fbcfabric&reindeer

in the beginning

fbcfabric & reindeer first met while living in south London in 1999. a reflection on life in the western lands as well as a disheartened view of the state of hip hop worldwide led them to begin to talk on such things as their potential collaboration. with both already well known for their musical styles, fbcfabric as a solo producer and reindeer performing vocals and producing on similar down-tempo vibes, it was not until a couple of years later when fbcfabric relocated back to his hometown of Newcastle did they begin to write together steadily, by which time a complete alienation with hip hop had cemented their mutual musical sensibilities to the extent whereby the songs they began working on were to be the style that would define them thereafter. an album was begun with three hundred miles between the performers.

at first just a few ideas, then the plan to record a 12” single before Buttercuts records kindly offered a concrete platform to launch from, and in the spring of 2003 it became a full album project. reindeer had been living in west London at this time but relocated back to the surrey hills of his birth to concentrate on the album proper. with both fbcfabric & reindeer residing once again in the worlds they grew up in at opposite ends of the country the songs began to flow at a consistent pace. it was not until the dark of winter solstice of 2004 that the final album was submitted to the label who had been waiting with baited breath.

it’s not who you know, it’s whom you know

beginning in seemingly safe shoegazing hip hop lands but with disturbing vocals to lend a sense of foreboding by way of awkward truths hidden in reindeer’s cascading arrhythmic monotone delivery, it transcended lo-fi psychedelia into brooding gothic portent by way of layer upon layer of meticulous production from fbcfabric creating a vivid world only compounded by the field recordings blended in amidst the melodies, before the final act brought in such doom-laden post-rock spirals into the void of the droning outro that the listener was truly transported on a movie length voyage into the dark and brooding ‘western lands’ the duo painted of.

running at fourteen tracks and fifty minutes. the response from press and fans was highly positive indeed. every review found favour with the album, praising its creativity as well as the understanding of the meaning behind the work and fans soon sang such kind praise through the internet. fbcfabric & reindeer had found an audience and were truly grateful.

live

it was at this time that fbcfabric & reindeer set about taking the album to the stage to spread the word to the live audience. after nine months of shows as a laptop based three piece with Michael Rea on guitar, fbcfabric & reindeer decided to take the decision to form a band to perform the music fully live onstage in order to capture the possibilities of the whole truly live experience. upon gathering close friends and associates they took to some rehearsal rooms in darkest south London for a whole year before emerging to storm the live circuit with performances that have been described as jaw-droppingly cinematic. a fitting tribute to the praise they had received for their studio efforts with their debut album released some two years previous.

a seven-piece post-rock-shoegaze-alt-rap outfit featuring live drums, bass, guitars, violin, harmonica and vocals mixed with their signature sounds of static, vinyl crackle and field recordings from laptops and delays running across the mix combines to create an epic sound indeed. Uncle P of Dragnerve and BC400 plays incredibly tight drums, re-creating all of the complex sampler-based programming work fbcfabric composed for the album perfectly. composer and artist Michael Rea provides the sheer atmosphere of the album with his astonishing guitar work bathed in waves of delay, reverb and distortion. Andy Skopes, highly respected drum and bass DJ and producer provides the weight of the tracks on rhythm guitar, whilst fellow drum and bass producer and drummer for compadres Paul Webb fills the low end of the mix with his incredible thick bass lines. and to complete the sound, the beautiful and soaring violins of Jenny Blackbird of wake and solo works sails above the mix to provide the sheer emotional melodies prevalent on the album. with fbcfabric contributing the behind the scenes atmospherics and engineering and reindeer front of stage with his fiery vocals they are an awe-inspiring band to witness a performance of indeed.

onwards

at this current time of writing fbcfabric & reindeer are at the beginning of what shall prove to be a very busy year indeed. due to tour the United Kingdom and into Europe, to record a full length EP with their live band, the beginnings of work on their second album as well as film soundtracks and collaborations in the works, it would seem that they are now truly beginning to realise the p