Paul Connolly, a seven-year vet of Houston's improvised music community, hopes that his recently minted Brave New Waves Sound Series will be up to snuff with the other experimental-music happenings around town.
With his deep knowledge and grasp of electronic music, there shouldn't be any worries.
Connolly, who studied music composition and art history at the University of Calgary as well as at the Recording Arts Program of Canada in Toronto, came to the Houston area in 2005. Since then, he has played a majority of the past and present experimental music showcases, such as Resonant Interval and They, Who Sound.
However, until a chance encounter with fellow electronic musician Jonathan Jindra, Connolly, who often performs under the brightbluebeetle moniker, hadn't had a reoccurring concert shindig to call his own.
"It was more a coincidence of sorts. I've been looking at establishing a series that was primarily electronic focused. Jonathan had talked about putting the Binarium series on hold for a bit -- what with his various other projects and running Binarium Productions itself," says Connolly about the 100 Creatives filmmaker, photographer and musician.
The time and place synced up nicely -- Connolly's Brave New Waves will hold down the last Sunday of the month slot at 14 Pews, just like Binarium did for more than a year. The surprise announcement was made last month during Binarium's 45th overall show.
Naturally, Connolly plans to put his own spin on the concert series that debuts on Sunday, May 27 with performances by Cyclea (Jindra), Astr0g3nic Hallucinauting (Spike the Percussionist) and Brent Fariss.
"While Binarium did feature electronics from time to time, Brave New Waves is a new monthly music series focusing on electronic, electro-acoustic and other music forms," he says. "At BNW, you'll hear everything, from traditional laptronica to acousmatic and phonography to machine improvisation and soundscapes and spectral music. Oh, and a little modular or noise music thrown in for good measure."
"The plan is to start at 14 Pews monthly and see where it goes. I feel I'm really just beginning to explore and scratch the surface of the talent that's out there," continues Connolly. "It would be nice to partner with others at some point, maybe co-presenting some events. Maybe a yearly BNW festival. But I'm trying to start somewhat small and build on it from there. I've got to get through the first one on the 27th, after all."
If Connolly is ever short on ideas or inspirations (which is unlikely since dude is a pro), all he'll need to do is hit up the folks that have made Houston's experimental music scene into the healthy being it is today.
"I look at what others in the experimental music community have done so far -- people like David Dove or what Lance Higdon did with his series Resonant Interval and obviously Jonathan with Binarium," says Connolly. "They've set a high bar to reach for. Hopefully I can bring something interesting to the table."
Brave New Waves #001 takes place at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 27 at 14 Pews, 800 Aurora Street. Cyclea (Jonathan Jindra), Astr0g3nic Hallucinauting (Spike the Percussionist) and Brent Fariss are on the bill. For more information, check out the Brave New Waves Facebook page.
