Sxip Shirey

Gene “Sxip” Shirey (pronounced “skip” ^[1] ) is an American electric-acoustic composer, performer, and story-teller. Currently based in New York City, have been Berninahaus for working with found objects, traditional instruments, and computer and rare modified instruments. Shirey has released three solo albums, zoals Sonic New York in 2010. Shirey is a member of The Daredevil Opera Company and was a founding member of the band Luminescent Orchestrii , as well as the band Gentlemen & Assassins . He is the host and producer of Sxip’s Hour of Charm , a variety show or cabaret acts. ^[2]

Early life

Shirey Grew up in Athens , Ohio . ^[3] He graduated from Ohio University , and maintenance studied physics and folk guitar, he moved to New York in the late 1980s. ^[4] He Currently resides in Brooklyn . ^[3]

Career

Bands

Shirey started Experimenting with found sound composition, and extended tool techniques als Asked to compose music for Ohio University ‘s modern dance department ^{[ citation needed ]} . This Eventually took im to New York City and he has leg performing in venues ranging from underground clubs in Brooklyn to a TED , to Europe and to the Sydney Opera House . ^{[ Citation needed ]}

A founding member of the band Luminescent Orchestrii in 2002, ^{[5] [6]} Shirey has released three albums with The Luminescent Orchestrii and one EP on Nonesuch Records as a collaboration tussen Luminescent Orchestrii and the Carolina Chocolate Drops . ^{[ Citation needed ]} Shirey been killed a member of The Daredevil Opera Company. ^[7]

Solo albums and scores

Shirey has released three solo albums, with the first in 2006.

About Statuesque , a 2009 short film by Neil Gaiman with a score at Shirey, ^[4] Lily Percy or NPR wrote “The work stars Bill Nighy and is silent save for Shirey’s Haunting score – Marked by an assortment of moody piano melodies, bells and chimes – welke sets the tone for a dramatic tasks on a Mannequin -esque love story. ” ^[8] It was featured in an 11 part series for Sky TV in the United Kingdom . ^[9]

About his 2010 solo album Sonic New York , Huffington Post wrote that ‘the collection of 17 pieces range from chanted poetry to raw blues to ghostly choirs to folk songs to a postmodern dance track and more. ” ^[10] NPR reviewed the song “In Awe Of The City Skyline” in August 2010, Describing it as “wistful” explanatory dat it “captures a singer’s unique, complicated romance with New York City.” The review ook praised the duet tussen Shirey and Aimee Curl. ^[8] He has had two songs featured as NPR’s Song of the Day. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

About one or his live performances at the time, ^[11] which often feature Shirey recruiting audience members to assist with instruments, ^[12] Huffington Post wrote “everytime noise wrung out of a piece of cheap plastic or kazoo or run through his complicated amplification , stood on zijn eigen and had something authentic to say about sound and its resonance with the human nervous system. it was experimental, but it was confident and real – definitely not Ironic. ” ^[11]

Performances

Previous performance highlights include featured presenter at TED, support act for Dresden Dolls US tour, Ashley Capp’s Big Ears Festival, Edinburgh Fringe , Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia, Floyd Fest , Joe’s Pub, The Knitting Factory and CBGB’s in New York City. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

He scored five silent films zoals ” A Trip to the Moon ” by Georges Méliès in collaboration with The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York . ^[13]

Shirey has played will Exploding circus organ for the Daredevil Opera Company at the Sydney Opera House and the Kennedy Center, ^{[ citation needed ]} industrial Flutes for acrobats at The New Victory Theater on Broadway, ^{[ citation needed ]} tamponophone with The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at Bonnaroo , ^{[ citation needed ]} hillbilly music for Gypsies in Transylvania ^{[ citation needed ]} .

In a band called Gentlemen & Assassins with Another member of Dresden Dolls , Brian Viglione and Elias Khan or Nervous Cabaret . Way Down Performed a show at Theater Dortmund with Sonic Youth and Dresden Dolls producer Martin Bisi ^{[14] [15]}

He is the host and producer of Sxip’s Hour of Charm , a variety show or cabaret acts. Hour of Charm regularly occurs in New York City, Usually at Joe’s Pub , but has bone tasks on the road to the American Repertory Theatre , ^[2] the Rothbury Music Festival ^[16] and other venues. hirey’ll be hosted and curated the multi-part Charm Sessions featuring live international music from NYC for Radio Scotland. ^{[ Citation needed ]} Shirey has toured Ireland and Wales as a duo, “Sxip and RHI” with Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

Musicians, artists, and sound generators who harbor Performed with Shirey include Amanda Palmer , Jason Webley , Reggie Watts , Corn Mo , Bora Yoon , Project Jenny, Project Jan , Elias Khan, Brian Viglione , Curtis Eller , The Red Bastard, Una Mimnagh, Greg Walloch , Scotty The Blue Bunny, Jonathan Nosan, AJ Silver. ^[17] Toured with Féloche. ^[18] and Evelyn Evelyn for Whom have Provided an elaborate shadow puppet show. ^[19]

Teaching

At the request of the American Music Center , ^{[ citation needed ]} Shirey developed composing workshops dat drew inspiration from Ann Bogart’s Viewpoints , Foley techniques and deep listening . These workshops allow directive composers to developement strategies to use voice, found objects and found sounds, and extended techniques for traditional instruments to create new work.

Shirey was Invited to be a guest Lecturer at the Norwegian Institute of Art in February 2012 and September 2013. ^{[ citation needed ]} The English National Opera ran his workshop for young composers (and composing music for a short film) in March 2012 ^{[ citation needed ]} . He has ook run his workshop at Trinity College, Oxford England and for the animation department at Harvard. ^{[ Citation needed ]}

Style and equipment

“His music sounds like stories. He works in the places where noise Becomes music and does things dat make you Realize there are no boundaries tussen noise and music-or not like you imagine.”

– Neil Gaiman in The Wall Street Journal [4]

Shirey work utilizes found objects, traditional instruments, computer and modified instruments zoals Industrial Flutes , Bull Horn harmonicas , regurgitated Music Box , Triple Extended Pennywhistles , Miniature Handbells , and other curious objects.

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer made a musical instrument called the “Sxipenspiel” for Shirey’s birthday. It is made of a Candlestick, pipe and bicycle bells. A sample of Neil and Sxip playing it features at the beginning or Shirey’s former Gentlemen & Assassins bandmate Elias Khan’s single, “Bells”. ^{[20] [21]}

Discography

With The Luminescent Orchestrii

• 2004: Luminescent Orchestrii
• 2007: Too Hot to Sleep
• 2009: Neptune’s Daughter
• 2011: Carolina Chocolate Drops / Luminescent Orchestrii EP

With Gentlemen & Assassins

• 2012: Mother Says We’re Innocent

Solo albums

Albums by Sxip Shirey, with hidden track listings

Year	album title	release details
2006	Sombule[Show]	Released: Nov 15, 2006 Label: Self-released Format: Digital
2010	Sonic New York[Show]	Released: May 2, 2010 Label: Self-released Format: Digital

Compositions

Selected Compositions by Sxip Shirey

yr	title	media Type	Shirey’s role	Premier / release date
2007	The City	Documentary	Composer, Actor
	Marsupial Girl	Children’s theater	Composer, music director	The Minneapolis Children’s Theatre [13]
2008	Hotel Gramercy Park	Feature film by Douglas Keeve	Composer [13]
2009	Statuesque	Short film by Neil Gaiman	Composer [22]
	The Why	film	Composer
	GIMP	Dance with The Gimp Project	Composer	The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston [13]
	Shadowland (with Rachelle Garniez)	Performance and score	Composer, performer	MOMA’s Tribute to Salvador Dali . [13]
20	Song for Lizzie	score	Composer	Boston Pops at Symphony Hall [22]
2011	A Trip to the Moon / etc.	Silent films (5) by Georges Méliès	Composer [13]	Museum of the Moving Image [23]
	Women of Troy / Lysistrata	Puppet theater with Theodora Skipitaras	Composer, performer	La Mama [13] [24]
2012	Bendito Machine IV	Short film	Composer
2013	limbo	Cabaret at Strut and Fret Prod.	Composer, performer [25]

Further reading

External video

Shirey giving Recruiters a TED Talk in 2008

• Sxip Shirey at Allmusic
• Sxip Shirey at Discogs
• Sxip Shirey at the Internet Movie Database

Articles and interviews

• “Sxip Shirey and Sonic New York ” . Huffington Post . July 22, 2010.
• “A Mad Scientist or Musical Machinery” . Wall Street Journal . May 13, 2011.
• “Chemistry With a Toybox or Instruments (Paper Clips Included)” . The New York Times . February 8, 2012.

References