Neti-Neti / Strider / The Early

Our friends at Fire Museum Presents have curated and evening of experimental music duos who push the bounds of beautiful sound.

Neti-Neti is a lo-fi ritual music duo of Matt Evans (drums/electronics) and Amirtha Kidambi (vocals/electronics) that formed amidst their mutual experiences surrounding grief after the death of loved ones. Neti-Neti, translated as “It is not this, it is not that” from Sanskrit, is a contemplation on the nature of reality, life, death, birth and rebirth extracted from the Hindu text of rituals The Upanishads. The duo has performed at Skanu Mezs Festival, Latvia, Suoni Per il Popolo Festival, Montreal, and Tone Festival, Toronto amongst others. Their debut album Impermanence was released with Dinzu Artefacts in 2022. Their new recording, Echo of Being / Grace in Rot channels the weight of modern atrocities—from systemic violence to the relentless barrage of traumatic imagery in digital spaces. The record challenges listeners to confront these overwhelming realities, transforming mourning into a shared act of resistance and healing. It reclaims humanity amidst the unimaginable, offering a space for reflection and resilience. The music weaves syncopated grooves, cathartic outbursts, and meditative drones, blending South Asian vocal traditions with textured, treated percussion to create a devotional, ritualistic sonic space.

Strider is the duo of violinist Joanna Mattrey and sound artist Steven Long. Mattrey works in free improvisation, new music, classical music using extended techniques, modern compositional approaches, and electronic alterations to challenge the conventions of the viola and create an embodied performance practice centered on ceremony and ritual. Long is an artist and organizer working with sound, language, and space. His interest in music began at age 11 when a derelict piece of furniture (formerly known as a piano) was moved into his family’s home.

The Early formed in North Jersey in 2004 and has since spanned two decades, two coastlines, and an evolving lineup of multi- instrumentalists, metabolizing the textural grandeur of post-rock, the communicational intimacy of jazz improvisation, and the patient grooves of minimalism, refining a two decade-long extrasensory correspondence. The Early is currently Alex Lewis (guitars, synthesizers) and Jake Nussbaum (drums, electronics). Studio 34 curator Morgan Andrews once wishfully referred to The Early as "our house band."

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