Inner8 + sYn A/V is a collaborative project between the artists Daniele Antezza and Federico Nitti, started in 2015 in occasion of Inner8 debut album release.
The project ultimate aim is to provide to the audience an immersive, synaesthetic and psychedelic experience, where the audio-visual elements are fused together into a unique data stream: fractalised patterns, echoes of tribal ritualities, deconstructed textures. Everything is conceived to boost the listener experience at a deep level of consciousness.
Across the last years Inner8 and sYn have showcased their performance worldwide.
Francesco Tristano’s Goldberg City Variations is an ambitious, brilliant project where the idea is to use MIDI technology to build a digital city in real-time with a combination of piano and computer.
The idea of the ‘Cosmic City’ first appeared in ‘Music and Architecture’, a book by engineer Iannis Xenakis. In Francesco’s project, the Greek pioneer’s imagination of future urban redevelopment is fuelled by Bach’s notes and grows via a projection on the stage behind him.
Francesco Tristano aims to take the audience on a journey of discovery through the magic of music and technology. Through music and visual elements he also explores the relationship between man, space, and progress and the celebration of a new relationship with our planet and its health.
The main focus is the vertical development of cities, where nature has more room for growth, as opposed to the concept of horizontal urbanisation. This project does not judge which is best, simply chooses that which is more pioneering, as Bach’s variation also does in its own exploration.
Music and city development mirror each other in their life cycles; and Goldberg City Variations, a unique, immersive and high impact show will take audiences to a whole new realm enhanced by a fantastical exploration of Xenakis’ dreams combined with Bach’s wonderful music.
The video for ‘Step Into The World’ by Waq Waq Kingdom (Jahtari) was produced as an exclusive piece for The Quietus magazine. Feedback techniques are used to emphasise the heavy snare accent in this bass-driven track, using Quartz Composer and live video. The focus is on the disassociated eyes and mouth of the vocalist to create an eerie and dark offering.
Formed in 2015, the science ninja team WaqWaq Kingdom is running secret operations from their underground bases in Berlin and Leipzig. With their combined WaqWaq powers they set out to save the galaxy and re-chart sonic territory as we know it.
WaqWaq Kingdom team members are:
Shigeru Ishihara is mostly knows as breakcore-gameboy legend DJ Scotch Egg, but also for playing bass in Seefeel (Warp Records), the Devilman project and Small But Hard Records. When he’s not saving the world operating the WaqWaq science lab he’s running Samurai Spoon, making the best Okonomiyaki in Berlin – oi-shiii!
Kiki Hitomi is the singer/songwriter from bass explorers King Midas Sound (Ninja Tune), Black Chow, the Japanese Dubstep noise duo Dokkebi Q and the NoinoNoinoNoino project. Her highly acclaimed solo debut album “Karma No Kusari” appeared on Jahtari in 2016.
‘Metaphysical’ is the A/V show of sound artist, Shapednoise, and visual artist, sYn.
The pair’s partnership sets out to explore the textural complexities of the sonic and physical world in which we live. Shapednoise’s distinct noise signature has always borrowed from the cinematic, and sYn lends a different perspective with more focused macro footage. ‘Metaphysical’ builds on both artists’ previous projects and collaborations in cross-media performance.
In ‘Metaphysical’ Shapednoise has pushed his sound to new depths and density, with enormous slabs of sounds rising from nothing and breaking like waves of drone and distortion. sYn’s visuals function within the framework, adding textured and tactile footage that ranges from MRI scans to the beautiful minutiae of the insect kingdom.
And ultimately, it’s these complimentary forces that ‘Metaphysical’ aims to highlight. What is beauty, and what is natural? What is noise and what is music? Questions that are impossible to answer, but worth asking.
From 2009-2013, Nitti joined Weirdcore and collaborated with Eno Smith running the live shows for celebrated artist Aphex Twin. Fede’s focus was the technical direction, he designed a network control systems and data analysis, as well as performing live visuals. During this period, Weirdcore toured globally with Aphex Twin.
Highlights of Federico’s work include the production of the ‘Remote Orchestra’ show, performed for the first time for the European Culture Congress in Wroclaw (Poland). The show involved the creation of sonic and visual cues used by Aphex Twin to ‘conduct’ the orchestra in a live performance. Nitti developed the audio part of the software used for the performance, from concept to completion, using Max MSP to program bespoke modules to support Aphex Twin in conceiving his vision for the performance. This included technical production for the show, troubleshooting during the performance, and providing all technical advice to the artistic the development of the project.
Aphex Twin, aka Richard D. James, is a name synonymous with the intriguingly named genre of IDM (Intelligent Dance Music). James on the label: “I just think it's really funny to have terms like that. It's basically saying 'this is intelligent and everything else is stupid.' It's really nasty to everyone else's music. It makes me laugh.” Aphex Twin’s formed Rephlex Records in 1991, releasing three Analogue Bubblebath EPs under the AFX name. He moved to London in 1993, where he released a slew of albums and EPs on Warp Records and other labels under many aliases. His first album ‘Selected Ambient Works 85-92’ was an ambient affair, released in 1992 on R&S records. In 1995 James began composing on computers, embracing a more drum n bass sound mixed with acid lines. In the late 1990s, his music become more popular with the release of "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker", which James followed this up in 2001 with “Drukqs”, a 2-CD album which featured both prepared piano songs and abrasive and fast drum n bass influenced fare. In late 2004, James returned to acid techno with the Analord series, which was written and recorded on analogue equipment and pressed to vinyl. Some seemingly outlandish claims from interviews have been verified. James does own a tank (actually a 1950s armoured scout car, the Daimler Ferret Mark 3) and a submarine bought from Russia. Additional unverified claims include the following: He composed ambient techno at age 13; he has "over 100 hours" of unreleased music; he experiences synaesthesia; and he is able to incorporate lucid dreaming into the process of making music.
Biography from Resident Advisor.
Initially developed for the Mouse on Mars ’21 Again’ festival at HAU2 Berlin, this piece was selected by CTM for their SHAPE program, and toured across Europe and Russia. Back-lit, Kathy’s silhouette is tracked through live-stream video, and manipulated in real time to create feedback effects. Responding to the flow of the analogue electronics, the performance was celebrated for the intuitve connection between the visual and sound.
Kathy Alberici (Small but Hard, Drum Eyes) inhabits a tingling space between noise, soundscapes, and drone. Working with strings and analogue synth, sound is manipulated, recycled, and deconstructed to reveal its many faces. From nothing comes something, the imperfections, the Dreck becoming its own musical element in a complex weave of reflexive feedback.
The collaboration with Rima Najdi started with the performance “Happy New Fear” commissioned by the CTM festival in 2017. Nitti was the Technical Director and Sound Engineer, curating the live visuals and sound of the performance. He also collaborated alongside with Kathy Alberici for the sound design.
Consequently they collaborated again for “Think Much. Cry Much” in 2017, a participatory sound piece built around radio transmitting systems, commissioned by FIT / Festivals In Transition network and supported by Creative Europe program of the European Union. Federico was the technical director, in charge of designing and implementing a complex audio system programmed with MAX/MSP, that was transmitting on seven different channels to between 50 and 70 wireless headphones.
In 2014 Nitti moved to Berlin and started to work for the video production of Boiler Room Germany under the direction of Michail Stangl. He notably designed and directed the main sponsored events by Ballantine and Adidas in Germany and Russia notably for artists like Carl Craig, Francesco Tristano, Kink, Luke Vibert, Octave One and DJ Premier among many others.
