Free improvisation from smalltown NZ – bringing the avant-garde to the regions!
Playlist: Featherston Free Sound Ensemble
“A gathering of eccentric misfits with a ragtag collection of noise making electronics. Old tape decks playing home made loops, dusty turntables spinning even dustier vinyl festooned with tags of sellotape, and glitchy cheap effects pedals disrupting the signal of an array of instruments that are being force-fed into weirdly small amplifiers.
Noise collage meets odd techno dub butted up against distorted rock. Tapiness wins.” – Antony Milton
The ensemble began in Featherston in 2025 with Guy Walker and Dave Edwards, and expanded into a trio with Alex V.
We felt ‘free sound’ offers even wider possibilities than ‘free jazz’ or ‘free jazz’; and ‘ensemble’ implies the lineup is flexible, and can include guests. If you’re in Featherston, come and jam with us on a Thursday!
Whereas The Troubled Times tends towards psychedelic rock, noise and guitar-driven improvisation. FFSE is less rock-oriented, even more electronic and abstract, and usually no guitars at all. Turntables, cassette loops, samplers, MIDI, electronics, bass, percussion and found sounds are often involved.
2026
Rather than slowly crafting albums, in 2026 each recording session is edited down to a short EP-length release, on the group’s new bandcamp page. Each is free / name-your-price to download.
Catalogue
Recent releases include:
06-08-26
A new primitivist quartet lineup, with Guy Walker (turntable), Dave Edwards (bass), and Greg & Jeffrey Fuckit (percussion)
02-07-26
A winter duo of Guy Walker (turntable), and Dave Edwards (bass),
14-05-26
Autumnal trio of Guy Walker (turntable), Alex V (sampler), and Dave Edwards (percussion),
The first release of the year was the cassette compilation of early recordings
MiXtape X
released on Antony Milton’s Troubled Times Tapes label.
Members of FFSE also each appear separately on this compilation of the Wairarapa scene, curated by Antony Milton:
In The Golden – A Selection Of Wairarapa Underground Recordings 1988-2026
2025
Live at the Bakehouse 29/11/25
- Guy Walker – turntable, cassette loops
- Alex V – turntable, MIDI, sampler
- Dave Edwards – bass, guitar, e-drum, harmonica
- Thanks to Zac Winterwood for the cover photo and videos.
Experiments Under the Hill
Trio recordings, October-November 2025 by Guy Walker, Dave Edwards, and Alex V
First Experiments
Early recordings, September-October 2025 by Guy Walker and Dave Edwards
Big thanks to
Daniel Millar and the Bakehouse Collective for giving us the run of the place, and providing what is really the only venue in the Wairarapa that is supporting creative, original music.
