Sounds and Performance

We’ve been performing free-improvised experimental music for a few years now.  Admittedly, for many people the thought of traveling to get up on stage without a prepared and rehearsed set is nerve-wracking, but we love the variability and specialness of responding, in the moment, to the feeling in the room and to our internal states.  We once drove to Boston from our base in NNY, through an epic snowstorm, to play at the experimental music festival Suddenfest 19.  We arrived just in time to load in, play our set, and load out in a joyful blur, barely recollecting the specifics of our performance, but it was met with great appreciation by the audience, some of whom knew us from previous performances in town.  It’s an adventure, every time.

both | and

We have been fortunate to get some attention from the international experimental music community.  Our first album, “both | and”, came out on Ross Scott-Buccleuch’s then-new Steep Gloss label in Wigan, England. Ross is interviewed in the documentary “Keepin’ it Reel” about the cassette revival (it’s ok if you’re just hearing about it now, we won’t tell).  [You’ll need to create a free account to watch the film.]

https://watch.paus.tv/watch/c70efa87-b97e-4f21-8132-9f15d1294004

Our tapes have long sold out, but the album remains available digitally here:

https://steepgloss.bandcamp.com/album/both-and

vol

Soon after, we had the pleasure of being invited to release an album on the TQN-aut label, a joint venture between Andy Wood of TQ zine, David Howcroft of the Naut tape label, Darren Holloway of the H’ream label, and all-around nice chap Paul Murrell.  This album, unlike “both | and” and all our live shows, was a proper multitrack studio recording, though we tried to utilize our home studio to capture first-takes and early impulses, similar to our live approach but also recording single elements for the other to respond to.  Asynchronous improvising.  Ola was in isolation with a mild case of Covid-19, having contracted it teaching art to local high school students, during which time she began experimenting with field recordings. Claude was recording single modular synth lines.  Upon our glad reunion we combined our efforts into “vol”, the CD version of which sold out on release day and was later repressed by the label.  TQN-aut, growing rapidly with an impressive roster of releases, eventually shuttered its operations, presumably due in part to the demands of maintaining their never-faltering standards in the midst of a global pandemic.  Fortunately, “vol” remains available here:

https://tqn-aut.bandcamp.com/album/vol

Tying Up Loose Ends

Following the release of “vol” we were invited to interpret a text score provided by the Belfast/Berlin-based Tone Burst label, and to appear on their brilliant “Tying Up Loose Ends” compilation which they shared to be “heavily inspired by BBC shipping forecasts, the rhythm of their delivery and the alien yet comprehensible language used within them.”  Our contribution, “Culport”, appears on volume one, “Noise Forecast”.  Tone Burst are known for their beautiful packaging and, not surprisingly, the physical release sold out within two days, though the digital version is available here:

https://toneburst.bandcamp.com/track/culport

In the midst of these releases, we do find a little time to devote to our own efforts as well.

Fork

Ola released a solo album “Fork”, on the London-based Linear Obsessional label.  From the release page: 

“ ‘Fork’ came about as a reaction to the epidemiological and social unrest of 2020, but also as a deeper dive into no-input mixing board practice and, specifically, how does the unpredictability of that feedback instrument interact with improvised and composed piano and voice, the human element? The tiny 8-bit Bastl Kastle modular synthesizer, bowed banjo, and processed field recordings provide further variables to season the pot“

https://linearobsessional.bandcamp.com/album/fork

end Goat

Claude, on the heels of an essay on the allure of noise music in Deft Esoterica issue one, has released a solo contemporary noise wall album as “end Goat”, and split cassette releases with the Glasgow-based Four Minute Warning, Dumfriesshire, Scotland-based Rural Noise, and British drone superstars Liminal Haze.  The genesis of this project is documented in Deft Esoterica issue two.  True to form, all cassette copies from these releases are sold out.  Excerpts may be found, with videos of Claude drinking coffee as end Goat, on YouTube and Claude’s Instagram account.  

Hilary Hawke and Claude & Ola

K Chortu