a Proper GrownUp

Did We?

Led by Composers Sam Eastmond and Nikki Franklin, The SPiKE Orchestra is a large-ensemble dedicated to their collaborative composition. Drawing on a wide range of influences including John Zorn, Duke Ellington, Frank Zappa and Carl Stalling, Eastmond and Franklin meld divergent genres from jazz, rock, klezmer, cartoon and the avant-garde into a cohesive whole.

After meeting on a rain swept bandstand in 2011 Eastmond and Franklin instantly found a shared musical connection and love of the absurd. Subsequent collaborations gave rise to the birth of The SPiKE Orchestra.

In March 2013 The SPiKE Orchestra recorded their debut album ‘a Proper GrownUp’

The SPiKE Orchestra’s current project is “Mister Punch – A Comic Tragedie” 
Based on the nineteenth century Cruickshank and Collier Punch & Judy script and a far cry from the gaudy excesses of children’s entertainment; The SPiKE Orchestra’s interpretation is a darkly comic and murderous trawl through the seedy underbelly of Victorian society.

“Both Eastmond and Franklin have a great sense of theatre and comedy”

“... using the jazz 'big band' as a canvas to explore
compositional ideas beyond their usual jazz soundworld.”


spikeorchestra