October 28, 2024 • No Comments

Some very old friends of Plankton Records are performing an intimate acoustic concert at the Church of Plankton’s founding partner Simon Law with Plankton’s other partner Keith Dixon will be looking after the live sound.

Simon announced “I am so pleased we are able to host Steve & Ainsley at my church, specifically in St. Gabriel’s Youth & Community Centre which is in Rectory Road, Pitsea, Basildon, Essex, SS13 2AA. The concert is taking place on Saturday 2nd November 2024 and it starts at 7.30pm.”

He continued “Steve and Ainsley love minstering together and are on tour in the UK for just a few weeks. Although they now live in Australia, they met in New Zealand back in the seventies and they have been touring Europe since 1995 and for the last ten years have been performing, writing and recording together as a duo.”

Keith states “Steve has performed at the Greenbelt Festival on 4 occasions and in 1996 he toured the UK with Simon’s band (and Plankton Records artists) FRESH CLAIM acting as his backing band. They finished that tour by playing to a packed audience in the Big Top at Greenbelt on the Monday night when they closed out the festival. It was a brilliant night. Since then we’ve kept in touch and almost always link up for a jam session and a catch up when they are in the UK”

Simon concludes “This is probably going to be the last time Steve & Ainsley will be with us so if you can come and enjoy an intimate night of a unique mixture of Gospel, blues and folk, and personal stories”

We totally recommend you be there if you can!

Here a link to Steve & Ainsley’s official website: https://apiranamusic.net/home

September 4, 2023 • No Comments

We were so proud and pleased to have been recently invited to work on a project with Marc Catley to honour the life and work of the late great Geoff Mann.

UK prog band Twelfth Night, with who Geoff was lead vocalist for some time, have been re-issuing a series of ‘Definitive Edition’ CDs of Geoff’s other solo, band and collaboration projects and one of the latest releases that they have done features the 2 albums that Marc and Geoff released together with Plankton Records – ‘The Off The End Of The Pier Show’ & ‘In Difference’. The In Difference disc also includes all 4 tracks from Marc’s vinyl EP ‘The Peel Tower Hop’ (one track of which has never been released on CD before) which Geoff produced and played on and a recently discovered and previously unreleased live recording of a short gig Marc & Geoff performed together at the 1988 Greenbelt Festival in the Musicians Advice/Plankton Records tent on the Fringe – the only time they actually performed together live!

Click on the link below to check out the CD on Bandcamp and place your order We’ve been told stocks are limited and once they’re gone that’s it. This is NOT a Plankton release so we will not be selling it

https://twelfthnightuk.bandcamp.com/album/the-pier-show-in-difference

August 5, 2023 • No Comments

USA singer/songwriter HEATHERLYN is a member of Plankton band Nine Beats Collective but outside of her work with ‘the collective’ she has an established thriving solo music career.

While this is NOT a Plankton Records release, but because she is a dear friend of ours, we are so pleased to announce that her new single “Interfere (Love is Love)” has recently dropped on all digital music sites/platforms Worldwide. “Interfere…” is the lead off single from her forthcoming album “Heatherlyn’s Musical Apothecary” which is released on September 22nd and is superb – we’ve been blessed with experiencing it in advance of release! And there will be another single released ahead of that album release.

Heatherlyn says “I hope Interfere (Love is Love) makes you want to dance and surrender to the movement of Love in your life! It’s also a deeply moving call for the World to let love, in all its diverse and colourful forms, be – exist, flourish and never be shunned or pushed into the shadows for being unconventional. What does this World need more of than the healing and enlivening per of love?”

We totally agree! And we totally recommend you check out this single on your digital music site/platform of choice and help spread the love

May 19, 2023 • No Comments

Plankton Records founding partner and leader of Plankton band FRESH CLAIM Simon Law has announced an upcoming solo acoustic gig as part of the Wickford and Runwell ‘One Beautiful World Arts Festival’ in Essex.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Simon shared, “I played a rare solo acoustic gig at At Andrew’s Church last year and it was a great evening. They said I would be invited back and here we are – this time as part of the One Beautiful World Arts Festival which they are running at various venues in the area over two weeks”

“It’s going to be another evening of me performing many of my own songs about life, the world we live in, justice, freedom, love and faith as well as some favourite covers too. And like like time I want it to be an intimate evening where I can share some of the stories and circumstances around which the songs were inspired and written”

All festival events are free. Plankton partner Keith Dixon will also be there looking after the sound and a selection of Simon and Plankton releases will be available too

April 14, 2023 • No Comments

Plankton Records partner Keith Dixon shared about Plankton’s latest release “Our brand new single release, which drops Worldwide on April 21st is a brilliant new track from the NINE BEATS COLLECTIVE stable and features the gifted and charismatic performance poet and rapper, ERIC LEROY WILSON.”

“THAT GOES FOR ANYBODY is a beat poem and is the lead single from their forthcoming Plankton Records EP ‘The Nine Fold Path’ a collection of tracks about the inward journey to wisdom. The EP takes listeners on a path to awareness, healing and love via a journey with rhythms of hip hop and jazz that pays tribute to Gill Scott-Heron and The Lost Poets.is a certified Spiritual Director, Executive Coach, religion blogger for The Huffington Post and an award-winning playwright and theatre director.”

Keith continued to share about Eric. “His work has been published and performed around the USA including the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC and his book ‘Faith: The First Seven Lessons’ was released in the Autumn of 2016.”

“Eric is a key collaborator and central member of the NINE BEATS COLLECTIVE – the international collective of musicians, troubadours, poets, rebels, provocateurs and activists exploring the ancient Bible wisdom known as “the beatitudes”. Eric co-wrote and performed on several songs and spoken word pieces on their 2017 critically acclaimed Plankton Records double album ‘Nine Beats to the Bar’. He has also performed live numerous times with the Collective and has MCed their live events across the USA and UK in churches, clubs, theatres and festivals.”

September 26, 2022 • No Comments

We are very excited to announce that during a recent stock re-organisation we have unearthed some ‘brand new’ (meaning still in the box and unplayed) copies of one of Plankton Record’s very first releases – SEA STONE’s 1982 4 track 7″ vinyl EP ‘AGAINST THE TIDE’

Said Simon Law, founder of Plankton Records and former leader of Sea Stone “We were checking and organising stock and were thrilled when moving some boxes to discover these copies of the ‘AGAINST THE TIDE’ EP. It a release I have very fond memories of and it was the last thing we released before the band went their separate ways. It was great to play one and hear these 4 songs again. They are all originals and i wrote 3 of them and the whole band wrote the other one”

Plankton partner Keith Dixon added “It’s a thrill to find these and with the two factors of vinyl being so popular at the moment and these songs being unavailable anywhere else apart from this EP – none of them are currently on any of our other releases whether that be CD, digital or cassette. This is the only place you can hear them and it’s obvious the band were at their peak when they recorded this”

The 7″ EP has now been added to the discography and store on this website and is available while the newly discovered stock lasts (CLICK HERE)

September 22, 2022 • No Comments

As part of the on-going Resurgence Tour 2022 Plankton band Nine Beats Collective have announced 2 up-coming UK dates in early October.

Said Nine Beats artist liaison and business manager Rob Taylor, “We are so pleased to at last be able to confirm 2 live dates in the UK – Birmingham on Sunday October 2nd and Manchester on Tuesday October 4th” See our events and gigs page for details.

Rob explained “To say we’ve had a tough time trying to coordinate and organise live dates recently in the UK with the collective members spread around the World and loads of other factors that are totally out of our control is an understatement. A lot of hard work has gone into getting to the point of being to confirm these 2 dates!”

Exploring the themes of love, longing and lament through music, story and spoken word these events promise to be both special and thought provoking and it hope that the collective will be joined on stage by former Plankton Records artist and our very friend BEN OKAFOR.

Both events are free to attend with a chance offered to give a donation towards the work of Nine Beats Collective and there will also be a chance to buy Nine Beats Collective music and merchandise too.

Don’t forget that their acclaimed “Nine Beats to the Bar” album is available on all digital music sites worldwide and you can also order a copy of the deluxe double vinyl or CD from our store page on this website

For any questions or general enquiries contact: ROB TAYLOR (Artist liaison & business manager) Rob@9beats.org

For possible future concert bookings contact: COCO GAIE (also for interviews, press, TV & radio enquiries) Coco@9beats.org

CLICK HERE to view the short taster video of some Nine Beats Collective’s most recent performances which includes footage from our 2021 Birmingham on-line live event and Wild Goose Festival, USA

February 11, 2022 • No Comments

NINE BEATS COLLECTIVE have announced their first UK live event of 2022.

7pm Sunday 20th February sees NINE BEATS COLLECTIVE hosting “Between a Story and a Dream” in MALVERN, Worcestershire at SPARC – St Peter’s Arts Church, Cowleigh Bank, Malvern, WR14 1QP

“Between a Story and a Dream” is an evening of love, longing and lament featuring music, story, spoken word and thought-provoking conversation exploring where and how the nine beats of ‘the beatitudes’ touch our lives

Collective members taking part include Martin Trotman, Belinda Kae, Steve Basset, Rob Taylor, Murima Thodi, Tony Bean, and all the way from the USA our wonderful collective MC Eric Leroy Wilson

Nine Beats founder and leader Steve Bassett shared “During lockdown we hosted a live Facebook event in this format and the response was unbelievable. We thought we could offer this as a live event in the UK with the UK members of the Collective all taking part and the Malvern event is our fist one. We are also blessed that we can be joined by one of our USA Collective members Eric Leroy Wilson who is in the UK at this time. It’s going to be a brilliant evening!”

For more details of this event (CLICK HERE)

To check out the album double vinyl (CLICK HERE)

To check out the album CD (CLICK HERE)

October 23, 2021 • No Comments

We lost our wonderful friend and Plankton Records recording artist (solo artist, Really Free Band, Bergdahl & Fielding) CLIFF BERGDAHL to Covid-19 last December in the height of lockdown and social distancing so his funeral took place under the strict restrictions in place at the time.

So it is good that today (23rd October) all of his family and friends were able to gather for a service of thanks giving and celebration of Cliff’s life at All Souls, Langham Place in Central London and also online for those who could not attend in person, which included for various reasons both Plankton Records partners, Simon and Keith.

The service was a fitting celebration of Cliff the man, the musician, evangelist and true follower of Jesus. His children all took part in the service, with his son Jonathan brilliantly performing Cliff’s beautiful song ‘One Day’ that featured on his Plankton Records album “The Cry of Urgency” and the 80’s line up of Really Free Band (RFB) also performed the instrumental track ‘Jesus Our Love’ from the RFB Plankton album “Never Surrender”, a favourite track of Cliff’s.

A God filled service in honour of a God filled man. Cliff, we love you and we miss you but we are thankful to have known and worked with you.

August 11, 2021 • No Comments