Synapse Electronic Arts Series presents.....
Foundry Night of Electronic Music @ Cobalt Sun
Prepare yourself for a scintillating evening of varied styles of electronic music and video at Cobalt Sun with Foundry label artists Saul Stokes, Carl Weingarten, Thermal, Dean Santomieni, Ben Swire, Brian Naas and Foundry founder M. Bentley.
When: Saturday, July 29, 2006 8 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Where: Cobalt Sun, 411-A Coloma St. Sausalito, CA
Phone: 415-332-2362
Contact: Dwight Loop 415-332-3323
Tickets: $15 - $12 student/senior
To learn more about the Foundry Music Label and the artists go to www.foundrysite.com
PRECIS
July 29th will find a small contingent of Foundry label artists congregating at Cobalt Sun in Sausalito for an evening of electronic music and video. The participants - which include Saul Stokes, Carl Weingarten, Thermal, Dean Santomieri, Ben Swire, Brian Naas, and Foundry founder M. Bentley - generate music in a variety of different ways but all explore some aspect of electronic music. For Saul Stokes this centers around his own home made equipment, synthesizers hand built and unique in sound. For Carl Weingarten the approach starts with a guitar and incorporates various forms of signal/sound processing. Both Thermal and Dean Santomieri are accomplished guitarists and use a variety of other instruments as well, so their recipe might include keyboards, samplers, even the human voice. Michael Bentley's method is similarly wide-ranging and focuses on use of computer environments to meld his varied audio source material. Brian Naas and Ben Swire are working on a unique collaboration involving Ben's guitar playing as sound source and Brian's laptop manipulations as sound processing to evoke lush electronic atmospheres. The diversity in this group is definitely a strength, and the Foundry Evening promises to take the listener on a wide ranging sonic adventure!
Performance notes: Saul Stokes always explores new aspects of his sound when performing live and it is impossible to tell exactly where the paths will lead. Alternately rhythmic and abstract, Stokes' shows are mesmerizing. M. Bentley will be premiering a new long form piece as part of this SEAS event, titled the Starry Messenger. The weaving together of his trademark abstract atmospheres with melodic elements makes this latest of Bentley's works unique. Thermal will be performing his collage piece A Walk Through N, a meditation (though not without percussion and drive) on words and sound, narrative and form. Carl Weingarten will be presenting a series of atmospheric soundscapes, guitar-based ambiance of the most seductive sort. Dean Santomieri will be playing a short piece based on organ studies and compositional sketches. Brian Naas and Ben Swire will be performing together live for the first time and exploring the interplay of guitar and laptop as they sculpt aural pathways.
BIOGRAPHIES
Michael Bentley is the founder of The Foundry label, has recorded under several names [eM, The Apiary and Rhomb (with Nathan Kreisberg), among others] and has released a number of EPs and CDs of electronic and experimental music. Beyond the many projects for his own Foundry label, Bentley's output includes releases for the Irish label Fällt (as eM, Import was part of the invalidObject series); for SlapArt (the Retrograd cassette EP as eM), and inclusion on CD compilations from MIT Press' Computer Music Journal (Winter 2000), and No Type (as eM with n.kra on The Freest of Radicals). Michael continues to work with the Archipelago collective on both releases (Bibimbap in 2004, the Islands EP series in 2000), and performances (the monthly Archipelago LIVE series Feb.through May 2004). In the last two years Michael has been working with video, incorporating his years of experience in graphic arts to create the Chronos & Kairos, St. Michael Oubliette, and Scenes from Thing Asunder video pieces. Bentley's latest CD release, titled This World, was released on The Foundry in April 2006.
Brian Naas is a recent graduate from San Francisco State where he studies music. Brian plays several instruments, and since his graduation has been teaching guitar in the Bay Area. Under the name Egocentric Brian released The Sky Within the Ground EP through The Foundry (the third in the EP Series) in 2004.
Dean Santomieri has been working with electronic music and musique concrete since 1971, as well as creating multi-image pieces, super-8 and 16mm films and videos. Santomieri's projects have included the electro-acoustic performing duo Donkey Boy (with Luther Bradfute in 1995), and the Baroque performance group Theater of Memory (with Joyce Todd 1996). Since 1997 Santomieri has also been performing with Malcolm Mooney & the10th Planet (Mooney was the original singer with the German progressive-rock group Can), providing electronics and guitar. In 1998 Santomieri formed a multi-media group with musicians Bruce Anderson, Karen Stackpole and David Kwan, for live performance of his short stories (narration accompanied by live music and video). This ensemble's first show, The Boy Beneath the Sea, was performed numerous times in the Bay Area and lead to a Foundry release of the same name. In 2000 the Archipelago imprint released Santomieri's Crude Rotation, a 3" CD, EP of musique concrete/electronic pieces, to critical praise. Dean continues to work with audio and video and performs regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Saul Stokes was born in Seattle Washington, and after adolescent training on both the violin and trumpet, he discovered the tonal possibilities of the synthesizer. Stokes started creating electronic music as a teenager in the mid 1980's and soon his fascination with the palette of sounds available via synthesizer led him to learn the basics of analog equipment construction. While attaining a degree in Industrial Design, Stokes used his DIY approach to build highly eccentric music devices, and he began to restructure his musical ideas focusing on music created purely from home-made synthesizers and computer technology. Stokes has released a number of albums since 1997, and continue to work on new projects for both live and recorded contexts. Stokes' latest album, titled Vast, was released by The Foundry in early 2006.
Ben Swire is originally from Newton, MA (a suburb of Boston) and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2000. Swire studied electronic music composition with Charles Bestor and explored various facets of creating music. After releasing several projects and working in audio production, Swire relocated to San Francisco in 2002, soon after releasing the Equilibrium EP on The Foundry. Swire has worked with the Bay Area's Archipelago collective on live performances and recording projects, creating tracks for the Bibimbap and Thing Asunder CDs, as well as creating video footage and soundtracks, and developing his photography. Currently Ben works in the Pro Tools lab at the Academy of Art University and as a freelance mastering engineer.
Thermal has been making music for many years, both as a member of M-1 Alternative and as a sometimes member of the Ambient Temple of Imagination (ATOI) and Freezer. Thermal uses guitars, synthesis, samplers and computers to create his music and has produced several solo projects over the last 10 years. His releases include the Span 3" CD EP and a track on Bibimbap for Archipelago; A Monument of Chance and Time out of Mind for his own Boxman Studies label; and contributions to the Foundry Project 360°.
Carl Weingarten has been releasing work for well over two decades and has 18 solo albums to his credit. If you include his contributions as session musician and producer the figure climbs to over 40. He has explored many guitar styles and incorporated aspects of country, blue, progressive rock and world music into his work, exploring electric, slide, and dobro guitar sounds along the way. Weingarten has worked with many respected musicians, including Fareed Haque, Michael Manring and Forrest Fang, and founded Multiphase Productions in 1980, thourhg which many of his releases are available. Weingarten continues to release music and play live regularly in the Bay Area. Weingarten's upcoming release Invisibility (a collaboration with Forrest Fang) will be released on The Foundry.
Cost: $15