My second collection of poetry entitled Afternoon Music will shortly be available from Palewell Press… in May 2020.
Capac - After Lights Out with Tom Harding
Introducing Capac - After Lights Out with Tom Harding
A musical collaboration with the band Capac.
A little background to how the collaboration occurred-
‘The two main forces behind the band, Gary Saloman and Stuart Cook, are stretched across Athens and Bristol these days, and this, their third album, finds them in an ambitious mood as ever.
Stuart happened to hear Palewell Press author Tom Harding’s reading of his poem Night Work on the KCRW podcast Nocturne and was inspired by the inherent musicality of both his delivery and the nocturnal scenes he depicts, which prompted him to contact the poet and propose the collaboration that led to this full length work.
The result is ten tracks that explore the crossover possibilities in areas of sound including new music, minimalism, ambient/experimental electro-acoustic and, of course, Harding’s spoken word world, as Capac offer his poems an alternative and entirely new context to that of the original 2017 Palewell Press publication.
The poet’s voice is heard alongside the nuances of his recordings — his page- turns and breaths, the creak of his chair — in combination with contemporary extended piano techniques, modular synthesis, altered field recordings, tape manipulations, and the vocals of Capac’s Kate Smith, all recorded and produced in and between Athens, Greece, and Bristol, Liverpool and London, UK.
Capac continue to explore unconventional physical release concepts as they did for Through the Dread Waste, for which the Deluxe Combustible Edition comes in the form of a wooden log with a metal plate embedded inside - the log must be burnt to gain access to bonus tracks and additional material.
After Lights Out comes in the form of a Matchbox Player and Candle. Embedded within the matchbox is a tiny MP3 player featuring the album plus one unique bonus track per unit; the listener is invited to light their candle and enjoy the album as it was conceived and produced by both Capac and Harding: at night in an otherwise dark room. Each physical package also includes a unique Polaroid photograph taken in Athens or Bristol of a night scene that references - overtly or otherwise - an aspect of one of the poems.’
The pre-order is live now: https://capac.bandcamp.com/album/after-lights-out-with-tom-harding
…and you can listen to Night Work, the lead track from the record on Bandcamp and Spotify:
TPQ5: The Poetry Question Interview
The Poetry Question asked me my top 5 poetry recommendations… HERE
Write Out Loud - Interview
Earlier this year I shared my thoughts on poetry with Write Out Loud here.
Nocturne T-shirts
I’ve designed t-shirts based on old jazz album covers for my favourite podcast Nocturne, available here-
Nocturne Podcast
I can be heard on the latest episode of the Nocturne Podcast talking about Poetry and the Night.
Hear it here
“Nocturne: Quiet Transmission
Poetry and the night are some of the last remaining domains of “unknowing”; places where it’s acceptable to digest the world slowly and without conclusion, and where one can linger in, and traverse, experiences like solitude, impermanence, and wonder. Poets Cecily Parks and Tom Harding are both drawn to explore the intersection between the quiet tender moments of night and the act of writing and reading poetry. It’s a space where one can capture fleeting wisps from the darkness, and then send them off for others to hold like fireflies in a jar. Poems from the night are like fragments of dreams forgotten upon waking, reminders of things lost to us in the day.”
Reading Events December
I’ll be reading at the following in December,
Camden Poetry, London Poetry Project In support of the Cold Weather Shelters Friday 7th December 2018 at 7.00p.m. (doors open 6.30) @ Trinity United Reform Church, 1 Buck St, Camden Town Ent. £5/£4 Wine
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Soul Food Poetry in Northampton @ Foodies.rocks, 19-21 Derngate, NN1 1TY Saturday 15th December. Come along for a night of spoken word, music and food. Tickets can be bought here -
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/knock-knock-26-northampton-tickets-48159509389?aff=26SFP5
More info here-https://www.facebook.com/events/2027152287597665/
Night Work Now Available on Kindle
My poetry book Night Work now available on kindle.
Prefect beach reading this summer... poems that, 'conjure up the prevailing melancholy of being awake in the small hours.'
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DL5GHM3/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Reading At Northampton's Arts Lab
Very enjoyable night on 27th April reading poems from Night Work at the Northampton Arts Lab poetry evening alongside local writers including the great Alan Moore https://t.co/xLR0vXN40F https://t.co/try3cmD5k1 https://t.co/ivYjjhuU2C
'Courtyard in Snow' by Tom Harding is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week
'Courtyard in Snow' by Tom Harding is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week -
https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=75699