Few people are allowed into the lab when scientists do experiments, but experimental music is audience friendly.
Jeremy Stewart loves to mix and emulsify musical notes, playing styles and all the words that go with it. The veteran of the Prince George music and poetry scene is also the founder of this week's extravaganza of the ethereal Casse-Tte: A Festival of Experimental Music. He is so passionate about it, he is going to throw a piano from a high place to make his point.
Experimental does not mean unprepared, however, nor does it mean difficult to listen to. Experimental music is an umbrella term covering free-flowing jazz, some modern orchestral, edgy electronica and really any genre where the envelope of sound and form is being pushed. Like language, music has its version of slang and evolution of meaning.
"We have some fabulously sensitive artists coming to perform this year," said Stewart. "This genre family might be unfamiliar to some people, but it possesses many musical virtues - ones you may not be able to experience in many other musical forms."
He explained that abstract painting is not just mindless splatter on a canvas, there is art and reasoning behind experimental music, too, and it is a journey of discovery for the listener and player alike.
"I believe in accessibility with experimental music," he said, and chose his performers accordingly. "A lot of people might think that means already understanding what's going on but I believe it means you could understand it if given the chance. It might take more work, but there are bigger payoffs when you do get what the musician is doing. It's like trying new food, but the kind of food millions of other people love. Maybe you haven't had it before, but you can trust that it's not bad and you stand a good chance of loving it. That's what we are encouraging. We're not going to serve you haggis, more like sushi. Ted Price [founder of Theatre North West where Stewart was a staff member] called it 'gently expanding audience horizons.' The point is, you want to move your audience, but in way that brings them along with you. It's something you want to experience together."
Now about that piano. It's a ruined one. Irreparable. Enchainement Dance Studio proprietor Judy Russell is donating it to Stewart "because Judy is just the bomb. That is all," he said. The managers of Exploration Place are donating the museum's roof from which this piano will be launched. The ground at the bottom will be protected by plywood, and Stewart has assured the City of Prince George he will pay should unlikely damage occur.
"This was Peter Stevenson's idea [of PS Piano Services, head instrument tech for the Prince George Symphony Orchestra]," Stewart said. "A piano dropping off a high place and landing on the hard ground. You do not need to have a working knowledge of [experimental music godfather] John Cage to appreciate that. That's just good fun. You'll want to see that, it probably won't happen too many times in your lifetime."
This year's visiting artists include Catherine Sikora (New York City), Stanley Jason Zappa (Oliver), Pigeon Breeders (Edmonton), Jung People (Calgary), Chersea (Vancouver), and The Institute for the Study of Advanced Musical Research (Vancouver, Calgary).
Participating local artists include Raghu Lokanathan, Christians, Burndog Hyena, Pg9o9, Jose Delgado-Guevara, Anne Harris, Kaia Andal and Stevenson. Stewart is also likely to find his way onto the stage.
"I created Casse-Tte to bring the music I wanted to hear to Prince George, and just as much, to showcase the amazing, mostly unknown artists we have here," Stewart said. "I seriously doubted I would ever do a second year. But after the success of the first year, I was so encouraged, I knew immediately I had to keep it going."
Casse-Tte is a French term suggested by Stewart's wife and fellow musician Erin. He said it poetically means "broken head" and is both a reference to 'puzzle' and 'headache.'
"It can also refer to a bludgeoning weapon like a club, or to a violent, deafening noise," he said.
The festival runs Friday through Sunday at Exploration Place.
Festival passes are ($36 regular, $32 with valid student ID) available at Books & Co.
Evening show tickets are $20 each. Children under 12 are free.
The piano drop happens at 7 p.m. Friday followed by a panel discussion moderated by Stewart and featuring many of the festival acts. The topic: The Importance and Unimportance of Technique.
For more information - including the most up-to-date version of the ever-growing lineup -check out the Casse-Tete website at www.cassetetefestival.com.
