bvdub Bvdub is Brock Van Wey. Living and working in San Francisco, he has been DJ’ing since 1993, but did not start producing his own material until 2007. Despite this relatively short musical career, Bvdub has released material on Styrax, Quietus (his own imprint), Night Drive Music, its sub-label 2600, Southern Outpost, Darla and n5MD.
Electronic in nature, his biggest musical influences are “beat-less ambient, deep techno, and a combination of the IDM of the late nineties, the modern-day direction of experimental—glitch ambient, and electro-acoustic. ” Commonly lumped into the ‘dub techno’ genre, Brock’s music is anything but; he effortlessly reworks and re-interprets his influences to create something seemingly familiar but wholly different.
Brock has also released music under his given name, Brock Van Wey, as Earth House Hold (deep house), and East Of Oceans (drum&bass). www.bvdub.org /…/music/bvdub
Rafael Anton Irisarri (US) Rafael Anton Irisarri is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, electronic music producer, interdisciplinary artist and curator. Predominantly associated with ambient, drone, post-minimalist, and modern classical music, Irisarri’s recorded output captures an essential vision of floating tones, deep pulsing bass and textural electronics. His use of ostinato phrases taps into minimalist ideals while atmospheric layers of effects suggests a more cinematic quality in his productions. In all, Irisarri’s compositions are deeply emotive and epic to the point of being symphonic. His works are widely published in over a dozen labels around the globe. These include respected/influential labels like Morr Music, Touch, ROOM40, Ghostly International, and Miasmah.„Irisarri uses his guitar as a strings-like symphonic element to generate atmospheric masses…like an ambient symphony recording that’s been rescued from attic entombment after half a century.“ – Textura (CA)
Irisarri travels frequently to perform live throughout Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East. Some career highlights include concerts at Barcelona’s Sónar Festival, Rotterdam’sDutch Electronic Arts Festival, Montreal’s MUTEK, Krakow’s Unsound Festival, and London’sOpenFrame. Aside from electronic music festivals, Irisarri has presented his works at multidisciplinary arts events, including Milan’s prestigious MITO SettembreMusica festival andIsrael Festival in Jerusalem.
„Irisarri creates spontaneous atmospheres using “elements” of his albums, not merely replicating them part for part with an audience…All of these elements are carefully put together in an almost classical vein and never feel forced, in fact, the atmosphere is so engrossing that it creates a sense of memory loss, which lends credence to Irisarri’s sound sculpting abilities to create a live set both complex in structure but with enough atmosphere to not draw attention to its mechanics. The sonic palette Irisarri works with during these performances proves that he is not a one trick pony“ – Foxy Digitalis (USA)
Back home in Seattle, Irisarri curates advanced sound and interdisciplinary art events, thus helping create a hub for contemporary art proposals in the city. In 2011, he started the Substrata Festival, a four-day intimate event focusing on varying perspectives of scale though the use of sound, composition and visuals – an international showcase featuring accomplished artists working in the cutting edge where structural abstraction meets physical dynamics.
“Substrata 1.1 was the inaugural edition of a concerted effort by curator and creative director, Rafael Anton Irisarri, to bring noise, subtlety and aural immersion to the forefront. Featuring an international lineup of artists who defy any concrete classification, the two performance days were an engrossing dedication to musical detail and sounds often overlooked.” – Resident Advisor (UK) Aside from his solo works, Irisarri is a prolific collaborator, having worked with dozens of like-minded artists (either live or in the studio). These include: Benoît Pioulard, Scanner, Biosphere, Fennesz, Lillevan, Pantha Du Prince, Echospace, Lawrence English, Grouper, Loscil, Marsen Jules, Keith Kenniff (Goldmund/Helios), Andrea Belfi, Simon Scott, Lusine, Lissom, Solvent, Svarte Greiner, Tiny Vipers, Ran Slavin, Koen Holtkamp, Greg Davis, Ido Govrin, Yair Etziony, and Marcus Fjellström. www.irisarri.org
