Credit: ruth@filmfolk.tv

Born in West London at a time that left him just too young to be a hippie and just a little too old to be a punk, Pat Fish grew up in an era where the Bonzo Dog Band appeared on children’s television, Syd Barrett was on Top of the Pops and the Adult World was represented in shows like The Avengers and The Prisoner. Disappointment was an inevitability. Fish failed to “get” the glam rock thing (probably too much of an excitable wee football fan) and found that the seventies drove him down some fairly obscure musical paths before punk rock came along to save the day. By then, however, all those mad little songs by Eno, Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, John Cale, Peter Blegvad and Tony Moore were already locked up in his head.

Fish started making records under the name of the Jazz Butcher in 1983 and nobody has quite succeeded in putting a stop to this yet. He has recorded for Glass Records, Creation Records, ROIR of New York and Vinyl Japan of Tokyo. Overall he has written and released fifteen albums of original music, three live albums and innumerable singles and compilations.

In 2016 Fire Records issued the album Last of the Gentleman Adventurers, originally released as a fan-funded project in 2012. In 2017 Fire will be undertaking a major re-issue programme, making several Jazz Butcher albums available once again on vinyl, CD and digital formats.

With the Jazz Butcher, Fish has toured worldwide. As a solo artist, recent shows include Hamburg, Dortmund, New York City, Tokyo, Brussels and London, as well as his adopted home town of Northampton where he still regularly turns out with his acoustic guitar to support visiting artists.

He likes collaborations, too. Apart from his lengthy association with Northampton-based digital hooligans Wilson over the years 2001-2009, Fish has recorded and appeared on stage with David J, Spacemen 3, Bristol’s The Blue Aeroplanes, German band M Walking On The Water, French indie art rock band Chelsea Paris and acclaimed Los Angeles shoegazers, The Black Watch.

The thing about Pat Fish is that he is not tribal about music. Some people know him from his friendship with Spacemen 3, others for his fondness for Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth; some know him because he has worked with members of Bauhaus, others regard him as a “classic” independent songwriter in the vein of Pete Astor or Dan Treacy. Fishy just fetches his acoustic guitar and his notebook and heads for the railway station.

His current inspirations: as always, the Velvet Underground, Alex Chilton, Peter Laughner, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Kevin Ayers, John Martyn, Davy Graham and many, many more.

Do you like your melodies sweet and your humour as black as pitch? Would you take a chance on something simple, intimate and direct from an artist who is on record as saying “What I do is not entertainment” but who regularly induces little bursts of outraged laughter from the audience? Do you want to see the real thing? You should maybe go and see Pat Fish.

In 34 years, Pat Fish has brought a dozen full-length records into the world.

In addition, he has collaborated with a number of other artists:

Productions

• Love Ambassadeux - Black Mischief (single, Rumpo Records, 1985)
• 13 Frightened Girls - Lost at Sea (3 track 12", Foundation, 1991)
• Venus Fly Trap - Pandora's Box (LP, Danceteria 1992)
• Chelsea Paris - Tramway (LP, Virgin France, 1992)

Contributions

• David J - Crocodile Tears & The Velvet Cosh (LP, 1985) - Flute
• Blue Moods turning Tail (EP 1986) - glockenspiel
• On Glass (LP 1986) - Glockenspiel, vocals
• Venus Fly Trap - Rocket USA (single, 1989) - Tenor sax
• M Walking on the Water - Pluto (LP, 1989) - Vocals
• Blue Aeroplanes - Beatsongs (LP 1991) - Vocals
• Up in a Down World (EP 1993) - Vocals, co-writing credit on "Meantime"
• Rough Music (LP 1994) - Guitar, organ, co-writing credit on "Whatever Happened to our Golden Birds?"
• Spacemen 3 - Recurring (LP 1990) - Tenor sax, flute
• Sonic Boom - Spectrum (LP 1989) - Finger pops, vocals
• Spectrum - Soul Kiss (Glide Divine) (LP, 1992) - Tenor sax
• Indian Summer (single, 1993) - Electric guitar
• Dave Kusworth & The Bounty Hunters - All the Heartbreak Stories (LP, 1991) - Flute, tenor sax
• Chelsea Paris - Tramway (LP 1992) - Guitar, vocals
• The Field Trip - Take to the Streets (EP, 1993) - Tenor sax
• The Black Watch - Jiggery-Pokery (LP, 2002) - Vocals (listen@youtube)
• The Four One And Only's - Holy (LP, 1996) - Vocals
• Stranger Tractors - Vibration (CD single, 1995) - Drums, vocals
• The Purelove - King Pop (Marsh Marigold Records, 1997) - Guitar
• The Purelove - Live (1997 tour of Germany): Guitar

...Maybe one or two other bits.

In the early to mid 1990's Pat Fish was exploring what was to be the vehicle for his compositions after the assumed retiring of the moniker "Jazz Butcher".

An early sample-collage effort, The Black Eg, produced an unlikely release on Creation Records and a handful of chaotic absurdist gigs.

Also around this time were the Cambodia and The Vaguely Familiar collaborations. Demo tapes from these sessions show Fish's openness to utilizing sequencers and collaboration with other songwriters.

The Black Eg sequencer-backed approach was made more accessible in Sumosonic and featured several vocalists and percussion in traditional pop arrangements. There were three Sumosonic releases, which were Pat Fish's final releases on Creation Records.

In the early aughts, Pat inadvertently assembled a supergroup - Wilson - with ex-Sumosonic members and well known Northampton musicians. Wilson layered guitar-riffs and shouty-pop over solid sequencing and live percussion. Nearly 100 live shows were played, and a live DVD was self-released at the end of a decade-long run.

While not all side projects produced published material, demos from each may be heard in the listening room.

Last Day Deaf
April 06, 2017

Abus Dangereux #138
April, 2016

The Record Collector
February 19, 2016

Distorsioni The Return of the Jazz Butcher
February 03, 2016

Wine Merchants
February 02, 2015

Live on the air with Julio Ruiz
November 12, 2014

Louder Than War The Butch is Back… the return of The Jazz Butcher!
September 18, 2014

Caught In The Carousel
November 30, 2007

Apollox Magazine Fish heads (& tales)
May, 2005

Apollox Magazine Apollox shares a conversation with The Jazz Butcher over a Free Lunch
2003

Apollox Magazine The Jazz Butcher versus Max Eider... (a slight return)
April, 2002

The Independent Who is the Jazz Butcher?
August 08, 2001

The Madcap Speaks Pat Fish of the Jazz Butcher Conspiracy
May 03, 2000

Metro Times
April 12, 2000

Alternative Press British label sobers up and celebrates its tenth anniversary
August, 1994

The Splatter Effect
June, 1994

The Province Jazz Butcher Feeling Moody, Blue
May 27, 1992

The Record Store Up Front And Center Issue #5 Treading the line between dumb and stupid
May 08, 1992

The Ottawa Citizen British Popster Fights The Good Fight To Put Some Literacy Back Into Lyrics
May 07, 1992

Monteal Gazette Jazz Butcher Slicing, Dicing Expectations
May 06, 1992

Toronto Performer Jazz Butcher's Conditioned Response
May, 1992

Flagpole Magazine Cult of the Jazz Butcher
April 22, 1992

Les Inrockuptibles
September, 1991

Music Express Magazine The Jazz Butcher Vaulting Synapses
January, 1991

Newspaper Jazz Butcher comes up from the basement
November 09, 1990

Alterock Jazz Butcher
April 11, 1990

Far Out And Fishy Issue #4
1990

KCMU Interview Red Dots In The Butcher's Basement
1990

The Milwaukee Interview
November 19, 1989

Melody Maker Conspiracy Theories
December 03, 1988

The Newsletter Vol1 #7 Jazz Butcher Vs. New Community
July 16, 1988

Contrast
August, 1986

Non*Stop Banter Life According to the Jazz Butcher
1986

Abstract Magazine Issue #5
March, 1985

NME The Fish And I
May 26, 1984

ZigZag Jazz Butcher: Meat Means Murder!
April, 1984