Ivan the Tolerable
Ivan the Tolerable exists because a band said no. Oli Heffernan, a multi-instrumentalist from Middlesbrough, recorded a tape of songs for Year Of Birds to learn; they told him the material was unplayable and that he should put it out himself under another name. He has been doing that since the mid 2000s, at a pace that leaves discographies behind: more than sixty albums, almost all instrumental since 2012, most of them played alone and overdubbed. Can and Neu! are in there, so are Sun Ra and The Necks. When he needs other players he invents a band to hold them, which is how Ivan & Friends, the Trio and the Self-Isolation Orchestra came to be.
Ivan the Tolerable exists because a band said no. Oli Heffernan, a multi-instrumentalist from Middlesbrough, recorded a tape of songs for Year Of Birds to learn; they told him the material was unplayable and that he should put it out himself under another name. He has been doing that since the mid 2000s, at a pace that leaves discographies behind: more than sixty albums, almost all instrumental since 2012, most of them played alone and overdubbed. Can and Neu! are in there, so are Sun Ra and The Necks. When he needs other players he invents a band to hold them, which is how Ivan & Friends, the Trio and the Self-Isolation Orchestra came to be.
