Recent and past editions
Since 2015, Austin-based Sonic Transmissions has presented burgeoning, established, and legendary artists of the musical avant-garde working in diverse fields of improvisational music. Spearheaded by bassist Ingebrigt HaÌŠker Flaten (The Thing, Atomic, The Young Mothers), the curation is informed by Flaten’s experience as an internationally touring musician. The festival showcases musicians from diverse backgrounds within Experimental Jazz, Free Improvisation, Hip Hop, Punk Rock and sounds from around the world. Sonic Transmissions has taken the shape of a 3-day festival (2015-2017) and, most recently, as a concert series occurring over several months (2018-2019) and has featured over 100 musicians from throughout the U.S. and the world.
2022
Irreversible Entanglements
Commissioned video work by Irreversible Entanglements, a liberation-oriented free jazz collective formed in early 2015 by saxophonist Keir Neuringer, poet Camae Ayewa (a.k.a. Moor Mother) and bassist Luke Stewart.
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FriForm & Sonic Transmissions North present Marshall Trammell (29.03)
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Catalytic Sound Trondheim Fest (3/12)
2021
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Jordan Sand
Sonic Transmissions Austin and Experimental Sound Studio Chicago Present commissioned and new video works by Jordan Sand.
Trondheim-based musician, writer, and New Yorker Jordan Sand weave vocals into the organ-like resonances of bowed double bass - a sound described as “Joni Mitchell meets Ligeti” (Omaha Under the Radar). The commissioned video piece The WORD OF THE YEAR (2021) sends Sand inward as both narrator and performer of pandemic-year solitude.
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SONIC STILLS FEST 2021 – a 3 day festival in Trondheim on September 2–4
with local and international artists,hosted by Stillverk 1, SONIC TRANSMISSIONS NORTH
and NyMusikk Trondheim & co-presented by TEKS & Cinemateket.
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SonicStillsClub present Humanization 4tet and Blinks (11.10)
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Catalytic Sound Trondheim Fest 2021 (30 & 31.10)
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Movement is Stasis
In collaboration with Epistrophy Arts for Movement in Stasis, streaming live August 6-8, 2020. Seizing this extraordinary moment, we are presenting a selection of musicians from around the world to a global audience through a partnership with Experimental Sound Studio’s The Quarantine Concerts. This expanded online festival brings attention to profound work resonating from the creative depths of Norway, Colombia, and the U.S.
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Maja S.K. Ratkje (Kafe Hœrverk/Oslo) | Signe Emmeluth (Kafe Hœrverk/Oslo) | Maria "Mange" Valencia (Matik Matik/Bogota) | El Ombligo (Matik Matik/Bogota) | Mars Williams (Chicago) | Ingrid Laubrock & Tom Rainey (Brooklyn) | Wendy Eisenberg (Turners Falls Western Mass) | Blacks' Myths (Washington D.C.) | Dennis Gonzalez (Dallas) | Claire Rousay & Lisa Cameron (Austin) | Jawwaad Taylor (Houston) | James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor (NYC)
2020
April 11 / June 13 / August 15 / July 5 / September 5
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Ryley Walker & Charles Rumback, The Hatch, Gerry Hemingway & Samuel Blaser, Harris Eisenstadt Old Growth Forest, James Brandon Lewis Trio, Steve Baczkowski, Bill Nace & Chris Corsano, Lisa Harris, Dave Dove & Jawwaad Taylor, Claire Rousay, William Hooker Trio (w/ Ava Mendoza & Damon Smith)
2019
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March 01 / April 19 / June 14 / August 16 / September 13
Jeff Parker & The New Breed, Moor Mother, Daniel Carter & Andrew Barker, Rob Mazurek, Jaimie Branch’s “Fly or Die”, Matthew Lux’s Communication Arts Quartet, Kuzu, Thor & Friends, Shit & Shine, Rick Reed & Tara Bhattacharya, Jonathan Horne Quintet, Soft Healer, Dane Rousay Duo, Collin Shook Quartet, Jaime Ospina’s Contemporary Ancestral Colombian Orchestra, Anagram
2018
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Sonic Transmissions Festival III, Austin’s pioneering improvisational music festival without boundaries, takes place Thursday, September 14 through Saturday, September 16 across four Austin venues: Barracuda, Kick Butt Coffee, Kenny Dorham’s Backyard, and Victory Grill.
Now in its third year, Sonic Transmissions Festival incorporates a fantastic lineup representing a diverse range of musical styles incorporating aspects of punk rock, improvised music, futuristic hip-hop, jazz, free-jazz, psychedelic cumbia and more.
ILOG · JAWWAAD · ANTELOPER · JOE MCPHEE · RODENTICIDE · LUNG LETTERS · SUSAN ALCORN · JAIMIE BRANCH · CARMELO TORRES · DJ GALA GALEANO · STEFAN GONZALEZ · KEN VANDERMARK· DJ MUTARRANCHO · BRANDON SEABROOK · THE YOUNG MOTHERS · DJ PEDRITO Y SU TUMBAO · EIVIND OPSVIK'S 'OVERSEAS' · CHARALAMBIDES · CARMELO TORRES + LOS TOSCOS · INGEBRIGT HAKER FLATEN'S 'TIME MACHINE' · MATT BUTLER'S 'THE END OF THE WORLD ORCHESTRA' ·
COUNTER EXCHANGE with HENNA CHOU, JAIMIE BRANCH, CARL SMITH and TARIK AOSSEY
2017
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Backed by the momentum of a wildly successful debut festival in 2015, Sonic Transmissions II returned to Austin from Friday, September 23 through Sunday, September 25, 2016, at The North Door, 502 Brushy Street, and Central Presbyterian Church, 200 East 8th Street.
Sonic Transmissions II will present more than 30 local, national, and international artists that include well-established names like Rabit (Houston), Obnox (Cleveland), Chicago Underground Duo (Marfa/New York), Black Spirituals (Oakland), Shit and Shine (London), Suspirians (Austin), Bushman’s Revenge (Oslo), Hearts and Minds (Chicago), and USA/Mexico (Austin/London), which is the new trio of drummer King Coffey from the Butthole Surfers.
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Additionally, musicians from Texas, California, and Norway performed a commissioned work, Common Ground, that syncs African-American spirituals with Norwegian religious hymns.
Read more about the commission project here: Common Ground.
2016
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JOE MCPHEE | PERSEPH ONE FEAT. MOON GUN | SPRAY PAINT | GUILLA AND ANDROID GENIUS | ALVIN FIELDER | AVREEAYL RA |
JAWWAAD | PLUTONIUM FARMERS | ORGULLO PRIMITIVO | NICK MAZZARELLA | DAVID DOVE | DAMON SMITH | JONATHAN HORNE | FRANK ROSALY | JASON JACKSON | INGEBRIGT HÅKER FLATEN | THE YOUNG MOTHERS
2015
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department.