Dave Clarkson

Over the last 30 years, Manchester-based Dave Clarkson has been involved in many areas of music, mainly experimental. During the 80s, he recorded solo experimental / electronic music on cassettes under the name Central Processing Unit as well as playing drums in rock bands, playing a few early gigs in what was to become Boo Radleys. During the 90s, he played drums in the Manchester-based African band Odudua, as well as the space jazz noise band Whitecube. Dave also made a guest appearance on drums for a Marcel King gig in Manchester. In 2000, Clarkson formed the solo project Illuminati, recorded five CDs and numerous vinyl appearances while his music was featured on BBC radio and in various film festivals. Illuminati also provided incidental music to the film of the media art installation ‘Human Avatars’ (Andrea Zapp 2006) together with Vini Reilly (Durutti Column). He co-founded the Lotta Continua label (2004-2010), Burst Couch experimental club night and co-formed experimental electronic trio Triclops (2001-2012) releasing three CDs. Dave has shared events with such artists as Keith Rowe, Janek Schaefer, Colin Potter, Andrew Liles, Biting Tongues, Crispy Ambulance and Melt Banana. In recent years, Clarkson has been involved in remix projects, recording three albums in collaboration under the name Psychic Frequencies with Alistair Stray as well as playing alongside Ruth Davies (cello) in Spectral Bazaar. Since 2015, he has released several solo albums under his own name for the Linear Obsessional Recordings label which have proved successful and been featured on national radio. Dave is also a member of the electro-wave duo Scissorgun together with Alan Hempsall (Crispy Ambulance) who released their debut album in 2017 to critical acclaim and have supported Wolfgang Flur (ex Kraftwerk), Wrangler, Eric Random and Graham Massey.