ESCAPE ROUTE - HISTORY

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ESCAPE ROUTE / HISTORY

Chris Conway, Alan Freeman, Steve Freeman, Simon Styring
free-improvised live electronics, guitars & other instruments

background...
Escape Route were a hybrid quartet that existed as a loose live formation for just over a year, from November 2007 through to December 2008. Why a hybrid quartet? Well, they were born out of two bands: Alto Stratus (Alan Freeman and Steve Freeman) and Continuum (Chris Conway and Simon Styring), via random and freeform sessions at the Impromptu Electronic gigs, at a small venue called Bambu on the Welford Road, Leicester. After things were gelling quite well, and we were getting an almost symbiotic rapport, Chris declared that this quartet was now starting to feel like a proper band, and that we really needed a better name. The loose catch-all at the time was "Improv Electronic" which also involved numerous other musicians. So, I scoured dictionaries and Word's thesaurus, coming up with the name Escape Route, which no-one else seemed to have used. A name that combines elements of Endgame, Planet Scanners, and is symbolic of the way we play on stage!

From Al's blog...

Last Wednesday's Bambu Electronic gig went really well, with basically Simon doing a mellow intro followed by two huge jams, with the 4 of us: Alan (me), Steve, Chris & Simon taking to the stage and leaving ad hoc as seemed appropriate! Not much of an audience though. Well, we were competing against England losing to Croatia. But, Extremities fan Mo made it this time, scuppered by cancellations of his previous two attempts to see us play live.

Eventually Escape Route ceased as a quartet when Simon dropped off the live scene. Since then, if Chris, Alan and Steve work together at Quadelectronic, it's generally billed as Escape Route, although no further actual gigs or albums have occurred since. Coincidentally and unknown to us there was also another Leicester band called Escape Route, a thrash/speed metal outfit. So it wasn't as unique a name as we thought after all!

Discography...

PANDORA'S BOX - CDR Auricle AMCDR 128 (2008)
SCYLLA & CHARYBDIS - CDR Auricle AMCDR 130 (2008)
COLUMNS OF HERAKLES - CDR Auricle AMCDR 146 (92009)

Escape Route review in Audion - #55/10

https://auriclemusic.bandcamp.com/album/escape-route