UKAEA is an ever-shifting collective of musicians, visual artists, performers and material artists founded by Dan Jones (Nitkowski, Sly & the Family Drone, Worldzero) in 2014.
With UKAEA, Dan Jones combines his background in organising free parties and playing at underground clubs with a knowledge of indigenous folk musics gleaned from studying ethnomusicology. Modular synthesis is used as a means to secede control of elements of the structure and sound to algorithmic, random and complex cyclical processes. The goal is to ‘teach’ the hardware to manifest a sort of folk music from a dystopian future that will hopefully never come to pass. With a sound that defies categorization, UKAEA’s compositions blend elements of electronica, psychedelia, and experimentalism, creating a sonic tapestry that is both intoxicating and unsettling. Attending a UKAEA live performance is not just a concert—it’s a visceral, immersive experience that defies explanation. Just like previous UKAEA performances at supersonic festival, expect body paint, audience participation and a harsh haunting of analogue synths.
“Throughout the duration of their performance, UKAEA invites various audience members to be blindfolded and painted, after which they are tossed back in to the crowd. About half an hour in and there are about twenty-five participants, holding hands and swaying side to side as the drone reaches fever pitch.” – Counteract (review from Supersonic Festival 2018)
https://ukaea.bandcamp.com/album/birds-catching-fire-in-the-sky-2
