To a degree, all musicians are a product of their environment, the places they record and the venues they play. For proof, check out the alumni of the n-wave era CBGBs venue in New York, Cabaret Voltaire’s Western Works studio in Sheffield – where many other outfits recorded, often free of charge, under the watchful eyes of Richard H Kirk, and the Total Refreshment Centre in London, which fostered a new generation of jazz musicians. 

We can now add to that list the Constellations Workshop in Colwick, Nottingham, a project that provides employment – making studio furniture, fittingly enough – for out-of-work musicians. It was here, after-hours, that the music on Brown Fang’s impressive and ear-catching debut album took shape. 

Both members of Brown Fang, bassist John Thompson and guitarist Henry Scott AKA Henry Claude, have a long association with the Constellations Workshop. Though their musical projects are manifold – Thompson has toured with countless bands, including The Nectarine No9 and The Selecter, while Scott records ambient music as Fang Jr and is a mainstay of the Nottingham jazz circuit – the work provided by the community-minded project has kept their heads above water and allowed them a space to record in when the shutters go down and the bandsaws get switched off.