Woodpecker Wooliams was the musical moniker of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, UK-based musician Gemma Williams. She produced music as Woodpecker Wooliams from 2009 to 2013, releasing the studio albums ''Diving Down'' (2009) and ''The Bird School of Being Human'' (2012). Williams has since worked on Becky Becky with Peter J D Mason.

History

Woodpecker Wooliams, consisting of voice,

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

, analogue synths and 'noise', began in 2009 after Williams'

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

training was interrupted by "a sudden and severe illness". An album called ''The Bird School of Being Human'' was released on Robot Elephant Records in September 2012, co-produced with Marcus Hamblett. It was described by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' as "a stunning find", and "musically and emotionally belting" in a

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

review. In 2012 Woodpecker Wooliams was ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s "New band of the Day". Woodpecker Wooliams performed a live radio session in 2013 for

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

BBC Radio 6 BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

show. Music from this album, and the earlier ''Diving Down'' (2009) was played on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

's ''

Late Junction ''Late Junction'' is a music programme broadcast weekly on Friday nights by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "Experimental music for adventurous listeners.", the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear medieval ballads juxtaposed wit ...

'' show, by

Rob da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Besti ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, and BBC Radio 6 Music programmes including

Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...

's ''Freak Zone'' and ''

BBC Music Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...

.'' In 2013 Woodpecker Wooliams performed at the

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

-curated

Meltdown festival Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The ...

at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

supporting

Cibo Matto Cibo Matto (, Italian for "crazy food") was an American alternative rock band formed by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori in New York City in 1994. Initially, the band's lyrics were primarily concerned with food, before expanding into broader subject ma ...

. Woodpecker Wooliams toured numerous headline tours around Germany, Denmark, Italy, Russia and The Baltics between 2010 and 2013. Woodpecker Wooliams collaborated with several other musicians, including lending featured guest vocals to the lead single "Meltdown" from Ghostpoet's sophomore album ''

Some Say I So I Say Light ''Some Say I So I Say Light'' is the second studio album by British singer Ghostpoet. It was released on 6 May 2013. Track listing Critical reception ''Some Say I So I Say Light'' received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Singl ...

;'' harp on the track "Fire" for the Emanative album ''The Light Years Of The Darkness''; and guest vocals (with

Rag'n'Bone Man Rory Charles Graham (born 29 January 1985), better known as Rag'n'Bone Man, is an English singer and songwriter. He is known for his deep baritone voice. His first hit single, "Human", was released in 2016, and his debut album of the same nam ...

) on Button Eyes' single "Simple Days", performed live for BBC's Radio 4 programme '' Loose Ends.'' The final Woodpecker Wooliams performance was at the End of The Road festival in 2013. Williams announced the "death" of the project on her website in September 2013.

Discography

Albums *''Diving Down'' (Autumn Ferment, 2009) – CD *''The Bird School of Being Human'' (Robot Elephant, 2012) – CD and vinyl Singles *"Gull" (Robot Elephant, 2012) *"Sparrow" (Robot Elephant, 2012) EPs *''Fledgling'' (A Beard of Snails, 2009) *''Sleeping Under Dark Suns'' (My Dance The Skull, 2010) – cassette *''Patryoska'' (The Woolshop, 2011) –

CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the in ...

, cassette **''Patryoska'' (Full of Nothing, 2012) – re-release Soundtracks *''Anni'' (Love Lion, Chicago, 2012) – collaboration with OCDC, a score to the German film '' Anni'' (1948) Live albums *''Woodpecker Wooliams and Golden Cup meet Love Cult – In Russia'' (Full of Nothing, 2012) Compilation album appearances *''Expulsion Into Offering #4'' (A Beard Of Snails, 2010) – Expulsion Into Offering Tape Series cassette album, includes "Mill And Moss" by Woodpecker Wooliams *''Stranger Songs II'' (Stranger Songs, 2010) *''Home Taping is Music 2'' (Woodland, 2011) *''Willkommen Foxswap'' (

Willkommen Collective The Willkommen Collective is a Brighton-based community of musicians, promoters and artists. The collective includes the bands Sons of Noel and Adrian, The Leisure Society, Kristin McClement, The Climbers, The Miserable Rich, Shoreline and many ...

, 2011)

References

External links

* – Woodpecker Wooliams * – Gemma Williams * {{Authority control Musicians from Brighton and Hove 21st-century English musicians 21st-century English women musicians