Posts Tagged ‘Interview’
Travelling Through Soundscapes: FRANCESCO GIANNICO and ALESSIO BALLERINI
Soundscapes, the “unfinished symphony and without which we are simultaneously shaped the composers, performers and listeners” (Raymond Murray Schafer). In our accelerated world, these soundscapes, the mixing and fighting of nature and industrial landcapes, the sounds that come with them, the sounds that we make, represent an incredibly interesting proposition, the ultimate frontier and an heritage which needs being preserved. It is with this idea that Francesco Giannico and Alessio Ballerini, already respected artists and musicians in the field of multimedia installations and field recordings, decided to team up and form “Archivio Italiano dei Paesaggi Sonori” (Italian Archive Soundscapes), a loose collective that since 2010 has launched numerous projects, workshops and festival appearances. Read the rest of this entry »
Tapes’n’Tales: Emiliano Ponzi
“It’s possible, in a poem or short story, to write about commonplace things and objects using commonplace but precise language to endow those things – a chair, a window curtain, a fork, a stone, a woman’s earring – with immense, even startling power […]”(Raymond Carver, A Storyteller’s Shoptalk, 1981). An artistic oeuvre that can be interpreted as the expression of a stylistic research that aims to explore the complex and stratified field of everyday life through the use of an ordinary language that is essentially plain and devoid of any visual-narrative frills. Qualities like linearity, humour and a refined unpredictability mark the work of the already well-known Italian artist and illustrator Emiliano Ponzi. Read the rest of this entry »
Exhibit Openings: Interview w/Elzo Durt + 108
Haunting geometrical compositions, vibrant colours and a sparkling labyrinth of art pieces ranging from a bizarre and provocative surrealism to a gloomy and abstract minimalism were some of the hallmarks of the double solo show recently opened at Doppelgaenger, in Bari, and featuring works by Italian artist and musician 108, aka Guido Bisagni, and Elzo Durt, Belgian illustrator whose swirling psychedelic graphic style is often associated with posters and album covers designed for the likes of Thee Oh Sees and Jack of Heart. Read the rest of this entry »
Tapes’n’Tales: SHARMILA BANERJEE
The fresh cartoon-style of Berlin-based illustrator Sharmila Banerjee plays with an unconventional and psychedelically-structured observation of our own individual personalities in the natural environment. As demonstrated in the evocatively titled “Human Nature” – the artist’s new solo exhibition currently showing at Inuit Bookshop as part of the Seventh edition of the BilBOlbul International Comics Festival in Bologna – Sharmila Banerjee’s work encourages both reflection and examination of humans’ complex and powerful behavioural dynamics. Read the rest of this entry »
Through The Glass: WILD NOTHING
“I knew he loved me, cause he made a tape”. The purest of feelings, the simplest of gestures; one can be sure that since the summer of 2010, Wild Nothing, the brainchild of Blacksburg’s Jack Tatum, has become a stable presence on those tapes. After a couple of singles, including a subtly exotic reinterpretation of Kate Bush’ Cloudbursting, his debut album “Gemini” heralded the arrival of an incredibly talented songwriter, whose summery shimmering songs could hint a deeper intimate touch: obvious reference points were british guitar bands such as The Cure and New Order but with an almost whispered approach which recalled cult acts like The Wake and The Field Mice; in any case, it was hard to listen to the first few bars of Live In Dreams and not smile. A glorious start, followed by the decision to raise the bar, as Tatum released the “Golden Gaze” e.p. at the end of the same year and recruited a full band with which he has been touring since. Read the rest of this entry »
Coyotes in My Backyard: TRAVIS MILLARD
Founder of the Fudge Factory Comics publishing company in 1997, Los Angeles-based artist Travis Millard marvellously combines social and political irony with absurdity in his theatrical yet overtly bizarre and hilarious pen and ink drawings on paper. Primarily influenced by skateboarding graphics, horror movies, punk rock and comics, Travis Millard has always been exploring and experimenting with new ideas, mediums and techniques as a means to convey humour and to provide for a low-key satire built around a series of open-ended sketches on common things. Read the rest of this entry »
The Alchemy of Love and Fire: NEIL KRUG
Self-annihilating ennui, protest, the feeling of total freedom that brings us closer to the final redemption. It could be a scene from the late 60′s dramas about teenage idealism or disillusionment . A stirring yet static suspension from the glimmering surface of the world we live in. It is precisely this loose allegory about the quest for spiritual enlightenment through the aesthetics of the visionary and psychedelic experience that American artist Neil Krug employs in his playful and sophisticated photography and filmmaking. Read the rest of this entry »
Straight To The Heart: TWIN SHADOW
The best artists don’t necessarily need to reinvent themselves in order to keep sounding fresh. It is surely an idea that spring to mind when listening to Twin Shadow’s soon to be released second album “Confess” (4AD). Rather than distancing himself from the acclaimed “Forget”, a personal favourite in 2010 and yet to start gathering dust in our record collections, George Lewis Jr. has chosen to refine his palette, adding nuances to its most tender moments or finding a sense of urgency which was kept under control before. Inspired by a motorbike crash and later the rediscovery of velocity and the freedom that comes with it, “Confess” is a more eloquent and honest record, filled up with love and regret and self awareness. With that honesty, comes also a louder and clearer sound, the sign of an artist coming of age. Read the rest of this entry »
Splitting In Two For Music: GABRIELE PANICO
Musicians are human beings. Ok, we know it’s such an obvious thing but in times when the web is the main way to listen to music, the feelings and the faces of music makers are often hidden. We sat and talked with a man who comes from Specchia, a beautiful village in Southern Italy. A composer who hides himself behind two masks (Gabriele Panico and Larssen Industrie), trying to fight this forced hide-and-go-seek. We guess we succeded. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Gabriele Panico (or Larssen Industrie?…) Read the rest of this entry »
Cross Paths: AIDAN BAKER and MATT SMITH
As one of the most intriguing contemporary composers, Toronto-born and Berlin-based Aidan Baker’s path could be summed up as perpetually challenging; whether releasing under his own name, or under the moniker Nadja (which started as a solo project and later evolved into a duo with bassist Leah Buckareff), each record can be treasured not just for its own value but as part of a bigger quest for sound sculpting and, ultimately, for approaching the very idea of music. Read the rest of this entry »
The Future Is Bright: THE FRESH & ONLYS 
Better Than Something: Interview with Ian Markiewicz and Alex Hammond 
Filming The Music: AG ROJAS 
The Alchemy of Love and Fire: NEIL KRUG 
Drenched in The Rain of Dreams: Dimitri Drjuchin 
I CAN SEE FOR MILES: The Art of Jacob Escobedo 