ATP All Tomorrow's Parties

Formed in Summer 2002 by Billy and Ian (tuned to C# , jamming on double bass and 12 string acoustic and ripping off riffs from favourite records) to play a gig at Mark Hymas / St Piran’s Limelight nights at The King Charles off Stokes Croft in Bristol. Steve was asked to come along to provide percussion on the day of the gig – WE REALLY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS GOING TO SOUND LIKE, BUT THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE BAND. The place was so small Billy had to move his bass everytime a punter wanted to come through the door !. Seemed to go down well. It was meant to be a one-off and nothing more was planned, but Fat Paul was at the first gig, dug it, and a few months later they played at his Espionage night on the Thekla , adding Paul on guitar / effects.

More gigs followed around Bristol, with a more electronic element to the sound appearing, and most of the first album was recorded in a day ‘live’at The Cube Cinema, yards from their debut gig. Adding Keith ‘Keth’ Bailey on sax and percussion some more recordings at State of The Art finished the album off and it was the debut release on Geoff Barrow’s Invada label . Another album was recorded at the Cube when the band ‘….looking like cartoon beatniks…..’ backed the Blue Aeroplanes Gerard Langley for the second part of his ‘Lit’ series of limited edition CD’s – now long out of print. Aaron on sax and flute appeared at this time, as did Stuart, playing Hurdy-Gurdy, Northumbrian pipes and trombone. Swedish Radio’s legendary DJ Haken Persson picked up on the band early on and supported them, played tracks on his groundbreaking show.

The band played a few more gigs, with various friends appearing on stage and stretching the sound further. The first gig with legendary ex-Can vocalist Damo Suzuki happened at a special Espionage night on the Thekla in Autumn 2003, whilst a second gig with Damo arranged by John Stapleton happened at Fiddlers in March 2004. Their first appearance at Ashton Court Festival in the Jazz Big Top was an exciting experience for all involved. The fuzzers really pulled it out the bag and won some well deserved praise from fans and sceptical onlookers alike!More studio recordings followed for the second album and more gigs with Oneida, Circle and Comets On Fire followed, as well as an all acoustic gig at the wonderful St Georges Hall in Bristol - ‘one of the finest acoustic chambers in Europe’ - alongside fellow Invada artists Gonga and Lucky Luke in Summer 2004. Radio sessions in 2004 have included Star FM’s Bristol Uncovered, Resonance 104 FM and Radio Caroline, and a 3 track, vinyl only limited edition single, the controversial Trenchfoot/Dugout (with hand made labels by the band) was issued as a split release by Rocket / Invada in late 2004. More recordings saw the appearance of vocalist Maria, as a version of ‘Ballad Of The Hip Death Goddess’ written by psychedelic nobodies Ultimate Spinach was recorded for release on John Stapleton’s new record label, which is due to be released anytime now! For 2007, expect much FUZZ activity.