This EP is the first release of Bashan - the project of Gemma Thompson, guitarist of the band Savages. The tracks are formed as direct responses to the work of the painter Morris Graves - repetition, waves crashing against the cliff face, vertical drops and oncoming headwinds, sound guided by the currents.

Released October 16th, 2017

Written and recorded in Leipzig, Germany.
All music written by Bashan.
Guitars performed by Gemma Thompson.
Percussion and Harmonium performed by Sam Sherry.
Produced and mixed by Gemma Thompson.
Mastered by Mark Estall in London.

Bashan EP1

Quartet

Taver

Bridge

Spoken Drone

Gemma Thompson (Savages) is a guitarist and visual artist who finds a unique dialogue between poetic form and soundscape. Working with graphic scores developed from a series of soundwalk drawings, she finds a sense of freedom in being able to transpose/transform drawn marks that correlate with the landscape, through her guitar. Thompson is originally from London but is now based in Pōneke (Wellington), New Zealand. 

Her first solo release was Bashan EP1 (2017), created during a period of living in Leipzig, Germany. This collection was formed as a direct response to the work of the painter Morris Graves - collages of sound crashing together - to mimic the visionary nature of his hermetic landscapes.

Gemma also worked with filmmaker and director Nick Ebeling, completing her first score for a 2016 American documentary film Along For The Ride, which premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2016.