The second part of a special double feature, returning us to Krakow’s Unsound festival, where we began with Episode 1. The inaugural episode featured Resina and Lea Bertucci, from Poland and New York, respectively, and so for the sake of symmetry, this episode pairs Antonina Nowacka and Dreamcrusher, two artists who make affective, vocal-based music, but to very different affects. That is to say, this is an episode that leans into contrasts: the US and Europe, home and away, morning and night, quiet and noise. We discuss non-dance DJ sets, the relationship between music and fashion, the joys and difficulties of traveling as an artist, and the adventurous programming of Unsound. (Joseph Sannicandro) 

Episode 40: FASHION (or, MONEY IS FERTILIZER) – with Antonina Nowacka and Dreamcrusher 

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Interview recorded in Krakow, October  2023
Produced and mixed in Montreal and NY, November 2024

Krakow’s Unsound remains one of my favorite festivals in the world, distinguishing itself from similar programs in nearly every way. The 2023 edition’s theme was DADA, while 2024’s theme was NOISE, and while these interviews were recorded in 2023, this episode bridges the two. Thematic sophistication differentiates Unsound from other festivals, as does their consistently adventurous and eclectic curation, their global reach, extraordinary venues, and their willingness to engage the senses in ways that go far beyond the tired explorations of the audio-visual. Unsound interrogates space through experimentation with architecture. They break new ground in olfactory arts, matching the sounds of Tim Hecker, Ben Frost, and Kode9 with custom made perfumes diffused during their live performances. They’ve curated artists to perform alongside the silent film works of Andy Warhol and Man Ray. And they experiment with performances at various times of day and with diverse audience configurations.

The festival’s hangover-curing morning concerts, typically called “Morning Glory” but in 2023 rebranded as GORNING MLORY (because DADA) have long provided a tranquil way to begin the day. While three of these morning concerts stuck close to the usual script, DADA saw the addition of Ambient Brunches hosted in the restaurant of the chic PURO hotel, featuring two hour DJ sets from claire rousay and Antonina Nowacka. In their own way, each set created a space for reflection and dissociation, the perfect alternative to the more demanding programming that filled our evenings, whether in contemplation or reverie.

Polish experimental vocalist and composer Antonina Nowacka demonstrated the potential of slow music with her two-hour DJ set. Much as she manipulates the layers of her voice in her solo work, playing with time and texture, her set tended towards long compositions, which she subtly mixed, not only filtering out frequencies with EQ, but delicately yet actively playing with their pitch. I caught records by Ash Ra Tempel, some Japanese soundtrack music, various Asian folk musics, and lots of strings, though recognition seemed beside the point.

Afterwards, I interview her as we visited some thrift stores and an outdoor flea market. We began by discussing her participation in Unsound’s fashion show, held in a scenic lake area outside of the city. Fashion and performance provide Nowacka additional means of experimentation, which she sees as aligning with the DADA theme, letting artists and audience embrace delirium over despair. At the 2024 edition of Unsound, Nowacka returned, supporting her latest LP, Sylphine Soporifera, which she was in the process of recording at the time of our conversation, notable for departing from her usual focus on recording outside. Nowacka is also half of the audio-visual duo WIDT, with her sister, a group that was included in ACL’s Best Videos of 2016. Much of our conversation reflects upon the different ways her work manifest solo compared with collaborating with others. 

Later that evening, I saw Dreamcrusher perform a deafening live set on the second stage of the festival’s club program, that year  held in an old train yard. Dreamcrusher, makes self-described “nihilist queer revolt musik,” combining noise and industrial with a punk energy, with several critically-acclaimed records released via NYC’s eclectic PTP label. As a non-binary black person, their performances are often confrontational and even antagonistic, forcing the audience out of the comfortable position of passive disinterested spectatorship: “Get wit it or get fucking lost.” Dreamcrusher moved to Brooklyn from Wichita, Kansas around the time that I left NY, where I was born and raised, and so I’ve only had a few opportunities to witness their live show for myself, including at MoMA PS1’s Warm Up (with friend of the site GENG PTP, with whom they form the duo Centenny Gz) and at Unsound.

That performance was the second date in their European tour with the group Kill Alters. Billed as Kill Altars vs Dreamcrusher, the pairing offered an eclectic mix of high-energy influences. The second stage of the club nights was consistently grittier, noisier, more fun, and more packed than the main stage, other highlights included Lust$ickPuppy and a truly wild DJ set from Boredom’s EYE. Kill Alters have released records on Hausu Mountain, and their being on the same label as Mukqs and FireToolz seems fitting, if only because their music is such a genre-defying explosion of energy. Front-woman Bonnie Baxter carried the show with the intensity of her performance, matching that of their beefy shirtless drummer, the artist Hisham Bharoocha (Boredoms, Black Dice, Lightning Bolt). At times reminiscent of a kind of pop punk dnb, at others they could evoke RATM and Melt Banana, with hardcore breaks on live drums and electronic treatment supporting Baxter’s dynamic vocal performance. Eventually, Dreamcrusher got involved, and the triple vocal attack made me wish they’d actually overlapped more. As Dreamcrusher transitioned to a solo set, the crowd was overwhelmed by strobe lights and fog, with the vocalist often wading into the adoring crowd while screaming in our faces with a flashlight affixed to their microphone, making for a dramatic and cathartic show.

In our conversation, which occurred near the food trucks just outside the second room, Dreamcrsuher explained how the tour with Kill Alters came to be. Performing for audiences in Europe differs from the United States, given the different histories and racial dynamics, something particularly relevant given Dreamcrusher’s often confrontational performance style. As Sam Galloway and I wrote in 2019, “Dreamcrusher … aggressively sounds audience members, countering with noise (and physical confrontation) the quotidian and spectacular violence that routinely subjugates black and genderqueer bodies.” For all the aggression of their music and live performances, their lyrics often express not only rage but cathartic hope. They specifically mentions “Chrysalis,” a song featuring Dis Fig, written for friends who were transitioning during the pandemic. “Change, evolve/ By any means.” We also discuss the oddity of their being asked to walk in fashion shows for luxury brands, the inadequacies of streaming (both sonically and economically), playing with Mitski, and much more.   

This episode marks the end of season four of Sound Propositions, and will be the final episode for the foreseeable future. I’ll be taking an indefinite hiatus while I work on a book. So until I return, thanks to all the artists who’ve taken time to speak with me, and thanks to all our listeners over the years.

LINKS

Antonina Nowacka
WIDT
Bandcamp
DREAMCRUSHER
Kill Alters
Centennial Gardens / CENTENNY GZ
PTP
Unsound

TRACKLIST
ARTIST – “TITLE” (ALBUM, LABEL, YEAR)

Antonina Nowacka – “Transit” (Sylphine Soporifera, Mondoj, 2024)
Antonina Nowacka – “Part 7” (Lamunan, Mondoj, 2020)
Antonina Nowacka – “KOGUT 2” (Vocal Sketches From Oaxaca, Takuroku/Mondoj, 2021)
A.N.R.S – “III” (A.N.R.S., Requiem Records, 2016)
Sofie Birch & Antonina Nowacka – “Behind The Hill” Languoria, Mondoj, 2022)
WIDT – “Soma” (WIDT, Zoharum, 2016)
Antonina Nowacka – “Turning Into Dolphins” (Sylphine Soporifera, Mondoj, 2024)
Mentos Gulgendo – “Ionesendr” (Mentos Gulgendo, 2020)
DREAMCRUSHER – “CISHET” (CISHET, 2019)
DREAMCRUSHER – “Shopping” (Suite TWO, PTP, 2023)
DREAMCRUSHER – “Side A [excerpt]” (Another Country, PTP, 2020)
DREAMCRUSHER – “Sick World” (Sick World, 2016)
Kill Alters – live excerpt (Unsound Krakow, 2023)
DREAMCRUSHER (ft. Dis Fig) – “Chrysalis” (Chrysalis (Suite), Bandcamp, 2022)
KING VISION ULTRA – “UNTRAPPINGS (with Dreamcrusher)” (Shook World (Hosted by Algiers), PTP, 2023)
KING VISION ULTRA – “Paper Chase (with Dreamcrusher)” (Shook World (Hosted by Algiers), PTP, 2023)
Armand Hammer – “Gripewater” (BLK LBL, 2024)
Armand Hammer – “[Dreamcrusher interlude] (We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, Fat Possum, 2023)
DREAMCRUSHER – “Side B [excerpt]” (Panopticon!, PTP, 2020)
Centennial Gardens – “dreamstate” (archive live 03​.​26​.​2023 mucho stereo, PTP, 2023)
DREAMCRUSHER – “In Due Time”  (Suite ONE, PTP, 2023)
DREAMCRUSHER – “Antifa Baker”  (Suite TWO, PTP, 2023)
SP Outro

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Sound Propositions is written, recorded, mixed, and produced by Joseph Sannicandro.