RONNIE SCOTT'S CLUB, SOHO. 23rd July 1972. The Free Art Research Trio, usually known by its acronym F.A.R.T. was a 'free music' improvisation group, comprising Max Hutchinson, playing 'Electrapiano with Filters' (an old electric piano with its case removed, played through fuzz boxes and a wa-wa pedal), myself, on 'Lignaphones' (i.e. a set of home-made wooden percussion instruments covered in war-surplus contact microphones), and on this particular occasion, David Mitchell, playing his sax through various effects boxes. Our gimmick was this: We would merrily improvise, while our funny noises were recorded onto a three-minute tape loop mounted on one of a couple of ancient quarter-inch tape-recorders. At the end of three minutes, this loop would be automatically played back through loudspeakers, while we improvised over the top of it. The second three minutes was recorded on another tape-loop, and then that was played back, while we played a third layer on top of the others. All our numbers were therefore exactly nine minutes long. We always wore white laboratory coats, and made an extraordinary racket. Because we didn't take ourselves too seriously, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at our gigs, and considering it was 'honks, squeaks and bangs' music, the audience seemed to as well. However, I remain convinced that avant-garde music is always far more fun to do than it is to listen to.

Photographer unknown