The return of the Tournal
Hello Livejournal, I haven't been paying much attention to you lately but now that I am away from all the distractions that fall under the category of NON-VIRTUAL LIFE, I thought i'd get back to the business for which this journal was originally created, that is the accounting of my experiences as super art-star jet set vagabond.
I bit the bullet and quit my bar job. After five years, it was high time to bend my leg in an ass-kicking capacity to finally try and, er, 'make it' through creative means. Less eating in restaurants was an initial plan but seeing as I've been more or less kitchen-less for the past three months, that's been tricky.
After a cool gig with my duo Mankind opening for legendary french sound poetry pioneer-freak, Henri Chopin, I left Montreal for two months in Europe. As far as a tour is concerned, it was pretty lax. 9 gigs in 7 weeks, 4 of which in Berlin. The first two were programmed at Literaturwerkstatt Festival in the cool Kulturbrauerei complex. One gig was a big 9 person she-bang organized by D.Kimm (1/2 of Mankind) and written by the lot of us. It was great working with such a talented team. The second was a Mankind gig for 300 german 12-yr olds (rrrrrufff). Gig #3 was very drunk (absinthe!) and very fun. Mankind ripped up Eschloraque (ok they don't update their site much) winning the hearts of the surly mustachioed barmen and lulling the crowd into a hypnotic state. Kimm's next-day-aching-head proclaimed that she'd never perform n drink again - i hope that's not the case... After she went home, i did a final Berlin gig at Labor Sonor at Kule. Beautiful, strange, loud and intimate. Super bohemia. Engaging in a post-set spliff, my berlin husband William Wheeler and I spy something that is far too big to be a rat, strolling merrily in the gutter. Ah, Berlin. It rained for 14 of my 16 days here.
Shit, this ain't very FF!!! Okay - Barcelona was tonsilitis, sand in my panties, bike rides and sweat. The gig was underpopulated but educational. Norwich was rainy and cold, the gig was most excellent. Gwendolin Robin blows herself up! Rosie Dennis rocks! London was rockstar quality art gig in the funky Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. Groupies! Sold out merch! FrenchMottershead! Dublin offered a last minute gig at a design/architecture studio's cocktail party. Photos by Aga Grandowicz here. Kilkenny's Re-Produced event was perhaps, my best gig of the tour. I got to perform three sets, getting weirder n weirder as i went. A spontaneous collaboration with VJ AP produced amazing results. A good craic (pronounced crack) as they say in that part of the world. I guess "ça va de soi" that I should love Ireland so much.
Back in Montreal, I lived a sort of vagabond existence, having subletted my apartment until November. I was able to stay in an amazing spot in Old Montreal, catching wi-fi signals perched on the roof staring out at Silo #5 across the Lachine canal. Lots of bike rides, alone and with conspirators. Mankind performed at the Sat Galerie in the context of Tobias Van Veen's espaceSONO exhibit (in which one of my sound pieces, "Sailorcide" is 'displayed'). Kimm has some new gear and our sound is really coming together.
On the 29th, I took a train to Toronto to check into the Royal York Hotel (yes i am bigtime) and perform at Nuit Blanche, an "all-night contemporary art thing". My gig was surreal. I was on very early, in Trinity Bellwoods park. The audience was largely children, most of which were toddlers including my frikken adorable niece Olivia who is talking up a storm. (Having difficulty with names over two syllables, she kept pointing at me saying "Name! Name!"). I totally pandered to my audience, churning out sweet pop melodies. It's a comfort to know that should the art world spit me out, I could readily set my mind to becoming the next Raffi. Caught up with a bunch of lovely family and hooked up with a party crew to amble through the streets until 5 in the am.
And now I am in Austria. I have a month long residency at the Kunstmeile Krems. From my office window, i see a clock tower, a prison, a gaggle of pigeons and a few hills terraced with vineyards. From the balcony upstairs, I see the Danube river, along which i took an inadvertedly long stroll yesterday. I got a bit lost and had to take my shoes off and wade through a stream to get back on track. They say that primates are the only animals that laugh but it really felt like the mallards were taking the piss out of me. It's 2pm now and I can safely assume that the shops are re-opened after lunch, i'm off to explore the old town and book my train ticket to Ljubljana.
thanks for reading this !!!
I bit the bullet and quit my bar job. After five years, it was high time to bend my leg in an ass-kicking capacity to finally try and, er, 'make it' through creative means. Less eating in restaurants was an initial plan but seeing as I've been more or less kitchen-less for the past three months, that's been tricky.
After a cool gig with my duo Mankind opening for legendary french sound poetry pioneer-freak, Henri Chopin, I left Montreal for two months in Europe. As far as a tour is concerned, it was pretty lax. 9 gigs in 7 weeks, 4 of which in Berlin. The first two were programmed at Literaturwerkstatt Festival in the cool Kulturbrauerei complex. One gig was a big 9 person she-bang organized by D.Kimm (1/2 of Mankind) and written by the lot of us. It was great working with such a talented team. The second was a Mankind gig for 300 german 12-yr olds (rrrrrufff). Gig #3 was very drunk (absinthe!) and very fun. Mankind ripped up Eschloraque (ok they don't update their site much) winning the hearts of the surly mustachioed barmen and lulling the crowd into a hypnotic state. Kimm's next-day-aching-head proclaimed that she'd never perform n drink again - i hope that's not the case... After she went home, i did a final Berlin gig at Labor Sonor at Kule. Beautiful, strange, loud and intimate. Super bohemia. Engaging in a post-set spliff, my berlin husband William Wheeler and I spy something that is far too big to be a rat, strolling merrily in the gutter. Ah, Berlin. It rained for 14 of my 16 days here.
Shit, this ain't very FF!!! Okay - Barcelona was tonsilitis, sand in my panties, bike rides and sweat. The gig was underpopulated but educational. Norwich was rainy and cold, the gig was most excellent. Gwendolin Robin blows herself up! Rosie Dennis rocks! London was rockstar quality art gig in the funky Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. Groupies! Sold out merch! FrenchMottershead! Dublin offered a last minute gig at a design/architecture studio's cocktail party. Photos by Aga Grandowicz here. Kilkenny's Re-Produced event was perhaps, my best gig of the tour. I got to perform three sets, getting weirder n weirder as i went. A spontaneous collaboration with VJ AP produced amazing results. A good craic (pronounced crack) as they say in that part of the world. I guess "ça va de soi" that I should love Ireland so much.
Back in Montreal, I lived a sort of vagabond existence, having subletted my apartment until November. I was able to stay in an amazing spot in Old Montreal, catching wi-fi signals perched on the roof staring out at Silo #5 across the Lachine canal. Lots of bike rides, alone and with conspirators. Mankind performed at the Sat Galerie in the context of Tobias Van Veen's espaceSONO exhibit (in which one of my sound pieces, "Sailorcide" is 'displayed'). Kimm has some new gear and our sound is really coming together.
On the 29th, I took a train to Toronto to check into the Royal York Hotel (yes i am bigtime) and perform at Nuit Blanche, an "all-night contemporary art thing". My gig was surreal. I was on very early, in Trinity Bellwoods park. The audience was largely children, most of which were toddlers including my frikken adorable niece Olivia who is talking up a storm. (Having difficulty with names over two syllables, she kept pointing at me saying "Name! Name!"). I totally pandered to my audience, churning out sweet pop melodies. It's a comfort to know that should the art world spit me out, I could readily set my mind to becoming the next Raffi. Caught up with a bunch of lovely family and hooked up with a party crew to amble through the streets until 5 in the am.
And now I am in Austria. I have a month long residency at the Kunstmeile Krems. From my office window, i see a clock tower, a prison, a gaggle of pigeons and a few hills terraced with vineyards. From the balcony upstairs, I see the Danube river, along which i took an inadvertedly long stroll yesterday. I got a bit lost and had to take my shoes off and wade through a stream to get back on track. They say that primates are the only animals that laugh but it really felt like the mallards were taking the piss out of me. It's 2pm now and I can safely assume that the shops are re-opened after lunch, i'm off to explore the old town and book my train ticket to Ljubljana.
thanks for reading this !!!