WOMB

THE LEGENDARY ALBUM BY STEVE PARRY AND COLIN POTTER. RECORDED IN 1981 AND RELEASED IN PHYSICAL FORMAT /LTD EDITION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MARCH 2024

STEVE PARRY + COLIN POTTER

WOMB

Credits:

Recorded: (1981) at Integrated Circuit Studio,  Sutton–on-the-Forest, York & Wern Studio, York.

Field recordings (1981) by Steve Parry on a Sony portable cassette tape recorder. 

• Engineered by: Colin Potter

• All Instruments / sounds – Steve Parry & Colin Potter 

• Produced by Steve Parry & Colin Potter

Notes: Instruments/devices used in the recording included; saw, plastic bucket and plastic tube, water, alarm clock, cotton rags, metal bars, electric drill, drum machine, bongo drums,  analogue synth & sequencer, field recordings, electric, acoustic & bass guitars, flute, keyboards, found sounds, comb &  voice.

All tracks mastered by Colin Potter at ICR, London 2021

Artwork concept: Jason B.Bernard & Steve Parry

Design: Oleg Galay 

© Hwyl Records / ICR

Peripheral Minimal Records 2023.

PM34

p 2023

A History of the Recordings

STEVE PARRY

Steve Parry:- “In 1981 I moved north to York having spent the latter part of the 1970s living in South London. During the time I worked with the likes of Post-Punk bands Matt Johnson/TheThe and Neu Electrikk. Neu Electrikk released two independent 45’s and contributed to The Some Bizzare Album. An album was recorded but not released. Neu Electrikk continued to be a fractious affair, ultimately the band self-combusted and went their separate ways. I had over the years created experimental sounds on an old reel to reel tape recorder – avant-garde, musique concrète – sounds of automata, damaged audiotape, noise, nature, everyday objects, the tape would be edited, looped, layered, played at various speeds. I built various stringed devices and developed a non-standard guitar technique that made use of prepared guitar (e.g. putting a nail file and screws on the strings, playing the guitar with pliers, meat skewers, nail files and a dinner fork) the key features being unconventional tunings, timbres, drone, distortion and noise – often  treating the guitar purely as a sound source rather than a musical instrument. In addition I developed a stringed musical instrument essentially based on the violin which is further linked to a series of effects pedals. The sounds are generally described as experimental / avant-garde music. Around this time I would visit Red Rhino, a local independent record store started by Tony Kostrzewa aka Tony K. Tony gave me the contact details of Colin Potter who had a small recording studio at his home in Sutton-on-the-Forest, north of York. The recording sessions for Womb took place sporadically over a period of a few months. I would enter the studio armed with all manner of traditional instruments and devices including; guitar, flute, Drum machine, home-built glockenspiel, bongo drums, a saw, drill, hammer, bucket, an alarm clock, Casio organ, metal bars, length of hose pipe etc. plus home recordings I’d made of birds and other sounds recorded on a portable cassette player – During this time Colin and I also recorded two tracks “Ssroi’asitjk” and “Later That Same Night” for what was to become Colin s album “The Where House” originally released on cassette in 1981. Womb remained unreleased other than a few cassette tapes given to friends. In 2014 I re-discovered the album master tapes while having a house clear-out. The Ampex 406 master tapes were severely damaged due to natural deterioration, the original tape had to undergo a time-consuming restoration process. Thankfully the project was salvageable and the music was transferred to digital. I must admit listening now to these recordings I am reminded of the creative surge and ebullient enthusiasm for making the music. It was indeed an exciting time. Since 1998 Steve Parry has recorded numerous projects as Hwyl Nofio.

Steve Parry. York 2021 

COLIN POTTER

ColIn Potter:- Back in the early 80s I had built a small studio in an outbuilding at my house in a village just north of the city of York. It was pretty basic, just one room with 4 & 2 track tape machines, a small mixer & a few basic effects units. There was also a Korg MS20 synth & SQ10 sequencer, a crude drum machine, a Casio keyboard & various guitars & microphones. Most of the work I did involved relatively conventional music, whereas I was more interested in something more unconventional. So I was very happy when Steve contacted me & asked if I would be interested in collaborating on an ‘experimental’ project. Over a number of sessions we tried all sorts of odd instrument combinations, sound sources & treatments. As it’s so long ago, my memory is a little hazy, but I think it’s fair to say that improvisation was an important element. I clearly remember that we had a lot of fun. When it was mixed, I don’t think either of us knew what to do with it, as it was unlike any other music that was around at that time. So it languished….

Due to various house moves, Steve & I lost touch & I eventually moved away from Yorkshire, my favourite part of the world. A few years ago, on a short holiday in York I wandered into a pub that I’d never visited before & there was Steve, who I hadn’t seen for around 20 years. Full circle. We decided that the lost album should be released & Steve had the original ¼’’ tapes baked & I’ve now remastered the original recordings. Listening to it was a strange experience. Many times I had to try to remember what some of the strange sounds were, or why we did this or that. The sound of convention & caution being thrown to the wind.

I’m glad we did it & I hope you like it.

Colin Potter, London 2021

WOMB is available from the following outlets:-

ICR Distribution

https://icrdistribution.com/

Peripheral Minimal Records  

https://www.peripheralminima

Hwyl Nofio - Isolate (Hwyl, 2020) ****½ Review: The Free Jazz Collective

Review: Hwyl Nofio - Isolate  

Link: The Free Jazz Collective: Hwyl Nofio - Isolate (Hwyl, 2020) ****½: 

By Stef Gijssels " Isolate " is an amazing album, reflecting the isolation of the Covid pandemic. "One more!" I hear you...

Hwyl Nofio - Isolate

Hwyl Nofio - Isolate is very much a creative response to the virus Covid-19 which has gripped much of the World for many months now. As scientists seek answers the World is effectively in a state of lockdown with populations told to stay at home, stay safe and isolate to reduce the impact of the virus. It's a crazy situation we find ourselves in but it is also an opportunity to create and share and bring comfort to other people.

I cannot thank enough the people who have helped make Hwyl Nofio - Isolate happen in a such a short period of time. I'm extremely proud to have some old friends contribute to this project. Many of you will recall Mark Beazley for his wonderful contribution to the Hwyl Nofio albums Hymnal and Dark. I also had the pleasure of contributing to Mark's album project Rothko - Blood Demands More Blood. I also feel excited to be working again with Steve Sherlock a musician I have known for 40 yrs since being together in the Post Punk band Neu Electrikk. Last but not least I am delighted to have on board the incredible Rhodri Davies, a musician I have known and admired for many years.

Finally I would like to dedicate this album to my daughter Victoria. Vicky understands isolation having suffered for many years the debilitating disease Crohns. The pain and isolation of chronic disease, yet possess the ability to put aside pain and anxiety to embrace life for what it is. A more positive and inspirational person I do not know.

Hwyl Nofio were:-

Steve Parry with

Mark Beazley 

Rhodri Davies

Steve Sherlock

Download available from:- https://hwylnofio.bandcamp.com/

Please support Crohns & Colitis by making a donation to:- https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/

Kind thanks for your support - Stay safe

Steve Parry (April 2020)

ISOLATE

Hwyl Nofio - Isolate - Streaming 18/04/2020

The Beholders Share - Installation soundtrack

In 2016 One&Other Creative recruited avant-garde musician Hwyl Nofio to create an immersive sound installation piece for Art Market, York - an arts event (30 Sept – 2 Oct, 2016).

The Beholders Share - Perceive then as your own

Alois Reigl (1858–1905) suggested a new psychological aspect of art: - art is incomplete without the perceptual and emotional involvement of the participant. Later Viennese art historians E Kris & E.H Grombrich elaborated; Art is not art without the direct involvement of the observer.

When an artist produces a powerful work, perception is inherently ambiguous, the ambiguity in the piece elicits both a conscious and unconscious process of recognition in the observer, who responds emotionally and emphatically to the work in terms of his/ her own life experience, therefore the artist creates the work based on their own personal sensory information and the beholder re-creates it by responding to its inherent ambiguity and makes it personal to them.

All art is an inherently pleasurable and instructive attempt by the artist and beholder to communicate and share with each other the creative process that characterises every human brain – a process that leads to a sudden recognition that we have seen into another person’s mind that allows us to see the truth underlying both the beauty and the violence depicted in the work. Sound is a language all of its own and can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. A creative work is only completed when the beholder embraces the work. Perceive then as your own…….

Steve Parry/Hwyl Nofio

Installation.

The Beholders Share installation played continuously on a looping system in a small darkened room containing only 12 chairs.Throughout each day of the event an orderly queue formed, waiting patiently to enter the space . I would like to thank One&Other Creative for the opportunity to create the installation and everyone who came along to the event or purchases the soundtrack download. Many thanks for your support. It is hoped the installation will resurface for future art/music events - stay tuned! 

The Beholders Share film can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/334865786

Steve Parry - instruments, sounds. 

Derek Yau - cello.

Released: 14/06/2019

https://hwylnofio.bandcamp.com/

From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow

Hwyl Nofio - From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow

(Available via Bandcamp Download + Signed Ltd Edition (100) 26 page Art Book/CDr Edition)


From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow is at once a deeply personal tribute to a long lost family member and an elegy for the death of the steel industry in the place of his birth. Steve Parry (born 1958) is a product of Panteg, his formative years were spent living in the shadow of The Black Mountains, amid the scars and ruins of a heavily industrial landscape.

“I recall my boyhood visits to the steel works – an atmosphere of intense heat and noxious fumes, bright white light, and deafening noise. Over the years I have continued to go back to the composition, adding new additional details – As a piece of music ‘Elevated Gangways’ has been an organic, cathartic process”

“From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow” - the concept of the piece had been around for what appears an eternity. Originally the composition was inspired by recordings taken from an unreleased solo project / album “Symphony for the Death of Industry” recorded in the early 1980’s. I had written the music as a kind of soundtrack about the life of my grandfather Herbert Parry – who worked as a steel roller at Panteg Steelworks in Pontypool, South Wales and died of gangrene poisoning when I was three years old. During my childhood my grandfather remained somewhat of an enigma – my memories are of a tall, silent, proud man beaten by the rigours of personal and working life.” Steve Parry.


Parry later returned to the idea with a 12-minute composition called ‘Elevated Gangways’ that didn’t fit onto the Hwyl Nofio album ‘Hymnal’ released in 2002 – sporadically returning to the composition over the following years to the final version realised in 2008. The definitive version of “ From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow’ begins furtively, ushered in by a clattering mix of cymbal smashes and sawn at strings, a pile of deadened instruments finally awoken, laying the groundwork for one last lamentation. Then it arrives – that great lion roar of guitar noise fills the space, the immutable core of the piece raging away. It is what the great Japanese saxophonist Kaoru Abe once called “the sound of sound”; adrift from all semblance of tempo, and ablaze with unfettered possibility. The church organ moan is summoned from the deepest recesses of the now desolate landscape of Pontypool – deindustrialized, de-populated, demoralized – remnants of memory playing tricks within the minds of everyone from the newly born to the working poor and the living dead. Its bleak melody creaks and cracks in pitiable see-saw motion, adrift in time and nameless place, haunting those who once harnessed its great power, who then had to watch it being dismembered, torn apart, suffering in silence as the site was destroyed - cleared not for something else, or anything better. Merely to be rid of it for good. As the piece enters its final sequence the gilded drone riff returns for one last roar, howling out a colossal yell of defiance before finally fading into a cold organ wail, then falling into nothing. “From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow” is at last complete.


Hwyl Nofio were:-

Steve Parry: found sounds, prepared Fender guitar, church organ, percussion, alchemy

Recorded at: The Wern / Church / Field recording

The recording process took place over the period 1980 – 2008

From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow (Part one) 20.21

From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow (Part two) 20.27

Ordering Information:-

From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow – Available as a high quality download via Hwyl Nofio - Bandcamp

Link:https://hwylnofio.bandcamp.com/album/from-elevated-gangways-rivers-of-molten-metal-flow

To order a copy / enquire about the latest stock situation for the Limited edition (100) 26 page Hardback Art Book/CDr edition – Signed by Steve Parry - Contact the artist direct by emailing: hwylnofio@yahoo.co.uk

Hwyl Nofio - Black Rain (DARK)