Andy Moor & Marion Coutts
Jennifer Gersten talks to Marion Coutts & Andy Moor
Andy Moor and Marion Coutts are now in a new duo of voice, trumpet, guitar, loops and sounds. They
first played together as teenagers and formed (with Wilf Plum and Colin McLean) the endlessly
inventive, unorthodox and much-loved improv-noise group Dog Faced Hermans, playing across Europe
and the US in the late 80's and early 90's. Recommend to check out their song 'Jan 9' before the concert, since they are performing at All Ears on Friday Jan 9! (Video below)
Andy Moor (guitar and samples) is based in Amsterdam. He
is a member of The Ex and is known for many collaborative projects including Lean Left, a quartet with
Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen Love and Terrie Ex, as well as projects with DJ/rupture, Anne James
Chaton, Alva Noto, John Butcher, Christine Abdelnour, Yannis Kyriakides and Thurston Moore. Marion
Coutts (trumpet and voice) is a visual artist and writer in London. Lyrically striking, musically
enlightening and always mesmerising live, the duo come together with great pleasure to play what
might be termed songs, though no song will ever sound the same twice.
Dog Faced Hermans came into being, a group that provided the finest post punk and more
for around ten years. The band's line-up remained constant over the years: Colin McLean on
bass, Wilf Plum on drums, Andy Moor on guitar and Marion Coutts as singer, on drums and
on trumpet - an instrument that was not exactly common in punk music at the Ome. There
were also various other materials used to generate noise. The Dog Faced Hermans' music
interwoven many genres outside of rock, including folk, jazz, no wave, blues and noise
music, with oRen unorthodox instrumentaOon. In the beginning, improvised music
dominated, on oil barrels for example, without any real melodies. Some of it was then
merged into shorter, arranged songs without losing its experimental qualities.
Around 450 concerts and the last studio and live album on Alternative Tentacles, the
Dog Faced Hermans disbanded in 1995.
Marion Coutts,returned to Great Britain and has since devoted herself primarily to visual art
- with a few detours into music, including The Ex, the American group God is My Co-Pilot
(Peel Session 1994) and Tom Cora. She has also made a name for herself outside of Great
Britain with her laconic sculptures and video installaOons. Since the publication of her first
book, “The Iceberg,” which contains memories of her husband Tom Lubbock, who died in
2011, Coutts has also appeared as a writer.
Andy Moor is still a full time member of The Ex.
Links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_acE7CDz_QY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTpjx7vVVc&list=RD9BTpjx7vVVc&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLd0-FrUUDU&list=RDwLd0-FrUUDU&start_radio=1&t=4s
DOG FACED HERMANS LIVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOAStfrwLQo&list=RDhOAStfrwLQo&start_radio=1&t=290s