Duncan Marquiss

"I like it when music builds itself up in an organic fashion,” says Duncan Marquiss. “When it just seems to emerge and almost writes itself.”

This natural, intuitive and free flowing approach is evident in the music of the multi-disciplinary artist and The Phantom Band guitarist. From tender yet sweeping acoustic moments to experimental electronic guitar manipulations, his debut album Wires Turned Sideways In Time (due for release in March 2022 on Basin Rock) feels like a ceaselessly sprawling exploration of texture and tone. Whilst veering into what sounds like electronic ambient soundscapes and displaying a cosmic touch tracing back to 1970s Germany, the entire album is rooted in the guitars.

Despite containing no lyrics, Marquiss's music feels embedded in narrative and development. As the album unfolds the acoustic guitar becomes more prominent over the electric, almost as if nature is slowly taking back and growing over abandoned human-made structures. A record that, despite being experimental in tone and essence, retains a very human and natural touch throughout.