One More Grain

Born in Lancaster, England, Quinn attended the town's Royal Grammar School but left after GCSEs to complete his A-levels at the local college. He went on to study Philosophy at university in London. After graduating, Quinn moved to Edinburgh, where he worked in the Scottish National Gallery and set up Suilven Recordings, an independent label releasing ambient music. Quinn lived in Scotland for around three years, culminating in the release of the record Ridin' the Stang, which was subsequently toured with a group of local musicians called The Rough Ensemble.[1] Stewart Lee featured Quinn's track "The Burryman" on his Topography of Chance CD.

Ridin' the Stang did not find commercial success, prompting Quinn's return to London, where he took up residence in a former pub, The Milton Arms, in the east of the city.[2] He began recruiting musicians for a new musical project, meeting Andrew Blick, a trumpeter, author and former session musician previously of the jazz/techno duo Blowpipe, a French stand-up bass player called DuDu Fremont, and Israeli drummer Gal Moore. The quartet began to rehearse in the old pub's cellar and wrote material for an album.

The band reached an agreement with Victory Garden Records to release their album. During this period Fremont and Moore were replaced by Merek Cooper and Laurie Waller (on bass and drums respectively). Their record Pigeon English (featuring the original band lineup) was released in April 2007, following which they were described in a review for The Sunday Times (1 April 2007) as "Great English talent".[3]

The band's second album, Isle of Grain, was released on White Heat Records on 28 January 2008. The album predominantly featured the new line-up of the band, but with some tracks from earlier sessions featuring Fremont and Moore. Andrew Blick's father Robin Blick also guested on clarinet and tenor saxophone. In a pre-release review in Plan B magazine, a reviewer questioned whether the band were "actually some elaborate practical joke".[4] The album was named Album of the Week by the Sunday Times and received airplay on BBC Radio 1.

The band split in mid-2008, following Quinn's announcement of his retirement from music. A posthumous 7" single featuring a One More Grain version of the traditional English song "Scarborough Fair" was released via Static Caravan in 2008.

All the members of One More Grain also participated in Andrew Blick's parallel project Gyratory System, which continued following the breakup of One More Grain.[5]

In May 2014 it was announced that Quinn had returned from a five-year sabbatical in Indonesia, had moved to the Outer Hebrides and had resumed work with Blick on a third One More Grain album entitled Grain Fever.[6]

• Daniel Patrick Quinn - vocals, Juno synthesizer, guitar, violin, harmonica, oud, wine glasses, gas canisters, maraccas
• Andrew Blick - trumpet (and trumpet mouthpiece), programming, sound treatments, laptop computer, garagak, tbilet
• Dudu Fremont - double bass, fretless bass guitar (2006-2007)
• Gal Moore - drums (2006-2007)
• Merek Cooper - bass guitar (2007-2008)
• Laurie Waller - drums and percussion (2007-2008)

• Quinn's Java