A unique indie rock band, we've been together almost a decade! What makes us unique? We have 6 band members including three musicians who have autism. So we named ourselves ‘The AutistiX’. Saul plays the drums, Jack plays electric guitar, Graham is our bass player, Jim is our lead singer & band ‘mentor’, a community musician and specialist with autism, plus our, erm, more mature members, John and Michael play electric guitar and harmonica. We have two missions: to create and perform quality music, to bring fun and entertainment to our audiences. At the same time, we highlight the talent of musicians with autism and other disabilities. We promote social inclusion, value diversity and want to inspire others to break down barriers. Above all, we create great songs and love to perform!
Media
Last year, we appeared live on the BBC’s The One Show on 9th January. It featured a film made about The AutistiX, by Simon Weitzman and the amazing drummer, Rick Jupp, who was the drummer in the world famous band Elbow and the father of a talented son with autism.
We released our latest EP at the end of 2017 called The Meadow Sunshine, featuring 4 new original songs (available on itunes, soundcloud and other music sites). We have nearly finished 4 new songs that we will record for a new EP soon, including our first ever song about autism, called Autism!
We were filmed for a programme on BBC3’s Amazing Humans https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06677gc plus numerous other music videos, gig performances, and photos on our social media sites, plus regular updates on facebook, twitter, Instagram and, of course, our website.
Our performances
We did many gigs over the year, including at a number of festivals, check out photos and videos on our FB page.
The AutistiX have performed at legendary UK venues (The Barfly, the Bull and Gate, Proud Camden, O2 Academy Islington, Star & Garter, The White Rock Hastings, Brighton Dome, The Monarch, and at the iconic Cavern Club in Liverpool, to name a few). We regularly appear at summer festivals, and perform at fundraising gigs on behalf of the National Autistic Society and other disability related charities. A few years ago, in front of an audience of over 1200, our performance with Sir Tom Jones, resulted in a rousing standing ovation. We’ve also performed in Spain, Switzerland, Guernsey and Romania.
The AutistiX band members:
Jack Beaven-Duggan (electric guitar/backing vocals); Saul Zur-Szpiro (drums/ backing vocals); Graham Spragg (bass guitar/backing vocals); Jim Connelly (lead singer); John Duggan, Jack's father (electric guitar) & Michael Zur-Szpiro, Saul's father (harmonica).
