Annie Gardiner is an Artist, songwriter and producer. She has musical projects under her own name, Excellent Birds, MARCY and noise-rock duo Hysterical Injury. She works as a producer with a diverse range of artists from legendary J&J studios and Joe’s Garage in Bristol.
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As a solo artist, Annie’s debut solo album ‘Bloodletting’ drew critical acclaim from Brian Molton at The Wire magazine; “...[Along the Forest Bed] sounds like it is pretending to be a found text from an old chapbook of Wiccan conjuring or secret female wisdom...it's hard to think of recent music that conveys that intimate knowledge in such an ethereal way." Songs have made The Wire’s Virtual Office Ambience playlist, as well as being playlisted on BBC6’s Freakzone and across Spotify. Though released during the pandemic, Annie was able to tour supporting Billy Nomates, Eric Chenaux, Mabi Fratti and Run Logan Run.
Hysterical Injury garnered critical acclaim for all 3 EP’s, 2 albums and have toured extensively round the UK and Internationally supporting Beak>, Lightning Bolt, The Primitives and more. She has a more electronic experimental project called Excellent Birds, whose debut album ‘Jungian Stomp (songs from the PSR-90)’ is coming out July 2024 on all platforms and LTD edition cassette.
Annie is long time songwriter and lyricist for French electronic pop duo The Penelopes whose singles include Meet Me by The Gates and The Last Goodbye featuring award winning French actress Isabelle Adjani (Serge Gainsbourg, Werner Herzog, Luc Besson) and Pastoral featuring actress Lola Bessis (Swim Little Fish Swim, Picnic at Hanging Rock). As a bassist and vocalist Annie has toured them throughout the UK and Internationally 2013 - 2017 playing venues such as Razzmatazz in Barcelona alongside Todd Terry; Salo for actress/ model Asia Argento take over in Paris alongside The Charletans, Lydia Lunch, Andy Votel; NXNE (sister festival to SXSW) in Toronto, Canada alongside The National; as well as multiple UK shows. Has appeared on multiple recordings playing bass guitar and singing as well as a keen improviser with electronics and vocals.
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As well as a practitioner, Annie has been a lecturer and senior lecturer in Songwriting at BIMM University from 2012-2023 where she developed, contributed to and taught on the BA (hons) and BMus Songwriting degree and taught on the MA in Popular Music Practice. For 7 years there she collaborated on a cutting edge non-assessed creativity and improvisation module called MRCE (Musical Responses and Collaborative Experiments) which she ran successfully with drummer Dan Johnson and author, songwriter Cliff Jones. MRCE has been used as a case study in academic journals and in co-presentations at Centre for Research in New Music at Huddersfeild, Centre for Computer Music and Acoustics at Standford University during the Pandemic and Bath Spa Research in Music Education in the subject of Improvisation. She now helps as a Guest Lecturer at BIMM University, while working as a producer from J&J Studios and Joe’s Garage Studios in Bristol.
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Background…
Annie was born into and brought up on creativity and music making in the surround of the deep Welsh countryside. What her upbringing lacked in money and expensive school trips, was more than made up for in cultural experience of a unique kind. Her Dad, Ricky Gardiner, Scottish guitarist and songwriter best known for being David Bowie’s guitarist during the late 70s Berlin period as he appears on the album Low, and Tonight album in the 80s where he co-wrote ‘Neighbourhood Threat’. He features on the backing track of Bowie’s famous Top of the Pop’s performance of ‘Heroes’ in place of Robert Fripp. Ricky was also a collaborator with Iggy Pop in his post-Stooges era, he co-wrote songs for and performed on the album Lust for Life, penning album favourite, The Passenger, as well as several more. Ricky toured with him and Bowie on The Idiot tour in 1977 with Blondie supporting. Ricky was founding member and guitarist of Scottish progressive rock band Beggar’s Opera in 1969 right through to the later duo recordings he collaborated on with his wife Virginia. In later life, Ricky suffered with Parkinsons PSP, from which he passed in 2022. Kory Grow of Rolling Stone Magazine wrote a touching obituary, as many kind journalists did, and you can find out more about Ricky’s music at his website.
Her mum, Virginia Aurora Scott, Glasweigian composer and pianist with two first class degrees in composition and performance from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Virginia, a pianist and cellist, went on to be key songwriter and mellotronist for Progressive-Rock Band Beggar’s Opera as well as staff songwriter at British Lion Music through the 70s and later through her experience as an educator, she wrote music for The Classical Music specialists, Boosey and Hawkes. A contemporary composer with particular interest in improvisation, with music performed in venues such as BMIC London, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Norwiegian Church Cardiff. Virginia is still very active in musical improvisation and how that practice translates to the poetic word. Find out more about Virginia’s key works at the British Music Collection and at her website.