Parent to ✣life is beautiful, coordinator and lifegiver to a constellation of live shows and streams of music, aloisius made us an origami crane of sounds folded, refolded and unfolded into new forms. Life is beautiful.

~ What made life beautiful for you today?

amongst other reasons: i felt sun on my face, i heard sounds that i love, i spoke to people i love, i looked other humans in their eyes, i saw people laugh and smile, & i got to see new things.

~ Do you differentiate collaborative and solo production, do they mean different things?

yeah,,,

it’s a conversation with someone vs a conversation with myself, both are important and valuable to me, but yeah i think they do mean different things.

solo it’s just me exploring the internal like how am i feeling/ what exactly i want to express {& how}, whereas collaboratively with others it’s about getting to a place neither of us would have got to on our own, about cohesion/ co-existence/ co-exploration.

collaboration places much more focus on listening to others and responding to {or joining in with} what you’re listening to, and having an unspoken respect for each other’s voice and contribution in the conversation.

solo (for me) is more about creating sounds i wish to / need to hear,,,

expressing/ releasing/ processing a feeling within, but also exploring sounds that make me feel {and how they make me feel}, and which of these feelings i want to explore further/ deeper.

~ How does live performance practice inform creating recorded work?

sometimes the live performance can inform the recorded work in just feeling of it, especially like when it comes to the heavier stuff with loud drums and distorted guitars, the release in the energy of that kinda stuff is very much informed by the feeling of release in live performance /// also in a different way sometimes i’ll think about a show coming up at ormside and think what i would really love to hear out of that sound system at the time/ place/ context of that show, and i’ll record something with that in mind just to play it in that situation.

~ How do you know when a piece of work is finished?

just a feeling,,, a knowing,,, change that which you cannot accept, accept that which you cannot change {type shit} – can always revisit a piece and sample it or make a next version of it tho.

~ How do you see the bigger picture?

leave the frame, leave the gallery (you can always come back).

i think stillness helps too, deep meditation can help zoom out from the smaller picture of day to day reactionary thoughts.

~ Is the creator’s face a myth right now? What does it mean to be anonymous in an era when most things are overexposed?

my face is not myth, it is a real face on a human body in the real world ! my face about haha, i be at shows all the time, is jus if u know u know

i’m not sure if most things are over-exposed, depends how you look at it i guess – I think the truth is hidden beneath a lot of noise, i think the noise is pretending to be truth, pushed in your face,,, especially in a city like london, people don’t know what to believe about each other – everyone seems very concerned about crafting the perceptions of themselves, i catch myself doing it too,,, even though i try move in the other direction to that,, but yeah publicly i just put out my art and where to find it, and everything i wish to share with the public is pretty much all within the art – i just keep my personal human self in private for people that i actually know in real life.

i think the idea of anonymity is interesting though, feels like protection against accessibility & judgement – also like a separation between the artist and the human, which can b useful but can be weird sometimes too.

~ What would life is beautiful look like without a regular home in the form of Ormside Projects? And, to follow, how can we foster spaces where risks are deliberately taken creatively?

without ormside projects life is beautiful would look very different i believe, it definitely provided/ provides a safe, comfortable space for us to explore our ideas about performance and develop our gesamtkunstwerk. I have a lot of love for Mike, Gray & Conrad & everyone else who works at ormside too (incl. & not limited to: all the bar, door & cleaning staff).

spanners in brixton is also a very important venue to me & life is beautiful. having a small intimate venue with great sound & a low hire fee (with no minimum bar spend) is very important and valuable to the ecosystem of independent shows. Mary & Tobbs who run it are two of the loveliest, most genuine people i have met, and a pleasure to do shows with.

there aren’t many venues (or spaces in general) where i feel comfortable and home. i feel out of place in most spaces im at in london, so spaces like ormside and spanners are very important to me.

there’s a lot of trash venues in london with bad management / staff, bad sound, & creative limitations and there’s a lot of trash promoters booking artists at big name venues so it looks good on their tour poster.

~

we can ‘foster spaces where risks are deliberately taken creatively’ by actively supporting these spaces in both our choices of where to book to play & to go see shows – especially those that are less-financially supported. (also buying tickets rather than asking for guestlist as much as possible). (RIP to IKLECTIK)

also by people creating these kind of spaces independently ourselves. I would like to see more artists putting on shows themselves instead of waiting to be booked & waiting for others to make the kind of spaces they want to exist.

~ What’s the worst performance you’ve ever been a part of?

probably this one time at the roundhouse, was a badly organised show, unpaid & had the worst soundman i’ve dealt with, he kept on saying ‘not trying to be a cunt yeah,,,,’ then proceeding to be that which he alleged he was trying not to be,,, 

they had this bright-ass light shining on the stage too which they refused to turn off,,,  + no free drinks, and the organiser kept asking us & others to buy drinks so he could meet his minimum bar spend… (also the roundhouse has been known to be a bit pro-israel both in the past & recently soooo…….)

~ Is it sometimes important not to listen?

not sure, i don’t think so, i can’t think of a situation where it’s important not to listen. i think it’s more about what you do with what you heard when you listened, how you interpret the things you listen to & what you do after the listening.

i think all listening can inform, even if we don’t agree or enjoy what we hear.

~ Should everything we make be saved somewhere?

not necessarily, is up to the individual.

personally, i like to voice note pretty much everything, especially since i don’t take many photos or videos or keep up with writing a diary, my voice notes are pretty much my only archive of memories, so i care for them deeply.

and i like to save everything i make because something i think is terrible now might be beautiful to me in a few years time, or maybe i find something in it that could be resampled. But i also think there’s a beauty in non-recorded moments that only exist when they exist – experiencing something you know you will never experience again – and just being present / taking something in fully without thinking ‘oh no i need to record this, wait, ah my phones bugging, oh no i missed it, its gone and i didnt record it, oh :(‘.

i’ve had many a beautiful improv that i thought was recording and wasn’t, and although it’s sad that those moments are gone, it’s also beautiful that it only exists in the memories of those who were present to experience it.

~ When do you speed up and when do you slow down?

i speed up when i feel stagnant,,, or excited

i slow down when i feel worn out,,, or overstimulated

~ What’s your favourite noise?

i’m curious if you mean ‘noise’ in the meaning of being interchangeable with ‘sound’ or noise as in like in the term noise rock like bzzz sound art type shit (editor’s note ~ it’s all noise baby).

for meaning one: nwakke’s voice is my favourite noise {/sound} 

i also love bowed double stops on cello & harmonics gently plucked on guitar tho. 

for meaning two: i think this noise that came out of a synth built by my friend hywel pryer in its early baby stage – it really sounded like a baby that was just born and like taking its first breaths, not crying tho but just like this pop of a breath that sounded surprised and excited by itself, it really sounded like it had a soul, it blew my mind and i felt it in my heart

~ What would be the soundtrack to your funeral?

amber had a dream about my death, within 24 hours of me having deep thoughts about it (without us having spoken about it). it was very strange, i had been thinking specifically about who shall finish unfolding the unfolding rose, and in her dream this was a request i had left her as part of an extensive list of final requests, she had to take a few months off her work to complete the list at the funeral, a spontaneous life is beautiful show ensued, with isaiah reading a poem, and a piece of music jaso had made for the occasion being played. I think that’s the kinda thing that should soundtrack it, big free improv, life is beautiful & friends, everyone singing along harmonising, and dancing freely

~ You have a time machine and can travel into either the past or future to experience a musical performance. Where, and when, do you go?

damn that’s a hard one lol

i think it would be: Derek Bailey & Min Tanaka – Hakusha, Japan on 29 August 1993 – such a beautiful performance, and the setting of it also very beautiful, would love to perform somewhere like this

difficult choice though between that &: 

• Daniel Johnston, 1985, Austin, TX
• Sun Ra & His Arkestra (featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold) – December 31, 1964 at Judson Hall
• Hype Williams Boiler Room (2010)
• Yoko Ono & Ornette Coleman at the Royal Albert Hall 1968
• D.J. Afrika Bambaataa – Bronx, NY, 1983 (the show where the legendary ‘DEATH MIX’ was recorded)

from the future is a crazy side to this question though because i guess it depends what my mind decides will happen in the future,, bc also if i’m using a future option as my one choice for this question it feels a bit wasted bc if its happening in the future i can still go there when the time comes, unless it’s after i’ve died ? could b cool to jus like go to a random show at like ormside or cafe oto in 100 years n hear what’s on tho lol (editor note ~ wonder if they’ll still be standin, if any of it will)

~ A song that always makes you move?

the first that comes to mind is ‘go’ by tirzah & mica

~ A song that always moves you?

‘desperately’ by caroline

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Shows:

no aloisius sets coming up atm (shout me 4 bookings tho), but im putting on a bunch of shows and playing a few w lib & others soon

• 25th may – jaso {w/ aloisius} @ new river studios
• 29th may – lib presents: Palestine Action fundraiser (w/ YHWH Nailgun, Thom Dehli, Abi Asisa, zara (dj) & dj airdrop
• 2nd june – (also) & friends – live at cafe oto, opening for Mike Watt (minutemen, the stooges)
• 8th june – lib presents: DJ SPANISH FLY (UK DEBUT) @ ormside projects + special guests tba + dj sets by: lord tusk, spirit blue & shawdii x aloisius b2b
• 27th june – life is beautiful (live) at cafe oto
• mid-july(ish) – the life is beautiful show #05 at ormside projects
• 8-11th august – life is beautiful (live) at three wheel drive festival

Projects: 

• ‘the bermondsey session’ (1 hour 50 album with smokesito & zukö) – cd’s coming soon via life is beautiful records
• ‘orchestra379 vol.1’ (improv project w jaso, siren, hywel pryer & clearooo)
• ‘the unfolding rose: petal four’
• ‘ode to għana’ (project sampling maltese għana music, ft. james massiah, isaiah hull, archi silas, zukö & manny noir)
• i also made a project w abi asisa recently, might come out at some point
• & made a project w siren recently also, might come out some point

Lib news:

• Abi Asisa’s sapphic cinema on a boat – FLINTA (femmes, lesbians, intersex, enbys, trans folk, asexual) movie night hosted by Abi Asisa (currently all sold out but check for the next one) – POC prioritised.
• newest signing: ‘y+Your’. a 3-piece krautrock band from West Germany who have been releasing exclusively via small run cassette’s for the past 37 years. their first digital single ‘komplikation’ is out now.
• jaso – jawn song (ep) – 2 track EP by jaso ft cello by aloisius – out now
• jaso ‘Zed’ handpainted 7” vinyl’s coming soon ! – also, he has some cRazZy projects coming out soon too – so much beautiful music
• ‘falling rocks, confused’ – deluxe edition cassette tapes coming soon w/ 37 minutes bonus music
• ‘MORTAL OIL OF THE SPOILED SPIRIT’ by the narrator & isaiah hull is out now – set aside 33 mins of solitude w headphones to experience this pls
• streamFM – new life is beautiful radio show on Netil Radio (first wednesday every month 1-3pm)
• life is beautiful records – on the lot radio nyc 18th june 2024 (3pm uk time)

Miscellaneous:

~ this is a really strange and tense time we’re living in, i believe it is more important than ever to have love & compassion for our fellow streams, we must prioritise our in person physical realm interactions and relationships, we must be understanding that we often won’t understand the reasons why everyone is doing exactly what they are doing, but there is a reason why everyone is doing exactly what they are doing, even if we don’t know/ like/ or agree with the reason. – please hold space, please communicate, please express. be present and open for people to feel comfortable to share – sharing itself is also now more important than ever, share knowledge, share resources, share thoughts, share love, share moments. & also dont b afraid to say some shit thinking it sound corny, my younger self would have avoided saying most the above words thinkin id b perceived as corny but fuck it ennit, say what you wanna say.

~ I think we need to just remember to appreciate that we get to be alive with other living beings too right now and value the other lives on the planet more like we really both out here alive at the same time in the same place why aren’t we scratching each others backs haha like we could be helping each other a lot more than we do if we valued each others lives more 

~ Peace, love & blessings, thank you for reading this, thank you Christian for caring enough to ask me these questions and asking me to make this mix, thank you to my parents who i’m privileged to have.

n.b. the tracks in this mix are all resamples of tracks taken from ‘the unfolding rose’ {a concept album by aloisius}