STANLÆY (Bethany Stenning) is an artist, singer and multi-instrumentalist. Firstly a writer, a painter, and a classical musician, Bethany discovered her love for singing, and writing her own music at age 17. She studied Music at Southampton University, and moved to Paris in 2015 to study French and Music at the Sorbonne alongside her degree. It is in Paris she met Marco Pavesi, a talented French musician who she began to collaborate with. In February 2016, Bethany and Marco recorded a 5-track EP in Tour, France. Bethany performed and recorded under a number of pseudonyms including “Stanhopea” and “Stanlæy”.
Bethany’s adventures took her to small town Maynooth, in Ireland where she would meet a talented hue of musicians through Common Grounds Collective which Bethany was heavily involved in during her stay in Ireland.
Bethany’s musical soundscape developed somewhere in the blurred realms of ethereal gypsy punk-pop. Her wide range of influences stemming from the likes of Bjork, Sigur Ros, and the Dirty Projectors. “The Fader” magazine describes Bethany’s sound as “eerie” with “Kate Bush-esque vocals” in their review of her song “The Love Machine” which made it through to the long-list of Glastonbury’s upcoming talent competition 2016.
Bethany worked avidly with a quartet she named the seaweed string quartet and band to tour after the release of her album Ouroboros which was released 10th February 2017 (available to purchase via bandcamp). The album was written, recorded, and mixed by Bethany alone in the summer of 2016, and the band performed live versions of the songs. During their Girl Power tour in Ireland, a live version of the album was recorded (the live album can be heard via bandcamp).
Bethany since moved to Bristol and the band now resides as a quartet that have played in a range of spaces from large rock venues, to intimate folk events. Ft. Oliver cocup (drums), Ben Holyoake (Bass) and Naomi Hill (Violin). See gig page for upcoming gigs.
Lastly, Bethany is an avid artist who has always been fascinated with painting the human form, and human sight. A love to combine sonic landscapes with visual ones. Her love for painting eventually transformed into her love for body-painting, and her love for writing mutated into scripting/video direction and production. Her latest album is an audio-visual album called The Human Project which was released May 28th at The Wardrobe Theatre, a sell out gig with a standing ovation. The critically acclaimed album has since received extended radio airplay in England and Ireland.
Ishmael Ensemble
Following a banner year for Pete Cunningham, best known as dextrous saxophonist Ishmael and leader of the namesake Ishmael Ensemble, 2019 now brings debut album‘A State of Flow.’ This new long player builds on Cunningham’s work as proud protector of Bristolian heritage, sketching loving sonic pictures of the South West in his Bristol-inspired ‘Severn Songs’ series, whilst also incubating local visual and musical talent, within the Ensemble.
‘A State Of Flow’ touches on various styles of jazz, stirring ambient invocations, club-ready percussive workouts, spiralling grooves & hazy psychedelic electronica. This would be a confusing melange, but for Cunningham’s excursions as a genre-agnostic DJ, something evident in the real house shuffle of ‘Lapwing’, which evokes walking into a smoky after hours haunt and finding a session in full, forward motion or the organic garage beats of ‘Full Circle’ and classic trip hop style ‘Waterfall’ fuelled by Holysseus Fly’s honey toned and evocative vocals.
This album, borne of strong vision and stronger hometown pride, embellishes Ishmael Ensemble as one of the UK’s finest new groups. As shown across ‘A State of Flow’, the future of Bristol’s musical legacy is in more than capable hands.
