De Toestand #1
Helicopter has left its old coordinates and taken shelter in the centre of Den Haag. The machinery is humming. A new chapter begins.
On Sunday 20 September, we gather for the first De Toestand, a recurring disturbance dedicated to experimental psychedelic music in all its forms. From the hypnotic to the hallucinatory, the primitive to the unrecognisable. Five acts will enter the dungeon. Expect rituals, distortion, explorations and sonic ramblings that inspire, amuse and entertain.
As a special bonus Dan Gibson will showcase his home brew skills by offering a selection of his beers, think smoked porters and lime infused goses.
DE TOESTAND #1
with Ali Robertson, Steffan de Turck, Ardore, Son de l’Échec, Gangpad and Bone Choir Assembly.
SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER, €8, doors 14h, first act starts at 15h.
The door is open. The rest is up to you!
ALI ROBERTSON
Ali Robertson has been making himself & others blush as the Giant Tank Institute For Low-Brow Avant-Thought’s resident organiser/improviser for more than two decades. Until comparastively recently he courted public shame in the duo Usurper with Malcy Duff, but now exercises his unfunny bone as one half of Off Brand with Firas Khnaissr and as one third of Black Affrontit with Karen Constance & Dylan Nyoukis, while sporadically pleading for redemption via the altogether more wholesome Sonic Bothy Ensemble.
https://linktr.ee/gianttank
STEFFAN DE TURCK
In Overgangstoon, Steffan de Turck transforms the stage’s “invisible” infrastructure into his instrument. Using a minimal setup of a mixer, digital delay, and electromagnetic pickups, he captures the magnetic fields of his own power adapters. What begins as a simple hum—reminiscent of a telephone dial tone—builds through delay and feedback loops into a dense, layered tapestry of sound. Highly reactive to the room and PA, every performance becomes an unpredictable, site-specific experience.
https://steffandeturck.bandcamp.com
ARDORE.
Sampling and manipulating a flugelhorn Ardore unfolds textural soundscapes oscillating between minimalism and full-spectrum noises. Inspired by Indian Dhrupad singing, generative drone music and harsh noise, Ardore combines these in a slowly evolving sea of sounds, scattered across multichannel audio and refracted in interactive video scenographies.
https://soundcloud.com/ardorers
SON DE L’ÉCHEC
Son de l’Échec is the new feedback project of A.J. Schakenbos. Former thrash metal god; classical trainee become experimentalist; now himself.
The guitar sounds that he invented during his improvising years with the Julie Mittens a.o. are put to work in an even lower fi setting that’s on the brink of annihilation. Spacious yet crumbling.
GANGPAD
Gangpad is the off-road vehicle where electronic sound collagist Manuel Padding and electric guitar manipulator Arvind Ganga step away from their regular practices to explore sound from a different perspective. Non-academic electro-acoustics and deliberately struck wind chimes blend effortlessly with Angus MacLise inspired time stretching or a broken faucet that doesn’t stop dripping. Quiet and mind-bending, played with joy and wonder.
BONE CHOIR ASSEMBLY
Bone Choir Assembly traverses the border between industrial electronics and ritual sound. Ancient voices emerge through noise, repetitive rhythms and fragments of folklore, weaving a hypnotic atmosphere where forgotten memories meet the pulse of the machine