Seventeen

What a year 2017 has been. We've played shows in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and numerous shows in our hometown of Melbourne too. I've also had one of my pieces for string quartet performed by one of Australia's finest string quartets, and written a bunch more pieces of chamber music that will be performed in the new year. It's been great. Sincere thanks to everyone who's bought, downloaded, or streamed our music, came to our gigs, or said nice things about us.

We'll be back in the new year with new music, more gigs, and will be trying to get out and about around the country again too. Our first show of the year is Sunday January 7th at The Standard in Fitzroy. 

As a holiday gift to you all, here's a complete version of one of our most recent gigs in Melbourne for you to listen to, and download if you like. It's complete with crowd noise, an out-of tune guitar at one point (that'll teach me to try and bend the strings too far whilst using a capo), and our special guest Ryan Brewer on keyboards. Hope you enjoy it.

Flinders

I am having one of my pieces for String Quartet performed by The Flinders Quartet at a public concert at The Library on the Dock on December 5th at 6:00pm. I'm incredibly honoured and incredibly excited to hear it performed by such a fine group of chamber musicians. The Quartet are also performing works by up and coming Australian composers such as Matt Laing, Clare Johnston, Natalie Nicholas, and Ella Macens. If you wish to come along, it's free to do so (but a donation always helps if you can spare it), and you can book tickets here. 

If you aren't in Melbourne or nearby though, you will be able to livestream the performance when it's on, thanks to the wonder of the internet. It will be streamed from the Flinders Quartet website at http://www.flindersquartet.com/ so jump on there at 6:00pm on December 5th to check it out.

They also have a Pozible campaign going (which ends on November 21st!) to support the costs associated with the filming and livestreaming - so if you can help with even a little bit, that would be fantastic.

The next Experiment gig will be on Friday Dec 8th at The Retreat in Brunswick. We'll be supported by former Experimenter Ryan Brewer and his original project Silver Springs. It's our last gig for the year, so come along if you can.

CP at rehearsal with Flinders Quartet, October 31st, 2017.

Vanity

The Experiment's next show is on Saturday November 18th at The Labour in Vain in Fitzroy. Two sets of unadulterated pop music masquerading as extended improvisation, exotic mysticism, and weltschmerz. 

Yesterday I took part in a workshop with Flinders Quartet and also Mary Finsterer of one of my string quartet pieces for an upcoming concert on December 5th at Library at The Docklands. It's a big thrill to have one of my compositions played by such a seasoned and respected group of performers. The performance is open to the public and will not only feature my music, but a number of other talented composers including Clare Johnston and Matt Laing. Come along and here some great music.

Nick, James, Helen, and Zoe of The Flinders Quartet working out what all my notes are meant to sound like, October 31st 2017.

Fitzwick

The Experiment is playing a couple of times before the end of October, and you can catch us at:

Sunday October 22nd - The Standard, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.
Saturday October 28th - The Union Hotel, Brunswick, 9:00pm.

Come see us for a couple of sets of psychedelic fuzz-pop and guitar expansion that doesn't sound even remotely normal.

CP Experiment at The Drunken Poet, Nth Melbourne, on 26/9/2017. Photo by Erin.

Roadhouse

The Experiment has a gig coming up this weekend alongside our Sydney friends Roadhouses for their Melbourne 'Drinkin'' single launch. It's this Sunday September 17th at The Grace Darling in Collingwood for only $10, and Catherine Traicos is opening up proceedings at 8:00pm sharp. Come support live music and, in the process, remember what life is all about. You'll really like it.

On September 5th, I had the very real thrill of hearing a couple of chamber music pieces I had written being premiered at the renowned Melba Hall in Parkville. The Allotropy Quartet performed my first ever String Quartet (in three parts), and my good friend and incredible guitarist Gerard Mapstone performed a piece I'd written for solo guitar. It's hopefully the first of many concerts to come as I keep on experimenting in this field. I really like chamber music - there's something about it's intimacy and subtle power. 

CP with Mila Li, Kat Tsyrlin, Luke Severn, and Georgia Stibbard of The Allotropy Quartet at Melba Hall.

Darlings

The Experiment has some more shows coming up in a few weeks:

Sunday Sept 17th at The Grace Darling with Roadhouses (SYD - Album Launch). $10, 8:30pm. Come join us as we join our friends Roadhouses from Sydney as they launch a new record, and we launch off into space. You'll like them - they are the dive bar part of your mind on quaaludes.

Tuesday September 26th sees us at The Drunken Poet, where we are going to cast aside our own material in favour of playing an entire set of our own versions of songs by Morrissey and The Smiths. It's part of the Drunken Poet's tribute series, and we choose Moz. Free Entry, and music kicks off at 8:00pm.

Advance

We had a pretty darn good time in Adelaide. Our next show coming up will be Friday August 18th at The Retreat Hotel in Brunswick, also one of our favourite venues. This time we'll be joined by Al Carr and The Strong Arm, who will be launching their brand new album 'Gutter Truth' at the gig! It's an extra reason to come along, if you needed one. Another reason is it's free entry, with music kicking off shortly after 8:00pm. 

CP Experiment at The Grace Emily, Adelaide, 29/7/2017. Photo by Sonja Lisk.

Grace

The Chris Pickering Experiment heads over to Adelaide soon for a show at one of Australia's greatest live music venues, The Grace Emily on Saturday July 29th. Joining us will be local folk-pop darlings Autumn Passage and local legend Cookie Baker. The Experiment hasn't played over in Adelaide ever, and the last time I played there was some years ago, so we're looking to have a big one. Tickets are $15 on the door, and everything kicks off at 9:00pm.

Summit

The next CP Experiment show will be at The Pinnacle in Fitzroy North on Friday July 8th. Two cosmic sets from 8:30pm.

In late July, we are very excited to say we'll be playing in Adelaide for the first time in a long time. It'll be a headlining set at The Grace Emily, and also playing on the night will be locals Autumn Passage and the irreparable Cookie Baker. You can catch us there at the Grace on Saturday July 29th, with music kicking off at around 8:30pm, and only a $15 cover.

The Experiment at The Standard, Fitzroy, June 11th 2017. Photo by Erin Lisk.

Quality

This weekend The Experiment and I play a gig in our hometown of Melbourne at the old faithful Standard Hotel in Fitzroy on Sunday June 11th. We'll be playing two sets from 7:00pm, and it's a long weekend too, so we may stretch it out a little.

A big thank you to everyone who came out to our Brisbane shows last weekend - it was great to see many new faces along with some familiar ones. It was a privilege and an honour to play with Dana Gehrman and Ruby Gilbert as well. We'll be back up there before long, hopefully.

Photo taken by Stephen Goodwin at Brisbane Powerhouse, June 4th 2017. Check out more of his great live photos on his website here.