We are pleased to present Evicshen as the headliner of Initial Shock. Victoria Shen is a sound artist, experimental music performer, and instrument-maker based in San Francisco. Shen's sound practice is concerned with the spatiality/physicality of sound and its relationship to the human body. Her music features analog modular synthesizers, vinyl/resin records, and self-built electronics. Eschewing conventions in harmony and rhythm in favor of extreme textures and gestural tones, Shen uses what she calls "chaotic sound" to oppose signal and information, eluding traditionally embedded meaning.
Her personal identity; her body; is the space her work utilizes to restructure sonic meaning. In her live performances, she proposes an exploration between meaning and non-meaning through the physical activation of noise tropes. Her probing into these melodic voids interrogate the ways we perceive value within aural experiences. The appendage-like instruments and objects she makes, exemplify Shen’s ability to embody through sound her interest in the tension created by opposition: control and chaos, the unique and the mass produced, the practical and the absurd.
Another of our American performers at Initial Shock is SHREDDED NERVE, the primary moniker of multimedia artist Justin Lakes. His recordings and performances incorporate found sounds, electroacoustic instrumentation, analog synthesizers, and elaborate handmade cassette loops. Originally based in Cincinnati, Lakes has operated out of Brooklyn since 2014 where he co-founded the record store Thousands of Dead Gods and subsequent tape label Dead Gods with Matt Boettke (Scant). In addition to publishing printed materials of collages and flyers, he also runs the limited edition CDr imprint Small Mercies.
Canadian-based Alan Bloor (a.k.a. Knurl)’s main inspiration came from working in welding shops, harnessing the sounds of grinding metal to create incredibly powerful harsh noise. Since Knurl’s debut release (and festival namesake), ‘Initial Shock,’ in 1994, Bloor has issued numerous titles on his own Panta Rhei label as well as many other labels including the legendary RRRecords, Self Abuse, and Entartete Kunst (to name a few.) Knurl has also collaborated with other artists including Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth.
Altar Boa has remained essentially reclusive since their inception in 2007. Maintaining a hidden and persistent hand in the mire of underground noise, metal, punk and electronic scenes throughout the last 20+ years, only recently has Altar Boa surfaced publicly through a variety of split cassettes and EPs. Inspired by occulist Dion Fortune, ætheric others, early industrial music and deep ambience in the interstice between the sacred and profane, Altar Boa calls the discomforted listener back to the body they are estranged from.
Tickets are on sale now. All advanced ticket sales include 1 entry into a raffle draw to win one of several prizes the night of the fest and a Scream & Writhe tote bag (while supplies last).
