Nick Mulvey

Nick Mulvey is an English musician, singer and songwriter who studied music in Havana, Cuba. He played the Hang as a founder member of 2008 Mercury Prize nominated band Portico Quartet, until 2011 when he left to pursue his career as a singer-songwriter.^[1] As a solo artist, Mulvey released his first EP The Trellis in November 2012, and his second Fever to the Form in July 2013. On his recent Summer-Autumn tour with Laura Marling, he performed in symphony halls across the UK, naming Marling as a great influence to his solo music.

At the age of 19, Nick moved to Havana, Cuba to study music and art. The course was intensive, formal, and incredibly technical, yet the evenings were spent jamming and drinking rum with his fellow students who congregated at the school from all over the world.

On returning to the UK, Nick enrolled at the School of Oriental and African Studies to study Ethnomusicology. This course gave him great insight in to the cultural and historical context of many styles of music, in which he specialised in West and Central African music in particular. By this time, Nick was hooked and threw himself feet first in to finding out as much as he could about all styles of music.

Portico Quartet

While studying Ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Mulvey met the other members of Portico Quartet. The band consists of Jack Wyllie (soprano and tenor saxophone), Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), and Keir Vine (Hang and percussion) who replaced Nick Mulvey after his departure from the band in January 2011. Their debut album Knee-deep in the North Sea, was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize^[2] alongside Radiohead, Elbow, and Adele in 2008. The album's title was mentioned in the closing words to Alt-J's song Dissolve Me. Portico Quartet released their second album Isla on 9 October 2009 through Real World Records.

Solo career

After leaving Portico Quartet, Nick Mulvey started focus on a solo career. Although his change in style might have seemed dramatic, Mulvey states that his style of music stays consistent.

"I’m always drawn to the same principals in music. Beneath each genre, at a certain level, they hold the same principles"

The Trellis: 2012

Tracklist

1. Venus
2. April
3. The Trellis

Fever to the Form: 2013

Tracklist

1. Fever to the Form
2. House of Saint Give Me
3. Juramidam
4. River Lea

References