Vancouverites who have little furor left to burn after the transit plebiscite — and who liken yoga on bridges with mayonnaise being left in the sun too long — will probably be tickled by the sensitively titled “Destroy Vancouver” music showcase clamouring for their hearts and ears.
Central to Destroy’s mandate is to present artists with dissimilar qualities and practices. The emphasis is on variety.
“I wanted to create a series that mixed genres of experimental music,” says show curator John Brennan. “I found [at many experimental music shows] it would be mostly all noise – three hours of harsh noise. Which is cool, because I dig it, but it just becomes hard to maintain your focus. So I was really interested in combining genres of experimental music and showcasing them together and having very short sets.”
Started in 2011 by Brennan, Destroy Vancouver was made part of the official VIVO Media Arts Center programming in 2012, and has now grown to be part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. It continues to feature local artists but has also been looking further afield. New York’s celebrated purveyor of illegal drum science, Chris Corsano, was featured in 2012 and, whether or not you think playing with three sticks simultaneously is impressive, his appearance was among the first that helped get Destroy on the map.
This summer’s show promises to deliver on the custom of diversity by celebrating three artists with their own distinct palettes.
Local, reading-on-the-Richter-scale JP Carter can be heard as a collaborative member with many well-known Vancouver artists (Dan Mangan, Destroyer, and Fond Of Tigers) but, when given complete ownership of the stage as he will have at Destroy, he can sound like a King Kong wrecking crew.
“You go to a lot of rock shows and the way they use volume is a similar thing,” observes Carter. “I feel that’s where noise music comes from. Especially at a metal show or something loud – you’re getting bombarded with bass frequencies and this all-encompassing threshold of sound”.
Vancouver’s own Lisa Cay Miller delves into fleets of sonic fancy that occur when the pianist interacts with raw string under the lid. Miller inherits the foundling tradition of prepared piano; a practice where the pianist will place objects on the strings so that when the instrument is played the sound is almost unrecognizable. “A few colleagues of mine know a lot about how to prepare a piano, or use objects on the instrument without damaging it,” says Miller. “I worked with them to make sure that the instrument stays intact, in tune, and undamaged. Although, in this concert, it might sound like I’m actually wrecking the piano”.
Once you’re acquainted with it, it’s hard not to recognize drummer Billy Martin’s unmistakable gait behind the kit. He’s brought it to no small prominence in his long-standing role as the Martin of Medeski, Martin and Wood. Martin has been ambitious in his non-Western music studies and his playing is peppered with nigh unfamiliar clave. He wears an irony of being simultaneously unfamiliar yet fundamentally recognizable along with a performance practice that borders on the spiritual.
“The most important thing is feeling it from within, which is the ultimate thing I can give to the audience,” explains Martin. “I want to take them on a journey. I want to go in the direction of finding something in the moment that’s new and exciting. It’s a commune of the audience and the performer.”
