Rachel Aggs

Rachel Aggs is a London-based musician.^[1] Primarily known for her distinctive guitar work, influenced by both West African highlife and post-punk, she also sings and plays the violin.

She has been playing with the band Trash Kit since 2009,^[2] with Ros Murray and Rachel Horwood, which released an eponymous debut album on the Upset! The Rhythm label^[3] in 2010 and a second album, Confidence, in 2014. She has also been a member of Shopping, formed with Andrew Milk and Billy Easter, since 2012. Other bands have included The Madrigals, Covergirl, Golden Grrrls, and Sacred Paws, who released their debut EP in 2015.^[4]

She writes zines, including I Trust My Guitar,^[5] and was involved with the Power Lunches venue in Dalston, East London.^[6]

She has also performed the Pauline Oliveros score To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe, In Recognition of their Desperation, 1970, in a performance in the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, 2012,^[7] and on a second occasion in a film-based performance with other musicians Peaches, Catriona Shaw, Verity Susman, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, and William Wheeler in a film of the same name by artists Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz and shown at Museum of Modern Art, New York, in a special event with the artists, Oliveros and Gregg Bordowitz^[8] in May 2014.

In June 2017, Sacred Paws' debut album Strike A Match, released the previous January, was awarded Scottish Album of the Year.^[9]

On 14 April 2018 Aggs performed at the Barbican as part of a 12 guitarist group assembled by Thurston Moore; along with Deborah Goodge, Susan Stenger, Jonah Falco, and more.^[10]

References