News 04-12

 

December 2012

On 14 December: My recorded piano piece November Song will be played at 60×60, PianoForte Foundation in the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue,  Chicago, USA from 6-7pm. Find out more here.

Also, I have lent my voice and German language skills to this lovely project by Italian artist and composer Andrea Gabriele. Find out more here. And I have added some videos from the recent SoundFjord residency to the residency blog. Some images are on facebook, courtesy of Nellie LeFey 

November 2012

On 1st  December I will be playing an improvised collaboration with David Aylward, Tom Scott, Adam Bohman and more  at Utrophia Project Space in 120 Deptford High Street, LondonSE8 4NS. Very much looking forward to this too, as it’s a short walk from my house and our previous collaborations with David and Tom were very good fun!

October 2012

visuals

On 21st November I will be co-hosting a rare Sprawl event at Cafe Oto with Adam Bohman, Jasmina Maschina and Material Studies. Click here for more.

Between12-18 November: residency at Soundfjord as part of the research projects series “Sequence Series: Turn, Move, Change”. Come and visit me Sunday 18th from 4-6pm where I will perform the work in progress! More information is here.

August 2012

On 6th October I will be performing with Scanner at the Liverpool Biennial , as part of Electronic Voice Phenomena  curated by Mercy. Venue is the HiFi, (formerly binanary cell) Seel Street, Liverpool. Click here for more information.

The following month, on 22nd November I will be playing at Phoenix Brighton, as part of Aural Detritus. Click here for more.

July 12

Change of date: The discussion between myself  and participants in over ride at  V22 Summer club in Bermondsey, originally scheduled for Saturday 13th July, has been moved to Thursday 26th July, 7-8pm. This will be streamed live via the project’s radio radeqIf you would like to take part, please contact me.

Two days after, Saturday July 28th from 2.30 – 6pm, I will be giving a workshop about improvising with wood, also at V22 Summer club. For more information and tickets ( £5/£4) click here.

May 2012

On Wednesday 7th June I will present a paper on my project over ride at the  Sound Sight Space Play symposium in Leicester, UK.

The following month, on Saturday 13th July at 6pm, you can catch a discussion between myself  and participants in over ride at  V22 Summer club in Bermondsey. This will be streamed live via the project’s radio radeqIf you would like to take part, please contact me.

April 2012

On May 8th I will be performing an 8-channel version of my new audio-visual project Traces in/of/with Sound at  City Lights: Transonic Transformations, City University, Performance Space, St John Street, London EC1V 4PB. Also performing are Cathy Lane, Viv Corringham and more. Find the details here

On May 17h will give a paper at SOUND::GENDER::FEMINISM::ACTIVISM at LCC , entitled  Escaping gender through technology: Sonic freedom and the machine.

Feb 2012

I will be playing live at the Performance Spacein Hackney Wick as part of the Dismantled Cabaret on Saturday the 17th of March. More on facebook.

Jan 2012

On Feb 6th, 5.45-6.45pm I will be giving a talk about my project over ride at the Sonic Art Research Unit listening group at Brookes University, Oxford.

Dec 2011

MediationsHere is a review of  Simon Whetham And Friends – Meditations on Light  on igloomag.com, which I have a piece on.

An abridged version of Room With a View will feature in Ex-trauma, an e-book part of the Experiments and Intensities series published by Winchester University Press, which is curated by  Annette Arlander, Yvon Bonenfant and Mary Agnes Covey-Krell. Not sure when the publication date is.

Also, I have uploaded is some critical writing on my work by Brandon LaBelle.  

 

Nov 2011

 

I have finally managed to put my interview by composer Peter McKerrow online. It was broadcast on Resonance FM back in May, the 30th at 8pm to be precise. Here you go:  

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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Sept 2011:

A new live video, made by Gianmarco Del Re is online at vimeo now. It was shot at Simon Whetham’s Active Crossover opening concert at Cafe Oto in August. Thanks Gianmarco! An excerpt from that performance will be released shortly.

 

July 2011:

active-crossover

Just a very quick one to invite you to a free concert at Cafe Oto on Wednesday. It is the opening concert of Simon Whetham’s Active Crossover at Soundfjord. Also playing are  Scanner, Lee Gamble and Simon Whetham.  http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/active-crossover.shtm

Also, a reworked version of  Simon Whetham’s ‎ Lightyears‘ project is on Simon Whetham And Friends – Meditations on Light featuring: Simon Whetham, Fourm, Richard Lainhart, Philippe Petit, mise_en_scene, Maile Colbert, Scanner, Christopher McFall, David Wells, Iris Garrelfs, Yann Novak, Lawrence English & John Kannenberg. It’s rather interesting to hear one  track mutate through the ears of such varied artists!

 

May  2011:

Text Festival logo

resonanceLOGO

 

 

 

After a long absence from any live activities I am very happy to get back to it on Friday 3rd June! Being at Text Festival in Bury, which is curated by poet Tony Trehy and features rare investigations into contemporary language art, it’s a rather worthwhile outing too.

3rd June, 7.30pm , £8
The Met Arts Centre
Market Street,
Bury, BL9 0BW

Just prior to that, on Monday 30th May at 8pm, you can catch me being interviewed by Peter McKerrow on Resonance fm. Unsurprisingly we’ll be chatting about the delights of creating sounds…

 

 

 

 

 

Just in time for your experimental x-mas list, my track “K” can be found on the compilation “Playing with Words” which accompanies the book of the same name, both edited by Cathy Lane. It’s released on Gruenrekorder and also features tracks by Jaap Blonk, Jörg Piringer, Trevor Wishart and plenty more. See www.gruenrekorder.de

In January, Sprawl will be 15 years old! It has been a great pleasure to curate and produce events during this time, so on on Thursday 27th January we do it once again! We are celebrating, back in our original Thursday slot, with a host of fantastic live music: common objects (john butcher + angharad davies + rhodri davies + phil durrant + lina lapelyte), Simon Fisher-Turner, Viv Corringham + Peter Cusack + Clive Bell, 360 degrees of 60×60 Video (Sanguine Mix) Video Collaboration with Patrick Liddell. For tickets check www.wegottickets.com

 

June 2010:

A long absence from the digital waves as I have been busy on a contract for theRoyal Opera House Creative Partnerships putting together educational reseach projects.

I did however manage a short excursion to Madrid, playing/singing as part of Thomas Koner’s “opera digitale” The Futurist Manifesto at Festival Rencontres Internationales.It’s always a very enjoyable experience!

In May I also played at Sounds at the Muse, trying out a new idea putting together voice sounds with some of my drawings. I’ll put up an extract on youtube shortly. Mark Beazleyfrom one of my favoured bands, Rothko, also played.

More recently I spend some time in Italy, recording a few noises with my good friend Andrea Gabriele, performing a beachside concert at Ecoteca at Plinius (thanks Fabrizio for the fabulous moogerfooger…) and finally having a look at the abolutely wonderful Pollinariawhere I’ll be spending some time next year. Sadly I had to cancel my residency last year as my mum was very ill. As usual, I took (too) many pictures… some from Pescara and some from Pollinaria. I hope you’ll enjoy them!

Another bit of good news, from October I’ll be doing a practiced based PhD at London College of Communication with funding from the AHRC. I’m very much looking forward to it!

 

Nov 2009:

A few concerts you may be interested in before we embark on x-mas mayhem and enter the 2nd decade of the 21st century.:

>> On Tuesday 1st December 2009 I’ll be playing/singing as part of Thomas Koner’s “opera digitale” The Futurist Manifesto at Festival Rencontres Internationales in Paris. We performed this at Impakt Festval in Utrecht in October, described like: “The dreamy, echoed sounds of Carl Faia’s prepared piano and electronics are countered by the cold and sometimes scarily distorted voice of the otherwise lovely Iris Garrelfs. The individual parts come together in perfect harmony.” Always wanted to be scary…

1/12/09, 8pm
Festival Rencontres Internationales
Theatre du Chatelet
75001 Paris
France

>> The last day of the year sees the 10th anniversary of Jem Finer‘s Longplayer. To celebrate there will be a live performance at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Be great to see you there at some point during the day. We’ll be wearing very fetching, matching outfits too and hopefully there will be a bbq…
A clip from the last concert at the Roundhouse in September can be found at news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8252139.stm

31/12/09, noon – 3pm
Trinity Buoy Wharf
(in Chain Store, under the lighthouse)
64 Orchard Place,
London E14 0JW

 

Sept 2009:

A few concerts you may be interested in the coming month:

>> On Wednesday 14th October I’ll be playing/singing as part of Thomas Koner‘s “opera digitale” The Futurist Manifesto. This takes place at the opening event for this year’s sound/image festival Impakt in Utrecht, Netherlands and looks at speed as a representational force.

“The dreamy, echoed sounds of Carl Faia’s prepared piano and electronics are countered by the cold and sometimes scarily distorted voice of the otherwise lovely Iris Garrelfs”…. Sounds good to me.

14th Oct, 7pm
Impakt Festival
Theater Kikker, Main Hall
Utrecht
The Netherlands

>> On Sunday 18th October a few of us including Douglas Benford and myself will be playing at the closing event of Simon Whetham’s installation Active Crossover at the Arnolfini in Bristol. There will be a mix of solos and collaborations throughout the event, further playing with the idea of crossovers.

18th Oct, 7pm, £7
Arnolfini
6 NARROW QUAY
BRISTOL BS1 4QA

>> On Friday 30th October am playing a mono set at Scaledown. Full details (including a handy map) can be viewed at theorchestrapit.com/scaledown

30th Oct, 7pm, free
King & Queen

1 Foley Street
W1W 6DL

>> A track of mine entitled Beachball appears on the new compilation “Quit Having Fun” on the Italian label Boring Machines. It’s a double CD featuring 23 artists, so expect lots of, ahem, fun. You can buy it for 11Euro incl shipping from boringmachines.it/shop.php

>> Last but not least you may want to see me and others at Jem Finer‘s Longplayer concert at the Roundhouse in September. There is a little clip atnews.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8252139.stm

 

May 2009:

>> The longest day of the year is almost upon us and luck has it that I am teaching an afternoon of creative instrument and sound making followed by an improvised performance at Camberwell Arts Festival on 21 June.

We’ll start by roaming the streets and parks of Camberwell for suitable materials, such as discarded cans, bathroom cabinets, followed by a performance in which I will mix and process the sounds made by you, Camerwell’s very own Stumble-on-and-hit-upon Orchestra to the exited cheers of assembled festival goers…

21/8/09, 1-7pm
performance from 5pm
Funky Munky
25 Camberwell Church St, London SE5 8TR
£free

>> Still staying south of the river, Tasty! is a brilliant annual performance art series taking place in Deptford, South London. On Thursday 25 June will will feast on your dinner, processing chinking plates, clattering cutlery, tinkling glasses and transforming Café Crema into a haven for experimental music and food lovers. I promise not to interrupt any intimate conversations…

25/6/09, 7:15pm
Café Crema
306 New Cross Road. London Se14 6AF (2 mins from New Cross / Gate tube)
£6

>> If you’re based north of the river, Brent’s Respect Festival might be a nice Sunday outing for 5 July. It gives you the no doubt exciting opportunity to have a play with my interactive sound sculpture of of the analogue kind, which will be on display there.

5/7/09, 1-8pm
Respect Festival
from 12 noon
Roundwood Park, London NW10
£free

>> Later that month I will perform 2 dates at the Science Museum. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo XI moon landing the Science Museum and Sound and Music, present the premiere of a new arrangement of Brian Eno’s 1983 album Apollo, performed by the Icebreakers with BJ Cole. Myself and Douglas Benford will be playing space inspired sounds in the gallery alongside the Apollo X capsule. Anybody who knows my bookshelves will smile at this point…

20 + 21/7/09 July, 19:30pm
Science Museum
Exhibition Road, London SW7
£18

>> Between 24-28 July I”ll be in Italy researching next year’s residency at Pollinaria, an amazing farm space at the foothills of the Abruzzo mountains, still devastated by the recent earthquake there. I am looking forward to long hikes and good wine!

>> Last but not least, I am very happy to be appointed as Creative Agent for Royal Opera House Creative Partnerships, which will see me whizzing around the south of England curating and brokering creative educational projects with selected schools

 

March 2009:

>> For all you London based folks, I’ll be performing live in collaboration with Douglas Benford at Dalston’s Cafe Oto next Wednesday 25th March 09 from 7pm. It’s a Sprawl event celebrating 10 years of the french label Bip Hop and also features the label’s founder PHILIPPE PETIT, the brilliant German artist AGF [aka Antye Greie], SIMON FISHER TURNER who some of you might recognise from his 70s pop stardom days or as a composer writing music for several of Derek Jarman’s films such as Blue & Carravagio. Oh, and there’ll be some free BipHop compilations available..

www.sprawl.org.uk
www.cafeoto.co.uk

>> Finally, the first ever Symbiosis Orchestra album has been released on the Spanish label Baskaru and has attracted some very nice press so far such as “Live Journeys is an incredibly tight and consistent record, which never ceases to surprise, impress and fascinate”.
Symbiosis is an international collective of acoustic and electronic musicians (including myself, Scanner, Stefano Tedesco) initiated by Italian sound artist Andrea Gabriele, a collaboration I hugely enjoy as I get to sing with nice microphones a lot as well as creating mayhem basslines…

SMALLFISH review and audio
MILKFACTORY review

>> Should you happen to be in New York on Tuesday 7th April and/or Wednesday 8th April, may I suggest a soundart/dance event in New York. It takes place on both days at Galapagos from 8pm and the Wednesday showcases my contribution to the 60×60 project, choreographed and danced by Victoria Brown.
The event and also features work by one of my favoured artists Joan La Barbara!

www.galapagosartspace.com
www.voxnovus.com/60×60

 

Jan 2009:

First of all, a VERY HAPPY 2009 and many thanks for your support in the past year, which went past all too fast…

>> If you are free next Thursday, the delightful Urbania Collective with whom I am having the absolute pleasure of working with, is staging URBANIA’S SOUP NIGHT for the second half of The Royal Academy’s Contemporary Season.

For the event, our installation ‘The Red Storage Room’ will extend into a large, bohemian banquet where Urbania soup, bread and drink will be prepared live and served to our guests. In addition to this, there will be an Urbania film screening, advice on human composting, and an exclusive 4-channel concert by the Urbania Orchestra, showcasing a new sound piece by me.

– when: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 7:00pm – 11:00pm
– Admission: FREE – places are limited so RSVP is essential at urbaniacollective {at} yahoo {dot} com
– address: 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1 3EX

a taster:

>> If you are interested in finding out a bit more what we mad people are/were up to, some interviews and other films with and by Urbania members are now online at toadball.tv

>> Last but not least, you might be interested in the following publication I have contributed to: “Playing with Words: the spoken word in artistic practice” is a collection of responses from over 40 leading contemporary composers and artists who have been invited to represent aspects of their creative practice with words for the printed page. It’s edited by Cathy Lane and other contributors include Trevor Wishart, Barry Truax, Joan La Barbara, Brandon LaBelle, David Toop, Jaap Blonk, Laurie Anderson and many more. It is available from cornerhouse.org/books/info.aspx?ID=2789&page=0

 

Oct 2008:

After a long cold summer, it is definitely time for an update.

And just in time too, as next Thursday 16/10 sees a long awaited new installment of Sprawl, this time at our favoured new London venue, the Cafe Oto in Dalston (18 – 22 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL / cafeoto.co.uk). We have live music by live electronics composer THOMAS GARDNER (presenting his amazing newfangled instrument, the Ouija Board with his Ecosonic Ensemble), improvising cellist BELA EMERSON (celebrating the launch of her new album on BiP_HoP) plus experimental singer/songwriter MANUELA BARCZEWSK. Check the Sprawl website for all details.

In my last update I mentioned the delightful Urbania Collective with whom I am having the absolute pleasure of working with as the collective share my interests in aspects of communal living, utopian communities and sci-fi (yes!). You may remember we were just off to a residency at Park-A-Moor in the Lake District courtesy of Grizedale Art. Spending an amazing 10 days at this remote farmhouse without running water or electricity I made some lovely intruments, we ended up building a little red raft, and… a little, very cliffhanger-ish clip is at agrifashionista.tv plus (sigh, as usual) plenty of images at flickr.com/photos/urbaniacollective

If you like the sound and look of this, you can see our Urbania installation room and a film at the upcoming The Royal Academy’s Contemporary Season. It’s curated by David Thorpe and also contain pieces by Julian Rosefeldt, Maya Roos plus plenty more. The event opens to the public on 31/10. Look out for our big-splash event there on 8/1/09… (6 Burlington Gardens, London W1)

Coming into November, there are more Urbania activities, this time at Somerset House, on Thursday 13/11. It’s going to be a pretty mad thing as we’re not really sure what we’ll be doing apart from wearing our red boiler suits and publicly discussing a publication we are planning… The event is part of ‘Wouldn’t it be nice…’ An Inventory of Aliases’ (åbäke and friends).

Also in November, catch the 60 Project which has a bit of me in it. Instigated by Mathew Adkins it celebrates 60 years of Musique Concrète and will be performed at The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival on 28th November 2008. The premiere will also mark the release of the work on CD, available from electrocd.com, should you be in need of Christmas presents at that time.
Talking of which, the following book might look rather fetching under a tree: “Glitch: Perfect Imperfections” by Iman Moradi, Ant Scott, published in New York by Mark Batty, is out in November and includes a tiny slice of my piece ‘Dumplinks, a rubbish film for duck and other water based artifacts’

oh the joys of advertising….

 

July 2008:

I hope the semi London summer finds you well. It has been a while since my last mail – it’s been quite hectic since coming back from Slovenia where I worked in lived in the lovely town of Celje as artist in residence of the Centre of Modern Art. I very much recommend it for a visit if you find yourself in the vicinity, as it combines much interesting culture with wonderful nature – and of course a delightful sprinkling of cafes and bars!
As usual of course I have heaps of photos if you have a spare moment (hour more like it… flickr.com/irisgarelfs), some of which you will find in a new audiovisual piece called Twine, once it’s finished. Or if you are in Slovenia, a first version will be shown at the Mediafest at the MCC in Celje this weekend (6th +7th July).

Also this weekend I shall be in Brighton, for Sonic Art Networks’ EXPO festival. I am performing there on the Saturday 5th July at 5pm. The address is The Basement, Argus Lofts, 24 Kensington St, Brighton BN1 4AJ and it’s all free! This is only my second performance in the UK and the last one for a little while.

The weekend after me and Douglas are hosting Horatio Oratorio, a concert & sound installation by Aleksander Kolkowski aka Recording Angels with Federico Reuben – live electronics & Sebastian Lexer – sound diffusion. It’s an audio-visual exploration through the early history of recorded sound and takes place at the Shunt, Joiner Street, London Bridge SE1. The live events are on July 10th & 11th and cost £10. Check the Sprawl website for more details

At the end of the month I’ll be spending some time with the Urbania collective at Park-A-Moor in the Lake District courtesy of Grizedale Art. It’s an amazing, really remote and previously derelict farmhouse without running water or electricity and we’ll be preparing our contribution to The Royal Academy’s Contemporary Season in the autumn, curated by David Thorpe. If you’ve seen a red boiler suit clad troupe at Tony Conrad’s performance at Tate Modern the other day, that’s us! Our sadly neglected blog is at agrifashionista.tv

For all those lovers of free music, Furthernoise has just released a live extract of my live collaboration with Douglas Benford as part of Sprawl’s Interplay Festival at the Spitz R.I.P last year. It’s part of Explorations In Sound Vol 3, a compilation of sound works inspired by the tones, drones and rhythms of everyday life, drawing on the ideas of Pierre Schaeffers’ Musique Concrète movement. Download the whole album from furthernoise.org

Interestingly (for me at least) I am involved with another project inspired by Mr. Schaeffer. Instigated by Mathew Adkins (who I believe you can also catch at Expo this weekend), it is called 60 Project to celebrate 60 years of Musique Concrète and will be performed at The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival later this year.

 

May 2008:

With (almost) green trees around I thought it is high time to let you know what’s happening in my little world.

As of tomorrow 31st April, if you’re based in Manchester or thereabouts, you can see Dumplinks, my “rubbish film for duck and other water based artifacts”. The opening of the month long Dirty Mother event exploring climate change is happening at the Nexus Art Cafe, Dale Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M1 1JW from 6pm.

Next week, Sat May 10th, is our own (Sprawl) 4th Sonic Recycler, which I hope you London based folk can come to. The event has live performances by BLEVIN BLECTUM, DAVID TOOP, SEAN O’HAGAN (High Llamas / Microdisney), ALEKS KOLKOWSKI (Recording Angels), SIMON BOOKISH (Tomlab/Leafcutter John collaborator); DJ sets by moi, LAETITIA SADIER (Stereolab / Monade), JANEK SCHAEFER (rummages the Oxfam box as DJ Dedication – and if you seen/heard this last year you know it’ll be hilarious!).
There also will be an amazing live CD recycling demo thingy by Aleks Kolkowski (yes, bring your old CDs/cdrs/dvds to be recycled into vinyl of sorts…), a pedal-powered installation by Dithernoise + Simon Storey, stalls, lovely river bar terrace, food and such like. It’s at Watermans Art Centre, 40 High Street, London Brentford TW8 0DS. We’re starting at 4pm and finish at about 12. Tickets are £10 (Conc £8) from Box Office or online at wegottickets.com/event/28432. For tube directons etc check myspace.com/sonicrecycler.
If you can’t make it, the night before, Sat May 9th, Douglas and I will be on Resonance FM from 8pm talking about sonic recycling and bringing you delightful sounds to make it worth your while.

Moving further north, next stop is at Leeds’ EVOLUTION festival on 23/24 May. It’s a sound based installation called Swannsong at the old court room in Leeds Town Hall. The piece takes its inspiration from the case of Emily Swann, who was sentenced to death there in 1903 for the murder of her husband and looks at the idea of a time based justice system. I’ll be giving a pesentation about the piece on 23rd.
A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon recording in this amazing space and the even older prison cells below, all by myself, playing with furniture and chains, which was strangely peaceful. If you want to see some pictures: flickr.com. For the sounds you have to come down… Which should be worth your while as there are live sets by MURCOF, MIRA CALIX amongst other and some more installations, for example by PETER CUSACK.

A couple of days after I shall be racking up my carbon footprint by flying to Slovenia, for a residency at the Museum of Modern Art, Celje. You may remember my visit there last year to show Dumplinks and perform live, which I enjoyed hugely! I am very much looking forward to being back and if you want to know way have a look at the pix from last year flickr.com (Dumplinks I believe will be part of a Glitch Art book later this year..)

As soon as I’m back there will be something for you Londoners again as I’ll be doing some soundwalks and workshops during Camberwell Arts Festival from 14th – 23rd June, more details soonish.

 

Dec 2007:

Once again it is too dark and cold for my liking and that can only mean that x-mas and the new year around the corner. I have purchased a new diary and discovered my first double booking of 2008. Not a good start then.

But before we get to 2008, there is the much pleasurable advent of our 3rd Sprawl Advent Series (sorry about the pun, it was tempting) which I hope some of you can make. They are free (unless you insist on buying me a beer…) and take place on 3 advent Sundays from 6-10pm at the Fleapit in 49 Columbia Road, E2 7RG

On Sunday 2nd December we have live music by Lawrence English, Stefano Tedesco, plus audio visual sets by snd’s Mark Fell with Ernest Edmonds and Julie Freeman
On Sunday 9th December we have live sets by the Beddoes and For Barry Ray (Room40) plus Alex Czinczel and Joshua Meggitt will be playing some extra special CDs for you
On Sunday 16th December Jodi Cave (12k) will be attempting a quad performance (we have to see if we can get it to work at the Fleapit), and Resonance’s Framework host Murmer will give a rare London performance. We also have a performance by Simon Whetham (before he heads out to South America to work with Fernando Lopez in the Amazon) and short films by Joel Chernin and Anita Mckeown. Plenty to choose from…

Last but not least, do check out the Atlantic Basin Project, which I am a very small part of. And, if you are terribly bored over the holidays, check out lots of photos from Pescara Italy, including some of the delightful Symbiosis Orchestra in the studio. All at www.flickr.com/photos/irisgarrelfs

 

Sept 2007:

I am back from a marvelous tour in sunny America, playing at a few venues in New York, Washington and Virginia (the Sonic Circuits Festivall amongst them, see a picture of Tony Conrad there to the right) and meeting many wonderful people. A short and very dark youtube clip is up at www.youtube.com

For those of you who know me a little – yes, I have taken HEAPS of photographs. About 200 of which are at flickr.com. So be prepared to be bored….

Another US related project is Rob Voisey’s 60×60, which contains 60 second tracks by 60 artists, me amongst the. It is currently touring through the States voxnovus.com

Living and working in Brixton, South London has become a bit of a full time occupation. Talks with Lambeth Council to purchase Clifton Mansions and transform this amazing building into a community of artists’ live/work spaces are becoming more concrete. It might really happen, which is all VERY exciting! We have a spanking new website with the proposals and pictures if you are interested or perhaps know somebody who would be able to help with funding and other such minor details. www.cliftonmansions.org.uk

Back on a musical note, the next few months will be spent recording, firstly with the Symbiosis Orchestra, in Italy but also my album at my Clifton Mansions studio. The latter has taken many twists and turns and is currently taking on the guise of a travelog, which I am thinking to release with a series of photographs, so do let me know which ones of the afore mentioned flickr pix you like best (a cunning ploy to make you have a look!

I will be in Pescara, Italy in early November, with a Symbiosis Orchestra, concert on the 8th and a field recording workshop on the 7th. If you are interested in either, please email andrea at daddyandrea [at] gmail.com who looks after the details. On my return, on November 17th, i’ll be playing a free lunchtime concert at the Union Chapel in Islington (Highbury and Islington tube). The event is organised by the Arctic Circle and also playing are The Slow Life + Paperplain.

I don’t know if you have heard the new ICA podcast “Experiments” as yet. It’s really very good and I am in it, together with Astral Social Club, Octis, Accretions records, I.U.D and Corridors – download it at www.ica.org.uk

Last but not least, I have also made it into a book! It was written by Tony Gibbs and is entitled The Fundamentals of Sonic Art”, available through Thames & Hudson and contains interviews with Vicki Bennett, Max Eastley, Janek Schaefer amongst others. It’s a really nice overview of all things soundart and some sound design.

 

Aug 2007:

Apologies for a long break in communication, due to just too much to do and a nice break visiting my family in Germany, where I had a summer! If you do not live in London you might want a few pictures of what Winter In July was like!

During the last couple of months I had a very long protracted involvement with Anita McKeown’s Deptford 45 project, leading workshops into field recording and editing whilst enjoying Deptford’s beach (honest!), the Tour de France and such like. Don’t believe what they try to tell you in BBC1’s The Tower, it’s a great place!
Anyway, I’ll be performing with results from these workshops during the Deptford 45 website launch at The Albany in Deptford, on 30th August from 3pm. So you can check out the area for yourself.

More workshops are coming up during August, working with young refugee women for the Refugee Council in and around Brixton. Then in Spetmeber I am off again for some concerts.

Douglas aka Si-cut.db and myself also received a very nice review in the Wire for our London Interplay collaboration, our set being described as the best of the night. This went down very well with me, considering that the other artists were Thomas Koner with Max Estley and Brian Duffy with Ekkehard Ehlers. There are a few very nice pictures on flickr. A good friend spotted a similarity with the doll Brian Duffy was performing with. Must be the hair!

Talking about reviews, you might want to read Talking Space To Space very nicely reviewed at www.furthernoise.org

Apart from all that I also spend some time in Celje, Slovenia, showing my piece Dumplinks at the Museum for Modern Art, plus giving a performance. Another little bit of summer, pictured here. I am hoping to be back there next year for a longer residency. It’s such a nice place with great people!

D I A R Y

30 Aug 2007 3pm – live at the Deptford45s website launch: The Albany, Deptford, London
8 Sep 2007 8pm – live at the opening of Palazzo delle Esposizioni with Symbiosis Orchestra, Via Nazionale 194, Rome, Italy
13 Sep 2007 8pm – hosting Sprawl at the Fleapit, London, with Mike Cooper, Phil Durrant and Israel M
18 Sep 2007 8pm , live at Dust, Charlottesville, Virginia: with Jeff Surak Cheapmachines, Arturas Bumsteinas, Antanas Jasenka
20 Sep 2007 8pm – with Cheapmachines, Noveller and more: Pussycat Lounge New York
21 Sep 2007 8pm – Sonic Circuits Festival at The Warehouse Washington DC, Washington DC

 

June 2007:

June is turning out to be quite a hectic month, but i’ll be great if you could join me for one thing or the other…

D I A R Y

2 June 2007: Rota at the nottinghillartsclub in London’s Notting Hill Gate. I’ll be showcasing a work in progress, “Hotel Mexicano”, a piece made from practice recordings in hotels during last year’s Mexico visit. Just imagine me sitting on a bed with my mic and laptop.
Also playing are my dear friends Lumenlab, Nebula3, Transistor, Jack’s Son from Mexico. As it’s all marvelously free, pls come and join us from 4-8pm.

6 Jun 2007 Bimhuis – as part of INTERPLAY4, with si-cut.db
8 Jun 2007 Resonance FM
16 Jun 2007 film showing : Glebe Estate / as part of Camberwell Arts Festival
20 Jun 2007 The Spitz – as part of INTERPLAY4, with si-cut.db
21 Jun 2007 The Cube – as part of INTERPLAY4, with si-cut.db
22 Jun 2007 Darklight Festival – as part of INTERPLAY4, with si-cut.db

W O R K S H O P S

Do you happen to live in London’s Deptford, New Cross areas or study at Goldsmiths? If yes you can join me for 1 of 4 free one-day workshops in June and July, looking at field recordings and audio editing. For more information or to book, do get in touch with asu[at]london[dot]com.

 

April 2007:

L A S T M I N U T E

I am plying at the Hoxton Bar and Grill this Wednesday 04/04 from 8pm. Also playing are New Telepathics and Lautrec. Give me a shout for the £2 guestlist.

If you can’t make it, here is a mp3 from last weeks Scaledown concert. Enjoy….

Also, talking about Scaledown, I’ll be on the radioshow on 20th April at 4.30pm. It’s broadcast in Central London on Resonance 104.4 FM and online at www.resonancefm.com

R E L E A S E S

My piece Springtide, a 5.1 mix for Semiconductor‘s award winning Brilliant Noise is now out on Fatcat. I don’t often have the chance to record in multiple channels, and hence working on the piece has been particularly enjoyable. The DVD is out in Europe on February 26th 2007 and in the USA/Japan on April 4th 2007. World in Flux contains 13 films and 11 Brilliant Noise alternate soundtracks from guest artists, such as myself, Robert Hampson and more.

A free download (stereo version) is available from fat-cat.co.uk

D I A R Y

My next concert is at Scaledown on 23rd March, Upstairs at The King and Queen, 1 Foley St, London W1. It starts at 8pm and is free.

I’ll probably playing a few of my favoured records at our third Sonic Recycler at Waterman’s Artcentre on 5th May where Stephan Mathieu, David Cunningham, Rothko and more are playing live. As usual there will be Djs, films and stalls from 4-11pm.

The month after, in June Interplay is on tour with the Goethe Institute. I am currently putting the programme together, which so far features Thomas Koener vs Max Eastley. Confirmed cities are London, Liverpool, Amsterdam (in collaboration with Steim) and Dublin (in collaboration with DEAF, now confirmed for 22 June )

W O R K S H O P S

At the moment I am working with a group of young people from a Peckham estate on an audio-visual piece. which will be shown at Camberwell Arts Festival later this year. Together with peformance artist Harold Offeh, we are exploring the local area. The project is commissioned by Camberwell Arts :workshops

 

Dec 2006:

Finally I find some time to update the website. Our Sprawl advent series at the Charterhousebar was as much fun as last year. Thanks to all of you who came down. The pictures show Imagination And My Mother making lovely x-mas cards for us whilst playing, Alex Czinczel on the decks and the rest of us having a good time..

I also hugely enjoyed playing at the Gaudeamus LEF Live Elektronisch Festival, here a picture of me playing at this amazing looking venue, the Muziekgebouw. More pictures of all of these as usual at www.flickr.com/photos/irisgarrelfs

 

Nov 2006:

Dear all, back from Naples were I have been recording with the Symbiosis Orchestra. Despite scary news about Camorra violence, there was hardly a policeman in sight. So we knuckled down to plenty of music making and pizza eating instead…. As usual I got carried away taking pictures, which are at www.flickr.com/photos/irisgarrelfs if you have a bored half hour to while away

(Talking) Space To Space” on the German art-label lich-tung is out! The project is an ongoing radio project, using captured natural radio emissions from celestial objects, which I morph into an audio composition and fling them back to the stars in a radio broadcast. A poetic gesture, a sensual fiction which takes the past, re-shapes it in real-time and travels with it into the future. (Talking) Space To Space was originally performed as part of Resonance FM‘s Radio Art Riot during the Frieze Art Fair, October 04. And I am working on a globe spanning performance for hopefully 2007/2008. In the meantime you can listen to a stereo abstract on vinyl, released on the German art label www.licht-ung as part of the 10” split-series, which also contains the track Schwebezahn (sprechen). You can buy the record either from me at £8 + postage via PayPal (email me at iris [at] sprawl [dot] org [dot] uk) or if you live in Germany, directly from the label.

So much for recordings… I am back in Europe on 24th November, at Amsterdam’s amazing Muziekgebouw, for a 4-channel live performance during the Gaudeamus LEF Live Elektronisch Festival. The Festival takes place between 20th-24th November, with performances by Francisco Lopez, Mouse on Mars and myself amongst many others. Last but not leat, December sees another Sprawladvend series. Over 3 Sundays, at the Charterhouse Bar, we will bring you free Yuletide afternoons of live music, Djs, good cheer and warm food…

 

Oct 2006:



I have arrived back in London after over two weeks of bliss in Mexico, first at the wonderful Festival Visiones Sonoras in Mexico City and then at the Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts in Morelia. In Guadalajara I performed at Oscilacion 1 with Israel M. He’ll be in Europe early next year and you should go and check if you have a chance. An interview leading up to that concert is at http://www.sonoramarevista.com, should you speak Spanish (i’ll have my first lesson next week…)

I have tons of pictures from the trip on Flickr, which you are welcome to check out: www.flickr.com/photos/irisgarrelfs/sets/

phew…. a few more things: my first ever 10″ vinyl, the track “(Talking) Space To Space” on the German art-label lich-tung is getting ready for release. More about that next time. Early November I will travel to Italy, recording with the Symbiosis Orchestra for our first DVD release. And later that month, November 24th you can see me live in Amsterdam’s amazing Muziekgebouw, at the Gaudeamus LEF Live Elektronisch Festival with Francisco Lopez, Matmos, Mouse on Mars, DJ Rupture and more. Looking forward to that one.

 

Sept 2006:

Back with a few notes from the Clifton Studios, where I have just finished a surround sound piece for Semiconductor‘s Brilliant Noise, an award winning solar data archive film, which will be released on Fatcat Records I think later this year. It’s been great to work on a spatial recording again after a run of quad performances this summer. Much better than those Soduko thingies everybody raves about and naturally more productive too.Below is one part of the score for the piece, which I am sure won’t tell you all that much. So I have added a low res stereo version of

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(5.4 MB MP3) here to give you an idea. Rest assured that the 5.1 version is actually quite different….

Until early October I will be in Mexico, at the Visiones Sonoras Festival which takes place from 19th-24th September in Mexico City. I’ll also give a presentation at the Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts in Morelia on 26th September and will perform in Guadalajara on Oct 29th.

The last few days of the trip you can catch me on some beach or other, I haven’t decided yet…. For more details just email me at <iris at sprawl dot org dot uk>

 

Aug 2006:

Dear all,Sadly the summer has not been quite as peaceful as it could have been, with a neighbour behaving horribly and the police being in attendance on several occasions. Is that the heat I wonder? So work is slow. But then again there have been some great developments and I shall be off to Mexico in September! More about that below…..Anyway, i have just finished some sounds for the marvelous multimedia artist Claudio Sinatti who I met playing with the Symbiosis Orchestra last year. With which, incidentely I am about to record some work for release next year. We will be back playing live later in the year (that’s the orchestra in action at PEAM last year, looking very pretty and sounding even better. If you speak Italian you can see/hear an interview with me at this festival).

Still in the making is a remix for Semiconductor‘s Brilliant Noise, an award winning solar data archive film (to be released on Fatcat Records later this year).

Also in preparation is the Sprawl Interplay tour, which I am putting together with the Goethe Institute. It will take us through the UK and some places around Europe early 2007.
Talking about Sprawl, we are back after a longish break for a collaboration with DE SONIS on August 15th presenting 12K’s Christopher Willits. On September 13th we are back at our usual haunt, the Charterhouse Bar with plenty live sounds.

If you haven’t checked out my Sonic Postcards for Sonic Arts Network (they are a bit hard to find on the website…), now is the time. The programme has just received the New Statesman New Media Award 2006. Wow…

At the end of September I am in Mexico, at the Visiones Sonoras Festival which takes place from 19th-24th September in Mexico City. I’ll also give a presentation at the Mexican Center for Music and Sonic Arts in Morelia sometime between 25th-28th September. More details later. This is all very exciting to me as I have never been to that part of the world. I hope to get a little bit of sightseeing in as well!

 

July 2006:

.….

After a wonderful holiday in Croatia and a few more concerts, at the Sound and Anthropology conference in St Andrews, a 4-channel set at the Whitechapel Gallery (pic below by Stefano Tedesco, thanks!) as part of Wormhole Saloon and at at the South London Gallery as part of Camberwell Arts Festival I am now ready to submerge myself in the studio for the rest of the summer, where I’ll be working on a remix for Semiconductor‘s Brilliant Noise, an award winning solar data archive film (to be released on Fatcat Records later this year). And of course there is my album to finish.

Also in preparation is the Sprawl Interplay tour, which I am putting together with the Goethe Institute. It will take us through the UK and some places around Europe. I’ll be back with some live dates in the autmn, so do come back for the details. And now online are my Sonic Postcards for Sonic Arts Network though they are a bit hard to find on the website.

 

May 2006:

Next week, Tuesday 25th I’ll be playing at Hive in Liverpool. The concert will take place at the FACT cinema and I’ll be performing with moving images by Berlin based artist Alexander Selski. So expect a disjointed architectural yet organic experience… Hive can be found at http://www.thehivecollective.co.uk and the venue is at http://www.fact.co.uk

I’ll be back on Resonance FM 104.4 FM on Friday May 19th at midnight GMT. As usual you can also listen on the web if you’re based further afield.

I am currently working on a Ringtone Orchestra with kids at Janet Duke Junior School in Basildon commissioned by Creative Partnerships. Be sure to come back to grab some shortly! Also in the making is my new album and a Sonic Postcard for Sonic Arts Network.

There have been heaps of great reviews for Specified Encounters in the past few months! For example check The Milkfactory (in English) or Intro.de (in German). A nice podcast interview is at 75minutes.com

 

April 2006:

To celebrate Sprawl’s 10th anniversary Scanner and I have decided to donate an mp3 for download – it’s an extract from our performance at Interplay 3 in January 2006. You can find it at www.thewire.co.uk

Since autumn 2005 I have started working with Symbiosis Orchestra, consisting of Scanner (electronics – uk), Stefano Tedesco (vibraphone, percussions -it) Andrea Gabriele (guitar, electronics – it), Claudio Sinatti (videos – it) and myself. It is heaps of fun to play with other musicians again!

I am currently working on a Ringtone Orchestra with kids at Janet Duke Junior School in Basildon commissioned by Creative Partnerships. Be sure to come back to grab some shortly! Also in the making is my new album and a Sonic Postcard for Sonic Arts Network.

I’ll be back on Resonance FM 104.4 FM on Friday May 19th at midnight GMT. As usual you can also listen on the web if you’re based further afield. There are a few concerts coming up, please check www.myspace.com/irisgarrelfs for details.

Our – that is Sprawl‘s – second Sonic Recycler Festival is also on the horizon, where I’ll be showing a short film based on my 2003 installation Dumplinks. For more check www.sprawl.org.uk

 

Jan 2006:

We are gearing up for our 10th Sprawl anniversary in January. Just out is Ephiphanies for the Wire Magazinewritten by Douglas Benford and myself, telling you all about the early years. To celebrate Scanner and I have decided to donate an mp3 for download – it’s an extract from our performance at Interplay 3 in January 2005. You can grab it at http://www.thewire.co.uk/web/mp3specials.php

On January 12th follows a concert with Taylor Deupree, Richard Chartier, si-cut.db and myself at the Yacht Club, whilst on January 25th we are revisting the Electronic Lounge at the ICA with our old friend Robin Rimbaud. Click here for more information and buying tickets (not that many left!)

I’ll be back on Resonance FM 104.4 FM on Friday March 3rd at midnight GMT. As usual you can also listen on the web if you’re based further afield.

There have been heaps of great reviews for Specified Encounters in the past few months! For example check The Milkfactory (in English) or Intro.de (in German). A nice podcast interview is at 75minutes.com

 

Dec 2005:

x-mas x-mas x-mas

this track is called Single Cells after Jingle Bells, though you have to listen very closely to notice… you might catch it on Classic Fm’s Chiller Cabinet one of these days, for which I wrote it.

This is a very trashy little quicktime movie (2.9 MB) called St Claudette, originally comissioned for the Sonic Arts Network web site a few years ago.

It’s coming up to Christmas (again), my sister is snowed in, and I have put online a few themed fun things for you. To have a look/listen check the media page

December is turning out to be quite a busy month. On Saturday 3rd you can catch me live at the Radiator Festival in in Nottingham with Music for One and Moocha. The night is called elle-electronica and takes place at the Spcial. In the afternoon Music for One and I will introduce you to Midi and working with audio in 2 short workshops.

On 11th Dec I will perform at Sprawl in collaboration with Diego Conti and Stefano Tedesco as part of the Advent afternoon serie. On 16th Dec I will be off to Italy again for a performance with the Symbiosis Orchestra at the Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna

We are gearing up for our 10th Sprawl anniversary in January with a series of Sunday afternoon advent concerts featuring live music, DJs, mince pies – the lot. On January 12th follows a concert with Taylor Deupree and Richard Chartier at the Yacht Club, whilst on January 25th were are revisting the Electronic Lounge at the ICA with our old friend Robin Rimbaud. Click here for more.

Talking of revisting, the January edition of The Wire Magazine will feature an Epiphany, written by Douglas Benford and myself which looks back at the beginnings of Sprawl.

I’ll be back on Resonance FM 104.4 FM on Friday December 16th at midnight GMT. As usual you can also listen on the web if you’re based further afield.

There have been heaps of great reviews for Specified Encounters in the past few months! For example check The Milkfactory (in English) or Intro.de (in German). A nice podcast interview is at 75minutes.com

 

Oct 2005:

On 28th October I’ll be playing live at Peam Festival for Electronic music, video, robot art, software art, web art in Pescara, Italy. THis is in collaboration with Marco Messina, Diego Conti and more. After having had such a great time playing with other musicians in Cork earlier this year, I am VERY much looking forward to this one! Check www.artificialia.com/peam/ for more

The next Sprawl event with Iris on the helm is on Wednesday November 9th with live apearances by Octex, Mike Cooper, AM/PM and Jonathan from Soul Jazz Records on the decks. Click here for more.
I’ll be back on the Resonance FM 104.4 FM on Friday November 11th. As usual you can also listen on the web if you’re based further afield.

A few workshops are coming up in the near future if you are interested in the practical aspects of digital sound. Number one is this coming weekend, Saturday 22nd at Ladyfest in Brighton, together with Music For One. More soon…

Aug 2005:

I’ll be playing in Hamburg at the Horbar on Fri 26th August . Check the details at http://www.block4.com/hoerbar.shtml

Also in August, the Belgian Magazine Gonzo Circus will publish a track from Specified Encounters on their cover CD Mind The Gap #57. http://www.gonzocircus.com

Talking about Specified Encounters, there have been heaps of great reviews in the past few months! Check The Milkfactory or Intro.de

After our summer break, Sprawl is back on Wednesday Sept 14th with live shows by Music for One, FLUTTUAZIONI, Lawrence English and Achrid. Check out the details at www.sprawl.org.uk.

The next Small Pieces show on Resonance 104.4 FM with Douglas Benford and myself will be on Friday September 23rd from 12 midnight London time. We will be interviewing the composer and Xenakis collaborator Brian O’Reilly. It’s also broacast on the net.

 

May 2005:

Firstly a big thanks if you’re one of the 500 people coming to the see the Circle of Sound exhibition at the beginning of this month! If you didn’t make it here are a few images http://magzhall.blogspot.com/

I’ll be playing in Cork on Sat 25th June as part of INCANTANTIONS: audiovisual. I’ll let you know the details in a little while…

My album Specified Encounters, made entirely from dissected voice sounds, has just been released. For more, including sound excerpts check Bip-Hop

The next Field 61 show on Resonance 104.4 FM with Kaffe Matthews and myself will be on Friday June 2nd from 9.30pm. Douglas and I will be back on Resonance 104.4 FM for Sprawl’s Small Pieces slot at 12 midnight on June 10th. Both shows go out on FM and on the web.

The Sprawl team will be back on Resonance 104.4 FM on Friday 5th August, 12-1am UK time, when we shall be interviewing minimalist composer Andrew Poppy. You can also listen on the web www.resonancefm.com

Douglas and I will be back on Resonance 104.4 FM for Sprawl’s Small Pieces slot at 12 midnight on June 10th. Both shows go out on FM and on the web.

I have just finished remix -a reworking really – for Jem Finer’s Longplayer project. Other artists Jem has approached include si-cut.db, Brian Eno, Scanner, Kaffe Matthews and Radiohead. The remix will use samples from this 1000 year duration composition. My version will appear on this site shortly…

An excerpt of a live collaboration with Robert Lippok (To Rococo Rot) will appear on Sprawl’s Interplay compilation, scheduled for late 05

On Saturday May 21st I will perform a new piece called The Rights Of Spring, as part of the May Fete, a day of choreographed mayhem at Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, London NW1 7AY (nearest tube Camden Town). The event is free and starts at 12 noon. Fore more click here. Map

On Sunday May 22nd at 6pm I will play with Serafin drummer Darryn Harkness at Area 10, Peckham Square, London SE15 (behind Peckham Library).

 

March 2005:

My installation Dumplinks is going to get a brief outing from May 3rd – May 8th during Circle of Sound at the Foundry in London’s Old Street. The private view starts from 5pm. circleofsound. A a few images http://magzhall.blogspot.com/

My album Specified Encounters, made entirely from dissected voice sounds, has just been released. For more, including sound excerpts check Bip-Hop

The next Sprawl event with me on the decks is on May11th in London’s Meet Bar. As there is also going to be plenty of marvelous live music, you might want to check www.sprawl.org.uk for the details.

The next Sprawl event with me on the decks is on April 13th in London’s Charterhousebar. As there is also going to be plenty of marvelous live music, you might want to check www.sprawl.org.uk for the details.

Douglas and I will be back on Resonance 104.4 FM for our Small Pieces slot at 12 midnight on March 25th. We will play recordings from Sprawl’s recent Interplay Festival.

Dec 2004:

I have just finished remix -a reworking really – for Jem Finer’s Longplayer project. Other artists Jem has approached include si-cut.db, Brian Eno, Scanner, Kaffe Matthews and Radiohead. The remix will use samples from this 1000 year duration composition. My version will appear on this site shortly…

I’ll be performing on Wed 8th December at the Spitz with Sunburned Hand Of The Man and Charles Hayward (This Heat).