Bishi

Artist, producer, WITCiH founder

On my Christmas Wish List, aside from the vaccine, would not only be a return to live music but affordable housing for people in the arts, the self-employed & small business owners. And a government that actually values the contribution of the arts to this country’s GDP. It would be nice if they gave a fuck!
Bishi
Bishi Interview
WITCiH

Bugeye

Band, inc Cro Cro Land festival founder Angela Martin

Angela:

• For people to be a little kinder to one another
• For Covid and all its various versions to fuck off
• And then if there’s any fairy magic left for a final wish or two, I’d like Spectrasonics Omnisphere software and a Duesenberg Julia Narvik (blue) guitar.
  Bugeye
  Bugeye interview
  Cro Cro Land festival
  

deux furieuses

Band

We are busy demoing new songs for our third album at home and could do with a new audio interface that doesnt drive us nuts. We like the look of the SSL 2+ audio interface. We could also do with an iMac Pro as Vas’s Mac is beyond hope! Personally from Vas if everyone gave turkeys a miss this Christmas that would be the best present. Ros wishes she had an Irish passport.
deux furieuses
deux furieuses interview

Dirty Freud

Artist, producer

This has been a mad year and it has shone a spotlight on some positive things as well as negative, so my wish is for all creatives out there to keep up the momentum and keep creating, damn what anyone else has to say, keep going for yourself and us as a whole.
Dirty Freud
Dirty Freud Interview

Guitar Gabby & The TxLips Band

Band

Guitar Gabby: One thing that is on my wishlist is an Ibanez JEM77P by Steve Vai

Janetta Sherrell: Some in ears! I have been on the Empire Ears website looking at these for the longest.

Su Preme: On my wish list would be 2 new pairs of sticks! Timbale sticks to be exact. I say 2 pairs because I just chipped the tips on a brand new pair. My typical go-to’s are Vic Firth Alex Acuña timbale sticks

Planet Vness: Hi Santa, In the music world. A Black Roland Axe Edge. In the real world. my student loans. lol

Guitar Gabby & The TxLips Band
Guitar Gabby & The TxLips Band interview

Halldór Úlfarsson

Halldorophone inventor (played by Hildur Guðnadóttir on her Joker score)

I would love to have one of these very rare Theremin Cellos.

Brought to my attention by Leon West (aka Secondson). I would love to have this around for my collaborators to play with and see if there would be some interesting mashup to be made with halldorophones. Either as added or combined features in an instrument or as instrumentation for a composition. I´m amazed I didn´t know about this instrument before.
Halldór Úlfarsson
Halldór Úlfarsson interview

I, Doris

Band

Here’s some Dorissy wishes …

From Doris/Lucy – A capable government and the end of all f•••bois

From Doris/Louisa - Marty Mcfly’s car. There’s a few things that need a do over in the last year. Starting with the general election. See above! Also, an accordion.

From Doris/Molly - A Rickenbacker Bass and the end of the patriarchy!

From Doris/Cassie - A one-shot cure for Covid, Brexit and the tories. And some leopard print tights. Ooo and a hit single in 2021 please.
I, Doris
I, Doris interview

Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something

Artist, band

I would like to remove the status and power that so inevitably comes with those who have wealth. I would like to remove their condescending, patronising ability to control the world around them to their will. I would like their money to not be the biggest voice in the room.

I would like everyone to have a universal basic income, I would like everyone to be afforded the choice to make meaningful decisions about the content of their life. It shouldn’t just be the middle class people that flood our Instagram with their privilege, wild swimming, self improving projects, culturally appropriated yoga classes and writing retreats behaving as if it’s a choice available to all if only they had the initiative. I want to make nepotism illegal.

I want to expose all those that masquerade as being successful when it’s purely the result of their parents inherited social capital and wealth . Step aside and give someone else a chance.

I want the idea of working hard and then you make it in life re-examined, you won’t become a virtuoso violinist by not practising but neither will you if the only way you could ever buy a violin is by slogging every hour away in Sainsbury’s.

I would like everyone to be given the freedom of their own time, the terror of destitution shackling us to meaningless jobs removed. I would like everyone to be given a chance.

Read Jemma’s full opinion piece here

Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something
Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something album launch review

Katia Isakoff

Producer, artist, !N_KoLAB founder, Women Produce Music founder

These beauties are on my wish list - ATC SM25A Pro loudspeakers.

The speakers I currently own have been with me for nearly 20 years - as has the amp! Both have served me and the artists / bands I’ve collaborated with very well, but it’s time for change - 2021 is the year for lots of positive change, and hopefully, returning to the studio (picture taken at British Grove Studios, 2019 with the ATC speakers in shot) and performing at, and attending SO many festivals.

Katia Isakoff / Altersonic Sound
!N_KoLAB launch feature
Women Produce Music

Katie Tavini

Mastering Engineer - shortlisted for MPG Mastering Engineer of the Year, Co-founder 2% Rising

For Christmas I’d like some more diversity on the technical side of the music industry, a really big cat, and a Manley Massive Passive.
Katie Tavini
2% Rising

Martyn Ware

Electronic music pioneer (Heaven 17 / Human League), composer, producer, 3D soundscapes creator

What I’d like for Christmas…

• The COVID virus to ‘catch a cold’ (a bit like the martians in war of the worlds)
• Gigs to restart without fear of killing everyone, including us
• A sense of global community to be acknowledged as a consequence of the pandemic
• AI compositional tools to help me analyse my past musical work and suggest related but new ways to go
• Trump to fuck right off, and never darken this planet again
• Everyone to keep cool and sane
  Martyn Ware / Illustrious
  Martyn Ware interview

Ms. Mohammed

Artist, producer, Clit Rock founder

Well I think everyone’s wish for Christmas is a cure for Covid 19 and a cancelled Brexit.

BUT if you were looking for something more cheerful I’d say I wish I was at the theatre or live music event with my family (including the dog, this is a wish after all) and is a London Christmas tradition we look forward to sharing with my Mum who usually flies in from Trinidad. Sad she can’t be here this year but I’m extremely grateful that we’re all staying safe & well.

Ms.Mohammed
Ms.Mohammed interview

MOSES

Band

We just want to say that we would like the covid-19 vaccine to be accessible to everyone.

MOSES
MOSES interview

Pitch Black

Band, composers, producers

For Christmas this year Mike from Pitch Black would love a real Soviet era Wires Recorder after having so much fun with the new emulator.
Pitch Black
Pitch Black interview

Portrait XO

Artist, producer, AI innovator, creative director

Here is my wish list:
Moog Grandmother
XMG ULTRA 17 laptop

And always for world peace, with a bigger sense of collective harmony. There are some great things that came out of 2020 that gave all of us the opportunity to connect with each other on a much more intimate level, and with ourselves. I hope that when life goes back to a faster pace of living, we don’t lose touch with ourselves and get too far sucked into the old ways of doing things that haven’t helped us on a socially or environmentally healthy level.
Portrait XO
Portrait XO’s Kitmonsters contributions

Tom Fox

Instrument designer (Vulpestruments), artist, Hackoustic co-founder

My Xmas wishlist this year would include:

The Photon Smasher instrument by Frazer Merick.

Pre-emptive stocks or kickstarter gift vouchers for whatever Chloe Meineck’s next project would be. They are always amazing and important and use technology for genuine good. /

Helen Leigh-Steer’s newest book on instrument building, which hasn’t been published yet but is bound to be just as brilliant as her first.

The Windows version of Endlesss (coming next summer) as I’m missing out on clearly the most fun anyone has ever had making music.

Every board and sensor from the new range of Bela products, they really are the gold standard for music hacking gear.

And lastly one of every record/single/piece of merch/artwork/instrument build from a very long list of people I admire and wish I could support more. Maybe I’ll put up that list on my Twitter account…
Tom Fox
Hackoustic
Hackoustic presents review
Vulpestruments

Xqui

Artist, producer

I think a lot of the things that we wish for tend to be impossibilities but just give us that glimmer of hope.

I’d like to see the world come together and ensure distribution of the Covid vaccine to every country to ensure that poor and third world nations can also receive the treatment. It seems sad that only the richest can get access and of course, it won’t solve the problem if not everyone has it.

I’d like the Government to be overthrown and a Socialist one take its place.

I lost three friends in recent years and I’d wish for the chance to say Goodbye to them. It feels like I have no closure on their departure.

I wish I could play a guitar or a keyboard and I’d like Lucy Worsley to come round for tea.

On an relatively achievable level, I’d like my new album Ambients to sell out and my debut vinyl album Twenties, to reach a big audience too when it’s released early 2021. I’d also like the opportunity to remix for more and more artists as I love the freedom it gives me to be creative.

I always dream of World peace.
Xqui
Xqui video premiere