Electric Ladyland: Women In Electronic Music Night

Dream Council (Illinois)

Church Fire

Mirror Fears

ping

Lanx Borealis

Victoria Lundy

Thu, June 25, 2015 / 7:00 pm / 21+ /  $8

THE WALNUT ROOM, 3131 Walnut Street, Denver Colorado 80205

Tickets here

It’s odd that in the twenty first century a female DJ is still considered remarkable. There are legions of talented women performing and composing electronic music and they have been all along.

I have been playing electronic music for a while now, and I never really noticed. I guess I got used to being the only woman in a room full of (mostly white) guys in black clothes. And most of the time, I’ve had a male ally in the room, usually my husband. A couple of years ago I started really doing solo work, and I had a moment of satori in the middle of a synth event:

This is a sausage fest. 

And something had to be done. There have been some great events and series in Denver over the last few years focusing on women, thanks to women like Sara Century, but I wanted to put together a line up of women doing electronic music because they are doing it SO WELL. It took about 30 seconds to come up with a bill because there are so many of them. 

Here are the artists: 

Dream Council was born in a trash dump in Bushwick sometime during the height of the witch house craze. Sean Michael started the project with his childhood friend Ted. They spent a lot of time recording synth driven pop music outside of any genre, which made it hard to get booked in New York, a place constantly exploiting whatever was in at the moment. Money being tight for struggling artists, Sean Michael had to return to his hometown of Geneva Illinois. After having many nervous breakdowns and mounting anxiety about losing his creative drive, he was saved by the love of Alysa Guyer, who would help Sean rekindle his passion for Dream Council. With Alysa on drum machine and Sean Michael on bass and vocal they called on the skills of a prominent keyboardist in the area, Katie Bogel. Drawing on their love for 80’s goth and new wave, the trio easily found their voice.

Having been together just shy of a year the threesome has played with many great bands and gotten to grace the stages of some of the best venues Chicago has to offer.

They have just completed their first album together called “Good Luck”. The EP is being released on cassette through HOM HOM HOM, a label which has recently taken a liking to the Council. The feeling is mutual.

Church Fire, composed of Shannon Webber and David Samuelson, might be called synth pop if their oeuvre wasn’t so weird. Majestic, witchy, up-to-no-good experimental dance duo. 

Mirror Fears — Solo performer Kate Warner sequences and builds electronic beats, drives synths through guitar pedals and homemade effects, and loops vocals to create a dark and unique kind of synth-pop.

Following two tours to promote the release of her newest politically-charged EP RE//THINK, Kate continues to perform in her hometown of Denver, experimenting with new methods and immersing crowds in ever-changing moods. A second full-length album slated for late 2015 includes a wide range of material, reminiscent of the minimalism of XX, the lush textures of M83, and the harshness of Gazelle Twin. 

Lanx Borealis is a project of Sheina Thibeault – is an experimental music project/creature from local artist, Sheina Fae. She uses synthesizers, circuit bent objects, vocals, and other noise makers to communicate stories through soundscapes /sculptures. Her sounds range from uplifting ambient to dark noise, and odd places in between.

Ping is a side project of Kelley Donovan from Keldari Station. Kelley uses samples, hardware, and synths to create loops, beats, and soundscapes that are treated with various effects.  

Victoria Lundy has been playing theremin in the Denver experimental/underground/punk scene since the 90s. She was a member of the avant garde Carbon Dioxide Orchestra, who opened for the legendary Silver Apples in 1997; is a founding member of Denver’s acclaimed nerd rock band The Inactivists and has appeared all of their 6 CDs and EP, and as a guest player live and in recordings with other local artists. She has performed at the 2011 Denver Noise Festival, 2014 Westword Music Showcase and at the 2013 Denver Post Underground Music Showcase as a guest of ambient project Pythian Whispers. Victoria has appeared at many venues in Denver as well as Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, and DU Lamont School of Music, and demonstrated the theremin at the World Science Fiction Convention, gave a 2015 Denver.nerdnite.com presentation. For the last year she has participated in the Concrete Mixer musique concrete series, the latest playing with Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, and is participating in the 2015 Denver Mini Maker Faire demonstrating the theremin.  Currently, she’s concentrating on solo ambient work exploring the expressive qualities of the theremin and plans a release on Halloween 2015.