Crystabel Riley, Tasos Stamou, Steve Beresford, Douglas Benford
Door 3.30pm | music 4pm | donation £5
Crystabel Riley
During late naughties Crystabel toured Japan and Europe playing drums and electronics with industrial noise trio Maria and the Mirrors. She is also a pivotal member of ongoing improvisation project Debbie Leggo; a collaboration with Scottish poet Gerry Mitchel and musicians such as Tom Jackson. She has played drums and percussion for Micheal Rother and improvised alongside Daniel Thomson, Sue Lynch and John Edwards.
Steve Beresford
Steve has been a central figure in the British improvising scene for over thirty years, working with the likes of Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, Christian Marclay and, of course, Alterations. His work with Marclay has included mixed media pieces like ‘Screen Play’, ‘Ephemera’, ‘Graffiti Composition’, ‘Shuffle’, ‘Pianorama’ and ‘Everyday’. He has also written songs, scored feature films, TV shows and commercials. Steve has worked with hundreds of people, including The Slits, Stewart Lee, Ivor Cutler, Prince Far-I, Alan Hacker, Ray Davies, Ilan Volkov, The Flying Lizards, Otomo Yoshihide, The Portsmouth Sinfonia and John Zorn. He has an extensive discography as performer, arranger, composer and producer, and was was awarded a Paul Hamlyn award for composers in
2012.
Tasos Stamou
Electroacoustic music composer and performer, alternative electronic music instrument maker, tutor and sound technologist. During a decade of sound performances and recordings, Tasos has developed a unique style of live electroacoustic composition. Long and continuous pieces are created on stage or in the studio using a “portable electroacoustic music studio”. His gear consists of acoustic (prepared zither, reeds, recorders, objects) and electronic instruments (handmade electronics, modular synthesizer systems and live processed feedback loops). Based on sustained tonal textures and free improvised instrumental solos, his live compositions create a particular and unique atmosphere of ritual noise. Although mainly a solo performer and recording artist, he frequently collaborates with other sound, improvisers and experimentalists (such as Adam Bohman, Alan Wilkinson, London Improvisers Orchestra, Mike Cooper, Andrea Parkins, Kuupuu & Lau Nau, Terry Day, Adachi Tomomi, Ilan Manouach, Ignaz Schick, Magda Mayas, Arma Agharta, Thodoris Ziarkas, etc.) at various venues and festivals for innovative music. He has lead a workshop series exploring circuit bending & hardware hacking for experimental sound production. Tasos has an eclectic body of recorded work, released by exploratory music labels (Moving Furniture, Lal Lal Lal, Linear Obsessional Recordings, Orila, Triple Bath, Kukuruku Recordings, Absurd, Coherent States). He has performed across Europe and the U.S. in festivals and venues for innovative sound (Incubate Festival, Cafe OTO in London, Supernormal Festival, BENT Festival New York, Cave 12 in Geneva, Sounds of the Underground Festival, Ausland in Berlin, CologneOFF Festival, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, and many more). Although his music is inspired by different contemporary and traditional genres (free improvised music, musique concrète, noise & drone, folklore and ritual/tribal music) his main influence is personal states and experiences of the sonic environment, such as early childhood memories (“Infant”, 2007), the loss of a beloved person (“The return of the long lost one”, 2013) or the experience of a rural festivity (“Koura”, 2016). Tasos is also developing a series of visual art; showing his work at occasional exhibitions/installation shows and illustrating media.
Douglas Benford
As a composer and sound artist, has been involved in various audio genres since the late 1980s, performing at many institutions/venues in the UK (Bristol’s Arnolfini, London’s Science Museum, Cafe Oto, Tate Modern, Roundhouse, ICA and Glasgow’s CCA), festivals worldwide (Mutek, Synch, Transmediale) and had installation work in numerous UK
galleries (Inc. London, Swansea, Gloucestershire and Essex). After numerous electronica
releases in his ‘si-cut.db’ guise, in the past decade Douglas has focused on acoustic improvisation and installations, using field recordings, classical instruments, vocals and children’s toys. His regular collaborators include Blanca Regina, poet Tamar Yoseloff,
Angharad Davies, Lina Lapelyte, Clive Bell, Adam Bohman, Sue Lynch, sculptor Rob Olins, as well as – in the past – pop group Saint Etienne, Jem Finer (The Pogues), Momus, Rod Thomas (Bright Light Bright Light), Scanner, Stephan Mathieu and Andrew Weatherall. Douglas has also been co-curator – with Iris Garrelfs – since 1996, of Sprawl audio events in London.