Our February 2019 Frequency Fridays show features experimental koto player/multimedia artist Kozue Matsumoto (LAX), experimental electric guitarist Kirsten Carey (DET), experimental electronic musician Mike Textbeak (CLE) accompanied by vocalist Searmanas (NYC), and experimental electronic musician Doctah X (CMH). Accompanying Doctah X on visuals is Columbus-based video artist Danielle Milam. Date: Friday, February 1 2019. Location: 13 E. Tulane Rd. 43202. Admission: $10 for one, $15 for two. Doors open 8pm. All ages, BYOB. Our Frequency Fridays 2018-2019 season is supported by grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Columbus Foundation.
About the artists:
Born and raised in the Tohoku area in Japan and having lived in Tokyo as well, Kozue is now based in the Los Angeles area. She has played the koto since she was three years old under Ikuta-ryu Miyagi-kai and holds a semi-master title. She has also played the shamisen and the shinobue since she was small. In North America, she has been collaborating with various musicians, dancers, visual artists, and other artists. Not only does she play traditional/contemporary/experimental music, but she also improvises, composes, and creates digital arts. She has performed at various projects and performances including MicroFest (Los Angeles CA), Lucas Artists Residency at Montalvo Arts Center (Saratoga, CA), Improvisation Summit of Portland (Portland, OR), Time-Based Art Festival (Portland, OR), SASSAS (Los Angeles, CA), Washington Street Art Center (Boston, MA), Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (Vancouver, Canada), Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble (Vancouver, Canada), and The Fuse Factory Electronic and Digital Arts Lab (Columbus, OH).
Together with performances and inter-disciplinary collaborations with various artists, she has a strong interest in exploring the possibilities of Japanese traditional sounds and performing arts beyond their conventional contexts. She is currently working on integrating koto sounds and computer technology to create new koto experiences. She studied improvisation, composition, and music technology with Susan Allen, Vinny Golia, Eyvind Kang, and Ajay Kapur, and graduated with the Performer-Composer MFA from California Institute of the Arts.
Kirsten Carey is a guitarist, composer, and performer. She was raised in Chicago, IL and, after two years in Los Angeles, presently resides in Detroit, MI. Her primary projects include the angular no-wave duo Throwaway, the classical-rock-improv Uruboros Sextet, solodoom project Shima, metal / avant-garde classical hybrid Motherfish, and the Ulysses Project – a suite based on James Joyce’s novel that combines free jazz, rock, and theater. Carey’s work plays with the boundary between music and the more theatrical and presentational aspects of performance, and constantly tampers with the idea of “genre.”
Mike Textbeak has a long history in dark electronic music with his releases on labels such as Tundra Dubs (San Francisco), Lasergun (Berlin), Post-Religion (London), Bleak (Vienna), Pale Noir (Madison), Vaatican Records (France), and many more. He was commissioned for mixing the Precarious DJ mix for Disaro Records, a mix for Ritual Chicago, the official Grim Harvest Halloween 2012 Mixtape for Мишка with actor Omar Doom (Inglorious Basterds), the XLVR mixtape for the clothing company NVR MND (for which NVR MND ran a limited run Textbeak shirt), the massive 5 hour 3 part COVENFVCK mix, mixes for Pulse Radio (UK), Zen Arcade on PBS (Australia), Clan Destine Records (UK), and AMDISCS label in the Czech Republic among many others. He is also the mixtape coordinator for Brooklyn based clothing label NVR MND which has featured mixes by DEATHFACE, Equitant, SINS, BLVCK CEILING, BLACK BLACK GOLD, and others.
Searmanas is the solo moniker of electronic producer Niabi Aquena. The sound of Searmanas explores the role of ceremony within urban experience, resulting in severe, textured landscapes with touches of sparse vocals. Her wordless poetry ranges from industrial glitches to layered, oceanic progressions, all tied together by an aura of questioning and chaos.
Tony Harrington, better known as Doctah X, is a DJ, singer, and musician who operates the House of Dub Studio in Columbus, Ohio, and hosts a radio program on WCRS Columbus.