Ray Aggs is a musician based in Glasgow. Primarily known for their distinctive guitar work, influenced by both West African

highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

, they also sing and play the violin.

Career

They have been playing with the band Trash Kit since 2009, formed with Rachel Horwood and Ros Murray (later replaced by Gill Partington), releasing 3 albums on the Upset! The Rhythm Indie-label, a self-titled record in 2010, ''Confidence'', in 2014 and ''Horizon'' in 2019. Aggs is also a member of

Shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

, formed with Andrew Milk and Billy Easter, since 2012. Other bands have included The Madrigals, Covergirl, Golden Grrrls, and

Sacred Paws Sacred Paws is a Scottish indie-pop band comprising Ray Aggs (guitar, bass, vocals) and Eilidh Rodgers (drums, vocals). The two met as members of the band Golden Grrrls. Their debut album ''Strike a Match'' won the 2017 Scottish Album of the Ye ...

, who released their debut EP in 2015. In June 2017,

debut album ''Strike A Match'', released the previous January, was awarded ''Scottish Album of the Year''. They have written several zines, including ''I Trust My Guitar'' and ''DIY Guitar for beginners.'' Aggs has often been featured in the ''Shotgun Seamstress'' zine, a book of when re-released had Aggs involved in a discussion panel of Black zinesters at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C. in 2022. Following the theme of their zines, Aggs has taught guitar in workshops, one called Decolonising The Guitar and as part of the workshop series leading up to First Timers festival at

DIY Space For London DIY Space for London was a volunteer-run social centre, music venue, rehearsal space, and creative hub formerly located at 96-108 Ormside Street in South Bermondsey, London. History The space opened in September 2015 after the founding collect ...

. Between 2011-2015 they worked at

Power Lunches Power Lunches Arts Café was a music venue, rehearsal space, and creative hub located on Kingsland Road in Dalston, a district of the London Borough of Hackney. History The café opened in 2011 and closed in 2015. It started out with gigs plan ...

in Dalston, East London, active in the scene cultivated at the venue. They were a contributor to performance of the

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

score ''To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe, In Recognition of their Desperation'' in a performance in the

Turbine Hall The turbine hall, generating hall or turbine building is a building or room in any steam cycle or hydroelectric power plant which houses a number of components vital to the generation of electricity from the steam that comes from the boiler, or ...

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

, 2012. As well as on a second occasion in a film-based performance with other musicians

Peaches The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...

, Catriona Shaw,

Verity Susman Verity Susman is an English songwriter, composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as a founding member and the frontwoman of the English indie rock band Electrelane. Music career Following classical piano, clarinet and sax ...

, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, and William Wheeler in a film of the same name by artists Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz and shown at

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York, in a special event with the artists, Oliveros and

Gregg Bordowitz Gregg Bordowitz (born August 14, 1964) is a writer, artist, and activist who worked as a professor in the Video, New Media, and Animation department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. H ...

in May 2014. On 14 April 2018 Aggs performed 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 ...

as part of a 12 guitarist group assembled by

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

; along with Deborah Goodge, Susan Stenger, Jonah Falco, Joseph Coward, and more. In 2022 Aggs was in Nikita Gale's

Frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

installation 63/62 alongside other musicians Alpha Maid and Joviale. In 2020 Aggs started releasing and performing solo music, now under the name R.Aggs. Their first solo EP, recorded the year before, as part of the second series of

Lost Map Records Lost Map is a British independent record label set up in 2013 by Johnny Lynch. The label was established following the dissolution of Fence Records Limited in August 2013. History After 10 years of working for and subsequently managing Fence ...

' 'Visitations' subscription service. Each release in the series is recorded by the artist whilst staying in a bothy on the isle of

Eigg Eigg ( ; ) is one of the Small Isles in the Scotland, Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the island of Isle of Skye, Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With ...

, where the label is based, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. Aggs also composed the song Another Road for the 2021

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

film Hilda and the Mountain King alongside

Vice Cooler Vice Cooler is an American musician, music video director, and photographer. He has been recognized by people like High Places and Henry Rollins as an "inspiration". Peaches has crowned him as the world's greatest performer. Band history Coole ...

Discography

Solo

* ''Visitations 0202'' -

, 12” EP, CD, MP3 (2020) * ''//TAPE 1//'' - Self release, Cassette, MP3 (2020) * ''Another Road'' - Soundtrack, Hilda and The Mountain King, MP3 (2021)

Golden Grrrls

* ''Golden Grrrls'' –

Slumberland Records Slumberland Records is an American independent record label, formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C., and based in Oakland, California. The label has released recordings by Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, Evans The Death, St. Christo ...

/ Night School, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2013)

Sacred Paws

* ''Strike a Match'' – Rock Action, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2017) * ''Run Around the Sun'' – Rock Action (UK/EU) /

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

(US), 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2019) * '' Jump Into Life'' –

, 12" LP, CD (2025)

Shopping

* ''Consumer Complaints'' - Mïlk Records/

FatCat Records FatCat Records is an English independent record label based in Brighton. The label's output reaches into many styles including experimental rock, electronica, psychedelic folk, contemporary classical, noise and post-punk. Notable artists that ...

, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2013) * '' Why Choose'' - FatCat Records, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2015) * '' The Official Body'' - FatCat Records, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2018) * '' All or Nothing'' - FatCat Records, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2020)

Trash Kit

* ''Trash Kit'' -

Upset The Rhythm Upset The Rhythm is an independent record label based in London with a varied roster of leftfield artists and bands; they also operate as a diverse DIY live music promoter. Huw Stephens featured Upset The Rhythm as "purveyors of interesting indi ...

, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2010) * ''Confidence'' - Upset The Rhythm, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2014) * ''Horizon'' - Upset The Rhythm, 12" LP, CD, MP3 (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aggs, Rachel Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom Living people English punk rock guitarists English punk rock singers Highlife musicians English violinists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British violinists Black British rock musicians