Browsing"Genius Collaborators"

Altaer Wild Mountain Retreat

May 8, 2013 by     No Comments    Posted under: Altaer, Genius Collaborators, My Favourite Collaborations Ever, Songbird Radio

Come hang out myself, Katie Clancy, and Emily Moore in the wilderness at the 3rd Annual Wild Mountain Spirit Retreat. I am going to be leading singing–there will also be yoga, dance, and taoist meditation, organic food, and great company. Deatails here:  http://altaer.org/wild-spirit-mountain-retreat-2013/

 

 

 

 

Genius Flash Mob Valentine’s Day Music Video from 2009

Feb 10, 2013 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, Genius Collaborators, My Favourite Collaborations Ever

Dear Genius Friends,

There are so many reasons why this ranks up there as one of my favourite collaborations EVER. Adding culture jamming along with amazing ARTners is sm(art). Also the pie in the picture to the left is of a real pie.  I have really talented amazing ARTners.

With a director Kristi Hall, Producer/Designer Michael Kravit, Costumes by Kae Burke, Dress by Alisha Trimble, Apple Geniuses Designers and Social Change Agents: Madelena Mak, Derrick Mead, Scarlet Maressa Rivera, Noah Davis, Geoff, Welland, Alex, Kerry Truth-Boops, Kate Gibson  Musicians: Eben Lillie, Aaron Goldsmith, Karl Scholz, Mickey Western and Mason Brown and Cinematography by Justin Lange of Magic Hat Productions, Stills by Sabrina Asch, Casey Noel… Interactive by Tom Leger.  Whew…it is an all star collaborator Cast. No Wonder I am so HOT FOR GENIUSES!  (((FULL AMAZING LIST OF COLLABORATORS, with proper titles HERE)))

Sing Along!? Plan your own creative musical flash mob intervention?!  

Love,

Larken

Watch the video by clicking on the image:

November 4th, 2008

Oct 10, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, Genius Collaborators, My Favourite Collaborations Ever

Voting on Flatbush Ave on November 4th, 2008 took 5 hours and was worth every second. Here is a lovely short film made by Clark Clark memorializing the day:

November 4, 2008 from clark clark on Vimeo.

OFF THE GRID BICYCLE POWERED STAGES

May 24, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, bikesalon, Genius Collaborators, My Favourite Collaborations Ever, Songbird Radio

Dear (p)Artner,

As you probably know by now, I am obsessed with Bicycles. I think that they are the absolute best way to get around. In 2009 I co-Founded, Band of Bicycles with Rock the Bike to bring off-the-grid-human powered stages to Central Park Earth Day.  Now I co-host Bike Salon Radio Show, which encourages women to be fully mobile via bicycle in the Bay Area I roll with Berkeley based, Rock the Bike, frequently.

We had an awesome time last weekend on the 4th Annual Maker’s Faire Social Ride from Dolores Park to the San Mateo Maker’s Faire where Rock the Bike hosted a pedal powered stage with amazing line ups of music throughout the Maker Faire.

I have always been interested in melding interdiciplinary performance that is in line with my values. I was having a full on bikegasm as I sang from the branches of el arbol in a steel hoop at the Maker’s Faire.

el Arbol is a tall bike that powers speakers in it’s trunk and has an aerial rig it is totally amazing! I am interested in growing in my abilities as a bike touring aerial songstress and this summer and inspiring others to sing from their he(art)s as we soar from new heights and invest in sustainable futures.

There will be human powered stages at 4 festivals (SF Bicycle Music Festival, Trinity Tribal Stomp, Arcata Music Festival, Gaia Festival) this summer where I can stretch my wings and I am looking for p(ARTNERS)!

My needs:

* An awesome wireless mic with an in ear monitor and transmitter

* A multi-channel mobile sound recorder with awesome mics

* Bicycle Touring Equipment

So excited to make this dream a reality!

<3 <3 <3 Larken

 

Launch of Songbird Radio

May 24, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: Altaer, ArtEvolve, ARTner, bikesalon, Genius Collaborators, My Favourite Collaborations Ever, Songbird Radio, Uncategorized

Hello M-Audio,

I am interested in a creative p(artner) collaboration with you towards Songbird Radio in pursuit of expanding creative ARTnership using our voices together to inspire people worldwide! Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to be the first ever girl to dangle from a tall bike and sing original songs from an aerial hoop at the Bay Area Maker Faire! This month I will also perform an original number at the Oakland Metro for a monthly variety show that attracts 500 people! I plan to sing and use aerial again in this piece and I need your help to make my performances more awesome.  I have the dream of getting everyone in the audience to sing and record and loop the content we are making together while performing aerial and singing!

Okay so how did I get here wanting to help people everywhere sing from their he(art)s?

My name is Lauren Larken I am a Songbird. I own a 22 year old parrot that I adopted when I was 8 years old. I grew up in theatre and attended a performing arts boarding school in high school, USC for theatre school and between April 1, 2007 and April 1, 2008 I wrote, collaborated, performed, recorded and published a song everyday for a year. It was a LEAP YEAR so you can find all 366 songs at 365Songbird.com

During the Song of the Day project I was living at a performance collective called The House of YES and pursuing my MFA in an interdiciplinary program in it’s first year that combined computer music, interactive programming, radio, film, television, theatre and art at Brooklyn College. I am always surrounded by amazing people and that year I collaborated with hundreds making song of the days.

House of YES is the kind of place where you go to sleep not knowing what you are going to wear and a gorgeous Kayti Bunny hippity hops home wearing a swarovski encrusted shimmering body suit the night before your concert that fits perfectly and Kae Burke of Make Fun studio sews up some sparely fabric.  A couple of nights before I had had a dream about a Golden Birdcage (but told no one) and the proprietris of the house, Anya Sapozhinikova whips it right up. All of us in the community were singing, feeling amazing and I was about to Graduate with my MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Arts!

The song of the day project itself was conceived in an attempt to overcome my fear of song writing. I considered myself mostly a vocalist and didn’t realize how powerful the body is as an instrument. One of my professors, David Grubbs, told me to just start with the voice and hence the song of the day project was born!  Tom Leger, a friend heard my ambition and work and gifted me a M-Audio KeyStudio and my ability to make music sound cooler became exponential. I became a composer and a song writer! Or when my talented dj, beat making, key board and percussionist friends came over they could really rock it out on the M-Audio KeyStudio.

A week after the Song-of-the-Day Project ended we had a celebratory concert at the House of YES featuring the crowd pleasing hits from each month. Amazing hilarious performances ensued including conceptually rich acts from the:  MTAService Specialists, Impersonations of my Mom, Dennis Collective and Winkle Naughty Hilarious Themed Sing Alongs, Sappy Duets with Justin Lange and a Golden Birdcage, my perch, suspended from the ceiling.

Two weeks later I was in Denmark and England presenting my Thesis and something very strange happened. For a year we had safely hosted dozens of circus skill shares and events with fire performances but an electrical fire sparked in the kitchen and quickly filled a giant puppet head and destroyed all of our belongings and killed my orange kitty, DJ Pilgrim.

SONG OF THE DAY CONCERT:  APRIL 6TH, 2008

SAME ROOM and OUTSIDE, APRIL 22ND, 2008


 

This M-Audio KeyStudio keyboard was sitting on my desk during the fire.

For the past 4 years we have been re-building our lives and The House of YES performance collective has evolved into a professional thteatre space that houses: Make Fun (a diy puppet and costume lab), a recording studio, and The Sky Box theatre a 50 foot ceilined aerial dance and movement theatre that hosts workshops, classes and almost nightly performances.  I’d like to become a featured artist and use M-Audio equipment in my daily new show: Songbird Radio, This is Real Life! Each week we feature episodes of Bike Salon, ARTnership, Creative Alarm Clock & Missions with OCCUPY BEAUTY. This show is in response to people’s desire to sing from their he(art), attract and invest in sustainable lifestyles through everyday choices.

In exchange for the use of cutting edge M-Audio equipment I can offer: a tax write off, custom M-Audio jingles, and product reviews and tutorials.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience! The SF Bicycle Music Festival is June 23rd and I’d like to churn out some new beats to bump from my bike speaker!

Love,

Larken