As part of the exhibition From Scratch: 546 Moons, presented by the Auckland Arts Festival and Te Uru, we are pleased to announce another sonicsfromscratch live event featuring the Don McGlashan/Phil Dadson duo plus special guest performers Adrian Croucher, Darryn Harkness and Chris O'Connor.
DON MCGLASHAN is one of New Zealand's most highly regarded songwriters. With an extraordinary career that includes the groups From Scratch, Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, The Muttonbirds’ and beyond, he has a unique place in NZ music. He is the author of many much-loved tunes including ‘Dominion Road’, ‘Anchor Me’, ‘Bathe In The River’, ‘Don't Fight It Marsha….’ and many more.
PHILIP DADSON’s first pulse experience (post womb) was discreet toe-tapping in a primary school mouth-organ band. Later he took to improvising ragtime and jazz on the piano, and later again branched off into the experimental freedom of the scratch orchestra, which in turn seeded From Scratch and a career spanning forty plus years of tapping the pulse – 546 Moons in fact.
ADRIAN CROUCHER played drum kit from an early age, mostly self-taught but had some memorable lessons from Don McGlashan when he was 12. He later learned West African percussion, and joined From Scratch in 1996. Since 2011 he has been inventing and building his own instruments.
DARRYN HARKNESS joined From Scratch in 1996. Producer, song writer and multi-instrumentalist, Harkness runs his own studio and label and is the creative force behind his groups New Telepathics and Loud Ghost. Harkness is also a member of the Andrew Fagan band, Hallelujah Picassos and the Sandy Mill band.
CHRIS O’CONNOR is a composer and drummer. He began drumming at the age of seven and has been obsessed with rhythm ever since. His work spans many genres: avant-garde music, dance and theatre, film and television, jazz, folk and pop music. He is currently working with Nadia Reid, The Mockers, From Scratch, Age Pryor and Don McGlashan.
From Scratch: 546 Moons is an interactive survey on the sonic innovations and inventented instruments of renowned art/music ensemble From Scratch. Formed in 1974, From Scratch have performed to wide acclaim around the world with their distinctive invented instruments – 546 moon cycles and still spinning! Their timeless works span art, music, performance and film, inspired by an egalitarian approach to working, and with strong connections to the sounds, cycles and geological rhythms of their home in Aotearoa and the Pacific.
Saturday April 21, 8pm
