Whitstable based Coastal Electronauts bring you an evening of electronic music, tone clusters and live visuals for the annual celebration of drone, community, and experimental sounds.

Featuring live performances from synth legend Ben Edwards aka Benge (John Foxx & The Maths, Wrangler, Creep Show) Japanese composer and singer Mieko Shimizu, ambient electro-acoustic artist Shape Navigator, experimental east/ west coast synthesist AnalogueMechanic and electric violist Sophie Sirota (Beth Orton, Gabrielle, Tindersticks).

Live interactive visuals will be provided by analogue/digital video artist diz_qo.

International Drone Day was originally conceived by Marie LeBlanc Flanagan of Weird Canada in 2014 with events happening all around the world.

The Coastal Electronauts started with a podcast in 2020 hosted by Peter Coyte and Clive Walpole followed by a monthly experimental electronic meet-up session leading to larger events including the annual Drone Day and Synth & Electronic Music Soundbaths.

About the artists:

Benge

Ben Edwards aka Benge is a Cornwall based experimental electronic musician and owner of Memetune Studios that houses a massive collection of classic synthesisers. His 2008 album Twenty Systems, a concept album which featured twenty tracks made on twenty different synthesisers between the years 1968 and 1988. Apart from his solo work he is also a member of John Foxx (Ultravox) & The Maths and Wrangler with Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire), John Grant and Phil Winter.

https://www.youtube.com/@memetunestudio

https://www.instagram.comemetunestudio

Mieko Shimizu is a London based Japanese composer, producer, multi- instrumentalist and singer. She has worked with an extensive range of artists including Japan’s Mick Karn, Nitin Sawhney, Riz MC, David Cunningham, Robert Lippok and has also re- mixed the likes of Coldcut and Haruomi Hosono of ‘Yellow Magic Orchestra’. Mieko also played at Sonar, alongside the mighty Kraftwerk as well as support for Goldfrapp, Meredith Monk, Jennifer Walshe and Massive Attack at their Melt Down Festival.

Shape Navigator (aka Peter Coyte) started out on Guerilla Records in the 90s writing with Coldcut, Seal, David McAlmont and Heartless Crew and is a composer of music & sounds producing work in theatre, film and installations.

He has long term collaborations with Filmmaker Joanna Callaghan, choreographer Dora Frankel, writer/poet Salena Godden (Mrs Death Misses Death) as SaltPeter and circus artist & dragademic John-Paul Zaccarini. www.petercoyte.com https://www.instagram.com/shapenavigator 

AnalogueMechanic (Clive Walpole) Composer of experimental and electronic music, starting in his early teens creating experimental music using tape recorders and and found sounds and moved on to synthesisers and purely electronic music the mid 70s. His influences are Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, F. C. Judd and many others. He has a strong interest in ambient and west coast genre of electronic music but keeps and open mind and like to mix east and west coast styles together.

Sophie Sirota is an acoustic and electric violist and singer. She has worked with a diverse range of artists as a session musician, arranger and composer, including 4-Hero, D’Influence, Gabrielle, Beth Orton, Ed Harcourt, Paul Weller, Robert Kirkby and Tindersticks.

Sophie has also composed music for artist Jeremy Millar, and performed with acclaimed theatre group The Clod Ensemble. She performs regularly at Electronics events in East Kent, creating ambient soundscapes using looper and effects pedals.

www.youtube.com/@sophiesirotaviola

https://www.instagram.com/sophiesirotaviola/

diz_qo has been reasonably visual for a few decades now, creating video/projection art in both analogue and digital spaces.

diz_qo’s early experiments dabbled in tape/slide, 16mm film, & video art, whilst part of the Colosseum Project / Luna Nera art collective, who created site- specific events, primarily using abandoned buildings & found materials.

More recently diz_qo has worked with & created video installations at iKlectik, Coastal Electronaut’s International Drone Day & Synth & Electronic Meet-up Sessions, Wonky Plonky Electronk events, Orbscure Festival, Delaware Festival, Intrinsic, Cluster, Alchemy, Tinderdust, and group show Spellzone.

diz_qo is the point on a graph where x & y meets. The overlap on a Venn diagram. The space between our lives.

Social media:
Instagram/ Twitter/ Youtube = @diz_qo Facebook = @dizzzqo