2020 season kickoff with h e a d a c h e, Cristal Sabbagh, and Akosuen, as well as the release of Gather’s 2019 mixtape release! Proceeds go towards all of Gather’s 2020 programming.
Gather is an experimental music series bringing musicians from different scenes, backgrounds, practices, disciplines, and communities together for connection and artistic exchange. We curate this series with our attention toward introducing musicians who may not otherwise cross paths and whose works dialogue in compelling ways. By doing so, we hope to leave potential for collaboration and familiarity amongst different experimental music forms in Chicago. Gather is curated by Allen Moore, Nick Meryhew, and Rebecca Himelstein
h e a d a c h e is a post-everything, pretentious art band from Chicago, Illinois. h e a d a c h e borrows aesthetic signifiers liberally from a variety of genres, including; no wave, noise, techno, acid, anarcho-punk, industrial, and probably others! h e a d a c h e takes this abrasive stew and stuffs it uncomfortably into a contemporary art-pop framework. h e a d a c h e is bad and wrong. h e a d a c h e is a naughty, naughty girl. h e a d a c h e wants it to hurt this time. daddy, daddy please, make it hurt good for h e a d a c h e this time, daddy?
Cristal Sabbagh is a teaching interdisciplinary artist influenced by film, history, politics, Butoh and improvised sound. In her performances, her goal is to embody transformational memories, challenge power structures, and awaken viewers senses. Cristal's found that working with live improvised music has inspired her best work, which has become vital to her practice. She’s currently curating and performing in Freedom From and Freedom To, an improvisational, cross-medium performance piece. It’s an opportunity to combine most of her creative interests in a risk-taking and vulnerable way. It uses an ensemble of dancers and improvising musicians that are remarkably diverse in their approaches to dance, instrumentation, and backgrounds. She's a core member of Marie Casimir’s Djasporas dance collective, seen at the Instigation Festivals in Chicago & New Orleans over the past four years. For the past three years, she's also been a member of Move Move Collaborative, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Akosuen /aa-KŌZ-eh-win/ is a project by multi-intstrumentalist Billie Howard, focusing on breathing cycles, chronic pain, and mediation on both quiet and extremely loud sounds. Akosuen's latest EP of experimental music written for piano will be released on March 19. The piano EP is the second in a trilogy of recordings and follows "At Sea: Five Movements for Violin."