Category: 10yearsofKalte


Thanks for Joining Us!

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.31, 2018

Thanks so much to all of you for joining us as we’ve celebrated #10yearsofKalte

We’ve had a great time looking back on the last decade and we hope that you’ve enjoyed it as well.

While we’ve prepared this project and reflected on the work that we’ve done over the years, it’s really resonated with us how lucky we’ve been to have worked with so many awesome people who have helped us with both Kalte and SubZeroArts. We truly appreciate all of your support and encouragement and we hope that you’ve enjoyed working with us too.

And so ends our first decade as Kalte. Looking back on everything that we’ve done has been particularly inspiring and exciting for us and we’re already making plans and working up ideas for the next decade and beyond. We can’t wait to share some of the ideas that we have with you, and we hope that you’ll all continue to support us, as we plan to keep making music and art for many years to come!

Cheers,

Rik and Deane

Kalte

The entire Kalte catalog is available for streaming and Pay What You Can download at Bandcamp!

https://kalte.bandcamp.com/album/the-lanthanide-series

https://kalte.bandcamp.com/album/glaciations

https://kalte.bandcamp.com/album/fissures

https://crimeleague.bandcamp.com/album/the-bailey-sessions

https://kalte.bandcamp.com/album/covalencies

In addition to our full album releases, Kalte also has exclusive tracks on Quiet Drones Volume 4 and Volume 9…

https://quietdrones.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-drones-4

https://quietdrones.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-drones-9

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Electronegativities – Live in the Studio

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte, Videos
Oct.30, 2018

Following the release of “Covalencies“, Deane put together a short video of us performing a live version of the new track Electronegativities. We think it turned out great, and we hope to make some more live videos to share with you in the near future…



For the entire month of October while we celebrate #10yearsofKalte, if you buy a copy of “The Lanthanide Series” through Bandcamp you can send us your email at info@kaltemusic.com and we’ll send you a free copy of our latest release, “Covalencies“!

 

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Covalencies

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.29, 2018

During Winter 2018, we started work on a new album. Originally our plan had been to look back at some of our earlier work and rerecord some of the material, thinking that we could apply current methods and thinking to older tracks and make something new out of them. We were quite excited about revisiting everything, but somewhere along the line a lot of the ideas that we had led us in completely new directions, and before we knew it we were working on new material again.

The new songs had a particularly slow drift to them, a gradual shifting of sounds that felt almost glacial in nature. Where past releases had featured music where the listener had the opportunity to explore the soundscape at their own pace, the new music had a tidal quality where the listener was swept along through a range of sound. And the more that we traveled alongside those songs, the more obvious it became to us that we were headed in the right direction musically, hitting all the right themes and ideals we had established in the early days of Kalte, while still building further and expanding on them. In many ways, this new release felt like a culmination of all of the work that we had been doing since we first started trading sound files and coming up with a project vocabulary all those years ago.

When recording was finished, we started the Naming Ritual again, and decided on “Covalencies” as a title. In addition to having a molecular association that connects it to “The Lanthanide Series“, “Covalencies” refers to the sharing of electron pairs between atoms, which also serves as an analogy to the sharing of ideas, themes, and methods found throughout all of our work from 2008 to this release. Needless to say, we’re really pleased with this album and we think that it stands as a nice bridge between our first decade and what we plan to do musically in the future.

You may be wondering at this point, what ever happened to the idea of remixing or rerecording some of the older stuff? When is the Kalte Remix Album gonna come out? Well, we can’t answer that definitively right now, but it’s in the pipeline so that’s something you can look forward to hearing when it’s ready…

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The Bailey Sessions

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.28, 2018

We began work on our fourth album in May 2016 and inspired by the sounds of the “Transmissions” installation, we decided to shake things up a bit. It had been five years since the release of “Fissures” and though we hadn’t released an album in that time, we had gained a lot of experience and ideas for Kalte from steady live shows and installation pieces that we had staged as SubZeroArts in the intervening years.

Dubbing the new album “Kalte 4”, we decided to apply a more abstract sound palette than we normally worked with, moving into a slightly more challenging aural landscape for us to explore. We rethought the previous restrictions we had placed on ourselves about sound sources, blending in some wave patterns and even adding some percussive elements to distinguish our new material from earlier Kalte work. We also decided to add a live element to the recording process that we hadn’t used for past albums. Rather than concentrating on individual songs, we decided to record Kalte 4 as a long form track much like one of our live performances, building a suite of sorts containing multiple movements that would seamlessly ebb and flow together. Not being content to envelop the listener for eight, nine, or ten minutes at a time, we instead opted to create a single forty minute piece that encapsulated the Kalte aesthetic along with all of our new ideas.

It made for an interesting series of recording sessions, forcing us to think in terms of larger scope and broader themes musically. In the end we came up with a Kalte album that was new and fresh and distinct from our earlier releases, but still possessed a shared sonic ideal. We were totally pleased with the results, and decided to name the album “The Bailey Sessions“, in recognition of the recording process we had used on this release and as a nod to one of our earliest supporters, James Bailey, who many of you will know as the host of Electric Sense on CIUT here in Toronto.

We reached out to our friend Mike Morton (aka Displacer), to see if he’d be interested in releasing “The Bailey Sessions” on his Crime League label, and were thrilled to be added to the Crime League roster when the album was released in October 2016. In addition to putting out the album, Mike also got us in touch with Chris Goodenbury, whose stunning photography on the cover of the album perfectly captured the sense of the music we had made.

Prior to the release of “The Bailey Sessions”, Deane put together a short teaser video that touched on many of the ideas that informed the album, setting the stage for a new phase in our musical work.


On the subject of Crime League, we very much encourage you to check out the rest of the label, where you’ll find some fantastic music by some truly amazing artists. In addition to work by Kalte and Displacer, you’ll also find releases by Gnome and Mark Spybey, Dead Voices on Air, Shimmer Crush, and many more awesome musical projects, all very definitely well worth investigating!

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Changes

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.27, 2018

Inspired by the sound sources that we used for the “Transmissions” installation in Montreal, we started working on our fourth album in May 2016. For this new album we tried some new ideas, we tried some new methods, and we also changed our eating habits. We were still big fans of carrots and hummus, but we also started ordering pizza too.

Join us tomorrow and we’ll tell you some more about making our fourth album…

For the entire month of October while we celebrate #10yearsofKalte, if you buy a copy of “The Lanthanide Series” through Bandcamp you can send us your email at info@kaltemusic.com and we’ll send you a free copy of our latest release, “Covalencies“!

 

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Post Show Glow…

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.26, 2018

Playing live is always a pleasure and last night was particularly awesome. Hozerz and dreamSTATE both played awesome sets and we were also quite pleased with how our own set came out. We played a few old songs, a few “hits”, and we even played a couple of new tracks from our upcoming album, and it all sounded pretty great!

Thanks very much to Dale Camus from Audio Bleed for organizing the event, thanks as well to the Roland Inspiration Centre for being such awesome hosts, and most especially thanks to all of you that made it out to see the show, we truly appreciate your support.

Join us again tomorrow and we’ll tell you about recording our fourth album…

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Audio Bleed is Tonight…

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.25, 2018

Just a short post to remind you that we have a gig this evening at the Roland Inspiration Centre! Join us as we celebrate #10yearsofKalte with a live show alongside our friends dreamSTATE and Hozerz as part of the Audio Bleed series.

The Roland Inspiration Centre is located at Suite 1 – 1179 King Street West in Toronto, and we hope that you’ll be able to join us as we celebrate a decade of making mysterious abstract music!

Visit the Facebook event to find out more…

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Transmissions

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.24, 2018

In February 2016 we returned to Montreal for another edition of Art Souterrain, this time with a new installation called “Transmissions“. Exploring the question of whether or not noise is art, “Transmissions” exposed the audience to a more natural state of hearing by immersing them in an aural environment defined by super-positioning white noise as received, processed, and broadcast by a collection of antennae-like metal spires. While these naturally occurring aural sources are normally filtered out of conscious hearing, “Transmissions” discretely blended all of those sound sources to create a fluid soundscape defined by audio frequency radio waves that the listener would normally be unaware of.

“Transmissions” differed from other installations that we had presented up to that point in that there was an inherent abstract quality to the aural component of the work. We were a bit concerned that the installation may not be as well received as our past work because we were using more challenging sound sources that might not translate as well in a public setting, but we were also committed and excited about the ideal and theme behind what we were doing so we were determined to see it through, regardless of what people thought. Evidently we were right to stick by our guns, as we found that much of our audience in Montreal thought “Transmissions” was an interesting and engaging display, and it continued to be well received at a residency in South River at the NAISA North Art Space in February 2017, and at 401 Richmond as part of Nuit Blanche Toronto in September 2017.
In addition to being a successful installation, the abstract sounds that were generated in “Transmissions” also served to inspire and inform our next Kalte album. Join us again and we’ll tell you more about that process…
For the entire month of October while we celebrate #10yearsofKalte, if you buy a copy of “The Lanthanide Series” through Bandcamp you can send us your email at info@kaltemusic.com and we’ll send you a free copy of our latest release, “Covalencies“!
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TouchCubes

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.23, 2018

In February 2015 we staged a new installation called “TouchCubes” at Art Souterrain in Montreal. Building on our earlier “Pillars of Light” piece, “TouchCubes” featured a collection of interactive cubes that illuminated and emitted soft soothing music when touched.

This was our second time working with acrylic plastics and glue. We had learned a lot from our past experiences with the pillars, so construction of the actual cubes was considerably easier this time around, but the project still presented a number of new challenges that took some time for us to solve. This was our first installation in Montreal, and we wanted to make a good impression with a new audience in a new city, so we spent a lot of extra time considering logistics and contingency. The event was scheduled to run for almost a full month in a public space, so we had to make something that was solid and tamperproof that could run unattended and wouldn’t break down over the course of the event.

We’d never really considered that kind of “permanence” in an installation before, even during our past residence at the NAISA space for “The Sound is Watching You” where there had been event staff that could reset the installation if necessary. With “TouchCubes” we had to make something that was entirely self contained and that gets tricky. We spent a long time trying to figure out how to make it all work.

You’re probably wondering how we did it, right? How we made a self-contained installation that was tamperproof. Sorry, trade secrets prevent us from sharing our techniques, but suffice to say that we figured out a way to make everything work and it went off without a hitch for the entire length of the event.

If you’re not familiar with it, we’d like to take this opportunity to tell you about what a fantastic event Art Souterrain is and also give a great big shout out to all of the event organizers who were incredibly supportive and thoughtful in helping us out during the show. Art Souterrain features dozens of installations and artwork that line the underground pathways beneath Montreal, and walking from one end of the city to the other you’ll see an awesome collection of work that spans a variety of different forms and techniques presented in public spaces that are more utilitarian than the typical gallery spaces that you would expect. It truly is an incredible event and we were honoured to be part of it.

While we were setting up the “TouchCubes” in Montreal, we had a short photo shoot with Melanie May Taillon. We’ve always appreciated Melanie’s photographic work and we’re pleased to be able to share some of her pictures of the Cubes with you.

In addition to presenting “TouchCubes” in Montreal over the winter, we redesigned and restaged the installation outdoors as “Cubeism” at the inaugural Camp Wavelength event on the Toronto Island in August 2015. Suffice to say that weather, sand, and fire ants should all be significant considerations when presenting an outdoor installation, but we’re pleased to say that the ‘Cubes were able to withstand it all…

For the entire month of October while we celebrate #10yearsofKalte, if you buy a copy of “The Lanthanide Series” through Bandcamp you can send us your email at info@kaltemusic.com and we’ll send you a free copy of our latest release, “Covalencies“!

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Moving into physical forms

Filed Under: 10yearsofKalte
Oct.22, 2018

By 2013 we had staged a number of variations on “The Sound is Watching You“, and confident with the technology we had developed for it, we decided that we wanted to tackle a new project with a physical element. Where “The Sound is Watching You” had been a reactive and generative multi-media installation, we thought that it would be a logical progression for us to add a material component that people could trigger by touch, moving our work out of the virtual realm and bringing us into a more physical interactive world.

Our first foray into physical interactivity was called “Pillars of Light“, which was initially staged at SAW Gallery as part of Nuit Blanche Ottawa Gatineau in September 2013. “Pillars of Light” expanded on the interactive elements of “The Sound is Watching You” by presenting a series of illuminated columns within a three dimensional space. When audience members touched the Pillars, lights and music would be triggered, resulting in an immersive environment and a more physical representation of SubZeroArts’ foundational concept of art experiences created by audience members.

Despite having similar themes to our past work, putting this installation together was a particular challenge for us. We had worked out most of the technical aspects in earlier projects, but we now had a physical component that we had to make and neither of us had very much experience in that field. After considerable research and a fair bit of experimenting, we decided to make the Pillars using seven foot lengths of acrylic sheet that we would attach together with industrial strength glue.

Putting the Pillars together was difficult to say the least. The glue was hard to work with, and aligning edges proved to be challenging given the length of the sheets we were using. In addition, we had to reevaluate transport to Ottawa based on the size and fragile nature of the completed Pillars, which threw an extra wrench into our plans.

Regardless of the issues we faced, in staging “Pillars of Light” we learned that while physical art has it’s complications, the rewards are well worth it. Seeing the space transformed by the light shining from the Pillars was a magical experience, and the response from the audience was amazing. Successful moments like those can easily make you forget all the hard work that goes into creating something, filling you with an incredible sense of accomplishment. It’s a pretty awesome feeling.

Later that fall, we brought the Pillars back to Toronto and used them as a backdrop for a Kalte performance at The AMBiENT PiNG. Pulsing and throbbing with light in time with the music we were making, the Pillars seemed to take on an almost organic quality that perfectly complimented what we were doing on stage, proving once again that physical art has it’s complications but the rewards are well worth it…

For the entire month of October while we celebrate #10yearsofKalte, if you buy a copy of “The Lanthanide Series” through Bandcamp you can send us your email at info@kaltemusic.com and we’ll send you a free copy of our latest release, “Covalencies“!

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