Beschreibung

ABOUT SHERRY BLACK AND THE PORT AUTHORITY David and Thomas grew up in a tranquil village surrounded by misty forests, smooth hills and an army of invisible creatures who filled their ears with poetry at a slow but steady pace. The two spent their early years indulging in the usual pursuits of unusual boys, hollering obscenities at strangers and convincing the vicar to convert to Buddhism, before discovering, to their amazement, an entire world outside their tiny village; a weird and wonderful world of unfathomable pleasure and unbearable pain, and, heeding its overpowering call, decided to discard their distressed dungarees and worn-out wellies for bespoke suits, scarlet top hats and immaculate brogues. At the age of fifteen they founded clodhoppingly named band Naked Sense and played genre-defying rock music to emotionally blurting teenagers with cigarettes dangling from the corners of their mouths and hormones oozing from their ears. Then, having attained student status and the ability to grow beards, they decided to sever their musical ties in order to mesmerise and exasperate the finest minds Europe’s universities had to offer. Thus, Thomas launched himself on the bleak and beautiful city of Berlin in order to study Electronics, aiming to fulfil his childhood dream of causing a world-wide power cut. But alas, the disembodied voices from his childhood wouldn’t leave poor Thomas alone and in a fit of clarity he destroyed all evidence of ever having been in Berlin by staging a controlled explosion before applying successfully to the prestigious Audio Design course at Basel’s Music Academy, where he has recently concluded his quest to open the ears of a bloodless, cobwebbed faculty to the merits of music written after 1825. Meanwhile, David fell head-over-heels in love with London and its dour denizens, having recently broken free from the jaws of an obscure but mysteriously expensive boarding school by exercising sheer perseverance and dazzling good humour. Clutching to his chest an A-Level certificate, an antique swaggerstick and a 7-day-loan copy of the complete works of W.B. Yeats (which remains one of his most prized possessions), David stepped off a moribund barge near Waterloo Bridge one cold and foggy night, only to embark on a BA in Philosophy at King’s College with a passion for Aesthetics and a hole in his shoe. But alas, the disembodied voices from his childhood wouldn’t leave poor David alone and in a fit of clarity he convinced his Epistemology Professor that his enrolment at the institution – indeed his entire existence – had, in fact, been a figment of the aging scholar’s imagination, before slipping through the stage-door of an on-campus theatre at Middlesex University and graduating three years later with a BA in Performing Arts and a permanent frown, leaving a trail of broken glass, prematurely retired faculty members and sobbing ballet-dancers. It was at this point that Thomas and David resolved to join forces once more, obtain a crate of the finest Whiskey known to man and coerce a multitude of professional musicians into bringing their twisted compositions to life by means of hypnosis and a set of intimidation tactics that make Guantanamo Bay seem like summer camp. The result is the genially named Shalalah, a collection of songs concerned with such pressing matters as the nocturnal invasion of one’s kitchen by an army of little people, the growing importance of good footwear and the transient moonshine of the tarnished mind. Should you dislike their work for any reason whatsoever, David and Thomas recommend a series of self-inflicted blows to the head, a swift round of Tiddlywinks and a pint of Gin. Here we must leave you, dear Reader, a sadder and a wiser person. Farewell, and may your unconditional allegiance to Sherry Black and the Port Authority bring great riches to our two heroes so they may continue to bring great pleasure to you.