Steve Jansen is a sound maker originally from Arizona whose experimental music output includes solo and band performances on saxophone, prepared guitar, natural and manufactured objects, and cassette tape across a swath of genres, ranging from free jazz and electro-acoustic improvisation to harsh noise and primitive techno. A primary element of Jansen’s constructions hinges on live cassette tape manipulations featuring onsite field recordings and ad-libbed performances from worldwide locations such as Ghana, continental Europe, Mexico, rural Arizona deserts and forests, and a plane crash site in the Sandia Mountains. These sound emissions are often articulated through malfunctioning devices that may or may not work come performance time, which brings another improvisational element to the set. Now based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jansen has collaborated with John Dieterich, Raven Chacon (Diné), Rob Mazurek, Jeph Jerman, Sandy Ewen, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Tom Carter, Rebecca Novak, and James Fella. He has been an artist-in-resident at Ucross in Wyoming and Some Serious Business in Abiquiú, New Mexico, and runs the labels That’s Cool Records, UNHINGED, and Section 31. Astral Spirits, Gilgongo Records, Decoherence Records, and El Paraiso has released his music. In addition, he’s a longtime editor, investigative reporter, and arts and music writer who co-authored Listen — Jeph Jerman In Conversation with Aram Yardumian (Errant Bodies Press).
photo by Dave Scanlon
Ro(b)//ert Lundberg makes sound and image, thinks about and drinks water. Now based in Chicago, they have performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe at festivals such as Big Ears and CURRENTS New Media. They perform solo and with outfits ranging from improvising ensembles to art rock bands. Their multimedia artistic work often focuses on the interaction of human infrastructure and the spaces it inhabits. They earned a BFA in jazz performance from The New School (New York) and graduate degrees in science studies and environmental art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.