Mayunkiki & Surge

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Musicians from Birmingham based Surge Forward came together with Ainu artist and musician Mayunkiki for the first time in 2022 in a week-long residency and cultural exchange as part of Mayunkiki’s exhibition at IKON gallery. Born in Asahikawa, on the island of Hokkaidō in Japan, Mayunkiki’s artistic practice arises from her Indigenous identity. Surge Forward are delighted to welcome Mayun and her longtime collaborator Tact Hirose to visit the UK again this year to continue this unique collaboration to create new music and re-imaginings of Mayunkiki’s music mixing the traditional Ainu song Upopo, a practice rooted in rhythmic patterns and the signature style of singing in a trance-like chorus, with contemporary sounds.

Surge musicians working on this project are Artistic Director and guitarist Sid Peacock, trumpeter Aaron Diaz, clarinettist Katie Stevens and drummer Tymek Jozwiak. These versatile musicians bring with them a wealth of experience spanning many genres across jazz and folk traditions that contribute to this exciting collaboration.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwVx0sjss7F3UVYvjbKjaWk7OSnXGItbP

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Kamura Obscura

Kamura Obscura, featuring Atsuko Kamura and Natalie Mason, explores vocal improvisation and electronics, alongside experimental composition, looped strings and luminous wigs. Stewart Lee described the latest record as the sound of "a nightclub cabaret in occupied territory, inscrutable subversion discombobulating kirsch-quaffing commissars” The Idler, 2022.

https://www.kamuraobscura.com/

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Anqi Qu

Anqi Qu is a performer and composer based between London and Birmingham. She graduated from Shenyang Conservatory of Music in China on the Guzheng (a Chinese plucked zither) and is studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as a composer. She is involved in many student performance projects, focusing on the study of contemporary music. Recent highlights include a performance at the Chinese Embassy to perform Chinese traditional music with Dr. Chengyu (musician for Pipa and Guqin) and participating as a Guzheng performer on the soundtrack of ‘Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils’ for the BBC. She also regularly performs with the UK Chinese Ensemble. Anqi will be performing a mix of traditional and contemporary music on the Guzheng.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pwOLG-XpWQtsphzDpwK9XDGKGCLttPoa/view

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Leon Trimble (Chromatouch)

Leon (Chromatouch) is an audiovisual artist regularly gigging in the UK and Europe. He has a history of doing visuals at many festivals including Shambala, Glastonbury, Moseley Folk, The Big Chill and Maschina Bristronica. He is a resident VJ at House of God. His music has developed around the use of tech that pairs up with those visuals, over the past few years with modular synths, and he takes sonic journeys through low drones and floor smashing rhythms. In 2022 he supported Regis, Suzanne Ciani, Sote, Steve Davis, Graham Dunning amongst other.

Leon has always been involved in starting and running grassroots music projects like Jigsawmusic, 8bit Lounge, Birmingham Modular Organisation and most recently Drone Bath that has taken place in Moseley Road Baths, The Herbert Museum and Art Gallery, and Victoria Baths in Manchester. He has worked with Astrophysicists on his Gravity Synth project, even bouncing the sounds of the synth off the surface of the moon from inside Abbey Road Studios.

www.Chromatouch.bandcamp.com

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Design by Naomi Oppenheim

www.n-oppenheim.co.uk

We are grateful to Arts Council England and the Daiwa Foundation for their generous support to make this event possible.

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