Meet Bavaria's battery powered mobile duo Joasihno
SHAPE Platform is a pan-European initiative designed to give the underground music scene exposure on its own terms. The SHAPE Class of 2018 is as exciting as you’d imagine, which is why we’re showcasing picks from this year’s selection every Friday…
This week’s highlighted artist is… sonic jet-setting German duo Joasihno.
Meshes by joasihno
MusicMap: When did you both meet and how did the idea of creating Joasihno come up?
Cico, Joasihno: Joasihno was at first a solo project of mine and after some years Nico joined in.
Your last album ‘Meshes’ incorporated a ‘robot orchestra’. What was this orchestra exactly, and is still a part of your composition process?
This orchestra is a tiny ensemble of percussion instruments we built together with our friends from DADA Machines, kaliber16 and nanometer507. It has two sections: one is controlled by the computer and synced to the beats. The other one is just controlled by voltage so they are rhythmically free. Actually, we built all this stuff after the record was done and we were looking for a good way to play our music live. But now it’s become more a part of the music and it will also be integrated in writing music for our next album.
How do you balance between organic instrumentation and digital processes, is this something you consider much?
I think contrasts in music and sound are something very nice and important. It’s probably the same when you handle with colours, or cook food – one thing (sound, colour, taste) is more interesting when you have something else to relate to. Regarding music I really like lo-fi stuff a lot but the combination with cold and digital sounds is also very nice.
Cico, you have played with The Notwist, one of Bavaria’s most recognised indie bands. What other acts from the region should we be looking out for?
I would recommend looking for Le Millepede, LeRoy, Hochzeitskapelle, G.Rag und die Landlergschwister, Rumpeln, Friends of Gas, Angela Aux and Aloa Input.
What album would you recommend each other if you were to meet for the first time?
Moondog – Viking of the 6th Avenue.
Where are you looking forward to performing this year, or where would you love to perform?
For our stay at SXSW/Austin this year we built a tiny version of our setup that runs only on battery so we are mobile. We did a lot of street music there and we’re really looking forward to do this in many other cities.
Designed and managed by a handful of the best music festival on the European continent, many of these artists will be making an appearance on line ups throughout the year. You can read our full interview with co-founders Viestarts Gailītis and Rihards Endriksons by clicking HERE.