Electronic music producer and AV artist Halina Rice performs a unique live set on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th December at Copeland Gallery SE15 – set in the heart of the Peckham creative quarter.
The performance blends electronic music with impactful mixed reality visuals – where the artist is mapped in real time into the live graphics. The whole performance will be delivered in L-ISA immersive hyperreal sound by L-Acoustics.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have this opportunity to deliver a performance that will so fully animate the music – to truly envelope the audience with 360˚ sound and visuals. I just want people to be able to leave the day to day behind and be transported by the experience.”
The event is a culmination of the NEW WORLDS project – a series of tracks, each with their own visual identity and virtual world, which are planned for release as an EP next year alongside new tracks which are premiered as part of the set.
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE https://ra.co/dj/halinarice
What’s your story as an artist?
When I was young my brother had a room full of electronic music equipment and I was fascinated. It was as much the look and feel of the synths and drum machines as the sounds they made – black and silver cases with flashing lights. At the same time I had a classical training on piano and liked to improvise short pieces – I could pick up and mimic the styles of different artists and composers, but in doing so began to develop my own sound. Much later on I took time to learn how to create electronic music digitally as well as using analog instruments. From there to performing live and working with inspiring designers to create mixed reality visuals where I am mapped into live projections as I perform the tracks.
What inspired this last release?
I wanted to create something dark and strange and emotive. The track emerged after days spent generating sounds through synths and noise generators. I put a mass of effects on the sampled vocals and they seemed to develop a life of their own – like a half-heard transmission from another world. The track title was generated using an AI tool – I like that the track almost has its own life and agency.
What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?
My tracks are pretty abstract and rarely literal – music is a great medium to express something that it’s impossible to articulate. The best reaction I receive is audience members saying that they felt emotional experiencing the show. I don’t know what I’m communicating to them but there’s a connection.
Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing this?
Not really (!) but good times working with designer Jakob Macdonald – who also created the video – we had fun creating an AR filter for Instagram which makes the viewer into a weird Magritte meets swamp thing – you can see it on my Instagram profile.
What’s your favorite place or environment to write?
I write in my studio as I have easy access to everything I need and I can be entirely immersed in the experience. In the future I’d love to try writing in the same seclusion outside the city or in another country.
What’s a record that shaped your creativity?
‘Intruder’ – an early track by Peter Gabriel. His feeling for unusual sound, setting an emotion or mood and a kind of darkness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crdAucUdCQQ
Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
Aho Ssan is amazing sound designer and artist I recently came across and had the pleasure of seeing him play in London recently. I’d also say Rival Consoles – stunning emotive synth and a very compelling live performer.
Any future projects?
I’m very excited to be debuting a fully immersive show at the Copeland Gallery in SE15 London with performances December 17th and 18th. It’s going to be a perfect expression of the recent work – I’m thrilled to be working with L-Acoustics who are providing immersive hyperreal sound with speakers surrounding the audience enabling me to create sounds moving around the room. This plus mixed reality visual projections and a light show uniting the concept of an art show with an electronic live set.
What is your view on genres and music styles since you mix a lot of them in your music?
It’s interesting you ask that – tracks have been identified as experimental, progressive house and – most recently – ‘chaos-step’ (!) As a producer I create what could be called ‘IDM’ (Intelligent Dance Music) but I’ve also released an album of songs and compose hybrid orchestral/electronic music for broadcast. I think when you pick apart any genre there’s actually a lot of diversity in it and artists are often drawing from multiple influences.
What does music and art mean to you?
That’s a big question! It means a lot to me – I have created music and sound for art installations and the cross-over between the two areas is an important in what I do. For me art is about challenging accepted beliefs or having the courage to be different – I hope I can translate that across both disciplines.
How would you describe your act in one word?
It has been described as ‘mesmerising’!
