DCC:Glitch by Kouhei Harada, Shohei Sasagawa & Mitsuaki Matsumoto @ The Sewing Room
w/ Tourist Kid
Sunday, October 22, 2017
The Totally Huge New Music Festival held its first ever performance at new CBD venue The Sewing Room on Sunday night with DCC: Glitch, an audiovisual performance scored by Japanese artist Kouhei Harada. It was clear from the beginning that this was not your regular live music gig. There were no guitars, Marshall stacks or drum kits, but instead a space set up with projectors, speakers, and computers linked together in a web of cords and leads.
The basement venue had been transformed to create an immersive sonic and visual experience as the curious audience settled in to encounter the performance from their position of choice. The first act for the evening was Tourist Kid, whose repetitive samples slowly morphed and evolved drawing the audience in with swelling bass with a dissonant rhythm and melody. Tourist Kid is definitely worth checking out for the unique experience of observing a DJ speaking to their audience through music.
Following this performance the audience settled in for the main act. Harada is a pioneer of experimental music with his work presented at experimental art festivals around the world, but DCC:Glitch was the first in which he had scored the production himself.
Last week he revealed to X-Press the complex and groundbreaking methods he used to turn the idea into a reality. It was a close collaboration with experimental video artist Shohei Sasagawa, alongside Mitsuaki Matsumoto on the prepared biwa (a type of Japanese lute), who combined their efforts on the composition of the piece. The groundbreaking ensemble blend modified traditional Japanese instruments with computer errors to create a soundscape which then influenced the minimalist visuals.
On Sunday night, they employed this technique beginning with nodes which morphed into sprites and became more intricate and chaotic as the piece progressed. As a result the musicians became less important and the audience were more able to reflect on their own experience instead of passively watching. The score of the piece was projected visually as it was performed, both sound and vision triggering each other with ebbs and flows of influence. There were a number of speakers placed throughout The Sewing Room to creating an immersive auditory experience that was unique to every listener.
Overall, the piece was an interesting exercise in the use of visuals and sound to portray emotion. The light show indicated an arm wrestle between the urban and the natural expressed with patterns of flowers blooming across the wall. They intricately formed until a sense of sensory overload broke them apart again. It untapped a feeling one would associate with a crowded city, with the patterns giving way to an effect of paint splayed across the wall as we entered a more city central mode. The performance also captured the true essence of the Totally Huge New Music Festival, introducing Perth audiences to new and experimental music and sound art from international and national artists.
The Totally Huge New Music Festival features shows right across Perth from October 19-29. Head to our festival guide here to find out about more exciting performances you can catch this year.