Building a Community from Fragments
Patch & the Giant's new album OUT NOW + live music in Nottingham, London and Brighton.
A few years ago, I imagined the most ludicrously and unnecessarily complex of music festivals. I had realised that many of the acts playing Folkroom gigs featured band members who played with other groups too. That even the singer-songwriters who generally performed solo would, when sharing a bill with a musician they loved, find a way to bring them up onstage for a song.
My festival would be called The Folkroom Rotating Orchestra, and from the beginning of the day right through to curfew, the music would never stop. Instead, as one band came to the end of their time onstage, all but one member would leave, and that person would play their own set. They’d bring up a friend to collaborate on a tune, and then would wander offstage leaving said friend to play a set of their own.
The festival never happened. Of course it didn’t. It was an absolutely ridiculous idea that, best case scenario, would have driven even the most patient sound engineer to the very brink of their sanity. But the fact is this: for a long time, it really did seem possible. And it was bands like Patch & the Giant that made me believe this.
Patch & the Giant are the mycelium that runs underneath the Folkroom forest. You might not realise it at first, but in one way or another much of the life around us is tied together by the band. Patch were always a sprawling presence onstage - and they drew in new members from the London folk scene as readily as they offered them up for others. Sometimes it felt like there was some sort of Premier League transfer system in place. Early members Liam Hoflay and Alex Betancourt transferred out to join Sophie Jamieson’s live band. Steve Watkins, formerly of Long Dead Kings, transferred in. Former Patch drummer Ben Wiseman had been borrowed from We Used To Make Things.
Today, Patch & the Giant release their brand new album, Fragments. It’s been a long time in the works, but it has been well worth the wait. I’m really proud to be releasing a Patch & the Giant album on Folkroom Records. Partly because it feels like a homecoming: we released their debut EP in 2013, and I’m honoured to have a chance to work with them again. But also because community and collaboration was always at the heart of what Folkroom stands for, and Patch & the Giant might just be the epitome of that. Alongside founding members Luke Owen, Angie Rance and not-quite-founding-but-certainly-era-defining member Gabriel Merryfield, the line-up includes Nick Edward Harris, a singer-songwriter who also performs in another collaborative project, Mit Hiss, and Derek Yau, who is also a long-standing member of former Folkroom labelmates The Lost Cavalry.
Fragments feels like the bands most cohesive, mature work to date - and perhaps that’s because the band’s line-up feels as decisive as it’s ever been. But there’s always room for more collaboration with Patch. The album is produced by Folkroom’s own Ben Walker, and mastered by Mike Hillier, who is behind releases by so many of our community that it’s safer just to think of a record and assume it was his work. Even the band’s drummer on the album, Tobias Humble, was introduced to them by former Folkroom alumnus Andrew Butler.
I hope you’ll take time to give Fragments a listen today. You’ll be hearing more than the output of a single folk band. Contrary to its title, I reckon Fragments might just represent the whole of the Folkroom scene in microcosm. I doubt I’ll ever put on the Folkroom Rotating Orchestra festival - but bands like Patch & the Giant are our rotating orchestra, and that’s more than enough for me.
Buy Fragments on Bandcamp as a digital-only release, or find it on your preferred streaming platform. Join us for a very special album launch show at St John on Bethnal Green on Saturday 17 May. Tickets are available here, and support comes from The Lost Cavalry (Derek is pulling a double shift).
We have a whole host of gigs coming up. A ridiculous amount, to be honest, and it’d be great if you’d like to come along to one (or two, or all of them. This May sees Folkroom gigs in London, Brighton and Nottingham. For ease, let’s go city by city.
London:
May 12th: GAELYNN LEA at Cafe OTO, Dalston. Support from Miss Jacqui. TICKETS
May 17th: PATCH & THE GIANT album launch at St John on Bethnal Green. Support from The Lost Cavalry. TICKETS
Brighton:
May 11th: GAELYNN LEA at The Rose Hill. Support from Kelli Blanchett and live illustration by Chris Riddell. TICKETS
Nottingham:
May 15th: GAELYNN LEA at By Our Hands We Make Our Way, Sneinton Market. Support from Kelli Blanchett. TICKETS
May 18th: JACKIE OATES at Peggy’s Skylight, Hockley. TICKETS
May 22nd: LOUIS BRENNAN at The Grove, Sneinton Market. Support from Modern Coven and Lindsay Clark. TICKETS
June 15th: GWENIFER RAYMOND at Peggy’s Skylight, Hockley. Support from Valerie Van Roey. TICKETS
July 23rd: JOSHUA BURNSIDE at Peggy’s Skylight, Hockley. TICKETS
Sept 21st: JON WILKS at Peggy’s Skylight, Hockley. TICKETS
Folkroom will also return to Home Farm Festival in Somerset this June 6th-8th. Discover our full line-up and book your weekend tickets via the Home Farm Fest website.