Simon Bookish

Simon Bookish is the stage name of Leo Chadburn,^[1] a British musician and composer, known for his work in experimental, electronic, pop and classical music. Originally from Coalville, Leicestershire,^[2] he moved to London and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1997 to 2001.^[3]

Work as Simon Bookish

To date, Chadburn has released three solo albums under the name Simon Bookish. The first two, Unfair/Funfair (2006) and Trainwreck/Raincheck (2007), combined his voice with synthesizers and laptop computers. His use of spoken word on Trainwreck/Raincheck and in live performances drew comparisons with "Bowie and Baudrillard, Burroughs and Byrne".^[4] His third album, Everything/Everything (2008) featured an ensemble of brass instruments, saxophones, Farfisa organ, piano and harp. Chadburn describes this album as "a big band song cycle about science and information".^[5][6]

He has also provided remixes of songs for bands and artists such as Grizzly Bear, Franz Ferdinand, The Organ, Owen Pallett, Seb Rochford and Late of the Pier.^[7]

His discography also includes contributions to the albums Worried Noodles (2007),^[8] a compilation of songs with lyrics by artist David Shrigley,^[9] and The Wall Re-built! (2010), a collaborative album celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pink Floyd's The Wall, for Mojo Magazine.^[10]

Work as Leo Chadburn

Collaborations

Chadburn has collaborated on a number of projects with visual artists.^[11] In 2009, he wrote the score for Richard Grayson's video installation The Golden Space City of God (exhibited at Matt's Gallery, London and Artpace, San Antonio), which featured a choir shot on location in Texas singing cult religious texts.^[12][13]

In 2012 he collaborated with the artist Tanya Axford on a piece entitled The Path Made by a Boat in Sound (Three Down) for the Whitstable Biennale,^[14] and with video artist Jennet Thomas, on her work School of Change, a "sci-fi musical film", again exhibited at Matt's Gallery.^[15]

He went on to work with the conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans on a choral work for performance at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2013, based on Samuel Beckett's prose text Imagination Dead Imagine.^[16]

Chadburn has also written music for the theatre, working with the Royal National Theatre on a new musical score for their 2007 production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, in which he also played the part of "The Singer".^[17]

As a performer, he has contributed to the albums of Leafcutter John, Max de Wardener, Patrick Wolf, Serafina Steer and Saint Etienne, credited with recorders, bass clarinet and vocals.^[18] He is also credited as a producer on classical percussionist Joby Burgess' album 24 Lies Per Second (2013).^[19]

He has occasionally performed works by other experimental composers, including John Cage^[20] and Frederic Rzewski, whose piece Coming Together he presented at the first London Contemporary Music Festival in 2013.^[21]

Classical works

Under his real name, Chadburn has written several works for classical music groups. These include Unison: Things Are Getting Worse for a large ensemble of pianists, performed at the showroom of Markson Pianos in 2010^[11][22] and X chairman Maos, written for the experimental ensemble Apartment House and performed at the De La Warr Pavilion to coincide with their Andy Warhol exhibition in 2011.^[11][23]

Chadburn is currently an associate composer of the London Symphony Orchestra,^[24] who performed his piece Brown Leather Sofa in 2013.^[25]

Writing

In addition to his work as a musician, Chadburn has written reviews and articles about classical and pop music for The Quietus, the New Statesman and The Wire.^[26]

Discography

Albums as Simon Bookish

• Unfair/Funfair (2006, Use Your Teeth)
• Trainwreck/Raincheck (2007, Use Your Teeth)
• Everything/Everything (2008, Tomlab)

Albums as Leo Chadburn

• Epigram/Microgram (2013, Library of Nothing)

References

External links

• Official website
• Simon Bookish on SoundCloud