Tilted Axes To Premiere 'Touchy Subjects' Music And Video For The Summer Solstice

On June 20-21, 2020, Tilted Axes: Music for Mobile Electric Guitars will release new music (June 20) and a video (June 21) in celebration of the Summer Solstice. The new work, entitled "Touchy Subjects", is a musical meditation on the real phenomenon of "touch starvation" that many are experiencing since the onset of social distancing. "Touchy Subjects" will explore the tonalities of touch, or the ways in which we physically connect to the world we inhabit have changed.

Tilted Axes is an award-winning project of post-rock composer and performer Patrick Grant, which brings specially composed electric guitar music into public spaces. The group consists of 15-18 electric guitarists playing instrumental music through wearable mini-amps, accompanied by percussionists and other performers. Stylistically the ensemble covers a number of genres, centering on the nexus where rock, classical, and world music meet. Tilted Axes performs in public squares, museums, and festivals of all kinds.

Since the pandemic, like so many other performing ensembles, the group has had to adapt to the current crisis. A number of large-scale performances were in the pre-production stage when Tilted Axes had to cancel rehearsals, postpone performances, and search for alternative outlets for their work.

In April, the group released a video for the Earth Day 50 Virtual Kick-Off as a commission from 350NYC called "Climate S.O.S." This exposed the ensemble to a diverse new audience and illuminated fresh opportunities to make an impact in this moment.

"For 'Touchy Subjects' the aim is to create something that relates to our universal situation and can be understood anytime anywhere, past, present, or future," says creator Grant. "At the same time, we don't want to create another Zoom-style video. We're compiling images and video footage from our musicians and other collaborators and building a musical and visual narrative that encompasses the personal experiences we all share. Like other works that I have produced which are informed by real science ("Genome: The Autobiography of a Species", "Moonwalk" for the Apollo 11 anniversary, etc.), we are consulting actual psychologists in the creation of this work. We are lucky that one of our Tilted Axes members is a doctor of psychology. We feel confident that, while we are certainly making art that is open to interpretation, that the sources of inspiration are informed and enlightened."

For details about "Touchy Subjects" and the June 20-21 release info, please follow Tilted Axes on Facebook, Instagram, or go to its web site: http://tiltedaxes.com/tiltedaxes.html.

The work is being presented in conjunction with Make Music New York and Make Music Day.

To post a comment, you must register and login.