Shpongle: Live in Concert at the Roundhouse, London 2008

As an artist, it's always good to challenge yourself. . . and the thought of translating all the complex layers in a Shpongle album into a live show with a band gave me a panic attack. . . and still does! Some songs we couldn't even find, as they were done on old computers that have long been obsolete, soaking up water under a leaky roof in my garage. Pretty early on I realized the secret would be to bring in musicians far better than ourselves. . . and lots of them! Two weeks before the show the band had never even met each other, even though I had recorded some of them individually in my studio for previous Shpongle albums. Pixel Addicts took care of the lights, showing me complicated diagrams on their laptops which I pretended to understand, having no clue how it would actually look on the night. Meanwhile we all rehearsed in a darkened room, with no air or daylight, getting to know each other by smell alone. . . and perhaps sound. Reams of manuscript paper littered the floor, everyone wore ear plugs, and all I could think was "What the hell am I doing?" . We didn't know if we would ever repeat the performance, so recorded it for posterity. . . Surely only an idiot would actually release their first ever gig though, right? We hope you like it. . . it was made with love, sweat and laughter. . . . Welcome to Shpongleland!