The sublime Submotion Orchestra (soundcloud) came through Manchester recently on their last UK tour. They were promoting their second album, Fragments which, if you know Submotion Orchestra, is more of their unique brand of Jazz-Dub fusion.
If you are unaware of the band they are one of the best kept secrets in UK music, with truly beautiful songs with superb percussions, deep warm bass and the magnetic Ruby Wood on vocals, usually seen with a crowd in the palm of her hand. Check this out…
On this tour they played in the Ruby Lounge, a great little underground dive in Manchester. Although this venue is usually sporting average to low quality sound, Submotion like to bring their producer Ruckspin with them, he sits at the back working his magic quietly, and is probably the main reason they always sound so awesome live!
Shooting in the Ruby Lounge was a bit of a challenge, its definitely towards the lower end of lighting quality as far as Manchester venues go. It pushed the camera to the higher end of the ISO range I like to shoot at. The strong LED lighting also meant I had to play around with the colour balance to achieve a pleasing look. They ended up looking quite retro, like I’d shot on some 70s film, which I quite like, even if it wasn’t intentional!
Submotion Orchestra playing at Manchester’s Ruby Lounge promoting their new album, Fragments | 16/10/12 | Gary Brown