The Ultimate Tri-City Musical Meet-Up

Forget what you know about stiff residencies. Un Échange: Trading Places: Trueque is an electrified, cross-border musical adventure that has been shaking up the scenes of Montreal and Vancouver since 2016. Imagine the most badass improv and experimental music communities from Montréal, Vancouver, and now for the first time this year, the sonic wonderland of Mexico City deciding to pack their bags, swap cities, and make some beautiful noise together.

The minds behind the magic, the NOW Society, Suoni Per Il Popolo, and a crew of visionary curators in CDMX, are teaming up to create the ultimate playground for adventurous musicians.

It's all about forming deep, new connections, trading ideas through sound, and proving that the language of experimental music is the most fun and present dialect you’ll ever learn. Un Échange: Trading Places: Trueque is where communities collide and the future of sonic exchange gets made.

Join us at Suoni to experience this totally radical connection with our wonderful group of residents this year:

From Vancouver:

Anju Singh (violin, electronics)

Anju Singh uses amplified, dense, and/or harsh textures to contrast with tonal minimalist gestures and overlapping layers. Tension created through the use of microtones, extracting textures, and atonal elements provide a space to deconstruct musical gestures and movements into abstracted elements and then are reanimated back into compositions that cannibalize versions of themselves.

Adrian Avendano (drums, percussion)

Adrian Avendaño is an improvising drummer and percussionist, sound artist, DJ and recordist. His work explores the connection between sound, space, and territory. His approach to drums and percussion is informed by elements of acoustic ecology, deep listening, and the connection to his diasporic Latine heritage.

From Mexico City:

Alex Motta (bass, electronics)

Alejandro Motta is a classically trained double bassist with a focus on contemporary music, sound experimentation, and stage performance. He is the co-founder of the free improvisation ensemble Algo Cruje and has collaborated with various national orchestras, including the OFUNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra). He recently participated in the performance of Memor I.A. as part of the UNAM Composition Workshop and is currently a member of the CEPROMUSIC Ensemble. His work ranges from traditional repertoire to more free-flowing creation, integrating sound and presence.

Aleida Perez (violin, electronics)

Aleida Pérez is a violinist and improviser interested in new music and experimental forms such as free improvisation. She currently collaborates with the Liminar ensemble. Her most recent performances include a residency with the Norwegian collective Verdensteatret, the Epiciclos concert as part of the Diferencial series, and La escucha infinita.

From Montreal:

James Goddard (saxophone, mbira, electronics)

James Nicholas Dumile Goddard is a Ndebele-Canadian sound artist, curator, arts administrator and experimental saxophonist. He currently lives and works in Montréal, QC. His work explores themes related to race, the speculative and power dynamics. He performs solo as skin tone, in the duos NYON & Platitudes and as part of KY band, the Egyptian Cotton Arkestra, and Quinton Barnes Black Noise Ensemble. He's worked in community radio, concert promotion and non-profit administration – all these experiences inform an interest in non-hierarchy within his creative and administrative practices. skin tone was/is always a reactive project – relying heavily as it does on improvisation skin tone is always changing; unable to remain inert in the face of a changed situation. For a long time, it was an outlet to reflect on anti-black police violence – to respond to anti-black police violence. As time went on skin tone became an outlet to explore a wide-range of themes.

Jahsun (drums, percussion).

Jahsun Promesse is a Montreal, Canadian/Caribbean based drummer, futurist & arts event curator. His music brings voice to ancestral memories manifested in imagined futures. Exploring free black expression, the abandon of traditional ‘drummer’ timekeeping roles, continuously seeking new sounds, contrasts, harmony, dissonance, storytelling, deep grooves, free time & authentic cultural exchanges.

Here is the list of Events you can check them all out at during Suoni:

June 16th, Église du Sacré-Coeur-de-Jésus

Copresented with Les Vespérales, No Hay Banda, Now Society, Codes d'accès and CIOC

Fujilllllta

Anju Singh

Florence Delphine-Roux

June 18th

Afrorack

Adrian Avendano/Roxanne Nesbit/Engone Endong

invité.e.s

Casa del Popolo

JAMbient (Lisa E. Harris & Maria Chavez)

Anju Singh, Aleida Perez (2 more local strings tbc)

invité.e.s

La Sala Rossa

June 20th

Ableton for Noise artists workshop with Anju Singh

Resto Sala Rossa 11h-13h

June 20th

BLK D’OR

Constellation 1:

Adrian Avendano-drums

Markus Floats-bass

Fahmid Nibesh-gtr

SkinTone-sax, mbira

Jason Selman- cornet, poetry

Constellation 2:

Anju Singh-violin

Julie Richard-tuba

Aaron Leaney-sax

Ravish Momin-drums

Stella Adjokê-poetry

Constellation 3:

Engone Endong-sound design

Zach Frampton-piano/keys

Cabral Jacobs-sax

Jahsun-drums

Tanya Tawhida Evanson-poetry

Duos: Christelle St-Julien/

Dna

Zibz BlacKurrent/

Zach Frampton

Fred Bazil/Jahsun

Soulsonic bath:

Sam I Am Montolla

Casa del Popolo

June 21

Anju Singh, Alex Motta, Nausiate, Quivering

An Laurence

Camille R.B.

Ianna Book

Casa del Popolo

June 22 sala

Blacks’ Myths

Karen Ng

Cole Shmidt + Alvaro Rojas

Cabral Jacobs, Engone Endong, Markus Lake, James Goddard & Jahsun

June 23 Get Free! (our mini marathon/trading places partay!)

All trading places artists!

plus The Ex, Blacks’ Myths, Karen Ng, Cole Schmidt, Alvaro Rojas & Jairus Sharif and locals tbc

The Ex will dj the Casa bar for a full take over of Casa, whoop whoop!!

Casa del Popolo

June 24

Dahl

Jairus Sharif

Adrian Avendano, Alex Motta, Adriana Camacho & Eli Piña

Casa del Popolo

June 25th

Lucas “Granpa” Abela

Alex Motta & Aleida Perez

invité.e.s

P’tit Ours

June 26th

Zine Launch - On DIY CDMX Venues

Malcolm Goldstein, Nicolas Caloia & Rainer Weins

Alex Motta, Eli Piña, Stefan Christoff & Dario Bernal Villegas

Meredith Bates & invité.e.s

Casa del Popolo