Sound Klub is a series of small events and concerts held in Hobart curated by Matt Warren and Joshua Santospirito focusing on audiovisual / improv and experimental sound / performances. It has been ongoing since 2009 … so next year it will be 10 years old.
An improvisation that I did at the now NOW series in September of 2012 in Sydney.
So the story goes like this – I had a gig in Basel, Switzerland – at this great little artist-run place called Schqrzwaldallee which was in an old train repair-yard. I met all the people who ran it who were very nice hipster artists – very nice people. I was setting up, and a few people had arrived, I had bare feet on concrete, I was holding my guitar – and there was this nice little lamp on the ground with a shade on it – it was on, I reched down to move from one side of my guitar pedals to the other – as my hands closed around the base of it (made of metal)- I had this vibrating sensation throughout my upper body – I knew in my mind that I was being electrified but I couldn’t open my hand to release the lamp. An involuntary noise came from my throat and I could see the people at the door looking at – it all happened very much in slow-motion – I noticed a lot of things in what was probably a short space of about 3-4 seconds of the current passing through me – I fell over on my knees, which must have knocked the lamp out of my hand. I was very shaken up … everyone rushed in – I think everyone was in shock (no pun intended). I had a lot of adrenaline pulsing through my veins and was apparently as white as a sheet. The artists fussed around and couldn’t believe it was the lamp … they thought it might’ve been my guitar … I didn’t know which it was … could’ve been both … I could’ve bridged the electricity between the lamp and the guitar or the lamp and the concrete … I was certain it was the lamp. I got a little cranky at them suggesting it was the guitar when it clearly happened when I picked up the lamp – their safety switches didn’t switch off either which was also concerning. Anyway – Nadine was adamant that she didn’t want me to play. Nadine’s Dad came in a started giving the artists grief, making suggestions in a commanding voice. It was quite a scene. Anyway, I decided to continue playing – they got a different lamp out. I walked over to pick up my guitar and the lights went out … I panicked and ran away from the setup. They fixed it again … and I decided to man-up and play the gig.
I thought I played pretty well … Nadine recorded some of it … ages later I listened to it again – I played terribly.
The next day Nadine convinced me to go to local doctor to get checked out – he did and ECG … or an EKG in German. There was a slight change on my EKG which indicated that a part of my myocardium had suffered a small amount of oxygen loss – he told me to come back in a week for another EKG and a stress test – he expected it to be fine again. I came back in a week – it was fine. Phew!!
DWT had the most prolific year ever in 2012 with 15 concerts, some tours of mainland Australia and Europe and two mini-albums released.
I gotta say that the gig where I played best was the NOW now concert in August, but unfortunately there is no recording … it is slowly flowing out into the stars, mingled with other noise from Sydney at that time.
Some other highlight gigs this year were
the Pontevedra gig in Galicia, Spain, where I met some absolutely lovely people and played to a very attentive crowd
the recent gig in Hobart where I played with Matt Warren in a sort-of impromptu arrangement – the first gig of the Hovering Waitresses.
A concert in May at the Moonah Arts Centre where I worked in some sports commentary from a Carlton Blues game which worked a TREAT!!
I’d like to thank all the people I played with on various tours and whatnot, people who helped gigs happen and people who came and told me they liked my music! Met some rad people and had a blast. Big thanks to the beautiful Nadine Kessler for supporting me and making great tour posters. xxoo
2013 starts with an exciting gig where I will be playing with cartoonist Chris Downes as he draws the images for a ghost/horror story at the Rosny Barn as part of MONA FOMA 2013 … hopefully as an artist at the festival I can sidle up to David Byrne and get someone to take a sneaky pic when I hug him by stealth!!
thanks guys!!!
jxo
Here’s an article in Arts Hub which … is slightly fictional in its factual … but reminded me of the video above that I’d forgotten about. It comes from a Sydney performance that I did in 2011 of the ongoing Acousmatic Ecology series … which is a style of playing that I developed over some years.
Schwarzwaldallee is a gallery in Basel that Drive West Today will be playing at next Thursday the 2nd!!!
Poster Designed by Nadine Kessler
Joshua Santospirito Art 