SPONTANEOUS ELECTRONIC CONVERSATIONS / MODULAR SYNTHESIS / RACK RECORDS
Two musicians. No fixed plan.
Gaz Williams and Steve Davis make improvised electronic music using modular synthesizers. Their performances are conversations in sound: no predetermined arrangement, no fixed roles and no guarantee of where a piece will end up. The pleasure is in listening, responding and discovering a form together.
A meeting at Green Man
The story began at Green Man Festival in 2016, where Gaz and Steve met through their mutual friend Kavus Torabi, the musician and Gong frontman. During the pandemic they stayed in touch through conversations about modular synthesizers. In 2021, those conversations became extended hands-on jams, which gradually became more frequent as they discovered a natural musical chemistry.
From private jams to the stage
The pair began taking their free-form sessions into live performance, including an early appearance at Birmingham’s legendary Hare & Hounds. The exact date of their first duo show is still being checked; a 2022 interview with Steve mentions a Birmingham appearance on 6 July connected to a Cabaret Voltaire tribute. The ethos stayed the same: two players reacting in real time, without assigned roles or a pre-written set.
Rack Records: the imperfections are the point
After a run of shows, Gaz and Steve established Rack Records in 2024 to document live, unvarnished improvisations. Their guiding idea, Spontaneous Electronic Conversations, celebrates music caught in the act of being made. Recordings are presented with minimal intervention, without overdubs or polishing away the unexpected turns. The wrong notes, happy accidents and fleeting moments of connection all belong to the performance.
Rack Records website · Listen on Bandcamp
The Cube: a home for musical risk
Rack Records launched at The Cube Microplex in Bristol on 4 April 2024. The evening brought together modular artists in improvised, relay-style performances, with musicians handing over to one another as the music continued. A bingo draw helped determine the running order. With visuals, an adventurous audience and the sense that anything could happen, the Cube gatherings have grown into a distinctive part of the Rack Records story.
Read The Quietus launch announcement and Joyzine’s review of the first Cube event.
Beyond the Cube
Among their notable performances was a concert at Brecon Cathedral during the 40th anniversary of Brecon Jazz in 2024, bringing their modular improvisation into an extraordinary acoustic setting. Their work has also reached smaller venues and audiences drawn to experimental electronic music, including a March 2025 performance at The Long Table in Brimscombe.
On record
Rack Records documents the evolving partnership through releases including Polar Patterns, Live at the Servant Jazz Quarters and Shipwreck, their first vinyl release, issued in December 2025. These recordings are snapshots of musical conversations rather than attempts to reproduce a finished composition.
Explore the recordings on Rack Records Bandcamp.
Photographs and coverage
See Dom Thompson’s photojournal of the March 2025 Long Table show, the Brecon Cathedral preview and portrait, and MusicRadar’s feature on Steve and modular synthesis. These are linked rather than reproduced while image permissions are established.
This page is an evolving archive. More photographs, gig dates, memories and recordings will be added as the story is documented.
