My name is Thom Andrewes. I am a PhD student at Queen Mary University of London, researching musical performance in the Drama department. I want this site/newsletter to be an informal place where I can share research, theories, reviews, experiences and anything else that comes to mind.

about my project

Ordinary music. Everyday music. Normal music. Popular music. Natural music. Extra-ordinary music. Fictional music. Music as action. Music as theatre. Music as ritual. Music as magic. Music as miracle. Music as religion. Music as representation. Music as public address. Music as occurrence. Music as occasion. Music as exception. Music as "music as..."

The aim of the project is to offer three (new) things:
• A theoretical approach to (all/any) music as a mode of "fictional action"
• A method for analysing musical phenomena on this basis ("song act analysis")
• A series of analyses of very popular musical phenomena, to model this method

The working title is Song Act Theory: Musical Performance as Performance.

about me

I'm a writer, performer and artist working between music and theatre, based in London. I co-create occasional events with performance company Dynamite Island and weirdo covers band The Coveryard. I spend my time singing and dancing and thinking about singing and dancing. And communism.

Between 2010 and 2020, I published essays and criticism on two blogs: The Biting Point, and The Night Mail. I also spent a few years curating a video-music archive on Tumblr, which I'm quite proud of: States of Exception.