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LONGSTONE BIOGRAPHY

Longstone are an electronic/experimental music group based in the West Country of the UK. Mike Ward and Mike Cross began working as Longstone in 1996. To date they have released 7 albums, 2 studio mini albums, 2 live recordings (their performance at the New York CMJ festival (10”) and Live at Highbury Garage when they were joined by Echo and the Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant) and have contributed a multitude of tracks to assorted independent 7”, compilation and fanzine releases.

Releases have picked up airplay with John Peel and Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC Radio 1 and have also crossed over to BBC Radio 3 (with plays on Mixing it and Late Junction) as well as Resonance FM, who asked Longstone to contribute a themed two hour special. Longstone also play live on a regular basis (including appearances at the CMJ festival in New York, Cheltenham Jazz festival and the Le Weekend festival in Stirling) both as Longstone and in other guises, including The Serpents and Brickwerk.

Over the years they have collaborated with a number of other artists and musicians including Echo and The Bunnymen's Will Sergeant, Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom, The Wild Swans Paul Simpson as well as members of Guillemots. Longstone have also had the pleasure of being chosen by Osbert Parker to perform a live score to his short BAFTA nominated animated film "Film Noir" at the Future Shorts event in Brixton.

Press coverage has been enjoyed in a wide variety of publications such as the Sunday Times Culture magazine, Uncut, the Wire (including a track on the Wiretapper 17 CD), Future Music (including a featured interview and track on the cover mounted CD) and a two-page article in the Guardian about the recording of the Serpents album.

In recent years the core duo of Mike Cross and Mike Ward have been joined by Chris Cundy (Guillemots, Cold Specks, Grace and Delete, Gannets, Courtesy Group, Nik Turner), Kev Fox (90 Degrees South, The Serpents, Brickwerk - Silverman, Brickwerk) and Stuart Wilding (Keith Tippett Lol Coxhill and Hugh Metcalf).

In 2011 Longstone started their own record label, Wavetable, for future Longstone releases as well as releases from other, like minded musicians.

Longstone discography: http://www.discogs.com/artist/51796-Longstone

Longstone info: http://www.wavetable.co.uk