A France-based, Australian drummer/percussionist, Will Guthrie first made a name for himself at a young age by winning the Wangaratta National Jazz Awards for drums in 1997, going on to perform with many of Australia’s most celebrated jazz musicians. In the new millennium, his work took a long detour away from the drum kit through junk electronics, extreme amplification, and electroacoustic techniques.Alongside his electroacoustic work, in the last decade Guthrie has returned to the drums with a vengeance, developing a series of solo works, from relentless rhythmic workouts to earth-quaking explorations of the bass frequencies of gongs and other metal percussion instruments. In the crowded world of free jazz/improv percussion, Guthrie’s work is distinguished from the delicately pointillist approach of much European improvisation by its rhythmic sophistication, unashamed virtuosity, and undeniable physicality, touching on aspects of world musics from Javanese gamelan to South Indian Carnatic music.
People Pleaser Pt.II, by WILL GUTHRIE
People Pleaser Pt.II, by WILL GUTHRIE
As a dedicated grassroots and DIY concert organiser, while still a student in Melbourne, Guthrie (alongside Ren Walters) established the weekly concert series Improvised Tuesdays, now known as the Make It Up Club, Australia’s longest running performance series for improvised and experimental music. On moving to Nantes, Guthrie joined the collective CABLE#, curating and organising regular concerts and an annual festival.
Guthrie has released over 50 albums, as both soloist and in collaboration, on labels such as his own Antboy Music, Black Truffle, Editions Mego, Gaffer Records, Ideal, Ipecac, and Clean Feed. He has performed at countless venues and festivals all over the world, and leads the contemporary percussion / gamelan group Ensemble Nist-Nah. Regular collaborators past and present include Oren Ambarchi, Mark Fell, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Pateras, Chulki Hong, Jérôme Noetinger, Keith Rowe, Ava Mendoza, the filmmaker Hangjun Lee, and choreographer/dancer Mette Ingvartsen.