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Lakshmi Ramgopal is a musician and dancer who performs under the name Lykanthea. Her electro-mythic debut EP, Migration, received much-deserved praise from such outlets as The Chicago Tribune, Noisey, and Public Radio International's The World (and listeners will recognize its track “Hand and Eye” as The Witch Wave theme song). She's collaborated with Savage Sister on their sundrowned EP, and she's been creating and performing music via sound installations and performances for spaces such as The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and Chicago's Lincoln Park Conservatory. Her new project, Some Viscera, marks a shift in instrumentation, drawing more heavily on her training in South Indian classical (or Carnatic) music, as well as organic sounds from analog instruments, bird song, and lullabies. It touches on atavistic questions of motherhood and personal legacy. When performed live it is an evening-length work of sound and movement that explores childhood, nostalgia, and kinship in the Indian-American diaspora in the wake of India's independence, while questioning the boundaries of classical forms. Embracing the warmth of the sruti box, unprocessed vocals, and strings, Ramgopal's ensemble draws on a wide range of influences to create a work that is as expansive as it is intimate. Some Viscera premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago on September 26-27, 2024, and the music of Some Viscera is now available in a standalone album.In addition to that, performing both solo and with her ensemble, Lakshmi has done site-specific, immersive shows in spaces like Chicago's Edgar Miller's Glasner Studio and Garfield Park Conservatory, and in the middle of a freshwater stream. In 2018 she showed A Half-Light Chorus, which a sound installation commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio, and In 2020 she and visual artist Nancy Davidson showed a site-specific sculpture and sound installation, at Krannert Art Museum. The museum acquired it in 2023. Lakshmi received her PhD in Classics from the University of Chicago, and she is currently Assistant Professor of History at Columbia University, with a focus on the Roman Empire. On this episode, Lakshmi discusses her sonic shift from electronic to analog, music as ancestral offering, and the reincarnating power of love.Pam also talks about the secret magic of lullabies, and responds to a listener's comment about reconciling witchcraft with one's religious upbringing.Songs featured in the episode are all from Lykanthea's new album, Some Viscera:“Bird Song”“Garuda”“The Nightingale”“Cremation”Our sponsors for this episode are Ritual + Shelter, TU·ET·AL, UBU Skills, BetterHelp, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Grimsby Hollow Meadery, and Open Sea Design Co.We also have print-on-demand merch like Witch Wave shirts, sweatshirts, totes, stickers, and mugs available now here, and all sorts of other bewitching goodies available in the Witch Wave shop.And if you want more Witch Wave, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get access to detailed show notes, bonus Witch Wave Plus episodes, Pam's monthly online rituals, and more! That's patreon.com/witchwave
Typically, freelance musicians don't have the benefits many 9-to-5 jobs offer, like retirement accounts or health benefits. But a new group called Golden Egg, in partnership with the Experimental Sound Studio, is trying to change that through a matching grant program funded through the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. It will select 16 artists to receive a share of $50,000 to put into a retirement fund. Reset learns more about the goals of the effort with Golden Egg's project manager Deidre Huckabay and steering committee member Adrian Ruiz. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Nearly as soon as COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020, people started throwing livestream concerts. This week, our producer Mike chats with two of the organizers the Quarantine Concerts, a series that ran on Twitch nightly for months and raised nearly $100,000 for performers, bringing in performers and organizers from all over the world.
Sound Ecology is a continuation of our Season 2 theme, Art Meets Science. In this episode we experience the work of sound artists and musicians. We're moving at a meditative pace and providing listeners with a contemplative, relaxing experience. First up will be a six minute sound experience entitled "Shivering Sands," the contemplative ambient music project of singer-songwriter Angela James and multi-instrumentalist Jordan Martins. After "Shivering Sands" is an interview with sound artist, Norman W. Long, followed by his sound piece entitled "Expanded Field." Norman's practice involves walking, listening, improvising, performing, recording and composing to create environments and situations in which he and the audience are engaged in dialogues about memory, place, ecology, culture, race, value, silence and the invisible. Norman Long has performed and exhibited at Experimental Sound Studio, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Links Hall, Elastic Arts,Green Line Performing Arts Center, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Cultural Center and 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Norman has performed with Damon Locks, Tatsuya Nakatani, Cher Jey, Sara Zalek, Cristal Sabbagh, Xris Espinoza, Adam Zanolini, Dan Bitney and Todd Carter and performed and toured with Angel Bat Dawid and the Brothahood. He has released his compositions on Hausu Mountain, Reserve Matinee and Room40 labels. His latest release, BLACK BROWN GRAY GREEN, was released in September 2021 on Hausu Mountain.The Pivot Arts Podcast is created and produced by Julieanne Ehre with sound engineering by Hannah Foerschler and original music composed by Andrew Hansen. Generous support for the podcast is provided by FLATS, a Chicago-based apartment community. For more information on Pivot Arts visit pivotarts.org.
In this July 2020 conversation with Ken Vandermark, Tashi Dorji talks about moving from Bhutan to the United States, the similarities between punk rock and free improvisation, and his love for Bollywood and traditional monastic music. This interview was originally broadcast on Experimental Sound Studio's The Quarantine Concerts.
Our final episode in the "Reimagining Utopia" series focuses on "Utopia In Performance" and includes conversations with artists who are creating works that give us hope and imagine a better, more equitable society.Damon Locks is an artist, musician and educator as well as the founder and leader of Black Monument Ensemble, a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers and dancers, making work with common goals of joy, compassion and intention. The contributors come from all facets of the diverse well-spring of Black Excellence in Chicago and are a multi-generational group ranging in age from 9-52 years old at this recording. In addition to Locks, current and consistent BME members include: instrumentalists Angel Bat Dawid, Ben LaMar Gay, Dana Hall, and Arif Smith; singers Phillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Rayna Golding, Tramaine Parker, Richie Parks, Erica Rene, and Eric Tre'von; and dancers Raven Lewis, Cheyenne Spencer, Mary Thomas, Bryonna Young, Tiarra Young, and Keisha Janae.Locks has a stated interest in work that explores “The Black Nod” which, as he explains, is “an unspoken acknowledgment that happens often out in the world – a sort of ‘I see you' moment exchanged between Black people.” His work with BME attempts to do the same. Fronted by a jubilant choir, the ensemble embraces a kind of civically engaged, artistic approach to activism originally heard in the 1960s from bands like the Voices of East Harlem and on albums like Max Roach's We Insist; or originally seen in the photography of Kwame Brathwaite and the art of Emory Douglas. Merging influence from the subsequent half-century of artistic & technological evolution, Locks employs a cyber-punk palette of disparate implements (including beatbox, boombox, telephone, and megaphone) to make narrative compositions of mined sound, beats & archival speech (a la Madlib or Supa K) which are brought to life by the ensemble in electric, improvisational performance. It's a truly multi-dimensional sound that spans mediums, genres, and generations; past, present, & future.Founded in 2014, Propelled Animals is a group of artists, dancers, scholars, musicians, and designers who embed innovative and provocative art in unconventional spaces. They are committed to creating work that interrogates, challenges, and ultimately attempts to dismantle the systemic "isms" of oppression. They adapt their projects and processes to address the specific needs of the communities they engage. Our performances encourage efficacy of the body, resilience, and radical tenderness as strategies for self-empowerment. Their work is centered on art as social action and ritual as performance.The Propelled Animals have presented work nationally including six site-specific performances at institutions including: University of Iowa and Englert Theatre (Iowa City, IA); University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA); Wassaic Project (Wassaic, NY); Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA); Lynden Sculpture Garden (Milwaukee, WI). In 2019 they were artists-in-residence at Lynden Sculpture Garden and the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. This episode Includes the song "Now (Forever Momentary Space)" by Black Monument Ensemble with the following artists:Players:Angel Bat Dawid – clarinetBen LaMar Gay – cornet & melodicaDana Hall – drumsDamon Locks – samples & electronicsArif Smith – percussionSingers:Phillip ArmstrongMonique GoldingTramaine ParkerRichie ParksErica ReneEric Tre'vonLyrics & Compositions by: Damon Locks. Recorded August 27th-28th and September 29th, 2020, at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago. Engineered & Mixed by: Alex Inglizian. Mastered by: David Allen.The episode also includes an audio excerpt of Propelled Animals collaborator Boubacar Djiga playing the tama – which was used in their piece STATE(D) part of the 2021 Pivot Arts Festival performance tour.
We’re joined by Meg Noe, marketing manager of Experimental Sound Studio to talk about the importance of accessibility when it comes to recording projects, community building, how extensive and amazing… The post Scapi Radio 07.31.19 Experimental Sound Studio appeared first on Scapi Magazine.
On September 29, 2016, Ben Remsen, Ken Vandermark, Tim Daisy, and Andrew Clinkman spent a couple hours in the Ben's livingroom in Rogers Park, Chicago, listening to music recorded at the Option series at Experimental Sound Studios. Ken, Tim, and Andrew program that series and are currently raising funds to continue to do so. Go to bit.ly/ess_kyoo to help out. Subscribe to the Now Is Podcast in iTunes. All music recorded live at Experimental Sound Studio as part of the Option series between June 2015 and August 2016.
Maria Gaspar is an interdisciplinary artist born in Chicago. She has presented her work at The MCA Chicago, Jane Addams Hull House Museum, the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, the Alpineum Produzentengalerie, and Artspace New Haven, amongst others. Recently, Gaspar was awarded a Creative Capital Award, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Award, the National Museum of Mexican Art Sor Juana Women of Achievement Award, and residencies at the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago and Project Row Houses in Houston. She was featured in the Chicago Tribune as Chicagoan of the Year in the Visual Arts in 2014. She is an Assistant Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Gaspar received her MFA in Studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
We often hear instruments, but we don’t get to experience their full range of sounds. Craig and George spoke with Alex Inglizian and Lou Mallozzi of the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago about a unique sound Installation that is a part of their Florasonic series. Find out more about Michael Thieke‘s, “Holzmusick,” and the Experimental Sound Studio in this week’s episode. Music Featured: Fumosonic – “After the Gold Rush” Fumosonic – ”44 Raincoats”
Libsyn, who hosts our stuff has really been a pain in our collective Bad at Sports ass this week, so many of you tried to download last weeks show had trouble, we're sorry, they suck, we will beat them up as soon as we can find their offices. Don't forget to download Episode #10, good stuff! THIS WEEK: We really will get back to reviews at some point, but there is just too much to talk about in the interview department! Lou Mallozzi, Executive Director of the Experimental Sound Studio, artist, and educator, talks about the Open Ear Festival of Sound (November 13, 2005 - December 15, 2005) and the 20th Anniversary of ESS! Also, Duncan talks to Jonathan Rhodes Executive Director of Three-Walls about Nato Thompson's lecture on Art Activist Communities. We talk about why Scott Speh hates Canadians. Duncan and Richard sing a duet!! If you miss this you will have nothing to discuss around the water cooler next week, loser! More links to follow! The Experimental Sound Studio Mass. MoCA While we didn't get achance to talk about it this week, go check out Art in the Abstract, one of a couple really kick-ass shows at the Illinois State Museum, which I honestly had forgotten about until I was blundering around the Thompson Center trying to find a form for something. Okay, city dwellers, all you have to do is get off at Clark and Lake on the Blue line, go up to the second floor, and BLAMMO, kickass Illinois-artist-made abstract art throughout history. Go see this, this is the best use of my tax dollars I've seen!! Illinois State Museum-Art in the Abstract