Public Service Broadcasting is a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based musical group consisting of four musicians known mainly by their stage names: J. Willgoose, Esq. on guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, other stringed instruments, samplings and

electronic musical instruments Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and

; J F Abraham on

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

, bass guitar, drums and assorted other instruments including a vibraslap; and Mr B on visuals and

set design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trai ...

for live performances. The band has toured internationally and in 2015 was announced as a nominee in the Vanguard breakthrough category of the fourth annual Progressive Music Awards, staged by '' Prog'' magazine, which they won.

History

At first, the band consisted solely of Willgoose. He made his public debut at The Selkirk pub in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. Th ...

, London, England in August 2009. Shortly afterwards he issued ''EP One''. Teaming up with Wrigglesworth on drums, the band played its first festival in September 2010, Aestival in Suffolk, and work began on a second EP, ''The War Room'', which was released in May 2012. Since then, the band has released four albums, ''

Inform-Educate-Entertain ''Inform - Educate - Entertain'' is the first album by alternative British group Public Service Broadcasting. It features samples from the British Film Institute (BFI) and The National Archives (UK) and features themes from the first expedition o ...

'' (2013); '' The Race for Space'' (2015); ''

Every Valley ''Every Valley'' is a studio album by British art rock band Public Service Broadcasting (band), Public Service Broadcasting. The group's third original album, it is a concept album which focuses on a topic of modern history, much like the band's ...

'' (2017); and '' Bright Magic'' (2021). The Race for Space was supported by two shows at the National Space Centre in Leicester celebrating the album's launch. The album charted just outside the top 10 in 11th place in the UK in its release week and reaching Number 1 in the UK Independent Charts for that week. A follow-up EP was released at the tail end of 2015 (Sputnik/Korolev) which was backed up by a UK tour, climaxing in the band's biggest headline show, a sold-out night at the O2 Academy Brixton, of which a live album was released in 2016. While writing ''The War Room'' the band formed a close relationship with the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, using their material during live shows. On 10 March 2017, PSB released a new single titled ''Progress'' featuring vocals from Tracyanne Campbell from

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...

with photo shoots showing the band as a three-piece with new member JF Abraham featured on promotional photos. Their third studio album, entitled ''

'', about the coal mining industry's rise and fall in the Welsh Valleys between the 1950s and 1980s, was released on 7 July 2017. As with ''The Race for Space'', the band had two album launch concerts, this time in

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr c ...

, where the LP was recorded. In June 2018, PSB appeared at the BBC Music "Big Weekend", playing at the Titanic Quarter in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. As part of this a series of four new pieces, based on the story of the , was debuted. These tracks were released as the EP White Star Liner on 26 October 2018. They performed a "specially commissioned new arrangement" of ''The Race for Space'' on 25 July 2019 in a late-night

Prom A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school y ...

, joined by

London Contemporary Voices London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a maj ...

and the Multi-Story Orchestra, the performance being shown on BBC television the following night. In December 2020, Willgoose released ambient solo EP ''A Wonderful Hope'' under the name Late Night Final. This release on PIAS Recordings is a record which featured soundscape artist Teddy Hunter on the track "The Human Touch". On 2 June 2021, PSB debuted the first single, called "People, Let’s Dance" from their fourth studio album "Bright Magic". On 30 August 2022, PSB played a specially commissioned, album length, piece for Prom 58 called 'This New Noise', with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was commissioned to celebrate 100 years of the BBC. At the time of the performance the band said there were currently no plans to tour the piece, or to release it as a record - but they hinted that this may not be set in stone.

Music style and live performances

The band mostly plays instrumental music; Willgoose has said that "singing is never going to work. I'm not going to be happy with it, I'm not going to be comfortable playing it to other people." They take samples from old

public information film Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, ...

s, archive footage and propaganda material. Despite Willgoose's prior reservations about singing, he did later contribute vocals to the duet piece "You + Me" from ''Every Valley'', because the intended vocalist was not available.

Members

Musical members * J. Willgoose Esq. –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, other stringed instruments, samplings and

, vocals (2009–present) * Wrigglesworth –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, electronic musical instruments, saxophone (2010–present) * J F Abraham –

, bass guitar, drums, assorted other instruments including a vibraslap,

, arrangements (2016–present; session contributions 2014–2015) Non-musical members * Mr B – visuals and

for live performances.

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Live albums

EPs

Singles

* "ROYGBIV" – 5 March 2012 which won the

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

Rebel Playlist. * "Spitfire" – 26 March 2012 which won the

Rebel Playlist. The song sampled dialogue and sound from the 1942 film "

The First of the Few ''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. David Niven co ...

", and the video incorporated footage from the same film. * "London Can Take It" – 13 August 2012 * "Everest" – 12 November 2012 only for digital downloading. The song is based around '' The Conquest of Everest'', a 1953 film charting

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached ...

and

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to reach the su ...

's first successful ascent of the mountain. * "Signal 30" * "Night Mail" * "Elfstedentocht" (Record Store Day single; 11 November 2013) * "Gagarin" – 1 December 2014 (first single of the album "The Race For Space") * "Go!" – 23 February 2015 * "Sputnik/Korolev" – 20 November 2015 No. 4 UK Physical * "Progress" – 10 March 2017 (first single of the band's third album) * "They Gave Me a Lamp" * "People Will Always Need Coal" * "White Star Liner" * "People, Let’s Dance" (feat. EERA) * "Blue Heaven" * "Lichtspiel III: Symphonie Diagonale" * "Der Rhythmus der Maschinen"

Notes

References

External links

*
Public Service Broadcasting on BBC MusicPublic Service Broadcasting
on

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for so ...

Public Service Broadcasting
on

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{{Authority control Musical groups from London English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 2010 2010 establishments in England British musical trios