Center no Distractor, the latest project of the collaborative duo Stephanie Pan and Stelios Manousakis, is an explosion of movement, physicality and gritty, thumping beats, for taiko and live electronics. Performances are simultaneously a concert, an exploration of sound and body, a visual spectacle; it is dance for the ears, the body, the eyes and the mind.
A truly contemporary collaboration, Center no Distractor re-contextualizes the taiko in a digital environment while retaining the essence of its aesthetic, athletic and musical qualities. This meld creates a visceral, industrial, post-primal/post-digital experience – an immersive and intense performance full of evolving soundscapes and fine detail, throbbing percussion, gut-moving bass, and turbulent oceans of sound.
The project features fully DIY instruments: Stephanie plays a self-constructed nagado taiko, made from an oak wine barrel which she built over a period of 1.5 years. Stelios has created a modular instrument using SuperCollider, with custom-made processes and generators tuned for responsive, hands-on playing.
Their first EP, Nothing aiming is a splinter, was released in 2013 on inkilino records.
Get the EP here: inkilinorecords.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-aiming-is-a-splinter
Listen more: soundcloud.com/centernodistractor
Nothing aiming is a splinter excerpts from a live performance at the theater De Veste (Blikopener Festival / Museumnight Delft 2013):
Stephanie Pan: taikos
Stelios Manousakis: live electronics, programming
Rik ’t Jong: Sound & Lighting engineer
Esther Hertog: Video
Center no Distractor live at the Modern Body Festival 2014: That which is swan and ivy (full track)
Center no Distractor live at the Modern Body Festival 2014: That which is melts is exaggerating (full track)
Release: Nothing aiming is a splinter – Center no Distractor
Center no Distractor’s first EP, Nothing aiming is a splinter, was recorded live, partially in front of a live audience, in December 2012. The EP was released in 2013 by inklino records. You can listen and order it through bandcamp. You can also still order the special handmade edition! Nothing aiming is a splinter by Center no…