Video Feedback from November 2014

Series of images from November 2014 Video experiments

VAMP NEW MUSIC // END OF THE YEAR DRAMA

OAKLAND DROPS BEAST NEST! jk

Playing one of the last shows of 2014 with the amazing Adam Hirsch on 12/20 at VAMP MUSIC AND ART AND RECORDS

Then there are whispers about potentially playing a NYE party at A Church in Oakland? Hmm...

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Also, Sharmi is officially a Master of Electronic Music and Recording Media. I have my MFA now! Please support my work and help bring anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-patriarchal politics into experimental art everywhere! Please!

See you soon~

Dreem Dungeon Interview

I was interviewed by Dreem Dungeon a few months ago! 

Here it is: http://www.dreemdungeon.com/beastnest

Sharmi / Beast Nest has a Patreon!

Pateron screenshot! Support me!

This patreon is for two purposes: 

1) Hold myself accountable to the work I promise to do

2) Try and get some consistent support to help fund myself as an artist. 

Please spread the word and give what you can! Even a dollar a month is AMAAAZINGGGG! 

Click here to go to my patreon page: http://www.patreon.com/beastnest

Love love,

Sharmi

Decolonizing Sound Questions

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS FROM THE LADYFEST DECOLONIZING SOUND WORKSHOP

PLEASE ANSWER FULLY IF POSSIBLE!!

Name *

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email Address *

Gender *

Race *

1. How do you feel this moment is developing musically and how do you feel your music fits into this either in genre, form, community, whatever.

2. In what ways do you feel community or communal activities influence / help form your art practice? Maybe speak to your communities and your own practice? What ways do you support each other, what does the collective provide for you?

3. How do you feel your music is/is not political? What role does identity play for you?

4. I am interested in buddhist concepts of non-self... of having a relative and universal self. Performance, in many ways, allows gendered and racialized bodies to exist in both worlds: to both be seen and carry whatever comes with that visibility and at the same time create space that exists only for that moment and is constructed via the sounds we catalyze. The moments of liberation that exist within the presence of performance can serve as a glimpse of what musical autonomy can look like. That said, what do you feel performance contributes to/takes away from identity?

5. In regards to self-expression and artistic practice, what have your experiences been in/out of institution? Systemically, academically and in autonomous communities?

6. Do you think there is anything special about this moment in time? Yes? No? Why?

Anything else?

Thank you!

Tour, Upcoming Shows, Lullabai

Eye of the Cervix Tour was an amazing success!!!

Best tour and best people I have ever travelled with for music! I will slowly (but surely) be posting video and recordings of our performances throughout.

If you're interested in pictures: hit up our instagram and look up: #shirebitches #eyeofthecervixtour #eyeofthecervixtour2014 #beastnest #poweraltar #cloudlite

Please, support the queers and folks of color in your musical community! We do not get handed the same respect or audience that other performers do. We work hard! Yes!

UPCOMING SHOWS

September has been slow, time for resting and healing and harvesting our summer work. October, however, is another story:

OCT 5: Dan Gottwald's Analagous Ensemble at Thingamajigs // Dan is amazing! Check him out at www.dangottwald.com

OCT 10: BEAST NEST at The Hive for BAY AREA LADY FEST. http://bayarealadyfest.wordpress.com/         https://www.facebook.com/events/1504075916499364/

OCT 11: PRESENTING DECOLONIZING SOUND, A Workshop on Neo-Colonialism, Neo-Liberalism, and the creation of new languages via creative musics at Firehouse Arts Collective for BAY AREA LADY FEST   

OCT 11: BEAST NEST for BRUTAL SOUND FX FESTIVAL

Brutal Sound Effects Festival #79

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Bran..POS-----Kanoko Nishi----Raven Chacon (NM)-----Ebony Cubbie Hole (L.A.)------Dominic Cramp-----Beast Nest-----Rust Worship-----Failure Cock----Bloop-Quack-----Messiahcide

8pm-10:45 sharp at 

The Lab 2948 16th Street @ Capp San Francisco, CA 94103

OCT 13: BEAST NEST at the CHURCH with FOUNTAINSUN, FLETCHERSUN, IMA, ARC, and more. https://www.facebook.com/events/437211486418254/

NOV 8: BEAST NEST at LOBOT with TBA

~~~~MORE TO COME~~~~~

here's a lil peek at some bb songs

Recordings

Will attempt to share some recordings asap

UPCOMING SHOWS - AUGUST TOUR, 5 POINT STANDING, & MORE

OK y'all, here goes:

EYE OF THE CERVIX Tour will be having our Kick Off this Friday 8/1 at the Church!

Please help support us w. some monies so we can get there and back, share our art, wisdom, feelings, and struggle, and not end up destitute :)

Eye of the Cervix Tour consists of:

Power Altar (Kim Lindale of Believe, No Babies), Centre (Dave Montoya of Bitter Fruit, Centre, American Splits & Sylvia of Fanciulla Gentile), Felidae (Sylvia and I), and Beast Nest (my solo project). We will be trecking to Vancouver and back and are fortunate enough to have booked every date without issue. Keep us in your prayers!

Dates and Shows:

8/1 Oakland CA @ The Church with Black Spirituals, Demonsleeper and Yetunde feat DJ Adee as Felidae
https://www.facebook.com/events/676623059094157/

8/4 Davis @ Third Space with Valient Steed as Felidae
https://www.facebook.com/events/255674957972812/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular 

8/5 Portland OR - @ Vagrant Eye Projection Museum w/ Terror Apart as Beast Nest
https://www.facebook.com/events/502957069835302/

8/6 Olympia Dumpster Values w/ TBA as Felidae

8/7 Seattle @ Black Coffee Coop w. Sista Hailstorm and Richie Dagger's Crime as Felidae
https://www.facebook.com/events/831365580221994/

8/8 − 8/10 Vanvouver  @ SHOUT BACK FEST as Beast Nest on Sunday at 12:30 and Felidae on Sunday at 2:30.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1495355257350585/

8/11 - Seattle@ Summit Inn as Beast Nest

8/12 - Portland OR @ Valentines w/ Force Publique (record release)// Litanic Mask as Felidae

8/13 - Sacramento @ Witch Room with Christopher Robert Jones (Brad Grammar ) as Beast Nest
https://www.facebook.com/events/681500215270924/?notif_t=plan_admin_added

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Oakland Drops Beats

Ok! After tour is over and I will be playing the following shows as far as I can remember:

8/15 & 8/16 - 5 Point Standing with as Sharmi Basu with Shanna Sordahl and Katherine MacDonald in collaboration with Wax Poet(s)

8/16 - Bar 355 for Oakland Drops Beats festival with GIF PROBLEM 

8/19 - Night Light as Beast Nest for Brown Noise: A Night for Womyn of Color in Experimental Music

8/23 - Foundry as Pink Gaze

10/13 - The Church as Beast Nest

Phew! Ok that's all. Hope to see you around!!!

<3

Eye of the Cervix Tour needs your Help!

EYE OF THE CERVIX TOUR NOW TAKING DONATIONS! PLEASE DONATE TO OUR TRIP AND FEED OUT HUNGRY MOUTHS AND GAS TANKS! 

We are a troupe of folks of color bringing high vibration tones of liberation to your town (if you live in the PNW that is). So excited!!!

Alex Cruse and Sharmi Basu at No Future Weed Cookie Shop

Sounds and Video from Alex and Sharmi at NO FUTURE WEED COOKIE SHOP

New Instrument for Co-LAB

After working for months on a series of live audio-input processing units, I am close to finished and finally testing live the set of instruments I've made. All 4 units have the same make-up with slightly different parameters.

Audio Processing Involved:

• Pitch Detection
• Amplitude Detection
• Granular Synthesis
• Live input modulation based on frequency
• Randomized delay based on amplitude
• Randomized pitch shifting based on frequency
• Live sampling with randomized filtering processes

Will officially premiere it tonight at No Future Weed Cookie Shop in collaboration with Alex Cruse.

EVENTS! Week of 7/7

TOMORROW: Alex Cruse and I present some poetry and music of the unusual persuasion at NO FUTURE WEED COOKIE SHOP. Come on time! It will be short and sweet. 

THEN on SATURDAY: Stories of Queer Diaspora is happening and I have some music in a short animation featuring art by TextaQueen and moveable images by A "Q" Quintero. I think this event will be super sweet and cool.

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I will spare y'all my rant on white women and creative music but I will say this: if you are a white woman and really believe that womyn making music is part of a feminist resistance, you should really think about what it means to be a white person in a neocolonial context and how maybe your resources should be spent supporting the people who DO NOT look like you, i.e. the ladies and dudes and queers who DO NOT reinforce your very boring ideas of image and identity. YO I am just super tired of feeling like a savage and an idiot literally only because of my skin color and my tits; this battle is real and constant and exhausting. really, i'm not trying to simplify the struggle of poc people i'm just saying: come to our shows. record us. put us on youtube. give us money and jobs.  we deserve it!!!!