Public Service Broadcasting is a British rock band formed in London by J. Willgoose, Esq., in 2010.[3] They consist of four members known mainly by their stage names: Willgoose Esq. (guitar, banjo, strings, samples and electronics), Wrigglesworth (drums, piano and electronics), J F Abraham (flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and vibraslap) and Mr B (visuals and set design for live performances).[4][5]
Initially a solo project of J. Willgoose Esq., he released "EP One" in 2009.[2] Shortly thereafter Wrigglesworth joined on drums and the band adopted a conceptual approach, using archival footage from old films and documentaries. They released a second EP The War Room and their first studio album, Inform-Educate-Entertain (2013). They subsequently released The Race for Space in 2015. J F Abraham joined the band officially in 2016, having previously worked as a session musician. The band has since released three albums: Every Valley (2017), Bright Magic (2021) and The Last Flight (2024).
The band has toured internationally and in 2015 was announced as a nominee in the Vanguard breakthrough category of the fourth annual Progressive Music Awards, staged by Prog magazine,[6] which they won.[7]
History
At Paradiso, Amsterdam for the London Calling Festival, October 2022.
Willgoose made his public debut at The Selkirk pub in Tooting, London, England in August 2009. Shortly afterwards he issued "EP One" in 2010. Teaming up with Wrigglesworth on drums, the band played its first festival in September 2010, Aestival in Suffolk, and work began on a second EP, "The War Room", which was released in May 2012.[citation needed]
Since then, the band has released five albums, Inform-Educate-Entertain (2013); The Race for Space (2015); Every Valley (2017); Bright Magic (2021); and The Last Flight (2024). The Race for Space was supported by two shows at the National Space Centre in Leicester celebrating the album's launch. The album charted just outside the top 10 in 11th place in the UK in its release week and reaching Number 1 in the UK Independent Charts for that week.[8] A remix album was released in June 2016.[9]
A follow-up EP was released at the tail end of 2015 entitled Sputnik/Korolev which was backed up by a UK tour that ended at the O2 Academy Brixton. The O2 Academy show was recorded for a live album that was released in 2016.[10]
On 10 March 2017, the band released a new single titled "Progress", featuring vocals from Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura alongside photo shoots showing the band as a three-piece with new member JF Abraham featured in the promotional photos. Their third studio album, entitled Every Valley, about the coal mining industry's rise and fall in the Welsh Valleys between the 1950s and 1980s, was released on 7 July 2017. As with The Race for Space, the band had two album launch concerts, this time in Ebbw Vale, where the LP was recorded.[11]
In May 2018, PSB appeared on BBC 6 Music's contribution to the BBC's Biggest Weekend event at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. As part of this the band debuted a series of four new pieces, based on the story of the RMSTitanic. These tracks were released as the EP White Star Liner on 26 October 2018.[12]
They performed a "specially commissioned new arrangement" of The Race for Space on 25 July 2019 in a late-night Prom, joined by London Contemporary Voices and the Multi-Story Orchestra, the performance being shown on BBC television the following night.[13]
At Paradiso, Amsterdam, October 2022
On 2 June 2021, PSB debuted the first single (titled People, Let’s Dance) from their fourth studio album Bright Magic.[14] In October of that year with a UK tour in support.[15]
On 30 August 2022, PSB played a specially commissioned, album-length piece for Prom 58 called This New Noise, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was commissioned to celebrate 100 years of the BBC.[16] The band subsequently announced that there would be a record release on 8 September 2023.[17]
The band announced their fifth album, titled The Last Flight, about Amelia Earhart's last flight on which she and her navigator disappeared. Four singles were released prior to the album's release on 4 October 2024. The band followed the release with a tour through Europe.[18]
Music style and live performances
The band mostly plays instrumental music, with J. Willgoose Esq. having said that "singing is never going to work. I'm not going to be happy with it, I'm not going to be comfortable playing it to other people."[19] They take samples from old public information films, archive footage and propaganda material.[20] While writing The War Room the band were given exclusive access to the British Film Institute's archives.[4]
J F Abraham – flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums, assorted other instruments including a vibraslap, keyboards, synthesizers, arrangements (2016–present; session contributions 2014–2015)
"Spitfire" – 26 March 2012[31][32][33][34] which won the BBC Radio 6 Music Rebel Playlist.[35] The song sampled dialogue and sound from the 1942 film "The First of the Few", and the video incorporated footage from the same film.
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