HEAVY INTO ETHER WITH TRYP

Words: Lara Pacillo // Main photo: james K, from the Tryp III lineup

Adelaide Festival’s new contemporary music festival Tryp unfolds as an experience of juxtaposition. Across two nights from February 27 to 28, it presents immersions of dark and light.

Tryp I takes over Hindley Street Music Hall on Friday night and leans unapologetically into crushing sonic force, before Tryp III shifts to the UniBar Cloisters on Saturday for an expansive, open-air dream. Over both nights, the program brings together exciting and leading voices in experimental sonic art, club music and electronica.

“It’s almost like the devil and the angel on your shoulders,” explains Lewis Godwin, Adelaide Festival’s contemporary music project manager.

“Friday night is heavy, loud, bombastic, challenging, very textural, a lot of noise. Saturday is the complete inverse.”

The program is led by Sydney-based programmer Thorsten Hertog, best known for his work on experimental music, arts, and discourse festival – Soft Centre.

Thorsten was brought on board as part of new Adelaide Festival creative director Matthew Lutton’s drive to reintroduce a contemporary music offering to the festival, something that has been largely absent since Unsound Adelaide’s departure from the program in 2017.

Musician and artist Lewis brings more than 15 years of experience across underground, community and independent music scenes, helping connect Thorsten’s curatorial vision with what is happening at a grassroots level in Adelaide.

Tryp I is anchored by a world exclusive performance from Boris, the seminal Japanese doom and sludge band, joined by fellow Japanese sound pioneer Merzbow for the first ever live performance of their 2005 collaborative record Dronevil.

“We’re flying Orange amps down from Sydney specially for them,” Lewis explains.

“It is going to be fucking loud. Very noisy, crunchy, huge walls of sound. Absolutely massive.”

The night continues with Takkak Takkak, a new Indonesian and Japanese collaboration that builds instruments from found materials and trash, blending traditional sounds with electronic components.

Brooklyn-based DJ Haram presents an underground club sensibility through a hybrid live set, while Adelaide percussionist Harry Freeman delivers a thunderous, immersive soundscape.

“He is kind of surfing this one giant note that builds into a huge sound,” Lewis says.

“He is ever so slightly riding that note and controlling these very subtle frequencies. You have to feel it to hear it, if you know what I mean.”

With a new day, Saturday moves into brightness, as Tryp III opens into kaleidoscopic sound and colour to illuminate the summer night through ecstatic electronica.

“Saturday is this ethereal, almost whimsical, sunny, beautiful outdoor event,” Lewis says.

“It’s an active listening, experimental showcase at the UniBar Cloisters. As the sun sets, it transitions into a more clubby atmosphere.”

The lineup includes American multidisciplinary artist james K, with her crystalline and emotionally rich music, alongside Lyra Pramuk’s symphonic sound universe. Iranian Australian santur player Maryam Rahmani joins Sebastian Collen to fuse classical Persian sounds with contemporary experimental music.

Also appearing is Barker, founder of the Leisure System label whose accompanying club night held the longest residency in Berghain’s history, as well as turntablist and academic DJ Rupture, DJ D-Grade, Wilson Tanner, and DJ Baby Monet.

Tryp places a strong emphasis on visual art. Friday functions as an audiovisual showcase, with Hindley Street Music Hall’s large LED backdrop amplifying the sonic weight of the performances.

Saturday shifts into a venue-wide lighting installation, transforming the UniBar Cloisters with a bespoke stage and lighting setup, large fabric drapes and materials that create an otherworldly environment.

“It’s more than just going and seeing a single act, it’s about being part of the entire atmosphere, the entire space,” Lewis says.

Tryp was originally conceived as three interconnected events, aligning with its name, shortened from triptych. The program later morphed to two events, with Tryp II removed in response to the Adelaide Writers’ Week controversy.

“Conceptually, the idea was to create three quite different experiences that all supported each other,” Lewis says. “What we have moved towards is essentially two, but that interplay is still there.”

Tryp is designed for listeners seeking adventure into the unknown.

“It is for people searching for something they have not experienced before — sounds that are new to their ears, and artists who do not traditionally come to Adelaide,” Lewis says.

“It is for the adventurous and the bold, but also for those looking for experiential listening. I encourage audiences to not be afraid and jump into something new and unexpected.”

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Tryp I: Friday 27 February // Hindley Street Music Hall, 49 Hindley Street, Adelaide 5000

Tryp III: Saturday 28 February // UniBar, Adelaide University, Adelaide 5000

Tickets // Website