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Join Rain on LaunchLeft today as they welcome Oscar-nominated Son Lux to kick off Qasim Naqvi's launch. Tune in for an engaging conversation with Ryan, Ian, Rafiq, and Qasim Naqvi as they discuss their unique experiences and creative processes in music-making. This versatile group excels as a live band, studio recording artists, and composers, embracing various aspects of the art they cherish. As a special treat, you'll have the privilege of hearing Qasim Naqvi's captivating performance of "The Curve" at the end of the episode. ----------------- LAUNCHLEFT OFFICIAL WEBSITEhttps://www.launchleft.com LAUNCHLEFT PATREON https://www.patreon.com/LaunchLeft TWITTER https://twitter.com/LaunchLeft INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/launchleft/ FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/LaunchLeft --------------------- LaunchLeft Podcast hosted by Rain Phoenix is an intentional space for Art and Activism where famed creatives launch new artists. LaunchLeft is an alliance of left-of-center artists, a curated ecosystem that includes a podcast, label and NFT gallery. --------------------- IN THIS EPISODE: [02:23] Ryan tells how he and Rafiq came to collaborate. [08:25] Ian explains how they became composers for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. [10:26] Rafiq shares what they have been working on recently. [12:39] Ryan comments on the reward versus the work and how the work won out. [17:42] Qasim Naqvi reveals how he met the members of Son Lux, and they all reflect on their times together. [25:02] Ryan talks about how their music is visual, and Qasim Naquiv discusses the modular synthesis while they land on making music with what they have. [40:03] Listen to “The Curve” by Qasim Naqvi. KEY TAKEAWAYS: The difference between performing on stage and recording in a studio is night-and-day. When you find like-minded artists who appreciate each other's talents, you have a winning combination. Sometimes it’s the accident that makes the music. It’s called working with what you have. BIOGRAPHIES:: SON LUX BIO: From the start, Son Lux has operated as something akin to a sonic test kitchen. The Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated band strives to question deeply held assumptions about how music is made and reconstruct it from a molecular level. What began as a solo project for founder Ryan Lott expanded in 2014, thanks to a kinship with Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia too strong to ignore. The trio strengthened their chemistry and honed their collective intuition while creating, releasing, and touring six recordings, including Brighter Wounds (2018) and the triple album Tomorrows (2021). The result is a carefully cultivated musical language rooted in curiosity and balancing opposites that largely eschews genre and structural conventions. And yet, the band remains audibly indebted to iconoclastic artists in soul, hip-hop, and experimental improvisation who themselves carved new paths forward. Distilling these varied influences, Son Lux searches for an equilibrium of raw emotional intimacy and meticulous electronic constructions. Son Lux has most recently scored the new Daniels film for A24, Everything Everywhere All at Once (March 2022). The full score album features new collaborations with Mitski, David Byrne, Randy Newman, and Moses Sumney, among others. Based in New York, Rafiq Bhatia is the first-generation American son of Muslim immigrant parents who trace their ancestry to India through East Africa. Early influences such as Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, and Madlib—as well as mentors and collaborators including Vijay Iyer and Billy Hart—prompted him to see music as a way to actively shape and represent his own identity, not limited by anyone else’s prescribed perspective. When Ian Chang describes his creative process, the phrase "third culture” keeps coming up. Born in the colony of Hong Kong in 1988, Chang has lived a nomadic life. Stationed out of New York for ten years and since relocated to Dallas, Texas, he built an impressive roster of progressive pop collaborators such as Moses Sumney, Joan As Policewoman, and Matthew Dear, among others, all while performing internationally and recording as a member of Son Lux and Landlady. Ryan Lott makes his home in Los Angeles but grew up all over the United States. Music was the one constant in his formative years spent at the piano. In addition to an extensive career writing music for dance, he has become a sought-after composer for advertising, television, and film. Lott’s feature film credits include The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2014), Paper Towns (2015), and Mean Dreams (2017). He has co-produced and co-written music for and with Woodkid, Sufjan Stevens, and Lorde. BIOGRAPHY: QASIM NAQVI Qasim Naqvi is a drummer and founding member of Dawn of Midi. Outside of his role in D.O.M., Qasim works on various projects, from electronic music to composing for orchestras, chamber groups, dance and film. His concert music has been performed/commissioned by The BBC Concert Orchestra, Jennifer Koh, The London Contemporary Orchestra, Stargaze, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Crash Ensemble, The Now Ensemble, The Erebus Ensemble, yMusic, The Helsinki Chamber Choir, Alexander Whitley, Cikada, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra(MusicNOW Season) and others. He has been a featured composer at the Musica Nova Festival in Helsinki, the Spitalfields Festival in London, Ultima Festival, Southbank Centre and the Rest is Noise Festival in Holland. Qasim's soundtracks for the film have appeared on HBO, NBC, PBS, Showtime, New York Times Op-Docs, VICE Media, at The Tribeca, Sundance, Toronto, Rotterdam and London Film Festivals, at dOCUMENTA 13 and 14, The Guggenheim Museum, The Tate Britain (Turner Prize 2018), MOMA P.S. 1, IDFA, Berlinale and others. He has worked with such notable filmmakers as Laura Poitras, Mariam Ghani, Marc Levin, Naeem Mohaiemen, Smriti Keshari, Prashant Bhargava and Erin Heidenreich. Acoustic trio Dawn of Midi has released two albums. Their most recent Dysnomia was acclaimed by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Spin, The Guardian and the New Yorker. Radiohead personally picked Dawn of Midi as their support band for two sold-out concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden for their Moon Shaped Pool tour. Qasim earned his B.F.A in performance from the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music program and his M.F.A in composition and performance from California Institute of the Arts. He studied drums and performance with Andrew Cyrille, Joe Chambers, Reggie Workman, Buster Williams, Ralph Peterson Jr., Charlie Haden and Rashied Ali and composition with Wolfgang von Schweinitz, James Tenney, Morton Subotnick, Marc Sabat, Wadada Leo Smith, Michael Jon Fink and Anne LeBaron. He is a 2016 N.Y.F.A Fellow in Music and Sound and has received other fellowships and awards from Chamber Music America, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Council, Harvest Works, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, S.T.E.I.M. and Art OMI. Presently, Qasim lives in Brooklyn, New York and works on various projects as a freelance composer and drummer. He is represented by Erased Tapes Publishing. RESOURCE LINKS Podcast - LaunchLeft SON LUX LINKS: Son Lux Music - Website Son Lux - Instagram Son Lux - Twitter Son Lux - Facebook Son Lux - YouTube Son Lux - Soundcloud QASIM NAQVI LINKS: Qasim Naqvi - Website Qasim Naqvi - Instagram Qasim Naqvi - Twitter Qasim Naqvi - Bandcamp
Former head of ESPN John Skipper has produced an ambitious new project. Now he has to figure out how to get it in front of you: Sports Explains the World is a series of films featuring well-known personalities (like Curt Schilling) and people you've never heard of (like a group of skater girls in Ethiopia). What it doesn't have, yet, is a deal to get them on a TV screen near you — a condition that may or may not say a lot about the streaming industry in 2023. Skipper and executive producer Smriti Keshari recently sat down with Vox's Peter Kafka at the Tribeca Film Festival to talk about the work of figuring out what streamers want, why an a la carte ESPN would be a bad deal for consumers and why nothing will ever live up to The Last Dance. Featuring: John Skipper (@johnskipper), Cofounder and CEO of Meadowlark Media Smriti Keshari (@keshari), filmmaker and Executive Producer of Sports Explains the World Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On this week’s program we speak to Smriti Keshari, who is an Indian-American director and artist whose work covers a spectrum of the moving image from traditional, linear filmmaking to art installations. We discuss her acclaimed multi-media installation, the bomb, which was heralded as “a stunning avant-garde approach to a plea for nuclear disarmament.” the bomb is an immersive film, music and art installation that puts viewers in the center of the story of nuclear weapons. the bomb explores the immense power of nuclear weapons, the perverse appeal they have, and the profound death wish at the very heart of them. the film takes viewers through the strange, compelling, and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons today.
“HEADLINES ARE FRONTLINES,” a new film and music installation, will display news headlines from 1,460 days of the Trump presidency on the sides of moving trucks in cities across the U.S. from October 26 to 28, 2020, ahead of the presidential election. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/followingfilms/support
Smriti @kesharis and I met at Sundance just before her film and experience The Bomb premiered. I thought of her over the last few days because her film, focused on nuclear arms, ends with the words "our silence is a form of consent." Given what's going on right now, I was excited to connect with her about where she sees these ideas evolving. We touch on her other films The Selfish Gene and The Goal, a Leonard Cohen piece released around his post-humous 2019 album. We connect deeply on the ideas of DJing as applied to other forms. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/teawithsg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/teawithsg/support
Artist and director Smriti Keshari’s work covers a spectrum of the moving image and explores under-represented themes and experiences. Smriti is known for her acclaimed film, the bomb, which has been shown throughout the world and was heralded as a stunning approach to the plea for nuclear disarmament. She is currently working on a five-part multi-media series that delves into the ethical questions surrounding Artificial Intelligence. Her film within this series film debuts this summer. In this interview, Keshari discusses the artist’s role as conduit or translator and the ability to transcend philosophical questions through creation.
Award-winning director and artist Smriti Keshari discusses the bomb, a critically-acclaimed multimedia experience she directed and produced with Ploughshares Fund Board Member Eric Schlosser. “In The Silo” explores Bombshelltoe, an interactive collection of images and narratives curated by Lovely Umayam, a Fellow with Stimson Center's Nuclear Security Program. Bombshelltoe explores how nuclear issues are connected to society’s most pressing conversations by combining nuclear expertise and artistic expression, highlighting the humanity in nuclear policy to resonate with people who currently feel disengaged. Also: nuclear news analysis with our deputy policy director Mary Kaszynski and Daniel Wertz, Program Manager at the National Committee on North Korea. Visit Smriti Keshari's website at http://www.smritikeshari.com/ Visit Bombshelltoe at http://bombshelltoe.com/ Read Alex Spire and Zack Brown on the history of nuclear testing: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/460000-premature-deaths-horror-was-nuclear-weapons-testing-69512
Smriti Keshari, Matt Danzico and Toddy Stewart have all won James Beard, Peabody and Clio awards respectively. Through documentary film, investigative journalism, and advertising campaigns our guests have tackled subjects as challenging as the Atomic Bomb, the current of state of our fractured nation, and the existential side of being a lifelong surfer. Tyler and Ben get some tips on how to tell tales and why social media might be in the way of doing that well.
Keshari and Ford on directing and conceiving a powerful film experience on Nuclear Weapons The post Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari – The Bomb #Berlinale appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Keshari and Ford on directing and conceiving a powerful film experience on Nuclear Weapons The post Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari – The Bomb #Berlinale appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Keshari and Ford on directing and conceiving a powerful film experience on Nuclear Weapons The post Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari – The Bomb #Berlinale appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Keshari and Ford on directing and conceiving a powerful film experience on Nuclear Weapons The post Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari – The Bomb #Berlinale appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Keshari and Ford on directing and conceiving a powerful film experience on Nuclear Weapons The post Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari – The Bomb #Berlinale appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Keshari and Ford on directing and conceiving a powerful film experience on Nuclear Weapons The post Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari – The Bomb #Berlinale appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
On this week’s episode of Sharp & Hot host Emily Peterson has a studio full of incredible guests! First, we hear from Eugenia Bone, accomplished food writer and author. Her stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country, from The New York Times Magazine to The National Lampoon, in Saveur, Food & Wine,Gourmet, Fine Cooking, The Wine Enthusiast, and Martha Stewart Living, among many others. Later on, we hear from Smriti Keshari & Carl Banks who were involved in the production of the new documentary Food Chains! This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery. “The variety and attributes of mushrooms are totally underestimated.” [05:00] –Eugenia Bone on Sharp & Hot
This week on Eating Matters, host Kim Kessler is taking on the topic of agricultural workers and the conditions under which they work in the United States. Welcoming Sanjay Rawal and Smriti Keshari, filmmakers responsible for the documentary, Food Chains, they explain that there is more interest in food these days than ever, yet there is very little interest in the hands that pick it. Farmworkers, the foundation of our fresh food industry, are routinely abused and robbed of wages. As the director of the film, Sanjay opens the show describing the big issues behind the film and why the it was ultimately made. Giving listeners an idea of what a day in the life of a farm worker is like, Smriti, one of the film’s producers, goes on to share the narrative of the film which focuses on an intrepid and highly lauded group of tomato pickers from Southern Florida – the Coalition of Immokalee Worders (CIW) – who are revolutionizing farm labor. Tune in to hear all about the forthcoming documentary and the issues it is bringing to light. This program was brought to you by Cain Vineyard & Winery. “The companies that haven’t signed on need consumers to mobilize.” [23:20] —Sanjay Rawal on Eating Matters “What really attracted me was to lend a voice to the people at the front of that battle.” [27:10] —Smriti Keshari on Eating Matters
Eric Schlosser, Smriti Keshari, Executive Producers, Food Chains. Festival Section: Culinary Cinema. “Food Chains” reveals the human cost of our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Farmworkers who form the foundation of our fresh food industry are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they [...] The post Eric Schlosser & Smriti Keshari – Food Chains #Berlinale2014 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Eric Schlosser, Smriti Keshari, Executive Producers, Food Chains. Festival Section: Culinary Cinema. “Food Chains” reveals the human cost of our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Farmworkers who form the foundation of our fresh food industry are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they [...] The post Eric Schlosser & Smriti Keshari – Food Chains #Berlinale2014 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Eric Schlosser, Smriti Keshari, Executive Producers, Food Chains. Festival Section: Culinary Cinema. “Food Chains” reveals the human cost of our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Farmworkers who form the foundation of our fresh food industry are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they [...] The post Eric Schlosser & Smriti Keshari – Food Chains #Berlinale2014 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Eric Schlosser, Smriti Keshari, Executive Producers, Food Chains. Festival Section: Culinary Cinema. “Food Chains” reveals the human cost of our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Farmworkers who form the foundation of our fresh food industry are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they [...] The post Eric Schlosser & Smriti Keshari – Food Chains #Berlinale2014 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Eric Schlosser, Smriti Keshari, Executive Producers, Food Chains. Festival Section: Culinary Cinema. “Food Chains” reveals the human cost of our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Farmworkers who form the foundation of our fresh food industry are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they [...] The post Eric Schlosser & Smriti Keshari – Food Chains #Berlinale2014 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.
Eric Schlosser, Smriti Keshari, Executive Producers, Food Chains. Festival Section: Culinary Cinema. “Food Chains” reveals the human cost of our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Farmworkers who form the foundation of our fresh food industry are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they [...] The post Eric Schlosser & Smriti Keshari – Food Chains #Berlinale2014 appeared first on Fred Film Radio.