Aphex Twin teases Field Day 2023 show in London
A cryptic new website hints that the pioneering DJ and electronic musician could be returning to the festival, which he last headlined in 2017
Aphex Twin has hinted at a possible appearance at London’s Field Day festival this year.
A cryptic new website under the URL 190823.co.uk appeared yesterday (January 19) with Aphex Twin‘s logo positioned in two ‘O’ letters of the word ‘London’.
The date, 19 August, 2023, is when this year’s Field Day falls at London’s Victoria Park.
Fans can sign up for more information about “this teaser and upcoming news” by submitting their email. The listed promoter is Waxarch Limited, a company involved with Field Day and affiliated festival All Points East.
Aphex Twin also headlined Field Day in 2017, last performing a London show in 2019 at Printworks. Last year’s Field Day, meanwhile, was headlined by The Chemical Brothers and Kraftwerk.
Aphex Twin’s last album, Syro, came out in 2014. Speaking to Rolling Stone around the release, the DJ – real name Richard D. James – said the record was only about “a fifth of what I’ve done in the last 10 years”, describing it as “one album out of many possible ones”.
Asked how he felt ready to release new music again, Aphex Twin explained: “Well, I have wanted to do it; it’s just getting around to doing it. It’s a real ball-ache. It’s not what I’m interested in. I just like making the stuff.
“To be honest, I thought, ‘Who’s even interested anymore?’ When Warp [Records] was really interested, I was like, “Really? Is this a joke or something?” I kind of expected them to say, “No, nobody actually buys any records anymore, mate. Sorry.”
At the time, he also shared that he was planning on “a couple more albums, some EPs, things like that”.
“Some more dance-y things I did about 10 years ago. Experimental things, noise things, weird things. Shitloads of stuff,” he continued, which he said were all “pretty much ready to go”.
In recent years the influential DJ has been involved with pioneering new music technology, including a 2021 collaboration with tech company ODDSound to work on a new microtuning synth plugin.
Last year, he also launched a new sample matching app called Samplebrain, described as a free sound design software inspired by music-identifying app Shazam.