Performers: Nicholas Hann, Alex McKenzie, Nat Philipps, Rebecka Edlund, Mataio Austin Dean, Alex Lyon and Phoebe Harty

We all felt the weight and importance of the space we were in. I’ve only ever done free improvisation like this in basements or on weird boats, never a big reverberant space like this.

Above us were angels playing aulos’s (not saxophones unfortunately). There were lots of questions about the history of the church. There’s been a church on the site since the 11th century and since then it’s been through a few iterations that its Wikipedia page can explain better than me: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Giles-without-Cripplegate

John Milton is buried here. Rick Wakeman recorded the organ parts for the “Yes” track “Close to the Edge” on the pipe organ here.

It stands as one bit of medieval amongst the concrete of the Barbican and the glass of the offices behind it. A perfect symbol of change and continuity.

We played continuously for about 90 minutes. 33 people came to see us.

The audience expected it to be longer. I’d spoken to my friends about the performance having an endurance element to it like a Marina Abramovic performance. On the day we decided that saying we were going to play right up till 10 would be too much of a limitation. We’d have to be checking our phones, worrying about the time ahead of us and behind us.

We decided we’d stop when it felt natural. The rules said that if everyone stood up and no one chose to replace them on stage then the performance would end. Rebecka and I ended together and both left the stage leaving the three seats empty.

I was the most nervous I’ve been in a long time. For Giffords Circus I’d played the same show 288 times. There were no nerves for those shows. But even for other pre-circus performances I’d stopped feeling nervous. I was surprised by my shaking hands and leg.

My nerves were so intense because I’d asked all the performers and all the audience to come purely on trust. We had never done this before, there was no evidence or precedent to show it would be entertaining. And because it was free improvisation I felt I had invited all my friends to just thin air.

I flailed with the idea of building huge musical instruments for everyone, or writing out 300 simple hymns for people to play or inviting friends to paint the performance in real time. All those impulses were just a lack of self confidence, I felt it needed something physical to legitimise it. Ultimately, I settled on a short list of rules that ensured that there were never more than 3 people performing at a time. I’m glad there were no scores to get in our way. I’m also glad that I created the list of rules to ensure a structure and novelty to the performance.

There were three chairs. If someone stood up and left their chair then someone could replace them. There doesn’t always have to be someone in every chair (there can be solos or duets) but if there is no one in any of the chairs then the performance is over.

Rebecka broke the rules, she started singing at the back of the church and processed up the aisle. I’m very glad she did, it was maybe my favourite bit of the performance. I tend to improvise with my eyes closed so I was genuinely shocked to hear a sound so far from where I expected any sound. In Marina Abramovic’s autobiography she details many times where people have broken the rules of her performance, she says you have to detach yourself from the rules and understand that you can’t control it.

I was itching to see what combinations of the seven performers would emerge. From discussions with the other performers I realised that they had thought strategically about when they were going to play to ensure the same combinations didn’t recur too much. I didn’t think about it, I just stood up when I wanted to.

In the end the audience had shared my instinct of wanting something physical from this ephemeral performance. Umber made a sticker with pictures from the church. It reads ‘DANGER HYMNS’ which is what she considered should be the name for the event. I liked danger hymns. Cameron had drawn some pictures, Anna had drawn sounds.

An unexpected bonus of allowing people to wander around was the little crèche that formed in the corner of people drawing and writing. We also got lots lots of pictures and videos from great angles.

With this set of rules and the same people. With this set of rules and different people. I think we could do this #100 times or infinitely. David said we should do it in St Paul’s Cathedral. I think St John Smith Square is realistic but ultimately I think this performance is inextricably linked with St Giles Cripplegate now.

On the 2nd October, I was exhausted after the end of 7 months of circus and I had lost my striving impulse. I didn’t want to make things or practice, I was ready to move to a nice cabin maybe. By the end of the 8th October I realised that (after people) there is nothing more important to me than music.

I would have to practice writing for longer I’ve practiced music to able to put into words how important this performance was to me.

There will be many many more and the log cabin will have to wait.