!
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