Led by percussionist Joby Burgess, Powerplant brings together some of the most dynamic
young British artists to explore hi-octane percussion-led music with an electronic sound
and strong visual performance. Powerplant made its debut in July 2005, with a sell out
performance at the Southbank Centre, London and has since performed extensively
throughout the UK, Europe and beyond; in 2006 Powerplant was one of the few
ensembles to perform at Steve Reich's Barbican birthday celebrations 'Phases'.

At the heart of the Powerplant sound is the percussion and live electronics duo of genre
trashing virtuoso, Joby Burgess and Liverpool based composer and live sound engineer,
Matthew Fairclough. Coupled with specially created film and live camera work from Bristol
based visual artist Kathy Hinde, the trio has created an experimental and challenging
repertoire fusing seminal percussion works alongside their own work, improvisations and
remixes.

During 2006-07 Powerplant received an ITEM research grant from Arts Council England,
hosted by FACT - The Foundation for Art & Creative Technology - Liverpool, which led to
commissioning Graham Fitkinʼs Chain of Command, a highly political and confrontational
new work for xylosynth and live electronics.

In November 2008 Powerplant released their debut album Electric Counterpoint on Signum
Records, which includes remixes of Steve Reich and pioneering dance masters, Kraftwerk,
featuring the Elysian Quartet. The release coincided with a nine-date UK tour that saw the
premiere of Gabriel Prokofievʼs Import/Export, a thirty minute commission with global
resonances for a quartet of truly ʻjunkʼ objects.

One of Britainʼs most diverse percussionists, Joby is best known for his work performing
new music and regularly collaborates with artists such as Stewart Copeland, Joanna
MacGregor, Sarah Leonard, John Kenny, James Wood, Michael Finnissy and Nitin
Sawhney, as well as being a member of percussion quartet, Ensemble Bash and the
innovative duo New Noise.