Pyramid Club is very happy to present Roy Montgomery and Orchestra of Spheres, live at Futuna Chapel, Karori, at 3pm on Saturday 3rd December 2022.
Roy Montgomery is an internationally renowned guitarist from Ōtautahi/Christchurch. Across an array of peerless solo and collaborative releases on labels like Kranky, Siltbreeze and VHF he is the architect of a widescreen drone aesthetic exploring psychedelic abstraction and pastoral minimalism. A key protagonist in the Christchurch 80s noise rock scene, his minimalist post-punk band The Pin Group were the first act to release on Flying Nun and led on to other explorations in The Shallows and the gloriously open-ended freedoms of noise pop outfit Dadamah.
After a quiet spell, Montgomery returned in the late 90s, producing towering spires of guitar lines that exposed fragility between the strums. With his solo releases and in collaboration with Flying Saucer Attack, Bardo Pond (Hash Jar Tempo), and Chris Heaphy (Dissolve), his focus shifted from the truth-mining of rock music to epic celestialism. His first solo guitar release, 'Scenes from the South Island' (Drunken Fish 1995) pointed the way for his future music making, with spacious soundscapes of minimal guitar tones. Montgomery has produced a string of solo releases on Grapefruit records over the past five years. In addition to his highly regarded music making, Montgomery is currently head of the Environmental management department at Lincoln University.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara's own sonic explorers, Orchestra of Spheres, return from a long hiatus to present a new site-specific work at Futuna Chapel. Featuring crystal bowls, reel-to-reel tapes, and modular synth drones, this will take the often highly rhythmic ensemble on their own celestial musical journey. Orchestra of Spheres have released five full length albums, including the cassette release, 'Pastel Cat in a Crystal Tube', an album which reworks studio jams through tape manipulations. Check out 'Pastel Cat in a Crystal Tube' on bandcamp.
Presale Tickets at Under the Radar
Note: early gig! 3pm. At Futuna Chapel
Many thanks to Creative NZ for supporting Pyramid Club's programme.
