INTERSECTIONS
Sonic Circuits X Crisscrosses The Nation's Capital
By Beatrice Smith
"People [who] come to a show, particularly one advertised as an experimental music show, really should be prepared to hear experimental music. … They should be prepared for anything that's going to happen … and hopefully they're going to hear something that they're not prepared to hear. Otherwise, how experimental could it possibly be?" - DJ Panic of Spaceships Panic Orbit
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FOUR
DAYS OF SUMMER More than 30 performing acts filled Sonic Circuits' four day stand in the D.C. area. Here's the rundown. Mission
Media Space (Baltimore, Md.) Kennedy
Center Millennium Stage (Washington, D.C.) Decatur
Blue (Washington, D.C.) George
Mason University (Fairfax, Va.) University
of Maryland, School of Music (College Park, Md.) Levine
School of Music (Washington, D.C.) |
The Forum's Sonic Circuits: International Festival of Electronic Music and Art provides exposure for composers and performers working in electronic media. Arguably the largest festival of its kind, Sonic Circuits consists of a curated pool of works that forms the basis of events occurring across the U.S. and abroad. Presenters are free to draw upon local artists as well as those on the festival's roster to create events tailored toward specific communities. Sonic Circuits is committed to supporting the best electronic art, without regard for "style" or "genre." For more information on Sonic Circuits, visit www.SonicCircuits.com. - Ed.
From July 21 through August 3, the Forum's Sonic Circuits X: Festival of Electronic Music and Art made its stand in our nation's capital. Sponsored by the Washington, D.C. Chapter and organized by Chapter Director Jonathan Matis, the performances brought more than 30 artists into six D.C.-area venues.
Joining local performers for the event, were guests Mark Applebaum, Ikue Mori, Kim Cascone, and Roddy Schrock. Applebaum performed on the self-built "Mouseketier" - a sculpture of springs, metal rods, and scraps that is amplified with contact microphones, and extensively processed. Mori, Cascone, and Schrock all performed live music with laptop computers.
The D.C.-area event defined itself not only by its broad range of artists but also by its very organization. Held in six different venues, the performances and workshops became an amalgam of different spaces and distinct approaches to working in electronic media. The rapid changes in locations, audiences, and performers continuously provided new and interesting intersections.
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| Plugged in: violet performs with a modified autoharp at Decatur Blue. (Photo: Derek Morton) |
A Matter of Space
The event kicked off on the Millennium Stage of the regal Kennedy Center, replete with icehouse-quality air-conditioning, red carpets, hundred-foot windows, and colossal halls. The Millennium Stage, housed in the fabric-draped Grand Foyer, is a space the size of a reasonably large rock club. The atmosphere, though, was close to that of a classical chamber concert. Carefully controlled sound; a quiet, attentive audience; and polite applause greeted Roddy Shrock, Erin Flannery, and Chris Nappi as they performed a work for voice, computer, and percussion. The formality of the venue seemed at first incongruous with the experimental work presented, but the audience was captivated nonetheless.
In sharp contrast to the Kennedy Center's air-conditioned elegance, the heavily carpeted Decatur Blue sizzled in D.C.'s 100-degree weather. The stageless, bunker-like, converted office space allowed sweaty audience members to roam freely between simultaneous performances. The dark rooms were punctuated with spare glints of green and red light and the glow of soundboards, mixers, and laptops.
The performance styles also contrasted sharply with the Kennedy Center event. The percussion soloist 36 miked a traditional drum kit with more than 20 effects pedals, and simply wailed on them. He (36 is a person) defines his work as "anti-music," staunchly rebuffing stock musical ingredients such as tempo, melody, harmony, and composition. Distinguishing itself from 36's percussive assault, Spaceships Panic Orbit took many cues from free jazz, incorporating sax, laptop, and electric-hacksaw-on-vinyl into their improvisations. The sound was so all-encompassing that it challenged the classical performer-audience role (as seen at the Kennedy Center) in a very rock 'n' roll manner, almost daring listeners to move and become a part of the experience.
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| Mark Applebaum performing on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. (Photo credit: Matt Spangler) |
Music in Motion
Many of the artists who performed during the four-day event came to their current artistic practices through adventures in other genres, from classical to punk, eventually using digital technology and electronic manipulation to expand and extend their sounds. For many, the use of electronic media is not an end in itself, but another step in an ongoing quest for new sounds and forms. In fact, many of these artists didn't come to their gigs with set plans. They came with arsenals of sounds, gadgets, and tools, relying heavily on improvisation. Their performances relied not only on their experience and tools, but also on their connections to their collaborators, audiences, and the spaces in which they were performing. The results were often dynamic, unpredictable, and completely of (and appropriate to) the moment. "My mood and the audience's vibe determine how the set goes," said Chuck Bettis, a laptop performer also known as Trance and the Arcade. "Many people don't realize how much they shape the performances of the musicians they go to see."
Of course, inherent in the process of continual experimentation is the threat of failure - a challenge not only for artists but for audiences as well. Having caught several of the shows, I felt privileged to see the creative process in progress and experience the unexpected and unknown. This was not a passive experience. These artists challenge our aesthetics and musical sensibilities. They may not have been 100-percent successful - though with this type of art, one would be hard pressed to define "successful" - but that unpredictability provided plenty of excitement.