VHF, Giardia, Eclipse, U-Sound, Qbico, Textile,
Freedom From
Members
Adam Davenport Michael Flower Julian Bradley Bridget Hayden Neil Campbell
Vibracathedral Orchestra is an England-based
drone ensemble that has been active since 1998.
Biography
The group were formed in Leeds in 1998 when
Mick Flower,
Neil Campbell and Julian Bradley, who had released a number of homemade cassettes together, joined with Bridget Hayden and Adam Davenport.[1]
Most of the group's earliest recordings, most made by recording live to 2-track,[2] were self-released though many underground labels, including
VHF Records, Giardia, Eclipse, U-Sound, Qbico, Textile and
Freedom From, have also put out a number of Vibracathedral records. They have twice been featured in session on
Resonance FM, given an hour-long slot each time.
Although very much a fixed unit, the line-up has been occasionally augmented by the likes of
Matthew Bower, John Godbert,
Richard Youngs, John Clyde Evans (latterly known as Tirath Singh Nirmala), and Tom Greenwood (of
Jackie-O Motherfucker). Julian Bradley left the group in 2004 with both Neil Campbell and Bridget Hayden following him in 2006. A new album, Wisdom Thunderbolt, featuring
Chris Corsano and Matthew Bower as guests, was released on VHF in 2007. The group performed at the Colour Out of Space festival in Brighton in August 2008 with a line-up of Flower, Davenport and Bradley.
According to John F Szwed's biography of Sun Ra, Space is the Place, the original Vibra-Cathedral Orchestra was a 1930s jazz band from Ra's home town of Birmingham, Alabama, which was previously called the Sax-O-Society Orchestra.
Discography
Mothing CD-R (1998), self-released
Copse CD-R (1998), self-released
Falling Free You and Me/Filling Sacks with Coloured Scraps 10-inch (1999), self-released
The Vibracathedral String Quartet CD-R (1999), self-released
Music for Red Breath CD-R (2000), self-released
Vibracathedral String Band / Vibracathedral Drum Troupe 7-inch (2000),
Freedom From