Public Service Broadcasting (band)

Public Service Broadcasting
Public Service Broadcasting performing during their The Race for Space Tour in 2015[a]
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Alternative,[1] art rock, indie rock, electronica, dance-punk, krautrock[2][deprecated source]
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Test Card Believe PIAS
Members	J. Willgoose Esq. Wrigglesworth JF Abraham Mr B
Website	publicservicebroadcasting.net

Public Service Broadcasting is a London-based musical group consisting of four members known mainly by their stage names: J. Willgoose, Esq. on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samples and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic musical instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and assorted other instruments including a vibraslap; and Mr B on visuals and set design for live performances.^[3][4] The band has toured internationally and in 2015 was announced as a nominee in the Vanguard breakthrough category of the fourth annual Progressive Music Awards, staged by Prog magazine,^[5] which they won.^[6]

At first, the band consisted solely of Willgoose. He made his public debut at The Selkirk pub in Tooting, London, England in August 2009. Shortly afterwards he issued EP One. Teaming up with Wrigglesworth on drums, the band played its first festival in September 2010, Aestival in Suffolk, and work began on a second EP, The War Room, which was released in May 2012. Since then, the band has released five albums, Inform-Educate-Entertain (2013); The Race for Space (2015); Every Valley (2017); Bright Magic (2021); and The Last Flight (2024). The Race for Space was supported by two shows at the National Space Centre in Leicester celebrating the album's launch. The album charted just outside the top 10 in 11th place in the UK in its release week and reaching Number 1 in the UK Independent Charts for that week. A follow-up EP was released at the tail end of 2015 (Sputnik/Korolev) which was backed up by a UK tour, climaxing in the band's biggest headline show, a sold-out night at the O2 Academy Brixton, of which a live album was released in 2016.

On 10 March 2017, PSB released a new single titled "Progress", featuring vocals from Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura with photo shoots showing the band as a three-piece with new member JF Abraham featured on promotional photos. Their third studio album, entitled Every Valley, about the coal mining industry's rise and fall in the Welsh Valleys between the 1950s and 1980s, was released on 7 July 2017. As with The Race for Space, the band had two album launch concerts, this time in Ebbw Vale, where the LP was recorded.

In June 2018, PSB appeared at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, playing at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. As part of this a series of four new pieces, based on the story of the RMS Titanic, was debuted. These tracks were released as the EP White Star Liner on 26 October 2018.

They performed a "specially commissioned new arrangement" of The Race for Space on 25 July 2019 in a late-night Prom, joined by London Contemporary Voices and the Multi-Story Orchestra, the performance being shown on BBC television the following night.^[7]

In December 2020, Willgoose released the ambient solo EP A Wonderful Hope under the name Late Night Final. This release on PIAS Recordings^[8] is a record which featured soundscape artist Teddy Hunter on the track "The Human Touch".^[9][10]

On 2 June 2021, PSB debuted the first single, called "People, Let’s Dance" from their fourth studio album Bright Magic.^[11]

On 30 August 2022, PSB played a specially commissioned, album-length piece for Prom 58 called This New Noise, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was commissioned to celebrate 100 years of the BBC. ^[12] At the time of the performance, the band said there were currently no plans to tour the piece or to release it as a record - but they hinted that this may not be set in stone. The band subsequently announced that there would be a record release on 8 September 2023. ^[13]

In January 2023 J. Willgoose Esq. created a creator site using the Patreon platform in order to share updates and content with fans. The first track released on this site was "Three Things", which was the first-ever Public Service Broadcasting demo.^[14]

The band announced their fifth album, titled The Last Flight, about Amelia Earhart's last flight on which she and her navigator disappeared. Four singles were released prior to the album's release on 4 October 2024. The band followed the release with a tour through Europe.^[15]

The band mostly plays instrumental music; Willgoose has said that "singing is never going to work. I'm not going to be happy with it, I'm not going to be comfortable playing it to other people."^[16] Despite Willgoose's prior reservations about singing, he did later contribute vocals to the duet piece "You + Me" from Every Valley, because the intended vocalist was not available. They take samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material.^[17] While writing The War Room the band formed a close relationship with the British Film Institute, using their films in live performances. The BFI find the band helpful in bringing a greater audience to their archives.^[3]

Musical members

• J. Willgoose Esq. – guitar, banjo, bass guitar, other stringed instruments, samplings and electronic musical instruments, occasional vocals (2009–present)
• Wrigglesworth – drums, piano, electronic musical instruments, saxophone (2010–present)
• J F Abraham – flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums, assorted other instruments including a vibraslap, electronic musical instruments, arrangements (2016–present; session contributions 2014–2015)

Non-musical members

• Mr B – visuals and set design for live performances.^[3][4]

• "ROYGBIV" – 5 March 2012^[26] which won the BBC Radio 6 Music Rebel Playlist.^[27]
• "Spitfire" – 26 March 2012^{[28][29][30][31]} which won the BBC Radio 6 Music Rebel Playlist.^[32] The song sampled dialogue and sound from the 1942 film "The First of the Few", and the video incorporated footage from the same film.
• "London Can Take It" – 13 August 2012^[33][34]
• "Everest" – 12 November 2012 only for digital downloading. The song is based around The Conquest of Everest, a 1953 film charting Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's first successful ascent of the mountain.^[35]
• "Signal 30"^[36]
• "Night Mail"^[37]
• "Elfstedentocht" (Record Store Day single; 11 November 2013)^[38][39]
• "Gagarin" – 1 December 2014 (first single of the album "The Race for Space")
• "Go!" – 23 February 2015
• "Sputnik/Korolev" – 20 November 2015 (No. 4 UK Physical)^[40]
• "Progress" – 10 March 2017 (first single of the band's third album) ^[41]
• "They Gave Me a Lamp"
• "People Will Always Need Coal"
• "White Star Liner"
• "People, Let's Dance" (featuring Eera)
• "Blue Heaven"
• "Lichtspiel III: Symphonie Diagonale"
• "Der Rhythmus der Maschinen"
• "Broadcasting House" (live)
• "Electra"
• "The South Atlantic" - 2 August 2024
• "The Fun of It"
• "Towards the Dawn"

• "Three Things" – 4 January 2023^[42]
• "Shy Guy" - 3 February 2023^[43]
• "Progress v3_2" - 2 March 2023^[44]
• "Go! v0_2" - 6 April 2023^[45]
• "First Transmissions - 05 The Big Time" - 4 May 2023^[46]
• "Protect and Survive" - 6 June 2023^[47]
• "Broadcasting House v0_2" - 4 July 2023^[48]
• "Leviathan [Demo]" - 2 August 2023^[49]
• "Bildnis v0_3" - 4 September 2023^[50] (note the original title of this track was "Bildnis der Tanzerin" but changed to "Gib Mir Das Licht" later)
• "A Cello Sings in Daventry v0_1" - 2 October 2023^[51]
• "Proms Idea 3 6-8" - 2 October 2023^[51]
• "Blue Heaven v0_2" - 7 November 2023^[52]
• "Blue Heaven v0_3" - 7 November 2023^[52]
• "EV Track 7 demo v0_4" - 4 December 2023^[53]
• "08 What Of The Future_(In Touch With The Infinite) v0_1" - 3 January 2024^[54]
• "Plan 9" - 5 February 2024^[55] (available for streaming only)
• "Walk In Space v0_2" - 6 June 2024 ^[56]
• "Electra demos" - 9 July 2024^[57]
• "The South Atlantic demo" - 1 August 2024^[58]

• Official website
• Public Service Broadcasting on BBC Music
• Public Service Broadcasting on MusicBrainz
• Public Service Broadcasting on Discogs