Blyolk in collaboration with Syzygy, present ‘Pop React’ as part Melbourne Music Week’s Live Music Safari, a multi-sensory experience of music and visual talent pushing the envelope of pop. The event features music from Huntly, Blyolk, Juno Disco , messy mammals, Aeora, DJ sets from Asha and audiovisual sets from Tobacco Rat, Kit Webster, Imogen Henry and Technich.
Making full use of Loop’s modular space, Pop React will feature a 360-degree stage. Each music act will play a back to back with another artist, collaborating, featuring or whatever they creatively desire to bridge their two sets together.
Free Entry, Drink Specials + Doors from 6pm, Wheelchair Accessible
**We aim to make this event to be a safe and comfortable space for everyone. There will be gender neutral bathrooms located next to the band room. If there are issues during the event please don’t hesitate to alert us (Sebastian or Imogen) we will be around on the evening. As this show takes place on stolen land we would like to pay our respects to its elders past and present and to recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.**
Lineup:
Huntly
Melbourne trio Huntly bring emotional vulnerability to the dance-floor, making radical electronic pop songs where the personal and political coexist, where moving and feeling are symbiotic. September saw the of release of brand new single ‘Drop Gear’ and their signing to Barely Dressed Records.
Blyolk
blyolk (pronounced ‘bloke’) is the brainchild of 22 year old Melbourne producer/songwriter Sebastian Chesney whose music fuses psychedelia, gritty rhythms and a warped pop aesthetic. With production encompassing sporadic sampling, lo-fi textures, a synth-inspired guitar sound and layered spoken word & melodic vocals, ‘weird pop’ is certainly an apt descriptor. 2018 has seen Blyolk sell out his first solo headline show for the year and finish new music. Blyolk’s Pop React live set will feature an extended lineup including horns, percussion and backup vocals.
Juno Disco
2018 has seen disco-pop newcomers Juno Disco quickly gain momentum with the release of shimmering singles ‘It’s You’ and ‘Do What You Want’. The tracks feature powerful synthesis and an interstellar soundscape from the almighty Juno-106, as well as the distinctive vocal harmonies that have become something of a signature for the duo. August saw Juno Disco sell out their debut headline show at the Gasometer Upstairs.
Messy Mammals
Messy Mammals are a warped pop duo comprising of vocalist/bassist Asha Trips and producer/guitarist Fionn Brewer. Onstage the group presents itself as a 6-piece live band and has played alongside acts such as Tiaryn (Sex On Toast + 30/70) and Francesca Gonzales.
Aeora
Drawing from her eagerness to do things her own way, the 23-year-old producer, singer, songwriter experiments making her own electronic sounds and beats pairing it with her background of country singing. The Aeora project has seen her play her first international shows at Canadian Music Week, a co-written song with LANKS which featured at number 8 in Spotify’s AUS/NZ Viral charts and her second EP ‘Let Loose’ released in July of this year
Asha
A rising newcomer in Melbourne’s DJ scene, 2018 has seen Asha play alongside some of the city’s most prestigious events and curators including Soothsayer, Daydreams and Interstellar Fugitives.
Audiovisual and Visual sets from
Tobacco Rat
Merging performance, visuals and music in one, Tobacco Rat’s live show is testament to a cohesive vision.
Tobacco Rat’s infamous stage shows have seen him play the Perth leg of the Listen Out festival, Groovin’ the Moo, EMCPlay in Sydney, supporting Empire of the Sun in Los Angeles and the Perth Festival supporting Mogwai. In August he featured on Triple J mixup with a 1 hour mix which was aired around the country.
Tobacco Rat will round out 2018 with the release of his new EP Component V2.0 in September 2018 out on Trench Records, National tour and a new collaborative work with Virtual + Augmented Reality artist Sutu Eats Flies.
https://soundcloud.com/tobacco-rat/
Kit Webster
Kit Webster’s multidisciplinary practice transverses sculpture, installation and new technologies, creating works for festivals, exhibitions, performance pieces, architectural and commercial projects.
At the forefront of digital and spatial experimentation, he has become known for his hybrid sculptural forms and immersive environments enhanced with a vivid play of audiovisual multidimensional space.
Kit’s list of international credits includes the likes of New York Fashion Week, Signal Festival, Museum of Saint-Breuic, Rojo Nova Museum, Neversea Festival, Scienceworks Museum, Dark Mofo, White Night and just about every other major festival in Australia.
https://www.kitwebster.com/
Imogen Henry
Imogen Henry is a visual artist who’s practice leapfrogs between video, animation, installation, drawing, photography and live performance.
She has shown work in The National Portrait Gallery of Australia, White Night, the Margaret Lawrence Gallery, the George Paton Gallery, Brunswick Street Gallery, The Gertrude Street Projection Festival, The Chin Chin Wall of Art and Chin Chin Sydney.
Imogen has mixed visuals live as part music events at Rainbow Serpent Festival, Melbourne Music Week and Boney. She has worked on projects for the BBC (Eurovision), The Melbourne Fringe Festival and Nike.
https://www.imogenhenry.com/
Technich
Technich’s vision and drive for exploring the more obscure and conceptual aspects of electronic music has been the major inspiration for the event series Syzygy.
He is not afraid to venture down some strange musical paths on his search for meaning and has garnered a reputation in the local scene for his ability in finding (and courage in playing) some seriously weird tracks.
Critical of much of societies civilising processes, he views music as a cultural antidote to false niceties. With this in mind he is unafraid to completely disrupt expectations, and at times even shock audiences.
https://www.mixcloud.com/nichenry/technich-partaketh-100-july-2017/