TIN MEN and THE TELEPHONE

‘The World Domination Project’

A ground-breaking 3-year project exploring new ways to craft the live experience

2017 – 2019

“..drawing their audience into the heart of the gig…. multimedia gadgetry and a sense of mischief combined to create something fresh and unexpected.    Roe and his friends were reminding us — in captivating style — that jazz can be fun and profound at the same time.  The Times *****

Amsterdam based trio, Tin Men and the Telephone have made a name for themselves for their innovative approach to jazz improvisation and live audience interaction.  Emplying live electronics, projected visuals and ground-breaking technology (their innovative Tinmendo app), they have found ways that allow audiences to become a part of their multi-faceted, hugely engaging, enormously fun interactive shows.  Audiences are able to play games, direct the style, rhythm, tempo,   instrumentation, and create beats as the basis for instant composition for the band’s highly acclaimed riveting jazz excursions.

In what is thought to be the first project of its kind, Amsterdam-based trio Tin Men and the Telephone have been selected to undertake a three-year programme working with six UK partner arts organisations to explore new approaches to the experience of live performance through staging, shaping their performance, using technology and audience participation.  Crucially, audiences themselves will be directly involved in this work.

Throughout a three year period, Tin Men will work with partners in six residences, each with invited guest advisors (from the world of theatre, comedy, tech and beyond) and local audiences to playfully explore new approaches to the live experience.   Each residency will allow time to experiment and explore new performance ideas – the staging, the technology, participation – and crucially, includes time with local audiences to share what has been learned during the week.  Having the insight into the creative journey allows these one-off band members to give feedback on what they – the audience – feels will work, and what might be developed further.

The resulting new material will with then tour in each of the coming three years.

The first residency took place at Snape Maltings in October 2017, where they were joined by London-based theatre director Owen Lewis who contributed his experience as a comedy writer and dramaturg (his most recent credits include developing and directing the national tour of Suggs Live and Hardeep Singh Kohli’s Indian Takeaway).  The second took place at Oxford Contemporary Music (Oxford Brookes University) in January 2018 where they were joined by Andrew Sommerville and Jon Cooper, founders of differencEngine, a company specialising in immersive & interactive theatre whilst exploring the boundaries of technology in performance.  The third will take place at The Birmingham Conservatoire in November 2018

Tony Roe, Tin Men’s pianist/co-composer believes “that space to think and to imagine differently is essential for the creative process and to be challenged and inspired by expert advice is invaluable. But for us, it’s equally essential that our audience feeds into this. So, rather than crafting our show ‘behind the scenes’ our live shows are performed with, and not to audiences”.

What Residency audience participants say:

“Am I experiencing the future of modern music?”

“I enjoyed this new way of giving an audience some influence over a music performance”.

“Very good to be part of the development of an innovative music project”

 Download Tinmendo for free at iTunes and Google Play.

LINKS

About the app                   http://bit.ly/2px7T3N

Learn more here              http://bit.ly/2DG03sI

in action, Tin Men with the Metropole Orkest http://bit.ly/2wxdc7t

www.tinmenandthetelephone.com

Notes to Editors

• Support for the project has come from Arts Council England and Performing Arts Fund NL, as well as from the partners involved. Tin Men were selected by the Performing Arts Fund NL as one of the leading groups in the Netherlands with the potential to develop an international following through a process of creative R&D.

• Tin Men and the Telephone are Tony Roe (piano), Pat Cleaver (bass) and Bobby Petrov (drums). Their live show employs live electronics, projected visuals, and ground-breaking technology via a smart phone app, Tinmendo, in combination with jazz and improvised music to create a truly unique interactive multimedia experience. Nominees for the Jazz FM Awards 2016 ‘Digital innovation of the Year’, they reach beyond their primary sources of inspiration – classical music, modern jazz, hip hop and Balkan traditions – to find melody in the sounds of everyday life such as car navigation devices, the squelch of traffic noise or animal sounds.

• Tinmendo is Tin Men’s revolutionary smartphone app that allows audience members to actively take part in the performances in real time. It allows audiences to vote on what direction the music should take – style, rhythms, tempo, instrumentation – create beats for the band to play around and send messages which are uploaded onto a screen and used as the basis for instant composition and riveting jazz excursions.

Learn more about ‘Tinmendo’ http://bit.ly/2wqRzqc

Tin Men with the Metropole Orkest  http://bit.ly/2wxdc7t

• Residency partners & hosts: The third residency takes place at the Birmingham Conservatoire with co-hosts, Jazzlines, 26-29 November 2018. Other partners include Snape Maltings, Oxford Contemporary Music, Sage Gateshead, and London Jazz Festival/Trinity Laban

• Production: Third Ear Music. The project is devised and developed with Third Ear Music who have extensive experience in promoting, producing, touring, commissioning and representing new music across the UK and in Europe. The company’s aim is to explore new directions in performance and collaborative projects and to develop new ways of presenting, programming and producing multi-disciplinary events.

www.thirdear.co.uk