July 2025 Newsletter
- The Premises Studios
- 41 minutes ago
- 6 min read
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
“On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined; No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet to chase the glowing hours with flying feed.”
– Lord Byron, as quoted on a old Glastonbury promo poster
“Don’t touch my car, man!”
– Marc Bolan, 1971, at Glasto, sometime before his fatal car crash several years later.
Of course, the end of June was all about Glasto, when tons of acts who use the Premises made their way to the farm to entertain the masses. More of which, in a mo, but the festival as ever, as illustrated by these quotations, one poetic, one, automotive, was a combination of a huge wave of mainly aural pleasure, combined with the more pedestrian preoccupations of transport, heat, dust bad loos and beer.
T’was practically a ghost town here, with the likes of Premises’ musos Charlie XCX,
The Last Dinner Party, English Teacher, Pulp (as Patchwork, a name they invented for us,
we like to think) Loyle Carner, Ezra Collective, PP Arnold, Cymande, Self-Esteem,
The Libertines, Celeste, LCGC, Black Country New Road, Wet Leg, Jessie Ware, Sparks, Kate Nash, Jehnny Beth, Tom Odell, Greentea Peng, Franz Ferdinand, Haim, Maribou State, and Olivia Dean all deserting us to go out like the wild young things they are, and let rip musically with that unconfined joy.Meanwhile, back in Hackney Road, it’s business as usual, only with more ice lolly breaks.
PIANO RECORDING WEEK: FILLING UP FAST
This is our 27th year of running this course under the excellent and friendly tuition of Nikki Yeoh, which is great enough in itself, BUT, this year she has recruited two new stellar teachers, including Zoe Rahman and Andrew Chen.
We also have our firm but fair stalwart Tim Richards, who will look after the jazzy blues section of the course.The basics: Five days, 27th-31st of August, the first three focusing on a specific aspect of jazz piano, and the fourth day, rehearsing your choice of a classic tune with a stellar band, Dominic Howles on bass and Miles Pillinger on drums, and YOU on grand piano.
Fifth day you go on to record it in Studio A.
Nikki will guide you every step of the way, and you will come out with an ace recording and a much greater knowledge of your craft and willingness to experiment. It’s better if you read music and have done some of the grades, but we can make exceptions for those who play well by ear.
The new stuff: Each person will have their own keyboard, and for the first three days, you can stay on to practice after the lessons are over. For more information.
MARATHON SITAR SESSION IN STUDIO A
We had a very busy few days in Studio A with Neil, recording 24 tracks with the multi-instrumentalist Baluji Shrivastav OBE who, blind from the age of eight months, has become the go-to guy for anyone wanting an expert sitar, tabla, dilruba (which translates to heart robber!) and surbahar (bass sitar) and pakhavaj.
Trained in the Hindustani classical tradition, he has played with Coldplay, Massive Attack, Madness, Doves and Stevie Wonder, as well as directing his own jazz ensemble, Re-Orient, and being a founder of the Inner Vision Orchestra.
Despite suffering from a rotten cough, he managed to lay down 24 tracks for his next record, the concept being ‘a mini raaga for each hour of the day’, with some being as short as 2-3 minutes. Considering the average raaga can be around 30 minutes, Baluji really showcases his ability to capture the essence of each raaga in such a short amount of time – a true skill.
He’s a busy guy, for when he is not playing his instruments for various rock and pop stars, or playing in his own bands, he is a founder of the Baluji Music Foundation, established in 2008 with partner and producer Linda Shanson.
The aim of the organisation is to advance education in traditional and contemporary Indian music and vitally, to promote diversity and accessibility to music for those facing disability, though they also welcome those who are not.
On a rather chaotic phone call with Baluji, Linda and the foundation’s development officer, George Schofield, I ask Baluji how he learnt how to play so many instruments (none of them are exactly easy) with no sight, from such a young age (six):
“I went to a school for the blind in India, and the teacher, also blind, put my hand on the sitar or tabla, and I learnt by practice and ear. With the tabla, I was supposed to learn with one hand, but I was cheating by using two, and the teacher knew!”
Here he chuckles before, sweetly, breaking out into the tune of Norwegian Wood (so I would have a reference to a song that used sitar). When I asked him which instrument of all those he plays, he feels he has really mastered, he replied:
“None! If you master any, then you have no inspiration to play. But I can play with anyone. I played with a barking dog once, and it calmed the dog right down.”
But when not dog-whispering, he is passionate about the Foundation. George explains:
“Much of it is about helping artists who are disabled to gain access to the professional industry. There are barriers, and we are trying to break them down. There is a lack of engagement with those who are visually impaired, but…”
And here, Linda picks up the thread:
“I think things are starting to open up, and we have been part of that.”
This is great to hear, but I do wonder about the logistics of tuning all those complicated instruments before a gig or recording. Baluji chuckles:
“We try to get anywhere three hours in advance. Yes, lots of tuning!”
As well as ALL that, he has also composed an Urdu opera.
Truly, here is an artist who can’t be categorised.
For more information: balujimusicfoundation.org
BEN ELLIS: DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD WITH WET LEG
Sound man extraordinaire and Premises family guy Ben Ellis tours more or less non-stop, at the moment with Wet Leg but has also worked with so many others. Kinda learned the more enduring, clean-living world of touring (NOT being sarcastic) from Iggy Pop.
How does he keep it all together in the blistering heat?
“There are no days off on tour. There are non-show days but you are still waiting for something to unfurl. At the end of the day you realise you are there because of the art and performance and those become everything. The other thing is the tour family becomes your real family. It’s literally your little dysfunctional crew vs the entire world, so you get good at looking out for each other and making the whole experience as surreal, funny and entertaining for each other as possible. I am super aware of the privilege of being able to do something I love as my job. You have these beautiful communal experiences with a band you love and thousands of people dancing and singing along to a bunch of noise you’re helping them both to enjoy. And that kinda makes the sunburn, sore feet and tired mind trying to keep up and make creative decisions in a slightly dopey state feel just dandy! And at festivals there always ice cream.”
Ben is like a brother to us here and it seems the bond is mutual.
“I have so much love for Viv and the whole place and everyone who works there. Spent some of the best years of my life working there and I’m still really good friends with the whole fam.”
R.I.P. DILL KATZ
Very sad indeed to hear that renowned jazz bassist Dill Katz has died aged 79.
Dill was a co-founder (with Colin Dudman) of The Premises back in 1985. During his long career he was a mainstay of many pioneering groups including Coliseum, Nucleus and District Six. Phil Robson has penned a wonderful tribute to this much-loved musician here.
WHO’S BEEN IN?
June was a packed month here, including this array of artists...
Loyle Carner, The The, Hot Stamp, Carleen Anderson, Fiona Ross, Shola Akingbola, Levi Tecofsky, Triggerfish, FAMM, Chinchilla, CSX Pistols, Vasilly, FAMM, Folded Wing, Elderbrook, Remember Monday, Singing Bowie, Jack Panther, Horrorfix, Perhaps Contraption, Moving Mirrors, Tina Lee, Sprints, Connie Constance, Charlie Cunningham, Virginie Lacour-Puiboube, Guildhall, Mae Muller, Sid James Experience, STD Allstars, Duke Street Big Band, Sunny Afternoon, Holly Walker, Syrup, Bar Italia, Sunrise in Jupiter, Girls of The Internet, Erland Cooper, Pip Millet, Hadley Fraser, Shiva Nova, Lust Ritual, Piss and Vinegar, James Mason, Bar Italia, Jess Gillam, Chlothegod, Hashtag Black, Absolute Amy, Saloni Thakkar, Sofia and the Antoinettes, A Guy Called Gerald, Family Stereo, Octahawk, The Waeve, Erin Le Count, Guildhall, Lazy Habits, Della Xoz, Celeste, Sister, She Her, Everyone Says Hi, Green Tea Peng, Soweto Kinch, Liz Chapman, Black Country New Road, Rizzle Kicks, PP Arnold, City Academy, Janjala, Wayne Russell, Humble the Great, The Last Dinner Party, Deyyess, Jade Bird, Cymande, Charlie Bubbles, Fossils, Yeule, Glentones, The New Souls, Elliot James Reay, Five Points, and many more.
AND FINALLY...
