Origamibiro to write themselves into the Shoreditch fold

Origamibiro

Objects such as books, leaves, masking tape, live butterflies and 35mm celluloid are not among the average list of items on a group of musicians’ kit list, but Origamibiro are no ordinary outfit.

The audio-visual collective will play in Shoreditch later this month, bringing a musical sound that fits somewhere between Phillip Glass and Aphex Twin. An ethereal soundscape is set to stirring video projections, as they combine the stranger objects and aesthetics with more conventional instruments such as the guitar, piano and ukulele in the live set.

It’s difficult not to be intrigued. “We haven’t managed to throw in the kitchen sink yet, but we’re thinking about it!” jokes group member, Jim Boxall, aka ‘The Joy of Box.’

“We wanted to combine the visuals to deliver an emotional punch that was equal to the weight of the music,” he goes on to say. “Live visuals have been around for a long time but are used more as a backdrop or an add-on to a musical performance. We have to think about what we are doing in a different way than a regular band would but that also means the results are really quite different too.”

A hundred-year-old type writer is the centrepiece of the show, both visually and as an interesting juxtaposition to the computerised aesthetics of the music. The group feel the typewriter is a satisfying object, a “tactile and tangible” machine that people are drawn to because of its comforting familiarity in the age of computer dominance. The clatter of typewriter keys in the music serves as something more poignant than an extravagant metronome, as Boxall explains. “It is a nice way to illustrate what we’re trying to do on stage – that is to physically manifest the process of a thought, feeling or idea from our minds, through our hands and out to the eyes and ears of our audience.”

“We tried to incorporate a contraption that was as compelling visually as it was sonically,” adds Hill.

The collective tries not to take things too seriously though, and have found some objects to be less suitable. “For a while I used an inflated balloon to make a bass kick sound,” Hill says. “But I felt like such a plank using it. Plus, Andy and Jim could never keep a straight face.”

Despite these occasional minor setbacks, Origamibiro are excited about bringing their show back to Shoreditch, after playing at Cargo earlier in the year. Boxall gives a taster of what people can expect: “We want to show you something beautiful and a little unorthodox and we hope that you will be surprised and moved by what you see and hear. You may not quite have seen this sort of performance before but you may come away feeling like it feels very familiar to you nonetheless.”

Origamibiro
Wednesday 24 October 2012, 8 – 12pm
Bedroom Bar
62 Rivington Street
Shoreditch
EC2A 3AY