Geordie Greep

Geordie Greep grew up in Walthamstow, London. His father steered him toward progressive rock, classical music and country, and lent him records by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis. Around age eleven he began playing gospel music in churches despite no religious upbringing, an early lesson in improvising.

At the BRIT School he met Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, and the two busked together in Bromley before meeting drummer Morgan Simpson and, a month before their first gig, bassist Cameron Picton. The band took its name from a genre Greep had learned about in a MIDI class and started playing The Windmill in Brixton, the only venue that answered his emails.

Black midi signed to Rough Trade in 2019 and released three albums, Schlagenheim, Cavalcade and Hellfire, to strong critical notice before going on hiatus in 2024. Greep's voice, often called hard to place geographically, and his habit of writing songs around specific, often unpleasant characters carried directly from the band into his solo work.

The New Sound followed later that year on Rough Trade, recorded partly in São Paulo with Brazilian musicians and partly in London, trading black midi's angularity for Latin rhythm, jazz-rock arrangement and lounge textures performed by a large ensemble.