Starting your own festival is no small feat, especially one dedicated to what some consider “difficult” music. Yet organizer Robert Traxler, whose occupation as a software developer pales before his preoccupation with modular synthesizers, knows that for every audience member at this week’s Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival who may squirm at the unorthodox sounds, there will be half a dozen more who listen with considered, open-minded attention. And, truth be told, the festival has quite a spectrum of music on hand. Indeed, the terms “experimental” and “electronic” cut such a wide swath of musical real estate that Memphis Concrète may in fact be the city’s most eclectic festival of all, offering everything from sheer sound sculpture experiences to slapping dance grooves — and all points in between.
“I approach experimental music from the most loosely defined description,” says Traxler. “I don’t want to be, like, ‘Oh, this is what’s experimental,’ you know. It’s a small community, so I just want to get as many people from Memphis involved as possible. By virtue of that, all kinds of different stuff falls under the umbrella of experimental.”
And some of it even falls outside the umbrella of “Memphis.” To get a sense of what to look for in this year’s sixth iteration of the festival, Traxler led me through the highlights of what to expect this Saturday, May 30th, and Sunday, May 31st in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts. Visit memphisconcretemusic.com for details.
Slow Slow Loris
“They are this year’s international component,” Traxler says. “They’re from Germany, and on tour now. We did a show with them last year, and they’re really, really incredible. They’re a duo, industrial sounding, but in a slow, atmospheric, kind of dense way. Not like heavy-beat industrial; a lot of melodic vocals, but processed in all kinds of crazy ways. They have this really dense sound. I’m excited that they’re coming back.”
Emery Miles
Aside from the above German players, Miles is the farthest-flung artist, coming from Louisville, Kentucky. “I went up [to Louisville] to play another festival, in this place called Wolf Vine Chapel. It’s an old church that’s now used as a performance space, and Emery Miles was also playing, and her performance blew me away,” says Traxler. “She mostly played saxophone, and maybe flute (it’s been a while), run through a Max/MSP for sound processing. So, a kind of abstract sound manipulation.”
Eve Maret
This Nashville-based artist’s bio reads, in part: “Drawing inspiration from 19th-century orchestral and choral works, the Fluxus movement, Kosmische Musik, and funk, Eve makes use of digital and modular synthesizers, a vocoder, clarinet, electric bass, guitar, and field recordings to create works that range from lush cinematic compositions to space disco.” And Maret is no stranger to Memphis Concrète, as Traxler explains, “She did our virtual festival [in 2021], and at that time she did kind of this ambient synth set, but I think her main work is kind of pop music-based dance, but experimentally minded.” He rates her as one of the festival’s more dance-friendly acts.
Cel Shade
“Cel Shade takes a lot of stuff and puts them in an insane blender,” Traxler notes of the Memphis artist, “using vaporwave, video game music, glitch things. They can go from ambient to just crazy beats. A lot of their stuff’s instrumental, but sometimes they’ll get on the mic and do some screaming, distorted, aggressive vocals. You’re kind of like, what direction is Cel Shade gonna go in this time? And you know, I never have any idea.”
Artificer
“Artificer is drone, or ambient, with meticulously crafted textures,” says Traxler, adding, “Really very deep and purposeful sound sculpture, if that makes sense. They’re Memphians, though the last time they played Memphis Concrète was 2019. We’re talking about modular synths and stuff, and they do a lot with tape, and some little synthesizer drone boxes. It’s pretty hard to describe how immersive and intense their stuff is.”
Shake Machine Down
This Memphian describes himself as a “local Earthling using noises available to him to help people connect to the ancient art of dance.” Traxler agrees: “He’s dancey, but with a lot of crazy sounds going on.”
Tangela
Another artist Traxler rates among the festival’s most dance-friendly, this Memphian is a veteran of the scene. “She’s been making music for a while,” says Traxler. “She also does a lot of engineering and live sound. That’s actually how we met, because she did sound for Memphis Concrète last year, and she was like, ‘Hey, I want to play next year.’ She’s really awesome.” Traxler isn’t alone in that opinion. Her bio notes that “she honed her skills as a singer, writer, and performer at Stax Music Academy,” then “earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she received a Professional Music Degree with concentrations in vocal performance and electronic production. After graduating in 2019, she returned to Memphis in hopes of rediscovering who she was, what she wanted to create, and how she was meant to wield her artistry.” v