Lucky Dragons
Encyclopedia
Lucky Dragons is an experimental music
group consisting of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Based in Los Angeles, California
, the band are noted for their unusual sound, described as having the ability to make "'everyday sounds' become alluringly other".
Lucky Dragons' performances include live music, video projection, and sounds created in collaboration with the audience. They have performed at the Smell
, Echo Curio, Dublab
, at major international art institutions and at the 2008 Whitney Biennial.
Fischbeck explained that the duo were a band before they began creating just sounds. He said, "everything we've done since the beginning was to change the simple thing of what it means to be a band. This often, but not always, means making or rearranging sounds."
Fischbeck said "a song in my mind is something that is completed once it is distributed and can come back in a changed form through a listening reaction" and was the element that enabled him to continue to call the band's music songs, as opposed to what he called "the much more technologically neutral 'tracks,' which [don't] imply any human interaction at all".
The Stranger
described two of the band's older albums, Norteñas and Future Feeling, as "employ[ing] a scrappy indietronica approach that sounds like Icelandic cuties Múm
if they were raised on UK post-punk spazzes Swell Maps and hit "record" while buzzed on Jolt." Fischbeck noted that he felt the band's music was "maybe a mix between political and healing—meditative punk..."
The band use acoustic instruments to produce all of their sounds, though "the more 'pure' electronic sounds are processed recordings rather than generated from scratch".
For a project entitled, Make a Baby, Luke Fischbeck attached a number of wires together so that when two people hold two different wires and touch, it creates sound. The project was said to be "like when Tom Hanks jumps on the keyboard steps in Big. Or when you go to the aquarium for the first time and you realize that's what a starfish feels like, self discovery, science and a taste of natural sorcery."
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
group consisting of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Based in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the band are noted for their unusual sound, described as having the ability to make "'everyday sounds' become alluringly other".
Lucky Dragons' performances include live music, video projection, and sounds created in collaboration with the audience. They have performed at the Smell
The Smell
The Smell is an all ages, alcohol and drug-free punk rock/noise/experimental venue in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The Smell, notable for its DIY ethic, is home to many of the area's avant-garde performers and artists...
, Echo Curio, Dublab
Dublab
dublab is a non-profit music public broadcasting internet radio station based in Los Angeles. They have also been involved with art exhibition, film projects, event production, and record releases. Their broadcast is open formatted and delivered via recorded sessions that are mixed by their...
, at major international art institutions and at the 2008 Whitney Biennial.
History
Lucky Dragons were formed in 1999 and have created 19 albums as of November 2008. As well as making music as part of the Lucky Dragons, the band also run a "weekly collaborative drawing society" called Sumi Ink Club and an internet community called Glaciers of Nice.Fischbeck explained that the duo were a band before they began creating just sounds. He said, "everything we've done since the beginning was to change the simple thing of what it means to be a band. This often, but not always, means making or rearranging sounds."
Style
Though their songs have been described as having "entered the postsong age", Rara said that she felt music was "still very much in a song age" as "very few people are making work without a specific duration or end point". Rara said that the structure of Lucky Dragons' songs were very different, with some songs lasting only for "a few sputters" and with others that "revolve around shepherd tones and expand for hours". She stated that many of their songs "begin with improvisation" and said it was "like a game where the only rule is that each action must generate a kind of response or new action". The improvisation enables them to "keep moving in several new directions at once".Fischbeck said "a song in my mind is something that is completed once it is distributed and can come back in a changed form through a listening reaction" and was the element that enabled him to continue to call the band's music songs, as opposed to what he called "the much more technologically neutral 'tracks,' which [don't] imply any human interaction at all".
The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
described two of the band's older albums, Norteñas and Future Feeling, as "employ[ing] a scrappy indietronica approach that sounds like Icelandic cuties Múm
Múm
múm are an experimental Icelandic musical group whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments.- History :...
if they were raised on UK post-punk spazzes Swell Maps and hit "record" while buzzed on Jolt." Fischbeck noted that he felt the band's music was "maybe a mix between political and healing—meditative punk..."
Music production
Rara stated that Lucky Dragons sometimes create two albums simultaneously, each with "completely different sensibilities", and upon completion decide which is better and release only that one. Fischbeck said that he liked "newness and creative reuse and multiple points of view" as the band edit sound to "isolate and amplify these aspects of everyday sounds."The band use acoustic instruments to produce all of their sounds, though "the more 'pure' electronic sounds are processed recordings rather than generated from scratch".
For a project entitled, Make a Baby, Luke Fischbeck attached a number of wires together so that when two people hold two different wires and touch, it creates sound. The project was said to be "like when Tom Hanks jumps on the keyboard steps in Big. Or when you go to the aquarium for the first time and you realize that's what a starfish feels like, self discovery, science and a taste of natural sorcery."
Live performances
Rara said that the band's live performances are created with the idea that they should "generate equal power-sharing situations between members of the audience and ourselves." This technique was described as "radical" as it was said to "encourage connections between show-goers over the standard-issue connection between a band and their creation and the audience's emotions".Albums
- f_uxus 0.10 (2000)
- Dark Falcon (2002)
- Hawks and Sparrows (2003)
- Shh...! (2004)
- Faults (2004)
- Bees (2005)
- A Sewing Circle (2005)
- Widows (2006)
- Heart Stopping/Drums of Passion (2006)
- Mini Dream Island (2006)
- Very Picture Disk (2007)
- Speak Your Own Language (2008)
- Dream Island Laughing Language (2008)
- Rara Speaks (2009)
EPs
- Boys (2002)
- Nortenas (2004)
- Vrais noms/ True names (2009)
- Open Power (2009)
Splits
- Live on Radio Centraal (2004) with YACHT
- Future Feelings (2006) with Sweet Potatoes
- Layer Hater (2007) with Goodiepal
- Bleach on Bleach (2007) with YACHT
- Fear Melody (2008) with Whitman
External links
- Official Website
- Lucky Dragons at Redcat live on Dublab
- Lucky Dragons Free Albums on the FMA
- Live at CTM Festival in Berlin
- Interview with Dummymag.com
- An interview with Luke Fischbeck on The Marketplace of Ideas