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Taupe are a Glasgow-based trio whose free(math)avant(skronk) concoctions fuse sour sonics, effervescent improvisation, and sludgy, doom-laden riffage into a sound both unruly and sharply honed. Often seeming to operate by a kind of spooky telekinesis, they pivot from turbulent, unwieldy chaos into taut, metronomic precision, cultivating an approach that feels both volatile and vividly alive. Steeped in a DIY ethos, Taupe balance wonky charm with exacting focus, bridging the no-wave disorder of DNA or James Chance with the squeaky-clean intricacy of groups like goat (jp) and Horse Lords, all while maintaining an anarchic spirit that takes any pretensions out to the woodshed.
Formed in 2012 when Mike Parr-Burman, Jamie Stockbridge, and original drummer Adam Stapleford met while studying Music in Newcastle, Taupe began as a space for open exploration and experimentation. Their releases include Fill Up Your Lungs and Bellow (2017), the EP Get The Keys (2019), and Not Blue Light (2020).
The band has earned support from BBC 6 Music’s Freak Zone and BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction and Freeness, alongside appearances at festivals across the UK and Europe, including REWIRE in The Hague, and support slots with acts such as Deerhoof, Richard Dawson & Circle, and Melt-Banana. They have toured extensively throughout the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary, and were part of the musical cast for Adjunct Ensemble’s 2023 release Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy (The Guardian’s Contemporary Album of the Month).
Drummer Alex Palmer joined ahead of Taupe’s performance at SHARPE Festival 2023 in Bratislava, ushering in the development period that shaped waxing | waning and culminating in renewed live momentum with a UK/EU tour in autumn 2024 and the debut of new material at REWIRE 2025. Forever fizzing with ideas, Taupe prize surprise above all else.
Taupe featured on Adjunct Ensemble’s Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy, The Guardian’s Contemporary Album of the Month May 2023.
“A radical expression of empathy, as stunning as its themes are crushing.” - The Wire
“A disorienting act of resistance” - The Guardian Contemporary Album of the Month, May 2023
'Music to punch things to.'
'Very much egoless […] it’s exhilarating, bursting with rebellious energy.'
'(Taupe) revel in formal deconstruction and textural mutation ... there's a sense of punky mischief here that recalls Naked City or Melt Banana.'
'“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion” says Poe, and that’s true of what Taupe do. These three musicians are in total harmony with each other, however dissonant.'
'A fierce trio balancing blast and groove with clear punctuation.'
'(Taupe) harness a telekinetic connection which allows them to flow between perfect sync and wild improvisation, just when you least expect it. Unreal.'
'Like a pigeon stuck in a post-box.'
