Substance

Thu Oct 12th 2023
Substance presents Thomas Truax
Paper Dress Vintage Bar & Boutique
Paper Dress Vintage 352a Mare Street London E8 1HR
Doors:7.45pm Admission:£10 in advance /£12 OTD

Thomas Truax
Thomas Truax
Merging a fevered imagination and solid songwriting with a mad scientist's brain for weird gadgets, American singer Thomas Truax is a true one-off.
He is known for an array of unique self-made instruments including a motorized drum machine made of bike wheels, spoons and other found items called 'Mother Superior' and a souped up Gramophone called 'The Hornicator’

But don’t let the novelty fool you. He is also a talented guitar player, storyteller, and performer who crafts rich, poetically evocative songs about insects, trees, technology, love, and a lifelong fascination with the Moon. His music evades easy pigeonholing as his songs flit between art rock, post-punk, and a distinctive brand of surreal Americana.

His ten studio LPs include highly-rated covers album 'Songs From The Films Of David Lynch'.
A new full-length, ‘Dream Catching Songs’, featuring the renowned drummer Budgie (Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Slits, The Creatures) playing along with Mother Superior, has been garnering rave reviews with its poignant, sometimes tender, often raucous songs.

Though Thomas usually performs solo, other notable past supporters and collaborators have included Jarvis Cocker, Duke Special, James Smith of Yard Act, Richard Hawley, Bob Log III, the Dresden Dolls and the late author Terry Pratchett.

"Endlessly inventive and creative…A show not to be missed!” -Oxford Times

“You know that you have seen something special when total strangers are falling over themselves at the end of the show to rave to each other about what they have just seen. Thomas Truax is still a bit of a well-kept secret but he’s the cult that everyone should join.” -HiFi Pig Magazine

"Truax is shaping up nicely as one of the great rock eccentrics.” -UNCUT

Kate Arnold
Kate Arnold
Kate's music is based around the hammered dulcimer, plus violin and vocals, using live-looping and real-time electronic effects. Having previously fronted 'punk baroque' band Fear of the Forest, she has also worked with Jim Bob (Carter USM), Lindy-Fay Hella of Wardruna ('Vikings'), cellist Jo Quail, BBC Folk Award winner Lisa Knapp, and Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchblade).
Kate released her two-part electro-medievalist recording project, Rota Fortunae, in 2020 and 2021 and is now working on a new album. She is also doing a PhD on medieval music, so expect some fairly un-medieval interpretations of songs from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Return to shows