Spectrum Ensemble is a new music ensemble championing the work of talented LGBTQ+ artists. Based in Denton, TX, the ensemble commissions and performs new music by Queer composers at different points in their careers.
We were very excited to present some of their unique pieces at NMASS 2020 and have a brief interview with members Stephen Hall and Jaime Esposito.
Ah yes, the three genders written by Alex Temple
COTFG –
What were your musical or general artistic influences for your NMASS piece or any of your recent work?
Spectrum –
With our mission to promote LGBTQ+ visibility, we look for composers who identify as part of the Queer spectrum. Beyond that, we seek out composers whose previous works we are drawn to, and we try to also represent composers at different points in their careers – from up-and-coming students to established professionals.
COTFG –
What other ways of expression do you hope to explore using recorded video or live streaming?
Spectrum –
Recording has allowed us to really focus on the details! We’re able to direct the audience’s attention with details we put on the screen. We also get to be more creative and push the boundaries of the works we perform by incorporating different elements through how we produce the videos.
It’s an exciting opportunity that we don’t normally have when performing live. Even with our relatively low-tech resources (neither of us is using super expensive equipment, and we edit everything ourselves!) we are producing really cool performances of these great works that our composers wrote for us!
Natalia Rocafuerte – Post NMASS Interview
Treinta Años en un Tren is a short film created virtually by Natalia and Jeannelle as a visual and audio exchange during the 2020 Pandemic. The short film combines sounds and visuals created during live Instagram and Facebook sessions, rescored every time using elements of water, trains, and Caribbean drums. The surrealist visuals are paired with our contrastingly different experiences and memories of Latin America, imagining trains going through islands and floating fish in the sky. Collaboratively, Jeannelle and Natalia work as Las Raras, an experimental synthesis collective aiming to awaken a transcendent consciousness.
We were able to ask Natalia a couple questions after the festival.
COTFG –
What were your musical or general artistic influences for your NMASS piece or any of your recent work?
Natalia Rocafuerte –
Hanging out with my collaborator Jeanelle (virtually) really opened my ears to ambient music and her flair of adding drums from Latin America, it’s like nature and industrial sounds. She is so used to city life having studied in New York and when I went to New York two summers ago I had a panic attack (ha!) if that says anything about how energized I get in cities. But having a guide has opened me up to the sort of stimulation living in a city brings, I also just really love the Ramones so I want to understand. I read Andrés Ladero ( a famous Cumbia composer and pioneer) describe the way he learned to write music was going to the hills in Colombia and listening to nature, the birds and the gusts of wind, that’s pretty rock n roll. I think that’s my approach to music [rocknroll] but I liked working with Jeanelle who is finishing her PhD in ethnomusicology, her approach is very different and much more studied! I suggest for some water sounds, textures like walking in the grass, and Jeanelle just knew exactly what the film needed. Our process would be kind of reworking a video or sound from the week before, it took us about three months. I also spent a good portion of the summer obsessively watching videos of trains, I think it’s because it’s kind of terrifying but also because I watched the movie Stand By Me, and they ended up in the film. I think of our project as a sort of rock-N-Roll, Caribbean train ride.
COTFG –
What have you been listening to lately?
Natalia Rocafuerte –
Recently, my coworker had a baby and he said the first song he played for his newborn was Vashti Bunyan’s “Just Another Diamond Day“. He played the whole album but I’ve had that song stuck in my head, I love everything kind of twee and tender at the moment. I just moved to Michigan, so I’ve also been nerding out and listening to old techno songs and driving around Detroit, Juan Atkins is a favorite so far. Some days I listen to the Marfa Public Radio Station Mixcloud, I like my friend Gabriela’s show Border Beats and Babes. Working hard on my Latin tributes to Kraftwerk playlist like this one by Senor Coconut and Afrodita.
You can see more work by Natalia and Jeannelle’s at the site for their group project, Las Raras.
The new COTFG blog
Hello from the COTFG team and welcome to our new blog.
For some time we’ve discussed having regular posts focusing on diverse artists that are not getting the attention we think they should. As we transition into a world without live shows a curated blog seems like a necessity.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be posting interviews with some of the NMASS 2020 performers as well as more of their work. If you missed our live streams you can view them on our youtube page and find out more about the artists here.
COTFG is still active and will be producing more live and pre-recorded shows as we did with NMASS. If you’re interested in being a part of a future event please contact us with your proposal. We can offer $50 for original pieces or existing work re-imagined for video. It’s not much but we can also offer support and technical assistance with your piece. Online performances are here to stay. Let’s work together to make them special in a way we don’t even know they can be.