March 10, 2016
About
Nic, based in Bristol, is a songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound designer.
Sarah is a versatile vocalist from East Devon with a background in sonic art and composition.
Solarference is the perfect forum for the two to bring together their love of the human voice and their fascination with live audio transformation. Their inspiration comes from two parallel places: firstly to creatively explore traditional folk music and lyrics and to make something new and unexpected from them, while staying true to the heart of the songs. Secondly, to make electronic sound pieces that are energetically engaging in live performance and connect with audiences on an emotional level. The melding of traditional song and live electronics allows them to create from both these angles at the same time.
Winners of a Fatea Award for Innovation, their unique approach has been gathering a growing critical acclaim, and their first album, Lips of Clay, was released in late 2012. The duo devised a live soundtrack piece to the 1920 classic silent film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, which toured to arts venues in the South West in 2014. In 2016 they released their second album, Locks & Bolts, recorded live at the Cube Cinema in Bristol.
Press, quotes & reviews
“Arresting, atmospheric and thrilling… Solarference are one of the most original acts playing English folk music.” – fRoots magazine
“Treading their own path from day one, and inventiveness is certainly at the top of the description… the audience were so enthralled.” – Folk Radio UK
“Passionate and original… Like nothing else you’ve ever heard before.”
– Tom Robinson, BBC6 Music
Reviews for Locks & Bolts (2016)
“Visceral and living… They find something new in the heart of these songs. A joy to listen to.” – SpiralEarth ✩✩✩✩
“Artists of promise and consequence… Fragile sounds, hard beats, gorgeous vocals.” – fRoots Magazine
“As enchanting as it is groundbreaking – truly English folk music for the 21st century.” – Bright Young Folk
“Adventurous… daringly experimental… an intricate tapestry of jittery, edgy atmospherics” – Folk Radio UK
“Radical recompositions… drawing deep from the digital well of endless possibilities” – Songlines Magazine ✩✩✩
Reviews for Lips of Clay (2012)
“Hauntological… Remaking traditional folk with more computer power than GCHQ … ” – Financial Times ✩✩✩✩
“Lips Of Clay is a stunning album, which seamlessly joins contemporary electronic music to traditional folk music” – Bright Young Folk
“This duo has rocketed way up there with this quite phenomenal debut” – Fatea Records (Winner of Fatea Award for innovation in roots music)
Reviews for Jekyll & Hyde soundtrack show (2014)
“This classic movie comes to life under Solarference’s spell, with fascinating intensity.”
– Thomas Brooman CBE (former director of WOMAD)
“Comb teeth were thumb-raked, miniature music box handles cranked … paper slowly torn and a dulcimer plucked. The resultant noises were expanded, multiplied and dispersed into rich and colourful fogs of sound. The principal source was the human voice, however, the vast potential of which was used to produce… an inner soundtrack, as if they were sounding out the film’s subterranean layers of meaning. … excitement and a daringly exploratory spirit in this committed and immensely enjoyable performance.
– Jez Winship, Sparks In Electrical Jelly
“A shivers-down-the-spine night out by the inspired folktronica duo… they perform a chilling, in-the-moment improvisation of sound to accompany the screening.”
– Festivals for all
Below are some screenshots of Solarference’s self-designed home-made performance software, patches made in Max/MSP – please contact us if you want to ask about them
