Ray Aggs

Ray Aggs
Aggs in 2020
Background information
GenresPost-punk, indie pop
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • violin
Years active2009–present
LabelsFatCat Records, Upset The Rhythm, Slumberland Records, Rock Action Records, Merge Records, Mïlk Records
Member of

Ray Aggs is a musician based in Glasgow.[1][2] Primarily known for their distinctive guitar work, influenced by both West African highlife and post-punk, they also sing and play the violin.

Career

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They have been playing with the band Trash Kit since 2009, formed with Rachel Horwood and Ros Murray (later replaced by Gill Partington), releasing 3 albums on the Upset! The Rhythm Indie-label, a self-titled record in 2010, Confidence, in 2014 and Horizon in 2019.[3][4][5]

Aggs is also a member of Shopping, formed with Andrew Milk and Billy Easter, since 2012. Other bands have included The Madrigals, Covergirl, Golden Grrrls, and Sacred Paws, who released their debut EP in 2015.[6]

In June 2017, Sacred Paws debut album Strike A Match, released the previous January, was awarded Scottish Album of the Year.[7]

They have written several zines, including I Trust My Guitar and DIY Guitar for beginners.[8][9] Aggs has often been featured in the Shotgun Seamstress zine,[10] a book of when re-released had Aggs involved in a discussion panel of Black zinesters at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C. in 2022.[11]

Following the theme of their zines, Aggs has taught guitar in workshops, one called Decolonising The Guitar and as part of the workshop series leading up to First Timers festival at DIY Space For London.[9][12]

Between 2011-2015 they worked at Power Lunches in Dalston, East London, active in the scene cultivated at the venue.[13]

They were a contributor to performance of the Pauline Oliveros score To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe, In Recognition of their Desperation in a performance in the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, 2012.[14] As well as on a second occasion in a film-based performance with other musicians Peaches, Catriona Shaw, Verity Susman, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, and William Wheeler in a film of the same name by artists Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz and shown at Museum of Modern Art, New York, in a special event with the artists, Oliveros and Gregg Bordowitz in May 2014.[15]

On 14 April 2018 Aggs performed at the Barbican as part of a 12 guitarist group assembled by Thurston Moore; along with Deborah Goodge, Susan Stenger, Jonah Falco, Joseph Coward, and more.[16] In 2022 Aggs was in Nikita Gale's Frieze installation 63/62 alongside other musicians Alpha Maid and Joviale.[17]

In 2020 Aggs started releasing and performing solo music, now under the name R.Aggs.[18][19] Their first solo EP, recorded the year before, as part of the second series of Lost Map Records' 'Visitations' subscription service. Each release in the series is recorded by the artist whilst staying in a bothy on the isle of Eigg, where the label is based, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides.[20] Aggs also composed the song Another Road for the 2021 Netflix film Hilda and the Mountain King alongside Vice Cooler.[21]

Discography

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Solo

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Golden Grrrls

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Sacred Paws

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Shopping

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Trash Kit

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "Ray Aggs' Instagram profile". Instagram. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  2. ^ "V I S I T ▲ T I O N S | Rachel Aggs". Lost Map Records. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  3. ^ "UPSET THE RHYTHM | Artists | Trash Kit". upsettherhythm.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Auto Italia — Yes Way!". Auto Italia. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. ^ "The Quietus | Reviews | Trash Kit". thequietus.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Premiere: Sacred Paws - 'Six Songs' EP". 9 March 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Sacred Paws win album of the year". BBC News. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  8. ^ "I TRUST MY GUITAR". r4ggs.tumblr.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  9. ^ a b Schemmer, Cynthia (6 November 2019). "Guest Editor Rachel Aggs on Decolonizing the Guitar, Gauche, and More". She Shreds Media. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Shotgun Seamstress". Soft Skull Press. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Shotgun Seamstress Book Launch". DC Public Library Event. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  12. ^ "On the sound of community". thecreativeindependent.com. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Power Lunches Ltd". powerlunchesltd.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Artist talk and performance: Pauline Oliveros | Tate". tate.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  15. ^ "MoMA | An Evening with Pauline Boudry/Renate Lorenz with Gregg Bordowitz and Pauline Oliveros". moma.org. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  16. ^ "Thurston Moore: GALAXIES 12x12 Music for Twelve 12-String guitars". The Barbican.
  17. ^ Dozier, Ayanna (12 October 2022). "Inside Nikita Gale's Frieze London Installation That Honors Black Women Musicians". Artsy. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  18. ^ "R.AGGS (UK) Full Tour Schedule 2023 & 2024, Tour Dates & Concerts – Songkick". www.songkick.com. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  19. ^ "//TAPE 1//, by R.AGGS". R.AGGS. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  20. ^ a b Phillips, Stephanie (6 August 2020). "Coastal Explorations: Visitations 0202 By Rachel Aggs". The Quietus. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  21. ^ Another Road by Rachel Aggs & Vice Cooler, retrieved 17 June 2023
  22. ^ "Hilda and the Mountain King End Credits". YouTube.
  23. ^ Sendra, Tim (2017). "Strike a Match review". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  24. ^ "Sacred Paws share new track 'The Conversation', announce album". DIY. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  25. ^ "SHOPPING - 'CONSUMER COMPLAINTS' LP". Milkrecords.bigcartel.com. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Why Choose, by Shopping". FatCat Records. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  27. ^ "The Official Body, by Shopping". Shopping. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  28. ^ "Album Review: Shopping - The Official Body". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  29. ^ Minsker, Evan (5 December 2019). "Shopping Announce New Album All or Nothing, Share New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  30. ^ Gourlay, Dom (17 May 2010). "Trash Kit Trash Kit Label: Upset The Rhythm". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  31. ^ Powell, Mike (2 June 2010). "Trash Kit: Trash Kit". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  32. ^ Thompson, Paul (2 December 2014). "Trash Kit: Confidence". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  33. ^ Ingham, Thomas. "Trash Kit - Confidence". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  34. ^ Fenwick, Tom (26 November 2014). "Trash Kit Confidence Label: Upset The Rhythm". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  35. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (16 May 2019). "Trash Kit announce first album in five years with lead single "Horizon"". Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
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