Galactic Nights will find artists as diverse as Brous, Hello Satellites, Time Shield and Dream Kit each exploring their own unique place in space via sounds both melodic and experimental. Each session will be beautified by cosmological visuals concocted by filmmaker and animator Blake Byron-Smith. RRR’s DJ Simon Winkler will be on deck too, spinning mood-setting cosmic grooves.
Declan Kelly, aka Dream Kit – and, yes, son of Paul Kelly – says a big part of what excited him about ACMI’s invitation to be involved was his love of certain science-fiction film soundtracks. “I’m not an expert,” he admits. “It’s more pieces here and there that I know and really love.” Alain Goraguer’s genre-melting jazzy prog-funk score for the animated 1973 French political parable La Planète Sauvage is one notable example – Kelly cites it as one of his favourite records.
But don’t let that shape your expectations for Dream Kit’s Galactic Nights performance on December 15 – Kelly’s musical tastes are as eclectic as they come. While his dad provided him with a steady diet of country and blues in his youth, it wasn’t long before he started branching out on his own. It was this curiosity that helped shape him as the omnivorous audionaut that he is today. “I listened to everything growing up,” he says. “I’d get into music in these crazy fads. I had a big thing for Frank Sinatra and Nina Simone when I was quite young, and then I got right into hip hop in my early teens.” Next came grunge. From there, electronic music of all persuasions: house, techno, experimental – the lot. This opened Kelly’s ears to the vast miscellany of genres and disciplines music has to offer. His collection now finds polyrhythmic African percussion records cohabiting comfortably with droning psychedelic rock.
For Eva Popov of Hello Satellites, the appeal of Galactic Nights was partly sartorial. Specifically, it offers the band the chance to dust off the shiny silver astronaut suits which they modelled in the video for their single, Building A Wall. “Though we’re not guaranteeing anything!” she adds. “Actually, we don’t have much space material [in our videos],” she realises. “With a name like Hello Satellites, maybe we should!” Beat agrees, and suggests that Silent Running – with its eco-conscious rationale, folky Joan Baez soundtrack and endearingly lo-fi special effects – might offer the band some inspiration when it screens at ACMI as part of the Star Voyager film program in January. After all, it’s been acknowledged by WALL•E director Andrew Stanton as a primary influence on Pixar’s modern sci-fi eco fable.
Both Kelly and Popov are still yet to determine exactly what form their performances will take for Galactic Nights. Kelly, who has 12 years experience as a DJ to his name, has only played live as Dream Kit on four occasions and says the performative element of his thus far one-man act is still very much a developing thing. “The set-up at the moment is me on my own, playing a lot of the rhythm tracks from the songs and doing a bit of live effects,” he explains.”If I incorporate some of the remixes [of Dream Kit songs, which often include vocals] or new tracks, they might be more hands off – I won’t be playing the drums, I’ll be doing live effects and triggering. I’m hoping to develop it before Galactic Nights.”
Kelly tells that if time permits he might even manage to recruit an additional performer or two to join him on stage for the ACMI event. “That’s where I want to head with it, for it to become less computer-based and more performative. The drumming is really fun. I wanted to do something that wasn’t just a guy and his laptop. It’s always going to evolve. It’ll keep changing over time.”
In diametric contrast to Kelly as Dream Kit, Popov tells her band will performing as a near-complete unit for their show on Thursday November 17 – though they’ll be minus their drummer on the night. “We’ll be doing a more stripped-back performance,” she says, explaining how the quartet-cum-trio plan to adjust to the lack of percussionist. “[We’ll be] more acoustic, more intimate. We’ll be using a bunch of different instruments but the actual textures will be quite minimal. We’ve been doing a lot of experimenting in the rehearsal process, so we’ll see what comes out on the night.”
