Howling Owl Records invites artists, John Bence and Kayla Painter to perform in the Dark Studio.
For the opening event of the weekend, Howling Owl bring together John Bence and Kayla Painter for an intimate live show in the Dark Studio.
Mercurial, elusive and of seemingly limitless imagination, John Bence is rising to the surface. From a family background rich in classical pedigree and firmly embedded in Bristol’s forward-facing electronic music culture, Bence has pooled a breadth of influence scarcely credible for a composer only entering his second decade, and now he is starting to put his inspiration into live and recorded motion.
As a producer he is already thinking ten steps ahead, often incorporating voice or home recorded percussion into his cyclical technique of scoring, recording, manipulating, re-scoring and re-recording in waves, creating heady, intoxicating ripples of harmony and noise.
An obscure snippet of dubplate drone under a previous moniker was enough for Nicolas Jaar, who instantly approached him about a release on his Other People label. Six months on Disquiet was released, a masterful hybrid of classical and electronic clocking in at a tantalising ten minutes.
Heavily influenced by Bristol’s legendary bass heritage, Kayla’s sound draws from techno, garage and post dub; she crafts her experimental soundscapes from intriguing and restless rhythms, surging deep bass lines and warm washes of cloudy ambience.
In 2014 Kayla expanded her live show to include a dual screen setup, creating beautiful and immersive depth. The hypnotising visual show, crafted with the help of Jason Baker (The Crisis Project), draws on themes and aesthetics seen in her artwork. Please note: due to the size of the space, this performance will be a singular screen AV show.
