Overview
Laptop orchestras, mind-bending group improvisations, no input mixers and Australia's finest white noise specialists will all be on show at Firstdraft's celebration of experimental music: Night Depot #2.
Firstdraft's second foray into live experimental music promises to be an evening dedicated to that most amorphous and malleable concept of 'sound'. Ditching the constraints that regular musical structures afford performers, Night Depot #2 is all about exploring the sonic possibilities that a group of musicians can unlock in the freedom of a live space.
With the massed improvisations of The Splinter Orchestra, the nine-piece laptop ensemble Erk's Orchestra and the beeps, bleeps and buzzing of Jonathan Watts no-input mixer, it seems fair to say that this ain't your regular concert night.
Throw together 30 electro artists, classical and jazz musicians and blokes who like to record the sounds of nature and you have something resembling the remarkable Splinter Orchestra. Without conductor or leader, this remarkable ensemble are able to create a soundscape of surprisingly spacey and minimalist improvisations unlike any other in Australia. On the other hand, both the Erk's Orchestra (Electronic Resonance Korps) and Jonathan Watts have rid themselves of anything resembling a standard musical instrument, instead favouring to explore the sonic stylings of computer software and the no-input mixer (as in that thing you plug your guitar into).
With Firstdraft's reputation for pushing boundaries and setting the standard in artistic mindfuckery, Night Depot #2 may not always resemble what we might call 'music', but it is sure to be a fascinating and enthralling trip into the sonic unknown.