Homelife @ C2 On Tues 10th Dec
Published 5th Dec 2002 by Alison@c2

Tuesday 10th Dec Homelife. Signed to Ninja Tune, this adventurous 11piece band with a uniquely accessible fusion of jazz, world, pop, classical, dub, reggae and exotic influenced music stop off in Brighton as part of their European winter tour + The Limp Twins DJ set (Tru Thoughts). 9pm. ?7.

Homelife was formed in 1997 by Paddy Steer, Tony Burnside and Simon King. In the space of four hectic years, they have secured a reputation for adventurousness beyond the scope of most, with a uniquely accessible fusion of jazz, world, pop, classical, soundtrack, dub, reggae and exotic and esoteric influences culled from at least four decades of musical like-mindedness.

As a central core, the three main protagonists call on the skills of a multicultural pool of at least another 20 musicians living in Manchester, London and Canada and ageing from 20 to 50 years old, to help realise an increasingly eclectic but always accessible musical vision. It's a sound which utilises the new digital sampling technology and combines it with more traditional organic musical elements, building through often painstaking improvisation, a scored, structured and sometimes symphonic end product which is virtually unique.

Homelife have inspired those within the local music community with a project which constantly achieves against all the logistical and financial odds.

They have released two LPs and three CDs under their own steam, and performed in various extended configurations to increasing critical acclaim.

Paddy Steer, a multi-instrumentalist known to many for his superbly empathetic and agile bass playing, was a member of pioneering pop jazz outfit, Yargo. Their three LP releases displayed an ambition clearly at odds with the increasingly commercial musical climate of the late eighties. Before they disbanded, Paddy had befriended guitarist Tony Burnside and electronic jazz adventurer, Graham Massey of 808 State. On meeting eclectic eccentric Simon King while working on film soundtracks at the London College Of Printing, Paddy decided to put his personal plans for a pluralist music beyond easy category to work. Homelife's debut LP was a real surprise which made space for other key members of the collective like Seaming To (stratospheric operatic vocals) Rosie Lowdell (violin) and Seamay Wu (cello)- all of whom had recently qualified at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and who were looking to utilise their hard won skills in new and uncharted ways. James Ford supplied angular percussion and Massey blew anything and everything that would yield a note, constructing new instruments from bits of old ones. Vocals were supplied via the international postal system by Paddy's friend Faron Brooks, who had moved from Manchester to live in Canada. Instruments, studio time and rehearsal space were begged and borrowed. Homelife became a labour of love put together by musicians who had long since waved goodbye to the easy option.

It is obvious from the increasingly speculative sounds emerging from Manchester, with other fusing classical training, electronics and a twisted pop sensibility ingrained in the local culture, that Homelife have proved an inspiration to musicians of all ages and cultural backgrounds who wish to side-step the norm.

Despite the obvious financial difficulties and the problems of maintaining a stable creative core who, as the reputation of the project increases, are being offered more lucrative but less creatively demanding options outside Manchester, together with the lack of studio space (most of the music is forged in Steer's loft, with musical necessarily being overdubbed, instrument by instrument because the space simply can't accommodate more than three or four people at a time) reliable equipment and the need to transport as many as twenty musicians to performances around the country, Homelife is sustained by a passionate musical vision shared by all, together with the belief that their music communicates.

It is only a matter of time before Homelife are acknowledged as a unique project and one of the most important adventures in modern British music.

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