Ricki O'Rawe and Paul Stapleton (-ence)
Events
Resist @ Banana Block
-ence is a collaborative project between free improviser Paul Stapleton and electronic musician and 1/3 of Belfast electro-pop band Not Squares, Ricki O’Rawe. Their debut album Dissensual Grooves was released on Resist in 2021. Their music sits between the uncertainty and openness of improvisation and the stability of the familiar palate of sounds and structures associated with dance music. A dis-sensual groove is one that appeals to a dancefloor’s desire for rhythm and movement while simultaneously disrupting its expectations, defamiliarising our engagement and slowing down our perceptions. Both Stapleton and O’Rawe are also academics and cultural theorists interested in exploring futurity and radical social change. With this multimodal project, which spans experimental instrument design, live improvisation, critical writing, and recorded music releases, they are going to “make the club strange”.
Biogs
Ricki O’Rawe is a researcher and musician based in Belfast. His research explores the intersections of art with politics and religion in Latin American visual and literary cultures. As a musician he has released two albums (Yeah OK, 2011; Bolts, 2015) with the Belfast/London-based group Not Squares. As an artist he has exhibited in the Naughton Gallery and Platform Arts, most recently in collaboration with Liam Crichton (Echo Chamber, Multiple Locations, 2016).
Paul Stapleton is an improviser and sound artist originally from Southern California. He performs with a variety of modular metallic sound sculptures, custom made electronics and found objects. Paul is currently based at SARC in Belfast, where he teaches and conducts research in new musical instrument design, music performance, sound design, and critical improvisation studies. He has received critical acclaim for several artistic projects, including his album FAUNA (2013, pfMENTUM) with saxophonist Simon Rose, and for his sound design and composition work as part of the immersive audio theatre piece Reassembled, Slightly Askew (2015).
Artwork by Agnieszka Goch and Ciaran Bermingham