A very special performance by one of Ventnor Exchange's 2017 acts to watch.

Cosmo Sheldrake is a 26 year-old multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and producer who we've been trying to bring to the Island for more than 2 years. We're thrilled and very excited that he'll be performing a special show for us in our 'pop up' unit on Ventnor Indisutrial Estate, the perefect space for intimate gigs.

He regularly performs on banjo, loop station, keyboards, double bass, drums, penny whistle, sousaphone, accordion and many more. He is an inspirational singer and improviser, and much of his work is concerned with play, nonsense and the sonorous environment.

Cosmo composes music for film and theatre and tours internationally, performing solo and with several bands including Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit and the Gentle Mystics. He ran a community choir until 2013, teaches in schools and privately and has facilitated music workshops and youth empowerment and nature awareness camps across Europe and North America.

He performed at a TEDx event in 2013 (watch here) and spent time in New York, where he studied vocal improvisation with the legendary Bobby Mcferrin. 2013 also saw Cosmo compose music for a series of Beckett plays for the Young Vic in London as well as curating music for children’s hospitals and hospices.

In 2014, Cosmo released his debut single ‘The Moss’ on Transgressive Records which picked up support from the likes of Radio 1, NME and The Guardian as well as reaching #1 on the Hype Machine chart.

2015 began with a short sold out UK and European tour followed swiftly by his debut EP ‘Pelicans We’ which featured his second single ‘Rich’. Already a well-known Sheldrake number, ‘Rich’ features collaborator Anndreyah Vargas and is mixed by Mark Ronson’s right hand man and 2013 recording engineer of the year – alalal (aka Al O’Connell). Following further touring (including shows in Japan and the US) Cosmo is now working on his debut record which is expected in 2017.

“He perceives the daily world around him… definitely with a child-like curiosity and wonder but also with a fair measure of genius.” – The Guardian

“Genuinely Great British Eccentric” – Dots And Dashes

“If his past is anything to go by, Sheldrake’s future is set to be unique.” – The Telegraph

This show is NOT at Ventnor Exchange but at a unit in Ventnor Industrial Estate, full details given on ticket.