Suzan Peeters and Memotone in session

Verity Sharp shares the fruits of our latest exclusive collaboration session, recorded at London’s Total Refreshment Centre, in which Belgian accordionist and composer Suzan Peeters joins forces with Memotone, the musical moniker of Newport-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Will Yates.

Since studying classical accordion at the Ghent Royal Conservatory and then the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, Suzan Peeters has spent her adult life exploring the instrument’s sonic range. Becoming intrigued by the electronic character of its sound, Suzan has been pushing the acoustic spectrum of the accordion to its limits, constantly trying to find new ways to coax out new sonorities from her instrument. She combines accordion, electronics and objects - including a massage board - on her latest album Cassotto on the Belgian label blickwinkel.

For this Late Junction session, Suzan is joined by Memotone, one of several aliases of Will Yates, a Wales-based, self-taught multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer. Making music as Memotone since 2007 and releasing fifteen (or so) albums along the way, Will’s instruments of choice typically include clarinet, guitar, synths and pedals, his sound encompassing the layering of melodic elements with textures and sounds found amidst the mossy forest floors and open fields that surround his Welsh home. His latest album, For Clarinets, is a live recording of improvisations on clarinet with Tara Clerkin, released on Bristol’s bliss archive label. He performs solo at Kings Place as part of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival.

Produced by Cat Gough
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3