A Switch Box Tale

The year 2008 has been designated "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" by the European Parliament and the Member States of the European Union. It aims to draw the attention of people in Europe to the importance of dialogue within diversity and between diverse cultures.

A Switch Box Tale is a part of the Danish activities for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and aims to examine and show how online media can facilitate musical exchange and expression [ [http://www.interkultur2008.dk/page.asp?objectid=570&zcs=2 Official site for European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (in Danish)] ] .
The project lets five Danish artists work with musical partners with roots in Guadalupe, Algeria, France and Mali. Each constellation creates two tracks by means of long-distance dialogue in cyberspace. After two days of rehearsal the tracks are performed live at SPOT Festival (June 5, 2008, in Aarhus) and [http://www.stromcph.dk STRØM Festival] (August 14, 2008, in Copenhagen) [ [http://www.aswitchboxtale.dk Official site for A Switch Box Tale] ] .

A Switch Box Tale is carried out by ROSA - The Danish Rock Council in collaboration with Cirius – a part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Denmark.

Participating artists

Pharfar & Cali P.
DJ, producer and singer [http://www.myspace.com/foodpalacemusic Pharfar] from the Copenhagen reggae scene (Bikstok Røgsystem, Djosos Krost, etc.) has invited Swiss [http://www.myspace.com/calilava Cali P.] , who has his roots in Guadeloupe. Brought up in the Rastafari tradition, Cali P is a drummer, MC and reggae star both in his home country and abroad.

Donna Cadogan & Malik Adouane
Danish [http://www.myspace.com/donnacadogan Donna Cadogan] is an experienced and versatile singer on the Danish pop/rock/soul stage, who will here take on Algerian-born, French resident [http://www.myspace.com/loungeofbiskra Malik Adouane] , who brings his entire music tradition to SPOT – not least rai. A household name on clubs around the world.

As In RebekkaMaria & Tez
In the course of this last year [http://www.myspace.com/asinrebekkamaria As In RebekkaMaria] has made the transition from indie rock singer to artful electro pop princess. With the French human beat boxer [http://www.myspace.com/tezshimer Tez] she has a partner who attracts international attention with his body language – and justly so.

Varano/Moussa Diallo & Mama Draba
For this project the Danish electronica star [http://www.myspace.com/varanomusic Morten Varano] has teamed up with bassist [http://www.myspace.com/moussadiallomusic Moussa Diallo] , who grew up in Mali but now lives in Denmark, to work with [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3u9o9_mama-draba_music Mamba Draba] with the clear and sonorous voice. Residing in Paris, Draba belongs to one of the biggest griots of Mali right now.

Official press release

Is it possible to create art together without meeting one on one?Art flows like streams of water; it will always find an outlet and a natural way to reach its audience.There is a current of beats, vocals and text flowing through cyberspace at all hours. Words are written, beats are produced and songs recorded, all it takes is curiosity and a broadband connection. The possibilities seem unlimited.

We asked 5 Danish Artists, who already work through the internet, to each invite a foreign Artist to perform in Denmark. First they will write new material via web. And later they will meet and perform 2 concerts together. “A SWITCH BOX TALE” will musically be a mix of organic/electronic instruments performed live, looped, sampled and scratched. The concert represents a meeting between the electronic scene and something as old school as song writing.

The artists are: Pharfar (Denmark) & Cali P (Guadeloupe/Switzerland), As In RebekkaMaria (Denmark) & Tez (France), Donna Cadogan (Denmark) & Malik Adouane (France/Algeria), Morten Varano (Denmark) / Moussa Diallo (Denmark) & Mama Draba (France/Mali)

Though communities as Myspace all kinds of Artist meet up, performers, producers, writers and with curiosity and respect they connect. People work across borders, nationality, and cultural background and diversity is very easy to access.New projects are created between Artists that before these possibilities would have found it quite difficult to meet in real life –music is a universal language. (Released May, 2008)

External links

* [http://www.aswitchboxtale.dk A Switch Box Tale website]

* [http://www.myspace.com/aswitchboxtale A Switch Box Tale at Myspace]

* [http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Switch-Box-Tale/30920247040?ref=mf A Switch Box Tale at Facebook]

* [http://aswitchboxtale.blogspot.com/ A Switch Box Tale at Blogspot]

* [http://www.youtube.com/aswitchboxtale A Switch Box Tale at Youtube]

* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/aswitchboxtale/ A Switch Box Tale at Flickr]

* [http://www.dialogue2008.eu European Year of Intercultural Dialogue]

* [http://www.interkultur2008.dk/page.asp?objectid=570&zcs=2 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (in Danish)]

* [http://www.rosa.org ROSA - The Danish Rock Council]

* [http://www.ciriusonline.dk/ Cirius]

* [http://www.spotfestival.dk SPOT Festival]

* [http://www.stromcph.dk STRØM Festival]

References