Leafcutter John

Leafcutter John is a musical project of London-based songwriter, electronic musician and performer John Burton. He started making music around early 2000s, debuting with his Concourse E.E.P. album on Planet Mu. John has developed a strong musical identity using processed instrumental and environmental recordings, and he always puts a great deal of time and effort in polishing his albums, as he loves this traditional format. His third album The Housebound Spirit (Planet Mu, 2003) won an honorary mention at the Ars Electronica Awards and was featured in Planet Mu's Top-50 records of 2003.

Leafcutter John writes his own music software, most notably Forester for Max/MSP/Jitter. He gave talks and showcased his software across Europe, and he is also a regular guest speaker at the London College of Communication. In 2005 John spent a year as a teacher at Danish Institute of Electronic Music in Aarhus.

Leafcutter John also plays laptop and electric guitar in [a=Polar Bear (3)] experimental post-jazz band, and together with it's leader Sebastian Rochford he used to run a project Nails, where he combined processed electric guitar, electronics, percussion, vocals and synthesizer. His more recent project is called Melt Yourself Down – a Nubian-inspired party punk sextet, where he provides electronics and production.

Most of Leafcutter John's live performances are made of material from recorded works, combining folk songs with electronic passages via combination of layered vocals, guitar, cello, and electronics. This project has toured extensively in the UK, Europe and Australia. He also sometime performs solo, improvising and using unusual sound sources.