Andy Mort | Music
Andy Mort - Flume (Bon Iver)
updated
It was cold that day. The plectrum kept falling from my numb fingers. The strings cut through my tips like cheese wire. But it was worth it. I think.
Listen to the original: andymort.bandcamp.com/track/the-box
The bass always messed with my ability to pitch my vocal. I played it in Espoo, Finland last year. Another Suomi session. I'm back in the same room as I write this.
Want to hear the original? Drop a comment and I’ll send you a little link…
This was filmed a stone's throw from the venue where I was invited to speak and perform in August that year.
Also the site of my first memorable Finnish sauna experience at the end of that trip. I didn't travel with swimming gear, and wasn't planning to visit the hotel pool, but they had some communal budgie smugglers behind reception they insisted on lending me. often wonder how they came to be the share pair (lost property?) and if they're still in rotation somewhere.
Maybe one day we will be reunited...
Listen to the original version of Best Days: youtu.be/UNnzu6iv2xY?si=aIRRV3573RpUeeD3
Upper stories. Higher ground.
Not an involuntary canary in this coal mine.
The early warning signal to get out of town.
Pecking with a stiff-jawed clout,
Jumbled, garbled nonsense
is all that comes out.
A sympathetic parlance,
in televised thoughts and prayers.
This status quo is kindness,
with its extended hand of refuge, love, and care,
for the right sort of price.
Music - Trapped In The Basement from Atlum Schema: One World Less
This is a cover of Bon Iver’s Flume. I played it in a sauna. The sauna was not on at the time.
Other versions of this song:
2012 - youtu.be/zeFysM748VE
2015 at the Big Comfy Bookshop youtu.be/2J06kZXKCRs?si=TJGYVstZMkfwmT8F
2019 Livestream - youtu.be/Qp86Jg0QrT0
Empire of the Soul is on Atlum Schema - Year 0: andymort.bandcamp.com/album/year-0
Support my music: patreon.com/andymort
Lyrics
We drove it down.
Kingdom and settlement fell beneath our feet.
They beg and call,
Shouting for freedom from arms
and industry
We are the accepted face.
We make the rules for the game.
Carry the gun filled with fatal saving grace.
This is an empire,
I’m sure, 'cos the thing that we fear is the thing we fight for.
This is the empire of the soul.
We stole the past.
Culture and evidence fell beneath our feet.
The small man knelt,
reached for the gun I had given him;
so I took my aim
We are the accepted face.
We make the rules for the game.
Carry the gun filled with fatal saving grace.
This is an empire,
I’m sure, 'cos the thing that we fear is the thing we fight for.
This is the empire of the soul.
Dreams and stories
We destroyed it
Change and market the truth
I bit my tongue too hard, too often, so I wouldn't shout
It drips through the grooves where the paper cuts out,
This page is the stage where my silence is echoing loud.
You’re in the corner of the back room,
You hold your crystal ball with boxing gloves
As you dance your clumsy dance
Where you see a stain, I see a memory
When it starts to rain, I can feel the life flowing through me
Where you see a stain, I see a memory
What you obeyed became your god.
And what you denied is now indisputably Real
What you didn't say turned into your truth
The nest that you poked became undeniable proof that you
Are in the corner of the back room,
You hold your crystal ball with boxing gloves
As you dance your clumsy dance
Where you see a stain, I see a memory
When it starts to rain, I can feel your life flowing through me
Where you see a stain, I see a memory
March 2025, Äkäslompolo, Finland
Lyrics:
I waited for an accident
to work upon my broken heart.
The fate of the immaculate
was buried from the start.
I got a ride with the old tin soldier,
he let me hide at the back of the bus.
I couldn't find what the old man told you
So I decided to let him rust
You sank into an empty page
Hoping it would talk to you.
The rank and file of every age,
Was playing fast and loose.
I got a ride with the old tin soldier,
he let me hide at the back of the bus.
I couldn't find what the old man told you
So I decided to let him rust.
I'm out of my depth again
I'm out of touch
I'm out of my depth again
I'm losing touch
I got a ride with the old tin soldier,
he let me hide at the back of the bus.
I couldn't find what the old man told you
So I decided to let him rust.
Recorded in a small kota, March 2025, Äkäslompolo, Finland
Set List
00:00 Out of Sorts
03:26 Empire of the Soul
07:38 My Own Excuses
15:03 Tiny Little Lies
18:39 Stain
22:25 End of a City
29:03 Tin Soldier
32:36 Best Days
37:36 Breathe
43:22 This Grave
48:14 Last Train
52:38 Pretend
56:29 I'm OK
59:41 Stone
01:03:19 Traveller
Last Train (Earlybird at Temperance - youtube.com/watch?v=GUBGSYJABO4)
Stone (Earlybird at Temperance - youtube.com/watch?v=DfVK7ZwWSns)
All Other Releases: andymort.bandcamp.com
Virtual Tip Jar: https://andy-mort.ck.page/products/livestream-tip-jar
This video is a sunset over one of my favourite places in the world - Nallikari in Oulu, Finland - filmed by Tuula. I was struck by the way humans are drawn to be with the natural environments around us. To witness, collaborate, and integrate into moments such as these.
serenityisland.me
This was filmed live at Felt, Gonzo in Earlsdon (Coventry)
Support the project: patreon.com/andymort
Spotify Discography: open.spotify.com/playlist/2nNJo6fXyChpsrGIcf8TQ3?si=162ab620e2d84b8b
Learn more about Felt: https://www.felt.live/
Set List
Stain
Nobody Will Find Us
Tin Soldier
Gravel Heart
End of a City
I’m ok
Leaders of The Free World
Sleep it Off
My Own Excuses
Breathe
Best Days
Last Train
Tiny Little Lies
Traveller
Releases: andymort.bandcamp.com
Virtual Tip Jar: https://andy-mort.ck.page/products/livestream-tip-jar
This was filmed live at Felt, Gonzo in Earlsdon (Coventry)
Support the project: patreon.com/andymort
Spotify Discography: open.spotify.com/playlist/2nNJo6fXyChpsrGIcf8TQ3?si=162ab620e2d84b8b
Learn more about Felt: https://www.felt.live/
Rapid Response was created in reference to the looming demolition of the Litten Tree Building (home of the LTB Showrooms). The beat in Still Time is comprised of found sounds from the creaking floors and doors around the building, which I wanted to let speak before it loses its voice forever.
Credits:
Music and Lyrics written by Andy Mort
Inspired by attendees of the Rapid Response Exhibition at the LTB Showrooms, Coventry (October 2023) with Jane Bracey
The beat is made from creaking floorboards and doors around the Litten Tree Bar before its scheduled demolition in early 2024.
Special thanks to:
Atmos (bass recorded on location at the LTB)
David Smout (guitars and additional production)
Ben Munday (guitar)
Matt Cotterill at 300 Acre Studios (production and mixing)
Mastered by JP Braddock at FormationAudio
Listen to the finished song wherever you stream them: andymort.ffm.to/stilltime
It's the fifth song on The Final Scene.
I talk about Rest on Patreon as part of my Growth Without Grimace series, which is exclusively available on Patreon.
Join me over on Patreon and help fund Home Is No(w)Here: patreon.com/andymort
Used in Episode 32 of The Gentle Rebel Podcast (Coming Home Through Music) - andymort.com/32-home-through-music
From The Final Scene, which was originally released in 2005.
I talk about Weed Killer on Patreon as part of my Growth Without Grimace series.
I share the backstory and some of the decisions that informed what it became. I also found some of the original "writings" (poems and thoughts) that accompanied the creative process. Definitely a challenge not to grimace too much!
Join me over on Patreon and help fund the album: patreon.com/andymort
I spoke with Brigid Russell about what space means to her and in particular the power of creating spaces for listening. To one another, to the world, to the music that patiently sits in the cracks, folds, and creases around us.
The video shows a wall in one of my favourite homes. Stripped and bearing its soul. Between the brick and whatever fresh coating will follow. There are stories here. Questions. Ponderings. Fragments of images. Waiting to be played with, pieced together, and integrated into the next chapter.
#HomeIsNo(w)here
“If we are going to understand and appreciate each other’s differences, then we need to be able to trust the space between us.” - Charlie Jones & Brigid Russell (From Trust in the Spaces Between Us)
andymort.com/30-space-between-us
The screen wasn't showing any films until early afternoon, so we had a few hours to load in, set up, perform/film, pack down, and get out. It remains one of the most stressful and beautiful live music experiences of my life.
Huge thanks to all involved. I'm still not sure how we managed to do it. I think a lot of strings were being pulled behind my back to make sure it worked.
The band was Andy Mort, Ben Munday, Jono Munday, Jon Mort, Kat Hattersley, Luke Roberts, Jevon Snell, Andy Rowley.
Set List
00:00 Closing The Doors
04:40 Hold On
08:26 Ballad of The Self-Blessed, Self-Less
13:35 I Can
17:19 To The Skylight
21:08 Gunfight at the OK Corral
24:40 Feeling About For Conformity in the Dark
29:27 Ink Star
34:30 Warning Light
39:08 Breathe
44:41 Opening The Doors
Stream The Album
Bandcamp: andymort.bandcamp.com/album/atlum-schema
Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/10dJuk7F6Mrb8Glxj4VQad?si=36kAb27eSDiDmsYPCcH9fw
Apple Music: music.apple.com/gb/album/atlum-schema/320708609
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/andymort/sets/atlum-schema
This was the opening track from my very first album, The Final Scene, which was originally released in 2005.
I talk about The Mould Will Slowly Burn on Patreon as part of my Growth Without Grimace series.
I share the backstory and some of the decisions that informed what it became. I also found some of the original "writings" (poems and thoughts) that accompanied the creative process. Definitely a challenge not to grimace too much!
Join me over on Patreon and help fund the next album: patreon.com/andymort
Listen to the original: andymort.bandcamp.com/track/the-mould-will-slowly-burn (it's available wherever you stream music)
The stunning Ice Photos were taken by Tuula Ahde: instagram.com/tuulahde
I'm going to share the original song and chat about writing it on Patreon as part of my Growth Without Grimace series. Join me over there: patreon.com/andymort
Part of my series re-imagining songs from my back catalogue as ambient instrumentals.
The Obfuscation was the opening track from The Woodbine EP (20 years ago) by my old band, Aphron.
I share the original and talk about what went into those songs as part of my Growth Without Grimace series on Patreon.
Join me over on Patreon and help fund the next album: patreon.com/andymort
The TV show, Severance may have been subtly influencing this.
I wrote this music after speaking with Chris Niebauer on my podcast about left brain/right brain thinking: andymort.com/21-what-were-you-thinking
People often talk about ‘finding your true self’. But that’s a project of language and structured thought. It can lead us in circles.
Likewise, you don’t find music’s “truth” or essence by talking about, analysing, and deconstructing it. If you strip it for parts, you might be able to reverse engineer the component aspects, but you won’t find its essence. By the time you finish, there will be nothing left.
And perhaps that’s part of the point. What makes us who we are and not someone else, what makes a piece of music, not another piece, is in the betweenness, the spaces, the emptiness around the edges.
I built the music on a series of loops (all different lengths), which dance and weave over the seventeen minutes. The sound changes and new ideas bleed in and out, but there’s a constant underpinning. A sea of sound that absorbs and reflects the dance as it hits the surface.
I edited the original recording from 13 minutes. I hope you enjoy it. Watch the original version here: youtu.be/AxNnNhSceFg
Listen to the full version: andymort.com/music/tin-soldier
Listen to the full version: andymort.com/music/sleep-it-off
Video artwork by Tuula Ahde (instagram.com/tuulahde)
Released October 3, 2022
Written by Andy Mort
Electric Guitars, Analogue Synth, and Bass performed by Ben Munday
All other instruments and vocals performed by Andy Mort
Produced by Andy Mort
Mixed and executive produced by Matt Cotterill at 300 Acre Studios
Mastered by JP Braddock at FormationAudio
It's so reassuring to see how far they come (and to recognise that where something starts is not where it ends up).
patreon.com/andymort
Listen to it on your platform of choice: andymort.com/sleep-it-off
Song Written by Andy Mort
Electric Guitars and Bass performed by Ben Munday
Ethereal kaoss noises and analogue synths performed by Jono Munday
All other instruments and vocals performed by Andy Mort
Produced by Andy Mort
Mixed and executive produced by Matt Cotterill at 300 Acre Studios (instagram.com/mattcotterillproducer)
Mastered by JP Braddock at FormationAudio
Video artwork by Tuula Ahde (instagram.com/tuulahde)
Stunt driving on snowy Finnish roads by Timo Soikkeli, March 2022


