Nonclassical is partnering with NottFAR to present weekly videos showcasing new experimental music and creative sound practices from the Midlands. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be catching with the featured artists from the series to learn about their practice, influences and lockdown habits.
Performer and composer Rebecca Lee moves outside traditional performance spaces, often working in DIY music spaces and site-specific projects in addition to more traditional arts venues.
What are you listening to this week? What's your track of the day?
Recently, I’ve been listening a lot to Liam Byrne’s album Concrete, especially the first track ‘Picforth In Nomine’, which is just deeply satisfying. I play the viol, and have been very much missing the consort that I normally play with regularly as many of them have been shielding. Today I’m hanging on to watch the Space Africa + Libyan Mahawah Sanoh and Kelly Jayne Jones world premiers on HCMF this evening! Apart from that, it’s what ever my studio mate has on the radio – I like listening to other people’s playlists, it can be far more interesting.
Has the pandemic affected your process? Have you been involved with any new projects?
I found the shift in context (no audiences, and the race as everyone shifted things online) to be hard and decided to step back from making for the first few months. My other work is as an artist with a long running local youth art project and we initially had to do a lot of learning around safe online working and make lots of plan B, C, D, and Es. It felt really important to look after that work – not only to secure an income, but for the young people who are involved, some of whom are in their fifth year of attending.
This year, I expected to be doing more live performances of SHERDS, a piece a made with Nastassja Simensky. It has quite a large ensemble, and I really missed them after spending so much time together and then suddenly stopping seeing anyone. But we have just made a new expanded audio iteration of it which was broadcast on Radiophrenia this week, that brought the project research and making process into the piece itself and it felt like the alternative format actually lead to us making something new, and equally interesting, not just a radio version.
SHERDS – photo courtesy of Reece Straw
I also released some new improvised music via SARU with Marie Thompson. We usually play together often, and it’s a really enjoyable process that always just unfolds in new ways. Finding a way to record separately to make improvised tracks was interesting - you realise how much you build from or towards each other when you’re live. I had an imaginary Marie with me whilst doing my bits!
What's getting you through this second lockdown? Any lockdown hobbies you'll keep up? And what will you get rid of?
Star Trek Discovery! And my allotment!
What's inspiring you recently? Any recommendations for lockdown 2.0?
I’ve really enjoyed Beatrice Gibson’s podcast series, What’s Love Got to Do with it? It features pairs of poets talking with each other about radical love and includes C A Conrad, Alice Notley and Precious Okoyomon. It’s very inspiring right now.
Watch Primary Music Group perform as part of our Nonclassical x NottNOISE partnership here.
We caught up with the featured artists from NottNOISE to learn about their practice, influences and lockdown habits.