Graham Lambkin first heard Keith Rowe’s sixties work in AMM as a teenager growing up in Folkestone, a small town in Kent, England, and for him it was very influential. That same year, Lambkin formed his now legendary band The Shadow Ring and Lambkin says, “For Darren (Harris) and I, AMM was one of the groups that gave us licence to just do what we wanted, regardless of whether it fitted with convention or employed ’accepted’ techniques, and did so from a very English standpoint which held great appeal.” A decade of increasingly skewed and inspired work by the band culminated in 2003’s I’m Some Songs, constructed long distance as Lambkin had relocated to the US in 1998. Since then, Lambkin has primarily worked under his own name, both as a solo artist and in duo with Jason Lescalleet.
Rowe first became aware of Lambkin’s work more recently, initially via 2007’s Salmon Run, but when the two first met at the AMPLIFY 2011: stones festival in NYC, the connection was immediate. 2012 was spent in preparation and in January 2013 the duo met first in NYC for a memorable live set and then travelled to Graham’s house in Poughkeepsie where Making A was recorded. The instant personal chemistry between the two fully translated to their musical relationship, both the similarities and differences seem to perfectly fit. This immediate rapport led to the quickest ever turnaround time from recording to release for an Erstwhile, just 77 days. Both musicians feel that Making A represents something very unusual and unique from their own perspective, and it is also the first release in Rowe’s close to half century of recording in which he does not use a guitar or a radio. The six panel digipak features combined artwork from the two musicians, joining forces to create a visual whole that parallels the music.