May 2019 Presents

OUR NEXT HACKOUSTIC PRESENTS OF 2019 PROMISES TO BE ANOTHER GREAT ONE! PACKED FULL OF NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN INSTRUMENTS, SOUNDS AND INSTALLATIONS.

We have My Panda Shall Fly performing his unique mix of electronics and synth. Chin Stroke Research will be explaining how a Eurodance anthem can help desertification. Vahakn Matossian from Human Instruments will be talking about his Haptic Baton project and the incredible work he does building accessible musical instrument technology. Hackoustic favourite Gawain Hewitt will be showcasing his latest installation for Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School with the City of London Sinfonia. We also have the incredible craftsmanship of Jonti Bottomley, creative carpenter extraordinaire and his latest double-necked acoustic guitar!

Check out more info on our artists below and book your tickets quick! £7 online and £10 on the door.

Suren Seneviratne (b. 1986) AKA My Panda Shall Fly is a Sri Lankan born multi- disciplinary musician and sound artist. Trained at Goldsmith's University London, Seneviratne has released music on international record labels and performed across Europe at platforms like Tate Modern, Barbican, NTS, Boiler Room & more. Recent sound design work includes Gucci, Novation & Google Daydream VR.

What if a Eurodance anthem could combat desertification? One company believes it can.Thanks to the sensibly-agreed merger of science and the free market, there is an answer. With challenges come opportunity and with opportunity comes innovation. Chin Stroke Research and Development presents Project Sandstorm, a bold solution to one of the most daunting crises of our time.
Project Sandstorm is an early-warning sandstorm detector designed to emit an alarm when wind-speed and dust particulate density reach dangerous levels. Using a patented Darude™ early-warning system, Project Sandstorm notifies nearby populations of the speed and severity of incoming sandstorms - allowing them to differentiate between a catastrophic natural disaster and an everyday dusty gust.

Vahakn Matossian is an award winning Royal College graduate product designer and musician specialising in everything playable and explorational. He works internationally. Clients include Troika, Mtv and Yamaha Music. Visually Impaired Musicians around the world are not able to play with any conducted orchestras as they cannot physically see the conductor to follow them. This is a huge missed opportunity for music lovers, conductors and orchestra members as it is well known that Visually Impaired Musicians are often unique in their playing styles and unparalleled in their abilities. The Haptic Baton is a game changer that progresses music culture forever providing access for all to music creation on and off the stage. We have designed, built, tested, demonstrated and documented a new conductors baton that sends wireless signals to wearable vibration devices enabling visually impaired musicians to play with traditionally conducted orchestras.

As part of their residency at Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School, City of London Sinfonia asked Gawain Hewitt to a new sound installation encompassing some of the new music created by the Hospital School’s young people, based on the orchestra’s ‘Absolute Bird’ repertoire and the theme of nature. ‘Dawn Chorus’ features recordings of their music contained within 3 wooden bird sculptures, which when placed on the branches in different orders can create up to 33 variations of dawn choruses.

Jonti Bottomley is a creative carpenter and craftsman and one of the key members of the South London Maker Space. He has a prolific output of all sorts of projects from games to furniture to musical instruments. He’s bringing his latest musical project to Hackoustic Present - a double headed guitar like you’ve never seen before! You’ll be able to have a go and hear about the work that went into designing and making the instrument.