dui | two
‘a study in pairs’ aims to explore seldom heard pieces, often by underrepresented composers, alongside standard repertoire
dui | two takes place Monday 3 April at Glasgow’s The Old Hairdressers. The evening showcases short performances from two duos:
Sagnick Mukherjee (violin/viola) and Andrew Taheny (violin) explore the string duo repertoire from the baroque and classical periods by Leclair, Bologne, and Mozart, including the first performance of a new edition of Bologne’s first duo sonata.
Jennifer Moss (clarinet) and Peter Phelan (cello) present music from the 20th and 21st century, featuring composers such as Bernstein, Clarke, Ravel, and others.
Exploring the blurry lines between old and new, light and shade, canonisation and exclusion, then and now, this promises to be a sublime evening of music and performance.
The evening will end with an open chamber music jam session, attendees are encouraged to bring their instruments and any music they would like to play.
BIOS
SAGNICK MUKHERJEE
Sagnick Mukherjee began his musical studies as a hindustani classical singer before taking up violin and viola with Abraham Mazumder in Kolkata. He has since studied with Gabi Maas and Elita Poulter at the University of Glasgow, and with Jane Atkins and Bernard Docherty at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Sagnick has also played side-by-side with the UK’s professional orchestras during the course of his studies. Sagnick’s work as a freelance musician has led him to perform in a wide range of settings. Recent highlights include projects with Dunedin Consort, South Asian Symphony Orchestra, Glasgow Barons, and Nevis Ensemble, alongside appearances at Edinburgh International Festival and Celtic Connections. He has also given solo performances at The Glad Cafe Glasgow, Queens Hall Edinburgh, and on BBC Radio Scotland. Sagnick is passionate about artistic research, pedagogy, and creating new music as a composer, collaborator, and improviser. He particularly enjoys working across a range of genres alongside artists and ensembles in India and the UK – from exploring the sounds of contemporary pop and hip-hop to flamenco and the musical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. When not musicking, he is probably busy with experiments in the kitchen, enjoying a swim, or exploring the beautiful Scottish outdoors!
ANDREW TAHENY
Andrew Taheny is a violinist based in Manchester, originally from Glasgow. He studied Music at the University of Edinburgh, where he was the recipient of the Early Music Bursary from the Friends of St. Cecilia’s Hall, as well as the Sir Thomas Beecham Scholarship for Performance, the Andrew Grant Bequest for Recital, and the Frederick Niecks Essay Prize for Dissertation. During his time at Edinburgh, Andrew also studied at the Cambridge Early Music Summer School, performed with the Berlin Opera Academy Chamber Orchestra, and began working with the Nevis Ensemble, bringing orchestral music of various genres to communities across Scotland. Andrew is currently studying with Julia Hanson and Pauline Nobles as a Masters student at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has twice led the RNCM Baroque Ensemble, and has performed with Manchester Baroque, Manchester Camerata, Eboracum Baroque, the Northern Chamber Orchestra and the Cambridge Handel Opera Company. He has also spent a year as Leader-Scholar with Belsize Baroque, and performed as part of the Dartington Festival Baroque Orchestra. Andrew’s studies are generously supported by the McGlashan Trust, Cross Trust, Friends of Baroque Music in Yorkshire, and the Edinburgh College of Art.
PETER PHELAN
Cellist Peter Phelan enjoys a variety of performance and educational activities which create meaningful and joyful experiences for audiences and participants.
As a performer, Peter has had the privilege of playing alongside many fine orchestras including the Orchestra of Opera North as Sub Principal Cello, the BBC Philharmonic for live broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra as continuo cellist. He is the cellist of the newly launched Haver Quartet which is dedicated to experimental performance practice and community engagement.
Peter is also passionate about education and was previously a lower strings tutor at In Harmony Opera North. In 2021, he completed a PGCEi in Group Instrumental Learning accredited through Birmingham City University in partnership with Music Masters.
Peter completed a Masters in Music at the Royal Northern College of Music and a Bachelors in Music Performance at the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music.
JENNIFER MOSS
Clarinettist of the Pancevski Duo, Jennifer Moss, is a Glasgow-based freelance performer and educator. Jennifer is a previous Fellow of the Nevis Ensemble, and current bass clarinettist for the Silver Keys Clarinet Quartet. New to Glasgow, Jennifer feels inspired and nourished by the strong cultural identity here, and is committed to sharing musical experiences with communities around Scotland; most recently in delivering schools workshops in Uist for Puppet Animation Scotland, and a Silver Keys performance with Scotland on Tour in Portmahomack. Jennifer is delighted to be a mentor for the Awards for Musicians Furthering Talent programme, and an Ambassador for the Benedetti Foundation, both organisations who focus on removing barriers to music-making. Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Birmingham and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
SDEM wields a Machinedrum like a surgeons scalpel, opening a portal to the suffocating complexity of electronic music atomised and recombining with a barely there AI at the helm. SDEM releases have emerged on CPU Records, Opal Tapes and the MEDS platform.
SDEM has a brand new album; VORTICES about to be released on cult Mancunian electronic music imprint Skam Records.
VORTICES 9 tracks continue SDEM’s current prolific flow after a steady series of drops via his own MEDS label & other like-minded operators (CPU, Opal Tapes, Seagrave, Superpang etc..)
Informed by hiphop & computer music and steeped in Northern England’s post bleep+bass mutations, VORTICES operates in its own lane, rooted as much in the by-hand manipulations of musique concrete and free improv as the studio-as-an-instrument innovations of electro, hiphop, dub and bass weighted electronica.
Evolved out of hardware jams, the pieces showcased here crackle with emotion and colour, repeated plays reveal suggested and subliminal depths. Neither shackled to the grid nor enslaved to linearity, the LP expands & finesses SDEM’s dynamic & forward facing approach.
Mother has been dicking around with sound since the mid-00s, and perhaps known for performing an infrequent number of local live shows over the last decade or so, yet still to release a single piece of recorded music (well, maybe a couple here & there under the radar), Glasgow based musician & DJ Mark Maxwell aka Mother attempts to weave together a palette of heavily processed samples, found sounds, field recordings, synthesis & hefty percussion, taking cues from early musique concrete, industrial, dub and the sampling techniques of old. Although not necessarily always at the same time…
We are very excited to welcome Natalie to play tunes between sets!
Today, inimitable Glasgow sibling duo Comfort return with the announcement of their highly anticipated new album “What’s Bad Enough”, and a new video and single titled “Real Woman”. The new album is due out 5th May via FatCat Records. The new album comes on the heels of the band’s genre-defying FatCat debut “All Fears, Fully Formed” EP, which came out last year and saw the duo further push the envelope of the uncompromising beat-driven sound. Having developed their sound through years of intensive writing and performing in spaces aligned with Glasgow’s queer/punk scene, the band’s infectious energy and raw messages have seen them earn early plaudits at press both on record and for the sheer power of their live shows, having played alongside the likes of Armand Hammer, Goat Girl and Protomartyr.
Recorded with Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub) at Castle of Doom studios in Glasgow, the lead single “Real Woman” is an uplifting and unashamedly confident track about frontwoman Natalie’s existence as a transwoman. Melding glitchy electronics and propulsive off-kilter beats with angular leftfield hip-hop vocals, the new single musically picks up where their latest EP left off, whilst continuing to explore deep-rooted systemic social issues and reductive ideologies around sexuality and identity.
“Real Woman” is an empowering track about the Transgender community and rising above intolerance, with lyrics such as “your prejudice is not my problem”, and “I’ve never had so much interest in what’s between my legs. I don’t blame them at all, I think I’m fit as well”. The track also sees the duo calling out the likes of J.K. Rowling. In the accompanying video which is filmed across Glasgow, Natalie at one point lifts her shirt to reveal nipple pasties of the author’s face, whilst singing “I’m as real as Rowling.”
Speaking on the single, Natalie says: “As I have gotten older and learnt to love myself, transphobic views have less power over me. I have begun to find them laughable in their ignorance. I want this song to capture the elation you feel when you rise above the people who hate you, when you leave them to writhe in the mire of their own short-sightedness. Transgender people have always been here, and we always will be, we are inevitable, resisting us does nothing but hold everyone back. It can be easy to create art which is bleak when you are insistently alienated, but I wanted this song to be playful and fun, because I am all these things, despite everything.”
‘Comfort’ is a word that implies safety, convention, its connotations are parental, soft and neutral. For a band whose music and live performance is deeply original, emotional and challenging, the innocuous band name is an initial challenge to expectations. Sibling duo Natalie and Sean re-located to Glasgow with the intention of forming a band that resisted traditions.
Comfort’s set up consists of Sean on drums and Natalie as magnetic frontwoman, backed by wildly oscillating software synths to create music that is direct and engaging. Rejecting industry standards regarding how a song is supposed to be written and produced, the confrontational vulnerability inherent in their music reaches for a personal, yet queer liberation within a constrictive society.
Starting with electronics, their instinctive creative process is guided by feeling and a rejection of formal composition. As siblings, Natalie and Sean’s deep understanding and unwavering trust of one another allows them to push each other beyond self-imposed thresholds. Through consistently recording their writing process, they build upon their initial reactions to ideas forming structures out of improvisation to create an organic and flow-like state to their music. Lyrically Natalie is inspired by her lived experience of a near perpetual injustice, the assertion that all art is essentially political runs through their work.
Their debut album, “Not Passing”, was released in 2019. Following this, the band have continued to develop their sound via DIY shows, touring across the UK and Europe. In 2021, the band signed with Fat Cat Records following the submission of an unsolicited demo. This resulted in the opportunity to record with Tony Doogan at Castle of Doom studios in Glasgow. Over sessions spanning 3 weeks, the band co-produced enough material to create an EP “All Fears, Fully Formed”, which was released via FatCat Records in 2022, as well as their forthcoming LP. Combining sparse industrial soundscapes with pulsating beats, and avant-garde, hook-filled electronics, “What’s Bad Enough” is a consummate snapshot of their undefinable yet danceable output, which at times calls to mind the output of the Anticon collective. Accompanied by self-produced music videos, both projects are a snapshot of a group disengaged from genre specifics.
Comfort are defiantly queer in a social landscape which proves to be fertile ground for transphobic backlash. They have reinterpreted the ethos of punk music for the 21st century sending a clear message that they hold no interest in finding a middle ground with bigotry. Tracks across the album touch on themes from the inherent prejudice throughout our culture (“Never Been Ignorant”) and the pressure to conform as a queer person (“Cowardice In Numbers”), through to the unhinged nature of capitalism (“Normal Till It’s Not”) and the damaging ideologies surrounding grind culture (“Billionaire Potential”). In an industry where playlists are king, and aesthetic rules, Comfort are unconcerned with fitting in. As the validity of trans identities is consistently in question, Comfort create music demanding freedom not tolerance.
“What’s Bad Enough” is due out 5th May via FatCat Records.
In the ruins of the Incan empire, Gonzalo Pizarro leads his conquistadors into the depths of the Peruvian jungle seeking the gold and riches of the lost city of El Dorado. Instead they find only treachery, greed, madness and death… and monkeys.
Lots of monkeys.
Join Trash Cinema for a screening of the feverish nightmare that is Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, Wrath of God. The film that launched the tumultuous and brilliant collaborations between Herzog and Kinski is full of hallucinatory visions, unrelenting dangers and a true journey into the heart of darkness.
Doors open 7pm with a pre-show selection of retro trailers, ads and trashy entertainment, followed by the movie at 7.30pm – Monday the 10th of April at The Old Hairdresser’s.
Free popcorn and sweeties for all.
DORA LACHAISE & JONNI SLATER
Dora Lachaise and Jonni Slater launch their new EP Weather Balloons with an immersive experience of live music and film projections. Like discovering a forgotten analogue TV station where strange songs are the soundtrack for grainy arthouse movies…
Dora (Maaike Siegerist) brings her haunting vocals and ear-catching melodies, Jonni his husky voice, instinctive feel for keys and cinematic production. The songs they write together are full of mystery, inspired by UFO conspiracy theories and Cold War novels and films, with a hint of Nick Cave’s duets.
BECCI WALLACE
Becci Wallace is firmly placed at the heart of Scotland’s songwriting community. Her latest album Present Tense was released to critical acclaim and featured as BBC Roddy Hart’s ‘Record of Note’. With her powerful vocals and thought-provoking lyrics, Becci effortlessly moves across genres. From acoustic folk and singer-songwriter into electronica and pop.
EMBER QUINE
Freya Giles first made a bold mark on the Glasgow music circuit with Spiritu-folk band Woodwife. As Ember Quine, she has swung towards Goth-pop with intricate electronic arrangements and soaring vocals. Ember Quine is a vibrant voice born from a Fife homestead where music existed as the dominant language.
Woman Up Comedy has survived the pandemic and is ready to get back to the ha has with our hoo has. Get ready for an immersive experience with these ladies of laughter who have been making Glasgow laugh for 9 years. Short form improv with audience participation. You will get wet on this ride.
Woman Up Comedy has survived the pandemic and is ready to get back to the ha has with our hoo has. Get ready for an immersive experience with these ladies of laughter who have been making Glasgow laugh for 9 years. Short form improv with audience participation. You will get wet on this ride.
QPN presents: SHIT AND SHINE
First Shit and Shine show since 2013! Expect something interesting and weird. If you know you know. Legend.
“Based in Texas, Craig Clouse makes a lot of music, and he has fun doing it. How else do you explain record titles like Cunts with Roses, Toilet Door Tits, You’re Lucky to Have Friends Like Us and, perhaps best of all, Find Out What Happens When People Start Being Polite For A Fucking Change?
For over 10 years, Clouse and the various other musicians who’ve been in and out of Shine and Shine – the group’s press material regularly refers to performing live with 10 drummers at a time – have been gutting post-punk, krautrock, electro and more for parts, combining the grubbiest aspects of all those sounds into something that’s somewhere between Big Black and Big Beat.”
@shit_and_shine
Hexakaidecagon:
Experimental duo masterminds behind Baked Beans on the doorstep. Something crazy, something loud and something absurd.
“Twin breakers of everything from the Chicagoan and Texan neighbourhoods of Glasgow empty out their dustbins and let us know if there’s anything worth feasting on or if it’s just polystyrene, percussion and drool for dinner.”
Measured Maniacs + Jack:
Measured Maniacs perform unadulterated noise fuckery, with potential lasers and certain weird sounds, plus they’ve got a drummer this time around!
‘ …puzzling, yet enigmatic multi- disciplinary art project, which focuses on practicing extreme sonics to light, laser-driven opto-auditory feedback loops and strange synthetic disco ’
@ewajustka_official @falischie
Noise Hz x P.E.G:
Harsh noise connoisseurs set out to go back to back, literally. One speaker each the two will improvise harsh noise and experimental beat making for half an hour of horrificness. Listen to both, either or none.
‘Embracing the ethos of free noise improvisation, performed way out in the red and presented as a document of ferocious, unfettered creative expression.’
@noise__hz @willagho
Special Presentation!: At doors you will be greeted to a powerpoint presentation of the history of Oliva Newton’s song ‘Have you ever been mellow’. Featuring karaoke.
