The Blackheart Orchestra brings their unique sound to The Quay, Sudbury

Not for the first time Rick Pilkington and Chrissy Mostyn, better known as The Blackheart Orchestra, return to perform in West Suffolk.

In fact, this month, the duo will perform on consecutive nights in the area when they appear at Sudbury’s The Quay theatre on October 16, then at the The Hall on the Green, Hawstead, just outside Bury on October 17, having already performed in Cambridge and Ipswich last month, returning in November.

“We didn’t realise we were here so much until you mentioned it,” laughed the duo. “But yes, we’ve got two gigs upcoming (in West Suffolk) next month.

“They are both going to be really different as well; The Quay theatre is somewhere we’ve played before and is a rather beautiful venue, this show will be a somewhat formal outing whilst the following night’s performance will be more of an informal showing.”

The two Suffolk dates conveniently fall immediately after the release of their second album, on October 11, the eagerly anticipated Mesmeranto.

It’s a follow-up to their debut release as The Blackheart Orchestra, Diving for Roses, released two years ago. They had an already strong back catalogue of music released under their previous name, Blackheart.

“We used to be known as just ‘Blackheart’, but people thought we were a rock band,” explains Chrissy. “Once we’d released Diving for Roses though (as The Blackheart Orchestra), it made a huge difference to us.

“What we have released, they’ve probably taken around two years apiece to make and, with each one being different, it’s been a kind of natural progression.”

“Also, with our multi-instrumentalism, well it made sense to go with a more orchestral approach,” continued Rick.

“The past 18 months or so have been really good (in part due to the changes made) and we’re really thankful for that.

“As for the albums, I guess they’re done one track at a time, not all in one go, and that’s why it takes some time to do them, that and we’re always out gigging.”

Now, with the gigging in full swing, The Blackheart Orchestra will be back out as soon as this run of shows finishes, they’re about to support the iconic Hawkwind on the their 50th anniversary tour which ends at London’s Royal Albert Hall on November 26, but before that happens, it’s time for some Mesmeranto.

“That wasn’t actually meant to be a concept album but, with 14 tracks on it, it contains a feeling which binds it all together,” states Rick.

“It came out as perfect as we wanted it to be as well.”

“If you like one album then you will certainly the other one,” beams Chrissy. “There’s some pretty large productions on it and is something we are both very, very proud of.

“We’ve done the absolute best we can with it and it’s actually been quite emotional, raw, even cried over it, but we wouldn’t change a thing.”

The Blackheart Orchestra will appear at the The Quay Sudbury on Wednesday, October 16, see quaysudbury.com; Hall on the Green, Hawstead, on Thursday, October 17, see theblackheartorchestra.com.