The Attendant (Pete Astor) with support from Persona

Event information

‘Suburban surrealism, psychedelic urbanity, Stephen Duffy living on a hill with Wire as house guests, taking the world apart and reassembling it beatifically off-kilter.’
International Times

Pete Astor (The Loft / Weather Prophets) started The Attendant during the strange days of early of 2020. Surrounded by empty city streets and silent threats, it seemed like the right time to start working on the best way to frame the poems he'd always written. The still and productive days made the writing more focused and intense, with the curious, unexpected space outside somehow giving me the space to speak out the words he'd always written and not quite known what to do with.

He started talking over primitive drum machine and guitars – off grid recording. He played them to a very close and trusted friend unsure about what he’d made – whether it was anything…she said it was and that was enough for him to go forwards.

He then contacted long-time collaborator/ producer Ian Button (Death in Vegas, Go Kart Mozart, Thrashing Doves) and The Attendant became a thing with words and tracks tumbling out over the long, disembodied months of 2020 and 21. They exchanged ideas via conversations on Zoom and over emaiI, bouncing recordings and ideas between them throughout the Spring and Summer: recording, re-recording, improvising words and music until the tracks were done.
They released our first six tracks over a series of three lathe-cut 7inch singles, which sold out straight away. They then compiled these on a 10”, Audit, also sold out. They are currently working on a full length album.

Persona

Persona is Raquel Vogl and Claire Williams, a duo of guitar and voice, based in Sheffield, UK.

Before relocating to Sheffield, Raquel was a dedicated participant of the long standing experimental punk music communities of New York and Washington DC.

Raquel is interested in exploring the merger of the poetry and music and using the guitar in untraditional and percussive ways; she has an affinity for anyone, but especially other women, making weird music these days.