radical sonic futures
i’ve always been of the opinion that to know something, you really need direct experience. not a controversial statement, i admit, but one i seem to invoke nearly daily in this age of ready information. so when i decided i needed to document some of my performance projects i was wary — what does that mean then, to document? how does it work? how can documentation become a part of the creative foundation of the project?
i’ll give it a shot:
it’s bananas, but i wished for it. here is what i’m up to: http://debsinha.com/
everything from cajon to sound installations. being so swamped brings to the fore so many issues—time management, attention, mindfulness, focus, anxiety. but then again each item crossed off the list brings a brief respite from all that. i seem to be coasting in one now. hope it lasts!
see you on the other side, and maybe in the middle of it at something.
i’m on the road just now with minor empire, touring folk festivals and other venues in western canada. and during this tour i am spending a lot of time not playing music (which is mostly what touring is sometimes, for those of you that don’t know).
i struggle with this—touring in general, and particularly when there are too many days off, is very taxing in many ways. there is the going from 0 (waiting around all day) to 100 (being onstage in front of an audience), there is the not so nice hotel room, there is the having to spend energy meeting people, etc.
i am reminded of something that i was told while on a 10 day silent meditation retreat in bodhgaya. there was no hot water available to us during the retreat, and taking a shower was a major mental event because of this. and the teacher offered us an insight that a previous retreat attendee shared with him: “if i resist”, he said, “i suffer. but if i accept, all that i am doing is taking a cold shower.”
i’m trying to take a cold shower. but i miss my girls.
knuckleduster will perform at berlin’s haus der kulturen der welt this june as part of their program of lectures, art and music uberlebenskunst. more info here: http://bit.ly/Iqsmvz
robert and i are looking forward to our show — we have some sumptuous surprises in store. do join us.
update: a very nice review is here.
as you may know if you are a facebook connection, i will be opening for colin stetson at the perimeter institute for theoretical physics on march 31. in honour of that occasion, i have been working on finally making a live set for anudrutam, something i have been wanting to do for a long time.
i am happy with what is happening so far—a re-visiting of the works on the cd in a way that keeps to the ideas and intent behind the original tracks but also refreshes them for live performance. have a listen, and see you in kitchener on the 31 of march.
http://soundcloud.com/debsinha/perimeter-institute-preview
http://soundcloud.com/debsinha/perimeter-institute-preview-1
very happy to have learned that knuckleduster received a great review in wire magazine in the upcoming april 2012 issue by none other than clive bell. robert and i are thrilled to have this going out to the world. hit us up on twitter to stay on top of news from the duo, including info on a show at berlin’s haus der kulturen der welt in june and our upcoming european tour.
don’t forget to visit the knuckleduster website for video, links to purchase the cd, and other news.
Greetings everyone, and Happy New Year. After many months, it is time for an upcoming DEB, the first of 2012.
Some very excellent new projects in the pipeline, and a lot of outside-of-Toronto things happening that I thought I would like to let you all know about. If you find yourself somewhere, look for me.
Good tidings to you and your kin for 2012. I hope we see each other soon.
Deb
—————————————————————-
1. Mrs. Warren’s Profession at Manitoba Theatre Centre Warehouse
Opens January 20
Tickets available here
I’m pleased to be the associate sound designer (with John Gzowski) for the MTC Warehouse production of the Shaw play. Directed by Alisa Palmer.
—————————————————————-
2. Peggy Baker Dance Projects at NYC’s 92nd St Y
Feb 24-27
More information here
Peggy Baker Dance Projects is taking 3 works to the Harkness Dance Festival in NYC, 2 of which I have composed the music for: Coalesce, a 35 min trio, and Armour, a duet choreographed by NYC’s Doug Varone. I will be accompanying the, er, company to participate in the performances’ first half, where the creative genesis for the full works is presented to the audience. The 2nd half of the show is the full production.
I’d like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for helping with the travel costs of this trip through the Travel Grants to Musicians program.
—————————————————————-
3. Knuckleduster CD’s coming very, very soon
I am super thrilled to announce that Nuukoono, the CD of my new duo Knuckleduster (with Berlin based Robert Lippok) now actually exists in the real world. We are getting ready for an early February online release, and you will be able to buy physical copies from our Warsaw based label Gustaff. Coinciding with the release will be the release of some live video from our show in Toronto last November, shot by Jeremy Mimnagh, and some other bonus material.
You can read about the genesis of the project and listen to an interview about the recording process in the fantastic GDR Radio studios in Berlin at our website.
I’ll let you all know when the CD is available online. It’s a really gorgeous object with a giant cover designed by Berlin design house AEIOU.
—————————————————————-
4. The Light nears completion
After many months of work, my (almost) one hour Höerspiel (radio work) is nearly complete. I will be meeting with the inimitable surround sound master engineer Phil Strong to create a 5.1 mix in the next while, and the AV performance version is now nearly complete. You can preview this project at my vimeo page, here
and here.
Thanks to the Ontario Arts Council’s Grants to Media Artists (Mid Career and Established) program.
—————————————————————-
5. ds in residence at the Koffler Centre with Yair Dalal and Frank London
March 28, with workshops the week preceding the concert. More information here.
I am thrilled to be part of a great group of Toronto musicians with NYC based Yair Dalal and Frank London. These 2 musicians are at the top of their game and we expect a lively week of rehearsals and composing preceding the concert at the Jane Mallet Theatre on March 28.
Details are still being set, but set aside the date for some very special music (and possibly some visuals programmed by yours truly).
—————————————————————-
More is coming, including a play written by and starring my sister Pamela at Theatre Passe Muraille, opening in May and directed by Alan Dilworth. I’ll be sending out another missive in mid March detailing these and other projects.
Best of the year to you! Make sure you say hi if you are at any of these shows.
i have had the good luck to expand my collection of raster noton music. listening to the fantastic kangding ray just now, a mid 2000 release, stabil.
this sound of electricity in all its forms (kangding ray with his overtones of r and b, alva noto with his precise, detailed, relentless and beautiful clicks, shimmers, and breaths) is, i find, more and more fascinating every time i encounter it.
i think it will drive my work for some time to come. the light is a door.
http://soundcloud.com/debsinha/electricity
work on the light, which you have been reading excerpts of over the summer, continues apace. now getting into the nuances of mixing spoken text with music, thanks to the help of the inimitable phil strong.
heading to the guelph jazz festival tomorrow to install skin, a single channel video which, like many of my projects, has many forms. this time i’ll be installing it as a kind of immersive experience in the VIA rail station.
it will be part of the nuit blanche program, and many fantastic acts will be playing over the course of the night. i will update this post next week with pictures and video from the installation. if you are in the neighborhood, do come and say hi.
until next time.
another excerpt from my upcoming sound piece the light:
Full open bodies of air that shimmer with smog, reflecting the city light into the night sky, indigo, orange, red, violet. Particles of dust, ash, hanging over the ocean, stopping planes from flying, the whole what-we-think-is-the-world paralyzed by a small hiccup deep below. Halls with glass ceilings crosshatched by steel struts, designed by German engineers and Finnish architects, full of stranded people, sharing food. Buildings crashing down, giant sinkholes opening in the middle of cities with no warning. Grainy video posted on the internet of tidal waves coming over land, looking gentle but not stopping, never stopping, creeping forward in a slow breath when seen from the news helicopter, but raw chaos and white noise that will deafen you if that is you on the ground in the lower part of the frame. Children buried in mudslides, cars floating upside down in the centre of the sea.
We are all particles if you look from high enough.