sanguine
- the
band
sanguine playing together in 2005:
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The sanguinearts network began with the band sanguine. The founder members (Benjamin Whitaker aka benjamin_sanguine, Justin Duance and David Ratcliffe aka SANEMAN) met whilst studying their foundation year in art and design at the Portsmouth School of Art Design & Media, part of the University of Portsmouth.
benjamin's work
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Justin had just left another band called Fringe ( whose successes in the Southampton area at that time were leading to record company interest), seeking more control over his artistic freedom. Benjamin had written many songs for vocals and acoustic guitar and had tried in vain to form a series of bands, but was unable to find suitably dedicated musicians. David had many inspiring lyrical and rhythmic ideas and was developing a special skill for the bass. The combination of these three artistic talents and open minds lead to a wide range of demos, taking influences from Rock, Folk, avant garde, and electronica.
justin's work
A year was spent in musical, artistic and personal developement before Justin and Benjamin departed to London to study Jewellery Design and Fine Art, respectively. David remained in Portsmouth and studied Illustration. University was a time of freedom and discovery and the guys matured in themselves and in their music. From that time on sanguine has centrally consisted of Justin and Benjamin, although David still plays a major role, and records with Keith Sandys under the name negative PANDA. Also other musicians have contributed and been hugely inspirational; not least Duncan Ward aka New Low; . Benjamin also records his own material as benjamin_sanguine. A lot of new material was produced and different types of sound production explored whilst the various members were at University: acoustic lo-fi, digital processing, free improvisation.
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Dave's work
negative PANDA
samneric
sanguine
played two acoustic gigs in Soho, London in 1999, before the completion
of their degrees dominated their time.
Drummer Joe Parfitt
worked with Benjamin and Justin during 2000, and some new digital recordings
were made, reworking existing material and developing new songs.
With
their expansion into new media and internet technology sanguine
were able to reach a new audience, whilst continuing to expand
their traditional live and recording activities.
In June 2001 Justin
relocated his jewellery making business to West Cornwall, and a chapter
in the life of sanguine was ended.
Some examples of the best 4 track recordings made between 1996 and 2001
will soon be available here. The members of the band regularly work together
musically and artistically. Since 2002 Benjamin and Duncan have been working
together as Samneric - combining lo-fi,
avant-garde experimentalism and electronica, with a lot of humour. This
recent sanguinearts
product has resulted in a series of CDs and one live performance so far,
at The Klinker in Dalston, NE London.Also, the posibilities of digital
technology enable Benjamin, Justin, Dave and many others to create new
recordings, further developing the sanguine sound. New developments will
be posted here.
