Will Guthrie is an Australian drummer / percussionist living in France. He plays solo using different combinations of drums, percussion, amplification and electronics, and leads the contemporary hybrid percussion / gamelan group ENSEMBLE NIST-NAH. His music has been released on labels such as Black Truffle, Editions Mego, Erstwhile, Clean Feed, Gaffer Records, Hasana Editions, 23five, iDEAL and his own label Antboy Music.

Guthrie first made a name for himself within the Australian jazz scene, establishing himself at a young age as a major presence by winning the Wangaratta National Jazz Awards for drums in 1997 and going on to perform with many of Australia’s most celebrated jazz musicians such as Mark Simmonds, Julien Wilson and Ren Walters. In the new millennium, his work took a long detour away from the drum kit through junk electronics, extreme amplification and electro-acoustic techniques, documented on a series of solo and collaborative recordings from these years.

Alongside continuing his electro-acoustic work, in the last decade, Guthrie has returned to the drums with a vengeance, developing a series of solo works marked by a radical single-mindedness, from relentless rhythmic workouts to earth-quaking explorations of the bass frequencies of gongs and other metal percussion instruments. In the crowded world of free jazz/improv percussion, Guthrie’s work is distinguished from the delicately pointillist approach of much European improvisation by its rhythmic sophistication, unashamed virtuosity and undeniable physicality, touching on aspects of world musics from Javanese gamelan to South Indian Carnatic music.

As a dedicated grassroots and DIY concert organiser, while still a student in Melbourne Guthrie (alongside Ren Walters) established the weekly concert series ‘Improvised Tuesdays’, now known as the Make It Up Club, Australia’s longest running performance series for improvised and experimental music. On moving to Nantes, Guthrie joined the collective CABLE#, curating and organising regular concerts and an annual festival.

Guthrie has released over 50 Albums, as both soloist and in collaboration, on labels such as his own Antboy Music, and also Black Truffle, Editions Mego, Gaffer Records, Ideal, Ipacac and Clean Feed. He has performed at countless venues and festivals all over the world including Lieu Unique (Nantes), Cafe Oto (London), Berghain (Berlin), Super Deluxe (Tokyo), SPRING Performing Arts Festival (Utrecht), Meta House (Phnom Penh), MONA FONA (Hobart), Suoni Per Il Popolo (Montreal), Lampo (Chicago), Oct Loft Jazz Happening (Shenzhen) and the Geometry Of Now (Moscow).

Regular collaborators past and present include Oren Ambarchi, Container, Sarah Hennies, James Rushford, Ghassen Chiba, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Erell Latimier, Mark Fell, Roscoe Mitchell, Chulki Hong, Mark Simmonds, Jérôme Noetinger, Keith Rowe, David Maranha, Ava Mendoza, the film maker Hangjun Lee and choreographer/dancer Mette Ingvartsen.

PRESS PICS CLICK HERE

those who help : the ames room, elwood, charlie, helmut schäfer, mark simmonds, freeboppers, jason lescalleet, graham lambkin, nina simone, ghostface killah, inspectah deck, roscoe mitchell, noonah, henry threadgill, air, caboose, mark shepherd, anthony braxton, john duncan ghost stories, ronald shannon jackson, decoding society, valerio tricoli, phil treloar, feeling to thought, ivo papasov, will oldham, palace brothers, arise therefore, nusrat, louis burdett, nude, art ensemble of chicago, lori song, uncle, erika, royal african drummers, jimi hendrix, michael gendreau, peter brötzmann, mahmoud guinia, jean-philippe gross, ferran fages, eric b & rakim, eric la casa, eric cordier, paul motian, rza, gza, PiL, eliane radigue, rahsaan roland kirk, ernie althoff, dudu pukwana, captain beefheart, whitehouse, cut hands, consumer electronics, wriggle like a fucking eel, roil, the necks, tim goldie, debussy, randy h yah, joe colley, ed blackwell, scott arford, bomb squad, curse ov dialect, michel chion, lionel marchetti, greg sheehan, greg malcolm, kojo owusu, peter humble, snuff puppet band, dynamic hepnotics, michael sheridan, peacocks guitar band, big daddy kane, the roots, trevor watts, moiré music, saalfelden encore, tyshawn sorey, john bohnam, deerhoof, pj harvey, white chalk, curtis mayfield, glenn nebis, kadoonka, ava mendoza, quok, eddie bronson, arnett cobb, oren ambarchi, robbie avenaim, clockwork, ashanti afrika jah, sonny rollins, ben webster, john tilbury, christine sullivan, ella fitzgerald, james brown, jérôme noetinger , mike cooper, mf doom, brian brown, barry altschul, john coltrane, elvin jones, milford graves, ravel, eric satie, france, mary halvorson, dylan kent, salif keita, paco sery, abdelkebir amlil, spiderbait, split enz, buzzcocks, alex ward, new, 12 tone diamonds, dna, james blood ulmer, nirvana, arial pink, damien schultz, jean-francois laporte, harunalshola, joy division, paul lovens, ian chaplin, will poskitt, jack dejohnette, the meanies , kevin drumm, pumice, pateras baxter brown, beta erko, matt earle, adam sussmann, bernie mcgann, john pochee, run dmc, jaco pastorius, robert ashley, phil bywater, wayne shorter, the police, maleem mahmoud ghania, pharaoh sanders, king idiot, ornette coleman, prime time, body meta, taku unami, albert mangelsdorff, joel stern, james chance, metro de velour, steve roden, ken edie, artisans workshop, madness, albert ayler, alvin lucier, tim stevens, illinois jacquet, squarepusher, coleman hawkins, roswell rudd, toma gouband, arthur blythe, arthur narcy, earl sweatshirt, natasha anderson, woody guthrie, bruce babs clarke, city city city, ned collette, julien wilson, steve magnusson, pumice, nico schauble, ted vining, musiikki oy, arek gulbenkoglu, dworzec, greg kingston, jim denley, machine for making sense, amanda stewart, earth, sunn o))), black one, diana ross, bucketrider, ben carr, trilok gurtu, john mclaughlin, hard ons, no comply, lester young, michael vorfeld, kynan robinson, rod cooper, keith moon, mohammad, free music & dance collective, thembi soddel, gert-jan prins, tumbleweed, mos def, martin brandlmayr, archie shepp, dark dark dark, dirty three, andy moor, fela, bill frisell, power tools, charlemagne palestine, tetuzi akiyama, jeremy alsop, dewey redman, nas, miles davis, agharta, michael jordan, paul williamson, paul bley, tony williams, lifetime, adrian sherriff, david tudor, burkhard biens, sonny sharrock, andrew hill, richard davis, eric dolphy, anthony donaldson, jeff henderson, oritz funeral directors, ottavi automated percussion music, steve lacy, trickles, birthday party, david ades, eric gravatt, steve coleman, mf doom, mattin, om, james fei, chewbacca, charles mingus, talking heads, herbie nichols, charlie haden, thomas ankersmit, phill niblock, alvin lucier, sun ra, john gilmore, nothing is, dead kennedys, eyes of the heart, public enemy, weather report, keith rowe, amm, evan parker, paul lytton, diane peters, shaheen razmara rip, sufi dervish, bohjass, tim pledger, polwechsel, richard & johnny tedesco, chari, otomo yoshide, david tolley, dur-é dara, ren walters, tip, mat maneri, sieur & dame, chausse trappe, john hollenbeck, gareth skinner, lazy, peeping tom, tom rainey, the international nothing, j-dilla, donuts, mark sanders, pierre-antoine badaroux, zoor, mf doom, notorius b.i.g, seoul got soul crew, the who, chulki hong, jin sangtae, ryu hankil, sleaford mods, choi joonyong, booba, madvillain, mf doom, slum village, lana del rey, gravediggaz, eminem, gaslamp killer, KG, morton feldman, sarah hennies, frasyer click, dj sound, noël akchoté, anne guthrie, ahmad jamal, rudolf eb.er, knxwledge, ronan courty, container, jürg frey, david bowie, kraftwerk, curtis mayfield, steve lehman, prabhu edouard, dollar brand, young thug, three-6 mafia, red prysock, mark fell, solange, nxworries, the internet, frank ocean, marc baron, kate bush, melvins, dale crover, new order, the doobie brothers, the flying luttenbachers, mat maneri, randy peterson, yussef dayes, yann leguay, mark guiliana, marcus gilmore, james jamerson, marvin gaye, tammi terrell, earl sweatshirt, kate bush, phil collins, dewa alit, slim k, benny sings, paul de marinis, arnold dreyblatt, kiefer, cristián alvear, nate wood, nona marie invie, nist-nah crew, louis cole, monoNeon, domi, michael ranta, jessika kenney, suicidal rap orgy, mc slurry, passenger of shit, kayakata,