Contact
The best way to contact me is email: contact [at] cathrobots.co.uk
You can also sign up to my (roughly) quarterly email newsletter.
My social media use is patchy, but…
- Follow my Instagram account for occasional updates: @cathrobots
- Find me in the fediverse: @cathrobots
- And (let’s see how this goes) on Bluesky: @cathrobots
About me
I am an improviser, composer and artist whose work combines acoustic and electronic improvised music, experimental composition, and DIY publishing practices.
Artist biog
Cath Roberts (they/them) is an improviser, composer and artist based in London, whose work combines acoustic and electronic improvised music, experimental composition, and DIY publishing practices.
On saxophones Cath has collaborated with a wide range of artists and ensembles internationally for over a decade. Their band Sloth Racket has released five studio albums, touring widely and ‘lurching between riff and abstraction’ (The Wire) since forming in 2015. Other recent exploits include playing with Chris Corsano as part of his 2022 Cafe Oto residency, and being one of two UK artists (with Mandhira De Saram) commissioned by Australian Art Orchestra to co-create and perform Fresh Water – Salt Water in Melbourne and Huddersfield (a hcmf// and AAO co-commission, also in 2022).
Cath works with live electronics (SOMA Lyra-8 synthesiser, samplers, and small tabletop machines) in ongoing collaborations with Kate Carr (as Quartz Sand), Graham Dunning (as Grid & Robots) and Tullis Rennie. Be unafraid to open things up, a solo improvisation on tabletop electronics, was released on Fractal Meat Cuts in 2022, and Cath’s sampler-based solo collage set Patch Dynamics had its first outing at hcmf// in 2024.
In 2021 Cath was commissioned by hcmf// to create And then the next thing you know, a cross-artform installation/performance piece involving a giant, hanging, fragmented graphic score, elements of which are being integrated into a new audio-visual collaboration with Tullis Rennie. In 2024 Cath established the DIY small press Ink-Paper-Sound, and they co-run the Luminous label and the BRÅK concert series.
(last updated May 2025)
My work in more detail
Saxophone // As an improvising baritone and alto saxophone player, I have collaborated with a range of artists and ensembles internationally for over a decade. Recent highlights include playing with Chris Corsano as part of his 2022 Cafe Oto residency, and being one of two UK artists (with Mandhira De Saram) commissioned by Australian Art Orchestra to co-create and perform Fresh Water – Salt Water in Melbourne and Huddersfield (a hcmf// and AAO co-commission, also in 2022). I have a long-standing duo with guitarist Anton Hunter (Ripsaw Catfish), as well as regular collaborations with Tullis Rennie, Benedict Taylor, Dee Byrne and others. I have performed bandmate duties in many groups including Tullis Rennie’s Safe Operating Space, The Seen, Colin Webster Large Ensemble and Alex Ward’s Items 10 and 7.
Composition // In my composition work I make experimental scores using graphics, notation, text, and booklet/zine formats. The primary outlet for this music is my band Sloth Racket, formed in 2015, which has toured widely and released five studio albums. Our most recent exploits include an April 2024 a double bill tour with Mark Holub’s Vienna-based band Anthropods, and our sixth album is in progress. I created my first large scale installation-type work And then the next thing you know for hcmf// in 2021; a giant, hanging fragmented graphic score plus sample set, for a trio of Tullis Rennie, Otto Willberg and myself. Notable earlier work includes an Artist In Residence and Headline Artist commission for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2016, and a Jazz North East commission for Gateshead International Jazz Festival in 2015, which led to the formation of Sloth Racket.
Electronics // Working with electronics has led to ongoing collaborations with Kate Carr (as Quartz Sand), Graham Dunning (as Grid & Robots), Dee Byrne and Tullis Rennie, alongside improvised encounters with artists including Phil Durrant, Bill Thompson, Mark Wastell, Alex Bonney, Bell Lungs and Tom Mills. My solo improvisation on tabletop electronics, Be unafraid to open things up, was released as part of a split tape with Suren Seneviratne on Fractal Meat Cuts in 2022. My sampler-based solo collage set Patch Dynamics had its first outing at hcmf// in 2024, with a second appearance in Spring 2025 at Sonics Hastings.
Artwork and publishing practices // Designs by me can be seen on many album covers, flyers and other publicity materials, for my own and other people’s music projects. My Setlist zine series of risograph-printed zines, published through 2023 and 2024, brings together text and graphics by various artists as tools for improvised performance, with a launch night for the third volume taking place at Cafe Oto, London, in March 2024. Setlist was the first project under the banner of my small press Ink-Paper-Sound.
Organising // As an organiser, I co-run BRÅK – an improvised music series taking place in Brockley, South East London – with Tom Ward and Colin Webster. I have collaborated extensively with Dee Byrne since 2013 producing concerts, tours and festivals under the banner of LUME and running the Luminous label since 2015.
Teaching // I lead the student Experimental Ensemble at City St Georges, University of London. Other education work has included workshops, courses and guest lectures on improvisation and/or composition, including for London College of Communication (UAL), Aldeburgh Young Musicians (Britten Pears Arts), Eastern Ear, Trinity Laban, and for various festivals.
My pronouns are they/them.
Current CV (last updated January 2025)