Hamerkop (ex-Bachelorette) New Zealand Shows Announced

The new project of ex-Christchurch electronic artist Annabel Alpers fka Bachelorette, Baltimore-based sound duo Hamerkop are hitting Aotearoa for two special immersive events this summer. Alpers and her creative partner, Baltimorean drummer and audio engineer Adam Cooke, will perform in Auckland and Wellington Remote, a "live surround-sound sculptural experience." The piece is inspired by field recordings collected by Alpers in her homeland and abroad, and promises to team the artist's love of experiential sound works with her inimitable pop sensibility, featuring live drums by Cooke. Alpers described her ideas behind the upcoming performances in a statement...

“My intention is to create a live sonic experience that encompasses the audience, and is as cathartic for you to listen to as it is for me to make. I'm inspired by the beauty of my remote homeland, New Zealand, which I miss so much when I'm away. I'm also inspired to find beauty in parts of everyday life - patterns and forms, mundanity, longing, excitement, nature (tamed and untamed), connections, fragility... (the list is endless) - and attempt to communicate this awe to you, through music.”

Hamerkop - Remote
Thursday 21st February - Carter Observatory, Wellington (two sessions)
Thursday 28th February 28 - Loft, Q Theatre, Auckland (two sessions - Auckland: Fringe 2019)

Here's a landscape-focussed video for Alpers' 'Polarity Party' from 2011's self-titled Bachelorette album...

Press release:

Hamerkop (ex-Bachelorette) performs 'Remote': A live surround-sound sculptural experience

Hamerkop is a pair of Baltimore-based sound nerds, one of whom hails from Christchurch. Annabel Alpers (formerly of Bachelorette) is a composer, singer and instrumentalist; Adam Cooke is a Baltimorean drummer and audio engineer.

Their new work, Remote, is a live, multiple-speaker, surround sound experience. The project began as an exploration of the beauty of sound, inspired by Alpers’ collection of field recordings from her homeland and beyond. The resulting work still contains the pop sentiment of Alpers’ previous work in Bachelorette, anchored by Cooke’s minimalist drumming as she expands her use of experimental textures and vocal layers.