Painted X-Ray (Ilk) at the Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow, October 2016 – photos by Brian Hartley / Still Motion
Ali Begbie played bass in Dawson. He currently plays bass in Sumshapes and under the name ‘anomali’ DJs and does sporadic solo projects.
Alison Roe originally learned taiko in Scotland as a member of Mugenkyo, Europe’s leading taiko group. She’s since played in Canada, the US, and Japan with Yumi Célia as 2taiko and was a founding (though brief) member of experimental taiko band Issho in Glasgow. She studied the Hokuriku style of taiko with the late Kurumaya-sensei in Fukui, Japan, who has been a profound influence on her playing. She’s currently involved in various projects with other taiko players, musicians and poets, and also teaches various taiko groups and players in the UK and Europe. See taiko.scot for more details.
Jer Reid currently plays in the band Ghaist Kiln. He does a lot of improvising including with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra and for 7 years he has run the open monthly improvisation sessions GIOdynamics for GIO. He plays with dance as much as he can including in Collective Endeavours with Solène Weinachter, Aya Kobayashi, Beth Edwards, Dylan Read, Alex South and Elena Inei. He also works as a dramaturge and sound engineer and in 2025 he published his second book of poetry For A Year: a haiku each day 10.2.24-9.2.25. His often out of date website is jerreid.com
Rafe Fitzpatrick came to Scotland from mid-Wales in the early 90s to do things he didn’t do, but he did want to play music – he still does. Mostly violin, as much as possible in as many ways. Hoping to be honest, open and fun playing with Mhenwhar Huws, Sound of Yell, Alasdair Roberts and doing much improv.
Yumi Célia started taiko growing up in Tokyo, playing at the seasonal festivals around Nezu Shrine. Originally trained in the city’s emblematic Sukeroku-style with Nezu Gongen Ryujin Daiko and Hiroshi Motofuji, she moved to Montréal for her studies. There, she performed with Arashi Daiko and met Alison who introduced her to Kurumaya-sensei’s Fukui-style of taiko playing. A taiko player at heart, she dances, sings and drums to find resonance within and outwards, drawing sound and visual landscapes in space. During Covid, she was one of the resident musicians at Expo2020 in Dubai. Now living in the French Alps, she alternates between going back to her roots, exchanging with others and experimenting to explore new horizons and ways of being on Earth. She is currently involved in various projects, with Anothaï Dance Company, Dana Fakhoury, Violon en Montagne, La Nuit des Ours and now… Painted X-Ray!
Former member
Georgie White came to Scotland to study music, discovering taiko shortly before she completed her degree. Her first teachers were Mugenkyo, which she joined, and after 5 years in 2008, left. She teamed up with Issho Taiko Drummers (Shane Connolly, Alison Roe, Jer Reid and Lucy Searle) who opened her eyes to fresh approaches to taiko. Georgie (taikotronik, Velma) takes taiko workshops and teaches woodwind in schools. She plays flute/s and other things in Sound of Yell with Stevie Jones, Rafe Fitzpatrick and more.
At the Barrowlands, Glasgow, April 2018, filming for Mix the City – photos by Brian Hartley / Still Motion