Ben Bell talks Patchwork Cacophony, Gandalf’s Fist and new album with Broken Parachute

Hello everyone,

It’s been a bit quiet on the Patchwork Cacophony front since the release of Five of Cups. Have I hung up my keyboards and retired? Hardly! As some of you may already know I’ve been busy with two other things recently.

The first is that I’ve joined festival favorites and deranged master storytellers Gandalf’s Fist on keyboards. We’ve got a new album coming out on the first of July, which will be my first full release with them. Visit the website for more information on that one — we’re really proud of how the new line-up is working out.

Secondly, and more pertinent, Marcus Taylor (who played the guitars on “Maybe” from Five of Cups) and I have reformed our Broken Parachute band, albeit it in quite a different and much proggier guise from its 2013 incarnation. Our new album Living Dangerously is officially out now, but visitors to our Bandcamp site can stream (and indeed buy) the whole thing. Please do check it out if you have time and let us know what you think!

On the subject of Patchwork Cacophony: people have been asking whether my involvement with these projects marks the end of that band. Well, the good news is that although I’ve no timescale for the next release I do have plenty of material, so you can be reasonably confident that a third album will materialise at some point.

Finally, I don’t send these emails very often so I’d like to take the chance to thank everyone for your support for my music in all its forms.

Ben