Those early days at the Lift were a crucial part of establishing the Spirit of Gravity ethos. In front of small but dedicated audiences, the attempt to present an artform more used to recording in bedrooms than performing on stage gradually developed. Artists that had never performed before were encouraged to take that step. Electronica finally had a place to call its own. And often present in the audience were the musicians that were later to join the Gravity as founding members of the collective. They included Waxed Apple, Remote (Hot Roddy) and Multiplex. Another tradition was also established that continues to this day, whatever the venue: the chaos of several musicians setting up and performing with what seems like thousands of wires and plugs as multiple pieces of equipment balance precariously on wobbly tables.
Click here to see who is currently in the Spirit of Gravity Collective
In 2010, to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Spirit of Gravity, Tony Rimbaud articulated the developing philisophy of the Collective and its events in a short essay, which you can read here.
The following people have played at the Spirit of Gravity since 2001:
$un$hine Republic
4ThirtyThree
55th Flotilla
Ad:art
Adam Bushell
Adam Martin
Ahtuf Kontrol
Aigon DAAC
AK/DK
Al Strachan
Alice Eldridge
Alien Alarms
Amongst the Pigeons
Ampism
A New Question
An Infinity Room
Andrew Greaves
Andy Wheddon
Animal Magic Tricks
Annie Kerr, Gus Garside, Kev Moore
Anormals
Antipattern
Aqua Dentata
Arboria Auralist
Arc
Ascsoms
Asem
Ashtoreth
Astral Engineering
Ashtray Navigations
Asmus Tietchens
Automouse
AZ9
Baby
Baconhead
Bagombo Snuffbox
Barking Toad
Barnabas Yianni
BBBlood
Beatabet
Bela Emerson
Bela Emerson and Carolina Diaz
Bela Emerson and I’m Dr Buoyant
Bela Emerson, Geoff Leigh and Richard Miles
BeMass
Ben Greenland
Benen
Benjamin Finger
Benni El Imani
Benzo Fury
Beowulf Cluster
Beowulf McCloud
Bible
Billy Fucker
Binnsclagg
Birds of Death Valley
Birds of Disco Valley
Bitonic
Bitter Disko
Blister Pack
Bobby Barry
Boep
Bolide
Bovaflux
The Braindead Ensemble
Breaking Robots
Broken Star
Broken Star and I’m Dr Buoyant
Broken Star and Ron Caines
Brown Sierra
Bubble People
Buckner Building
BUNKR
Burnt Canvas
Caines & Eldridge
Calika
CaPSLOck
CaPSLOck 20s
Captain Poopdeck
Carolina Diaz
Casio Headbutt
Ceephax
Celled
Chemical Bbrench
Chevron
Child
Chris Cobilis
Chris Cook and Chris Parfitt
Chris Cook and Dan Powell
Chris Parfitt
Circus Toe
Clang Sayne
Clarence Palmer
Clive Craske
Clive Henry
Con Brio
Con_fuzed
Concrete Belly
Connect_icut
Cosham Community Players
Association
Cosmonaut Transfer
Cour’en
Cutlasses
D503
DA[FS]
Dale Frost
Dalglish
Dalsyn
Dan Cake Industries
Dan Powell
Dan Powell and Gus Garside
Dan Powell and Paul Khimasia Morgan
Daniel Alexander Hignell
Dan Hignell Ensemble
David K Frampton
David Thomas and Gagarin
The Davison Era
The Dead Texan
Dear Britch
Deepkiss720
Deepkiss720 featuring Meat Dream
DevilMan
D-Face
DhákarlP
Dhangsha
The Diamond Family Archive
Dirty Eyes
Disco Tears
Distant Animals (in a forest of signs)
DJ Meagre SexyDrive
DJ Scotch Egg
DOGEESESEEGOD
Dolly Dollycore / Dolly Rae Starcore
Don Tempi
DRASS
Duck Rabbit
Duncan Harrison
Dylan Nyoukis
Eaten By Children
Ed Chamberlyn
Electric Ape
Electric LifeForm
Elena Desai
ElMaes
EMB Ortolan
Embla Quickbeam
Emma Papper
Emma Papper and Jason Smart
En Creux
English Channel
ESP (Electronic Sound Pictures)
Eub-Astra
Eugene Chadbourne
Expedient Self
Evey
Evol
Eyal Talmor
Faex Optim
Fallow
F.Ampism
Fane
Faoi
Far Rainbow
Feed Back Cell
Feline Dream
Fernando Perales
Fighting Seizure Robots
Fizzell
Fluxus Guitar Orchestra
The Four Heads
Fractal
Freedom Frampton
Franck Barriac
Freudstein
Frontier Telegraph
FROST
Fupper
Futuro De Hierro
Gagarin
Geraldine Snell
Gillian
Gilli Bloodaxe
Glyphs
Grasscut
Thee Gross Consumer
Gun Boiler
Gus Garside
Gus Garside & Clive Craske
Gus, Monty and Annie
Gus Plus Dan Powell and Thor Magnusson
Gus Plus Minimal Impact
H. L. Collins
Ha Ha Ha
Hakarl
Halal Kebab Hut
Hannya White
HardWorking Families
Harmonium A Hash Table
Hassni Malik
Haz ‘n’ Daz
Hellboy
Henry Collins
Henry Collins vs. minimal impact
HereHareHere
Hobo Sonn
Hoofus
Hope to Coax
Hot Roddy
HRT
Hugs Bison
HUM
Hz
Idiot Drone Farm
I Am Fya
IAm Not Ltd
Ian Murphy and Nicholas Langley
Ill/Fitting Suits
I’m Dr Buoyant
I’m Dr Buoyant and Ron Caines
I’m Dr Buoyant vs Hope to Coax
I’m Dr Buoyant vs Official Licensed Product
Incite
Ingrid Plum
Innixi Fix
In Sand
Inwards
IOM
Iplu
Iris Garrelfs
Isnaj Dui
Isn’tses
Ital Tek
Jeff Stonehouse
Jez North
J’m Black
Jobina Tinnemans
Joe Gilmore
Johannah Bramli
John Wall
Jonathan Higgins
Jo Thomas
June Deer
Kaleidephon
Kaoslock
Karen Constance
Karl M V Waugh
Kayfabe
Kay Grant, Geoff Leigh, Nick Weekes
Kay Grant, Lepke B and David May
Kayaka
Keykeeper+Tempos
Kieran Mahon
Kina:Suttsu
Kinga Janicka
Klaus Von Mork
Komon
Komuso
Konstruct
Kuroneko
Kutchi
Kyler
Laboratoro
Ladyscraper
LeCable
Left Hand Cuts Off The Right
Leifert
Lend Me Your Underbelly
Leo Abrahams
Leo Chadburn
Le Pavement
Les Dins
Lifting Gear Engineer
Little Boat
Llaabb WWoorrkk
Loftslag
Lorenzo Abbatoir
Lorah Pierre and Andrew Jarvis
Lorraine Bowen
Low Bias
LRS
Luca Nasciuti
Lucy Day
Luxul
Made Out Of Wool
Mai Mai Mai
Malevich
map71
Mark Wagner
Martin Chick
Mask (well, they soundchecked)
Mata Unit
Matawan
Max Tundra
McCloud Featuring the Endless Guitars of Hagbard Strom
Meatbreak
The Meat Sweats
Mechanical Elephant
Medicine and Duty
Meemo Comma
Melancholic Robot Tantrum
Meljoann
Memorial Bench
Meshmass
Metronomy
MG Dysfunction
Miasmos
Midi Error
minimal effort
minimal impact
Minimal Impact & I’m Dr Buoyant
Minimal Impact vs. Terror Wogan
vs. Sirloin Dion
Misha Begley
Missing Music
Monkey Knife Fight
Monster Bobby
Motherbox
Mothers of the Third Reich
MSG
MSV FCK
Mully
Multiplex
Mytrip
Nad Spiro
Nathaniel Virgo
Ned Rush
Needle Exchange
Neo-miyako
Nicholas Langley and Hassni Malik
Nicholas Langley and Ian Murphy
Nigel Samways
Nil
Nil By Nose
Nina Kohout
Ninit
N.ln
Noony Banoony
Noisferatu
Not by Radium
Not for the Suffering Type
Noteherder & McCloud
Nuclear Whale
nwodtleM
Nyogtha
o.m.s.-n.m.a.
Olaf Van Coq
Olivia Louvel
The Oneirologist
Onemancrimewave
Onin
Operationz
Or
The Organ Grinders Monkey
Organon of the Antivoid
OST
Pale Graphs
Panda Bear (with Melting Vinyl)
Passiondale
Paul Khimasia Morgan, Simon Whetton and Dan Jones
Pawnsphinx
Permanent Bag System
Philippe Petit
Pilote
Pimmel
Plurals
Polysicness
Product 01
Power Up
Priests of Nothingness
PSK
Pylon&on&on
Quinta
RAAD with 2 As
Ragamatic
Rapt
Rashamon
Ravine Machine
R. Dyer
The Reasonable Men
Register
Remote
Renfield
Req
Resonant Blue
Ripshaw Catfish
Robyn Steward
Romanoid
Ron Caines
Ron Caines / Andrew Greaves / I’m Dr Buoyant
Rosebud
Roshi featuring Pars Radio
Rotten Bliss
Rough Work
Ryan Jordan
Ry-om
Safehouse Wildcard Ensemble
Same Actor
Sarah Angliss
Scanner
Science Never Sleeps
Scottish James Brown
Scrase
Screaming Alice
Secret Nuclear
Semephore
Sexton Ming and Jason Williams
Shabash
Shiez2000
Shige Ishihara vs. Slash’s Wormhole
Shinamo Moki
Shirty
Shit Creek
Shitmat
Si-{cut}.db
Sideband (Kay Grant)
Signer (With Melting Vinyl)
Simon James
Simon Katan
Simon Pyke
Simon Whetton
Skunks
Slash’s Wormhole
Slow Listener
Slow Slow Loris
Sold
Some Some Unicorn
[something’s happening]
Sonaura
Sonic Roundabout
So Whitehawk Crew
Spheress
Spirit of Gravity Guitar Orchestra
Spirit of Gravity Orchestra
Spirit of Gravity Quartet
Spirit of Gravity Quartet featuring Geoff Hearn
Stasis73
SQ (Sound Quartet)
The Static Memories
Stendec
Stereocilia
Steve Gisby
Stone Cornelius
Strangers from Birth
Sunday Mourning
Sunset Graves
Supercell
Super Mega Ultra Crew
Swarbrooke
Tam Lin
TCH
TCH / Ashtoreth
Teashape
Teignmouth Electron
Territorial Gobbing
Terror Wogan
Terror Wogan vs. Sirloin Dion
Tetras
Thanos Chrysakis, James O’Sullivan and Oli Mayne
Thee Moths
This Fake Bureaucracy
This Sound Bureaucracy
Thomas Hiltz
Thomas Ragsdale
Thomas Stone
Thon
Thor Magnusson
Tiger Walking Downhill
Tim Blechmann
Tim Exile
Tim Sagar Drone Syndicate
Tim Shaw and Sébastien Piquemal
Timeron
Timothy C Holehouse
Timothy C Holehouse vs Left Hand Cuts Off The Right
Timothy Didymus
Tom Hall
Tom Mudd
Tonne
Tourian
TR Agency
Transept
Tripolarity
T-Toe
Tullis Rennie
TwentyTwenty
Twocsinak
Új Bála
Ultrafoetus
Ultrahumanitarian
Ultraterrestrials
Urban Delights
Urban Myth
Vader Sound System
The Vainglories
Vera Bremerton
Viv
VLK
Vole
Voltek
Warped Love Group
Warrior Squares
Waxed Apple
Well Hung Game
While We Were Sleeping
White Tiger
Wild Anima
Wrong Samoans
Wrong Signals
Xylitol
Yellow Not Yellow
Yes Indeed
¥eti
Yiskāh
Yorkshire Modular Society
Ypsmael
The Zero Map
You&th
Zener Breakdown
Zeyn Mroueh
Zoom Around Rainbow
ZPG