con•tact began as a collection of five studies of traditional musical instruments (cello, guitar, kalimba, glockenspiel, darbuka) composed over the past decade. I used my body, the instruments, and a contact microphone to capture tactile sounds like clay to be shaped, colored, and fired in the kiln of Ableton Live. This practice eventually formed full songs crafted exclusively using the sounds of my body interacting with each instrument in isolation.
Isolation is one motivation for releasing con•tact. I'm inspired by the Spanish word 'tocar' (to touch; to play [music]) and contact improvisation, a dance tradition in which sharing weight, touch, and movement awareness are vehicles for negotiating consensual explorations of embodiment with others in live, dynamic engagements. In an effort to bridge synapses between myself and friends remotely across fields of social distancing, I invited five movement artists to create improvisational dance videos at home responding to the sense of touch in con·tact's music.
con•tact's final form emerged relatively quickly in March of 2020 as a short music video series co-created with movement artists Kingsley Ibeneche, Chloe Newton, Isabela Moreira, Marcus Branch, and Elizabeth Weinstein. Each artist shows a different way to move rooms apart from their loved ones, carrying resurgent forms of wonder, interdependence, and remaining in touch with their gestures.
Set for digital release May 29, 2020 on Astro Nautico with music videos, con•tact is part of Atlantics X, an ongoing fundraising campaign providing direct financial assistance to artists impacted by COVID-19 in Astro Nautico's extended community. All streams and sales of the music support our fund. Still, the most impactful way to support is to make a direct donation on GoFundMe:
www.gofundme.com/f/atlanticsx