WOMEN IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC
Featuring:
Editors Note Firstly, a huge thank you for finding our magazine. This is a bright new start for Circulation. New logo, new committee and a new attitude. As “York’s Premier Music Press”, we endeavour to live up to our namesake and provide a platform for the local music we’re so lucky to have. There are so many passionate creators evolving York’s Electronic community, and we want to foreground the experiences of the women within this scene. The range of articles that we’ve brought together should begin to paint a picture of this musical genre; we hope you’ll want to dig deeper. This term has been one hell of a project, but we’ve laid steady ground on which to build to greater heights than ever before. We’d like to give enormous thanks to the hard-working committee, who have been researching and writing tirelessly, all while juggling all the odd jobs that have come with taking a new direction. We’ve really enjoyed these articles, and we bet you will too. ‘till next time, Connie and Joel
Committee Contributors Contents Sam Barfoot Connie Blach George Cooper Murry Deaves Amy May Ellis Katy Grant Caylan Hallows Joel Landschaft Oliver Matheau-Raven Phoebe McElduff Jarlath Nolan Bella Scott Niamh Purtill
Connie Blach George Cooper Amy-May Ellis Joel Landschaft Emily Linane Oliver Matheau-Raven Phoebe McElduff Mistie Miller Jarlath Nolan Stephanie Roberts Bella Scott
3 - Committee Picks 4 - 5 - Behind the Decks 6 - 7 - Thaemlitz Album Review 8 - 10 - Ola Szmidt Interview 11 - Taster Reviews 12 - 13 - Tropica 14 - CLKWORK 15 - Pauline Oliveros Exhibition
Photo Credit Cover and Ola Szmidt - Murry Deaves University - Caylan Hallows
Design and Layout Caylan Hallows
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Comittee Picks
E JI - E YA aa P2 Techno has a rather unfortunate reputation for being depersonalised and insensitive, tending to appeal more towards mindless dancefloor bopping than meaningful listening. CvCover On her breakthrough EP however, the South Korean Yaeji inhabits a strangely nocturnal and immediate space, striking a unique balance between hushed intimacy and dark, brooding rhythms. She also hands out free curry at her gigs (a nice little touch).
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Sam Barfoot (Comment Editor)
FKA twigs’ effortlessly cool debut, LP1, brought the dancer turned singer-songwriter to the fore of electronic music. Her sultry tone and mysterious nature allowed her to stand out in a densely populated genre. Highlight: the hypnotic and indulgent ‘Hours’.
VERY PEA R FE
A shimmering and ethereal sonic landscape interrupted by industrial noise and squelching bass, Sophie’s debut album is engineered to provoke a strong emotional response in her listeners. It is beautiful and sticky pop music, perfect for blaring among crowds in spaces that celebrate the selfproclaimed outcasts of the world.
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Phoebe McElduff (Live Editor)
Niamh Purtill (Treasurer)
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However, while this EP retains Al-Qadiri’s trademark sense of tension, it’s her ultra-femme alter ego ‘Shaneera’ that wrenches control of the melodic structure, driving it into the territory of queer-pop beats that wouldn’t be out of place on a drag catwalk. Both a passionate celebration of queer culture, and a fraught rumination on what it means to “perform” a gender in both Western and Arab cultures, Shaneera is a whirl of ecstasy and dread.
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Al-Qadiri, a Kuwaiti multimedia artist currently living and working
ADIRI - S in Berlin, is known for her grinding, ominous trance music. L-Q H
Connie Blach (Co-Editor In Chief)
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Behind the Decks with Baby Flame
Whenever I get asked why I started DJing, I always respond the same way: “I got fed up with dealing with boring boys on the dancefloor and going to the same boring boys’ gigs, so I made my own”. I’m sure many DJs and musicians I know now would have a very similar answer. For a long time, I never considered the possibility that I could DJ or make music – that’s despite always having an interest in music and sound, always carefully curating my playlists, and always feeling at my best when I got to introduce my friends to new music. For a long time, all the boys I knew DJ’d and were in bands, while all the girls I knew looked on and said things like, “this is so cool, I wish I knew how to do that!” yet never got the opportunities to learn. There are a multitude of hurdles facing women in the music industry – even more so if you’re not straight and white- with one particularly annoying hurdle being the litany of ‘sound boys’ who will patronise and talk over you until your musical interest diminishes. Throughout 4/5 years of DJing I’ve met them all: the sound technician who laughs at you if you so much as forget the name of a specific cable; the guys who touch your equipment and tell you how to play WHILE you’re playing; the promoters who put you on a lineup despite having never heard your music, because someone told them they needed a token woman involved. They make you feel not only technically unskilled but insult your taste, and sometimes this can be enough to make you feel like a career in music isn’t for you. I’m here to tell you that, if you have even a slight interest in music, yes it is for
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you! There is absolutely room for you! The best solution to an army of terrible sound boys? An army of supportive sound girls. My career in music became so much more enjoyable and fruitful after making an effort to seek out other girls like me, who felt isolated in the industry, and team up with them. Learning new skills and technologies is daunting in any situation, but especially if you’re facing a male dominated industry alone. Collectives and nights like Gal Pals, Siren, BBZ, Pxssy Palace, and Uniti help to bring women, non-binary and LGBTQ+ people together by creating safer and more accessible spaces, something that at least for now is a very necessary process in carving out more room for women in music. Inspired by these initiatives, I started working with Goldsmiths Bass Society to run my own DJ workshop for women, non-binary and LGBTQ+ people called ‘Diversity on the Decks’. The idea being that after 5 CDJ workshops/open decks sessions, people would feel confident enough to play their first club night in a non-judgmental and friendly environment. So far, the workshops have gone amazingly, and I’ve witnessed people go from being too nervous to touch the equipment to confidently experimenting with interesting new sounds and effects. It’s things like this that remind me once again how important it is for women to support and uplift each other, particularly when we are so often pitted against each other and taught to see each other only as ‘competition’. But of course, the problems in the music industry run deeper than a few patronising boys – institutions, companies, and media outlets are far more responsible for the structural sexism, racism, and queerphobia one has to face when trying to get ahead creatively. Young girls are rarely encouraged to be technologically minded, women have to deal with creepy men and the fears that come with working in club environments at night, and countless festivals and venues consistently display all-male lineups. Is it any wonder we feel nervous about starting a career in music? Despite the discouraging issues and people I’ve had to deal with on the way, I will never regret fighting my way to the decks at parties and unapologetically playing ‘weirder’ or ‘girlier’ music to crowds. There is something truly satisfying about watching the patronising sound boys from years earlier stick their nose up at your music, while you and your network of DJ and musician friends flourish without having to compromise. Mistie Miller You can find Mistie’s (a.k.a Baby Flame’s) music at:
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Terre Thaemlitz Comp x Comp
January 2019 saw Comp x Comp hot off the presses for Japanese label Comatose Recordings as executive, producer and activist Terre Thaemlitz returned with a 76-track mega release. The aptly titled project is not an album in the conventional sense – with over 45 cuts of silence, you’d be hard pressed to convince a lot of people it was technically ‘music’ – but a career compilation. Thaemlitz bundles together his* entire oeuvre in a chronological panorama of an output disparate in style, intent, theme and impact; in doing so she brings her entire catalogue to a global digital audience for the first time, including over ten previously unheard numbers.
“what we thought rejected in fact attracted, what repulsed, beckoned.” One thing a listener should go into this record knowing is that this is not going to be an easy ride. With tracks varying from a second to a over ten minutes in length, it will be a stop-start rollercoaster of disquiet and distortion even for those more inclined to dabble in experimentation. But before you, dear reader, dismiss it as unlistenable or ad hoc, think about it in terms of abstract art –where form, content, process and collage intersect and cause us to question our fixed
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assumptions about what a painting, a drawing should be. Thaemlitz, in an ambient and electronic tradition not dissimilar, is advancing a poststructuralist, non-dual approach to the boundaries of language and songcraft, as he has in his philosophy of gender and sexuality. Practically speaking, this comes to mean not drawing a line between the noises of the everyday and the sounds you catch in a studio booth, not recognising the line between one song and another, between the things you record and the things you don’t. Who, necessarily, says you have to? Herein lies the art, the skill, the concept: this can be applied to anything, and, deep down, behind layers of traditionalist conceit, we all know it’s true. The total blurring of boundaries, the levelling and reduction of opposites and binaries to an understanding that what we thought rejected in fact attracted, what repulsed, beckoned. This fundamental concept manifests itself on tracks such as ‘I Wish Tricky’d Die Anyway I Hope’: featuring an extract from a telephone conversation, sampled and laid over an anxious build-up with the clicks and whistles of household life, this slow-burning audio wilderness comes to convey a subtle mix of fear and urgency as much through what is not said as what is. It is armed with this understanding that the album opens itself up to you, inviting you to question its poise amid chaos, its subtle rises and falls, its shift across the extremes of the electronic corpus. How are we to interpret the riotous screech of ‘Mille Glaces’? The empty lulls that scatter the tracklist? Are vocals more authentic if they aren’t scripted, instead plucked from interviews, television or radio? While this rough-around the edges act of iconoclasm is a little too sprawling to completely achieve its tremendous potential, it hits in the places it wants to and does so with flair. Thaemlitz’ status as innovator – not that it was ever in doubt – is confirmed with this release. On future projects, unburdened by the need to assemble her complete career’s output, Terre should aim for greater concision and focus to allow listeners to centralise their attention on the concepts behind this approach to music. *Thaemlitz has identified as transgendered, and has asked to be referred to alternately between he and she, his and hers etc. Jarlath Nolan
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Lynette Quek // Raft
Ola Szmidt // EP2
RAFT is a serene listen from start to finish. Every song is filled with beautiful melodies and slow subtle progressions, making each seem like a flower blooming in slow motion. The album still has some surprises up its sleeves. The guest vocalists Nadrah Zainal & Queena Zhang Keying on ‘Be Your Own’ serve to give the track a unique character from the others. However, my favourite moments are still the many quiet ones RAFT has to offer, which put me into a state of bliss.
Szmidt’s latest release EP2 is perfect for a long train journey. You can get lost in the delicate flute melodies or the endless electronic drones. It would be a beautiful soundtrack to a journey while you drift in and out of focus, watching out your window as the scenes shift rapidly. Overall the tracks merge seamlessly into each other, using the same timbres, voice and electronically manipulated flute to instil a stability and serenity throughout the EP.
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Mood: A train journey
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Oliver Matheau-Raven
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Mood: Early morning sunrises in bed.
Annabelle Playe // Geyser This abstract two-piece album is an electronic performance ranging from moments of calm to noisy musical landscapes. Playe describes her work as: “An electronic journey questioning what moves inside and bring us beyond. Questioning detail, speed, fragmentation and continuum.” This album’s focus on industrial sounds depict a derelict and simultaneously futuristic world. It’s perfect for a 2am, Red Bull fuelled, deadline-is-tomorrow, essay session; this lyricless art-piece is the perfect backdrop for a few hours of no distractions. Mood: Essay writing
Peggy Gou // Once
Born and raised in South Korea and now residing in Berlin, Peggy Gou has become one of the rising stars of Electronic music. After her debut in 2016 with The Art of War Part 1, Gou has expanded her DJ career after she set her goal to become the first Korean woman to play Germany’s notorious club, Berghain. Once breathes rhythmic techno beats and incorporates her own native language; a cool background tempo you could imagine in a hip European bar. Gou’s work is uplifting and urges the listener to swerve to her electronic pulses. Mood: Creating a piece of artwork
Amy May Ellis
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Stephanie Ornithari Roberts
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“I was always a rebel” In Conversation with OLA SZMIDT
On first listening, the music of Ola Szmidt does not exactly sound electronic. It sounds orchestral, minimalist, even choral. But, as I found out, there’s a knowing manipulation of technology under the surface which produces this sound. Using an RC-505 looper to weave vocal harmonies and flute melodies, Szmidt’s mastery of both hardware and software is clear to see, or rather hear. Szmidt was born in Poland and lived there for the first two decades of her life. After moving to the UK, she studied music technology and innovation at De Montfort University and lived in Leicester, where she began performing at openmic nights. She now lives and works in York, a city which has become very close to her heart. We met up for a chat at the Everyman, where coffees were on the house - it’s a regular haunt for Szmidt. Szmidt has a wide range of influences, from jazz pianist Mike Sole, with whom she worked before moving to York, to more recent work with the great Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), becoming her mentor after she won the Steve Reid Innovation Award in 2016.
“The most magical time in our house for me to compose I call the ‘black hole’ - the time whilst my daughter’s getting ready for bed.”
Since then her music has gone from strength to strength, releasing EP1 in December 2017 and the contrasting, but equally beautiful, EP2 in January 2019. In this latest release, the blend of English and Polish lyrics present in her first EP are largely relinquished, replaced by a focus on more experimental flute sounds. Szmidt spoke candidly about this, saying: “I was not able to write lyrics at that point, because I was relearning how to speak and how to be myself”, following a period of physical and emotional pain for the artist. “I was just trying to heal myself, and also thinking, maybe this music will help someone else”. Her writing process is natural and spontaneous. “The most magical time in our house for me to compose I call the ‘black hole’ - the time whilst my daughter’s getting ready for bed.” I find Szmidt’s music highly emotional, testament to the feeling which goes into it. She’s constantly influenced by the changing environment around her, whether it’s the faces she sees from behind the counter whilst working part-time in retail, or the birds singing outside her studio window. Szmidt had to overcome some
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serious health problems when she was very young - bad eyesight and severe burns - and says that this led to a certain heightening and intermingling of other senses, a condition known as synaesthesia. “When I hug someone, or when I greet somebody, I see things – colours, even flowers”. At this point in our conversation, the tulip in a vase on the table shed a single petal… This remarkable and unique experience is transferred into her music. “The entire EP2 is synaesthetic”, she says, “and it was the only thing which helped me cope with the pain…[my music is] the only place I feel myself completely, and I trust myself completely” Each track evokes certain specific images in her mind, often landscapes or objects in nature. The organic sound of the EP resonates with this experience, and is in turn shared with the listener.
This issue of Circulation is a celebration of an exciting and productive era for female electronic artists. When asked about the importance of this to her, her response was somewhat surprising: “Where I’m from is a bigger problem for me than being female in the music industry. I’m supported by men, and I find that often they are the ones who have to squash their emotions.” As a consequence of current political turbulence, Szmidt has had struggles with the authorities over citizenship and settlement rights. She’s had to show tremendous resilience to get to where she is today, making great music and working alongside some of the biggest names within the genre. Szmidt’s advice for aspiring musicians? “You have to be assertive, you have to focus, and you have to do things which make you happy, with compromise...” Szmidt is currently working on a masters at the University of York whilst working on a number of musical projects alongside. “The next year is all about finishing uni and getting the band on the road”, as well as working on her debut fulllength album. It was an absolute pleasure speaking with Ola, and I can definitely recommend her music for anyone interested in mellow but emotional sounds. The song ‘Satellites’ from her first EP is a personal favourite, do check it out! George Cooper
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Spring Time Shenanigans! The Crescent // 08/02/2019 You’ve never seen The Crescent quite like this. York’s world music masterminds Tropica brought the best island scenes to the city’s community venue, inviting special guest Su-Ki to set the tone alongside resident DJs Fred Salt, MsFabulous, DrummieDave and Upside Your Mind. For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure of getting down to The Crescent, allow me to provide a brief introduction. This local haunt is effectively a converted working men’s club, an immersive experience of stain splattered carpets, caramel wood panelling and the lack of sunlight that one associates with a mobster’s speak-easy. If you’ve got an eye for haggard character, this is the type of place you’ll naturally be attracted to. There’s certainly no venue more fitting to host a night of off-kilter beats and breaks. While the front room’s
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paisley aesthetic steals your attention on a regular evening, the barrage of primary colours beaming off liberally scattered world flags did a fine job to ensure this was overlooked on a night about welcoming foreign sounds. With a projector showcasing the natural beauty of lands far from home, I pictured a world where a trip to CO-OP’s fruit aisle isn’t the most exotic adventure of my day.
“...world music has an air of positivity that can infect dancers en masse.” Derbyshire’s Su-Ki played a set that bubbled and excited. She picked up DJ’ing after she retired, though she told me that her age was not the principle boundary to entering World music; referred to by herself as “crossgenerational.” More so, the lack of female role models in Electronic encouraged Sue Allanson to become Su-Ki. Her set served to surprise, featuring a variety of Western dance remixes where the likes of Bowie and MJ were overdubbed by Hindi vocal harmonies. This Asian influence on her track selection pays respect to her 20’s spent in India. Consequently, her unique influences struck a pleasing contrast to the evening’s previous acts, swapping soul and disco sonics for a light-hearted electro-swing soundtrack. Her polka-dot shirt barely swayed behind the decks, nor did she appear to make any intent to enjoy her music like the rest of us. Instead, she faintly squinted at her laptop, engaged in passive focus. The atmosphere barely suffered from these tense shoulders, though I feel that the best DJs are just as much a part of the party as they are its parents. Once the rock gig in Crescent’s main room finished, the floor quickly packed out with joyful punters, revelling in the newfound knowledge that their night was far from over. If ever, this was testament to what Su-Ki had been telling me a few beers previous; world music has an air of positivity that can infect dancers en masse. Tropica put on a special night you’re highly unlikely to find anywhere else in York. Most of all I loved the fervent energy of that room, filled with desperate ravers on the hook of a variety of high-quality global mixes. No doubt you’ll see me at their next night, likely sipping from a coconut with a bendy straw. Joel Landschaft
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CLKWORK VALENTINES PARTY// THE CRESCENT If you don’t already know, Clkwork is York’s underground music community, dedicated developing the buzzing electronic music scene that York deserves- and they never fail to put on a great party. The Circulation team headed over to the Crescent Community Venue to see Gabri head up Clkwork’s Valentine’s Party. While Joe Rhys played his set, we soaked up the friendly atmosphere before heading to the games room to play a round of pool. An old pinball machine stood in the corner of the room; the old-school vibe was all-encompassing. The dance area was decorated with red heart-shaped balloons in keeping with the Valentine’s theme. After Rhys, the atmosphere was primed for Gabri to pump up the room with her set. Gabri came on stage and fired the crowd up. Behind the set was a hypnotising light display, its colours lighting up the whole room. I felt weirdly like I was at a grown-up school disco; spongy community venue carpet felt weird underfoot whilst dancing to Gabri’s lively beats. Everyone around us loosened up and bubbled with life, fueled by the energy and enthusiasm the DJ brings to the decks. Gabri was an energiser who turned up the heat at the end of the night. After an amazing set, we had a little chat with Gabri to find out more about her passion for DJing and electronic music. Gabri actually used to go to the University of York, where she first developed her love of R&B and hip-hop. She told us it wasn’t until about two years ago when electronic music truly lured her in to the DJing. Ellen Allien and Luke Slater are big influences on Gabri’s work. The DJ told us she is always working on building her self-confidence; playing an event called Equaliser formed an important part of that journey. She is currently developing her music in Leeds, where she frequently DJs some great local events. The Clkwork community are really onto something with their drive towards making York’s nightlife thrive. With increased support and investment in equipment as they gain members, Clkwork parties will be crazy in the nearfuture. Bella Scott For a glimpse at the latest musical direction she is taking, listen to her bold new mix on Mixcloud:
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Pauline Oliveros at York Art Gallery (or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Song). While I sat in York Art Gallery’s oval listening space, I caught glimpses of people passing through. They would put on the headphones, frown slightly, perhaps offer the headset to the person they’d come with, and then leave after a minute. In a way, this is unsurprising. Oliveros’ music is insanely intricate, building on themes established moment by moment, morphing and compounding into a wash of sound both overwhelming and enveloping. Its tones and rhythms are not what you would consider conventionally musical, but they build on a kind of internal intuition. However, the strength of this exhibit as a piece of immersive artwork lies in its effort to submerge the gallery goer in the world and philosophy of the artist. At first, the room feels a little haphazardly thrown together, simply a minimalist space to put the music in, but there is a method to the layout. The walls of the room bear pictures of Oliveros and The Deep Listening Band performing live sets with a tape deck, her accordion and sometimes stringed instruments. In the centre of the room is a wooden sphere displaying blown-up images of Oliveros’ notes- notes on how to listen, and how to compose. Inside this sphere, you find headphones and a collection of her books. The layout is actually a critical instruction on how to listen to her music: you must travel inwards. As the name of her band suggests, Oliveros’ music is an exercise in deep listening. Find the music in everyday sounds; notice how they change imperceptibly over time; take notice of silence; hear its tones. Composing, by extension, is the practice of arranging natural occurrences, as we are most resonant with what is innate. Her electronic music is strangely organic. There is an innate intimacy to exploring the depth in our surface existence. Her music challenges its listener to find the beauty, calmness and intricacies in the self. It is a meditative practice, a bodily one that demands both your full attention and a distant mind. Unfortunately- but perhaps inevitably in a space as compact as the York Art Gallery- the Oliveros installation suffers from its proximity to the other auditory pieces in the ‘When All is Quiet’ exhibition. There is a constant hum of choir music emanating from the next room and around every ten minutes an impossibly loud piercing noise pervades around the entire ground floor, which makes it quite difficult to completely lose yourself in her meditations. But give yourself some time to listen to her at home. Take some space to read her notes, breathe, and relearn what it means to listen. Connie Blach
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