ORO 003 – Brian Routh – You Can’t Be Me EP
12” Vinyl + Digital
Release date: October 2015
Mastered by Sam @ Precise
Distributed by Kudos
Written, Produced and Performed by Brian Routh
Artwork by Patricia Routh
Press Enquiries: Jack@hemlockrecordings.co.uk

A1: You Can’t Be Me
A2: Laughing

B1: Men
B2: Nothing Left To Say

Following albums from Untold and Lord Skywave the ORO label prepares its’ first vinyl release due this autumn from performance artist/songwriter/poet Brian Routh.

Brian has been active since the early seventies beginning with the experimental performance duo ‘The Kipper Kids’ with Martin Rochus Sebastian von Haselberg. In their performance work they created elaborate but purposely low-tech installations in which they would perform "ceremonies" using mostly found objects. Examples are "Tea Ceremony" (1972) a Japanese tea ceremony-inspired piece and "Boxing Ceremony" (1972) in which one performer beats himself until bloodied whilst the other acts as referee. Japanese rituals, English music hall, Viennese Actionism, and the work of Samuel Beckett were amongst their influences.

In 1982 they stopped actively collaborating, and Brian has continued as a solo performance artist focusing on soundworks and Film. These have been presented at the Royal Academy and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

Brian has also collaborated and appeared with Karen Finley, Henry Rollins, Public Image, Genesis P. Orridge, Sex Pistols, Joanna Went, Eric Bogosian, Anne Bean, Bow Gamelan, Lol Coxhill, Paul Burwell, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey and Ian Hinchcliffe among others.

Brian’s soundworks incorporate his own vocal rants and spontaneous poetry as well as soundbites of world leaders, politicians, madmen, poets, rebels, murderers and others. The majority of his work is published on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/brianrouth


This EP collects four works performed by Brian and set to music. They were recorded in Leicester, UK in early 2015.


As Brian puts it:

“The songs/rants/poems on this EP are spontaneous verbal outpourings and the content is whatever oozes out of me; sometimes rants, sometimes poetry, sometimes self-reflection.”