Join us March 24th for our first Sound + Soak of the season, featuring Midwife, Vyva Melinkolya, and body / negative.
MIDWIFE
Madeline Johnston is a self taught multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer, currently based in Southern Colorado. Midwife began in 2014 while Madeline was a resident of the beloved DIY space Rhinoceropolis in Denver. She has released three albums with The Flenser, most recently, Luminol (2021), which received National and International acclaim. On stage, Johnston is known for her sparse, emotionally charged experimental pop music that can silence a room. On record, she produces intricate and lush sonic environments in her own little corner of the heavy music scene. She describes her sound as "Heaven Metal," AKA emotional music about devastation: catharsis. Johnston writes primarily about grief, and the many faces it can inhabit.
https://midwife.supertape.site/
https://heavenmetal.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vjIHa1u3TnOlDvVDR9qQa
https://www.instagram.com/mercury_tracer/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR_obG9sq4Q&ab_channel=TheFlenser
VYVA MELINKOLYA
Vyva Melinkolya is the music of Angel Diaz – a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter originally from Louisville, Kentucky and now based out of Pittsburgh, PA – whose musical style pulls from a consistently melancholic palette of dark slowcore, shoegaze and ambient. Drawing influence from 90s artists like Low and Lisa Germano, classic shoegaze, a heavy dose of Grouper worship, and moody tumblr favorites like Lana Del Rey, Corbin, and Wicca Phase Springs Eternal – the devastating, ethereal heartbreak music of Vyva Melinkolya is representative of the modern slowcore revival spurred on by disaffected Gen Z kids who love Codeine and Duster way more than most of the people who were alive when those bands were recording music.
Diaz has already sketched out a melancholic and romantic sound on her 2018 self-recorded debut album Vyva Melinkolya and its 2020 follow up EP Violet, but Orbweaving — her collaborative record with Midwife released via the Flenser — and her forthcoming solo LP Unbecoming expand the scope and dynamics of that musical universe; demonstrating the work of a true songwriter beneath the moody atmosphere of fuzz and distortion.
Playing both electric guitar and lap steel, Diaz has spent the last few years writing the songs that became Unbecoming while also connecting and collaborating with a number of like minded artists in the world of brooding rock and metal influenced pop music as both a guitarist and songwriter – playing in the live band of SRSQ on tour and contributing instrumentation to Ethel Cain’s breakout debut LP, Preacher’s Daughter, as well as backing vocals on previous Midwife releases like Luminol.
Across all of these releases is a connecting musical thread and overarching mood, evidence of an artist with a well-defined aesthetic and musical world that she continues to render in more detail with each new release.
https://vyva-melinkolyaky.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Xqfu74FUnmBMe9V13QTUX
https://www.instagram.com/vyva_melinkolya/
BODY / NEGATIVE
body / negative is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Andy Schiaffino. They create field recording-based ambient works often recorded in lo-fi capacities, described best as “unfinished, perfectly imperfect” pieces. body / negative's second full length LP, "everett," is due December 8, 2023 on Track Number Records.
The album’s eight tracks were developed in collaboration with peers from the experimental ambient community. Notably, Madeline Johnston, under the moniker Midwife, co-produced tracks "sleepy,” “ataraxia,” and the titular “everett.” Sleepy also incorporates field recordings from Randall Taylor, the Portland-based artist who performs under Amulets. “persimmon,” the album’s sixth track, is joined by Justin Maranga of Dune Altar Records and Lionel Williams (Vinyl Williams). Persimmon was later co-produced and mixed by Megan Searl, an audio engineer who has worked with Lana Del Rey and Atticus Ross.
The album was initially set to be recorded in Midwife’s studio in Las Cruces, New Mexico, however, tragedy befell when Andy's father fell terminally ill. As a result, most of the album was written and recorded while Andy looked after their father in hospice. The work is tinged with themes of love and loss, echoing the sentiments of body / negative’s last opus, Fragments, from 2020. The artist dedicates Everett – in its entirety – to their late mother and father.
https://tracknumberrecords.com/Body-Negative
https://bodynegative.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.instagram.com/bodynegativela/
Bathing suits and pre-purchased tickets are required for this event. No refunds are allowed. Tickets are non-transferable. All tickets are will call. Attendees must be 18+.