Richard Youngs & Helena Celle reinterpret Third Eye performances
October 2021

Third Eye Centre, Glasgow. Photo: John Gilmour
Ahead of a new series of Third Eye TV shows put together by Stewart Smith, two of its featured artists share their contributions
Following his “Once Upon A Time In Glasgow” report in The Wire 430, Stewart Smith will continue to delve into the archive of the Glasgow free music hub the Third Eye Centre with the new Third Eye TV series. Third Eye, founded by playwright Tom McGrath in 1975, hosted experimental performances and exhibitions until its closure in the early 1990s, when it became the Centre For Contemporary Arts Glasgow.
Third Eye TV will feature interviews, previously unseen footage from Third Eye's video archive (including a set by John Tchicai with Danny Thompson and John Stevens), as well as commissioned responses to the archive by Glasgow associated musicians including Helena Celle, Richard Youngs, Tony Bevan, Fritz Welch, Semay Wu, Food People, Donald Lindsay, Kapil Seshasayee and Diljeet Kaur Bhachu, and Caroline McKenzie.
Here, artists Helena Celle and Richard Youngs share and explain their responses for the first time. Celle takes inspiration from a performance by Fred Frith and John Zorn to explore her love of Henry Cow and Rock In Opposition, and Youngs reacts to a 1978 performance by Bob Cobbing, David Toop and Paul Burwell at the Sound & Syntax festival.
One of my primary inspirations is the music of Henry Cow and the Rock In Opposition movement. I'm also a big fan of John Zorn's record label Tzadik, so when I saw they had been involved with the Third Eye it felt like a no-brainer to go from there as a jumping off point to do something that I've always wanted to do. I think what always captured my interest is the ambition and complexity of it, which is something that I'd always wanted to do. I'd always wanted to play in bands that would be similar but the logistics made it difficult for me to achieve. Over the past few years I really got into working with with MIDI and it came from listening to the music of The Residents and later period Frank Zappa. It occurred to me that I make music with those sort of complex arrangements and it involves some manner of indeterminacy and physical interaction on my own behalf, whether it be through different MIDI controllers or keyboards. The entire thing is composed in a whole tone scale, which I've always been really interested in working with. One of my favourite reference points for whole tone compositions is The Cardiacs and Tim Smith who would often write in whole tone. He was also heavily influenced by Fred Frith – Henry Cow were one of his favourite bands. I think there's a lot to draw on from that kind of lineage. It's ostensibly from this rock background but taking these jazz and classical influences.
Richard Youngs
What I responded to was the thing that jumped out at me, which was a trio of Bob Cobbing, David Toop and Paul Burwell. It spoke to me because I'm interested in poetry to start with. I'm also someone who was lucky enough to see the Bow Gamelan Ensemble. It was a spectacle, literally, but it was also good music. He's an interesting figure, Paul Burwell, and then you've got David Toop. And one thing that I liked about Toop is that you can make a great set of anagrams from his name, one of which was Adopt Void, which has become the title for the piece. But when I saw them performing, it was kind of strange because David Toop and Paul Burwell almost look like twins. They have the same dress code and then you have Bob up front, totally doing his own thing. I mean, he's got this really plummy voice. And he's on one. And in another context, the focus would be on David and Paul, and they more than rise to the occasion. I think it's a great performance. But at the same time Bob is definitely the front man. I think the only way I could respond to it was to make a piece of music in the style of that.
Third Eye TV airs on 22, 23, 29 & 30 October from 7pm via Glasgow CCA. Wire subscribers can read Stewart Smith's “Once Upon A Time In Glasgow” feature in The Wire 430 via the online archive.
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