Biography
Hailing from England, Bex Burch works across roles as composer, percussionist, producer, and instrument maker. She established Vula Viel, joined Leafcutter John to launch Boing!, and belongs to the ensemble Flock that features saxophonist Tamar Osborn, drummer and percussionist Sarathy Korwar, plus additional players. In shaping her distinctive, almost otherworldly sound she relies on percussion instruments together with xylophones she builds by hand. Her drive to pursue fresh musical challenges prompted studies in Africa and collaborations with a dozen artists that include Evelyn Glennie, Emanative, and Tony Buck for both live work and recordings. From 2015 through 2019 she released three well-received albums under the Vula Viel name, one improvisation-focused record as a member of Boing!, and the 2022 all-star ensemble album Flock; her International Anthem debut, There Is Only Love and Fear, appeared in 2023.
Born in Leeds and raised in Coventry, Burch understood from childhood that she wished to create music “by hitting things.” As a teenager she encountered the djembe, a West African hand drum, and resolved to master it; her school directed her to a local percussion instructor, setting in motion the intermittent path that would become her vocation. Lessons began at age 15, after which she performed with ensembles ranging from percussion groups to punk bands.
Enrollment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama forged some of the most significant connections of her musical life. While there she became captivated by the work of American minimalist composer Steve Reich and learned how deeply ancient Ghanaian percussion traditions had shaped much of it.
In 2003, at nineteen and still in her first year at Guildhall, Burch made her initial journey to Ghana and remained for a month. The encounter with its cultural traditions and inhabitants affected her deeply; above all she was drawn to the gyil, the ceremonial xylophone of the Dagaaba people constructed from lliga wood and fitted with gourd resonators beneath the bars. On that visit she met Thomas Sekgura, a gyil maker and player, whose guidance would prove essential to her artistic growth.
Enthusiasm for Ghana prompted her to leave school and raise funds for an extended stay; she spent three years there as Sekgura’s apprentice and student. Although she acquired the skills to construct the gyil, he did not instruct her in performance. The building process itself taught her through direct experience the toxic potency of the sap from poison lliga wood, which caused infected blisters on her hands and an emergency-room visit. Upon returning to England she settled in Brighton and spent years busking traditional Dagaare music on street corners.
Eventually she moved back to London intent on forming a band and constructed her own sixteen-note gyil. Reconnecting with Guildhall acquaintances, she founded Vula Viel in 2015; she and her collaborators performed original material that employed minimalism and electronica to contrast the wooden resonance of the gyil. Sekgura had given her the name “Vula Viel,” which means “Good Is Good” in Dagaare. The group’s first configuration was a sextet of Burch, two drummers, alternating vibraphonists, saxophone, and keyboards. Their 2016 debut album, Good Is Good, combined traditional Dagaare melodies with contemporary textures grounded in post-punk. The record attracted critical attention on radio and throughout Europe, leading to prominent performances at sold-out venues including the Purcell Room at the Royal Festival Hall, the Shambala Festival, Latitude, and other festivals, as well as opening the London Jazz Festival at Ronnie Scott’s.
For the 2019 album Do Not Be Afraid the lineup was reduced to a trio featuring drummer Jim Hart (Marius Neset Quintet, Velvet Revolution) and bassist Ruth Goller (Acoustic Ladyland, Melt Yourself Down). Co-produced by Burch and Matt Calvert, the release incorporated guest vocals from Gwyneth Herbert, Rozie Gyems, and Rita Ray. Whereas the debut had reworked Dagaare folk material, Do Not Be Afraid presented original compositions rooted in Dagaare musical principles. More abstract and sharply post-punk in character, it drew notice from writers, critics, and audiences drawn to the interlocking polyrhythms of “I Love You” and the angular Afrofunk of “I Learn.” Airplay and popular response also greeted both singles, the title track, and “Well Come.” After several months of touring the band returned to London and recorded What’s Not Enough About That? at Fish Factory studio, emerging with the album in February 2020. A handful of live performances followed before COVID-19 halted activity. Without touring support the record’s profile depended on critics and DJs; outlets such as The Wire and the Guardian (which named it album of the month) responded positively, while Gilles Peterson of BBC Radio 6 selected it among his albums of the week and invited Vula Viel onto his program. International press and websites soon added widespread acclaim.
In October 2021 the restless Burch again ventured beyond familiar territory by forming the improvisational duo Boing! with Leafcutter John (songwriter and electronicist John Burton), whose machines have appeared on recordings and performances with Polar Bear, Shabaka Hutchings, and Talvin Singh. Boing! released a seven-track self-titled album that received attention across Europe and Asia.
During the pandemic, in August 2020, drummer and percussionist Sarathy Korwar convened a group of established London musicians for a streaming concert that included reed and woodwind specialist Tamar Osborn (Collocutor), electronicist Dan “Danalogue” Leavers (Comet Is Coming), and pianist Al MacSween (Maisha). The continuous set featured a performance of Terry Riley’s minimalist classic “In C” alongside a re-imagined version of Charanjit Singh’s “Raga Malkauns.” Strut Records noticed the concert and offered the collective an open invitation to develop a completely freeform project. Flock accepted and began recording at Fish Factory Studio. Directed by Korwar and Leavers, the musicians sat in a circle and performed thirty meditation breaths together. Her bandmates chose Burch to produce and define the intention for each improvisation; she accomplished this by selecting a short text to share among the players. In May 2022 Strut issued Flock’s ten-track album, which earned global praise for its blend of percussion, modal and improvised jazz, and electronics.
In November 2021, between the recording and release of the Flock album, Burch drove from London to live in Berlin. The journey ended at Le Guess Who? Festival, where International Anthem founder Alejandro Ayala invited her to make her own album for the label. She accepted and traveled to Chicago carrying numerous fragmentary recordings accumulated over the preceding year. There, International Anthem’s Scottie McNiece and Dave Vettraino assembled her accompanying musicians, among them bassist Anna Butterss, trumpeter Ben LaMar Gay, and Tortoise drummer Dan Bitney. Thirty-two sessions took place across Chicago, Los Angeles, and London, supplemented by additional informal sounds captured during Burch’s own recording sessions in England and Europe. She distilled the accumulated material into the forty-minute album There Is Only Love and Fear, her first solo release, issued in October 2023.
Born in Leeds and raised in Coventry, Burch understood from childhood that she wished to create music “by hitting things.” As a teenager she encountered the djembe, a West African hand drum, and resolved to master it; her school directed her to a local percussion instructor, setting in motion the intermittent path that would become her vocation. Lessons began at age 15, after which she performed with ensembles ranging from percussion groups to punk bands.
Enrollment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama forged some of the most significant connections of her musical life. While there she became captivated by the work of American minimalist composer Steve Reich and learned how deeply ancient Ghanaian percussion traditions had shaped much of it.
In 2003, at nineteen and still in her first year at Guildhall, Burch made her initial journey to Ghana and remained for a month. The encounter with its cultural traditions and inhabitants affected her deeply; above all she was drawn to the gyil, the ceremonial xylophone of the Dagaaba people constructed from lliga wood and fitted with gourd resonators beneath the bars. On that visit she met Thomas Sekgura, a gyil maker and player, whose guidance would prove essential to her artistic growth.
Enthusiasm for Ghana prompted her to leave school and raise funds for an extended stay; she spent three years there as Sekgura’s apprentice and student. Although she acquired the skills to construct the gyil, he did not instruct her in performance. The building process itself taught her through direct experience the toxic potency of the sap from poison lliga wood, which caused infected blisters on her hands and an emergency-room visit. Upon returning to England she settled in Brighton and spent years busking traditional Dagaare music on street corners.
Eventually she moved back to London intent on forming a band and constructed her own sixteen-note gyil. Reconnecting with Guildhall acquaintances, she founded Vula Viel in 2015; she and her collaborators performed original material that employed minimalism and electronica to contrast the wooden resonance of the gyil. Sekgura had given her the name “Vula Viel,” which means “Good Is Good” in Dagaare. The group’s first configuration was a sextet of Burch, two drummers, alternating vibraphonists, saxophone, and keyboards. Their 2016 debut album, Good Is Good, combined traditional Dagaare melodies with contemporary textures grounded in post-punk. The record attracted critical attention on radio and throughout Europe, leading to prominent performances at sold-out venues including the Purcell Room at the Royal Festival Hall, the Shambala Festival, Latitude, and other festivals, as well as opening the London Jazz Festival at Ronnie Scott’s.
For the 2019 album Do Not Be Afraid the lineup was reduced to a trio featuring drummer Jim Hart (Marius Neset Quintet, Velvet Revolution) and bassist Ruth Goller (Acoustic Ladyland, Melt Yourself Down). Co-produced by Burch and Matt Calvert, the release incorporated guest vocals from Gwyneth Herbert, Rozie Gyems, and Rita Ray. Whereas the debut had reworked Dagaare folk material, Do Not Be Afraid presented original compositions rooted in Dagaare musical principles. More abstract and sharply post-punk in character, it drew notice from writers, critics, and audiences drawn to the interlocking polyrhythms of “I Love You” and the angular Afrofunk of “I Learn.” Airplay and popular response also greeted both singles, the title track, and “Well Come.” After several months of touring the band returned to London and recorded What’s Not Enough About That? at Fish Factory studio, emerging with the album in February 2020. A handful of live performances followed before COVID-19 halted activity. Without touring support the record’s profile depended on critics and DJs; outlets such as The Wire and the Guardian (which named it album of the month) responded positively, while Gilles Peterson of BBC Radio 6 selected it among his albums of the week and invited Vula Viel onto his program. International press and websites soon added widespread acclaim.
In October 2021 the restless Burch again ventured beyond familiar territory by forming the improvisational duo Boing! with Leafcutter John (songwriter and electronicist John Burton), whose machines have appeared on recordings and performances with Polar Bear, Shabaka Hutchings, and Talvin Singh. Boing! released a seven-track self-titled album that received attention across Europe and Asia.
During the pandemic, in August 2020, drummer and percussionist Sarathy Korwar convened a group of established London musicians for a streaming concert that included reed and woodwind specialist Tamar Osborn (Collocutor), electronicist Dan “Danalogue” Leavers (Comet Is Coming), and pianist Al MacSween (Maisha). The continuous set featured a performance of Terry Riley’s minimalist classic “In C” alongside a re-imagined version of Charanjit Singh’s “Raga Malkauns.” Strut Records noticed the concert and offered the collective an open invitation to develop a completely freeform project. Flock accepted and began recording at Fish Factory Studio. Directed by Korwar and Leavers, the musicians sat in a circle and performed thirty meditation breaths together. Her bandmates chose Burch to produce and define the intention for each improvisation; she accomplished this by selecting a short text to share among the players. In May 2022 Strut issued Flock’s ten-track album, which earned global praise for its blend of percussion, modal and improvised jazz, and electronics.
In November 2021, between the recording and release of the Flock album, Burch drove from London to live in Berlin. The journey ended at Le Guess Who? Festival, where International Anthem founder Alejandro Ayala invited her to make her own album for the label. She accepted and traveled to Chicago carrying numerous fragmentary recordings accumulated over the preceding year. There, International Anthem’s Scottie McNiece and Dave Vettraino assembled her accompanying musicians, among them bassist Anna Butterss, trumpeter Ben LaMar Gay, and Tortoise drummer Dan Bitney. Thirty-two sessions took place across Chicago, Los Angeles, and London, supplemented by additional informal sounds captured during Burch’s own recording sessions in England and Europe. She distilled the accumulated material into the forty-minute album There Is Only Love and Fear, her first solo release, issued in October 2023.
Albums
Singles
