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Shearman

May 21, 2025 By Nick Roseblade Photography by Nick Roseblade Web Exclusive

The Great Escape is upon Brighton again. Over a week hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand, bands play anywhere and everywhere they can. It’s one of the best weeks of the year and not to be missed, but tonight instead of checking out dozens of bands you’ve never heard of before, there was something unmissable happening in Hove. Far away from TGE, in every sense, The Bees Mouth was hosting Shearman, Guesswork and A Thing Woven. Despite the pangs of FOMO from TGE, this was something not to be missed.

First up was A Thing Woven. This was the debut live performance by Knifedoutofexistence and Whose Body Is This. Expectations were high. Knifedoutofexistence’s shows are always a visceral attack on the senses and Whose Body Is This has a way of getting under your skin with fractured feedback and searing hi-end electronics. Before they took to the stage, well floor, as The Bees Mouth doesn’t have a raised performance area, they said to each other “Shall we make some noise then?”. The set opened with textured electronics and faint feedback. Knifedoutofexistence slowly, almost elegantly, moved a microphone toward, and away, from a speaker that was positioned in front of him. At times the hi-end stuff was lost in sea feedback, but this was because no one was mixing the show. It added to the cacophonic nature of the music. At times it felt like both artists were playing against each other, rather than trying to work in unison. This gave the music an edge that would have been missed had one been following the other. During their set, and the rest of the night, bar staff came down to collect glasses. On this occasion the bar staff looked around in bewilderment, gave a withering look and left, empty handed, shaking his head. Depending on your take, this is either a damning critique or a badge of honour. I’ll let you decide my take on it. After 20-mins the set got LOUD! Or louder than it already was. Horrific bass gurgles were emitting from the speakers. The static was brazen, yet underneath it was beautifully melodic chimes. They were almost just out of listening range but when they came through, they really made the set. And then it was over. As A Thing Woven left their gear and headed through the crowd someone shouted “JUDAS!” to which Whose Body Is This replied, “I don’t believe you… you’re a liar”.

After a short break Guesswork set up shop and a folding table that wouldn’t have been out of place at a wrestling show. Guesswork is musician, and podcaster, Jack Chuter. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hadn’t seen Chuter live before. This time he was using a maximal drone with a pitchshifter and distortion. There was a funny bit at the start where Chuter almost got the giggles. “I’m going to do a countdown before I start as the pop can be jarring”. After a 5-to-1 count we were off. Once it was running not much was done, in terms of tweaking the sound. The set was the most rhythmic of the night so far, with bass crackling and forming what could loosely be described as beats. There were searing highs too. It was also the most theatrical set of the night. Throughout the performance a microphone was held in Chuter’s hand. This was moved slowly towards, and away, from their face. At times you thought something would be uttered, but no. This added some dramatic tension to the set. In fairness, Chuter might have ruined some of the tension. Listening to the music reminded me of that strange thing about the human eye and brain. If you start at something for long enough you start to believe things are moving around it. As the music didn’t really deviate much from its initial salvo, the brain started to play tricks and make you think that sections were different. Was that searing screech elongated this time, or was that a new bass rhythm emerging? The answer was probably not, but coupled with the pageantry of the mic work, it made for the most engaging performance of the night. After half an hour, or so, Chuter stopped the music as abruptly as it started. Again, they almost got the giggles. The gathered crowd erupted in applause as Chuter headed through the crowd.

The final act of the night was Shearman. For just over a decade Shearman has been releasing noise, ambient, drone and experimental albums and tapes. His music is powerful, terrifying, violent, melodic and as brutalist as the Centre Point in London. The set started with some synth drone. These motifs were allowed to build and build until wails of feedback exploded from the speakers. At times the feedback was all consuming. Others he let it out for a few moments, but it was a constant present. The set was a masterclass in distorted guttural vocals, fierce feedback and heavy drones. Next to the performance table, or altar, was a piece of sheet metal. It was buckled and scratched from use, and abuse, over the years. Periodically Shearman attacked it with whatever came to hand. Sometimes a knife. Sometimes his microphone. The noise was hideous, but it gave an extra texture to the set. Throughout his set Shearman paced back and forth behind his equipment. It reminded me of seeing a video of a butcher. They knew where they had to cut but wanted to work out the best way to start. Shearman was doing the same. He knew what he wanted to do, but instead of rushing in and twiddling knobs and pressing buttons, he took his time. Measured up everything in front of him and then started to work. Halfway through the set a customer from the pub upstairs wandered in, looking woozy, trying to find the toilet. He sat down for a few minutes and then left when he realised this wasn’t, indeed, the bathroom. A little while later the same thing happened again, but this time, the person stayed. Transfixed by what was unfolding before him.

And then that was it. The music was over, and the house lights came up. After some milling about talking noise, tapes, funny gig stories, it was time to leave. As I hit Western Road normality came flooding back. The sounds of a bustling city hit me. Cars brandishing Crystal Palace flags and shirts, were cruising honking their horns at anything that moved celebrating their historic FA Cup win. The Great Escape delegated in their lanyard were eating in restaurants and braying about who they had, and more importantly, hadn’t seen. Ruined couples staggering to the next pub before last orders and people like me, who were walking from bus stop to bus stop so they could get home. A Thing Woven looks to be an interesting project. The concept is simple, but effective. Chuter should always be seen if/when they come to your town and in Shearman there is a noise/experimental journeyman who is a master of his craft.