Friday 1 March 2019, 7.30pm
Nkisi is the electronic music project of artist Melika Ngombe Kolongo, where she explores her obsession with worldly rhythm and its psycho-acoustic properties. ‘I like to think that as musicians or sonic practitioners we work with energy, actually we move energy around. I am interested in movement and moving—the trance and how repetition and the relation between rhythm and melody can hold that trance. I am also very interested in what sound and music actually do to our bodies and psyche. Music as bodily endeavour and personal experience can disrupt representational illusions, as it allows the indescribable and unthinkable to exist.’--Nkisi
This residency is one of three at OTO for UK-based artists/groups at a vital point in their creative development, thanks to the support of Jerwood Charitable Foundation.
COLDWAR is the explosive collaboration between John T. Gast and Nkisi.
“I met John T Gast after we played a show together in London (section 6) in 2014 and we decided to get to the studio and made some magic.
I am very excited to get this band operating again. Expect a raw trance-inducing sonic experience, and anonymous feel within a spiritual and folk context… we will be releasing very soon.”
https://www.facebook.com/nkisimwana/videos/766814040319067/
John T. Gast releases music through 5 Gate Temple and other outlets (Blackest Ever Black, Trilogy Tapes, No label, Planet Mu). His collaborations and live shows' serve as a crucible for further exploration.
Claude Mukwaba is a Congolese percussionist and choreographer based in Paris and specialised in Ngoma and Lokolele drum.
“Claude will present traditional Congolese rhythms and dance while engaging with the audience... very excited to have him open the residency.” – Nkisi
