Acoustic Guitar Duo
The short story...
Simon and Al originally met in 2008, when they were studying together in Surrey, UK. There, they were recruited to form heavy metal outfit, "Stormbringer", and quickly realised their kindred musical spirits, casually writing and performing with the band for another two years. During their time in the band, the pair began writing songs outside of the band that branched off stylistically; songs of a more delicate, ethereal nature. This project would later come to be named "With Ether", a reference to the pair's passion for video games and popular media.
After writing and performing for just over a year, the duo started releasing live recordings of their original material and re-arrangements of other works on YouTube. In that same year they released the With Ether EP, which they promoted at anime/gaming conventions across the UK.
During this time, With Ether's channel slowly but surely started garnering a following until a performance of their "Metal Gear Solid Medley" was broadcast live on the popular Japanese video streaming site, Nico Nico Douga during the UK's 2012 Hyper Japan cultural festival, dramatically increasing their YouTube subscriber count within just minutes of the broadcast. Since then, the pair have made many more cover arrangements of music from popular media (Monster Hunter, Skyrim, Dragon Ball, Disney's Mulan; the list goes on!), which has helped them to build a following of over 16,000 subscribers, and 1.7 million views (and counting)!
Simon Leong
The duo has been involved with many recording projects and live performances. These include work with popular London based Japanese singer, Naomi Suzuki, playing as members of her band at London's 'Japan Matsuri 2012' cultural festival, held at Trafalgar Square; performing with master traditional shamisen player Hibiki Ichikawa at various conventions across the UK; being featured on the front page of Capcom's official community page, Capcom Unity, for their "Monster Hunter Medley", earning direct praise for their "Silent Hill Medley" from the game's original composer Akira Yamaoka, and being featured on Legacy Session's 'Game Gen 5' album in tribute to the video games of the 90s, where the duo arranged and played themes from the popular J-RPG 'Grandia'. Their arrangement also earned plaudits from the soundtrack's original composer, Noriyuki Iwadare.
Although Simon has returned to his hometown in Thailand, and Al continues to reside in the UK, With Ether has continued with split screen videos and music production online while working on their first full-length album.
