Hidden Orchestra is Joe Acheson, a composer and producer in Edinburgh. His own words: 'an imaginary orchestra, played live by a real band.' On record he writes, records, programs and plays much of it himself, bass, samples, kantele, glockenspiel, and then a live quartet realises it. Two drummers, Tim Lane and Jamie Graham, on duelling kits, with Poppy Ackroyd on piano and violin. Night Walks (Tru Thoughts, 2010) was the debut. 'Flight' followed as the title track of a November 2011 EP that also carries cello, harp, clarinet and soprano sax. By then their touring had taken in twenty countries in a single year, they'd played Glastonbury 2011 with an expanded ten-piece line-up, and Cerys Matthews booked them for a live BBC 6Music session after interviewing them. Recent Bandcamp releases include the album To Dream Is to Forget (September 2023), Broken (September 2024) and DIYSRL RMXS (November 2024).
From the notes for Episode 09 · fact-checked Oct 4, 2026.
