Circulus are a

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Chara ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band from

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, England, founded by vocalist Michael Tyack. The band uses a mix of modern and medieval instruments, such as the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

crumhorn The crumhorn is a double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early music, and crumhorns are being play ...

and

rauschpfeife Rauschpfeife is a commonly used term for a specific type of capped conical reed musical instrument of the woodwind family, used in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. In common with the crumhorn and cornamuse, it is a wooden double-reed instru ...

, along with the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

, bass and electric guitars. Tyack claims to believe in

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

and

pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

, and they have been known to play their live shows with the audience sitting on the floor. Circulus were featured in a two-page spread of an ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' issue in 2005, and a two-page interview in ''

Terrorizer Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands, such as Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm D ...

'' in 2006 . Their album ''Clocks are Like People'' was reviewed in ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' magazine in September 2006, receiving 8/10. The band featured in an SVT (Swedish) music television documentary called ''This Is Our Music'' in 2005, and were interviewed on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...

'' on 3 February 2007 as part of an item on the 'new folk'. ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' magazine chose Circulus to cover "

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partners ...

" for their 40th anniversary ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...

'' tribute album, ''Sgt. Pepper...With a Little Help from His Friends'', given away with their March 2007 issue. In 2018 Michael Tyack confirmed a new album to be released in the summer of 2018.

Discography

EPs * ''

Giantism Gigantism ( el, γίγας, ''gígas'', "giant", plural γίγαντες, ''gígantes''), also known as giantism, is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average. In humans, this condition is caused by ove ...

'' (1999, Instant Farma) Albums * ''

The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent ''The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent'' is the debut full-length album by psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains ...

'' (2005,

Rise Above Records Rise Above Records is a London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian (of the band Cathedral and formerly of Napalm Death). Founding Lee Dorrian started Rise Above Records in 1988 without the intention of the label being an ongoi ...

) * ''

Clocks Are Like People A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the ...

'' (2006,

) * ''Thought Becomes Reality'' (2009,

Mythical Cake Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

) * ''Birth'' (2018,

) * ''Gate 47'' (2018,

) * ''Live at Dingwalls 2005 (2019,

) Singles * "Everyone" / "Ring o' Roses" / "Gently Johnny Pt 1" (1997, Instant Farma) * "Little More Time" / "Happen Away" (1998, Instant Farma) * "Wouldn't Dream of Sleeping Now" / "Same Way From the Sun" (2000, Instant Farma) * "Swallow" / "My Body is Made of Sunlight" / "La Rotta°" (2005,

)) * "Song of Our Despair" / "Honeycomb" / "Tapestry°" (2006,

) (° on CD version only) Other releases * ''Music Plays in the Air'' (on ''Get Yer Pots Out'' with the fanzine

Ptolemaic Terrascope {{Infobox magazine , image_file = pto.png , image_size = , image_caption = ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' logo , editor = Phil McMullen (1988–2005) Pat Thomas (2005-07) , editor_title = , staff ...

, 2001) * ''Split 7"'' – ''Miri It Is (Moog-up Mix)'' by Circulus / ''Chylde of Fire'' by

Witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

(2005,

) * ''La Rotta'' (2005) (on ''The Crow Club'' compilation, 2008

People Tree Records A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of propert ...

) * ''Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds'' (Mojo Presents Sgt. Pepper... With A Little Help From My Friends, 2007,

Mojo Magazine ''Mojo'' is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. Following the success of the magazine '' Q'', publishers Emap were looking for a title that would cater for the bur ...

) * ''The Unquiet Grave'' (on ''Old Wine, New Skins'' compilation, 2007,

Market Square Music Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: * Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand * Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, a ...

) * ''Till We Merry Meet Again'' (on ''A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island'' compilation, 2009,

Lo Recordings Lo Recordings is a label founded in 1995 by Jon Tye. They are noted for their strong visual style thanks to Non-Format, with whom they work very closely and won a D&AD award for several of their releases sleeves. Musical style Lo recordings m ...

) Releases with Circulus members *

Lo Polidoro Lo may refer to any of the following: Arts and entertainment * '' Lo!'', the third published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort * L.O., a fictional character in the Playhouse Disney show Happy Monster Band * ''Lo'' (film), a 2009 indep ...

– ''Lo Polidoro'' (2005) *

– ''Le Carrousel Des Jours'' (2009, Marboz Records) * Marianne Segal – ''The Gathering'' (2007, Snow Beach Records) produced by Michael Tyack and featuring Circulus *

Thistletown Thistletown is a culturally diverse neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the area surrounding the intersection of Albion Road and Islington Avenue in the former City of Etobicoke. (Etobicoke merged with five other municip ...

– ''Rosemarie'' (2008, Big Bertha Records) produced by Michael Tyack

Band members

Current members

*Michael Tyack – vocals, guitars, saz, cittern

Former members

*Lo Polidoro – vocals *Will Summers – flute,

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

, crumhorn,

shawm The shawm () is a Bore_(wind_instruments)#Conical_bore, conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissance periods, after ...

*Sam Kelly – drums, vocals *George Parfitt – bass guitar *Oliver Parfitt – keyboards, synthesizers *Victor Hugo Llamas – bongos, percussion *Nick Baxter – percussion *Nigel Hoyle – bass, vocals *Eric Anholm – guitar, vocals *Jason Hobart – bass, vocals *Emma Steele – vocals, flute *Robin Cieslak – guitar, vocals, percussion * Damien Cavanagh – drums *Jenny Bliss Bennett – violin, viola da gamba, flute, vocals * Cathy Harabaras – drums, backing vocals

Mythical Cake label

In 2008, the band started its own record label, Mythical Cake, using donations solicited from fans and the public at large. A donation of 50 British pounds or more secured a photograph in the ''Thought Becomes Reality'' album liner notes. This alternative appeal is part of a growing trend of bands attempting to create a distribution infrastructure outside the traditional music industry.

References

External links

Circulus official website

Circulus
on MySpace * * {{Authority control Medieval folk rock groups English progressive rock groups