The Hard Times Orkestar began (around 2003) as an ad hoc grouping of colleagues and friends who underused instruments and neglected musical talents which could be combined in events for student parties, community events, fundraising concerts and so on. The repertoire is a mix of my compositions - as subsequently recorded on the albums Helix and Hamosity - and more traditional pieces from Breton, Bulgarian, Finnish, Irish, Swedish and other European traditions. Along the way, we have grown, people have come and gone, but the ethos has remained largely the same. And for me, HTO has provided a testing ground for my compositions and arrangements in their early stages.