Virtuoso percussionist Joby Burgess set up Powerplant with video artist Kathy Hinde and sound designer Matthew Fairclough in 2006.   Their relentlessly high energy performances explore the world of drumming and percussion mixed with electronic sound and strong visuals.

 

Graham composed a new commissioned work for Powerplant in 2008 which toured the UK in autumn 2008.   He used a new electronic midi-marimba type instrument - a xylosynth - to present a speech based piece hovering around the edges of abstract sound and language in music.

Using speeches by George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld concerning the Iraq war, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, each bar of the xylosynth was assigned its own individual sample.   These might be short syllables or complete words or even phrases or sentences.   This was the only source material for the piece.

 

The resulting work was called Chain of Command.   The piece is also touring to the US in 2010.