Signifying Something

Content note: This episode includes discussion of addiction, overdose, and chronic illness (diabetes). In the podcast episode, Safie Flato discusses their transition to a non-binary identity and reflects on their past as a former drug addict. They promote their podcast, urging listeners to support via Patreon or Venmo and committing to putting out one episode per month into the near future. Safie interviews Bhob Rainey about his album "Canopy of Catastrophes," which uses sonification and audification techniques with data from asteroids, stock market predictions, and internet activity. Rainey explains his approach to creating music by integrating human and non-human elements, emphasizing the importance of intuition and learning in his process. He also touches on his work with microtonal piano compositions and collaborations with other artists. Signifyingsomething.com and Patreon.com/signifyingsomething -- Venmo is @Steven-Flato-1 and last 4 digits are 5591 for verification for one-time-donations. This episode is dedicated to Ahlzagailzeguh Credits Host / Producer / Editor: Safie Flato Guest: Bhob Rainey Music “Five Year Plan” – Callahan & Witscher, from Sorry To Hear That https://callahanwitscher.bandcamp.com/album/sorry-to-hear-that “I Love Music” – Callahan & Witscher, from Think Differently https://callahanwitscher.bandcamp.com/album/think-differently “Bye Jeff” – Callahan & Witscher, from Sorry To Hear That https://callahanwitscher.bandcamp.com/album/sorry-to-hear-that “Canopy of Catastrophes” – Bhob Rainey, from From null lands led, Starrily https://www.subvert.fm/bhob-rainey/from-null-lands-led-starrily Support Patreon: https://patreon.com/signifyingsomething Bandcamp: https://signifyingsomething.bandcamp.com/ Subvert.fm (Safie): https://subvert.fm/safie Venmo: @Steven-Flato-1 (last four digits for verification: 5591)

(This episode was originally broadcast September 2nd, 2021) Steve Flato talks with Christina Carter (Charalambides) on today's episode of Signifying Something. During a terrible period of loss from 2008 to 2014, Christina created some of her best solo music. Much of it remains unheard to a large audience as they were released in very small editions on CD-R and never released digitally. Steve and Christina discuss her solo discography as well as her early childhood influences; the art school system; her improvisational approach to songwriting; the artist/listener relationship; a transformative live experience with Joe McPhee; the importance of participation in the artistic process; the difficulty of singing other peoples songs; the live experience and the life energy of live music, and why Christina didn't want to play live at first. Check out signifyingsomething.bandcamp.com for a free/pay-what-you-want download of the episode as well as "Poetry" from Christina's Texas Modern Exorcism album. Intro / bed music - Steve Flato34:25 "Centerpiece" - from Masque Femine by Christina Carter53:50 - "Poetry" - from Texas Modern Exorcism by Christina Carter1:05:30 - "Letter L" - from Imaginee by Christina Carter1:09:13 - "Ascend Mem" - from Imaginational Anthem Vol 2 by Christina Carter1:32:25 - "Ice" - from upcoming a capella record by Christina Carter1:35:40 - "Lady Friend" - from Texas Blues Working by Christina CarterEnd / bed music - Steve Flato Featured tracks as lossless downloads are available at our Bandcamp: signifyingsomething.bandcamp.com

(This episode was originally broadcast August 17, 2021) On today's show, Steve Flato speaks with Seth Graham. Seth Graham is a Ohio based visual artist, composer and co-owner of Orange Milk Records with an academic background in Philosophy. He focuses on compositions which highlight tropes across a broad range of musical genres using midi data, Max MSP and samples. His intention is to manifest intersections of classical avant garde and modern popular music with compositions ranging from playful sample arrangements to dense digital synthesis. Seth Graham’s work has been published by music imprints Orange Milk, Noumenal Loom, We Time Audio. He was commissioned by the Russian Ensemble Kymatic to write 4 pieces in tribute to Philip Glass that was performed during 2017 at the Museum of Media and Arts in Moscow. He has been written about in Rolling Stone, NPR, Tiny Mix Tapes, Impose, FACT, and other publications.We discuss Seth's discography, particularly the new record with Mari from More Eaze, "The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid" under the alias ---__--___. We also get into Seth's ultra-conservative parents and his upbringing in Japan as an English-speaking boy from Ohio; intuition in the creative process; the importance of an artistic space and managing home life with time for art and music; composition and the process behind "Gasp" and "No.00 in clean life" (Seth's previous solo albums). Music video link for "When you're hot around the narcs" by ---__--___: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmZJgwS7oVQIntro Music: Steve Flato"Julius Eastman - NY metro xylophone player (feat meteronori)" is featured after the intro. "From The Valley" - featured track"When you're hot around the narcs" - featured before outroOutro music: Steve Flato Featured tracks as lossless downloads are available at our Bandcamp: signifyingsomething.bandcamp.com

On the show today, I’m joined by Keith Rowe, who was a founding member of AMM, a free improvisation group from the mid-1960s. With him is Jon Abbey of Erstwhile Records, who over the last 20 years has seen his label closely intertwined with Keith’s work. Since the late 1990s, Erstwhile Records has been releasing some of the most exciting and challenging recordings within this area of music, many of them involving Keith.

(This episode was originally broadcast April 25, 2017) G Lucas Crane speaks with Steve Flato on today’s episode of Signifying Something. Crane is a sound artist, performer, and musician whose work focuses on information anxiety, media confusion, and new performance techniques for obsolete technology. He is one of the co-founders of the experimental art and performance space the Silent Barn, located in NYC. He makes collages of reconstituted sample-based sound using the medium of cassette tape and has been in bands such as Woods, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice. His solo work is released under the name Nonhorse.Crane and Flato discuss playing with time and the nature of an instrument based on recordings of previous events; how people continue to use technology that is useful to them regardless of whether it’s “obsolete” or not; the importance of creating encounters with yourself in a performative setting; the diaristic nature of Crane’s sample library; associations with sound; listening and playing as two discrete modes of interacting with his material; musical problem solving; achieving a trance-like state during a performance; performance conventions in experimental music and otherwise; imperfection within the context of looping; tradition and vocabulary in what is usually considered “non-traditional” music; and what art can achieve beyond the expression of the author. Intro & background music by Steve Flato Featured music "Comfortable?" by Nonhorse

David Kirby is a software programmer by trade and a musician primarily working in the medium of cassette tapes, making rhythmic tape collages that surprise and confuse. He describes his work as “an open air experiment exploring psychophysical defecation in virtual spaces.”

Steve Flato interviews Lea Bertucci, an interdisciplinary artist, composer and improviser working with installation, sound, and projections.