Music Questionnaire No 18 - Chris Cundy

I got to know Chris Cundy in the mid 90's when he he used to play at "The Club Room", the improvised music club I ran. Later his band "Transmissions of Not" played at my "Baggage Reclaim" club. He's consequently become a mainstay of the UK free improv scene whilst also being a member of The Guillemots and even found time to appear on my EP "Pinhole" a few years back. A tremendously enthusiastic individual, he could justifiably be described as putting Cheltenham on the experimental music map, both as a player and as a promotor...

Who are you?

My name is Chris Cundy

Where are you based?

Cheltenham

What instruments do you play?

bass clarinet and other woodwind such as that thing called the saxophone

What is your current musical project?

A new band called Exit Kit. It's a quartet I've put together so that I can play my own music.

Name a record that had a big impact on you in your youth?

Everyday by Buddy Holly.

What was the last music you bought?

Let England Shake by PJ Harvey

List three records by artists we all should hear:

The Eric Dolphy Memorial Album by Eric Dolphy / The Len Bright Combo Present The Len Bright Combo By The Len Bright Combo / Symphony in D Major by Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach

Describe a live performance that had a big effect on you:

Seeing The Auntie Vegetable's performance at a house party in Chatham when I was about 10 and realizing that growing up wasn't entirely necessary.

Your favourite live venue:

Mick Beck's house in Sheffield.

What’s the strangest place you have performed live?

On the street, any street - busking. The people I meet and the reactions people have are wilder than anything I've seen on tour or in the comfort of a venue.

Tell me about a great experience as a performer.

Working with Mexican dancer Tania Cervantes for Nofit State Circus. I helped create/perform music for an aerial fight scene that she devised just by counterweight that spanned the height of the big top. It gave me very free and edgy possibilities for the saxophone which I played over a toe tapping 6/4/3 rhythm.

Is improvisation important to you?

Yes, I should think its possibly the most important thing to me.

Name three heroes/heroines:

George Stephenson, Buckminster Fuller and Giulietta Masina

Favourite city?

Glasgow

A couple of favourite books?

Down And Out In Paris And London by George Orwell / Candide by Voltaire

A couple of favourite films?

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (the original of course) / Back To The Future.

A favourite website?

You Tube

What makes you laugh?

Ivor Kallin and Alan Wilkinson getting up to mischief together.

Is there a pop song you feel sentimental about, and can you name it?

Yes, I suppose it would have to be To Love Somebody by The Bee Gees. Funny, I never really liked the Bee Gees but what a song that one is! It is about loss and absence isn't it? It conjures a spooky kind of nostalgia in me anyway.

Thanks Chris

The Music Questionnaires are an ongoing series