Convergence has announced an array of artists taking over venues including Roundhouse, Village Underground, Troxy and KOKO from 10 - 20 March.
Junun ft. Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & the Rajasthan Express (first full length UK performance), Dan Deacon, Nurse With Wound, Factory Floor, Anna von Hausswolff, Colin Stetson, Shit Robot, Karen Gwyer, Kara-Lis Coverdale & Simbiosi. Also: Nadine Shah confirmed for Pieces of a Man: the Gil Scott-Heron Project.
The above join artists already announced, including: Lamb, The Gaslamp Killer, of Montreal, !!! chk chk chk, Omar Souleyman, Clap! Clap!, Larry Gus, KUTMAH, The Correspondents and The Herbaliser’s Night of Future-Funk featuring Rodney P.
Now in its third year, Convergence is an established multi-venue event series celebrating musical pioneers, visual artists and technologists. Taking place in some of London’s most iconic venues, Convergence brings the capital together through compelling dialogue and a thrilling programme of events. Newly confirmed shows at Barbican, Scala and St John on Bethnal Green add to the already varied programme of live events taking place at Roundhouse, Troxy, KOKO and Village Underground.
Convergence is delighted to work with the Barbican once again this year, to produce the first full-length UK performance of Junun featuring Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express - a powerful coming together of Eastern tradition and Western music production. Produced by Nigel Godrich, the Junun album comprises Ben Tzur’s compositions, Jonny Greenwood’s experimental guitar work and devotional Sufi Qawwali musicians who sing in Urdu.
Another defining development of this year's Convergence, is the addition of an artist-in-residency programme, and there is no better artist to inaugurate this effort than American experimental composer Dan Deacon. Renowned for his thrillingly visceral live shows, Deacon’s theoretical background is often overwhelmed by his ability to make us laugh, dance, and embrace strangers in his rare transformative sweaty gigs. Dan will appear in his own concert at Village Underground and a second collaborative event to be announced. At Convergence Sessions, he will lead a Masterclass with Guildhall Young Arts Academy and will also appear in an interview with Mary Anne Hobbs. With eight albums of startlingly original music - the most recent released on Domino Recordings - Dan Deacon is emblematic of the restless innovation Convergence celebrates.
In 2016, Convergence takes its first step as a producer of bespoke concerts. Pieces of a Man: The Gil Scott-Heron Project is a celebration of the life and legacy of the legendary American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, through a day of talks, screenings and performances. The day culminates in a live performance featuring guest vocalists Kwabs, Jamie Woon, Nadine Shah, Loyle Carner and Gwilym Gold, and a house band that will comprise of leading artists in contemporary music and electronica - more names to be announced soon.
Speaking about the live show, Musical Director Dave Okumu said, “I feel incredibly excited and honoured to have been asked to take part in celebrating and reflecting on the work of Gil Scott-Heron. To me, he was and remains a deeply empathetic, visionary artist who wasn't afraid of converting personal or political conversations into a mass cultural form. Musically, I've been meditating on the idea that he was part of a wider oral tradition and that his contribution helped birth a whole new genre of music. Without Gil Scott-Heron, hip hop would not be what it is today. I'm interested in exploring ways of recontextualizing his songs and poetry in a musical landscape that may not have come into existence without him. I'll draw on the rich heritage of hip hop, funk, blues, soul, jazz and electronica, as well as finding inspiration in what is happening in music today.”
Quote from Glenn Max, Festival Director
“While there is no single theme to this year’s array of installations, talks, and concerts, a recurring idea is the re-materialisation of culture beyond its digital vaporisation. Technology provides all of the instruments for innovation but -- for it to mean something to our human culture -- we need the disruptive ingenuity and emotional investment of artists.
Technology wants us to be clean, carefully quantised and perfectly composed, but it is when artists break the rules that we are compelled and delighted. We want our relationship with music and art to be messy, tangled and sprawling. Convergence is a many-headed beast led by heroic innovators, fiery personalities and evocative voices that are masters, rather than slaves, to the algorithm.”
An underlying theme of Convergence 2016 is cross-cultural exploration, as represented in the work of Omar Souleyman, Clap Clap! and Johnny Greenwood and Shye Ben Tzurs' Junun. Adopting global influences can be a controversial process for artists and is often a creative minefield. The artists represented in Convergence skilfully sidestep cultural appropriation to defy pre-existing definitions of 'otherness' and transform them into something both engaging and deeply personal, proving battles are best left in the hands of artists, not politicians.
Convergence Sessions showcases innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in arts and technology. The Sessions will create an immersive playground of ideas, comprising a programme of talks, experiential education workshops, panel discussions, performances and installations. Sessions take place from 17-19 March at Ace Hotel Shoreditch.
We are pleased to continue our work with Mixcloud and pioneering digital arts collective onedotzero for a third year. Convergence brings together a host of innovators including Hellicar and Lewis, Seeper, Makerversity, CMU and artists The Gaslamp Killer and Dan Deacon in conversation with Mary Anne Hobbs, a Point Blank Masterclass and a collaboration between AV artists The Light Surgeons and sonic surfer Scanner to showcase their work at the forefront of digital culture.
Academic partners include Sonic Arts BA Students from University of the Arts London and Guildhall School of Music who will collaborate on the Young Artists Academy in the Barbican Pit theatre 15 - 18 February and present work as part of a broader Convergence programme.
Convergence Sessions provide an opportunity for those passionate about the future of art and society, to exchange ideas and engage with a community of thinkers, artists, and fellow participants.
“The Convergence organisers have eclipsed their ambitious commissions. They have amassed a global operation into a set of London venues that have altered the trajectory of electronic music and what role technology will play in the future.” Crack
“An expertly curated festival” DJ Mag
“A celebration of sound effects in electronic music” Metro
Convergence Opening Party: !!! (chk chk chk) plus more tba
Thurs 10 March 7pm, Village Underground
Early bird £14 General release £16 Final release £17.50
Junun ft. Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express
Fri 11 March 7.30pm, Barbican Hall
£17.50 - £25
Factory Floor curated night with Shit Robot + Karen Gwyer + Kara-Lis Coverdale
Fri 11 March 10pm, Village Underground
Early bird £13.50 General release £15 Final release £16.50
The Correspondents produced by Soundcrash in association with Convergence
Saturday 12 March, 7pm, Village Underground
Early bird £15.50 General Release £17.50
Pieces of a Man: The Gil Scott-Heron Project with Musical Director - Dave Okumu (The Invisible) featuring guest vocalists Kwabs, Jamie Woon, Nadine Shah, Loyle Carner and Gwilym Gold. More names TBA
Sun 13 March 7pm, Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8EH Box Office: 0300 6789 222 / www.roundhouse.org.uk
£25 (Balcony seating) £30 (Stalls standing)
of Montreal + Larry Gus
Mon 14 March 7.30pm, Village Underground
Early bird £15 General release £17.50
Colin Stetson, plus support tba
Wed 16 March 7.30pm, Scala £12- £15
Omar Souleyman + Clap! Clap! + Simbiosi
Wed 16 March 7pm, KOKO
Early bird £13.50 General release £15.50
The Herbaliser’s Night of Future-Funk featuring Rodney P, plus support tba
Wed 16 March 7.30pm, Village Underground
Early bird £13.50 General release £15
Lamb, plus support tba
Thurs 17 March 7pm, Troxy
Stalls standing £25 Front row balcony £25 Booths £25 Tiered seating £22.50
Dan Deacon plus support tba
Thurs 17 March, 7:30pm, Village Underground
Tickets on sale Thursday 21 January.
Anna von Hausswolff
Fri 18 March 7.30pm St John on Bethnal Green
Early bird £13.50 General release £15.50
The Gaslamp Killer Experience featuring the Heliocentrics, plus support tba
Fri 18 March 7pm (Early Show - full live band show), Village Underground
Early bird £13 General release £15 Combo ticket £25 (allows entry to both the early & late show)
The Gaslamp Killer (DJ Set), KUTMAH plus more tba
Fri 18 March 10pm (Late Show), Village Underground
Early bird £14 General release £16 Combo ticket £25 (allows entry to both the early & late show)
Nurse With Wound + support tba
Sat 19 March, 7.30pm Village Underground (early show)
Tickets £14 - £18
Published on 11 February 2016 by Wayne Feltham
