Performance

Madlib at EMPAC: A celebration of EMPAC's opening with video drums

EMPAC's Opening Gala after-party in 2008 was headlined by the legendary musician and producer Madlib. The ever-innovative VJ collective LMNOPF and Vidvox were asked to take advantage of the one-of-a-kind cylindrical screen hanging over the stage. I played the electronic drum instrument we created for the event that controlled custom video synthesizers. We also played with Prefuse73, Kid Koala, Disposable Rocket Band, My Robot Friend, Back From Japan, and others (read more on my blog).

An embodied electronic music band with homemade instruments

We interpret our world with all our senses. When people play musical instruments there is a direct connection between physical gestures and the sounds. The audience interprets the gestures of the performers as much as the sound. This is often a challenge with laptop music because people have no intuitive understanding of how to play a computer. I created an electronic glove instrument with haptic feedback to perform embodied electronic music. We called this band the Hygienists and it included Aaron Taylor Waldman on the turntables, Derek Sweeney Kessler on the keyboards and bass, and yours truly with hand in glove. Here is also a short excerpt of our show at FTH Remote Lounge.

Additional video by Yogesh Girdhar, Sébastien B.