Yer darn tootin...
Greetings from Imaginary Jamaica.
Writer, composer, collagist, theatre & opera maker, radio producer, songwriter, and performer Ergo Phizmiz. The scourge of modern opera and Paul McCartney's favourite meat substitute.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Saturday, 14 September 2013
UOEIA * the histories of yodelling - UK Tour October 18th-22nd 2013
UOEIA * the histories of yodelling, from Swiss Family Phizmiz.
UK mini-tour October 2013
18th LIVERPOOL Mellomello
19th WHITBY Musicport
21st GLASGOW The Old Hairdresser's
22nd LONDON The Old Dentist's
A production of DePlayer, based on books by Bart Plantenga.
UK mini-tour October 2013
18th LIVERPOOL Mellomello
19th WHITBY Musicport
21st GLASGOW The Old Hairdresser's
22nd LONDON The Old Dentist's
A production of DePlayer, based on books by Bart Plantenga.
Yodelling: the crack in the human voice when pushed to its limit, the plaintive wail of man against mountains. From the Pygmy tribes in the jungles of Africa, to the mountains of Switzerland, or the plains of the Wild West, to frantic Persian ululations and yelps, yodelling is a worldwide phenomenon that betrays its perceived image as a benchmark of kitsch.
In “UOEIA: Favola in Jodel”, Ergo Phizmiz presents the history of yodelling through music, masks, puppetry, collage, and animation. Based on the books “Yodel in Hi-Fi” and “Yodel-Ay-Eee-Ooo” by Bart Plantenga, and performed by Swiss Family Phizmiz, UOEIA invites you through time and culture, yodelling from cavemen to the modern age.
Friday, 13 September 2013
EXCAVATING THE INTERNET
EXCAVATING THE INTERNET. Produced at Westminster Kingsway College by Leon Shields, Angelika Wrzesinska, Mia Wolsey, Lauren Nichols, Ryan Harris, Jonathon Perez, Alexander Watson, Boris Bailey, Marvel Chikoto, Carlaina Gawler, Yasmine Trent, Nikisha Musa, Jakub Baczewski, Morlai Sesay, Charlotte Cherry. Workshop faciliated by Ergo Phizmiz.
Monday, 9 September 2013
Great review of "All Our Clocks Are Dying: Prepared Piano Improvisations" on Cerebral Rift
Many thanks to the Cerebral Rift for a great review of "All Our Clocks Are Dying: Improvisations for Prepared Piano".
"Each of the tracks has a different preparation for the piano, and the structure and musical concepts of each of the pieces is phenomenally realized. The only living, producing recording artist that I think could even come close to this level of work would be Tom Waits."
Read the full review HERE.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
All Our Clocks Are Dying: Improvisations for Prepared Piano
Four improvisations for Prepared Piano.
(Making Jack a Dull Boy * Pot Bellied March and Rumpus * All Our Clocks Are Dying * The Long Knife Disco)
Recorded in the living room, Thursday 5th September 2013.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
GESTURE PIECE by Vicki Bennett, featuring music by Ergo Phizmiz & others
GESTURE PIECE (2013) by Vicki Bennett from Vicki WFMU on Vimeo.
Gesture Piece is a new Pixel Palace commission in development by artist Vicki Bennett (also known as People Like Us). Vicki has collected scenes from hundreds of films containing gestures or instructions, from classic black and white cinema to recent releases. She edited them together to make a 15-minute film consisting of seven chapters, and invited seven sound artists to create a unique film score for each section. The result is a fascinating and witty reinterpretation of familiar film footage, with scenes arranged in incongruous, surprising and often very funny combinations. Gesture Piece was commissioned by Pixel Palace, Tyneside Cinema's digital art programme and supported using public funds by Arts Council England.
Soundtracks by :
Andrew Sharpley [00:06]
Matmos [01:02]
Wobbly [05:08]
Gwilly Edmondez [07:48]
Dave Soldier [09:38]
Jason Willett [11:02]
Ergo Phizmiz [13:23]
Andrew Sharpley [00:06]
Matmos [01:02]
Wobbly [05:08]
Gwilly Edmondez [07:48]
Dave Soldier [09:38]
Jason Willett [11:02]
Ergo Phizmiz [13:23]
To find out more about Gesture Piece, please visit goo.gl/8wb4Yh.
Background info at peoplelikeus.org/2013/gesture-piece/
Press info at thepixelpalace.org/press
Background info at peoplelikeus.org/2013/gesture-piece/
Press info at thepixelpalace.org/press
Monday, 2 September 2013
"Lily Jamelia Gilliam in the Courtroom of the Nits" - A Children's Story
Lily Jamelia Gilliam was, being a sensible girl, altogether rather surprised to disappear temporarily into her own hair.
It wasn't that she was a dirty girl. She brushed her teeth religiously, and showered every morning, just like her persnickety, "clean freak" of a Dad.
In fact, she prided herself on her personal hygiene.
It was just her hair.
She had "that kind of hair".
The hair that flows like a river of gold from the heads of damsels in castles?
Not quite. Old photographs revealed a long blanket of auburn, ochre and blonde hues.
Then came the nits.
Nature's biggest gits.
One Summer morning, a pair of scissors struck, and the multi-hued mop was cropped to a humble bob.
(Lily Jamelia Gilliam had since recognised that, rather than cutting away her Princess-like elegance, the new hairstyle had rendered her all svelte and grown-up, like a lady from an old film).
Yet, despite this mutilation, the head-lice had not conceded defeat.
Lily Jamelia Gilliam rubbed her eyes.
A room of brownish rope, from which is weaved a throne. Behind her, hundreds of little figures point and chatter. From the throne, the sudden crack of hammer upon table.
Lily Jamelia Gilliam is in a court-room. A court-room of her own hair.
"Would Lily Jamelia Gilliam take the stand."
Lily Jamelia Gilliam walks past nits with pens in their hands, and shirts and ties, like the sort of people you always don't like in old films.
In a booming voice, the High Judge of the Court of the Nits intones gravely...
"Lily Jamelia Gilliam, you have been found guilty of the attempted murder of my brothers, my sisters, and, once or twice, myself."
"But, please your honour, it was not me, it was my mum."
"Regardless, it is YOUR head. You have been sentenced to DEATH BY NITS."
At this point, Lily Jamelia Gilliam realised that, by stepping into her own hair, she had defied countless laws of physics, and broken the fabric of space and time for the first time in human history.
And Lily Jamelia Gilliam won the Nobel Prize for Science.
And Lily Jamelia Gilliam wrote a book on interspace, interdimensional travel.
And corrected many of history's biggest errors.
And solved the problem of world hunger.
And, by opening up the fabric of the universe, created a logical end to all wars.
And, most importantly of all, by introducing the idea of interspecies communication, was able to make head-lice understand that they should only alight on the heads of really awful people. Instead of on the head of lovely, bright girls, like Lily Jamelia Gilliam.
It wasn't that she was a dirty girl. She brushed her teeth religiously, and showered every morning, just like her persnickety, "clean freak" of a Dad.
In fact, she prided herself on her personal hygiene.
It was just her hair.
She had "that kind of hair".
The hair that flows like a river of gold from the heads of damsels in castles?
Not quite. Old photographs revealed a long blanket of auburn, ochre and blonde hues.
Then came the nits.
Nature's biggest gits.
One Summer morning, a pair of scissors struck, and the multi-hued mop was cropped to a humble bob.
(Lily Jamelia Gilliam had since recognised that, rather than cutting away her Princess-like elegance, the new hairstyle had rendered her all svelte and grown-up, like a lady from an old film).
Yet, despite this mutilation, the head-lice had not conceded defeat.
Lily Jamelia Gilliam rubbed her eyes.
A room of brownish rope, from which is weaved a throne. Behind her, hundreds of little figures point and chatter. From the throne, the sudden crack of hammer upon table.
Lily Jamelia Gilliam is in a court-room. A court-room of her own hair.
"Would Lily Jamelia Gilliam take the stand."
Lily Jamelia Gilliam walks past nits with pens in their hands, and shirts and ties, like the sort of people you always don't like in old films.
In a booming voice, the High Judge of the Court of the Nits intones gravely...
"Lily Jamelia Gilliam, you have been found guilty of the attempted murder of my brothers, my sisters, and, once or twice, myself."
"But, please your honour, it was not me, it was my mum."
"Regardless, it is YOUR head. You have been sentenced to DEATH BY NITS."
At this point, Lily Jamelia Gilliam realised that, by stepping into her own hair, she had defied countless laws of physics, and broken the fabric of space and time for the first time in human history.
And Lily Jamelia Gilliam won the Nobel Prize for Science.
And Lily Jamelia Gilliam wrote a book on interspace, interdimensional travel.
And corrected many of history's biggest errors.
And solved the problem of world hunger.
And, by opening up the fabric of the universe, created a logical end to all wars.
And, most importantly of all, by introducing the idea of interspecies communication, was able to make head-lice understand that they should only alight on the heads of really awful people. Instead of on the head of lovely, bright girls, like Lily Jamelia Gilliam.
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