Mark Holub of Led Bib in 2010. Photo credit: Russ Escritt

Mark Holub writes about a joyous return of Led Bib to London for the Match&Fuse Festival at Vortex and Rich Mix: 

On July 26th, Led Bib will be appearing as part of the 2013 Match&Fuse Mini-Fest at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green. We also featured at the inaugural Match&Fuse festival last year and we are very excited to be able to appear again.

In case you aren’t familiar with Match&Fuse, it’s project run by Dave Morecroft and WorldService Project where they do exactly what it says on the tin (!), they put these bands together on tours where they perform and get to learn, grow and collaborate with musicians from across Europe. It’s a great thing that he is doing, and a great platform for young musicians across the UK. The festival brings together some former participants as well as some local bands:

Troyka
Kairos 4tet
a Chris Sharkey solo set
Actuum (France)
Jazzpospolita (Poland)
Mopti (Norway)  
Ay! (Italy)
and ourselves
Listen to the bands here:

This is the first time that Led Bib will have played in London since February, where we recorded what will soon become a limited edition live LP at the Vortex. For those of you who haven’t been watching the Led Bib site, we have recently done a Kickstarter campaign, which is funding our 10th anniversary celebrations which includes both the aforementioned live LP and a new CD, both of which will be released in April 2014. On the gig we will be playing music from the as yet unrecorded album, so, now is you chance to hear it all before we go in the studio….The tunes have really come together on our recent tours and we are really looking forward to bringing them to London and the Match and Fuse Festival.

Alongside all the great concerts there is a series of SEMINARS about all aspects of the music industry and I will be featured in one, alongside Chris Sharkey and Alex Roth, talking about the musicians perspective, and hopefully helping musicians navigate the ‘professional’ world.

With me having relocated to Vienna and the rest of the band involved in many different projects, it actually makes the gigs more exciting because even while everyone is pursuing their own things, Led Bib remains a special thing for all of us and when we all get in a room together and play, it’s an experience that I don’t get from other projects and I am very much looking forward to the concert and the whole festival.”

Buy tickets here /  Match&Fuse website