"Jean-Luc Guionnet is an elusive figure. A Parisian artist active in many fields (music, visual arts, cinema), he has mostly worked in electro-acoustics but also has a career in free improvisation, playing alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, church organ, and piano. He has collaborated with Éric La Casa, Éric Cordier, and André Almuro on tape music. His main free improv and jazz projects include Hubbub, Schams, Return of the New Thing, and the Joe Rosenberg quintet.

Guionnet made scientific studies before shifting to fine arts. He studied musique concrete under Iannis Xenakis and Michel Zbar, but also pursued studies in philosophy (esthetics) with Geneviève Clancy. His first works date from the late '80s and are mostly collaborations with filmmaker André Almuro (some have been issued by Ground Fault). Then came a lasting partnership with electro-acousticians Éric Cordier and Éric La Casa. Together they wrote the series "Afflux." Guionnet also produces the Ateliers de Création Radiophoniques ("creative radio workshops") for France Culture. His eclecticism has kept him at bay of recognition -- because to the eye of the press it strips him from some credibility and because running careers in philosophy (he was co-director for the review Terre des Signes from 1993 to 1996), painting (he exhibited from 1992 to 1997), and music simultaneously tends to be time-consuming.

The release of an eponymous CD by Dan Warburton's free jazz quartet Return of the New Thing in 1999 on the respected label Leo Records introduced Guionnet to a wider audience. Since then his activities as an improviser have constantly stretched toward the fringes of experimentalism. His participation in the French-Swiss group Hubbub and his duo with guitarist Olivier Benoit (&Un, 2002) follow the school of Berlin reductionism."

"Double Bassist Clayton Thomas was born 1976, in Hobart, Australia. Inspired by the sound, velocity and social movements of jazz, Clayton has dedicated his musical life to finding a personal truth that links his own cultural life as a white Australian, with the radical, far reaching pursuits found within the creative music. What he can't find as a bass player, he searches for in the organisation of unreasonably large ensembles.

Clayton Thomas relocated in Sydney, Australia, in 2014. Clayton is currently not a regular member of the Splitter Orchester, but he was part of the 2014 concert @ MaerzMusik and he'll also take part in the 2015 concerts in Berlin and Huddersfield."

"Will Guthrie is an Australian drummer / percussionist living in France. He works in many different settings of music: live performance, improvisation and studio composition using various combinations of drums, percussion, objects, junk, amplification and electronics..He plays solo and in various projects such as THE AMES ROOM & THE SOMMES ENSEMBLE. His music has been released on labels such as Gaffer Records, Erstwhile, Clean Feed, 23five, Editions Mego, Ipecac, iDEAL and his own label Antboy Music.

While studying jazz and improvised music(s) at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, alongside Ren Walters he started the weekly concert series 'Improvised Tuesdays', now known as the Make It Up Club and is Australia's longest running performance space dedicated to experimental and improvised musics. In Nantes, France he is part of the collective CABLE# which also organizes regular concerts and an annual festival. He also runs the experimental improvised CD label and mail-order service; ANTBOY MUSIC.

He plays solo using different combinations of drums, percussion, amplification and electronics, in minimalist/maximalist free jazz trio THE AMES ROOM (with Jean-Luc Guionnet & Clayton Thomas), as well as the improvised/composed ensemble THE SOMMES ENSEMBLE (with Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Julien Desperez & Maxime Petit).

Regular collaborators past and present include Jérôme Noetinger, Oren Ambarchi, Anthony Pateras, Chulki Hong, Keith Rowe, David Maranha, Toma Gouband, Erell Latimier, Ava Mendoza, Adam Sussmann, Matt Earle, Ren Walters, Helmut Schafer, David Ades, Mark Simmonds, the film maker Hangjun Lee and choreographer/dancer Mette Ingvartsen."