Public Service Broadcasting (band)

Public Service Broadcasting
Public Service Broadcasting performing during their The Race for Space Tour in 2015.[a]
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Alternative,[1] art rock, indie rock, electronica, dance-punk, krautrock[2]
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Test Card Recordings, Believe Recordings, PIAS Recordings
Website	publicservicebroadcasting.net
Members	J. Willgoose Esq. Wrigglesworth JF Abraham

Public Service Broadcasting are a London-based musical group consisting of J. Willgoose, Esq. on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samplings and electronic musical instruments, Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic musical instruments, and J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and assorted other instruments including a vibraslap.^[3] The band has toured internationally and in 2015 was announced as nominee in the Vanguard breakthrough category of the fourth annual Progressive Music Awards, staged by Prog magazine,^[4] which they won.^[5]

History[]

At first, the band consisted solely of Willgoose. He made his public debut at The Selkirk pub in Tooting, London, England in August 2009. Shortly afterwards he issued EP One. Teaming up with Wrigglesworth on drums, the band played its first festival in September 2010, Aestival in Suffolk, and work began on a second EP, The War Room, which was released in May 2012. Since then, the band has released three albums, Inform-Educate-Entertain (2013); The Race for Space (2015); and Every Valley (2017). The Race for Space was supported by two shows at the National Space Centre in Leicester celebrating the album's launch. The album charted just outside the top 10 in 11th place in the UK in its release week and reaching Number 1 in the UK Independent Charts for that week. A follow-up EP was released at the tail end of 2015 (Sputnik/Korolev) which was backed up by a UK tour, climaxing in the band's biggest headline show, a sold-out night at the O2 Academy Brixton, of which a live album was released in 2016. While writing The War Room the band formed a close relationship with the British Film Institute, using their material during live shows.^[6]

On 10 March 2017, PSB released a new single titled Progress featuring vocals from Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura with photo shoots showing the band as a three-piece with new member JF Abraham featured on promotional photos. Their third studio album, entitled Every Valley, about the coal mining industry's rise and fall in the Welsh Valleys between the 1950s and 1980s, was released on 7 July 2017. As with The Race for Space, the band had two album launch concerts, this time in Ebbw Vale, where the LP was recorded.

In June 2018, PSB appeared at the BBC Music "Big Weekend", playing at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. As part of this a series of four new pieces, based on the story of the RMS Titanic, was debuted. These tracks were released as the EP White Star Liner on 26 October 2018.

They performed a "specially commissioned new arrangement" of The Race for Space on 25 July 2019 in a late-night Prom, joined by and the Multi-Story Orchestra, the performance being shown on BBC television the following night.^[7]

In December 2020, Willgoose released ambient solo EP A Wonderful Hope under the name Late Night Final. This release on PIAS Recordings,^[8] is a record which featured soundscape artist Teddy Hunter on the track "The Human Touch".^[9][10][11]

On 2 June 2021, PSB debuted the first single, called "People, Let’s Dance" from their upcoming fourth studio album "Bright Magic".^[12]

Music style and live performances[]

The band mostly plays instrumental music; Willgoose has said that "singing is never going to work. I'm not going to be happy with it, I'm not going to be comfortable playing it to other people."^[6] They take samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material.^[13] Despite Willgoose's prior reservations about singing, he did later contribute vocals to the duet piece "You + Me" from Every Valley, because the intended vocalist was not available.

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Remix albums[]

Live albums[]

EPs[]

Singles[]

• "ROYGBIV" – 5 March 2012^[15] which won the BBC Radio 6 Music Rebel Playlist.^[16]
• "Spitfire" – 26 March 2012^{[17][18][19][20]} which won the BBC Radio 6 Music Rebel Playlist.^[21] The song sampled dialogue and sound from the 1942 film "The First of the Few", and the video incorporated footage from the same film.
• "London Can Take It" – 13 August 2012^[22][23]
• "Everest" – 12 November 2012 only for digital downloading. The song is based around The Conquest of Everest, a 1953 film charting Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's first successful ascent of the mountain.^[24]
• "Signal 30"^[25]
• "Night Mail"^[26]
• "Elfstedentocht" (Record Store Day single; 11 November 2013)^[27][28]
• "Gagarin" – 1 December 2014 (first single of the album "The Race For Space")
• "Go!" – 23 February 2015
• "Sputnik/Korolev" – 20 November 2015 No. 4 UK Physical^[29]
• "Progress" – 10 March 2017 (first single of the band's third album) ^[30]
• "They Gave Me a Lamp"
• "People Will Always Need Coal"
• "White Star Liner"
• "People, Let’s Dance" (feat. EERA)

Notes[]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Public Service Broadcasting on BBC Music
• Public Service Broadcasting on MusicBrainz