So Percussion - Ecstatic Music Festival 01/20/11

So it was a busy weekend and you should expect a lot of posts this week, but first something from last month that is overdue.

So Percussion played a show with Dan Deacon last month in NYC for the Ecstatic Music Festival.  It was a lot of fun, and you may have caught their performance here.  Now the video for the complete performance by So Percussion leading up to their collabortation with Dan is up and it looks and sounds great.  Recorded on January 20th, 2011.  Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Eric Beach perform with Ian Rosenbaum sitting in for Jason Treuting who had a baby that day.  You'll watch Josh lead everyone in the audience in singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Elsie & Co. in the beginning of the video. Grey McMurray joins in on electric guitar.


So Percussion - Ecstatic Music Festival 01/20/11 from Guy Werner on Vimeo.

I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Eric Beach of So Percussion a few questions about the evening.


PRP: The third work involved video of a baby and an orange balloon.  Who's child is that in the video and what were you endeavoring to accomplish as far as interactivity between you, the video and the balloons? 

Eric: This one we've been calling "Teo in Bumbo", since the baby (Jason's nephew - Teo) is sitting in something called a Bumbo seat.  The idea behind this one is that Teo doesn't actually know what he's doing with the balloon, but there is an interesting sound that comes out of him touching the balloon.  The balloons we throw into the audience are supposed to let them experience what the balloons sound like first hand.

PRP: Why was the program for the evening's performances changed from selections from Imaginary City?

Eric:  We were really excited about this new music that we've been working on, and the more we thought about it it seemed like a better fit on the program.  Honestly, we just had to submit the program earlier than we had a strong idea of what to do, and as we worked with Dan this felt like a better fit for the evening.

PRP: And why no "I Love You, Goodnight"?

Eric:  Dan's piece was just such a strong statement on its own that we really felt like it would be silly to follow it with something.  I Love You, Goodnight was another part of Imaginary City, and we love performing that... but Dan's piece seemed to say something definitive that we wanted to leave people with at the end of the night.

PRP:  Now that the performance of "Ghostbuster Cook" has happened once, did it turn out as intended?  I heard there's another performance planned.  When and where is that?

Eric:  We were all thrilled with Ghostbuster Cook.  Honestly, it was even cooler than I expected it to be...  I'm not sure we knew what was intended at the beginning of the project, but by the end I'll say that I found more common ground with Dan than I even anticipated we would have.  And the piece really works.  I was even thrilled that a few people felt the need to get up and leave - it was honestly surprising that a musical gesture could have that kind of impact.  We're planning to do the piece again in London at the Barbican Center during the first week of May.

My thanks to Eric and everyone involved in the evening for being so great. Video by Guy Werner, with huge thanks to Sam Herring for operating one of the cameras. Sound tech; Lawson Smith. The Ecstatic Music Festival is a new music series worth checking out, blending disciplines and genres. Go to ecstaticmusicfestival.org


The works are as follows;
"Extremes" from "Imaginary City"
"Toothbrush Bit" from  "Where (We) Live"
"Teo in Bumbo" from  "Where (We) Live"
"Plane Improv" from  "Where (We) Live"
"Basement Bit" from  "Where (We) Live", a collaboration with Martin Schmidt