Analogue-sequencer

Friday and Saturday, April 29th and 30th, 2011 City Skies Electronic Music Festival @ Kavarna in Decatur, GA.
 
The City Skies Electronic Music events showcase the region's best electronic musicians at our favorite venue, Kavarna, for listening to a great range of electronic music styles in a chillout environment with a crowd of appreciative musicians and fans. We also stream the event live on StillStream.com

The 4th Annual City Skies Electronic Music Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, April 29th and 30th, 2011. Confirmed performers include:
 
FRIDAY 7pm - DRACHEMUSIK

Live electronic music with video. Experimental, Glitch-Groove, Ambient Beats, with a Modal Jazz Influence. Simple melodies swirling in mixed tempos and undulating textures. Dense, erotic, complex, emotional, spontaneous.
 
The ambient and experimental sets are entirely improvised except for transition material between improvisations.
 
The content of the musical structures (sound design, melodies, harmonies etc) are created from "scratch". In other words no pre-existing audio or MIDI sounds or loops are used in the creation of the music.
 
The rest of the music is a blend of improvisation and structure and is performed in real-time. The basic musical ideas are built in the studio and then dozens of audio events (or clips) are created for each piece. The audio events are triggered and manipulated via 36 foot switches and 16 faders along with real time synthesis played from an EWI4000S and MIDI keyboard.
 
Consequently, in performance, the content of each piece of music remains the same but the structure varies each time a piece is played depending on my mood and the environment. This allows me to interact creatively with the audience and have more personal expression.
 
http://www.drachemusik.com/
 
http://www.myspace.com/drachemusik
 
8pm - ALLEN WELTY-GREEN
 
Atlanta-based composer/multi-media artist Allen Welty-Green was raised in Nashville, TN. He has been playing music, both solo and with various progressive and ambient ensembles since the 70's. Disillusionment with the music industry led him to explore the world of avant-garde dance & performance art in the mid 80s. This led to the formation of the Mind's Eye Performance Group with whom he toured extensively across the Eastern USA, performing his ambient synthesizer scores to surreal dance and movement theater pieces performed by Jason Litchford. Some of Mind's Eye's earliest performances were at the Space For Music events organized by Tony Gerber (of Spacecraft), another Nashville resident.
 
Mind's Eye went on hiatus in the early 90s and Welty-Green relocated to Atlanta. He then formed Gnosis, an artistic cooperative with choreographer L.E. Udaykee. Gnosis has created a touring multi-media production, Reality Check (http://www.mindspring.com/~agmedia/reality.html). In order to perform the multi-layered Reality Check music live, he put together the post-progressive, new edge music ensemble Z-Axis (http://www.mindspring.com/~agmedia/z.html), which has now become a band in it's own right. Their debut CD, "Music From Reality Check" was released last year to uniformly glowing reviews.
 
In addition to his work with Gnosis and Z-Axis, he has also collaborated extensively with many other dance and theater artists, including Seven Stages, Beacon Dance, Gateway Performance Productions, Cherie Carson, and the Teatr Nowy in Poznan, Poland. Among his musical influences, Welty-Green cites Peter Gabriel (especially his Passion album), Laurie Anderson, King Crimson, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, Ozric Tentacles... and such progressive rock stalwarts as (old) Genesis and Yes.
 
Allen used to write music reviews for Option Magazine before their demise. He also covered the Nashville alternative music scene quite extensively in the early 80's for The Nashville Intelligence Report, Grab!, and Trouser Press.
 
9pm - BROKEN SYMMETRY
 
Broken Symmetry is now a duo of founding members Thompson / Hughes who have been working on new sounds for future performance material since their last show at City Skies in May 2009. "We have obtained new gear in recent months, which we are excited about and are in the process of tweaking patches and composing new material" said Doug. 
 
Background on Broken Symmetry: Doug Hughes partnered with Mitchell Foy in Tenth To The Moon from 10/2001-02/2009 playing synths and occasionally percussion. Prior to that Doug played drums for Keith Lee's Liar's Club, which led to a one time reunion of the great King Kill 33' at The EARL -03/2001. Doug made his stage debut at the Destroy All Music Festival in 1988 playing guitar with the band Album 88, and the following year in Fluid Transmission, both featuring an assortment of WREK hangers-ons and DJs. Doug was a founding member of My Evil Twin, which recorded for the Perimeter Christmas compilations in the late 80's through 1993. Doug began in the late 80's by recording/mixing tapes of found sounds, mixed with crude digital samples and loops of guitar effects. Guitar gradually became the primary focus, he also plays drums, bass and synthesizers. His Solar Wind studio became the recording arm for the independent label Perimeter Records, assembling the Annual Perimeter Christmas compilation, a free promotional cassette, released between 1987-1993. This tradition was continued by Hughes in '96-'97 under the Outer Loop tag. He recorded Pineal Ventana jam sessions for inclusion on their CD releases, as well as hosting the sessions for their 1st demo in 1993.
 
http://www.myspace.com/brokensymmetry
 
10pm - TONY GERBER & PAUL VNUK, JR.
 
Tony Gerber was mesmerized by electronic music in 1971, after playing with an SWTP theremin and hearing the classic "Switched on Bach". Like many young synthesizer explorers during the 70s he built his own PAIA synth when he was 14 years old. However, guitar is his main instrument, but he became a multi-instrumentalist over the years with an emphasis on synth sound creation.
 
In 1986, he founded the performance collective Space for Music which spawned multimedia performances combining film, video, dance, and electronic music. Space For Music was turned into a website in 1996 and then into a record label in 2000 (spaceformusic.com). In 1997, he founded the well-known space music group, Spacecraft, with fellow synth lover and musician, John Rose, after solo releases on the Lektronic Soundscapes label.
 
Combining his solo releases and SPACECRAFT recordings there are over 27 CDs available. Some of these recordings are with fellow City Skies performer and friend, Giles Reaves. Gerber has been a driving force in the art and space music arena during his 29 year stay in Nashville, TN. Tony is quite active in Second Life as the space music performer Cypress Rosewood (cypressrosewood.com). His own web site is http://spaceformusic.com/tonygerber
 
Many of Gerber's recorded works are the result of live performances, many of which take place in planetariums or outside, under the stars themselves. Several of Gerber's performances have been broadcast live on public radio in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana and the subsequent recordings have received airplay on PBR syndicated shows like Hearts of Space and Echoes. A pioneer in the use of computers for creating music and graphics, Gerber has also consulted with Apple Computer and has given many speeches on art and technology. An accomplished visual artist and craftsman working with both computers and wood, Gerber has enjoyed exhibits sponsored by the prestigious Cheekwood Gallery in Nashville and the Visual Artists Alliance of Nashville.
 
Paul Vnuk Jr. is percussionist, synthesist, vocalist, recording engineer and sound designer.
 
He is one half of the Tribal Ambient duo Ma Ja Le' with Christopher Short, and their albums (which have been eloquently labeled, Symphonic Tribal Minimalism) include "Dreams In The Orchards Of Saturn", "Imaginarium" (with Vir Unis) and "Seed" (with James Johnson).
 
Together as sound designers they have been involved in sound-libraries and projects for Sony, M-Audio and Apple, which have been used in films and top ten albums.
 
As a solo artist Paul's album "Silence Speaks In Shadow" is a classic among minimal-ambient connoisseurs and is a perennial favorite on the Hypnos Label. His Hypnos release, "Distance To Zero" (with Italian minimalist Oophoi) is as dark and intense as it is beautiful. His new CD last year called "Hymn of Tongues" is comprised of rehearsals and performances from City Skies 2008, and this year saw the release of the "Continental Drift" and "After Shock" world libraries for Sony Media software.
 
When not crafting ambient-space music, Paul can be found deep in recording and production at "The Moss Garden" a professional project studio located in the serene countryside of southern Wisconsin.
 
As an audio engineer Paul is a regular contributing author and reviewer in Recording Magazine.
 
Paul is a graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and holds a BFA in Photography; his work has been shown in galleries and published in magazines.
 
http://www.myspace.com/paulvnuk
 
http://www.majale.com/
 
11pm - BURNING ARTIST(S) SALE
 
Kevin Haller's moniker for the variety of artistic and musical endeavors is Burning Artist(s) Sale. Alter egos include Killer Haven, a grizzled guitar slinging rocker that prefers to stay in his bunker making videos. KVpop writes catchy hooks, but until recently was too afraid to let friends or colleagues help him put finishing touches on his compositions. K love writes music intended for dance clubs old and new. eleK troniK is an ambient and experimental sound sculptor. Burning Artist occasionally performs as a solo artist (and is even sometimes usurped by Killer Haven), but prefers the dynamic of group interaction. Recent musical involvement has been with the Robert Cheatham Quartet, a regrouped BAS (w/ Barbara Vesey), both City Skies & Different Skies "All Star" jams, and a re-united Amalgamated Cliff Divers. Burning Artist is proud to have played at EYEDRUM's First Thursday Open Improv for more years than he can remember. Past bands have included GFE, Random Violets, Harper Fragment, Empty V, MASTERCOW, and TOAST.
 
http://www.myspace.com/burningartistssale
 
 
SATURDAY 1pm - ALL STAR JAM
 
 
2pm - ANCIENT BYRDLAND

 
3pm - KLIMCHAK

Klimchak loves opposites. That may explain why he's played with bands as diverse as disco diva RuPaul and avant hipster Bruce Hampton. "I think of music as a crazy-quilt of different styles and patterns. I'm the thread that holds the whole mess together," says the Atlanta-based composer and percussionist. "I love the clash of colors and opposing patterns. That's where the music comes alive."
 
On his new solo CD, The Beat and The Buzz, he works the difference between electronic and acoustic music styles. Electrobeat buzzes clash with soulful hand drumming. An urban funk groove explodes into a hoedown of jaw harp and handclaps. Tuvan throat singing provides a sound bed for a flowering samba ensemble featuring the pig-like grunting of the Brazilian Cuica. This could be the loops of sample-hungry turntable collagists and laptop-toting poindexters. But it's not. One of the important qualities of Klimchak's music is that he plays it all himself. "I don't have anything against buying and using samples and loops of other people's music. For what I'm doing it's easier and quicker just to record myself playing the instrument."
 
Of course that is easy for Klimchak to say, since he owns and plays literally hundreds of instruments. "I've been collecting sound-makers since the late 1970's. When I have some free time, I usually sit down and learn to play a new flute or percussion instrument." It could be an early electronic instrument like the sci-fi staple, the theremin or a low-tech rawhide frame drum from the Middle East. It's all grist for the sound-mill. "In the modern world of Ebay and the internet, locating exotic instruments for cheap and getting instructions on playing them is a lot easier than it used to be."
 
Klimchak has been working exclusively in this style since the mid-eighties. Between stints with RuPaul, Hampton, and his two bass-vocal-percussion band, Fab Area, he began working on solo works for modern dance and theater. He uses his knowledge of exotic instruments and the sounds they make to provide a live underscore theater productions. Many of his recent works have been at the Georgia Shakespeare Festival. He has written and performed scores for the plays: Othello, Henry IV, Hamlet, Tartuffe, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Cymbeline. In addition, he's done scores for Shakespeare's Coriolanus at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, a live score for No Exit at Le Neon Theater in Washington, DC (nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for best sound design), and a live score for Malinche performed at the Bovenzaal Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam.
 
Klimchak's dance work is equally important to his style. His recent work includes scores for Jane Comfort ("Three Bagatelles for the Righteous, excerpt (Election Update 2004)", performed in NYC at the Joyce Theater by Jane Comfort and Co in September) and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar of Urban Bush Women ("Are We Democracy?", performed in November at Emory University's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts). He regularly composes for faculty and guest choreographers at Emory University.
 
http://www.myspace.com/klimchak
 
4pm - SUICIDE LANE
 
Suicide Lane was born in Ulm, Germany. In 1999 he moved to New Orleans where he ventured into theatrical sound design and electronic music production. Inspired by a performace of Electrical Spectacle at the Dragon's Den he bought his first Theremin built by a local TV repair guy. From there, Suicide Lane started accumulating sysnthesis hardware and built a small bedroom studio.
 
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and destroyed Suicide Lane's home studio. In 2006 he moved to Atlanta and rebuilt his studio. In 2008 and 2009 Suicide Lane performed all-hardware sets at Cenci and Octane Coffee.
 
Suicide Lane's musical inspirations lie somewhere between Berlin School and Detroit style techno. He likes anything from Joy Division to Autechre to Black Sabbath to Jeff Mills to EyeHateGod with a little New Orleans strutting mixed in. Suicide Lane prefers to use Elektron, Jomox, Roland and Moog equipment. He also loves the sound of string synthesizers.
 
Suicide Lane's music can be found at http://virb.com/suicidelane
 
SATURDAY 8pm - SUE WILKINSON & MIKE CADY
 
The unforgettable ambient sounds of SUE WILKINSON are trance-like and highly melodic, powered by breathtaking vocals that can only be categorized as one of a kind. Blessed with an "amazing vocal range", she has not only the power to blow down a brick house, but an astounding sense of versatility with the emotional capacity of PATTI GRIFFIN, FIONA APPLE and TORI AMOS combined. Her new title track "Sympatico", is at once piercing yet mellow, languid yet pulse pounding, and undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous cerebral pieces I've ever heard." says ezine MuzikMan. 
 
Sue is the voice and co-composer behind a musical collaboration with film scorer, bassist, and recording artist, PATRICK O'HEARN. A Grammy award winner, his electronic-based instrumental music is considered to be the foundation behind the ambient musical movement, not to mention the modern synthesized orchestral sound heard in today's film scores. 
 
9pm - SHANE MORRIS & GUESTS
 
Synthesis, percussionist, and composer, Shane Morris creates ethereal, poly-rhythmic soundscapes in the vein of tribal, ambient, and atmospheric genres. Sonically, Morris' music is characterized by syncopated arpeggios and pulsating motifs, coupled with deep harmonic layers of sound, and dram-like field recordings that reflect historic and contemporary events. Drawing inspiration from nature, evolution, and isolation, Morris' music has an introspective yet organic electronic quality. Each compositions blends together into a continual live experience using live looping and sequencing. Structure around thematic ideas, harmony, improvisation, and trance-inducing rhythms, Morris' compositions glide from driving, elevated peaks to tranquil, melodic valleys.
 
http://www.myspace.com/shanemorrismusic
 
10pm - MARK MAHONEY & M. PECK
 
Mark Mahoney describes himself as an ambient/experimental musician, but often his music will embrace other genres as well. When performing, his compositions will take the listener through mysterious inner journeys that have many musical twists and turns.
 
Mahoney has been a musician most of his life. Evolving from saxophone, bass guitar, acoustic/electric guitar, and now synthesizers, Mahoney is comfortable on any of these instruments. Referencing greats such as John Coltrane, Steve Roach, and Robert Rich, Mahoney approaches his craft in a very thoughtful and cerebral manner that defines post-modern ambient music. He utilizes both analogue and digital synthesizers in performance.
 
http://www.limitedwave.com/subterraneous/news.html
 
Michael Peck is a ubiquitous fixture in Northeast Tennessee's thriving music scene. Known for his energetic and cross genre live sets, Peck has carved a name for himself in the electronic music community up and down the east coast performing at the Electro-Music.com Festivals as well as performing at the prestigious Gathering Concert Series in Philadelphia.
 
Over the past decade his solo releases have been praised both in the U.S. as well as abroad. His collaborations with fellow electronic musician Mark Mahoney have also been regarded as some of the best progressive ambient being released to date. Peck also curates the Waiting World Records label that was launched earlier this year that focuses on releasing "curious music" from independent musicians ranging from ambient to noise and everything in between. Peck is proud to say that he burns the candle at both ends and is driven by creativity and self expression through sound design.
 
http://www.limitedwave.com/redweb
 
http://www.mpeckmusic.blogspot.com/

11pm - tay0
 
tay0 is a name I've used some variant of since 1986 as a conduit for my bedroom studio experiments while I played "real" music in a number of bands. I've done a few remix projects, some production for other artists, and some TV / film work. For the past several years I've been collaborating with other like-minded folks like weaklazyliar, drummer Mitch Sosebee and, recently, steelmaster Stacy Cargal. I also play keyboards and guitar with Atlanta artists Lindsay Rakers and Blair Lott.
 
Style: abstract expressionist hip-hop, or maybe post-gospel micro-funk
Kit: Moog, Roland and Nord synthesizers, Apple computers, Digidesign and Steinberg software, other random pedals, mixers, microphones and such.
 
Influences: Brian Eno, John Cage, Bill Laswell, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Orb, Mark Rothko, Thelonious Monk, MMW, DJ Shadow, Eric Satie, George Clinton, NASA, Glenn Gould, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Jim O'Rourke, Sonic Youth, Oscar Peterson, Aphex Twin, Jackson Pollock, DJ Logic, Run-DMC, Herbie Hancock
 
Bio: I discovered elecronic music methods at an early age, becoming fascinated with tape machines, turntables, and unusual guitar approaches as a teenager. Fortunately, my coming of age coincided with the arrival of small, affordable synthesizers and drum machines in the early 1980s. I've spent the time since then trying to reconcile my obsession with electronic forms with my love of roots music, folk forms, funk, jazz, and rock & roll.
 
Charles Mingus (probably) said that there's only two kinds of music: good and bad. I'll take that a step further and say that there's only two kinds of music: that which makes sound, and that which doesn't. At least with that, I know which kind I'm doing.
 
http://www.myspace.com/tay0
 
http://www.facebook.com/l/8681bnfU4wdkRTdfSlaZ48i-Xsw/tay0.com



More information on the events and performers can be found at http://www.cityskies.com/