Hi there,
as the post title suggests i do play experimental music of different kinds from rhythmic to drone. Sincerely, this has been for the most an hobby since the very beginning, because I do work and study as well (got a bachelor in History). However I was able to play and get good feedback\audience when I was living in Berlin; lately in 2017 I moved in Bologna (Italy) to complete my studies but since then I could never “express” my music the way I was doing in Berlin. There I could oorganize easily concerts for both me and my mates, It was normal to play drone or ambient improvisation just before a dj kicking some industrial techno or breakcore. I really don’t khow about your experience, hence my question: is Berlin too underground or any city around the world is too “traditionalist” about music and shows?
I don’t know about ‘too’…not to point out the obvious but every city has a slant (Berlin and London support underground cultures, Austin Tx has both, and many other’s don’t support it at all, and some don’t support music at all!)
I’ve found that when I was living in Aberdeen there was very little underground music and I had to work hard to establish a scene. It took years but paid off personally as I gained a lot of attention.
When I moved to London where there were already many scenes I still had to work hard to break in but it’s quite easy to schedule a gig now. That said, I’m one in a million (ok 1000) but there are different challenges.
I’d say - just find a venue that will allow you to host regular gigs…attract others to join you, post about it on the web, forums, facecrack etc and rinse and repeat.
Hard work but fun and worked for me!
Here in Brittany, France we managed to get two payed dates, and 2 other ones in two years of existence of our very experimental improvised ambient/noise project.
Best thing IMO is to find people alike, with compatible taste in sound, and reliable enough to actually setup a regular project.
Then you can look for art galleries, or even create your own event for 20 persons ^^
Berlin is obviously very open minded when it comes to these more experimental styles of music. Have you considered moving back? Large cities obviously have an advantage of more people and places, but some smaller cities have open mindedness built into the fabric of the city. For example, me and some friends managed to get a monthly residency in a small club in Bristol, UK where we could do whatever we wanted on a Thursday night. We had VJs and graffiti artists doing their thing live in addition to live electronic music. It’s all about finding likeminded people and trying to make the events worth attending – we gave away free handmade CDs with tracks from the artists to the first 50 people through the door, for example. Do something interesting and your reputation will start to grow.
Yes, experimental music fits in with other experimental art. Look for experimental dance, theatre, performance art, galleries or even live painting workshops, slam poetry,… like others said: find the right folks/scenes.
Italy is full of experimental art and venues, tons of stuff and people. Maybe even more than in Berlin. From ritual drone / noise to more „museum“ / „academic“ stuff… just keep searching and make contacts
I’m on the cusp of getting into this through my uni studies (edit: not in Italy though lol). Can’t wait to be an academic music wanker. Actually sounds like a lot of fun if you don’t take yourself too seriously.
I’ve been lucky in that almost everywhere that I have lived, there was someone working hard to put on experimental music shows. I doubt I would have the work ethic to organize such shows myself.
Experimental music is everywhere. Some Greek synth nerds stole one of my Flickr photos way back when to promote their modular synth meetup where they charged admission.
West of France here. You could definitely play some experimental stuff at the opening of the night. Sure, some of the people are just waiting for the kicks that I and others deliver, but a large part of the crowd will appreciate the difference.
I mean… in Berlin there were several artists running weekly shows such as Noiseangriff from praxis rec., Bruital from Dr.Nexus … i missed em only when I was far from Berlin. Those happenings where not just concerts but a way to connect far beyond from social networks, It was true connection. Probably this time It might be up to me to start something like that but I feel like i miss the basics of event organisation…
Well Italy is ok for that specially in Milan\Turin\Bologna. But It misses the basics like: cheap studio\rehearsal rooms, open minded venues or collectives who can host unknown experimental musicians the way It Is in Berlin. I usually feel like a idiot to ask for a venue here in Italy to play my stuff 