Feature: Indie Scenes

For Classical Music Magazine, December Issue 2012
1400 Words

'Indie classical.' What is the fuss about? Half a year after its application to 31 year-old American composer Nico Muhly, the term is still sending aftershock waves ricocheting around the blog-o-sphere.

'Indie' (an abbreviation of the term 'independent') has long been used to describe the types of popular music signed by record labels that operate outside of the mainstream. Much like the term 'classical', it is a large umbrella bracket with undefined edges, and, much like the majority of terms applied to composers alive enough to contest them, it has not been coined without a fight.

The main objection (voiced by Muhly) is that the term is too vague to be useful, and was only brought about by journalists and PR pro's eager to herald music another new future. This view is understandable when we consider that 'indie classical' has largely been used to describe a set of attitudes to musical styles, rather than styles themselves; and even more understandable when we see that that attitude isn't really that 'new', but harks back to the 60's philosophies of Reich and Cage.

Various writers on the topic in America have drawn different emphases, but they largely observe: an open and experimental attitude to genre, (often including collaborative work with popular artists and use of minimalism); that artists record works themselves or release works on independent record labels; and that they largely perform works outside of the concert-hall.

If we look for this in London, we find a rich and vibrant underground scene where young classical musicians are stamping their own style on an intersection of culture. With little funding, the scene only survives through the sweat and blood of its supporters, which also presents sense of community: organisations often help one another out, united by their shared aesthetic aim.

Nonclassical is the organisation in the driving seat. Founded in 2003 by Gabriel Prokofiev (grandson of Sergei), it is an independent record label and monthly club-night held in a Hoxton pub The Macbeth.

Nonclassical often steals the spotlight as pioneering London's out-of-the-concert-hall scene yet before this came Richard Lannoy's & Jan Sodderland's night Subvision which began 6 years earlier, running from 1998 – 2007 in Chalk Farm. With Lannoy a fresh composition graduate from the Academy and Prokofiev stepping back from the world of dance music to return to his classical roots, both nights looked to bars and pubs as the most economic way to get their music out in the open. This was motivation too for Will Dutta, whose similar project Blank Canvas sprang up as a bi-annual event in 2007, as part of his company Chimera Productions.

For all, the casual atmosphere provided a way of introducing their 'non-classical' friends to their music by presenting it in a 'popular' format. “I market Nonclassical the way in which I would market a band,” states Prokofiev, who promotes Nonclassical through flyers and posters that blend in seamlessly with the bold graphic styles of the East London independent music scene.

All three cite the relationship between contemporary classical music and electronic dance music as a formative influence, reflecting a niche current that emerged in the 1990's. Whilst traditionally held entirely separate worlds, projects such as Steve Reich's Reich Remixed (where compositions were remixed by series of dance DJ's and producers), helped fuse the repetitive structures and melodic over-lay of dance music and post-minimalism, and the birth of Intelligent Dance Music saw electronic dance and contemporary classical unite under the same horizon: sonic exploration.

Electronic dance music maintains a strong presence in most Nonclassical releases, contrasting and complementing a wealth of contemporary classical performers such as Kazak virtuoso violinist Aisha Orazbayeva, The Elysian Quartet, and percussion ensemble Powerplant; and composers such as funk-inspired Tansy Davies, sound-designer Nick Ryan, Richard Lannoy, and, of course, Gabriel Prokofiev himself.

Prokofiev's composition bears the marks of his background as a dance and grime music producer: as Gabriel Olegavich, Prokofiev is behind a multitude of house albums composed and much of rapper Lady Sovereign's last two albums. His most recent release is the suite 'Cello Mutitracks' written for cellist Peter Gregson (to perform with multi-tracked versions of himself). The gem of the suite is Jerk Driver: a punchy number driven by a strong grime pulse (where a 4/4 metre is split into quavers: 123,123,12) with percussive techniques which cello's full sonic palette, and with a main theme which takes its musical material from the hands-in-the-air refrains of 90's rave culture.

As if this mash-up of genres wasn't enough, after recording, a selection of DJ's, composers and producers are invited to remix the compositions, to create a set of tracks which are also released on the album. These range from ambient, subtle soundscapes, through to house-remixes and electro-pop. Whatever the style, the emphasis is on a creative approach more akin to 'recomposition' than 'remix'; as communications assistant Sam Mackay states: “We're about taking the motifs, chopping them up and making them into something new, rather than slapping a bass drum over the original.”

Sounds afforded by electronic dance music also form a vocabulary for Blank Canvas's Will Dutta's own compositions. His first album Parergon – released on “independently spirited” label Just Music in May 2012 – sees shimmering electronic textures overlay piano motifs, creating delicate, haunting tonal soundscapes.

At both Nonclassical and Blank Canvas events, the programming retains an emphasis on the experimental. Nonclassical's monthly nights at The Macbeth aim to represent the wide field of contemporary classical composition, featuring mainly (but not exclusively) performances from conservatoire trained musicians in live 20-minute sets. These are interspersed with DJ slots (often performed by Richard Lannoy) which play a range of Musique Concrète, American Minimalism, sometimes remixed with a house (dance) beat underneath, and, of course, remixes off the Nonclassical label.

Sometimes Nonclassical nights celebrate a work with particular significance to experimental music, with eclecticism sill high on the agenda. May's 'Pierrot Grenade: 100 years of Pierrot Lunaire', featured a performance using five Pierrots, from renowned interpreted Jane Manning and extended vocal techniques specialist Lore Lixenberg to heavy metal frontman-cum-contemporary composer Adam De La Cour.

For Blank Canvas, unusual genre-combinations have been a hallmark from the offset. Dutta burst on the scene in 2005 with an event (later to become Blank Canvas) for which he commissioned Nonclassical's Prokofiev to unite contemporary classical with hip-hop in the Concerto for Turntables & Orchestra – a project which brought together DJ Yoda and the Heritage Orchestra for a sell-out performance, and went on to be performed at the BBC proms.

For those wondering, opera hasn't been left off the independent agenda. Carmen Elektra, founded by Cambridge students in March 2010, moved to London, post-graduation, and into converted warehouse The Bussey Building in recently-gentrified Peckham. The latest instalment featured Timberbrit: Jason Cooper's opera involving Brittany Spears (Lucy Cronin) in the throws of a psychotic breakdown, whilst her former lover Justin Timberlake (Josh Bevan) attempts to win back her affections.

The work – which takes various songs by the two featured pop stars, and slows them down digitally beyond recognition – bridges the popular and classical worlds in an a way which does not attempt to find a middle-ground, but, apparently, uses it as a springboard for musical experimentation. And we can expect more of this to follow: the format of Carmen Elektra is similar to that of Nonclassical, where sections of live performance are interspersed with DJ sets, although the aim for further performances is to find a way whereby DJ sets will be fully integrated into a seamless whole.

Slightly off the contemporary classical kilter, but with a similar ethos is Cafe Oto, which has been operating in East London's Dalston since it was launched by Hamish Dunbar and partner Keiko Yamomoto in 2008. 'Oto' means sound or noise in Japanese, and unlike the other organisations mentioned, Cafe Oto does not want to be associated with just one musical scene, but showcases underground folk, improvised music, free jazz, and electronica – namely, music which wouldn't get as much of a focus anywhere else.

Oto's contemporary classical has, thus far, been highly successful. A recent sell-out, featured an evening of deep listening, including Pisaro, Cage and Saunders, played by Murmuration, a 40-strong ensemble who performed the works spread through the cafe, integrated with the audience.

And one last organisation which should definitely be given a mention is The Orchestra Project. Also known as The Rite of Spring Project, it launched in 2011 with a performance of Stravinsky's masterpiece in the alternative venue of Peckham Rye's Multi-story Car park. The project also does outreach work around Peckham, to introduce classical music to school children who might not otherwise get a chance to hear it.

All in all, it's pretty evident that underneath the institutionalisedS granny-graphics and pomp and circumstance that classical music has occasionally tended to, contemporary classical is operating with a different cultural currency. I'm not normally one for copping out, but, hype? No spoiler: go and find out for yourselves.