Category: festival

I’mPULSE is an initiative by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) to nurture the development of innovative methods and practices in music through the empowerment of young musicians from Asia and Europe, and the encouragement of continuous dialogue amongst them.

I’mPULSE began as an Asia-Europe music workshop in the Philippines in 2005, connecting traditional musicians from Asia with classical musicians from Europe. At the end of that year, I’mPULSE also gathered traditional singers in Ireland. In 2006, ASEF co-organised a programme for Asian and European DJ’s in Beijing, focusing on comprehensive digital music experimentation. I’mPULSE continues to be a unique platform for multilateral artistic exchanges between musicians of both regions.

This year’s I’mPULSE, focused on dub music, is co-organised by ASEF and the Clandestino Festival. Both organisations share the goal of encouraging dialogue and enhancing collaboration and facilitating experimentation opportunities for artists. I’mPULSE brings together 25 professionals (young artists, VJ’s, lecturers and curators) from 16 countries in Asia and Europe for a series of closed-door workshops and rehearsals. Participants of I’mPULSE will then bring the fusion of ideas and their musical exploration to the public through performances during the Clandestino Festival.

18000018018018401 [SWEDEN]

18000018018018401 describes herself as an experimental musical illiterate with a great fascination for music as a concept. The way a construction of percussive language and sound fragments can be combined into units is a highly spiritual and intellectually stimulating process. Her composing is steered by the affection of creating visual patterns of sound components. The eye is as important as the ear. The music could be defined as industrial dub electronica wave – somehow club related. She is also part of the audiovisual art concept The Konference, promoting sustainable evolution, and collaborates more in depth with electronica producer hab.

Dub Terror [ITALY]

Dub Terror is a London-based music project specialised in bass-heavy dubs and futuristic electronic music production. It’s conceived and operated by Italian producer Simone Lombardi and signed to Zion Train’s Deep RootUniversal Egg label. After joining the local music scene in his native town, Turin, Simone realised how big the crave for creative spaces was among the youth, as big as the social discomfort towards the institutions. The struggle towards a grey and impersonal society became the leading force behind his determination in becoming a successful music producer and plays a central role in establishing his musical identity. His approach to making music is freeform and instinctive, usually preparing multi-tracks, recording several versions and only then choosing the one that his instinct leads him towards, in the style of the dub pioneers. He plays with the mixing desk as if it was part of the music, like a director, and produces the final track as creating a story. He sees each instrument as a different character, bringing its own personality to interact with other instruments, as actors do in a play.

Genys [LITHUANIA]

As a child Jevgenijus Konstantinovas spent nine year at a music school. In 1995 he started working as a MC in UZI, a hip hop group that dominated the charts in his country Lithuania. During his experimental period DJ Genys started collecting jazzy hip hop, dance hall, soul, broken beat, ragga, roots reggae, ska and dub. As one of Lithuania’s biggest VD’s, he performed his own favourite music from the Baltic coast, and organized parties for hungry ears all around the country. DJ Genys LP:s have also been played in Berlin, Belgium, Russia, Latvia and Sweden. Two years ago, Geny started the electronica project Dublicate, a co-operation with Paulius Kilbauskas. The band has performed live together with big names such as Rhythms and Sound, St. Paul Hilaire, Roni Size, MC Dynamate, Togetha Brotha Soundsystem. He participated in the Rotterdam film festival in 2006 och at the Baltic electronica festival in Dortmund in 2007.

Jethro Joaquin [THE PHILIPPINES]

Jethro Joaquin is a sound designer, educated at the acting studio of the University of Phillipines, whose sound art has been performed at the Prague Quadrennial and World Stage Design in Toronto. He shapes sound landscapes and works with derivations of already existing pieces. He also runs the company Sound Bay Recording Studio, and works with different theatre projects. Joaquin also produces music outside the theatre, where he creates dub inspired electronica pieces by using the inherent sound caracteristica of maximalized every day sounds, such as rain, traffic and thunder. He has toured around Europe and North America with these compositions dealing with the dub landscape of acting.

Manucher [AUSTRIA]

Manucher is a music producer involved in various projects, and a DJ and organizer, resident in Vienna. The aim of his different music projects is to show the necessity of global co-existence. Manucher is himself influenced by contemporary music created through meetings caused by modern migraton. His work has through the years resulted in many interesting co-operations with artists such as Roots Manuva, Asian Dub Foundation and State of Bengal. In 2006 he started the label 01 Recording, that produces eastern influenced experimental electronica.

Masanori Amakura [JAPAN]

Masanori Amakura is one of the prominent figures of the new generation of progressive Japanese musicians. As a percussionist he is inspired by different kind of music, including jazz, African rhytms and Japanese techno pop. His musical width provided him with the opportunity to combine drums, percussion and computers in a unique way. Masanoris homemade instruments, produced by junk, scrap and kitchen utentils are also a peculiar part of his sound image. Masanori was born i Hiroshima, but moved to New York at the age of twenty.

Mel Gray [IRELAND]

Mel Gray, a.k.a Eating Betty, is originally from Irland, but is now resident in New York. His occupation is to try and find the perfect rhythm and to develop the ultimate dub, through both digital and analogue means. He is inspired by the dub artists of the Jamaican 70’s, and combines the traditional elements of dub with modern instruments and recording techniques with the aim to create a music that sounds at the same time retro and progressive.

Molecule [FRANCE]

The French artist Molecule is among others influenced by Basic Channel and Scape Productions and mixes dub vibrations with minimalist electronic sounds and hip hop experiments. He performs on stages around France, and is inspired by Pink Floyd as well as Debussy and uses both bass and Indian sitar as musical instruments. In co-operation with artists such as Jamalski, Leeroy (Saïn Supa Crew), HoneyChild and Webbafield, Molecule has composed music for visual art. In March his album In Dub V1.0. was released.

Nuphlo [UK]

Nuphlo’s DJ carrier began at a local pirate radio station in Leeds, where he played a range of eastern influenced electronic music. Through friends he was given the opportunity to experiment with music production, which led to a shift of focus from DJ:ing, and the interest in production itself flourished. After a few years of sending out demos to labels, he caught the eye of Nasha Records in London, who started getting involved in his musical development. The co-operation has recently led to his participation with some dubstep and drum’n’bass tracks on their forthcoming LP.

Rachel Saraswati [INDONESIA]

The Indonesian musician Rachel Saraswati combines classical pop, blues and jazz with traditional Javanese and Balinese dancing. She is one of the founders of Next to Kin, a group which is behind the performance project Rhymes of Passage och mixes different art forms with the aim to overcome the cleavage between popular culture and high culture. She has earlier participated as a vocalist in the percussion group Gebuin, and she also experiments with modern and classical song in her music production.

Slimmah Sound [THE NETHERLANDS]

Slimmah Sound is Tim Baumgarten from the Netherlands. Over the past few years he has been producing roots reggea. He has participated on the LP Dub Shoe, Episode One, released by the German label Dub Flash. He has played at festivals and on bigger stages around the Netherlands, and in 2007 the record Love Fire Burning, a musical co-operation with the singer Jah Melodie, will be released at the Dutch label Bush and Shadow.

Sweet Susie [AUSTRIA]

Sweet Susie has been an active DJ for almost fifteen years, and is regularly hired by clubs all around Europe. She is based in Vienna, where she also works as an artist and hosts the legendary Dub Club. The club, which has existed for twenty years, mixes dub with hip hop, jungle, break beat and brazil, and has been visited by icons such as Mad Professor, Jungle Brothers and Gangster. Sweet Susie is also herself a musician and an artist. During the last three years she has had a close co-operation with Mani Montana and the duo is at present producing an album where pop, dub and jazz is combined.

Tri Minh [VIETNAM]

Since the beginning of the 90s, after graduating from the Hanoi music conservatoire, Tri Minh has played jazz at different places in Hanoi together with other young musicians. After a period of jazz improvisation, he started exploring his own territory within the electronical music. In 1999 this resulted in solo performances on various scenes. Tri Minh has established himself as the first true electro music artist in Vietnam. His ability to combine electro sounds with classical Vietnamese music has made him famous as an avant-garde musician and sound artist.

Variam [SWEDEN]

Mariam Wallentin, a.k.a. Variam, is from Örebro and has sang everything from pop to soul to jazz. Besides her own projects under the name Variam, she sings in many different groups such as, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Backdrop, Sinclair/Wallentin duo Lindblad StudioShowcase, and XiaoHe, and has also guest stared artists such as Papa Dee and Laakso. At the moment she is studying at the Individual Improvisational Performance program at the University of Gothenburg. She has participated in different art projects and has co-operated with film creators and dancers such as Marta Dauluite, Moa Matilda Sahlin och Ylva Henriksson. In the autumn of 2006 she lived in Beijing to study the musical scene of China.

Vidya [SWEDEN]

Vidya has been described as a mix of Björk, Ella Fitzgerald and Pippi Longstocking, but only identifies with the last-mentioned. She workes with improvisation and transcendent stage art, mostly alternating between singing, talking och telling poetry, and uses her own made-up language. She can be seen in different artistic contexts, has perfomed at the biggest Swedish scenes and co-operated with musicians of different genres. She currently works with the design and art collective Thekonference, a project for a more durable world.

ZenLu [CHINA]

ZenLu is an experimental musician and sound artist, who lives in Chinese Shenzhen. In 2002 he founded the post-rock group Conciousness, and two years later he joined the group YOUNG CRAZY. He has a great interest in experimental electronica and industrial noise, and in April 2006 he started the band Zen Bobo, which completely focuses on minimalist ambient music.

Mad Professor & Blonddub Sexy Sound [UK]

Blonddub Sexy Sound is the name of the Israeli producer, singer and songwriter Orly Frinder, who mixes dub with dancehall and electro on her debut EP Blonddub Sexy Sound. She is a former member of the world music group Auru and has cooperated with Sir Larsi, Dub Rogue and Yossi Fine. On her record she combines echo effect and percussion, and her satirical lyrics often speak about the role of woman in society. Her next record, with the title God Save the Empress, will include numerous musical co-operations. Together with Mad Professor (see artists) she will hold a workshop.

Dr Das [UK]

Dr Das is a bass player, programmer and producer, and one of the founders of Asian Dub Foundation, developed through the workshops he ran in London during the 90s. Recently his first solo album Emergency Basslines was released; an instrumental record that puts the emphasis on melody and driving basslines, mixed with distorted Indian och Arabic percussion loops. He defines his music as dubnoise, and is at the moment engaged in preparing his second solo album SUDAMALA VOL 1. Dr Das has also been involved in two other records and in numerous co-operations, productions and remix projects.

Dickson Dee [CHINA]

Dickson Dee has been involved in the music business in Hong Kong, China och Taiwan for more than twenty years, and has had a great influence on the development of Chinese underground culture. He started his career as an importer of European independent music and has ever since been active as a producer, composer and curator, and has also started a label under the name Dicksonia Audio. Dee performs under several names depending on what he plays, such as Li Chin Sung, DJ Dee and Koomi Soundmachine. The music can be described as aborderland of electronica, art music, avant-garde jazz och industrial noise.

Daito Manabe [JAPAN]

The producer Daito Manabe’s goal is to constantly redefine existing media by attacking it from new angles. He creates sounds, lights och images by analysing and converting numerical data from sensors and various recording instruments. Daito’s background as a mathematician and programmer makes it possible for him to constantly be at the cutting edge of the development of electronic culture. He has co-operated with dancers, designers, artists, performance artists and fashion producers all around the world, the last time was with Ryichi Sakamoto.

 

Steve Barker [UK]

Steve Barker has been braodcasting on the BBC for almost thirty years, his On The Wire show (www.onthewire.uk.com) was first broadcast in 1984 with Adrian Sherwood as special guest on the first programme, the show is still running today. Over the years Stev has interviewed many of the reggae great including Augustus Pablo, Burning Spear, Dennis Brown, Joe Hill from Culture and Lee “Scracth” Perry. Steve has been an associate of both On U Sounds and Pressure Sounds record labels, writing sleevenotes, reseaching samples and performing an ad hoc A&R role. For the past ten years he has writtent the dub column for the Wire magazine. He has lived in Beijing, China for the last five years and plays the occasional DJ for the Upstepper Crew or Beijing Home Town Hi Fi, appearing as DJ Lao Lao Shu (DJ Old Rat!)

 

VJ Milosh [POLAND]

The visual intermedia artist, video director, performance artist and painter Milosz Luczynski has lived and worked in Paris since 2001. After having studied anthropology at the university and art at the art school of Cracow, he then moved on to study in communucation and multimedia at the art school of Tolouse. The passion for music and performance opened new doors within the electronic culture. He started working as a VJ at raves i Cracow in 1996, and shortly afterwards he entered the electronic scene in Germany. At the same time as he was VJ:ing on scenes in Berlin, he produced videos and installations. Milosz projects are characterized by a mix of images, sound and texts. He co-operates a great deal with musicians in electronica, composers in contemporary music, poets, writers, and visual artist. Since 1995 he has performed his projects more than 300 times in several countries, on three continents.

VJ Mo-P [Sweden]

Miguel-Oliver Pissarra, born in the 70’s on the other side of the equator, is a multi-disciplinary designer & audiovisual artist who, fascinated by the effect symbols have on the conscious and subconscious, started working professionally with graphic design back in 1996. Over the years he has furthered his exploration on the impact of visual culture in a myriad of other mediums such as photography, film & 2D / 3D animation tools to convey a message, tell a story or simply create a reaction within …

PARTICIPANTS I’mPULSE Clandestino:

Manucher Raschidy (a.k.a Manucher, Austria)
www.myspace.com/manucher

Susanne Rogenhofer (a.k.a Sweet Susie, Austria)
www.myspace.com/dubclubvienna

Lu Zheng (China)
www.zenlu.com
www.weplayrec.cn

Delahaye-Serafini Romain (a.k.a Molecule, France)
www.myspace.com/moleculeproject

Mel Gray (a.k.a Eating Betty, Ireland)
www.acetonestudio.com/eatingbetty.html

Simone Lombardi (a.k.a Dub Terror, Italy)
www.myspace.com/dubterror

Jevgenijus Konst

antinovas (Genys, Dublicate, Lithuania)
www.myspace.com/dublicate

Milosh Luczynski (a.k.a VJ Milosh, Poland)
www.vjmilosh.com

Tim Baumgarten (Slimmahsound Dub System, The Netherlands)
www.myspace.com/slimmahsounddubsystem

Mariam Wallentin (Sweden)
www.wildbirdsandpeacedrums.com
www.myspace.com/wildbirdsandpeacedrums
www.myspace.com/mariamwallentin

Vidya-Liselotte Sundberg (Sweden)
www.myspace.com/vidyalise

Karin Holmgren (a.k.a 18000018018018401,
Sweden)
www.myspace.com/18000018018018401

Miguel-Oliver Pissarra (a.k.a VJ M-OP,
Sweden)
www.myspace.com/supremefidelity

Manjinder Sandhu (a.k.a Nuphlo,
United Kingdom)
www.myspace.com/nuphlomusic

Thang Doan Huu (a.k.a Tri Minh,
Vietnam)
www.em411.com/triminh
www.soundclick.com/electrovn
www.myspace.com/triminh05

LECTURERS I’mPULSE Clandestino:
Neil Fraser (a.k.a Mad Professor)
www.myspace.com/madprofessordub

Aniruddha Das (a.k.a Dr.Das)
www.myspace.com/drdas

Orly Frider (a.k.a Blondub Sexy Sound)
www.myspace.com/blondubsexysound

Daito Manabe
www.daito.ws/

Dickson Dee (a.k.a Li Chin Sung)
www.myspace.com/dicksondee
http://blog.dicksondee.com/?page_id=9

Steve Barker (On the Wire/BBC Radio)
www.onthewire.uk.com