Mush Collective (MC) is made up of long term collaborators Nicky Rushton and Sarah Van Jellie, with Susanne Lambert, Penny Callow and Bernard Wright. They are based in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) and Berlin (DE). The band features voice, keys/guitar, bass, cello, violin, drums/percussion and harmony vocals.
Nicky was one half of the renowned band ‘All Because the Lady Loves’, who toured extensively throughout the UK during the 80’s and 90’s. The band were signed to Roundabout records, and released 4 full length studio albums between 1987 and 1993.
'Mush' followed from the success of All Because the Lady Loves and have continued creating and performing as this project since 1996, expanding the name to 'Mush Collective' in 2021. MC released their 8th album 'Family Album', in Autumn 2017. These tracks were largely created from a marathon 31 day song-writing collaboration; a song a day, by Nicky. MC tracks usually evolve from the storytelling songwriting of Nicky. Tracks are then worked on by the full band to create balanced and integrated arrangements.
Since 2017 Mush have taken their work in a new direction, honing their current sound and approach, and trying out new ways of working, including collaborating with Turner Prize winning artist Lubaina Himid. Through this project, the band devised a body of work including 'Breathe' - an 8 minute musical exploration, created in response to the themes of Lubaina's work, with a focus on displacement. The work explores the uncertainty and lack of belonging experienced by an individual whose life has been shaken up, where all that is known, has been taken. Who are you in this new situation? You are left exposed and at sea, travelling to an uncertain future. In this place, amongst the wind and the water the one element left that you can still control is your breath.
The band performed this set of tracks in situ at Lubaina’s 'The Grab Test' exhibition in Haarlem's Frans Hals Museum (2019/2020). During the end of 2020 during a short window where it was safe to work together, the band began recording the work from this comission, to be released on limited edition vinyl and featuring new artwork by Lubaina. Due to an EU wide delay in vinyl production, and limitations put in place due to the pandemic, this project took a lot longer than anticipated to complete, but in December 2021, to mark the winter solstice, MC released the first track from this collection, 'Northern Light'. Followed by Amor and Volcano in 2022/2023, which were all aired on BBC Introducing North East. The album is now complete in vinyl form and will be played/and or performed in it's entirity in gallery spaces across the UK and Europe in 2024.
Since 2015 MC are:
Nicky Ruston - voice, piano, guitar, accordion
Sarah Van Jellie - bass, harmony vocals
Penny Callow - cello, harmony vocals
Bernard Wright - violin, harmony vocals
Susanne Lambert - drums/percussion, harmony vocals
Additional band members on harmony vocals for some of our live shows and recordings:
(also working as 'Kissed' with Sarah and Nicky)
Charlie Hardwick, Nathalie Stern and Zoe Lambert