Martin says:

Joe – our Composition I GTA – is a fan of microtones (as am I). Quite apart from this piece's lyric and formal elegance, which I find very appealing, I particularly enjoy the beating and the difference tones created by the microtonal harmonies (particularly apparent in the recording on soundcloud) – it's almost like being able to touch the sound, or rather it's being touched by the sound. Maybe this is just an overwrought way of saying I like the harmonies, and that the register and timbre of the double bass give them a special quality.

[from joebates.co.uk]

Composer

My music combines hazy, drifting melodies with a novel harmonic language to create a detached but intense sound world. I create new tunings and tonalities organised by the familiar rhetorics of classical counterpoint and electronic dance music. To writer Tim Rutherford-Johnson, this evokes ‘the court music of a short-lived empire.’ 

My first musical love was for the orchestral classics of the Twentieth Century; I spent my teenage years aping Bartók. At university, I became involved in drag and pop and founded a mixed-genre music night, Filthy Lucre. Recently, I have been researching novel tuning systems, trying to think how one might make strange chords sound like home.

My music is born in the collision of these influences, embracing orchestral music, vocal music, and synth-heavy electronics. I write for myself as a solo electronic performer, and for others using classical notation. My music is

inspired by composers from Kaija Saariaho to Giacinto Scelsi, songwriters like Fiona Apple and D’Angelo, writers like Ursula Le Guin and Derek Parfait, and artists like Hilma Af Klint and Abu Al-Hasan.

To get an overview of my music, you could start with my solo works: my EP, Flim Flam, or my piece for double bass, Sparrow. From there, you could check out my work for choir, Ceasing, or my works for small ensemble, A Noise So Loud or Us Alone. You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram for social updates. Rough recordings are on Soundcloud,  releases are on Bandcamp.

Artistic Director

I co-founded Filthy Lucre, an immersive, mixed genre music-night. As Artistic Director, I curate our programmes, selecting music that fascinates me, no matter its genre. We create events sympathetic to the differences between the music we programme but resistant to any notions of hierarchy.