Ex-Easter Island Head

Artist Profile


UK-based experimental music collective composing and performing music for solid body electric guitar, percussion and other instruments

Ex-Easter Island Head are a UK-based experimental musical collective composing and performing music for solid body electric guitar, percussion and other instruments. The group plays multiple electric guitars augmented through mechanical preparations and extended techniques, creating hypnotic performances rich in repetition, shimmering drones and melodic invention through purposefully limited means.

Their records and live performances have received significant critical acclaim from the likes of The Wire, Pitchfork, the Quietus and the New York Times.

Favourably compared to the likes of Steve Reich, Glenn Branca and John Cage, the groups' music has been praised for its mixture of percussive drive, emotional warmth and playful experimentation. They have performed in venues ranging from the tiny Scottish island of Iona to a 150-year-old brewery in Berlin, with major festival appearances including ATP, Supersonic and Le Guess Who? Collaborators have included the BBC Philharmonic, composer Arnold Dreyblatt and musicians Laura Cannell, Charles Hayward and Andre Bosman in the group Whistling Arrow.

Their library music releases Mechanical Landscapes 1 & 2 released by EMI/KPM have seen the group’s work used internationally for television and radio productions, whilst the group's own Large Electric Ensemble projects have seen the core quartet joining forces with forward-thinking musicians to make ambitious large scale performances across the UK and EU.

“Free flowing genius” - The Guardian

"Churning pulses, alternate tunings and dense harmonic worlds... all the strings being heard at once" - The New York Times

“Repetition and rumbling resonances bringing to mind Rhys Chatham's seminal works with tone and John Cage's rhythmic sensibilities” - Pitchfork

“A three chord punk mission statement turned into a neo-classical manifesto” - The Wire

“Rarely do beauty and urgency come quite so tightly intertwined” - The Quietus

“You must see this group. They are minimalist noise art but come on like entertainment. Absolutely captivating, classy, beautiful and sublime” (Stewart Lee)

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UK-based experimental music collective composing and performing music for solid body electric guitar, percussion and other instruments

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