Unapologetically complex and joyful, The Destroyers have been colliding world musics for nearly 20 years. Their behemothic sound is a chaotic cacophony of klezmer, Balkan and British folk. With twelve truly exceptional musicians from Birmingham their explosive and virtuosic live show needs to be seen to be believed.
Faustian fiddles, whirlwinds of woodwinds, braying brass, raucousness from the rhythm section, and salvos from the sousaphone destroy inhibitions and leave audiences bewildered, transported, beguiled, and wild. These tenacious, travelling troubadours have liberated ears, hearts, and minds at…
The Commonwealth Games - BBC One | Glastonbury | WOMAD | Boomtown Fair | Secret Garden Party | Fire in the Mountain | Shambala | Cambridge Folk Festival | Gate to Southwell | Underneath the Stars | Nozstock Hidden Valley | Knockengorroch | Sidmouth Folk Week | Buskers Bern (SW) | Penabilli (IT) | Waterford Spraoi (IE), and many, many more.
FFO: Golgol Bordello, Balkan Beatbox, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Tankus The Henge, Edward II, Fairport Convention, Sheelanagig, Ara Malikian, The Rin Tins, Bellowhead, 3 Daft Monkeys.
Also featured on Sky Arts TV, and plays on BBC One, BBC Radio 2, 3, and 6 Music.
Like the rest of us, Aaron's face is made of skin, sinew, muscle and bone. It is purely happenstance that in …
Dan is as much at home playing the washboard in an old south style as he is at Tuvan throat singing and making his own …
Jamie dresses smartly, stays sober after gigs to drive the minibus home, and usually wins when he plays chess with …
Katie is a great believer in the natural healing properties of the clarinet. (Gently boil with a spoon of rosehip oil …
Max really loves folk music. I mean, I love folk music. We all love folk music. But Max REALLY loves it. A lot.
He …
According to Nick, wisdom and foolishness are "kind of the same thing, really".
Does this mean Nick is wise? Or …
Pete is currently heartbroken because his beautiful new accordion was cruelly stolen from him. He did leave it on his …
Rob, our clever, cunning and incredible clairvoyant, is the 2019 tiddlywink world champion, and is rather fond of …
Verily, Samuel Wooster is a man of contrasts. His tattoed exterior belies a kind, sensitive underbelly, as revealed …
Sarah plays the violin.
Seth is the youngster of the Destroyers pack and was raised in the forest by a herd of fiddle bows. They all lived in a …
Tim likes strong cheese. In fact, when he is not playing the drums with us, he participates in a competitive endurance …
Like the rest of us, Aaron's face is made of skin, sinew, muscle and bone. It is purely happenstance that in photos he sometimes looks as if he is made of plasticine.
Do not be taken in! He is not, in fact, a product of the fevered imagination of a stop-frame animator.
He is a sentient being with hopes and dreams, fears and aspirations.
Dan is as much at home playing the washboard in an old south style as he is at Tuvan throat singing and making his own fretless banjos.
He can levitate at will and has mastered the arts of telekinesis and egg-blowing.
Jamie dresses smartly, stays sober after gigs to drive the minibus home, and usually wins when he plays chess with Leighton.
He likes making furniture out of scaffolding poles, which sounds a bit weird to me, but I suppose he knows what he's doing.
A virtuoso flamenco specialist, Jamie claims that in flamenco music, beat 12 is actually the first beat, and beat 1 is the second beat. Like, the upbeat is actually the downbeat. According to Jamie, this would make perfect sense if only we could understand what he is even on about.
Katie is a great believer in the natural healing properties of the clarinet. (Gently boil with a spoon of rosehip oil for a relaxing night time tea.)
Katie has many projects on the go at most times. Watch out for the release of her new youtube channel ‘Roller-skatie in 7/8ie’ - for those wishing to improve their clarinet technique whilst mastering traditional Bulgarian folklore steps on roller skates.
Max really loves folk music. I mean, I love folk music. We all love folk music. But Max REALLY loves it. A lot.
He still drinks tea out of the same black and white mug with celtic swirls on it that was his favourite mug when I first knew him in 1997.
He is also a bit of a ladies' man.
According to Nick, wisdom and foolishness are "kind of the same thing, really".
Does this mean Nick is wise? Or foolish? Or, kind of both, really?
Pete is currently heartbroken because his beautiful new accordion was cruelly stolen from him. He did leave it on his front doorstep before going to bed, but still. What is the world coming to when a kind and good man like Pete has his accordion stolen?
Pete also has a dead dog on display on the wall of his house but if you saw it you'd understand, as it is no bigger than a cat, and is tastefully and artistically presented.
Don't let the dead dog thing distract you from the stolen accordion thing.
Rob, our clever, cunning and incredible clairvoyant, is the 2019 tiddlywink world champion, and is rather fond of bourbons. Raised by badgers, he is oft found wandering moonlit fells reminiscing of his lost ironing board.
For a free and wildly inaccurate foretelling, come to a gig. Approach with caution and do not make eye contact. Slippery when wet.
Verily, Samuel Wooster is a man of contrasts. His tattoed exterior belies a kind, sensitive underbelly, as revealed during his occasional bouts of dulcet crooning.
When he’s not gigging with us, Sam likes to make garlic butter and minimalist techno.
Seth is the youngster of the Destroyers pack and was raised in the forest by a herd of fiddle bows. They all lived in a small nest made from the beards of old men at folk festivals.
The days were warm and long, filled with Jigs and Reels. But surviving in the forest was a difficult time… every night when the clock struck midnight, the blood sucking Hornpipes emerged and caused havoc across the land. The only way to defeat these bandits to was to wield a distastefully wide vibrato and straighten out their dotted rhythms.
Tim likes strong cheese. In fact, when he is not playing the drums with us, he participates in a competitive endurance cheese-eating society called 'gout club'. The objective of this "gout club" is to eat cheese until diagnosed with gout.
He's smashing on the drums though.
Abi likes paper trumpets and kazoos. She drew all the section headings on this website, not to mention the artwork for both our recent EPs. And, without wanting to give too much away, it is rumoured that she also intends to draw the artwork for our next album.
When she’s not feverishly doodling away, she is feverishly noodling away. This is because Abi is also a singer/songwriter of great talent and renown - check out her band Abie’s Miracle Tonic!
Before Phill, our front of house sound was at the mercy of the gods, a helpless vessel adrift in the stormy tempest.
Now we have Phill, and it is good.
Special power: not getting stressed when we all try to talk to him at once.