Projects
Antique seeking Nuns
Antique Seeking Nuns was formed in spirit in the early 90’s when Nuns to be Joff Winks and Matt Baber would get together during school holidays for somewhat foolhardy attempts to try to play and record entire albums by the likes of Yes and Pink Floyd. Many years and the acquisition of much equipment later, Antique Seeking Nuns was formed in solid as Baber and Winks began improvising music together. Downright allergic to the word punk and harboring a deep admiration and connection to the creative impulses that seemed to thrive during the late 60’s and early 70’s, Winks/Baber embarked on a recording project that would give birth to not only their first EP but would also set in motion a series of recordings inspired by Frank Zappa’s notion of conceptual continuity, work that continues to the present day.
Nunbient
Nunbient is the second project to emerge from Antique Seeking Nuns - Joff Winks Band being the first - and actually developed from some of the music previously written by these bands. In particular, the early Nuns track MODAR, and the as yet unreleased epic Spanning the Eternal Abyss. Both these tracks helped to point in a direction that is best described as an ambient/electro-acoustic exploration of texture and rhythm, often producing a highly cinematic and visually evocative effect. The concept of Nunbient solidified during the recording of Songs for Days, which featured many ambient styled segues between the 13 tracks. In fact more music than could be accommodated on the album, leading to the first official Nunbient piece Lowery Click a fragment of which can be heard at the start of the opening Songs for Days collage, Bookend. Many of the pieces feature field recordings of filtered traffic noise and construction work mixed together with a warm blend of organs, harmoniums, synths and guitars. Nunbient looks set to develop its own unique style alongside the other bands and we hope to make the first release early in the summer of 2008.
Joff Winks Band
Joff Winks Band was formed after Winks’ music had started to be played on XFM and what were at first a collection of 4 track demos quickly became the basis for a live band. When an offer to play at Manchester’s In The City festival came along JWB christened their live performances with a superb first show attracting the attention of Island records A&R. Since then the band have played alongside Ray La Montagne, Regina Specktor, The Earlies, Longview and Joseph Arthur to name but a few. The band have been featured on BBC radio 1 winning Zane Lows fresh meat battle of the bands competition, BBC 6 music, XFM, BBC Oxford and many collage radio stations in the US including Chicago university and across New York state. The debut album Songs For Days came after the release of 4 singles all of which received superb reviews making for a formidable reputation not only as recording artists but also as live performers. The band continues to develop material on several fronts spanning all the various projects listed here on TFS.
“The unfeasibly-named singer/ songwriter JOFF WINKS has been turning a few heads over the past twelve months or so. His first download single (”Juniper”) won a Zane Lowe Radio 1 Battle Of The Bands; his past single “New Streets” was out on Cub Sevens and co-incided with acclaimed shows with The Earlies and Regina Specktor and 2004 concluded with rapturously-received gigs in support of Ray La Montagne.
Not a bad rep to begin with, and new single “Someone Else’s Words” can only help Winks and co to capitalise further, because - put simply - it’s a belter. Yes, it’s very ’70s with its’ zig-zagging, swaggering riffs and does bring names like Steely Dan, Big Star and mid-70s Neil Young (roughly circa “On The Beach”s more upbeat moments) careering through the stratosphere, but the production is bright and NOW and Winks’ band prove they can both turn on the heat and cool off as and when required.
I’ve no idea if this indicative of Joff Winks Band as a rule, but I sincerely hope so. This rocks and is the epitome of way cool. And that’s not a bad start in anyone’s book.”
whisperin and hollerin
Chamber Works
TFS Chamber Works is perhaps the most ambitious aspect of Troopers for Sound. As a sub section of TFS, Chamber Works facilitates the recording and release of contemporary classical works produced by Baber and Winks. At the time of writing this includes around four hours of solo and ensemble works written by Winks and Baber both collaboratively and as individual composers, as well as a full orchestral score for a special radio project, which is currently in the writing stage. Fans of Zappa, Bartok, Debussey, Ravel, Stravinsky and Reich will find much to enjoy. TFS hopes to make printed scores and selected songs available for mail order in the near future.
