Kids Gig

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Saxophone making Modern Art Oxford. Yard Party

Supersonic Festival wants to inspire the audiences and musicians of the future through our Kids Gigs programme. This year we will be hosting a Kids Gig event on Friday May 30th. This is a free event and recommended for children under 10 and their families. It will take place in the foyer of Symphony Hall at 10:30am.

Leading this Kids Gig is artist Sarah Kenchington who  makes, designs and adapts acoustic musical instruments. She performs on a semi mechanical pedal powered orchestra, designed to be slightly beyond her control, creating a mixture of dirty noise and plaintive almost tuneful melodies.

As well as her solo performances Sarah has performed and recorded with a range of musicians from Glasgow’s vibrant experimental music scene including Daniel Padden, Mark Vernon and Luke Fowler. She also builds large scale instruments and installations, including ‘Wind Pipes’ for Edinburgh art festival, made from salvaged church organ pipes. And ‘Sound House’ for Modern Art Oxford, an instrument made from a house.

Supersonic’s Kids Gig on May 30th will be at Symphony Hall

 

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Supersonic 2012 – Here’s To Another 10 Years!

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It’s hard to believe that almost two weeks have passed since we were all frantically rushing around the Custard Factory, putting the final touches to the various wild man posters around the site and screwing in the last few records to the Vinyl Rally’s MDF floor before hordes of music fans rushed in to bask in the eclectic and adventurous sounds that Capsule had loving curated this year – and what a lineup it was! There was truly something for everyone, as Friday ran the gamut between JK Flesh’s absolutely punishing industrial dub, the surreal electronica of the Small But Hard showcase, the free-wheeling cosmic riffery of Hey Colossus, the toy tinkering soundscapes of Modified Toy Orchestra, and of course, the triumphant return of drum’n’bass dark lords PCM to the Supersonic stage.

Saturday brought even more surprises, from the gentle folk strains of Dylan Carlson’s new material to the unholy combination of Merzbow and Oxbow’s Eugene and Niko, a full-on audio explosion that wiped clean the mental state of everyone in attendance. I also have to give praise to the incredible drummer that accompanied Masami Akita’s astonishing feedback theatrics, augmenting the sonic devastation with some jazzy splashes, tribal belligerence and even some well timed blastbeats without ever failing by the wayside of Akita’s incendiary slabs of twsited sonic debri, which is no mean feat! A rare UK showing from Bohren & der Club of Gore was utterly captivating, enveloping the Boxxed venue in a dense, melancholy atmosphere and transporting the audience into the starkest of film noir settings for the entire duration of their set.

Meanwhile, Drunk In Hell’s molasses thick sludge onslaught and Zeni Geva’s vitally intricate sonic attack provided a satisfying ammount of musical filth to wallow in, forcing heads to bang and mosh pits to errupt. Zeni Geva may only exist as a two-piece now, but that hasn’t hindered KK Null and Yoshida’s fury at all, with Null especially firing off an arsenal of bewildering noise outbursts alongside his standard riff warfare via a series of baffling pedals. The icing on the cake was undoubtedly the astonishing avant-electronica of Hype Williams; bathing the entire Warehouse in a thick, eerie fog, the enigmatic duo proceeded to fuse together dub, noise, jazz, musique concrete, electro and garage influences into an uncategorizable and unforgettable performance. As Copeland’s beautiful tones danced across the bizarre volley of sounds emanating from Blunt’s corner of the stage, in which gullet-rattling dub basslines collided with squealing trumpets and reverb drenched car alarms, it was hard to shake the feeling that we were witnessing something of a musical revolution!

In keeping with Supersonic’s inclusive ethos, even youngsters were catered for with this year’s kid’s gigs, in which we bore witness to the heartwarming sight of a room full of children grooving along to the expansive psych voyages of Flower/Corsano Duo – and who knows? In 10 years time, some of these children may be taking to our stages themselves to blow your mind with their sonic wares…

Sunday boasted perhaps one of the most spectacular running orders in Supersonic’s illustrious history, with all manner of heavy weights awaiting today’s eager audience. Gnod’s triumphant set in Boxxed was astonishing, the over-powering throb of their sublimely heavy krautrock-isms gradually reconfiguring the pulse of each listener, unwittingly tuning into their psyche and forcing them headfirst into a cosmic thrill ride the likes of which would make even Timothy Leary baulk at the sheer intensity of it all. Elsewhere, Justice Yeldham revealed to us all the mind mangling sounds that lay dormant in a single piece of glass, Lash Frenzy created an imposing and lucid arena in which achieve total sensory overload, and the mighty Ufomammut invited us to accompany them on a voyage deep into the heart of their latest two-record opus, ‘ORO’. Once these guys peak there’s no force in the universe that can restrain them, and the riffs are flowing thick and fast (or should that be slow?) tonight. Whilst both the ‘ORO’ records are impressive in their own right, combined they are a true force to behold, and to witness this incredible odyssey in the flesh is an awesome experience!

A tough act to follow indeed, but mysterious Swedish voodoo merchants Goat were more than up to the challenge. Taking to the stage in colourful robes, ritualistic gaments and erm, a golden robot mask, the band’s vibrant psych-rock/afro-beat concoction instantly whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Racing through all of their ‘World Music’ debut (including instant classics like ‘Goatman’, ‘Let It Bleed’ and ‘Run To Your Mama’) but allowing their songs a bit more room to breathe, the Swedes kicked out the jams with an infectious energy and by the time the extended version of ‘Det som aldrig förändras / Diarabi’ brought their revelatory set to a close, you’d be hard pushed to find a single member of the audience who wasn’t sporting an enormous ear-to-ear grin. Incredible!

Finally, the Oxbow Orchestra provided an enthralling end to this year’s celebrations, reinterpreting some of their classic songs and even treating us to some choice cuts from their upcoming full-length ‘The Thin Black Duke’. Their performance was at once intimate and gripping, but without losing any of the potent intensity that has made the band such a force to be reckoned with over the years. This was due to be Supersonic 2012’s final performance, but it seems you, the audience, had other ideas, as an impromptu and sublimely hypnotic drum circle erupted in the beer tent just outside. As the ringing in our ears began to subside, the communal and strangely rhythmic clinking of pint glasses against benches and a sea of warm smiles was a perfect finish to this year’s festival.

Of course, I’m only scratching the surface of Supersonic 2012 here; beyond the numerous delights of this year’s musical lineup, there was a whole plethora of extra-curricular activities. The sight of a fresh-faced individual feverishly clutching at a copy of their own recently pressed Kim Gordon collab on their way back from the Reverse Karaoke installation become a pleasingly common sight over the weekend, and the procession of startingly costumed members of the Outcrowd throughout the festival site on Sunday was a source of much ceremonial excitement. The ear mutilating sounds of Lucas Abela’s Vinyl Rally were a definite highlight, featuring one of Lucas’ most ambitious track layouts to date. Volunteers hastily scrambled alongside the track as Lucas himself sat within the makeshift nerve centre of the rally, tinkering away whilst the assembled throng routinely found themselves astonished by the sheer spectacle of it all.

And of course, there’s the massive contribution that you yourselves paid to the festival, by arriving in your dozens and flooding the Custard Factory with enthusiasm, joy and good vibes. This year’s edition of the festival was one of the finest of the past 10 years, a truly excellent way to celebrate a decade of passionate experimental arts programming – here’s to another ten years!

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A Colourful Introduction To Animation With The Juneau Projects

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By now you’ve probably heard all about our Kids Gigs, a series of concerts designed to introduce your young ones to the power and beauty of live music in a safe, child friendly environment (if not, where have you been?). This year we’re proud to present the Flower-Corsano Duo on Saturday 20th, and Islaja on Sunday 21st, but it’s not just art of the musical variety that we’re offering to your kids this year. The fantastic visual arts collective Juneau Projects will be offering a 20 minute animation workshop at both gigs, with the aim of gently introducing your child to the art of creating moving pictures. Using coloured lights and a series of basic images, your children will be encouraged to bring these pictures to life before letting their hair down for the following musical treat.

This combination of visual arts and experimental music is the perfect gift for a precocious child (ideally under the age of 7), and this is a great opportunity to share an artistic experience with your young ones. There are barely any tickets left for Flower-Corsano Duo, but we still have plenty for Islaja; spaces are limited however, so book now to avoid dissapointment!

Tickets cost £10 (parent and child) or £12.50 (parent and two children), and this includes both the gig and the workshop.

Buy Tickets – Saturday with Flower/Corsano
Buy Tickets – Sunday with Islaja

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Kids Gigs – Islaja

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The response to our Kids Gigs this year has been truly humbling; it seems many of you are eager to share the beauty of experimental music with your young ones! The Flower-Corsano duo gig on Saturday is close to selling out, but fear not! On Sunday 21st October, we’re proud to present the unique acid-folk stylings of Islaja, an enchanting prospect for listeners of all ages.

Merja Kokkonen (AKA Islaja) has been at the forefront of the Finnish folk scene for almost 10 years now, with her distinctive and daring style often drawing comparisons to Bjork, Syd Barret and Nico. However, Islaja’s music is very unique, bringing in more Eastern sounding influences to weave a truly fascinating musical palette. Her soulful yet icy voice soars over her own compositions, that manage to attain a certain level of majesty without losing sight of their innate sense of playfulness, a combination that’s certain to charm you as much as it will your children!

In addition to sharing the power of live music with your kids, this event also presents the opportunity to engage them with other forms of art too. The fantastic Juneau Projects will be offering a 20 minute animation workshop at both gigs, with the aim of gently introducing your child to the art of creating moving pictures. Using coloured lights and a series of basic images, your children will be encouraged to bring these pictures to life before letting their hair down for the following musical treat. If you think your child would enjoy an artistically stimulating experience in a safe, child friendly environment, then this is the perfect gift. Spaces are limited, so book now to avoid dissapointment!

Islaja will perform on Sunday 21st October. Tickets cost £10 (parent and child) or £12.50 (parent and two children), and this includes both the gig and the workshop.

Buy Tickets – Saturday with Flower/Corsano
Buy Tickets – Sunday with Islaja

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Kids Gigs – Flower/Corsano Duo

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Supersonic’s gigs for kids series returns this year in style, with some of the festival’s finest performing artists taking the time to play their big sounds for little people. Ideally suited for children under 7, this is a great way to introduce your children to the wonders of experimental audio, and a fantastic opportunity to show them the power and beauty of live music in a safe, child friendly environment.

First up, the Flower/Corsano Duo will be providing a psychedelic, free-flowing voyage for your young ones to embark upon. Taking place on the Saturday at 1.30pm in the Custard Factory’s Old Library, these two fine musicians will create a warm and inviting (yet distinctly avant-garde) soundscape that can’t fail to capture the attentions of listeners both young and old. Chris Corsano is a bona fide percussive virtuoso, whose energetic and unconventional drumming is sure to get your kids dancing, whilst Mick Flower will be manning the strings to provide some expansive textural accompaniment.

“I once played for a classroom full of 5 year olds and they all immediately got up and danced. That was a reaction I’d never seen before and I loved it” says Chris of his decision to play this special pre-school set. “I’d imagine that it’ll be quieter [than our other set at the festival] since little ears are sensitive to loud sounds. What we do is always improvised, and it seems like a great chance to play off the energy of an audience of kids and see where things go from there.” Playing to a room of infants is evidently a very different proposition to playing for an adult (or even adolescent) audience, forcing the musician to find new ways to perform their craft. “It’ll be a challenge to keep shorter attention spans engaged throughout the set” Chris muses, “and I wonder if it’ll be tough to keep kids focused when the music doesn’t have vocals. But I hope they get into it in the totally unselfconscious way that kids do.” It’s a pleasing thought that many of the children in attendance may look back fondly at this gig and cherish Corsano’s frantic drumming as their first musical memory. “I remember listening to LPs” says Chris, reminiscing on his earliest encounters with music. “The two that stick out the most in my memory are Devo’s ‘Freedom of Choice’ and a record of Haunted House sound effects.”

So if you’d like to share a very special musical memory with your children, bring them down to witness Chris and Mick’s adventurous sounds first-hand  on Saturday 20th October. Tickets cost £10 (parent and child) or £12.50 (parent and two children), and the gig will also include an animation workshop by artist duo Juneau Projects. And if your kids can’t seem to get enough experimental music, you can also take them to see daring Finnish folk artist Islaja the next day!

Buy Tickets – Saturday with Flower/Corsano
Buy Tickets – Sunday with Islaja

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Kids Gigs

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Our annual programme of big sounds for little people returns! These performances act as an introduction to experimental music for children and their families.

Sunday 21st October 1.30pm
Old Library, Custard Factory
Islaja
Her unique vocal style and daring DIY approach to music composition is coupled with a beautiful sense of playfulness. Soulful and icy in one breath, she is one of the key players of the Finnish free folk scene.
http://islaja.com/

Saturday 20th October, 1.30pm
Old Library, Custard Factory
Flower/Corsano Duo
Corsano is a multi faceted drummer and one of the most exciting improv percussionists in the world. Lightning quick yet with an unconventional approach to rhythm, we’re looking forward to some top notch dancing from the kids for this show. He teams up with multi instrumentalist, free psych player Mick Flower on strings.
http://www.cor-sano.com/

Each gig will include an animation workshop by artist duo Juneau Projects
http://www.juneauprojects.co.uk/

TICKETS

Tickets cost £10 (parent and child) or £12.50 (parent and two children)

Buy Tickets – Saturday with Flower/Corsano
Buy Tickets – Sunday with Islaja

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Kids gigs with Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple

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Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple to play Kids Gigs at Supersonic 2011

It’s hard to imagine to two more perfect bands to play our Supersonic Kids Gigs than Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple.  These will rule!   If everyone isn’t running around clapping and smiling in five minutes, we’ll need to think about refunds.

Lucky Dragons are all about people coming together to make sound, to make an event, to make something new and joyous.  It’s not by accident that they refer to their live shows as ‘actions’.  They encourage participation and this Supersonic live show promises to be all about (re)discovery and (re)turning to play to learn about ourselves and make new connections.  There’s a live video link below and more Lucky Dragons live films are here.

The Berg Sans Nipple are a Frenchman and a Nebraskan.  With two drums, synths, samples, a ton of percussion and vocals, their sounds hop-skip past each other, caught in devastatingly beautiful melodies held tight by a mind bending rhythm section.  Their new video ‘Changing the Shape’ (link below) is a fantastic twist on the age-old game of exquisite corpse where an image or story is built up person-by-person using instinct and imagination.  Let’s play!

http://thebergsansnipple.tumblr.com

http://www.hawksandsparrows.org/

The Berg Sans Nipple – Change The Shape from Clapping Music on Vimeo.

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Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple to play kids gigs at Supersonic 2011

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Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple to play Kids Gigs at Supersonic 2011

It’s hard to imagine to two more perfect bands to play our Supersonic Kids Gigs than Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple.  These will rule!   If everyone isn’t running around clapping and smiling in five minutes, we’ll need to think about refunds.

Lucky Dragons are all about people coming together to make sound, to make an event, to make something new and joyous.  It’s not by accident that they refer to their live shows as ‘actions’.  They encourage participation and this Supersonic live show promises to be all about (re)discovery and (re)turning to play to learn about ourselves and make new connections.  There’s a live video link below and more Lucky Dragons live films are here.

The Berg Sans Nipple are a Frenchman and a Nebraskan.  With two drums, synths, samples, a ton of percussion and vocals, their sounds hop-skip past each other, caught in devastatingly beautiful melodies held tight by a mind bending rhythm section.  Their new video ‘Changing the Shape’ (link below) is a fantastic twist on the age-old game of exquisite corpse where an image or story is built up person-by-person using instinct and imagination.  Let’s play!

http://thebergsansnipple.tumblr.com

http://www.hawksandsparrows.org/

The Berg Sans Nipple – Change The Shape from Clapping Music on Vimeo.

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Supersonic Kids Gigs

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After the success of our first Supersonic Kids Gigs in 2010, we return with another programme of big sounds for little people!

Tickets  will be £10 for 1 child +  1 adult and available from www.macarts.co.uk

 

As well as performing at the main festival, Lucky Dragons and The Berg Sans Nipple will be performing a special Supersonic Kids Gig this year, exploring experimental music aimed and kids and their families.

Saturday 22nd October

Lucky Dragons’ performances put the audience at the heart of the show, and encourage participation with the artists and with each other. Playing together whilst engaging with new sounds. The artist duo regularly conducts workshops to find new ways to engage people in experimental sounds

http://www.hawksandsparrows.org/

Sunday 23rd October

The Berg Sans Nipple is Lori Sean Berg and Shane Aspegren. The former is a suave Frenchman from the dirty rues of Paris, the latter hails from the dusty plains of Nebraska. Two drums, synths, samples, a ton of percussion and vocals hardcore kids gone gamelan, caught in devastatingly beautiful melodies and a mind bending rhythm section.

http://thebergsansnipple.tumblr.com/

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Kids gigs

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Saturday 23rd October
11am + 2.30pm
mac Cannon Hill Park Birmingham B12 9QH
Tickets £5 Bookings 0121 446 3232 www.macarts.co.uk
For 2 – 7 year olds and their families
A 1 hr workshop & performance exploring experimental music aimed and kids and their families.
Ever since Schoenberg and Kandinsky became pen pals back in 1907, avant-garde art and experimental music has been attempting to find some common ground.  But, it’s not been easy.  While modern art is a mass phenomenon, experimental music is often derided and ignored by the masses.  Here’s our contribution towards a solution: ‘Big Sounds for Little People’.  If you couldn’t guess from the snappy title, it’s a gig, for kids and their families, which aims to introduce children to experimental music at an early age.

Featuring US based, Dosh, a one-man band, a virtuoso, and West Midlands local circuit-bending fiend Glatze.  Glatze uses customised instruments (including: circuit-bent Furby dolls and kids’ toys) that have been specially rewired to create all sorts of musical wizardry. Dosh a multi-instrumentalist; combines a host of instruments into an exciting and unique live experience.  See firsthand how these unlikely instruments are used to make noise / sound / music, and to have a go yourselves.

Produced by Capsule + mac with support from Bright Space + SAM

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