South London Space Agency and The Horse Hospital present FUTURE FREQUENCIES, a new event series bringing spoken word, grime, vocal improvisation together with experimental electronics. Come through for the open mic spoken word jam and stay for live sets from Pouya Ehsaei, GRANDMIXXER, Alya Al-Sultani, and Mez
Doors 7pm
Tickets £5 - £10
South London Space Agency is an underground electronic music label founded by legendary grime DJ and producer GRANDMIXXER and improvising vocalist and opera-maker Alya Al-Sultani.
We are excited to launch this new series in collaboration with SLSA. Each Future Frequencies will start with a spoken word open mic, an open invitation to any poet, MC, spoken word artist or vocal improviser. Just show up on the night with your personal fan club. Let’s see what happens.
Photo by Monika S Jakubowska/Kings Place
The first set of the night will always be an artist working with electronics in bold and fresh ways - we kick off with the heavy sounds of Pouya Ehsaei. Pouya is a musician, sound designer, producer, curator and promoter from Iran, currently based in London.
Grandmixxer
Alya Al-Sultani
Then the night moves into the best of grime and underground electronic music, featuring only the UK’s best.
We kick off our inaugural event with the founder of South London Space Agency, the father of the underground sound that has travelled as far as Brazil and Japan - GRANDMIXXER.
Joining him for his first set is Alya Al-Sultani, a dramatic soprano and vocal improviser, delivering a haunting combination of GRANDMIXXER drumless production with opera and unexpected interactions.
Mez
Ending the night is the exceptional and high energy MC, Mez, known for his ability to dominate on any rhythm.
It’s going to be one to remember - don’t miss it.
Pouya Ehsaei (From the Lips to the Moon, Ariwo, Parasang) is a musician, sound designer, producer, curator and promoter from Iran, currently based in London.
Pouya started his musical career in the underground scene of his hometown Tehran. He has since performed in acclaimed venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre and the Royal Academy of Arts as well as several festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Womex, Womad, Fusion, Shambala and Linecheck.
He has released two solo albums There & RocRast. Pouya is the leader of the band Ariwo and the figure behind the electronic and live music club night Parasang. With Ariwo he has recorded and produced two studio albums Ariwo & Quasi.
He is the founder and co-organiser of the collaborative music, poetry and live-visuals project From the Lips to the Moon. At FTLTTM, Pouya and Tara Fatehi (writer, poet and performer) invite musicians, poets and visual artist to create immersive and intimate live performances.
GRANDMIXXER: South London DJ-producer Grandmixxer is a certified grime veteran, a respected figure at the forefront of its resurgence in past years. Initially recognised as a selector, Grandmixxer began his trajectory on the pirate radio airwaves in the UK capital. Having previously held down a slot at Rinse FM for two and a half years, Grandmixxer has since showed no signs of stopping, heading up regular shows at NTS and Flex FM, kickstarting his label South London Space Agency and producing his own beats.
Alya Al-Sultani is a dramatic soprano, improvising vocalist and opera-maker from Basrah, Iraq. Her work is focused on the themes of liberation and love. Her current work includes a trio with Pat Thomas and Khabat Abas (Manara) and with Robert Mitchell and Maggie Nicols, a duo with Maggie Nicols and an underground electronic / opera duo with GRANDMIXXER. She is working on a new opera with Jennifer Farmer, In The Teeth of the Wind. She continues to be a student in the life-long study of maqam and Arabic music and has released albums of Iraqi folk songs and interpretations of Arabic poetry by living and past poets.
Her most recent releases include improvised solo opera suites "Three Ages of Woman/Mother", "Self Lost / Self Found" and "Return/Exile" and a protest album with Maggie Nicols "Free, Free". Her most recent release is "Immersion" with Robert Mitchell and Maggie Nicols and upcoming in September is Manara's debut album, both out on the UK label Discus.
In her ongoing work in using the voice and breath for the purpose of finding freedom, Alya holds masterclasses and workshops for singers and non-singers, to support them to find their authentic voice, and to enjoy it to its full extent. She uses the methods of free improvisation to help musicians and non-musicians to find vocal and emotional freedom.
Since winning 1Xtra’s #NextInGrime competition in 2015, Mez has built up the closest thing you can get to a cult following in grime with his unique flow and high energy persona.
Mez got his start at secondary school, shadowing an older, different, Mez a couple of years above him. Back then he was Little Mez, a Year 7 kid with aspirations of making it as an MC, fresh faced and sans the Uncle nickname that follows him now. Scroll far enough through the YouTube results, and you’ll find videos of him as a teenager, doing freestyles for the likes of JDZmedia and 1Xtra. Now he’s Uncle; an older, wiser Mez, whose youthful energy has been honed into a flow that rivals the likes of Wiley for speed and aggression. The nickname comes from his tendency to treat his mates to drinks from the corner shop, like a benevolent uncle.
Mez’s come-up started the old fashioned way. Where many of the new gen of MCs blew up straight from YouTube or SoundCloud, Mez spent his early years trying out as many different forms of rap as he could. Radio, rap battles, youth club shows, you name it, Mez was on it from an early age. It’s been a steady graft, and it’s far from over, yet throughout it all Mez has stood out from the crowd.