Conceptualized a few years back after late nights under an influence, Soft Riot came to be as a musical creation of JJD (Jack Duckworth) of the London, England based psych electronic post-punk outfit Savage Furs. The unique Soft Riot sound draws inspiration from synthesizer-based film soundtracks of yesteryear, drones, early EBM, minimal electronics past and present, a bit of synthpop and a heavy dose of throbbing appregiated rhythms. Throughout this strange landscape lie a core of pulsing pop songs with the lyrics drawing from science fiction, isolation, politics, romance and psychedelia with an element of wry black humour.

Soft Riot remained as an occasional studio outing for a number of years while energies were put into other bands for a number of years. In early 2011 the project was finally given the focus it deserved with the release of “No Longer Stranger” on the Panospria label. Live performances commenced from there with a progression of sound. Documentation of this where this sound is going can be found on the extended single, “Another Drone In Year Head” on the fast rising Tundra Dubs label (Funerals, ΔAIMON) out of San Francisco, released in February 2012.

JJD is no stranger to performance after years of gigging and touring in other projects and the experience shows by the execution a true one-man show. Manning no less than two synthesizers, a microphone, an on-stage mixer, and a variety of outboard effects augmented by atmospheric on-stage lighting, this spectacle alone sets this live show apart from the bulk of the modern bulk of laptop-based live solo electronic shows.

This agenda and performance concept is a thought out one by an artist who is now into his second decade of writing music, playing shows and releasing numerous records on labels such as Gold Standard Labs (GSL), Kill Rock Stars, Action Driver and Ache over the last 10+ years. All of these experiences have pointed to the calculated execution of Soft Riot’s minimal yet compelling sound.