NEWS: Sonic Horizons presents a showcase of exploratory sound and research
BIMM Bristol presents Sonic Horizons: A showcase of exploratory sound and research representing the next generation of musicians and academics within the Bristol community.
This event will take place at the Bristol Beacon on April 6th with doors opening from 4:30 pm and closing at 9:30 pm.
Free tickets available via Skiddle
Part seated/part standing
Age: 16+ (Under 16s to be accompanied by an adult)
On Wednesday, the 6th of April, the MA cohort of BIMM will be hosting an event at Bristol Beacon showcasing a wide variety of research and performances relevant to each student’s final project. This symposium, entitled “Sonic Horizons”, provides a unique opportunity for students to demonstrate and discuss their skills and research in a way that is accessible both to the public and academics alike.
This event blurs the line between an academic convention and a gig. Show-casing a high level of academic research within highly specialised and unique projects whilst simultaneously providing a varied line-up of talented acts from within BIMM that are sure to draw a crowd.
Taking a closer look at what you can expect on the day, the event is split into 3 distinctive floors within the Bristol Beacon. The first floor contains a stage for exhibiting performances from the cohort. Within this is a broad range of acts spanning a multitude of genres. Some of these acts include:
Marta Antunes: is a vocalist and choral arranger whose focus is working Portuguese vocal tradition into acapella arrangements of original and existing songs. Marta is also part of the women’s collective vocal group. An inclusive network for all female and gender minority music professionals, who will be performing alongside her at the event.
Monet: a musical quartet utilising a myriad of strange musical concepts, intricate melodies, and undeniably catchy grooves.
Injijo: A solo performance of lo-fi hip hop, boombap and ambient tracks using samplers, rounding off our line-up with beautifully mellow tones.
Injijo
James Kitchen: Diversifying our roster further with his recontextualization of Arcade Fire’s 2007 sophomore album ‘Neon Bible’ transforming the music into a cold and aggressive attack on the senses.
Harry and the brains: a band formed around Harry’s final project for his MA. He will be demonstrating tracks from his project with influences from bands such as Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Biffy Clyro, to name a few.
Cuffs: a band that has been relentlessly gigging since their formation in 2019. This punk band prides itself on their chaotic on-stage nature and has already played alongside some strong acts at various festivals including turbulence and altitude. Tackling the system with their music, Cuffs are sure to bring a high energy performance to this event!
Casey ball: blending elements of pop and country into her unique style is sure to add a unique quality to the line-up.
Finally, we have Millie McKee, live spinning some jazz, fusion, rock, and everything between.
The variance found within this line-up is sure to have something for everyone in attendance. The mix of performances showcased here is a testament to the broad range of music contained within BIMM.
Moving to the second floor of the event, we have our academic poster exhibition. This provides a way for students to get some valuable feedback on their projects, and a chance to discuss what they have discovered so far within their research, and where their projects are heading.
This serves as a true display of what the students at BIMM are capable of in terms of their academic rigour, and with no two projects being alike, it is clear to see the range of individuality that this university prides itself on. There will be a rotation of students on this floor throughout the event, allowing anyone to ask for more detail or have a general discussion on any of the research that intrigues them.
Finally, we have our panel floor. This is being utilized to open a dialogue on some important subjects within the music industry, led by professionals and students alike. Two panels are being held throughout the day, the first is titled ‘The Space You Deserve: Transforming Stigmas’ Hosting this panel is Clara White, a graduate of BIMM’s professional vocals course.
This panel centres around diversity and inclusivity within the music industry, with accompanying panellists Bashema Hall; a singer, songwriter, and composer from Bristol, mixing a variety of music genres with an expressive vocal style.
Bashema
Clara
Keeley Hudd: The co-founder of Longthrow Radio, an independent online station born during the pandemic and founded on an ethos of inclusion and accessibility.
Rachel Williams: the drummer for Manchester-based band – Peaness. A trio was formed in 2015 with a strong focus on DIY. Playing a plethora of gigs and festivals, with a debut album releasing next month.
And finally, Sara Patapiou: A Bristol-based female producer and DJ, with an impressive collection of features in Redbull, Vice, and Bristol in Stereo. Sara also collaboratively runs Echo World, a record label and platform for online music culture.
The collective experiences and views of these panellists are sure to spark some interesting discussion within this area of the music industry.
The Second panel, titled, “The Future of Music Technology and What’s Next for Music?” looks at the potential future of the music tech industry. Hosting this insightful panel is Saul, who founded the previously discussed Echo-World. Saul is also performing at this event as Injijo.
Supporting Saul on this panel is Chiara Tedeschi: an Italian music producer and DJ. She is the founder of OwM sound, which is a label focused on bass music, and alongside this, the founder of Belladonna Collective. This is a group of women and non-binary people creating and performing underground music.
Dr Riaan Vosloo: A lecturer at BIMM with an impressive portfolio within various areas of the music industry. These include co-founder of the label Impossible Ark Records, credits on a variety of albums and commercial projects as a bass player, composer, arranger, and producer. Such projects include Invincible and Unorthodox.
Finally, we have Zachary Diaz. A PhD student in musicology at the University of Bristol. With a dissertation centred around the late hip-hop producer Dilla. Zachary is also a hip-hop producer himself, releasing projects under the labels.
Riaan