Eyeballin': Kate Simko On Her AV/Live Set Up

It was last May that Kate Simko released her debut album ‘Lights Out.' It was the result, as all debut LP’s are of years of musical development and considerable planning coming together in one neat package. Since then the work flow of Simko’s delivery of her music to the world has been in development into a fluid live show, enabling her to quickly transpose new sonic ideas from the studio onto the dance floor. “I spent the last couple years on my solo album, and now I wanted to go for a rawer, current project, reflecting the music and sound I'm into now,” she reveals. “I decided to bring all of my new tracks right into the live space, right to the clubs. I’m really excited about the state of dance music right now, and want to get my new music out there now as multi-sensory A/V experience, rather than wait to finish all these songs, get them on labels and wait for release dates etc.” Working in tandem with intermediary composer Jeffery Weeter and harnessing the visual art of a global network of visual artists within Weeter’s custom interactive software, Simko has developed a show designed to grow and develop as fast as her music does. It’ll also free her up to add more musicality to her performance playing keys while the beats are sequenced and triggered from her laptop. The Chigagoan producer has kindly presented us with a snapshot into the visual aspect of this dynamic performance for our blog and here collaborator Jeffery Weeter talks us through some select images that make up the finished work ahead of her next Room One appearance at the end of this month alongside Craig Richards, Steve Bug and Move D. Chicago This still is taken from driving footage shot in downtown Chicago a few days after a snowstorm, when the snow becomes less of a billowing beauty and more of a brown mess tainted by the exhaust from thousands of vehicles and buildings. This section of the video accentuates the effects of the snow against the urban landscape, shifting between concrete shapes and formlessness. Le Cœur by Niki de Saint Phalle, La Fontaine Stravinsky, Paris This image is from the last section of the performance. Inspired by Stravinsky, the sculptures also act as symbols for greater themes threading themselves through art of any media. For this piece we chose to use the heart, the serpent, death and the Firebird. Tokyoʼs subway meets Chicagoʼs elevated train Paris mixed with Berlin One of the exciting things about this project is combining different styles of urban planning and design via video. Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, Sao Paulo, and Chicago each has a unique style which introduces tension into the frame when they are interwoven. Yet some commonalities also appear when different places are superimposed. Tokyo The movement of people through space is a recurring theme in this piece. In this section from Tokyo we see this movement from afar, and close up, giving a constantly shifting visual rhythm and a skewed sense of scale. Berlin Color plays a huge role in the visuals; each song consists of a “look”. The audio and video content within each song changes from night to night, but the visual theme of every song remains consistent. In this way the piece remains flexible to performance influences and new content, but still maintains the desired aesthetic for each track Kate performs. Taste of the Kate Simko’s audio visual live set:

Kate Simko Live 2012 from lavamatic on Vimeo.

Recorded live at the !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival February 2012. Video and programming by Jeffrey Weeter.