From Daleks To Noise: Unsound Adelaide Releases Discourse Program

Today Unsound Adelaide - the Australian leg of the world's foremost experimental and electronic music festival - announces its inaugural Discourse Program presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, University of South Australia to complete a stellar lineup of concerts, club nights, audio visual displays, sound installations and more.

Among many Australian firsts, the Discourse Program will feature artist talks by one of the most acclaimed electronic musicians of our time, Holly Herndon; and the idiosyncratic German composer of many aliases, Uwe Schmidt (Senor Coconut, Atom TM); plus a presentation on the Adelaide innovator behind Pink Floyd's famous synthesizer in Dark Side of the Moon (and the sound of Dr. Who's Daleks), Tristram Cary.

Other sessions include Australia's premiere A/V artist Robin Fox in discussion with Kara-Lis Coverdale, Nate Young of Wolf Eyes and Errorsmith about what it means to play electronic and experimental music live, and Berlin-based U.S. artist Colin Self speaking with the Polish Unsound Director Gosia P?ysa about the function music plays in relation to politics, protest and activism.

Unsound founder, Mat Schulz says:

"The discourse program has long been a vital part of Unsound in Krakow and New York, providing a context for performances and a hub where audience and artists are able to interact. Offering such a program to the Adelaide audience is another aspect of the expansion of the local festival, and a key part of developing Unsound as a stand-alone event."

Unsound Adelaide opens to the public on Friday 17 November with the first of the concert series at The Thebarton Theatre featuring the legendary Wolf Eyes in their first Australian performance in more than a decade and the anticipated Australian debut of 27 year old New York noise artist Pharmakon. These concerts continue across Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Alongside the concert series, on Friday and Saturday (late) evenings Fowler's Live will host the Australian debut of Unsound's famous Club Nights, which are known all around the world for bridging different styles and genres of dance music, from the experimental edges of club culture to blazing techno. These club nights will feature the likes of PAN's founder Bill Kouligas, DJ Richard, Errorsmith and Amnesia Scanner.

Throughout the weekend, festival goers will be able to enjoy the free sound installations at the Bicentennial Conservatory at Adelaide Botanic Garden by noted sound artists Chris Watson (UK), Leyland Kirby (The Caretaker) (UK) and Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement (US).

Unsound Adelaide's Discourse Program is free to attend. Festival pass holders will be given priority.

Tickets for the music program are now on sale through unsoundadelaide.com

Unsound Adelaide Discourse Program

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre

West Bar, UniSA City West Campus
58-60 North Tce, Adelaide

SATURDAY 18th November

13:00

Presentation: From Daleks to Noise - Tristram Cary The Electronic Music Pioneer

Tristram Cary was a UK-born electronic music who relocated to Adelaide in the '70's. For the rest of his life he was associated with the city and is a huge part of its electronic music history. Famous first as film and TV composer, he was associated with Dr Who and the early days of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Hammer and Ealing Studios. Renowned for his ground-breaking work with technology (including the synthesizer played by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon), Cary was an innovator years ahead of his time and seriously under-valued. He also had a serious impact on the formative years of experimental electronic music here in Adelaide. Christian Haines and Gabriella Smart give insight to the unique achievements of this highly original composer and demonstrate his revolutionary technology live.

14:15

Discussion: Permutations of Performance

Robin Fox is not only one of Australia's premiere A/V artists, he is also one of the key figures behind Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio. He joins artists Kara-Lis Coverdale, Nate Young of Wolf Eyes and Errorsmith to discuss what it means to play electronic and experimental music live, from synth shows to laptop performances. Questions covered include whether performance now have more importance than recorded works? Does an improvised DJ set have the same status a live show? How is the sonic side of an event affected by the visual, how has this changed throughout the years, and what might the future bring?

15:30

Artist talk: Uwe Schmidt

Uwe Schmidt aka Atom aka Senor Coconut is one of the most idiosyncratic artists in electronic music, with hundreds of releases put out via a dizzying number of aliases. German-born but now based in Chile, influences on his work range from Kraftwerk to Latin music via techno, while live performances include A/V shows featuring a computerised version of his face to the 9-piece Senor Coconut band he now brings to Adelaide. Unsound Artistic Director Mat Schulz sits with Uwe to chat about his early influences, the effect of geographical dislocation on his art, how he makes music and much more.

16:45

Discussion: Communities

In these turbulent times, what function can music play in relation to politics, protest and activism? In particular, what are the different types of communities that exist around electronic and experimental music scenes. This discussion involves Berlin-based U.S. artist Colin Self - in Adelaide to perform with Holly Herndon, Guiseppe Faraone from the Adelaide-based queer collective ClubSync and Polish Unsound director Gosia P?ysa.

SUNDAY 19th November

13:00

Presentation: Modular Mortgage or How To Get Into Modular Synthesis Without Going Broke

Dave Burraston is an Australian experimental musician, who has worked with a diverse range of artists from Chris Watson to Aphex Twin via Oren Ambarchi. A self-confessed gearhead, among his many accomplishments is the publication of SYROBONKERS!, the most technical interview ever given by Aphex Twin. Today he discusses how to get into modular synthesis - with a particular emphasis on not going broke!

14:15

Discussion: On The Road

With less income from physical sales, music has become a more precarious and untenable vocation unless you are young, have no attachments and few expenses. Is this a recipe for a bad situation and bad art? How can one survive and create when constantly on the road performing? This discussion will extend to also look at the difficulties of dealing with artist visas in a world where more walls are rising up, what produces a meaningful exchange when we visit other places, as well as the benefits and negative sides of artists gathering in creative expat enclaves such as Berlin. Participants include Rubén Patiño of N.M.O, Thomas Köner of Porter Ricks and Jonas Rönnberg aka Varg. Moderated by David Sefton.

15:30

Artist talk: Holly Herndon

Holly Herndon is one of the most acclaimed electronic musicians of her generation, exploring our complicated relationships with technology through cutting edge sound design. On the occasion of her first-ever show in Australia, she talks with Unsound's Gosia Plysa about technology in life and music, traversing subjects such as making emotional music via a laptop, our complex relationship to technology, how and why politics infuses her music - and much more.

16:45

Presentation: Ideologies On The Block Chain

Mat Dryhurst discusses how decentralised tech could learn a great deal from utopian musical crews of different eras, such as AACM, Dischord and Underground Resistance, and speculates on what might happen if different crews had the tech available to fully manifest these visions (implying that it may soon exist).

To post a comment, you must register and login.