EARLY DAYS

Esgazette first appeared in post-punk London, way back in 1981 as a non-gigging band who loved to jam and loved to record. Formed by vocalist Will Datson and bass/cello player Edward Dodd with contributions from producer and musical technician Pete Maben. They emerged from the thriving musical scene of Brixton, a multicultural and artistically fertile enclave.

The musical trend at the time inclined towards angular stuttering guitars but with an increase in the range of electronic instruments, it also saw the emergence of a new kind of electronically-based pop. Although part of this scene, Esgazette were somehow at odds with fashion and being kind of self-contained, did not actively pursue a commercial route.

Throughout the 1980s they continued to play and record with various contributors, mostly outside London, well away from the music industry, in rural Wales and then Scotland. Other than a few independent film soundtracks they remained largely unnoticed and disconnected from prevailing movements.

Around this time pop music became big business and many bands became corporate enterprises. But Esgazette were part of a move towards musicians being able to record on relatively portable setups, away from fixed recording studios.

In 1989, after eight years of music making, they decided to take a break and Will went on to concentrate on painting and exhibiting his art.

RECENT YEARS

In the late 1990s, with the increase in available music technology and the first use of computers as recording machines Esgazette began to record again.

Those first computer recordings were issued as ‘Instant Album’, this features several guest musicians and singers including Juanita Marie Franklin. The title was a reference to the fact that with CDs bands could at last independently issue their own work, without the artistic interference of the record companies. This had been Esgazette’s aim all along.

Whereas Instant Album was a summary of recent work, the follow-up, ‘Picturesque’ in 2002, was intentionally compiled as an album. It had a stronger emphasis on songs and highlighted guitar playing, although still retaining an electronic core.

Although the style of music has varied over the years it has often blended rhythmic electronics and pictorial song in an art school pop kind of way, but without being too self-consciously fashionable.

Form Made From, completed at the end of 2005, is an ambitious musical excursion of atmospheric songs, pulsing electronic beats and occasional instrumentals whisked up with sweeping synths, strings and sound effects to create something that is familiar in form and yet lives in a mysterious little bubble of its own, like a series of short films. 

The following album, Legerdemain features Deb'bora, an actress and singer who grew up in the Bronx area of New York. She adds a new bold and theatrical voice to what is generally a more playful album with its evocative B-Movie themed 'Freaky Thing From The Moon' and the swampy sound of 'Eyes In The Back of my Head'.

Cognition (2010) is the latest album and is overall a more lyrical downtempo album.

Even when Esgazette present us with apparently conventional songs, they soon reveal their uncommon, distinctive flavour.