Leafcutter John is the recording name of John Burton, a UK-based musician and artist. He makes frequent use of

Max/MSP Max, also known as Max/MSP/Jitter, is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling '74. Over its more than thirty-year history, it has been used by composers, pe ...

in his compositions. Much of Burton's style is based in

computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...

and use of samples of everyday sounds. However, he also has roots as a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

ian, and this influence is apparent in his more recent work.

Career

After graduating in Fine Art Painting at

Norwich School of Art The Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is a public university in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom that specialises in art, design, media, architecture and performance. It was founded as Norwich School of Design in 1845 and has a long history ...

(1996–1998), Burton moved to London and after a year pursuing a career as a performance artist, began to concentrate on his musical work. He soon secured interest from

Mike Paradinas Michael Robert Paradinas (born 26 September 1971), better known by his stage name μ-Ziq (pronounced "music" or mu-zik), is an English electronic musician from Wimbledon, London. He was associated with the electronic style intelligent dance mus ...

, owner of independent electronics label

Planet Mu Planet Mu is an English electronic music record label created and run by Mike Paradinas. The label started out as a subsidiary of Virgin Records then Paradinas set up the label independent of Virgin. After releasing intelligent dance music, the ...

. Paradinas encouraged Burton to develop his electro-acoustic folk hybrid and his first full-length release, ''Concourse EEP'', was released in early 2000. His album, ''The Housebound Spirit'', was a response to being mugged outside his London studio. The album deals with themes of increasing alienation and

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

. His fourth album ''The Forest and the Sea'' was nominated for Best Album at the

Qwartz Electronic Music Awards The Qwartz Electronic Music Awards recognize new and electronic music with awards and grants in music and technologies categories. An annual event takes place in Paris. The Qwartz Awards are presided by the pioneer Pierre Henry. Besides the award ...

2007 and was described by comedian

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, presenter, podcaster and actor. As well as the stand-up specials ''James Acaster: Repertoire, Repertoire'' and ''Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999'', he is known for co-hosting ...

as "a criminally overlooked record". In 2019, Burton released his seventh album ''Yes! Come Parade With Us'' on James Holden’s label Border Community, featuring modular synth and field recordings from the Norfolk Coast Path. Burton was a full-time member of the contemporary British jazz pioneers and

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

nominees

Polar Bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

, founded by drummer

Seb Rochford Sebastian Rochford is a Scottish drummer and composer. He has recorded and released music as leader of the British band Polar Bear, as Kutcha Butcha and as part of numerous collaborations. Early life Rochford was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, a ...

. He has performed with

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...

, Shabaka Hutchings, Serafina Steer,

Laura Jurd Laura Jurd (born 1990) is a musician and composer from Hampshire, United Kingdom. She plays trumpet and synthesizer. She has released albums as a solo artist, and she composes for and plays in a jazz quartet named Dinosaur, whose album '' Togethe ...

and

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is a British musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music with drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

, supported

Matmos Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo formed in San Francisco and based in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances no ...

and Otomo Yoshihide, and been in

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

's band at the

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

, London. In 2007, he performed at

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

’s

Meltdown Festival Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The ...

. He played alongside jazz pianist

Michael Wollny Michael Wollny (born 25 May 1978) is a German jazz pianist and a professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig. He has played with international musicians including Joachim Kühn, Tamar Halperin, Marius Neset, Andreas Schaerer, Émil ...

at the opening night of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

100 festival in January 2019. In autumn/winter 2019, he supported

The Comet Is Coming The Comet Is Coming was a London-based band that incorporated elements of jazz, electronica, funk and psychedelic rock. The band originally recorded for The Leaf Label, on which their debut EP ''Prophecy'' was released, on limited edition 12" ...

on their UK tour. Leafcutter John is also an accomplished producer and

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

er, having worked on projects for: DJ /rupture, Ed Dowie, Melt Yourself Down, Mu-ziq/

Speedy J Jochem George Paap (born 14 February 1969, in Rotterdam), known by his stage name Speedy J, is a Dutch electronic music producer based in Rotterdam. His breakthrough came with the release in 1992 of the minimal techno track "Pullover". He releas ...

, Electric Company,

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show '' The Magic Ball'', which he saw on TV ...

Capitol K Capitol K is the name under which Kristian Craig Robinson works as a musician, producer, recording engineer and label manager. He was born in Malta and raised in Dubai, Brunei and England, and now based in London. Capitol K first came to pr ...

, Bas Jan and others. He lives in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, South Yorkshire.

Projects

Leafcutter John has engaged in several projects, both commissioned and DIY. Examples include installing microphones under a creaky wooden floor to record and manipulate the sounds in a software program, growing and constructing piezoelectric crystal microphones, touring the Grand Union Canal, building a laser "microphone" and creating a massive morse code chorus for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. He has also worked on theatre, dance and poetry projects, including commissions from the

Handspring Puppet Company The Handspring Puppet Company is a South African puppetry performance and design company. It was established in 1981 by Adrian Kohler, Basil Jones, Jon Weinberg, and Jill Joubert, and is based in Cape Town, South Africa. History Jones and ...

, and choreographers

Wayne McGregor Sir Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a British choreographer and director who has won multiple awards. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Comma ...

and Shobana Jeyasingh. Burton is a prodigious instrument builder and uses a self-built light-controlled musical interface at his shows. He won the Qwartz Electronic Music Award for Innovation in 2015. In 2017, he was a recipient of an artists award from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Discography

* ''The Sky Is Darker Than the Road'' (1998) * ''Concourse EEP'' (2000)

(ZIQ017) 12" and CD * ''Microcontact'' (2001)

(ZIQ022) CD * ''Zeagma'' (2001)

(ZIQ036) 7" * ''The Housebound Spirit'' (2003)

(ZIQ061) CD * ''The Forest and the Sea'' (2006) Staubgold Records (Staubgold 68) CD/LP *''Tunis'' (2010) Tsuku Boshi CD *''Resurrection'' (2015) Desire Path Recordings (PATHWAY009) 12"/Digital *''Yes! Come Parade With Us'' (2019) Border Community (52BC) CD/LP

References

External links

Leafcutter John's Site
* * {{Authority control Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British electronic musicians British experimental musicians Alumni of Norwich University of the Arts Polar Bear (British band) members Planet Mu artists