The Servants of Sound manifesto is one that takes as its starting point the belief that we have the most creative and inspirational artists right here in our backyard. We are truly spoiled. Our local artists never cease to amaze the world with their astounding and innovative sounds. Following our mission to nurture and unite our arts community, the Dragon Dreaming Festival will pay homage to our incredible Australian talent. Join us for this first of our ritual gatherings, indulge yourself in the sounds and celebrate.
We have created a journey through some of the regions best, bringing you the amazing sounds from musicians such as Sensient, Spoonbill, Charlie McMahon, SETH, Onda, Favourite Son and more. Performing across three stages we are happy to present a truly diverse lineup of genres.
From chilled world rhythms, live tribal drumming and relaxing ambient to banging night time psytrance. From twisted electro and minimal through live didgeridoo, to pristine progressive trance and house. We are confident this is lineup that will make you walk away from this festival as impressed with our home grown talent as we are. Servants of Sound, Regen and Ixchel are happy to announce the first half of our lineup.
SENSIENT (Live) http://www.myspace.com/zenonrecords
SENSIENT is 26 year old Tim Larner from Melbourne, Australia. A drummer from the age of twelve, his early days in the outdoor scene were spent in the rainforests of Byron Bay, soaking up the vibe and inspirations of such a beautiful place, before turning his attention to music. Now he has developed his own unique style of atmospheric, dark, deep and funky progressive psy. In 2003 he set up his own label Zenon Records, which he has built into one of the most respected minimal/progressive labels in the scene. In April 2005, having returned from an international tour, he released his second album “Pressure Optimal” on Zenon which was heralded as a landmark release in the minimal progressive trance genre. In 2005 he made a 4 month tour of Europe and Brazil where he played at some of the biggest festivals including Voov Experience, Fusion Festival, Arvika Festival and the incredible Boom Festival. His most recent release, Antifluoro, has made ripples around the world, defining Sensient once again as as one of Australias, and indeed the worlds, major psychedelic artists. Fresh from yet another tour of the global festival scene, Sensient is an experience not to be missed.
SPOONBILL (Live) http://www.spoonbill.net.au
Spoonbill aka Jim Moynihan grew up in the bush north of Melbourne, discovering the excitement of playing the drums at the age of 12. He began playing gigs in pubs before legally being allowed to enter. Spoonbill crafts an elegant and quirky symphony of honey-scented grooves, jovial humour and joyous beat trickery, melding an ever-evolving array of styles into a distinctive ozzie blend. From its richly textured electronic centre to the live licks around its jazzier edges, the Spoonbill sound is sure to get those toes tappin and sand shoes shufflin on the floor.
ONDA (live)
Playing for the first time outdoors, Onda is a duo creation founded in the latin climes of Argentina. Two friends whose ideas mesh to create deep and twisting full-on psychedelic sounds. They are the combination of established artists of A'kin and Thermohaline combined.
Charlie McMahon (live) http://www.charliemcmahon.com
Charlie, recognised as one of the world's best didjeridoo players. Experiments by Charlie led to the development of a SEISMIC recording device (Face Bass) used to stunning effect on the release, XENOPHON. The Face Bass picks up the didjeridoo vibrations in Charlie’s body giving the didjeridoo a more complex and deeper sound.
S.E.T.H (live) http://www.myspace.com/psychedelicseth
S.E.T.H has been producing trance music and psychedelic down tempo beats since 2002. His signature style is "transitional" night music with a pinch of gutteral vocals and lashings of relentless trance.
Oxygene (VJ/DJ) http://www.myspace.com/o2e
The human behind the Oxygene project resides in Melbourne, has many varying polymathic projects, both creative and intellectual. The Oxygene moniker is to provide bounds to that part of his creative pursuits defined as psychedelic electronic music that is not reliant on traditional 'dance' or 'electronic' structure. It varies strongly in tempo and structure and is written in a more 'stream of consciousness' state of mind rather than worrying about traditional forms.
Favourite Son (live) http://www.myspace.com/unomatteo
For the past 6 years Favourite Son have been travelling around the globe and performing with a world/dance outfit called OKA. In the past six months he has split from them to produce some music on his own. A live journey through chilled beats to tasty dance, with live percussion, vocals and bass.
WideSpread (live)
A new live project from Sydney producer Fracas. Described as progressive hypnotic house minus any cheese.
Sunrunner (live) http://www.myspace.com/sunrunnerepp
Sunrunner was born from a blazing ray of sunshine that burst through a legion of puffy white clouds one afternoon in November. Starting out as a small ball of light, Sunrunner eventually became more of a consciousness and acquired some technology to start working on music. After many nights of producing random blips and beeps, things started to sound a little less like a computer shorting out and more like a piece of electronic music.
Progressive music with a psychedelic and sunny edge, combining trippy sounds, emotive melodies and lush pads, Sunrunner's sound is reminiscent of the Australian bush and outback on a slightly psychedelic afternoon.
Meltdown (live) http://www.myspace.com/meltdownproducer
Meltdown is a well known act in the Sydney scene. Having DJ'd regularly since the early-mid 90's, and with releases on EPP Records and Vibrating Balance Records, Adam has performed far & wide throughout Europe, New Caledonia, and across Australia, headlining many festivals and parties both internationally and locally. 2008 has seen Adam booked at events including Tribadelic NYE and Regrowth Festivals, and alongside names such as D-Nox and Eat Static.
The project name describes the music, with a deep and liquiescent feel that has been described as a "late morning festival" sound. Expect deep, open and tribal but driving progressive music fused with elements of minimal, psychedelic and techno which is bound to move the dancefloor with drinks in hands and smiles on faces.
Stalker (live)
Black Samurai (live)
Possum (live) http://www.mp3.com.au/Poss
DJ Sets From:
Eukali
Incongruous
John Ferris
Orphea
Red Two
MSG
Embolina
Aneurysm
Bio[diversity]
Nezbit
Paprikas
Pesky
PsyTata
Close?
Freebasstoad
Ugly Bunyip
Steve Sobevski
DJBricksta
Limited First Release Tickets will be available online from http://www.servantsofsound.org/tickets.html from 9am 25th July.
Other ticketing outlets to be announced over the coming weeks.
For a preview of amazing workshop opportunities you can join at Dragon Dreaming watch this space.
23 August 2008
