The Göteborg String Theory

The Göteborg String Theory

The Götbeorg String Theory workshop, June 2009
Background information
Origin Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany
Years active 2006–present
Labels Kning Disk
Website www.tgst.org

The Göteborg String Theory is an international music and art project which provides a creative joint venture production platform for composers, artists, musicians and video artists from different countries. The project was founded in 2006 as The Berlin String Theory, followed by The Göteborg String Theory in 2009.

Background

The idea of the musical String Theory was born in Berlin, Germany in 2007 and developed by the musician/artist couple Nackt and Chérie of the band Warren Suicide, composers Ben Lauber and Nils Tegen and Party Arty beat poet Yaneq among others. Based on an idea of experimental musical development and grassroots networking outside the existing business structures, The Berlin String Theory was founded, starting out as an impromptu basement event of close friends performing their songs with a string quartet instead of electric guitars and computers, yet in the course of a couple of months developing into a high-output workshop and a major multimedia project involving more than 100 musicians, artists, producers, journalists, designers, technicians, visual artists, a documentary film team, painters and poets, culminating in a show at Berlin’s Volksbühne theater on New Year’s Day 2008.

The project

First phase

The musicians Sebastian Gäbel and Nathalie Barusta Gäbel, who participated in The Berlin String Theory, took the project to their hometown Gothenburg, Sweden and gathered an abundance of artists at Kokokaka filmstudio for the next leap. José González, Midaircondo, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Studio, Jaqee, Jaw Lesson aka Idiot Wind, Silverbullit, El Perro Del Mar, Fox Machine, Ebbot Lundberg (The Soundtrack of Our Lives), Bow & Arrow and Jmy Haze were among those who made The Göteborg String Theory happen in June 2009. Their original songs were arranged by The Berlin String Theory composers Nackt, Ben Lauber and Nils Tegen for the string quartet Qvartiett and other classical and jazz musicians. Together with the artists the new renditions were rehearsed and documented during a five-day workshop and then performed for the first time at Clandestino Festival. The documentations resulting from those days in June were subsequently released on the record label Kning Disk.

Second phase

The next performance, coinciding with the album release, was at Göteborgs Konserthus the 17th of April 2010. Even more artists joined The Göteborg String Theory on this evening and premiered their songs in new arrangements: Anna von Hausswolff, Daniel “Hurricane” Gilbert (also guitarist with Håkan Hellström) and noise avantgardists The Skull Defekts featuring hardcore Daniel Higgs (Lungfish) from Baltimore. Video artists also contribute by visually interpreting the sound pieces produced during the workshop, and these visuals were included in the performance. The concert was broadcast live on Swedish National Radio and gained critical acclaim, in comparisons with Krzysztof Penderecki, Arnold Schönberg and Nico Muhly.[1] Some of the live recordings from the show at Göteborgs Konserthus were later released as a limited edition vinyl EP on Kning Disk.

European tour

The Berlin/Göteborg String Theory orchestra collaborated with José González on yet another occasion – a sold-out European tour in March/April 2011. Nackt had written 11 new arrangements for González’ songs, transforming them into expressions of a new musical spirit, and conducted the 25 person orchestra. An songsmith and world-known artist in his own right, González became a part of the ensemble, performing to audiences in 19 cities and garnering critical praise[2][3][4][5] along the way. A film documentary about the performance at the Copenhagen Concert hall was produced by Danish National Television.[6]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Dagens Nyheter, Concert and album review, 19-04-2010 (Swedish).
  2. ↑ The Independent, Concert review, 20-04-2011.
  3. ↑ Hamburger Abenblatt, Concert review, 29-03-2011 (German).
  4. ↑ El País, Concert review 02-04-2011 (Spanish).
  5. ↑ Uppsala Nya Tidning, Concert review 16-04-2011 (Swedish).
  6. ↑ TV Documentary about The Göteborg String Theory & José González, Copenhagen Concert hall, 24-06-2011.
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