Electro conceptualists Public Service Broadcasting have dug through the archives again for their latest album, The Last Flight, which was inspired by the final voyage of pioneering US aviator Amelia Earhart. PSB founder J Willgoose Esq details the dramatic tale of the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the musical journey it took him on.

Words: Jeremy Allen

Public Service Broadcasting: knowledgeable chaps.

Images: Alex Lake

I t’s a balmy morning in south-east London at the tail end of summer, and J. Willgoose, Esq is off-duty judging by his attire. Instead of a spivvy bow tie and blazer, he leads Prog into Public Service Broadcasting’s studio in his civvies. To expect him to be dressed up in his best bib and tucker on a day like today would be madness, and yet, Willgoose in his t-shirt and shorts is almost as disarming a sight as John Travolta’s Vincent Vega in a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs t-shirt towards the end of Pulp Fiction. Do fans of PSB only recognise Willgoose when he’s dressed up in a dickie bow and suit jacket?

“People don’t recognise me,” he deadpans. “Not an issue.”

The four constituent members of PSB (Willgoose plays alongside Wrigglesworth and JF Abraham, with Mr B in charge of visuals) may not be household names like the electronic duo that share their initials, but renown has been afforded to this unusual troupe of pop prog musicians masquerading as history boffins (or is it the other way around?).

Albums continue to land in the higher reaches of the UK charts and the BBC recently chose them to celebrate 100 years of the corporation at the Proms with their full symphony orchestra under the guidance of Grammy award-winning conductor Jules Buckley. Not bad for an operation that started out as a one-man band in a Tooting pub 15 years ago. That endorsement from the BBC must have felt like a vindication of sorts?