Saturday october 13th 8PM $10
Heavy Breathing, from Washington DC, have essentially been around for fifteen years. The core trio: Erick handling the axes, from bass to gits; Jeff, the drummer, who has now moved center stage; and Amanda, playing synths and organs made 6 records as the Apes, with three different vocalists; they then solved their singer problems by changing their name to Heavy Breathing and using found sounds from the World Wide Web in lieu of the old, clichèd human singer. Longevity in DIY music, artistic evolution, and prolific output: If you're up for adoption, this is the family you want.
**
Quattracenta's sound is dark and atmospheric. Dispirited emotion combines with melody and power to create haunting songs that are eerie, surreal and smart.
Dark, dulcet tones creak from the belly of her guitar, while Sarah Matas sings at the edge of her breath, using as much air as inflection. Her lyrics vacillate between intimate snapshots and panoramic vistas that lament love, life and loss.
Beneath this landscape, a driving bass pushes forward to create a sinister tension. Pierced by brightness of the lead guitar and steadied by the notably tonal percussion of the drums, each instrument stands alone in its unique contribution yet combine together to form a lush, velvet darkness.
Their debut EP with J Robbins of Magpie Cage Studios, was released on 20/20 Records and Tapes and is distributed through Dischord Records.
**
Kamyar Arsani is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter born and raised in Tehran, Iran. At young age, Kamyar began daf (Persian frame drum) lessons with Master Bijan Kamkar. Kamyar also spent time playing meditative rhythms for hours at a time for Sufis. Kamyar has spent over 20 years performing and researching the daf and its roots. Kamyar's songs and performances are very much inspired by the people of Iran and their history of struggle and protest. He produced his first solo album in 2015, entitled "No Freedom.Kamyar also plays in two other collaborations: "Huda & Kamyar," a Palestinian oud player and an Irani Daf player meet in Washington DC. A mystical journey and an exploration of region's rich musical repertoire begins. The duo delves into the universe of Mashriq rhythms to create a transcending musical dialogue, influenced by the zaar, sufi thikr and more.
Kamyar also plays in "Time is Fire," a weird world/post-punk band.Kamyar takes on a different character performing with Time is Fire, wearing his sikke (a Sufi hat representing the "tombstone of Ego") and singing poems of resistance and freedom in English and Farsi. Within the four member band's worldly, funky, post-punky, afro-infected music, the sikke and poems make perfect sense.
He just published and produced an album with Blight Records of DC called “Voices in the Dark”, an electronic Daf album.