Out There series to host mini fest for experimental music on August 12
The Out There series began in May 2022 as a collaboration between musicians Elise McArdle of Mere of Light and Cream Vellum, and John Larkin of Wandering Nerve, Gauss, and Cairns. They coincidentally discovered they both harbored ideations for an outdoor music series featuring experimental music, and the project grew from there. In 2022, the Out There series kicked off at DIY staple Lovemom’s, and continued to grow and expand, hosting performances at the Urban Ecology Center in Menomonee Valley, Madison’s Olbrich Botanical Gardens, and Echo Valley Farm near Wildcat Mountain State Park. In 2023, the project has continued to expand, partnering with Milwaukee County Parks and the Wisconsin DNR to provide free, high-quality experimental programming featuring local and national artists.
Some artists that the Out There Series has highlighted have included Marielle Allschwang, Apollo Vermouth, Forest Management, Social Caterpillar, and former Milwaukee poet laureate Roberto Harrison, among many others. The Out There Series is proud to book a diverse array of artists and avoids booking the same artist twice, maximizing opportunities for Milwaukee experimentalists to participate in the program. In 2023, support from partner Joy Engine helped the series secure permits, compensate artists, and furnish sound equipment.
On August 12th, five Midwest experimental artists will come together to play Out There’s 4 hour festival at Estabrook park. The fest will be free and open to the public, and can be located near the central parking lot directly on the north side of the beer garden.
Milwaukee artists Sarnal Key, Lorna Dune, and Zack Pieper will perform alongside Tekla Peterson of Minneapolis and Vulnerable of Fargo.
Sarnal Key is led by Gosha Ananchev, a Russian-born artist with roots in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. SK channels a more delicate expressive energy relative to the volume and intensity of Ananchev’s previous work in Absolutely, Youth Crush, and Dry Wedding. Ananchev’s emotionally psychedelic compositions conjure forgotten memories and alter the listener’s perception of time, sometimes hinting at dance floor rhythms but mostly broadcasting from the margins.
Lorna Dune: Praised by VICE Magazine as the “mistress of new music” and named as one of their Artists to Watch by The Fader, Lorna Dune has been turning heads since her foray into the world of electronic music production. As an experimental keyboardist and music producer, she is the founding member of Victoire, an “all-star, all-female quintet” (Time Out NY) with composer Missy Mazzoli; collaborates with electro-punk feminist icon JD Samson of MEN; has shared the stage with artists Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, the Philip Glass Ensemble, commissioned for Terry Riley’s 80th birthday, as well as remixed Max Richter, Caroline Shaw, Album Leaf and more.
Zack Pieper’s work spans poetry, performance, radio, visual art, and song. Same Here, selections from a decade of poems, was released by Adjunct Press in 2019. Poems and writings have appeared in Blazing Stadium, Bright Pink Mosquito, Disappearing Book Series, The Milwaukee Anthology, and elsewhere. In addition to his work as a poet and recording artist, Zack is the creator of the iconic “Ghost-Its” installations.
VULNERABLE is a musique concrete project by Anjali Karna. “As is probably surmised from the project name, VULNERABLE considers emotional existence and fear, but oscillates between the humorous—see ‘Somebody Else’s Clip of Diwali from FreeSound.Org But Fucked Up By Me’—and the deadly serious, like “True Love Will Find You In The End,” a merry-go-round musing on romance that moves between minimal electronic vocalizations, talk show samples about divorce, and a music box’s “Happy Birthday” rendition.” – Jordan Reyes, Bandcamp. Additionally, Anjali is the founder of Parachigo, a diy all-ages space in Fargo, North Dakota.
Tekla Peterson is the pop music alter ego of Taralie Peterson, who also composes with psych folk/experimental group Spires that in the Sunset Rise since 2001, and solo as Louise Bock, where she more often explores with cello and saxophone.
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