From the Promoter

Night one of X Avant presents the more experimental side of John Colpitts, aka Kid Millions, in his Man Forever guise. Beloved in Toronto for his work with Oneida, Kid has been pushing his technique and compositional sense forward for more than twenty years through collaborations with J. Spaceman, William Basinski, Laurie Anderson and many more. His work ties into the festival’s Resistance theme by eluding classification in both the “indie rock” and compositional worlds: Man Forever lives in the space between, resisting definition.

The “rock drummer” is an unlikely persona for a composer yet Kid has never settled into a single role. In this newest iteration of Man Forever, he moves the project from its more traditional roots as a trance inducing percussion-centric vehicle to include more prominent use of vocals, harp, violin, and piano. Kid also disregards the traditional composer/ensemble relationship, by inserting himself into the ensemble, dismantling the power dynamic between composer and performer by becoming a cog in his own machine.

It’s a pleasure to present Germaine Liu at X Avant. The Toronto-based percussionist, performer and composer focuses on collaborations with people or the objects she plays, and each encounter we’ve had with her has yielded incredible imagination and execution. Tonight she makes water-based music with fellow percussionists Mark Zurawinski and Joe Sorbara.

Luyos MC, a daughter of the so-called “post-colonial”-state-of-the-Philippines diaspora, and Reila(formerly Caitlin Forsyth), a child of Gitxsan territory in the remote fourth-world Canadian Pacific Northwest present “Kill-Sex-Abuse-Culture”. Both are engaged in deepening understanding of critical consciousness and precolonial culture. Their work is a unique mixture of Moro & Manobo kulintang, sarunay, gandingan instruments, traditional chant, synths, frequency art and electronic soundscapes. Through poetry, song and incorporation of both original composition and traditional music they aim to communicate an appreciation for disappearing sounds associated with cultures where respecting nature is central, as well as to spread awareness about interpersonal and wider relations/systems of abuse, with particular focus on the Lumad and Wetsuwote’en peoples’ struggles. MaryCarl & Reila are intent on identifying, communicating and helping undo abusive dynamics and the sickness of colonial and patriarchal impulse through music and interactive art: “We arrive in this interarts world continuing to create and honor personal and collective lived realities, and to support acts that truly nurture: who We all are, Our Her/Their/OurStories, and all of Our ancestral cultures where respecting nature and all living beings is priority.”