📡 About 1201_Alarm

1201_Alarm is an experimental electronic jazz collective led by multi-instrumentalist Steve Thompson. Blending science, music, and unexpected technology, the band crafts immersive, genre-defying shows that fuse live electronics with brass, woodwind, percussion — and even a laser harp.

From science festivals in Singapore to underground venues in London, 1201_Alarm has carved out a niche for sonic curiosity and striking visual spectacle. Their debut album, Hello_World, famously became the first album ever sent to the Moon as part of the Peregrine lunar lander mission — a testament to the band’s mission to push music beyond Earth’s limits.

Their second full album, Moonshot, features a special collaboration with Helen Sharman, Britain’s first astronaut, who performs a beautiful piano piece written by Steve Thompson, accompanied by the band and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

🎶 Band Members

  • Steve Thompson — Laser Harp, Keyboards, Synthesizers, Electronics, Tenori-on, Trombone, Percussion

  • Alastair “Titch” Walker — Trumpet

  • Emma Bassett Peal — Trombone, Vocals

  • Tamar Osborn — Saxophones, Flute, Vocals

  • Ben Handysides — Drums

  • Ollie Weston — Bass Guitar, Saxophones

Press & Reviews

“It is intriguing, different, unclassifiable and somehow compelling.”
— Free Jazz Collective

“Ostensibly a jazz record, 1201_Alarm makes their debut Hello_World into a farflung, ambitious pastiche of bright colors, clever ideas, high concepts, and appealing payoffs.”
— Independent Clauses

“1201_Alarm is a collaborative music project which is quite unlike any other, taking on board quantum physics; some of the world’s best-known scientists; lasers; tesla coils; Manga and the phenomenon of audio illusion, each track is uniquely head-spinning.”
— WeLoveMusic247 / PressParty

“If anyone is going to do something crazy like put an album on the Moon, it would be Steve Thompson.”
— Dominic King, BBC

“Brilliant!”
— Lord Ed Vaizy, Times Radio

“Great fun.”
— Professor Helen Czerski

“A beautiful piece.”
— Helen Sharman, Britain’s first astronaut

Features

Outakes