Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher is a music collective based in Manchester. At its core are vocals and bass duo Caitlin Laing and Tom Chapman, but their philosophy is to make each live performance unique by constantly varying line-ups and arrangements. With a strong emphasis on songwriting as a duo this is always at the heart of their music but is continually re-contextualised by the different line-ups that they use, ranging from just bass and vocals to a full Orchestra. They also use their freedom as arrangers to explore different soundworlds in the studio, braving unorthodox techniques to create recordings that have a separate identity to their live performances. Some of their key influences include Moses Sumney, James Blake and Kate Bush.

The duo formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2018 and since then have been establishing themselves on the Manchester music scene with regular gigs and releases. These include a set of live videos from the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, performances events such as Manchester Jazz Festival and venues such as Band on The Wall, and a seven date tour across South Africa.