SPI.RES. #8 | ZERO EXPONENT
Jónás/Freeman/Bujdosó/McNaughten
Raising to zero power the ever-moving queen of Budapest’s indie-pop scene, the Tasmanian master of esquisite music video artworks made in Berlin, the New Zealander hip-hop rhythmist of surreal artistic productions and the Greek fire-filled apostle of the Hungarian underground music empire - equals one...on 14 December at CHB as the finals of the Spiral Residencies series.
Zero exponent is the final episode of Spiral Residencies (spi.res.), a two-year-long conceptual music series organized quarterly at Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (CHB). Just like the previous seven episodes, it invites outstanding musicians from Budapest and Berlin to participate in an unusual installative music situation. The artists work together for a week and produce a show for a given topic, which they perform through music and live visuals. After the big integration of all what we have seen in spi.res. so far, the closing theme of the program series focuses on collective individualism and seeks for universal alignment in an incomprehensible world. The titel of the closing episode also refers to the well-known mathematical rule (zero exponent), which states that any term with an exponent of zero is equal to one. The artists will take a holistic approach to start their collaboration and offer the audience to experience being part of a greater wholeness (through mind and spirit).
Vera Jónás - voice, guitar Dan Freeman - voice, sax, keys János Bujdosó – guitar Reece McNaughten - drums
Vera Jónás
Award-winning singer-songwriter, looper and guitarist Vera Jonas is a truly adored star of Hungary´s acclaimed indie music scene. She guides us to a fresh and unique world of music thorugh her original songwriting, powerful voice and sweet presence on stage. Personal songs performed with good taste, mixing live electronics with fully acoustic instruments and sounds. Her sound has maturity and soul that's bound to be discovered. Vera has verified her multiannual musical past and career obtaining a degree at the London Centre of Contemporary Music School in 2012. She’s been living and playing between London and Budapest for the past years, playing concerts in Europe and Asia with her bands, Vera Jonas Experiment, she opened for Morcheeba and sang the main theme of an original HBO series. In the fall of 2012 she was selected to become a OneBeat fellow, a program funded by the U.S. Department of State.
Dan Freeman
Dan Freeman is a 100% versatile Berlin based musician from Tasmania. After moving to Berlin he studied at the Hanns Eisler music school, studying piano and saxaphone, then he put together his band, Dan Freeman and the Serious. Its first album I Lie A Lot was released in 2011 which was followed by the release of two video singles, No Bridges Through and Dagner in 2015 – that had nearly hundred thousand views on Vimeo. These artworks proved an incredibly talented and determined artist, who knows exactly what he wants and to make it happen he focuses on both the overall picture and every single detail. Since then he produced two other excquisite video singles that excelled all expectations (Bigger, Davie). Besides Dan dedicates his time to organise interdisciplinary performative music events and roasting coffee.
János Bujdosó
János Bujdosó has been a key figure of the Hungarian underground music scene for decades. His unmistakable lyric guitar sound marked several Budapest based alternative bands music like Pop Ivan, Chakra Hacker, Specko Jednó, Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene, the Kistehén. Seven years ago the craggy-faced guitar player founded his own trio and started playing a more acoustic sounded music, which he defines as bezant-surf-jazz. János composed loads of “interesting experimental music with balkan gypsy, jazzy, latin, alternative and God only knows what kind of influence” for theatre plays as well as avant-guard films.
Reece McNaughten
Reece McNaughten is a New Zealand drummer and visual artist. He is best known as the drummer of Wellington-based experimental hip hop group West Coast Bullies and experimental rock/electronic solo project Big Flip the Massive, but he is member of several surreal music projects (Orchestra of Spheres, Bonaparte, Ballah Playah Gnar, etc.). He studied BMus degree at the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM). His peculiar “gunshot spoked” but melodic drumming has already clanged in the strangest places and situations (tube stations, windy hills, psychedelic underground venues) accompanied by weird visuals and costumes.
Jónás/Freeman/Bujdosó/McNaughten
Raising to zero power the ever-moving queen of Budapest’s indie-pop scene, the Tasmanian master of esquisite music video artworks made in Berlin, the New Zealander hip-hop rhythmist of surreal artistic productions and the Greek fire-filled apostle of the Hungarian underground music empire - equals one...on 14 December at CHB as the finals of the Spiral Residencies series.
Zero exponent is the final episode of Spiral Residencies (spi.res.), a two-year-long conceptual music series organized quarterly at Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (CHB). Just like the previous seven episodes, it invites outstanding musicians from Budapest and Berlin to participate in an unusual installative music situation. The artists work together for a week and produce a show for a given topic, which they perform through music and live visuals. After the big integration of all what we have seen in spi.res. so far, the closing theme of the program series focuses on collective individualism and seeks for universal alignment in an incomprehensible world. The titel of the closing episode also refers to the well-known mathematical rule (zero exponent), which states that any term with an exponent of zero is equal to one. The artists will take a holistic approach to start their collaboration and offer the audience to experience being part of a greater wholeness (through mind and spirit).
Vera Jónás - voice, guitar Dan Freeman - voice, sax, keys János Bujdosó – guitar Reece McNaughten - drums
Vera Jónás
Award-winning singer-songwriter, looper and guitarist Vera Jonas is a truly adored star of Hungary´s acclaimed indie music scene. She guides us to a fresh and unique world of music thorugh her original songwriting, powerful voice and sweet presence on stage. Personal songs performed with good taste, mixing live electronics with fully acoustic instruments and sounds. Her sound has maturity and soul that's bound to be discovered. Vera has verified her multiannual musical past and career obtaining a degree at the London Centre of Contemporary Music School in 2012. She’s been living and playing between London and Budapest for the past years, playing concerts in Europe and Asia with her bands, Vera Jonas Experiment, she opened for Morcheeba and sang the main theme of an original HBO series. In the fall of 2012 she was selected to become a OneBeat fellow, a program funded by the U.S. Department of State.
Dan Freeman
Dan Freeman is a 100% versatile Berlin based musician from Tasmania. After moving to Berlin he studied at the Hanns Eisler music school, studying piano and saxaphone, then he put together his band, Dan Freeman and the Serious. Its first album I Lie A Lot was released in 2011 which was followed by the release of two video singles, No Bridges Through and Dagner in 2015 – that had nearly hundred thousand views on Vimeo. These artworks proved an incredibly talented and determined artist, who knows exactly what he wants and to make it happen he focuses on both the overall picture and every single detail. Since then he produced two other excquisite video singles that excelled all expectations (Bigger, Davie). Besides Dan dedicates his time to organise interdisciplinary performative music events and roasting coffee.
János Bujdosó
János Bujdosó has been a key figure of the Hungarian underground music scene for decades. His unmistakable lyric guitar sound marked several Budapest based alternative bands music like Pop Ivan, Chakra Hacker, Specko Jednó, Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene, the Kistehén. Seven years ago the craggy-faced guitar player founded his own trio and started playing a more acoustic sounded music, which he defines as bezant-surf-jazz. János composed loads of “interesting experimental music with balkan gypsy, jazzy, latin, alternative and God only knows what kind of influence” for theatre plays as well as avant-guard films.
Reece McNaughten
Reece McNaughten is a New Zealand drummer and visual artist. He is best known as the drummer of Wellington-based experimental hip hop group West Coast Bullies and experimental rock/electronic solo project Big Flip the Massive, but he is member of several surreal music projects (Orchestra of Spheres, Bonaparte, Ballah Playah Gnar, etc.). He studied BMus degree at the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM). His peculiar “gunshot spoked” but melodic drumming has already clanged in the strangest places and situations (tube stations, windy hills, psychedelic underground venues) accompanied by weird visuals and costumes.