I’m pleased to announce the 6th event of my extended residency at Hundred Years Gallery – Mercury Over Maps
The evening will feature three sets: a solo by Steve Beresford (live electronics), a duet by Ingrid Plum and Ian Stonehouse (voice and live electronics) and a duet by Phil Durrant (modular electronics) and Bill Thompson (live electronics).
More information: http://billthompson.org/aka_prof_lofi/mercury-over-maps-6
Mercury Over Maps #6
Steve Beresford was born in Wellington, Shropshire, UK in 1950. In 1974 he moved to London, to play piano with improvisers like Derek Bailey and also trumpet with the notorious Portsmouth Sinfonia.
Since the mid-1970s, he has worked with hundreds of people, including The Slits, Han Bennink, Christine Tobin, Thurston Moore, Ivor Cutler, Prince Far-I, Vic Reeves, Alan Hacker, Ray Davies, Ilan Volkov, Najma Akhtar, Evan Parker, Adrian Sherwood, Derek Bailey, The Flying Lizards, Stewart Lee, Otomo Yoshihide and John Zorn.
Free improvisation is central, generally involving piano and/or electronics. He also writes songs, TV and film music, directs ensembles and has been known to sing and write.
He was a member of the groundbreaking group Alterations (1977-1986), with David Toop, Peter Cusack and Terry Day. The group recently reformed.
People he regularly performs with include Blanca Regina, Elaine Mitchener, Satoko Fukuda, Max Eastley, Mark Sanders, Angharad Davies, John Edwards, Orphy Robinson, Sarah Gail Brand, Mandhira De Saram and the London Improvisers Orchestra.
Beresford has co-curated a number of events with Blanca Regina, including the ongoing ‘Strange Umbrellas’ series. He has had a long musical association with Swiss-American artist/musician Christian Marclay.
For more information visit: http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mberes.html
For more information visit: http://www.ingridplum.com
IAN STONEHOUSE – Modular synth
Ian Stonehouse is Head of the Electronic Music Studios at Goldsmiths, University of London, and lectures in sonic art practice. He originally trained as a fine artist at Wolverhampton College of Art with experimental filmmaker Guy Sherwin. Ian is a member of the noise-improv-playback group Rutger Hauser and their splinter faction Rutger Hauser Digest (with Lisa Busby). Rutger Hauser’s eponymous debut album was released on the ADAADAT label in 2016. Ian’s album ‘Voyage en Kaléidoscope’ (secretly made in 1995) finally escaped to the surface in 2016 thanks to the folks at the Lumen Lake. He was part of the ensemble who performed Bill Thompson’s ‘Gates 2017’ at Goldsmiths and contributed tape loops to saxophonist Colin Webster’s recent release ‘vs. Tape Loops’ on the Fractal Meat label. Rutger Hauser are reportedly recording a new album during summer 2018.
Phil Durrant – Modular synth and electronics
Born near London in 1957, Phil Durrant is an improviser/composer/sound artist who has devised his own virtual performance instruments using Reaktor. Recently, he has been performing solo, duo (with Phil Maguire) and trio concerts (with Mark Wastell and Richard Sanderson), using an analogue/digital modular synthesizer system.
As a violinist (and member of the Butcher/Russell/Durrant trio), he was one of the key exponents of the “group voice approach” style of improvised music. In the late 90s, his trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn represented a shift to a more “reductionist” approach.
Durrant’s exploration in the use of live electronics to expand the timbre of the violin, evolved into the creation and building of self-made virtual instruments. His live sampling/treatments duo with John Butcher and his work MIMEO, saw Durrant move from the use of hardware to the use of software in live situations. He has always been keen to transfer the flexibility of playing an acoustic instrument, into his laptop performances.
Durrant also performs regularly with the acoustic/electronic group Trio Sowari (with Bertrand Denzler and Burkhard Beins). In addition, he is an Associate Lecturer at Southampton Solent University.
Phil Durrant has also collaborated and composed site-specific music for a wide variety of choreographers, including Maxine Doyle, Susanne Thomas, and Gill Clarke.
More info at: https://www.facebook.com/philsowaridurrant and https://www.facebook.com/philsowaridurrant/
BILL THOMPSON – Moog guitar + electronics
Touch Radio: “Live at the Brunswick Club, Bristol, June 19th 2017”
Bill Thompson is a sound artist and composer. He performs as a soloist and with a number of groups including M/H/T with Jan Hendrickse and Tom Mudd, Airfield with choreographer Ian Spink, and in the past with Keith Rowe, Faust, EXAUDI and others.
Although originally trained as a guitarist, Thompson has worked with live electronics for the better part of 15 years. Since 2016/17, however, he has returned to guitar using one built by Moog combining built in electronics with miscellaneous table top devices, found objects, flashing lights, and the occasional vibrator.
He has earned numerous awards and commissions including the PRS for New Music ATOM award, the GAVAA visual arts award, a PRS for New Music Three Festival commission, the 2010 Aberdeen Visual Arts Award, and was nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Award in 2012.
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Mercury Over Maps is an extended residency by Bill Thompson at Hundred Years Gallery featuring performances, installations and talks with various collaborators and guest artists.