Music
Photo: Raphael Neal
THE SKINNY
Ben Corrigan and Anna Meredith
Rule of Three February 2022 – Feature
Ahead of releasing a stunning collection of music created as part of his Excuse the Mess podcast, we speak to composer and podcast creator Ben Corrigan Interview: Tallah Brash
W
hat if you could create a piece of music with one of your favourite musicians, but there are rules and limitations you have to stick to: no part of the music can be predetermined, you can only use one instrument or item to create that piece of music (electronic manipulation is allowed, however) and you only have one day to complete it. Sounds mad, right? But it’s a major component of composer Ben Corrigan’s award-winning Excuse the Mess podcast, which has now seen him collaborate with 17 of his favourite musicians and composers. The first episode of the podcast aired in September 2017 featuring Austrian hang (handpan) player Manu Delago, who produced Anoushka Shankar’s 2016 album Land of Gold and has
worked and toured extensively with Björk. An impressive first get. Following a 'getting to know you' style discussion between Corrigan and Delago, the pair then set to work on creating a piece of music together, and you get to hear the process as part of the podcast before the composition is played in full. Since that first episode, Corrigan has had everyone from Gold Panda and Hannah Peel to Oliver Coates and Anna Meredith as guests, and while a lot of artists chose to use instruments they’re used to working with, there are some unusual choices to be found too such as an ice rink (Mira Calix) and a pesto jar (Meredith), sundried tomato in case you were wondering. This February, all 17 tracks created via the podcast are — 20 —
getting a two-part digital release with beautiful accompanying limited edition books, so we catch up with Corrigan over Zoom to find out more. The Skinny: Can you give us a bit of background on yourself for our readers who might not be familiar with you and your podcast? Ben Corrigan: I am originally from Carlisle... I listened to metal and played in a metal band, I didn’t grow up classically trained. But I ended up getting into film music and from there got really into classical music... I rustled up a portfolio and got a place at Trinity Laban to do composition. I didn’t really have a clue about electronic music and there was an Introduction to Logic Pro class, and that became the thing I wanted to pursue the most.
