Julian Simmons based in Suffolk UK, has emerged as something of a mystery. Haswell claims to have first been confronted by him in 2007 materialising from a blackthorn hedge, and bizarrely immediately asking Simmons “are you one of those people who what they say can program people to act differently?”, this is possibly why he’s sometimes known as ‘Acid Man’, even though that’s not his method. He sites his major influence as Early Man.

In the 90’s Simmons had 5 of the 8 output-data pins of a BBC Micro Model B’s parallel-port wired to a couple of stepper motors [X+Y] and a solenoid [Z], and so developed an axis machine capable of employing various grades of pencil to produce densely layered cross-hatched drawings. Research into cosmological tone led to a PhD in 2004. A few years later this intensity for layered tonal detail was applied through Pure Data to produce electroacoustic instruments and compositions. Since 2013 this continued with sonic research directed through 4-channel surround: live positioning of multiple instruments within quad environments being an essential component to these ‘NUMBERSTREAM’ performances.

‘A dark and abstract work which reverberates around the space, omnipresent and powerful. The sound purples and shimmers like a darkening bruise, deliciously discordant and completely immersive’, The Journal of Wild Culture.