.biography.
Chicago-born/London-based Margaret Fiedler McGinnis has a unique place in the history of electronica and alternative rock music. A co-founder of early 90s post-rock genre-inventing band Moonshake she moved on to form the experimental electronic/rock hybrid group Laika influencing everyone from Radiohead to Tricky. Not content with being a bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, programmer, engineer and producer she went on to be a successful touring guitarist playing lead guitar for world tours for the likes of PJ Harvey and Wire. She is the world record holder for the woman recording BBC John Peel Sessions with the most bands (four - her own bands Moonshake and Laika, PJ Harvey and New York’s no-wave queercore God Is My Co-Pilot). She also plays cello and had a band in high school with (the as yet undiscovered) Moby.
The advent of illegal downloading in the early 2000s impacted her ability to make a living solely from music so Margaret gained a postgraduate Law degree from the College of Law London and went to work full-time in copyright and intellectual property rights licensing for broadcasters and media companies including the BBC and Viacom and was Global Licensing Manager for Antenna International who supplied audio and multimedia guides for clients including the Tate Modern, MoMA, the Empire State Building and the Vatican.
Post-lockdown has seen a return to music with reissues of her old albums and live sessions and a move into large scale sound art / multimedia installations and improvisational music. She quit her job in Legal and Business Affairs at Paramount in June 2022 to further develop her ideas which encompass everything learned so far: a solid background in music theory as a classically trained cellist, a A+ student in the pioneering 1980s Greenwich (CT) High School electronic music studio, an undergraduate degree in Philosophy (including a guest year at Trinity College Dublin reading Pure Philosophy), photography studies at Sarah Lawrence with Joel Sternfeld and an enviable career as a songwriting/recording artist and global touring musician.
Personal changes in her life including the fact that her only sibling was her brother who died of addiction/suicide in 2010 have informed both her practice and her priorities. She volunteers close to her London home as a therapeutic community gardener both for the UK national substance abuse charity Change Grow Live (CGL) and for the NHS. She received a Certificate of Excellence in 2023 from the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society for her work.
.selected portfolio.
Graphic score created for SPRINGS, a piece performed at TREIZE (Paris) on 5th March 2024 (as “earthworm” with Christi Denton)
Recording the Dead (2023 - ongoing) - a silent field recording project/homage
Laika (1993-2004) - Spotify artist page
Moonshake (1990-1993) Eva Luna - originally recorded and released in 1992, recently re-mastered from analogue ½” and re-released on double vinyl with BBC Peel Session/non-album b-sides in 2023 by Beggars Arkive
PJ Harvey on BBC’s Later With Jools Holland performing “Big Exit” Margaret was the lead guitarist / multi-instrumentalist including cello for the world tour in support of the Stories From The City LP (2000-2001)
Exclusive Daytrotter session Margaret was touring guitarist for the ridiculously influential art-rock post-punk band Wire from 2008-2010
.other.
Margaret’s rights clearances and music supervision company .Mineral Point Music Ltd.
.e-mail.
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