From Scratch records.

Founded in 1974 by Phil Dadson, From Scratch emerged from a larger musical collective, Scratch Orchestra. This earlier iteration was established by Dadson on his return from England where he had been involved with the London Scratch Orchestra and experimental music initiatives run by Cornelius Cardew. The smaller From Scratch ensemble was made up of a shifting membership of artists and musicians including Wayne Laird, Don McGlashan, Geoff Chapple, Gary Wain, James McCarthy, Neville Hall, Walter Muller, Shane Currey, Adrian Croucher, and Kim Wesney.

Works by the group featured percussive elements with a focus on cyclic patterns and experimental sounds. From Scratch instruments included their iconic tuned banks of pvc pipes as well as improvised and constructed instruments such as hummers, rattle-jackets, and trom-tubes. Works combined sound with sculptural and performance elements, later incorporating video.

From Scratch toured extensively during the late 1970s and 1980s throughout New Zealand and internationally. Significant performances include Pacific 3, 2, 1, Zero – a protest piece against nuclear testing and pollution in the South Pacific, performed at the 12th Paris Biennale and Global Hockets, a collaboration between From Scratch and Supreme Particles.

In addition to live performances, From Scratch produced a suite of sound recordings including From Scratch Perform Rhythm Works (1979), Drum/Sing, Pacific 3, 2, 1, Zero (part 1 ) (1985), and Gung Ho 1, 2, 3D (1988).

In 2018, a significant survey exhibition entitled From Scratch: 546 Moons was presented at Te Uru Waitakere Gallery as part of the Auckland Arts Festival.

Phil Dadson (1946-) studied at Elam School of Fine Arts from 1965 to 1971, pausing mid-way to travel to England. It was in London that Dadson became involved with an experimental music class at the Morley College for Working Men and Women, run by Cornelius Cardew. From this group the original London Scratch Orchestra was formed and on Dadson’s return to New Zealand in 1969 he started an antipodean branch which evolved into From Scratch.

Dadson and From Scratch built an international reputation for their experimental sound and video recordings, installations and performances. Alongside his involvement with From Scratch, Dadson held the position of Senior Lecturer and became Head of Intermedia at Elam School of Fine Arts from 1986 through to 2000. In 2001, Dadson received an Arts Foundation Laureate Award and in 2003 was awarded an Artist-to-Antarctica fellowship. He was selected as a finalist for the 2006 Walters Prize held at Auckland Art Gallery and in 2011 participated in the Kermadec Ocean Project.