Geraldine Swayne: vocals/ guitars/ accordion/ benjo/ piano/ bass/ viola. a.k.a. artist/ filmmaker. James Johnston: vocals/ guitars/ organ/ harmonica/ autoharp/ viola/ cello/ piano/ benjo/ bass. a.k.a. founder and leader of Gallon Drunk / member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Steve Gullick: vocals/ guitars/ cello/ organ/ bass/ tonka. a.k.a. photographer/ publisher. bender began life in 1996 as Steve Gullick recording primal, bass driven, experimental noise songs on a 4-track cassette recorder. One of the few people to hear the results was James Johnston who immediately offered to collaborate. Gullick however, did not record again till late 2003, when he recorded a huge body of new songs in a sustained frenzy of activity, releasing them as two limited edition cd's (lost & found) via the Loose Lips Sink Ships label (Feb 2004). Making music for films that'll never see fruition, .bender create sounds that pull you in before disappearing into the ether. Ben Myers/ Kerrang! James & Steve met again around the time of the new recordings. They conspired to create an experimental album of solo organ material by Johnston for release with the next edition of Gullick's new magazine. In the meantime, bender played a totally unrehearsed show with a six piece band at Londons Buffalo Bar. In February 2004, James & Steve started recordings for James' proposed solo record in Steve's kitchen. This quickly evolved into a shared musical project. Thrilled by the freedom of this style of recording and writing, and by the freshness and unpredictability of the results,...bender became a band. A week later Geraldine Swayne was drafted-in on vocals, guitar and accordion. The venue was changed to an old east London school, and opting to record totally live on reel 2-track tape machine the results can only be described as dark, heavy cinematic folk music The initial recordings are raw, moving, fragile & raucous... often one take improvisations.