Gruff Rhys is a touring songwriter and recording artist based in Cardiff, Wales who has consistently sought a variety of outlets for a wide spectrum of creative ideas that include 26 studio albums to date.
Renowned for their blissful melodies, his solo albums have explored untapped areas musically and lyrically. His first, 2005’s Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, revelled in Welsh language puns; Candylion and Hotel Shampoo followed soon, both experimental pop albums of international renown.
2014’s American Interior followed the unbelievable journey of 18th century cartographer John Evans; Signing to Rough Trade records, Babelsberg offered a baroque take on the modern world in 2018; while a year later Pang! created a multi-lingual mash-up, driven by folkish bleeps crafted in collaboration with Zulu artist-producer Muzi. The Top Ten charting Seeking New Gods climbed fresh lyrical and musical terrain, a conceptual record about his own mountain and became his most critically and commercially successful solo album yet. 2024 saw the release of its follow up, the widescreen, baroque pop ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’. Recorded on the outskirts of Paris with his band, it garnered further rave reviews and was widely acclaimed to be amongst his finest work. 2025 sees the release of his latest Welsh language album Dim Probs.
Gruff Rhys has been releasing records since 1988 with his first band Ffa Coffi Pawb before becoming well known as the frontman of Super Furry Animals – a band that has been able to achieve that rarest of mixes – artistic adventure with popular devotion – blending fuzz-filed rock, pure harmonies and cutting edge electronics.
He also found time to form a synth duo with producer Boom Bip, Neon Neon, documenting the lives of maverick car maker John DeLorean and Italian activist and publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in widescreen style over two biographical albums for Lex records.
In between his own long form recordings, Gruff has collaborated with a myriad of other artists, including Gorillaz, Africa Express, Mogwai, Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, Sabrina Salerno and Imarhan. In addition he has authored two books, multiple cinema and video game soundtracks, an opera, plus created music for a trio of stage shows and devised two feature documentaries.
As a multi-faceted artist, the notion of ‘suis generis’ has never applied more aptly.
The Gentle Good is the moniker of Cardiff-based musician and songwriter Gareth Bonello. Gareth is known for his enchanting melodies, intricate guitar style and beautiful acoustic arrangements. As a former winner of both the Welsh Language Album of the Year and the Welsh Music Prize, Gareth has long been a prominent musician on the Welsh music scene.
The Gentle Good’s new album ‘Elan’ is a psychedelic portrait of the Elan Valley in Powys, Wales. It was written during a year-long residency in the Cambrian Mountains and explores the landscape, history and politics of the valley, which was flooded at the end of the Victorian era to create a series of reservoirs for drinking water. The album features a full band, synths and strings and draws on folk-rock, psych and pop influences to invoke the dramatic landscapes of Elan.
A captivating performer, Gareth has performed all over the world, from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC to the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. He has toured extensively in the UK, performing at prominent festivals such as Glastonbury, The Green Man, Latitude and Cambridge Folk. His recent works include the solo guitar and vocal album Galargan, a stripped-back exploration of Welsh folk song that garnered a rare 5* review in the Guardian.
In recent years Gareth has become a highly regarded musical collaborator, having worked extensively with artists from China and India. His award winning album Y Bardd Anfarwol (2013) broke new ground with its unique combination of Welsh-language storyteling and Chinese traditional music. He is a founder member of the acclaimed Khasi-Cymru Collective with artists from the indigenous Khasi communities of Northeast India. Closer to home, in 2025 Gareth worked with the Welsh National Opera and the UK fishing community to compose new classical pieces for the ‘Sea Interludes’ project.
