Jonathan Dowman aka Johnny Worm (music, instruments and singing)
Mark Foulkes aka Mark Worm (lyrics and singing)
Chris Steward aka CS Worm (music, beats, programming and atmospheres).
Everything you hear and see here is by us, except where credited otherwise.
The Worms were developed in the way of an art project, aimed at satisfying the aesthetic inclinations and urges of it's two orginal inhabitants- namely Mark Foulkes and Jonathan Dowman. Things kicked off, so to speak, in 2005, at which time a cassette with some scratchy guitar lines was posted from Camberwell, South London, to the leafy edges of Reading. A sheaf of poetry travelled in the other direction, and before very long 'The Worms' were born.
We sent out thirty-odd copies of a demo ("Now Look What You Made Us Do"). We got back one rather unappreciative review in a certain 'Spill' magazine. It's parent company has recently gone bust. Right. You can read the review HERE. "Now Look..."'s best song, "Science Park", remains in rude health as a punkishly-minded folk diatribe regarding industrial parks and conference centres..
We made a second demo ("PsychoGeography") which rather rapidly became outdated by the other material we were secreting at the same time, and now has the strange aura of a worm preserved in aspic.
As time has worn on, we have employed the talents of Ed Rowe (lyricist on "80s", "Shag" and others) and DeathStab (noise-mongers from Lansing, Michigan, who provided "80s" with it's chassis), and continue to do what a professional band biography would describe as 'honing our sound'. In fact, this consists in continually asking the question: "what are we good for?"
This, at times, appears to be very strange folk music, twisted by either it's outre lyrical content (it's always educational to get a form to communicate ideas that it was not created for), or the psychedelic, progressive or punk origins of the music that kickstarted the song's genesis.
We are committed to performing our songs live and have been able to inflict ourselves upon London residents at a number of gigs.
The very lovely DJ Sher at homegrownradionj.com kindly played "Kite" on her show recently. Thanks again to her for that. You can find out about her HERE.
Our most active and constant supporter is the wonderfully deranged Morgan P. Salvo of KPOV 106.7 Radio, Bend, Oregon who has chosen to encourage us by regularly playing our songs on his very eclectic weekly show. This is a splendid mix of old and new psychedelia and other wierdness. catch up with his archived shows HERE.
In April 2008 we had the great pleasure of recording a session for Mr Ergo Phizmiz's show 'Phuj Phactory' on WFMU. This is archived HERE. It is a great show ....so give it a listen.
In July 2008 we extended to a three-piece by managing to recruit Chris Steward to our ranks. Chris is nominally a drummer but has also developed an interest in digital music and programming..we are pleased and proud to have him on board the good ship 'Worm'.
So, the Worms squirm on, trying to think of ways that people with day-jobs and real lives can make music for it's own sake and try it out on the ears of others.
Lots of Worm Love,
Mark, Jonathan and Chris
Below, you can see a video. This footage is from our gig at Viva Viva in North London. We are performing 'Science Park'. ..one of our oldest songs.
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Dear friends, I am playing a free gig at the beauteous Union Chapel, Islington this Saturday. The sunlight will be streaming through its vaulted windows as Blank Canvas and Arctic Circle present this gig during the blessed daylight hours of 12-2. And yea shall its hallowed interior be filled with all manner of scraping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Let us pray. And then let us go to the pub.
Great to see you boys getting a spit roasting on Sunday (Benny Hill night!). Cracking job (considering how few notes the support act had left you!). If you need a 'virtual bass player' to go with the virtual drummer I know of a jolly keen and talented one! T
The King of Coma track “mental fragments” is featured on the Äisti sajns fikÅ¡n! (cleaning science fiction) Sampler. You can download it for free here:
good to see you last night and thanks for playing - been listening to the play back and will get you a copy soonest. New readers can read an in depth interview with The Worms at www. biguntidy. com/articles
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