What's On / Bristol Gigs / drone/noise

Drone, Noise & Experimental

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Bristol's Drone/noise Scene

Bristol’s drone and noise rock scenes are some of the most awesome musical niches found in this city. Small packed-out gigs, captivated crowds and performers pushing the boundaries between music, white noise and sound art. While international names like Tim Hecker and the Haxan Cloak have made appearances in Bristol, it’s local label Howling Owl Records and promoters Cacophonous Sarcophagus who are leading the way here. Keep your eyes peeled for gigs at the Arnolfini gallery, The Cube cinema, The Exchange and small events spaces like the Scout Hut and Centre Space.

Intimate Drone/noise music in Bristol
The Bristol drone/noise scene, it’s not just the Bristol Hum like you’d think! Bristol drone and noise gigs can be some of the most intimate around, the crowd all huddled in silence in one of Bristol prestigious venues (like the newly rebranded Bristol Beacon). Although lacking big local names to rival international drone artists like William Basinski or Tim Hecker, there’s been a recent increase in ambient gigs, nights like Dark Alchemy and Lust Pattern have taken the beat out of music but still made it droney and noisey, and just very Bristol.

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Our recent drone/noise recommendations

Woi oi! Iconic 'ardkore action incoming from the unrivaled Moving Shadow fold! Reinforced / Altern8 / Shut Up And Dance heads will already have their tickets of course. For everyone else: breakbeat ravestalgia doesn’t come much ruffer than 2 Bad Mice, chopping samples and bombing tha bass like it was the Second Summer of Love all over again. 2 Bad Mice + Friends at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! Harakiri are the only band you need on your post-black sky chariot riding mix. Triumphant melody barely disguising soul-wrenching trauma, blistering blast-beats; BM purists beware, this is pure catharsis stitched with post-rock, post-hardcore, grunge and skramz DNA. With Denmark's impossibly mournful Sunken opening things up, ethereal awakenings await disciples of: Alcest, Deafheaven, Drudkh, WitTR. Harakiri for the Sky & Sunken at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! You’ve never heard pipes like this! Queer futurism from visionary bagpiper Malin Lewis, playing self-made instruments and the world’s first wooden Lindsay Chanter. Malin channels their pipes and drones to form a layered, shifting sonic language that lives between binaries. Malin Lewis at The Jam Jar.

British folk iconoclast Chris Wood graces the candlelit hush of John Wesley’s New Room. His everyday epics sketch sharp-edged portraits of England’s many overlooked lives, from empty nests to minor league football teams to tragedies of industrial decay. Acute compassion ballads FFO: Martin Carthy, Karine Polwart, Billy Bragg, Richard Dawson. Chris Wood at John Wesley’s New Room.

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What our editors say

“Across the long weekend you will hear a whole collection of sounds and styles. Folk, psych, electronica, global, indie, ambient, disco, breakbeat, neo-soul, UK garage and many more. What matters is not the genre, but the feeling, the vibe, the energy.”
From: Shuffley Daze Music Festival

“Curbside Lambsear is Annabelle Mödlinger and Magdalena McLean. The collaboration explores rough textures and soft intentions, weaving together elements of pop, folk, and improvisation with influences of drone, dub, and post-punk.”
From: Curbside Lambsear

“Blending ambient, neoclassical, electronic and avant-pop influences, his immersive compositions create expansive sonic landscapes that invite deep listening and introspection. Across more than 30 albums, collaborations with figures including Ram Dass, Jon Hopkins and Laraaji, and performances around the world, East Forest has become a leading voice at the intersection of music, mindfulness and wellbeing.”
From: East Forest

“On stage, live drums and synths are intertwined with drum machines, laptops, samplers, chopped vocal fragments and custom robotic percussion, creating a hypnotic exchange of rhythm, texture and improvisation. The music twists and evolves in real time, moving from meditative ambient passages to explosive, adrenaline-charged rhythmic peaks. No two performances are ever the same.”
From: Elf Traps + Shunya

“T.G. EDWARDS creates dark-ambient modular soundscapes and over the last 2 years has taken inspiration from exoplanets and the ancient concept of musica universalis or “music of the spheres” to create music based on the movement of celestial bodies. His latest album, Corrupted Celestial Body was released in May this year on Italian label Brutal Forms.”
From: Return To The Crypt